Match Me If You Can (The Ever After Agency) by Sandy Barker

Author:Sandy Barker [Barker, Sandy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Published: 2023-09-27T16:00:00+00:00

Tristan

She’s attractive in an unassuming way, reminding me of a particular actress whose name I don’t know – the one in that film about Stephen Hawking. Not that it particularly matters, her attractiveness. This is essentially a business arrangement. Once we get past the awkward hello – why did I have to attempt a cheek kiss? – we move onto discussing the view, which admittedly is spectacular, especially seeing the Shard from this angle. I quite like that building.

‘So,’ I say, picking up the menu, ‘have you been here before?’

‘A few times,’ she replies with a reserved smile.

‘And what would you recommend?’ I ask, perusing the options.

‘Depends on your preferences,’ she replies, no help at all. ‘I’ll be having the lobster for starters, the fillet for main, and I’m undecided about dessert – the souffle perhaps.’

I hadn’t counted on a three-course lunch. Not only is it quite heavy for the middle of the day, I’m not sure I’ll have time, as I have a meeting at three. There’s also the pressure of having to sustain conversation for the duration. Still, in for a penny, in for a pound, I suppose. Or in the case of this lunch, many pounds.

‘Right,’ I say just as the waiter arrives. ‘Not sure I’ll have time for dessert. How about we just have starters and mains?’

Alexandra acquiesces with a peevish-looking nod, then rattles off her choices to the waiter, adding, ‘And I’ll have a glass of the Dom Perignon to start and the burgundy with my main.’ She closes her menu and looks at me expectantly. Two things occur to me: she didn’t so much as glance at the wine menu, making me wonder if she’s been here more than ‘a few times’ and she also didn’t say ‘please’ when she spoke to the waiter.

‘I’ll have the pâté and the sea bass, please,’ I tell him.

‘And to drink, sir?’

‘Just a Pellegrino, please.’

He leaves and Alexandra regards me, making me feel like I’m being scrutinised – which, of course, I am. ‘So, you need a wife?’

Surprisingly, her candour sets me at ease. ‘Er, yes. How much were you told by the agency?’

She counts off on her fingers, beginning with her pinkie. ‘You’re thirty-five in less than a month. You need to be married by then to inherit. This is a marriage of convenience only. Two years, then divorce.’ She gets to her thumb and lingers, pressing it back with her other forefinger. ‘And there’s a payment. For me I mean. A quarter of a million pounds, payable in two instalments. The first, in a year.’

Well, there’s candour and there’s crassness. And I had enough of the latter from Vittoria, though at least this is financial rather than sexual.

‘That’s correct,’ I say, reaching for my water glass. I take a great gulp and look out at the view again. What am I getting myself into? And not just with Alexandra. Am I really about to embark on a marriage with a stranger? Thankfully, our drinks arrive only a short time later, the presence of a third person helping to cut through the tense atmosphere.

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