by Sarah Ready
The two men both carry their cats as they walk toward the luxury pet spa. At first, I’m stunned and my mind goes blank. But then, it’s like there’s this big neon finger in the sky pointing at Matt Smith.
It’s a sign.
The universe is sending me a huge blinking sign that says, get off your ass and go get your girl.
All these Matt Smiths, they mean nothing. It was never about them.
It never mattered if it was Matt Smith Number One, Two, or Seventeen. Chloe is mine. My mind races back through all the conversations we had and I remember one in particular.
I’d asked her what a guy could do to prove beyond a doubt that he’s the one. A grand gesture, she’d said, a Bollywood-style song and dance with a grand declaration of love. I’d scoffed and said that no man would ever be idiotic or stupid enough to embarrass himself like that.
I watch as Matt Smith walks away. He’s my sign.
I’ll be that stupid. I’ll be that idiotic.
I may not be Chloe’s predicted soul mate, but I can still be the one.
I jump out of the car and run toward Matt Smith. “Matt. Cauliflower.”
Both men turn with shocked and guilty expressions. Then Matt sees my face. “You.”
I hold up my hands. “I’m a private investigator. I’ve been hired to record your breach of mating contract.”
“Ridiculous,” he says.
The man in the red blazer looks between us and then hightails it back to his Porsche.
Matt Smith sneers. “That male was from a champion line longer than your—”
“Right,” I say. “I’m going to report my findings to my client.”
“How much can I pay you for your silence?”
“Nothing.”
Number One hisses and I hear a long yowl from the cat carrier.
“However, I can give you a few hours before I send my report if you want to admit your affair before I confirm it.”
“Why would you do that?” he asks.
I place my future before the fates and roll the dice. “Remember the woman I was with?”
“The one looking for her soul mate?”
I nod. “I want to marry her.”
Matt Smith lets out a long, wheezing laugh. “And?” he says when he’s finished laughing.
“And she’s in California with Matt Smith.”
“She found him?” he asks.
“She did.”
“So, why would you take her from that?”
I pause, then, “Because I love her.”
“If you loved her, you’d let her go,” he says.
I shake my head, no.
“I thought that at first, then I realized it was bull. She said she chose me and I didn’t believe her. Now she might be marrying Matt Smith and I need to get there to tell her how I feel.”
Matt throws back his head and laughs. “You’re going to do a grand gesture.”
“How do you know about the grand gesture?”
He points at Cauliflower. “I’m an expert in cat mating. They have grand gestures, too.”
“Don’t want to know,” I say.
He shrugs. “You need a private jet,” he guesses.
“I need a plane,” I agree. “And I need to stop off at a few places on the way to California.”
He looks down at Cauliflower. She lets out a happy meow that I recognize as the precursor to a hairball.
“Give me another reason why I shouldn’t send you to jail for attempted theft and blackmail?”
I send another prayer up to the fates. “Because your cat really likes me? And deep down you’re a romantic?” Where has my cynicism gone? Chloe’s worn off on me.
Number One bends down to the door of the carrier and converses with Cauliflower. After a few whispered words and one meow he stands up.
Apparently, my future hangs in the claws of a cat.
I hold my breath.
Matt Smith Number One smirks. “We’ll do it,” he says.
“Thank you,” I say. I’m about to get on a plane, the one thing I said I’d never do, because yes, I’m terrified of flying. But I’m more terrified of losing the woman I love.
I share my plan with Matt and lay out all the cities we need to stop in on the way to L.A.
32
Chloe
* * *
It’s the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen. The sun kisses the ocean and spills orange and gold across cerulean waves. The sand reflects like yellow diamonds in the light. Matt and I walk along the beach and I listen to the waves and the birds calling their evening song.
“I’m glad you came today,” says Matt. He has on linen pants and a white button-up shirt. His feet are bare. He seems happy, but a little on edge.
“Me too,” I say.
I spent the day sitting on the beach under an umbrella finalizing the designs for the Dog loves Cat line. The cat took on a haughty scowl similar to Nick’s. I spent an hour imagining the exact shade of Cat’s eyes, and when I got it just right, I realized it’s the shade that lines Nick’s irises. After that, I looked through all my sketches. It was impossible to deny that I’d been drawing scenes of Nick and me. I was illustrating our love story.
I’ve believed in soul mates my whole life. I also believed that when I found him I’d know without a doubt that he was mine. I haven’t trusted myself though, not for a long time. And without trusting myself, I’ve been blind.
I glance across the beach as the sun dips lower. There are quite a few people out. There’s a couple enjoying wine on a blanket. A young mom and dad building a sand castle with their two kids. Two boys throwing a ball in the water. I spot a bigger group of about a dozen men farther down the beach. It looks like they’re setting up a party. They have tiki torches, colorful flags and streamers, and music speakers.
“Chloe,” Matt says.
“Yes?” I ask. There’s something odd about the group up ahead. I have that feeling you get when you know you’re being watched. I can feel their attention on me.
“Chloe. I know we’ve only known each other for a few days,” Matt says. “But I feel so connected to you.”
I pick up my pace. We’re only about twenty feet from the group now. I don’t recognize any of them, but they’re all looking at me. Then, music starts to play from the sound system behind them. The men start to snap their fingers in time to the song and move in a choreographed dance. Six of the men move to one side and six to another, until they’ve formed a tunnel. A man walks through the tunnel. One I recognize.
Matt Smith Number One?
But why?
I watch in shock as he slides through the tunnel and spins in a circle. He holds up his cat Cauliflower and waves her paws in the air. What in the world?
Next, Matt Smith the proctologist walks through the tunnel. He’s got rubber gloves on and is doing jazz hands.
“Chloe,” says the Real Matt.
I turn back to him and he drops down on one knee.
“What?” I shake my head. I glance back at the dancing Matts and the music. Shocker of all shocks, Matt Smith from Colorado stomps across the beach. He doesn’t dance, he just twirls what I hope is a fake ax.
“Did you do this?” I ask the real Matt.
But that doesn’t make any sense. He doesn’t know any of these other Matts.
He doesn’t hear me. He’s intent on pulling a red velvet box from his pocket. Oh my gosh. He opens it. There’s a humungous pink diamond that sparkles in the rays of the setting sun.
“Chloe Daniels…will you be my Sistine Chapel? Marry me.”
I stare at him in shock. Then I turn again. A coyote, Matt Number Five, is howling as he dances. How? Then, across the beach, I hear a loud engine roar. A monster truck skids to a stop in the sand.
I know that monster truck. I know the driver. And I know the guy standing in the truck bed dressed like he’s in some crazy Bollywood movie.
“Oh, wow,” I say.
It’s Nick. He’s here. He’s here for
me and he’s going to give me a grand gesture.
My whole body floods with warmth and knowing. I see him and I recognize him. My soul recognizes him and I don’t let fear or mistrust of myself stop that knowledge.
He’s mine.
And I’m his.
I start to walk toward him.
“Chloe,” calls the Real Matt Smith, “kind of proposing here.”
I turn around, “I’m so sorry,” I say. “I’m sorry. I can’t marry you.”
“But…” He looks so confused. “I’m rich. I’m good looking. I’m an artist.”
I pull him back to his feet. “Trust me, we’re not meant to be. But it was really nice to see you again.”
I turn back to Nick and start to run.
“Where are you going?” Matt calls.
“Home,” I yell over my shoulder.
But when I turn back to the monster truck, Nick is gone.
33
Nick
* * *
Chloe’s getting proposed to by Number Seven. Right now he’s on his knees and Chloe’s laughing and pulling him up. Dang it.
It’s over. I tried and I failed.
I hop down from the truck and lean my head against the metal. Then, I hear her. She’s calling me. I lift up my head and come around the truck. Chloe’s running toward me. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my life. I take off across the sand toward her. When she reaches me, I grab her and spin her in the air. She laughs as her dress fans out around her and sand flies around us.
Matt Smith Number Two’s band is singing an original number, and all the other Matts are singing along. They’re doing a terrible job. But it doesn’t matter, because Chloe’s in my arms.
“What are you doing?” she asks. Her arms are around my shoulders and her legs are wrapped around my hips.
“What does it look like?” I ask.
“Making a fool of yourself for a girl?”
“Damn straight I am. Is it working?”
Her eyes light up and I can see the whole world in them. Our future, our happiness, and our love for one another. She smiles, her lips are so close.
“Eh. Maybe a little,” she says. She holds up two fingers and makes the “just a smidge” sign.
“I love you,” I say. “I’ll love you forever and to the end of the earth. I’ll love you if you don’t marry me, I’ll love you if you do. I’ll love you if we have children, I’ll love you if we don’t. I’ll love you if we’re poor, I’ll love you if we’re rich. I’ll love you today, I’ll love you tomorrow. I’ll love you whether I was fated to or not. I’ll love you, always and forever.”
She pulls me close and buries her face in my neck.
“Well?” I ask.
“Yes,” she whispers.
She lifts her face and brings her lips to mine.
“Yes?” I ask.
“Yes. I love you always and forever, too.”
I can’t contain it. I whoop and spin her around and then I take her mouth in mine and kiss her and kiss her and kiss her.
It lasts for an eternity and we don’t stop until I realize the song’s over and all the Matts are standing around watching.
“She said yes.” My heart is bursting.
I grin at the crowd of Matts as they cheer. Then Matt Smith Number One breaks out the champagne.
“What now?” asks Chloe.
And I’m so happy to have her that I don’t have an answer. “I don’t know,” I say. “Let’s think about it tomorrow. Right now, I’ve got a woman I want to love.”
“Good plan,” she says.
We skip the champagne and the party on the beach and head for a bed.
34
Chloe
* * *
Every woman alive is given one man who is guaranteed to turn their life into a monument of awesome. My one man is Nick O’Shea. Every time he shows up my life gets shaken upside down and turned back right.
Aunt Erma always promised that someday I’d find my soul mate. The one man made for me. I thought that fate would tell me who that was, but it turns out, my heart knew.
I look into Nick’s eyes as he slides the gold wedding band on my left hand. All three hundred guests let out a riotous cheer. Now, before you go thinking that I’m the most popular girl in town, I have to tell you, half the town just crashed the party.
Aunt Erma’s been pretty quiet about how things turned out, saying neither nay nor yay to my decision. I slide the wedding ring onto Nick’s hand. It feels like I’ve come home.
“I now pronounce you man and wife,” says Father Green. “You may kiss the bride.”
Nick pulls me in and gives me a toe-curling kiss that lasts way longer than most wedding kisses. Everyone goes wild.
When Nick pulls away there’s a spark in his eyes. He turns to the crowd and says, “Who wants some cake?”
“Unbelievable,” I say.
He laughs, hoists me up and carries me down the aisle. You’d think that nothing could stop him from leaving the church and getting to the street where the limo’s supposed to take us to our reception. But when we get to the sidewalk, he stutters to a stop.
“What?” He looks at me in shock. “How?”
I give a secret smile. “Maybe, since I’m mega rich from all the Dog loves Cat sales, I got her fixed up as your wedding gift.”
He doesn’t say anything. He just stands there and stares at Shelly. She’s all gleaming and beautiful and looking brand spanking new. Let me tell you, it wasn’t easy getting her fixed.
“Is it okay?” I ask. I’m nervous now that he’s seen her and hasn’t said anything for nearly a minute. “Nick?”
“Sparky,” he says. When he looks down at me, his eyes are filled with a heat I recognize. Thank goodness.
“The backseats are gen-u-ine leather,” I say. “Very comfortable.”
He grins and hurries toward the car. He pops me in the front seat and folds the train of my wedding dress in my lap. He runs around to the driver side. When Shelly roars to life he turns to me and smiles.
“Did I mention lately that I love you?” he asks.
With the engine purring and wedding rings on our fingers, I don’t think I could be any happier.
“You may have,” I say.
“We’re going to be late to our reception,” he says.
“You better believe it.”
He pulls Shelly onto the road and I reach out to take his hand. When I look in her backseat, I notice a present.
“What’s that?” I ask. I reach for the gift. It’s wrapped in red paper and a gold bow. On the card it says, Open Immediately.
I carefully untie the bow and pull open the wrapping paper. I stare at the gift in shock.
“Do you see this?” I ask.
Nick looks. Then he looks again. Then he pulls over.
We both stare at the photograph.
“That’s me,” I say.
I’m two years old. I’m wearing a pink frilly bathing suit and I’m sitting in a kiddie pool in my backyard.
“And that’s me,” says Nick.
He’s got black hair, chubby cheeks, and he’s sitting in the pool with me.
“And we’re kissing,” I say.
I run my hands over the photograph. Nick and I are two years old and we’re kissing in a kiddie pool in my backyard.
“Unbelievable,” he says.
“You’re my soul mate,” I say.
“Yeah, Sparky. I already knew that.”
Then I start to laugh. Unbelievable. I roll down the window and I chuck the photograph into the woods. “Yeah. So did I. So did I.”
I lean over and give Nick the second of many, many more kisses as husband and wife.
Then we pull back onto the road and start the first day of the rest of our lives.
* * *
THE END
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Also by Sarah Ready
Stand Alone Romances:
Hero Ever After
The Fall in Love Checklist
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Soul mates in Romeo Series:
Chasing Romeo
Love Not at First Sight
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Find more books by Sarah Ready at:
www.sarahready.com/romance-books
About the Author
Sarah Ready is the author of The Fall in Love Checklist and Hero Ever After. She writes contemporary romance and romantic comedy. Chasing Romeo is the first book in her new Soul Mates in Romeo romance series. You can find her online at www.sarahready.com.
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