Match Point: A Jet City Billionaire Romance (The Billionaire Matchmaker Series Book 5)

by Gina Robinson

  Conveniently, it was time-stamped. There was a second clip of me leaving, looking like I'd just slept with the billionaire. I had that look of perfect satisfaction and afterglow. And why not? I hadn't been intending for it to go any further.

  This was great for Lazer's playboy image. Not so fine for my matchmaking one.

  But even now, looking at it, I saw what I should have seen in the beginning—there was something special about Lazer and how I felt for him right from the start. Monday morning quarterbacking was such a brilliant thing.

  Unfortunately, the article surrounding the video didn't see the same thing I did.

  Is Manhattan's premier matchmaker, turned Seattle matchmaker and business partner of billionaire Lazer Grayson, a hypocrite? She can dish out advice, but can she take it?

  This looks like a classic walk of shame to us, and the bearing of a well-pleasured woman. Just hours after meeting the billionaire at a bar a few short blocks from his office last summer, Ashley Harte is seen leaving his luxury condo looking disheveled and highly satisfied. Wink, wink, nod, nod.

  We don't believe this was just business for the attractive thirtysomething, who created controversy in the Manhattan dating scene early last year for screening women her age out of her New York match pool. Everyone who knows Mr. Grayson knows he uses this particular condo for his sexual assignations, to put it in bland terms.

  Oh, darling, Ashley, our beautiful little purveyor of false truths! Aren't you one of the school of matchmakers who advocates not sleeping with a potential mark—we mean, mate—until after you've gotten to know them and gone on at least three dates? Ann Boleyn was one of the most notorious women in history to use this tactic way back in the 1500s. Unlike the rest of his easy conquests, withholding sex from Henry VIII until he divorced his first wife for her. Has history taught you nothing? Look how well it turned out for Ann.

  Ann did get the king, though, didn't she?

  Maybe that's what Ashley decided when she caught the billionaire's eye. Show a billionaire rather more affection than less and leave him in no doubt of your intention, ladies. Eyewitnesses at the bar the night the pair met say patrons gave Mr. Grayson a standing o for picking up Ms. Harte. We wonder what kind of O he gave the matchmaker later.

  So has Ms. Harte been "carrying on" with Mr. Grayson since the start of their partnership? That's the question potential clients hoping for a chance at capturing the billionaire's heart, and maybe his purse strings, have been asking…

  Austin came up beside me. "What's wrong? You look like you could spit nails."

  This must have been the exclusive video Sheri claimed she had. But this wasn't her byline. Someone else had beaten her to publishing it. How many others had it? "More bad news."

  As I handed him my phone, a news van came around the corner and sped past us, dangerously close to brushing us off the side of the road.

  Austin shook his fist and shouted at it as it pulled to a stop next to Cam and Justin a hundred feet away from us. "This can't be good. What are they doing here?"

  I shuddered to think.

  "Who tipped them off?" Austin cursed beneath his breath.

  I grimaced. "I think I inadvertently did."

  Sheri stepped out of the news van with a cameraman at her elbow, filming, just as the drone stopped to hover over a spot in the forest.

  From down the road to the south, Jeremy pointed and gestured to the same spot in the forest. He took off at a run up the road toward us and above the spot where the drone hovered. He crashed into the forest in a spot uphill from the drone with Dylan on his heels.

  Austin broke into a run, too, sword swinging, backpack bouncing on his hip.

  "Hey! Wait up." That was probably the wrong thing for me to say. I wasn't supposed to be slowing him down. And my boots weren't supposed to be slowing me down. But contrary to what you see on TV, and as I'd claimed to the men, real police detectives don't wear them for a reason. Austin easily outpaced me.

  He reached Justin, Cameron, Sheri, and the cameraman first. I was out of breath by the time I arrived. This was becoming a theme. My heart was racing. What had they found? What would we find? I shivered.

  Sheri was standing on the shoulder looking into the camera as she began reporting. "We're here just off the shore of Lake Washington at the site of a reported early morning collision involving a vehicle owned, and reportedly being driven by, billionaire—and Seattle's most eligible match—Lazer Grayson. Unfortunately, when emergency crews checked out the report shortly after receiving it, they found no signs of either a crash or the billionaire. Our sources, however, confirm Mr. Grayson has been missing since his plane landed in Renton early this morning.

  "His friends have mounted a search-and-rescue mission. We're here with them on the site of the purported crash. Among them is his close friend and fellow billionaire Justin Green."

  She pushed a mic in Justin's face. "Justin, tell us about the search—you appear to be using a high-tech drone to aid you. What have you found?"

  Justin shoved the mic out of the way and pointed into the forested area below us, speaking past Sheri to us. "The drone spotted a laser."

  "He spotted Lazer?" My voice came out high-pitched, breathy, and excited. Eager. Hopeful. My heart pounded in my ears and was on full display on my sleeve as I turned toward the hillside below, looking for what the drone saw. Nothing but trees and underbrush.

  Austin caught my arm. "He spotted a laser, not Lazer." He gave Justin a questioning look.

  Justin nodded and stepped around Sheri. "Sheri, give us some space." Justin had had his share of confrontations with Sheri in the past. "Give us some space and I promise you'll get the scoop." He focused on Austin. "Someone is signaling with a laser pointer in the woods."

  I put my hand to my heart. My knees nearly buckled. "He's alive."

  "Make sure you get the rescue on video." Sheri sounded as excited as I did as she turned toward the hill and tugged the cameraman along.

  Cam held her back with an arm. "Stay out of the way. Let the guys do their job."

  Justin whispered something to Cam. Cam dropped his arm and shot Sheri a warning look. "Don't hamper their efforts."

  "I'm here to get a story, not become it," she said. "Has anyone called 9-1-1?"

  Cam gave her his scary military deadpan look. "They're on their way."

  I ignored them, and darted past the men and into the woods. Austin was right behind, fortunately.

  The wood floor was musty and slick with needles from the trees, rotting leaves, ferns, and loose dirt. I took a step too fast and slid, going down hard on one knee, doing the splits with the other leg.

  Austin helped me up without speaking. He slid the backpack off, handed it to me, and motioned for me to climb on his back. What was it with me and woods and piggyback rides?

  Realizing that my footwear put me at a disadvantage, I didn't hesitate. I slid the backpack on, adjusted the straps, climbed on, and wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist.

  The underbrush was thick and tried to trip us up. Austin unsheathed his sword, brandished it just like Jamie Sinclair, the famous fictional Scottish highlander, called a warning for Sheri and the cameraman to stay well behind him, and began hacking a path down the hill. I heard Dylan and Jeremy crashing through the trees a short distance away in front of us.

  Justin directed a laser beam from the drone above, marking our destination spot. A few dozen feet into the woods, the beam became unnecessary, as Lazer's car came into view, perched precariously against a tall but spindly fir that looked about to be uprooted by the weight. The car was covered with fallen branches, almost as if someone had intentionally hidden it. My voice caught in my throat along with my heart.

  Lazer sat in the driver's seat, his left hand stretched outside the window through broken glass. He held a keychain combination flashlight and laser pointer, with the beam aimed toward the sky.

  His face was covered in blood. He had a nasty open gash on his cheek. I thought
he had never looked better.

  "Lazer!" I yelled to him.

  Our eyes met. The instant connection we always had rippled through me. He actually grinned. Or tried to. It wasn't his usual confident, charming grin. But I'd take it.

  I slid off Austin's back as Sheri and her cameraman came up beside us, filming the action.

  "Don't move. Hold still, Lazer!" Jeremy yelled. "Not to alarm you, but the tree holding your car in place isn't as deeply rooted as we'd like."

  "There's not much chance of me moving," Lazer said, still holding my gaze. "I'm pinned in."

  "That explains why you didn't get the hell out of there." Dylan slid the coil of rope off his shoulder. "Give me a minute and I'll anchor you to something more substantial." He wrapped the rope around one axle of the car, preparing to secure it while we waited for help.

  Jeremy got on the phone to Cam and the first responders, giving an assessment of the situation. He said something about needing the Jaws of Life.

  Oblivious to Sheri, I stumbled my way past her to the edge of Lazer's car, pushing branches out of the way. They scratched my face and caught on my clothes and the backpack. I didn't give a damn. I barely felt them. I came to a stop just outside Lazer's window and stood staring at him without touching either him or the car, afraid they'd both tumble down the hill.

  He clicked the laser off and dropped it. I reflexively caught it.

  He reached out and gently stroked my face. "You're bleeding." His voice was so damn tender. Or maybe it was just weak.

  "I'm bleeding!" I blinked back tears of joy and shook my head. "Look who's talking."

  He ran his thumb across my cheek. "Right here. And here." He showed me his thumb, streaked with a trace of my blood.

  I put my hand over his. "Be careful! Didn't you hear Dylan?" I couldn't help scolding him. He'd given me a scare. I didn't want another one. "You could send yourself toppling into the lake."

  His grin was weak, but reassuring. "Nah. Dylan's got me covered."

  Dylan flashed a thumbs-up as he lashed the car to a stronger tree.

  Sirens sounded in the distance from the road, growing closer.

  "Damn you, Lazer, and your careless fast driving." I couldn't restrain myself any longer. I cupped his face in my hands and brushed a lock of hair back from his forehead. "You took a wrong turn at the curve up there, you know. You need to be more careful."

  Up close, I noticed that his eyes were having trouble focusing. I suspected he had a concussion.

  "I had complete control. Until I hit a patch of black ice." He paused. "It's good to see you, too."

  I wiped a tear out of my eye with the back of my hand and smiled back at him. "You're shivering. You must be freezing."

  I slid the backpack off and found a space blanket in it. I tucked it around Lazer as the drone above us headed back uphill. "Your skin is cold. How long have you been without heat?"

  "Hours." He let me tuck him in. "You feel nice and warm."

  "Shut up." I shook my head. "What were you doing in New York last night without telling anyone? Do you know how dangerous that was?"

  "Trying to kiss you." His words came out more slowly than usual. His grin was lopsided and took a lot of effort. Lazer's ability to flirt like a pro was undamaged, even though he was wounded and stuck in a tree. "But you blew me off."

  "Blew you off!" I shook my head. "I didn't know you were in the city. And you're wrong." I brushed his lips with the pad of my thumb. "I was trying to save Pair Us from scandal and certain ruin." Which didn't seem to matter at all now that we'd found him alive.

  "If I'd known you were in New York trying to fulfill my deepest fantasy, there's no way I would have 'blown you off,' as you say." Gently continuing to cradle his face, I lowered my lips to his and kissed him gently, not caring if the cameras were rolling.

  His face was bruised. His lips were bloodied and dry. Cold. A squirrel chattered at us from a nearby branch. And yet, despite all that, it was the best kiss I'd ever had.

  "All better now?" I whispered.

  "Getting there."

  "Isn't that beautiful? Just perfect!" Sheri turned to her cameraman. "Did you get all that? This is our exclusive. The viewers are going to love this."

  "Is that Sunshine Sheri?"

  I nodded.

  "I think our cover's been blown," he said.

  "Our cover was blown hours ago." I tried to keep from choking up. "What do you think I was battling last night when you called?" I sighed. "I'll fill you in later. Right now, let me handle it. You just get better."

  Chapter 6

  Ashley

  The emergency crews came crashing down the hillside, carrying a stretcher and tools to get Lazer out of the car. The flash of emergency vehicle lights uphill streaming through the trees emphasized that dusk was falling. Rapidly.

  Once the first responders reached us, they shooed us out of the way. A police officer escorted us back to the road.

  Sheri and her cameraman scurried in front of us, filming us as we emerged from the woods. I was too distracted to pay much attention to what she was saying. But the mental picture I had of us was amusing enough to cause me to smile. I could only imagine what people thought of Austin and his broadsword.

  The cameraman set up lights. Other news crews had discovered the story and begun to descend on us. They unloaded and began asking questions.

  Austin put his arm around me and pulled me away from them, shutting them down and shielding me from them. "She's had a shock. Give her some space."

  Justin was on the phone with Lazer's mom, filling her in. I felt a pang of jealousy. I should have been important enough in Lazer's life to be the one for that job. It was just another reminder of how much more involved I should have been in his life. How much he'd resisted commitment.

  Justin took over as official spokesman while we waited for the emergency crews to bring Lazer to the waiting ambulance.

  It seemed like forever as we listened to the sounds of hydraulics and metal being cut and waited for the emergency personnel to bring Lazer out.

  Someone handed me a cup of coffee. I drank it without tasting it, glad for the warmth of it in my hand more than anything else. I had learned that in Seattle, coffee was the warm beverage of choice and the cure for everything.

  Sheri had moved on to interview the men. At last, the firemen and paramedics emerged from the forest, carrying Lazer on a stretcher.

  That phrase "out of the woods" took on a whole new literal meaning for me. I must have been tired. I almost inappropriately laughed at the thought.

  "I guess he's out of the woods now," Austin said. He smiled.

  "I hope so," I said, knowing full well what he meant.

  "I'll never think of that phrase the same way again," he said. "Do you think that's how the phrase got started?"

  "I don't know," I said. "Remind me to look it up later." I paused. "You're terrible."

  "Am I? It was written all over your face, too."

  I shook my head and ran to Lazer's side. I took his hand. He was already hooked up to an IV. One of the paramedics had cleaned up his cheek and applied a compress. Lazer looked better already. He squeezed my hand.

  "I'm going with him in the ambulance," I said to one of the men carrying the stretcher, without waiting for Lazer to agree with me.

  "I'm sorry. There isn't room, ma'am." The paramedic in charge looked sympathetic, but firm.

  I appealed to Lazer for help.

  "You sure she can't come? I'd like her with me," Lazer said.

  "See for yourself once you're in."

  Lazer dropped my hand as they loaded him in the ambulance.

  The paramedic was telling the truth. As soon as they slid the stretcher in, it was clear the quarters were too tight to accommodate an extraneous passenger.

  Lazer lifted his head to look at me past his feet.

  "I'll meet you at the hospital," I said.

  Austin took me by the shoulders. "I'll make sure she gets there safely."

/>   As Austin led me away, I looked over my shoulder at the paramedics closing the ambulance door. My knees almost buckled from relief. He was in good hands now.

  The ambulance beat us to the hospital. By the time we arrived, Lazer was already in the examination room. And news crews had set up to wait for news about Lazer's condition. One of Seattle's many billionaires being in an accident and missing for nearly twelve hours was big news on a quiet New Year's Day. Was this any portent on how the year would turn out? What did this mean for Lazer's many holdings, including his new venture, Pair Us? What about the stories about Lazer's romantic involvement with his Pair Us partner, Ashley Harte?

  It was a media circus.

  As we arrived in the waiting room, an attractive older woman strode into emergency. She had the obvious look of a worried mother. She was well put together. And vaguely familiar. I had that sense of trying to place where I'd seen her or knew her from.

  It hit me—she must be Lazer's mom. She looked like Lazer, at least through the eyes. Justin intercepted her, confirming my suspicions. She visibly relaxed as she hugged him tightly. Clearly she was comfortable enough with Justin to take comfort from him. Justin took her by the arm and guided her through the crowd of reporters sticking mics in her face to the reception desk. I couldn't hear what they said. I assumed Justin was filling her in.

  At reception, a nurse talked to her and showed her back to the private waiting area that was reserved for family. And away from the prying eyes of the media.

  I wondered whether she was used to the attention. And how private a person she was. At this point, I was sure she appreciated the hospital rule only permitting one or two immediate family members into the secure area. Which left the men and me out with the reporters and the glaring lights of the cameras.

  Austin, Dylan, Cam, and Jeremy were protective of me. They circled around me, shielding me, happy to answer reporters' questions about the rescue and plainly enjoying the attention.

  One of the reporters managed to breach the shield of the men around me with a boom mic and shout over the men. "You're Ashley Harte. Would you care to comment on the rumors that you and Lazer have been secretly involved with each other since you founded Pair Us?"