Meant To Be Mine
THE BOY NEXT DOOR IS BACK… AND AFTER HER HEART!He’s a “gift” – a referral from the Matchmaking Mamas – sent by Tiffany Lee’s mother to do her bathroom remodel. But the real surprise is that Tiffany already knows Eddie Montoya. When they were little, he was her playground protector. When they were in college, Eddie was her campus competition. And now she’s a teacher and he’s her handyman?Well, just on weekends. On Monday morning, Eddie shows up at Tiffany’s school–as the new third grade teacher. When a fundraising contest between classes is announced, the old rivalry heats up. And it’s game on! Except as the playful competition intensifies, so do their feelings for each other. And Eddie begins to wonder if they might work better…as a team.
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The boy next door is back...and after her heart!
Heâs a âgiftââa referral from the Matchmaking Mamasâsent by Tiffany Leeâs mother to do her bathroom remodel. But the real surprise is that Tiffany already knows Eddie Montoya. When they were little, he was her playground protector. When they were in college, Eddie was her campus competition. And now sheâs a teacher and heâs her handyman?
Well, just on weekends. On Monday morning, Eddie shows up at Tiffanyâs schoolâas the new third-grade teacher. When a fund-raising contest between classes is announced, the old rivalry heats up. And itâs game on! Except as the playful competition intensifies, so do their feelings for each other. And Eddie begins to wonder if they might work better...as a team.
âI was thinking of making tiramisu, but ran out of time. Next time,â he promised.
That caught her completely off guard.
âNext time?â she repeated, feeling as if the words were suddenly falling from her lips in cartoonlike slow motion.
âYes. Unless you want to be the one to make the dessert,â he told her.
Except for scrambled eggs and toast, she was a total disaster in the kitchen when it came to doing anything but cleaning it.
âIâd rather not have to call the paramedics,â she told him.
His smile was nothing if not encouraging. âIt canât be that bad.â
âItâs not that good, either,â she told him.
It was supposed to be a flat, flippant denial but she just couldnât seem to get her head in gear because her mind was currently focused elsewhere.
It was focused on the way Eddieâs lips moved when he spoke.
Tiffany rose to her feet, thinking that she would make a getaway, or at least make some sort of an excuse and slip into the bathroom, away from him. But he rose with her and suddenly she wasnât going anywhere.
At least not without her lips, and they were currently occupied. More specifically, they were pressing against his.
* * *
Matchmaking Mamas: Playing Cupid. Arranging dates. What are mothers for?
USA TODAY bestselling and RITA® Awardâwinning author MARIE FERRARELLA has written more than two hundred and fifty books for Mills & Boon, some under the name Marie Nicole. Her romances are beloved by fans worldwide. Visit her website, www.marieferrarella.com.
To Tiffany Khauo-Melgar & Edy Melgar
Wishing You Happiness Forever & Always
And
To the Memory of Anne J. Nocton My Fifth Grade Teacher Who First Made Me Believe I Had Talent
Contents
Tiffany Leeâs eyes lit up the moment that she saw him.
She might only be four years old, but she was a woman who knew her own heart and her heart belonged to Monty. That was what he told her his name was when she got up the nerve to ask him.
Monty.
His family lived in the house down the block and had only been there a couple of months, but it was long enough for her to make up her mind that when she grew up, she was going to marry him.
âLetâs go, Tiffany, you are making your sisters late for school,â her mother scolded.
She was deliberately dawdling, hanging back until Monty could catch up to her. He went to her school, as did his sisters.
âIâm trying to button my sweater, Mama,â she said, seizing the first excuse she could think of. It was a cool spring morning and her sweater was hanging open because sheâd put the buttons into the wrong holes and had to start again.
Her mother looked at her impatiently. She had rules about being late. Mama had rules about everything. She said you couldnât grow up properly without rules to guide you.
âYou do not need to button your sweater, it is not cold,â Mei-Li Lee told her youngest born. âJust hold it against you. Now come!â
âI can help you button that,â the boy who had caught her young heart offered, coming up to her. âIt wonât take long,â he promised.
She stood their, perfectly still, watching as his fingers pushed each button on her sweater through a hole. She felt like a princess and he was her prince.
And someday, she thought again, he would be her husband.
* * *
âTake your time, dear,â Theresa Manetti told the dignified looking, slightly flustered Asian-American woman sitting in the chair beside her desk. âI have all afternoon.â
That wasnât entirely true. At the moment Theresa had approximately half an hour to spare, but she didnât want the other woman to feel pressured or rushed.
They were sitting in her back office. The owner of a thriving catering company that had enjoyed more than a dozen years of success, Theresa had practically every minute of her time accounted for. But the award-winning chef trusted her people to capably carry on without her supervision for however long it took her friend, Mrs. Mei-Li Lee, to get around to asking what Theresa already knew in her heart the woman wanted to ask.
