Chapter One
Logan
“How do you feel?” I ask my sister the second she climbs in my car.
Pippa straightens her shoulders. “Free. Finally.”
She just signed her divorce papers, so I suppose free is the appropriate word. However, free does not equal fine, which means my top priority for today is taking care of my sister and cheering her up.
This was easy when we were teenagers. All I had to do to brighten her up was to make sure there was plenty of ice cream around, and possibly take her to see a movie. Now that she’s thirty, things have changed, but I’m still her older brother, and it’s still up to me to find a way to lift her spirits.
“What do you want to do?” I question.
“Ava and Sebastian are having dinner at my favorite sushi restaurant. We could join them.”
“Sebastian won’t appreciate us crashing his date.” Our brother fiercely guards his time with his fiancée.
“Oh, we won’t,” Pippa says. The corners of her mouth lift up in a genuine smile for the first time today. I narrow my eyes, sensing foul play. In the months since she discovered what a scumbag her now ex-husband is, Pippa has taken up a dangerous hobby: matchmaking. She told our mother her plan is to find the perfect match for each of her siblings. Since there are nine of us, it’s an ambitious project. Her first target was Sebastian, our oldest brother. As ridiculous as I find Pippa’s idea, he did end up with the perfect woman for him.
Our parents have been married for more than thirty years, and they love each other. I can understand the appeal the perfect match has to Pippa. I envy our parents too, but as far as I’m concerned, what they have is impossible to find. It was a lucky strike for them, as it was for Sebastian and Ava.
Unfortunately, Pippa seems to be focusing her matchmaking efforts on me now. Unbelievable. I’m the CFO of a billion-dollar company. I can get my own damn woman if I want one.
“Pippa, will anyone else be joining Ava and Sebastian at dinner?” I ask.
“Ava’s best friend, Nadine. You know, the one who just moved here?”
Jackpot. I knew this was a setup. I have two choices: put my foot down and tell my sister to find another pastime, or suck it up and go with her plan. The problem: I can’t say no to any of my three sisters. I never could, which often led me into trouble in the past. I have a hunch the same thing is about to happen. But even armed with this suspicion, I can’t say no. If meeting this Nadine will take my sister’s mind off her misery, even if only for a few hours, it’s worth it.
“I’ve heard about her,” I mumble.
“Great, let’s go then.” As I rev the car’s engine, I glance at my sister again. Pippa is now borderline ecstatic, which means I’m a dead man.
Nadine, you’d better be fun, or sexy.
Chapter Two
Nadine
“Welcome to San Francisco.” My best friend, Ava, her fiancé, Sebastian Bennett, and I clink our glasses.
“I’m so excited. It’s finally sinking in that I live here now.” I moved to San Francisco two weeks ago; but I’ve spent most of my time running around getting my ducks in a row, which is why we’re just now having a welcome dinner. The place is perfect, with an outdoor bar overlooking the Twin Peaks, and an indoor restaurant. It’s elegant but not over the top, which I appreciate.
Ava has told me from the moment I arrived in town that the Bennetts are not snobs despite being billionaires, but I suspected her love for Sebastian made her biased. Upon meeting him and his sisters, Pippa and Alice, I realized Ava was right. They’re the opposite of snobs. Maybe it’s because they weren’t born into wealth.
In fact, Ava told me their family was scrambling to make ends meet when Sebastian started Bennett Enterprises more than a decade ago. Since then, it’s grown to be one of the most famous jewelry companies. This family has all my respect. I take meeting them as a good omen that things will be different for me in San Francisco. Better.