Meeting His Match, page 1
MEETING HIS MATCH
ALEXA RILEY
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
Lovely Baker
Chapter 1
Read Me Romance
Stalk the Author
Copyright © 2023 by Author Alexa Riley LLC. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email to riley_alexa@aol.com
http://alexariley.com/
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Edited by Aquila Editing
To readers that love romance… even when you see the Happily Ever After coming a mile away!
MEETING HIS MATCH
BY ALEXA RILEY
There’s absolutely nothing that could force Meadow to spend time with Heath Monroe. Not after he broke her heart when she was sixteen. Now that she’s graduated college and got the job of her dreams, she doesn’t need to worry about him ever again! Only there’s one little problem…
Heath Monroe has been waiting for years to make Meadow his, and when money goes missing in one of his client's accounts, she’s the only person he trusts to find it.
It’s the perfect excuse to keep her close while he convinces her that being together is inevitable.
Warning: Twins falling for twins? Could this be more over the top? Double up on the Double Trouble Duet because it’s got twice the romance and love!
ONE
MEADOW
“I know what you’re thinking,” my twin, Briar, says from across the table that’s so full there’s not an inch of open space left to put anything down on it. Eight small plates of happy hour appetizers leave room for nothing else. Not to mention, Briar has three drinks, which is the most Briar thing ever.
She can never settle on anything when it comes time to make a choice. I, however, always know what I want or where I’m going. She’s chaos, and I’m precision. We might be identical on the outside, but inside we’re often polar opposites, and that has always balanced us out.
“That these bar stools hurt your ass?” We’re sitting at one of the high top tables near the bar of the restaurant because it’s busy and the place is starting to fill up. It is a Friday, and even though I suggested ordering in, Briar wanted to go out and celebrate. I knew from experience it wasn’t a battle I was going to win.
“That and we should have ordered two of the crab cake apps,” she says as she picks up one of the three small crab cakes and pops it into her mouth. “They’re tiny.”
“We can order more.” I grab one quickly before she eats them all.
“And we will. We’re celebrating.” She lifts her martini glass, and I do the same before we clink them together and take a sip. “God, that’s tart.” Briar cringes, and her face scrunches before putting the drink down and trying another one she ordered. “Pretty cool, right? It’s like we belong here.” She waves her hand toward the bar that’s getting busier by the second.
Everyone is dressed in suits with the exception of Briar. She’s wearing a bright purple sweater with an adorably grumpy cat on it that says I do what I want.
“I suppose we do.” I smirk because this has been my goal. Not happy hour but landing this job and without the help of our parents. I’m flying under the radar at the moment with my new job at Gondal Assist.
My first week as a forensic accountant is now under my belt. I was nervous my first day, but the second I was given my first task, it melted away. It hadn’t returned until this afternoon when my boss told me about the project I would be working on first thing Monday morning. He made it clear that this was a big new client that was testing the waters with Gondal Assist.
Part of me wanted to suggest maybe having someone more seasoned, but I held my tongue and listened. It’s always been hard for me to back down from a challenge when it comes to anything put in front of me.
My new boss, Cassie, said she would send more details over the weekend and let me know the other person that would be joining me on the project. I hope it’s not Craig because this is a chance to prove myself. I’ve only been with Gondal Assist for a week, and I know that Craig is a handful. Sure, he’s competent enough, but it’s his other quirks that are bothersome.
I hit the ground running my last semester of college since my life has been all school for the last four years, including summer school. I’m fortunate that my parents helped so I didn’t have to get a job and all my focus could be on completing a bachelor’s with a double major in accounting and finance.
The ink on my degree wasn’t even dry before I was filling out applications. As I was studying for my last round of finals, I was putting out feelers because I needed to see if I could get any bites.
As much as I hate it, there’s always this lingering insecurity that I’m not good enough and that I won’t be picked. In school that hadn’t been a worry because Briar would pick me, but now those days are slowly coming to an end. Briar can’t stand at my side in everything, and our lives are about to split.
She can’t show up at my job and demand everyone think I’m the best even if she’d love to. I’d have to tackle her ass if I could catch her, but she can be scrappy. Dad never should have let her take those kickboxing classes. While she would spar with Dad, I’d sit up against the wall at the gym and read. They did it almost every day when we got home from high school, and they still kept it up while we were in college. It was the first real thing she committed to.
Briar finally stuck to non-profit management as a major after trying out four others first. Out of high school, she leaned toward being a veterinarian, but I knew that would not pan out. I kept my mouth shut because it’s usually better to let Briar realize things on her own.
As bold and fierce as my twin can be, there's a sweetness that runs deep. If she wants to work with animals, I think it’s best for her to do it with a bit of distance and where she can do some good. In fact, this is one of those times that flashing the last name of our family comes in handy. She can raise all kinds of money because of who they are but also because Briar could charm anyone if she wanted to.
Still, with how far I’ve come, there’s something missing that I can’t put my finger on. There’s doubt I hold inside, and it creeps out in all parts of my life, but I don’t know what it is.
Lie.
I know where it comes from, and I’m not sure I can change that. I suppose that’s one of the problems when you map your life out with such precision and someone rips what you wanted from you. So I focus on what I can control and make it so that it’s hard to think about much else because I cram every hour of my day with things to be done. This way I can’t think about the missing piece of my puzzle.
Okay, maybe it’s not missing, but it wasn’t willing to go into the place I wanted it to.
Right now, I’m focusing on other things. I’ve been considering going back for my master’s in accounting at night because it’s not exactly as though I have a nightlife. Part of me wonders if I should wait, with how crypto money is now flooding into the market. There isn’t enough to teach on it yet because it’s so hard to trace. I’d know because I, on a few occasions, might have gone poking in places I shouldn't have, but I blame Briar and her rebellion rubbing off.
At this moment, I should be thinking about my new job and maybe in a year reevaluate going back to school. Once I realize this, I pick up my phone and mark it in my calendar.
“Stop making weird notes and eat the last crab cake,” Briar says, so I put my phone on the edge of the table and grab the last one.
My parents told me to slow down after graduation and take the summer off. How could I have taken a breath when I was about to graduate? I was in the process of moving off campus and finding a new place to live, and to do that, I had to know where I’d be working. City traffic can be crazy. These things were important to be aware of before I signed some year-long lease and found out I have an hour commute.
In true Briar fashion, she backed me up and started making up reasons why we needed to get a move on it quickly. Even though our parents knew she was making shit up for my defense. It didn’t matter if Briar thought my parents were right; she’d tell me that later when we were alone.
When facing anything, we’re always on each other's side no matter how ridiculous the other is being. I often get the short end on that one because Briar can do some really ridiculous shit. Sometimes I can talk her out of things, but other times Briar is going to do whatever catches her attention, and I’m just along for the ride.
I consider finding a new place to live a big deal, while my twin could care less. Briar is
“So tell me how your week went,” Briar asks as she goes for a spring roll. “I’ve missed my nightly updates.” It’s true, because Briar has been going out at night, and I don’t think it’s clubbing or bar hopping. She’s up to something.
“Speaking of, where have you been in the evenings?”
“There are some things you shouldn't know about, Meadow.”
“Oh, now I really need to know,” I say, and she chews on her bottom lip for a second. “Seriously?” Briar knows I’m not going to judge whatever it is she’s up to.
“Maybe I was doing some light stalking.”
“Light stalking?” I say a silent prayer that Briar hasn’t gone and got some crazy PI job. It’s not exactly out of the question.
“I mean, can you stalk kittens? That can’t be against the law,” she says, and I shake my head. On the surface this sounds legal, but I don’t think we’re going to land on legal by the time this story is over. “I might have kidnapped a few kittens when I saw an opening.”
“Did you punch someone in the process?”
“Of course not. The kittens were right there, and it would have traumatized them.”
“Right,” I laugh.
“Drink more of your cocktail,” she says, and when I start to reach for it, I pause.
“Out with it.”
“Okay, I might have brought them home. We’re just fostering them for a bit.”
“How many is a few?”
“Two?” It comes out as a question, and I know better.
“So three,” I correct, and she nods.
“Look at them!” Briar pulls out her phone to show me a picture of the three kittens.
“They’re cute,” I admit, even if they are a bit malnourished. “But is this a foster?” In the back of my mind, I knew when we moved off campus, a pet situation would arise. I made sure that the places I checked before we picked one were animal friendly.
“I mean, yeah. It’s a foster until they find a home.” She’s lying to herself, but I’m going to let it go. Briar is floating around at the moment and not latching on to any one job or direction.
“Where are they now?” In the picture, they’re in a crate.
“At the shelter being checked out.” Her smile grows. “We’re having triplets, all boys.”
Three boys living with us? That would be a first. The one and only man, besides the movers, to enter our home is Dad.
“Oh shit.” Briar sets her phone down quickly, and I know not to follow her line of sight because that would be way too obvious to whoever has caught her attention. “Mace and Heath,” she whispers under her breath.
“Here?” I whisper back, and she gives me a subtle nod in the direction she looked.
My back is to where she indicated, but just hearing the name Heath makes my stomach tighten. Years ago that was different because I used to get excited to see him. Then he crushed my teenage heart and took the missing piece from me. The puzzle to my life I’m building has no chance of being complete. It’s not his fault, because I can’t make someone be attracted to me, although I’m sure he thinks I’m a total bitch now.
Mace and Heath are identical twins too, but they are three years older than us. Our moms became super close after they met in some twins group back in the day. The two of them clicked, and both of our families came together. We spent holidays together, and every spring we’re all stuck together for two weeks on a family vacation since our families own beach houses right next to each other.
Once upon a time, we got along with the Monroe twins, but then they were suddenly a pain in our asses. They always found a way to ruin our spring break at the beach houses. Especially after the time I blurted out to Heath that I was in love with him. That’s when he told me I was drunk and it was only a crush. Then he scolded me about drinking.
In fairness, I never drank before that night, but I’d stolen a couple of drinks and chugged them so I’d have the liquid courage to tell Heath how I felt. Between the beers and seeing some of the girls on the beach flirt with him, my confession came tumbling out of my mouth. The expression on his face told me all I needed to know.
After his shock, he finally told me how brilliant my mind was and that I was cute. He even said he found shyness endearing. When he turned me down, I thought it was all a lie, and I was sure there was something between us. I felt it deep inside of me, but after that, I really thought about it, and no man wants cute and adorable. He was describing a little sister, and although it wasn’t a lie, it still was not what I’d longed to hear.
It crushed me, and in the wake of my heart's destruction, I built a cold wall of ice between us. I didn’t want to be mean so instead I was indifferent toward him. Briar, on the other hand, got pissed at the Monroe brothers even though I couldn’t bring myself to tell her what happened. She blamed them even if she didn’t know exactly what took place.
After that night, things changed, and both of the brothers did too. They turned into bossy jerks whose life mission was to ruin our annual family trip. I do my best to ignore them, so obviously Briar does her best to annoy them.
“Incoming,” Briar mutters under her breath, but I don’t need to see Heath to know he’s close. I can feel him coming because he gets as close to me as possible without touching, but I don’t think it’s on purpose.
My whole body wakes from a deep slumber, and not one boy I met while away at college could do the same to me. Then again, Briar and I went to Wellesley College, just like all the women in my mother’s family. It’s one of the largest and most influential women’s colleges in the world.
“Aren’t you a little young to be in here?” Mace is the first to speak.
“Well, hello to you too, Heath,” Briar sasses back, and I bite the inside of my cheek so that I don’t laugh.
I peek over at Mace and know he’s pissed. I don’t know why Briar pretends to mix them up every single time, but he should really be on to this by now. Heath shifts on his feet, and I can see it makes him uncomfortable, but he doesn’t get mad.
“Mace,” he clips to correct her.
“Right,” Briar giggles. “And you should know we’re 21 since you both showed up to our party at the beach house. Uninvited.”
“We live next door; we’re always invited.” Heath responds this time.
I hate him. His voice is low and gravelly, and just when I think he can’t get hotter, he does something like talk and my panties try to melt.
“Welp. This has been fun.” Briar grabs the small iPad on the table and takes out her credit card to pay. I reach out and take two mozzarella sticks for the road. We’re so ordering in when we get home. “We’d love to stay and catch up and do whatever else this is, but we have three guys we have to go meet up with.”
My eyes peek up towards Heath, and I’m ignoring Briar and Mace bickering. Heath is staring down at me, and it’s like I can feel his gaze on my skin.
“Three?” he asks, his voice firm and final. I wonder if that comes with his profession, but I think he might have always been that way.
“So I’ve been told. I saw a picture, and they are pretty cute.”
Heath’s hand comes down on the back of my chair, and it’s almost an intimate gesture. From the outside, it makes us appear to be together, or I might be reading it wrong. I must be. I know where Heath stands, and while it might be next to me at the moment, that’s all it is. A moment. I have to get out of here, and these kittens are already coming in handy. That’s a point for them.
“We need to—”
“Heath, sorry I’m late,” a tall blonde says as she comes up next to him. “Am I interrupting?” Her eyes bounce around to the four of us, and Briar jumps up.
“Nope,” she answers. “We were letting them have our table since we’re heading out. I think all the others are taken.”
