Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Flo turned it back on her. “Then why don’t you match yourself with one? Do you think you’re not good enough?”
Michaela snorted loudly, but Flo’s words had a little sting to them. “It’s just not a world where I’d fit in. There’s too much money, too many parties, too many events, and too much ego.”
“You certainly fit in tonight,” her mother said dryly.
“That’s because I was working. It’s completely different. I was there to interview Gabby Harrington. It was business, not personal. But for myself, I’d prefer a man who’s worked hard, pulled himself up by his bootstraps.” She huffed out a breath. “Like we did.”
Flo didn’t give in. “I’m sure there are some very nice billionaires out there who’ve pulled themselves up by their bootstraps.”
Michaela came up with another brilliant idea to again steer her mother in another direction. “Maybe we need to look up Walter Braedon. I wonder if he inherited his hotel empire? Or if he started it himself? Maybe he pulled himself up by his bootstraps too.”
Flo gave her a look. “Are you trying to matchmake for me?”
Michaela gave her mother the most innocent smile. “I just noticed a few sparks, that’s all.” Then she waggled her eyebrows. “Sparks are always worth looking into.”
Her mother’s lips flatlined. “Michaela Killian, don’t you dare look up Walter online. And don’t matchmake for me either.”
Michaela noticed her mother hadn’t denied the sparks.
But then it struck her. Were sparks a good thing? After all, Walter Braedon was a billionaire. And Flo could easily get her heart broken a second time. Michaela could not stand it if her mother got hurt.
Maybe, after all, it was better for Flo to steer clear. Just as it was better for Michaela to steer clear of Troy Harrington in any other capacity than as a client.
The best thing Michaela could do was find the perfect match for him ASAP.
Michaela spent the Monday after Gareth Tate’s exhibition searching for a match for Gabby Harrington. She’d never had such a tough time, though she usually found it was harder to find good matches for women than men. Gabby wanted perfect, but of course no man was perfect. Spending time with Gabby at the showing—where she’d literally had to tell Troy to shut up and get out because he kept wanting to put his two cents in—she’d quizzed the woman about herself, about how she viewed her own life and herself as a human being. She did not ask about the kind of man she might be interested in. Often, people thought they wanted one thing, when in reality they wanted something entirely different. Michaela had always found it best to learn everything she could about her client first.
A vivacious free spirit, Gabby owned a franchise of plant-based bakery cafés. When starting her business, she’d seen a hole she could fill as more and more people chose a plant-based diet. And they were dying for yummy baked goods. She wasn’t militant about converting anyone else to the lifestyle and even occasionally indulged in meat products.
“Sometimes I crave a hearty, meaty dish,” Gabby had admitted.
And Michaela had added, “Oh my gosh, you’d love my mother’s Irish stew.”
Gabby created the recipes, although if a franchisee or an employee came up with something amazing, she loved to add it to the menu, giving them credit. She operated her own bakery café in Carmel, which was where she did all her testing and apparently had quite an extensive kitchen. She was all about her work. Her forms of relaxation were long walks on the beach, hiking at Point Lobos or any of the other nearby state parks, and reading.
Now Michaela was having difficulty finding the perfect match for the workaholic baker. But it was only her first day on the job, and she still had high hopes.
Troy, on the other hand, was quite simple. He was fun-loving with a humorous nature, goal-oriented, intelligent, and hardworking, if his gold medals, his sporting goods empire, and his new venture with Matt Tremont were any indication. Michaela represented a number of accomplished women looking for the right match.
Yet Michaela kept passing over candidate after candidate.
This went on into Tuesday morning. The truth was she felt a little hitch in her chest every time she thought about picking up the phone to call a potential match for him. She’d never felt jealousy over any of the men she’d matched with amazing women. Because she didn’t date billionaires. She just didn’t. Which meant she couldn’t be jealous over Troy Harrington.
“Get over yourself,” she hissed to her empty office. Then she forced herself to dial.
When Michaela took her own emotions out of the equation, Alice Fletcher was a perfect match. After extolling Troy’s virtues, she said to Alice, “I think you’d enjoy spending time with Troy.”
Alice huffed out a breath. “I’m not sold on the idea,” she admitted. “He’s not exactly my type. You know I like the brainy ones rather than the sporty ones.”