The Invitation (Matchmaker Trilogy) Read Free Page B

didn’t even try to refute her aunt’s claim. All she could do was rationalize. “I have six people under me—six people I’m responsible for. The hours are worth it because the results are good. I take pride in my work. And I’m paid well for my time.”
    “You must be building up quite some kitty in the bank, because I don’t see you spending much of that money on yourself.”
    “I do. I live well.”
    “You’re about to live better,” Victoria stated firmly. “Two weeks in July. As my companion.”
    Shaye laughed. “Your companion? That’s a new one.”
    “This trip is.”
    “What trip?”
    “We’re going to Colombia, you and I, and then on to Costa Rica.”
    “You aren’t serious.”
    “Very. We’re going on a treasure hunt.”
    Shaye stared at the receiver before returning it to her ear. “Want to run that by me again?”
    “A treasure hunt, Shaye. We’ll fly to Barranquilla, spend the night in a luxury hotel, drive to Puerto Colombia and then sail in style across the Caribbean. You can do all the sleeping you want on the boat. By the time we reach Costa Rica you’ll be refreshed and ready to dig for pirates’ gold.”
    Shaye made no attempt to muffle her moan. “Oh, Victoria, where did you dream this one up?”
    “I didn’t dream it up. It was handed to me on a silver platter. The expedition is being led by a friend of a friend, a professor from Dartmouth who even has a map.”
    “Pirates’ gold?” Shaye echoed skeptically.
    Victoria waved a negligent hand in the air. “Well, I don’t actually know what the treasure consists of, but it sounds like a fun time, don’t you think?”
    “I think it sounds—”
    “Absurd. I knew you would, but believe me, sweetheart, this is a guaranteed adventure.”
    “For you. But why me? ”
    “Because I need you along for protection.”
    “Come again?”
    “I need you for protection.”
    Shaye’s laugh was even fuller this time. “The day you need protection will be the day they put you in the ground, and even then, I suspect they’ll be preparing for outrageous happenings at the pearly gates. Try another one.”
    Anticipating resistance, Victoria had thought of every possible argument. This one was her most powerful, so she repeated it a third time, adding a note of desperation to her voice. “I need your protection, Shaye. This trip was arranged for me by some friends, and I’m sure they have mischief in mind.”
    “And you’d drag me along to suffer their mischief? No way, Victoria. I’m not in the market for mischief.”
    “They’re trying to fix me up. I know they are. Their hearts are in the right place, but I don’t need fixing up. I don’t want it.” She lowered her voice. “You, of all people, ought to understand.”
    Shaye understood all too well. Closing her eyes, she tried to recall the many times people had tried—the many times Victoria herself had tried—to fix her up with men who were sure to be the answer to her prayers. What they failed to realize was that Shaye’s prayers were different from most other people’s.
    “All I’m asking,” Victoria went on in the same deliberately urgent tone, “is that you act as a buffer. If I have you with me, I won’t be quite so available to some aging lothario.”
    “What if they’re fixing you up with a younger guy? It’s done all the time.”
    Then he’s all yours, sweetheart. “No. My friends wouldn’t do that. At least,” she added after sincere pause, “I don’t think they would.”
    Shaye began, one by one, to remove the pins that had held her thick auburn hair in a twist since dawn. “I can’t believe you’re asking this of me,” she said.
    Victoria wasn’t about to be touched by the weariness in her voice. “Have I ever asked much else?”
    “No.”
    “And think of what you’ll be getting out of the trip yourself. A luxurious sail through the Caribbean. Plenty of sun and clean air. We can spend a couple of extra days in Barranquilla if you