Page 6 of The Match Faker

She wanted us to be caught. She planned it all.

Shit.

‘This isn’t my fault!’

‘Save your lame excuses. You’re done, Stone! No one takes advantage of my little girl and gets away with it!’

I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it again.

Telling him that we didn’t have sex wouldn’t matter at this point. The damage was already done.

Henry’s face was redder than a ripe tomato. He looked like he was seconds away from punching me, and the last thing I wanted to do was retaliate and knock him out.

So I left, knowing that although it wasn’t my fault, losing the movie deal was only the beginning.

You didn’t need to be a psychic to know there’d be serious consequences from tonight.

And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop them.

3

Mia

Two weeks later

The sound of my high heels on the shiny white tiled floors echoed around me as I walked towards the reception of my office building.

‘Morning, George.’ I smiled.

‘Morning, Mia. Got some post for you.’ He picked up a pile of letters and passed them over the glossy black reception desk.

‘Thanks! Have a good day.’

As I headed towards the lift and pressed the button to the third floor, I took in my surroundings. I loved this building. Everything was immaculate.

It was built a few years ago and because a lot of people were used to working from home, they’d struggled to get businesses to fill it. That meant I’d secured an amazing introductory deal on the rent for the first two years. There was no way I could’ve afforded it otherwise.

Although my deal was ending soon, I’d been a good tenant, so hopefully the landlord would take that into account when he set the new rate.

The doors slid open and I stepped inside, taking in the views of the River Thames and Tower Bridge in the distance through the glass walls.

Whenever clients came for meetings, they always gushed about the views. It created a good first impression and made them think the business was doing well. I was glad they didn’t know the truth.

I exited the lift and walked along the corridor to my office. The light was on, which meant my best friend, Trudy, was already here.

The strong aroma of coffee hit me as soon as I opened the door. The medium-sized office had wooden floors, two large glass desks and a vibrant red lips-shaped sofa, which was another talking point for clients.

Photos of happy couples I’d matched adorned the walls of my side of the office. Looking at them always made me smile.

‘You bought coffee!’ I said as I pulled out my chair.

‘Yep! I needed it. I look like death warmed up this morning.’

She totally did not. Trudy’s chocolate-coloured bob still had those cool natural waves that would take anyone else ages to recreate and although her white skin was a little paler than usual, her brown eyes still sparkled. Plus, Trudy was a fan of colourful patterns and clothes. So that bright red, yellow and orange blouse she was wearing made her look very much alive.

‘You’re chatting rubbish! You’re glowing!’

‘Thanks, babes. The power of caffeine should never be underestimated! I thought you might need a decent coffee too. I don’t know how you can drink that crap.’ She grimaced, pointing to the jar on top of the mini fridge opposite my desk.

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