Page 10 of I Knew You Were Trouble

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Poppy

‘You’re ready early this morning, darling.’

Tristan, who’s usually up first, strides into the kitchen dressed in a suit and tie – standard work attire for an investment banker, even these days. As always, he looks like he’s stepped right off the runway in Milan. Though, my handsome hubby could make a sack cloth look good.

‘Mm-hmm,’ I reply, accepting a cheek kiss. I sip from my enormous mug of tea, watching as he begins the (overly complicated) process of making coffee with his new espresso machine.

‘So, something special on?’ he asks.

I wait until the loud grinding stops to reply. ‘I’ve got a client coming in for an early meeting – she’s had to squeeze it in before work. Actually, she’s aformerclient.’

‘Formerclient?’ Tristan glances over his shoulder, then resumes fiddling with the machine. ‘Any idea what it’s about?’

‘Not really. The last time I heard from her, she’d matched through another agency. Maybe it fell through and she wants to re-engage us.’

The espresso machine starts gurgling and I take my tea and climb onto a stool at the breakfast bar.

‘Meow.’

‘Oh, good morning, you little minx,’ I say to our cat, Saffron. ‘Thanks for waking me up at two and then again at four.Soappreciated when I had to be up at six.’ Though, Tristan and I also had a late-ish night, something I can’t blame on Saffron, as we’re trying to get pregnant.

Saffron sniffs the air, then struts past me, beelining for Tristan, who’s her favourite. He lifts her up one-handed and sips his espresso, and Saffron starts purring loudly.

‘Has that happened before?’ he asks, resuming our conversation. ‘A client engaging two matchmakers at once? Seems a bit… unorthodox.’

‘It’s not the norm, but it does happen. Some clients like to cover their bases – especially if there’s a time crunch or some other mitigating factor.’

‘Such as having to marry in the next forty days or forego a sizeable inheritance?’ he asks with a twitch of his mouth.

‘That’s a very specific example, Mr Fellows. Did you just come up with that?’

‘Absolutely.’ He snaps his fingers. ‘Right off the top of my head.’

‘Uh-huh.’ I sip my tea, eyeing him over the rim of the mug.

‘And if I follow that example through to its logical conclusion, I believe I should have engaged a second, or even a third matchmaker when I signed on with Ever After. Isn’t that so, Ms Dean?’ he asks, his eyes twinkling.

‘Oh, absolutely,’ I deadpan. ‘It was grossly remiss of you to put all your eggs into one basket. I mean, it worked out foryou.’ I stare at him wide-eyed, impressed that I’m keeping a straight face.

‘And for you, I would hope?’ he asks, frowning.

‘Other than breaking the cardinal rule of falling in love with my client and risking my career – a career that Ilove…’ Tristan’s frown deepens and I’m not entirely sure we’re still playing. I reach across for his hand and clasp it. ‘Yes,’ I say quietly. ‘It worked out for me as well. Better than I could have imagined.’

He breaks into a broad smile, then lifts my hand to his lips and kisses it.

‘I knew it,’ he says with a wink.

I snatch my hand away and he sniggers. ‘You cheeky bugger,’ I chide, which makes him laugh out loud.

I hold off as long as I can, giving him my best I’m-being-serious glare before I start laughing. ‘Dag,’ I say – my way of giving him ‘the win’.

But we’re notreallyone of those couples who compete. Tristan is my person – my biggest cheerleader and my safe place to land when it all goes to shit, which of course, it does sometimes. Him walking into the Ever After Agency a year and a half ago, in need of a wife and in a short time frame, was a pivotal moment in my life.

We fell in love – completely, utterly, undeniably in love.

Was it inconvenient? Was it unprofessional? Yes to both. But when you know, you know. And that’s one of the aspects of matchmaking I love the most – seeing that spark ignite, witnessing a client finding everything they’ve ever wanted.

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