Pregnant by the Maverick Millionaire(3)

Funny, Brodie had talked more to Kade in three weeks than she had to anybody-Jan and Poppy included-for the last decade.

Well, that thought had barreled in from nowhere. Brodie rarely, if ever,  thought about Kade Webb during daylight hours. Memories of him, his  kiss, his hard body under her hands, were little gifts she gave to  herself at night, in the comfort of the dark.

"Being asked out on dates is an occupational hazard." Brodie stretched  out her spine and rolled her head on her shoulders in an effort to work  out the kinks.

Jan pushed a pretty pink plate holding a chocolate chip cookie across the table. "Maybe this will make you feel better."

It would, but Brodie knew there was something other than sympathy behind Jan's fat-and-sugar-laden gesture. "What do you want?"

"My cousin is in her thirties and is open to using a matchmaker. I suggested you."

Brodie scowled at her friend, but she couldn't stop herself from  breaking off the corner of the cookie and lifting it to her mouth.  Flavors exploded on her tongue and she closed her eyes in ecstasy.  "Better than sex, I swear."

"Honey, if my cookies are better than sex, then you ain't doing it  right," Jan replied, her voice tart. She leaned forward, her bright blue  eyes inquisitive. "You having sex you haven't told me about, Brodie?"

She wished. The closest she'd come to sex was Kade Webb's hot kiss six  months ago, but sex itself? She thought back. Three or so years?                       
       
           



       

She was pathetic.

After taking another bite of the cookie, Brodie pulled her thoughts from  her brief encounter with the CEO of the Mavericks professional ice  hockey team and narrowed her eyes at her friend. "You know I only take  men as my clients, Jan."

"Which is a stupid idea. You are halving your market," Jan said, her  business sense offended. But Brodie's business model worked; Brodie  dealt with men, while her associate Colin only had women clients. They  pooled their databases and office resources. As a result, they were  doing okay. In the hectic twenty-first century-the age of the internet,  icky diseases and idiots-singles wanted help wading through the dating  cesspool.

"Women are too emotional, too picky and too needy. Too much drama," Brodie told Jan. Again.

Brodie snapped off another piece of cookie and wrinkled her nose when  she realized she'd eaten most of it. She was a sucker for chocolate. And  cookies. Thank the Lord she had a fast metabolism. She still ran every  day, but never in the morning.

"The men don't really want to date me. They just like the attention I  pay them. They tend to forget they are paying me to pay attention. And I  know far too much about them too soon."

An alert on her tablet told her she'd received a new email. Jan pushed  herself to her feet. "I'll let you get back to work. Do you want another  cup of coffee?"

Brodie already had caffeine-filled veins but why should that matter? "Please."

She swiped her finger across her tablet and accessed her inbox. She'd  received quite a few messages when she'd been dealing with Mr. Suave but  only one made her pulse accelerate.

Your donation to the auction at the Mavericks' Charity Ball filled the  subject line and all the moisture in her mouth disappeared. Jeez, she'd  had a brief encounter with Kade months ago, shouldn't she have forgotten  about him by now?

Unfortunately Kade wasn't the type of man who was easily forgotten. And,  if she had to be truthful, she still missed those early-morning runs  when it seemed like they had the park to themselves. She missed the way  her heart kicked up when she saw him, missed the way he pushed her to  run faster, train harder. She'd enjoyed him, enjoyed that time with him,  more than she should have.

Brodie rubbed her hands over her face and gave herself a mental slap.  She was almost thirty, a successful business owner and matchmaker to  some of the sharpest, richest, most successful bachelors in the city.  She should not be thinking about the sharpest, richest, best-looking  bachelor in the city.

Pathetic squared. Brodie shook her head at her ridiculousness and opened the email.

Dear Ms. Stewart,

On behalf of the Chief Executive Officer of the Vancouver Mavericks,  Kade Webb, may I extend our heartfelt gratitude for your donation to the  Mavericks' auction to be held on June 19.

Attached is your invitation to a luncheon my department is hosting for  our valued sponsors earlier on the day. You are most welcome to attend  the ball and charity auction; the cost and details are attached.

We look forward to your presence at lunch on the 19 of June. Please see the attached document for the venue and time.

Yours,

Wren Bayliss

Public Relations Director

Vancouver Mavericks

Thanks but, no thanks. She wouldn't be attending. Donating to the  charity auction had been Colin's idea and he could attend the luncheon  and ball on their behalf. She wasn't even sure donating their services  to the charity auction would raise any money... What bachelor or  bachelorette would admit to wanting to use a matchmaker in a room full  of their friends and colleagues? Their business was based on discretion  and her clients came to her, mostly, via word of mouth. But Wren, and  Colin, had dismissed Brodie's concerns. They seemed to think sisters,  brothers and friends would bid on their siblings' or friends' behalf.  Besides, the guest could bid silently via cell phone as well, so  anonymity, if it was required, would be assured.

Thanks to the competition of online matchmaking Colin was convinced they  needed to cement their position as matchmakers to the elite of  Vancouver society and they needed to network more and foster  relationships. Being part of the Mavericks' silent auction was a huge  coup and would be excellent direct advertising to their target group.  Since marketing and PR was Colin's forte, she'd told him he could  represent them at the luncheon.

Yes, a part of her reluctance was the fact there was a chance Kade would  be at the function. Months might've passed but she was still  embarrassed down to her two-inch designer heels. She'd acted like a  ditzy virgin who said yes but meant no. God! How could she be in the  same room with him without wanting to jump him-the man still fueled her  sexual fantasies-but also wanting to hide under the table?                       
       
           



       

Her computer dinged again and she looked at the new message that popped into her inbox.

Hey, Brodes,

I presume you received an invite to attend the sponsor's lunch hosted by  the Mavericks? I can't attend. Kay and I are seeing a fertility  specialist that day. Can you go and do the thing for us both?

Thanks,

Col

Brodie groaned.

Please let Kade not be there, she prayed.





Two

"Whose stupid idea was this?"

Kade Webb scowled at his two best friends and rolled his shoulders under  his suit jacket, wishing he was anywhere but in the crowded,  over-perfumed bar area of Taste, one of the best restaurants in  Vancouver. He'd spent most of last night reading P&L statements and  had spent a long, tedious morning with Josh Logan's hard-ass agent  negotiating a deal to buy the hotshot wing, and all he wanted was to  plant himself behind his messy desk and make a dent in his paperwork. He  was trying to finalize their-his, Mac's and Quinn's-partnership with  old man Bayliss, Wren's grandfather, so the four of them could make a  solid counteroffer to buy the Mavericks franchise before Vernon's widow  sold it to Boris Chenko, a Russian billionaire who owned a string of now  generic sports franchises.

Kade didn't have the time to socialize. To play nice.

What he really wanted, despite it only being noon, was a cold beer, a  long shower and some hot sex. Or, to save time, some long, hot sex in a  shower. Since he hadn't had time to date lately the hot sex would have  to be a solo act later-how sad, too bad-but really, he'd give it all up,  sex included, for a solid eight hours of sleep.

He was burning the candle at both ends and somewhere in the middle, as well.

"Will you please take that scowl off your face?"

Kade looked down into the face of his newly appointed director of public  relations and wondered, for the hundredth time, why there was no sexual  attraction between him and Wren. She was gorgeous, slim, vivacious and  smart, but she didn't rock his boat. He didn't rock hers, either. They  were friends, just like he was with Mac's new fiancée, Rory, and for the  first time in Kade's life he was enjoying uncomplicated female  relationships.

That being said, he still wouldn't say no to some uncomplicated sex.

"Kade, concentrate!" Wren slammed her elbow into his side and he pulled his attention back to business.

"Your guests of honor, the main sponsors, should be arriving any minute  and you need to pay them some special attention," Wren insisted, a tiny  foot tapping her only indication of nervousness.