Match Me If You Can
From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes a warm, funny story of brilliant women, recycled exes and the power of best friends.Catherine's ex-husband and business partner drops a bombshell over their Chardonnay: he’s about to marry his twenty-three year old girlfriend. Catherine has bras that are older than his new fiancée, yet he’s about to install her in Catherine’s beloved matchmaking business.Meanwhile, architect Rachel is battling romantic mistake, James, to win their firm’s biggest project. So when she joins Catherine’s website, RecycLove.com, where everyone recycles an ex for the chance of an upgrade, she knows just who she’s going to trade in.And it’s time for homebody baker, Sarah, to stop worrying about everyone else for a change. She reluctantly joins RecycLove.com with Rachel, but as minor adjustments to improve her chances turn into a complete overhaul, will her newfound popularity be worth the sacrifices she’s making?
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MICHELE GORMAN
Match Me If You Can
Published by Avon
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins 2016
Copyright © Michele Gorman 2016
Cover illustration © Lisa Horton 2016
Michele Gorman asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780007585663
Ebook Edition © January 2016 ISBN: 9780007585670
Version: 2015-12-11
Contents
Chapter Twenty-Five: Catherine
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Catherine
Chapter Thirty-Four: Catherine
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Catherine
Chapter Forty-Three: Catherine
‘What did you say?’ Catherine whispered as Richard calmly sipped the last of his wine. Even as her insides churned, she knew her face gave nothing away. Fifteen years of practice with him gave her the kind of composure that poker players dreamed of.
Only this didn’t feel like a winning hand.
‘I’ve asked Magda to marry me,’ he repeated, this time at least having the decency to look contrite. He glanced around the busy Soho restaurant. ‘Kate, you’re not about to freak out, are you?’
‘Don’t call me Kate. And when have I ever freaked out?’
Catherine wasn’t a freaker-outer, at least not in public. Richard would have known that when he planned his matrimonial ambush. She glared over his shoulder at an empty spot on the wall. Don’t you dare cry, she warned herself. He’ll only get the wrong idea and then everything will be really awkward. Besides, it was none of his business any more how she felt. She took a shaky breath. ‘I’m …’ She stopped when the word came out squeaky. ‘I’m just surprised, that’s all. I didn’t know you were so serious after only a few months.’
A few months! She’d been with him for years before she’d even left her toothbrush at his place. And now he was getting engaged to a woman he hadn’t even known for as long as his Waitrose delivery man.
‘It was a year last weekend, actually. We went to the rooftop bar at SushiSamba to celebrate.’
‘Oh, she’s finally legal then?’
Catherine probably had bras that were older than Magda.
‘You know,’ said Richard, signalling the waiter for the bill. ‘Cattiness isn’t flattering on you.’
Maybe not but it was better than letting her real thoughts fly.
‘Neither is dating someone who has to ask her dad to borrow the car keys.’
‘You know very well that she’s twenty-three. She’s mature for her age.’
‘And firm, I bet.’
A whisper of a smirk played around Richard’s mouth, despite the fact that she was savaging his girlfriend.
Catherine didn’t wish for her twenties back. Just some of their elasticity. Tall and slim, with thick dark hair that dried straight and swingy, her peaches-and-cream complexion and direct hazel eyes all helped her pull off the classically professional look she’d cultivated for so long. She knew she looked good for thirty-six. As long as she didn’t stand beside her ex-husband’s new fiancée.
He sighed. ‘Let’s not fight. I wanted you to be the first to know because you’re my best friend. Magda has her heart set on a spring wedding.’
