Finding His Mrs. Right (Mending Hearts Series) (2 page)

“How about I just get out of here?” She replied
as her smile immediately turned into an annoyed frown.

Had I insulted her? She seemed like the type to
be down for a good time.

“Excuse me?” I asked watching her grab her things
, as she got up from the table. Being left alone wasn’t something I was used to. Women never walked away from me. I was Landon Brooks, for Christ sakes.

“You failed
, Mr. Brooks.” She said, staring down at me.

“Failed?” I asked confused.

“Yes, you failed my first test. There’s no way you’re ready for a girlfriend, let alone a soul mate.” She scoffed.

“You know nothing about me. You were sent here by an agency.” I protested a bit amused.

“Wrong,
my
name is Tessa Winters. The woman you met earlier was a friend of mines, named Gwen.” The real Tessa informed me.

“Either way, I didn’t do anything wrong.” I insisted smiling up at her.

“You did nothing wrong? For starters, you never once asked me my name. The whole conversation was based on you and your money. Then not even five minutes into the date, you ask to get me drunk and take me home with you. If that’s how you do dates, Mr. Brooks, then we have a serious problem.” She pointed out.

If I weren’t so up my own ass, I’m sure I would’ve felt embarrassed, but there was no way I was about to give her the satisfaction. So instead, I leaned back in my chair as I watched her continue her rant.

“Mr. Brooks, you only have me for four weeks. You better get your act together before I even consider sending you on a real date.” She snapped before sauntering off.

Two

“So, let me get this straight—”
my best friend, Tyler, started as he handed me a beer. “You paid a woman to find you a girlfriend?”

Hearing it coming out of his mouth
had made me sound pretty pathetic. Tyler had been my best friend since elementary school. We’d played football together in high school, but branched off, after graduating. Tyler had gotten a scholarship for football, and we ended up going to different colleges. I became overly successful, and Tyler settled down early. Not by choice though.

Tyler had gotten his high school girlfriend pregnant, and put his life on hold.
Giving up his scholarship, he did what he had to do. Working regular jobs to get by had become his everyday life. Even through all of that though, we’d remained close. When I started my company, I gave him a job immediately.

Nodding, I sipped my beer as Tyler sat in the chair beside me at the bar.
I had informed him about what happened the night before. He of course found it amusing as I thought he would. Looking down at my watch, I saw I only had fifteen minutes before I had to be at a charity event. Yeah, I was dressed in my best at the bar before I had to go to a charity event, but so what? I made it my business to take every Friday night out and put it to the side for Tyler. We’d had drinks every Friday night for the past 6 years, and no charity event was going to stop that.

“
Landon, you know you could practically have any girl you wanted. You just don’t try.” Tyler insisted, taking a drink.

“I don’t have enough time.” I shrugged.

“So, why even try to get a girlfriend? If you don’t have time for one now, what do you think will change that?” he asked raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t know.” I said, truthfully.

Looking at my watch again, I sighed.

“You’ve been looking at that thing all night. Go on and get out of here
, before you’re late.” Tyler shooed.

“Alright, give
Danny a kiss for me.” I replied, getting up from the stool.

Danny was Tyler’s 6 year old son. Tyler named him after me for some rea
son, even though I begged him not to. His whole name was Landan, but we called him Danny for short. I was his godfather, and for good reason.

Pulling out my wallet, I pulled out two twenties, but Tyler refused.
He was like that, and that was the reason I knew we were truly friends. He hated taking any type of money from me, even when he truly needed it. Not that he needed anything nowadays. I made sure his paychecks were enough to support his family, and then some.

“I got it.” He smiled, finishing his beer.

“See you tomorrow.” I replied, fixing my tux, before grabbing my black pea coat, and umbrella.

The
blonde female bartender, who was eyeing me the whole night, slipped me a napkin that I had no doubt bore her phone number. I flashed her my award winning smile, before crumbling the number, and throwing it in my pocket.

“See? All you have to do is
try.” Tyler said, sarcastically.

“Yeah, yeah.”
I chuckled before leaving the bar.

Standing at the door, I was greeted by a cold gust of wind, and unwelcomed rain. Thunder crackled as lightening filled the sky. Opening my umbrella, I put it over head and started walking to the parking lot. My
red and black Bugatti was sitting so prettily, as I walked towards it. Pulling out my keys, I unlocked the door, before climbing in, and sliding into the leather seat. I shuddered as a chill ran down my spine. Being cold wasn’t something I liked. It was a thing that always triggered bad memories for me.

Starting up the car, I cranked up the heat, and put my seat warmers on. I didn’t have time to waste, so revving up my engine I tore out of the parking lot, before turning on my radio. ‘
Linkin’ Park’ blared from my speakers. It was the last song I’d been listening to that morning before work. Driving down the barren street, I stopped at a red light. The hard rain pounded on my windshield, as I tapped my thumb on my steering wheel.

If I was late to this event it wasn’t going to look good on my part.
I was after all the founder, and guest of honor. I was already going to have to show up alone. The tabloids were going to eat that up. I’d barely been seen in public with female companions because dates weren’t my thing. I wasn’t the romantic type. I didn’t do flowers and candy—I guess that was due to the lack of a positive male figure growing up. Who knows?

The light turned green, and I zoomed off. Rounding the corner, I spotted a woman standing beside her stranded car. Her violet dress was
clinging to her body, and her dark hair was pinned up. The hood of the car was popped open, and smoke was clawing its way to the dark sky. The unforgiving rain had drenched her, and I felt compelled to stop. After all, it was dark out, and anything could’ve happened to her. Slowing down, I stopped in front of her and rolled my window down a bit. A smile immediately teased my lips, and I couldn’t contain it.

“Funny seeing you out here
, Ms. Winters. Car trouble?” I asked sarcastically.

Rollin
g her eyes, she folded her arms across her chest, annoyed. Even in this light, she was pretty. Not that I would tell her that. I was sure she got it all the time.

I couldn’t believ
e
out of every person living in Colorado Springs, the person who stopped for me, was none other than multi-millionaire, Landon Brooks. He was the most eligible bachelor in town, who happened to have great looks, all the charm, and money to match at a young age. He’d built his empire from nothing, and was at the top of his game. But, after meeting him the night before, I only came to one conclusion. Landon Brooks was nothing more than a jerk. Staring at his car, I could see he liked to splurge his money on nothing but expensive things.

The only thing that was missing was his gold digging bride, which I assumed was the reason he’d hired me. At least I knew he was
n’t gay because he had made a play for me. So, that meant I had to find him a woman. I wasn’t sure before meeting him because there were rumors that he might’ve been batting for the other team. Those rumors were circulating because Landon has never been seen out with a woman, unless it was his sister. Finding a woman for him definitely would be easy. Landon was gorgeous. He had a head full of luscious auburn hair, and striking crystal blue seas for eyes to match.

Not to mention, he towered over six feet and had a very athletic build. Sighing, I realized I was profiling him, like I usually do for every client that walked through my door. It was a habit of mines that I have yet learned to break. Shaking off the thoughts, I realized I was getting drenched in the rain while Mr. Millionaire was nice and warm in his car.

“Can you help me?” I asked, ignoring the banter that he was trying to have between us.

“Sure.”
he nodded, pulling his car over and getting out.

I couldn’t believe he had been so chivalrous. It was something I definitely didn’t expect from him. So, I made a mental note of it for later.
Shivering, I couldn’t believe my bad luck. The car had sputtered and stopped in the middle of town, just as I was heading back to my hotel.

I watched Landon get out of his car and open his umbrella. Walking across the street to me, he handed me the umbrella
, before looking into my car. I held the umbrella over us as he peered at what was under my hood. I knew nothing about cars, so I wouldn’t have known where to start.

“Where’s your coat
, Ms. Winters?” Landon asked me.

“It was nice earlier. I wasn’t expecting rain.” I said truthfully.

“That’s right; you’re not from around here. So, you’re not accustomed to the weather.” Landon replied looking over at me.

“Right.”
I nodded.

I was from New York, and usually traveled when my high powered clients needed me. When I got a call from Landon, I was surprised. He didn’t seem like the type to be looking to
for love at such an early age. Most young, wealthy bachelors stayed single and sought me out in their mid-thirties. So, needless to say, Landon Brooks was a tiny mystery to me. So, I gave myself a one month limit to whip him into shape, and find him the perfect woman. If I could pull this off, I was sure that even more high powered tycoons would be tearing down my doorstep just to get a look.

“You’re car’s starter is dead.” Landon replied gripping my attention.

“I should’ve known not to rent it, but it was the last car they had, and I really needed to get around.” I shivered.

“
Here.” Landon replied, taking off his black pea coat, before draping it over my shoulders. I snuggled into it as the scent of his fresh body soap danced in my nostrils. Landon Brooks was definitely a good smelling guy. I watched him as he checked his watch and frowned.

“Is something wrong?” I asked curiously.
I wasn’t oblivious the fact that he was suited in a tux.

“
I have somewhere to be Ms. Winters, and I don’t want to leave you stranded here alone.” He said giving me a once over. “You’re dressed properly, would you like to attend a charity event with me?”

“Charity event?”
I asked, raising an eyebrow, although I was already leaning towards going. I was willing to go anywhere with him, just to get out of this rain.

“I can explain it to you while we’re on our way, but I’m already late. So, what do you say?” he asked rushed.

“Sure.” I answered, before following him back to his car.

Sliding into the leather seat, I took in the i
nside of the car. He had his initials embedded on his steering wheel. As I guessed, Landon had most likely spent way more on this car, than he probably should’ve. I never could grasp what kind of joy a person could possibly feel by blowing millions of dollars on a cold piece of steel. At the end of the day, it was only a car.

Landon slipped into the driver’s seat, and
stared over at me. He waited until I snapped my seatbelt securely, before starting the car, and pulling off. His choice of music was entertaining. I would’ve never taken him for a rock lover. It was something I secretly loved as well, but that was neither here nor there. The warmth from the air vents surrounded me, and took away the chill I had been subjected to.

Landon drove steadily, as I pulled down the
sunshield. I checked myself out in the mirror and saw that I was fairly decent. The rain had dampened my hair, but not to the point of ruin. Still, I opened my purse and pulled out a comb before I began to groom myself. I saw Landon look at me from the corner of his eye, so I started a conversation.