Billionaire Matchmaker: Complete Series (Contemporary Romance) by Cordelia Baxter Page B

move. I
stood rooted there, cheeks burning in mortification.
    Jake told the crowd that I wasn't good enough for him. All
my deep seated fears and insecurities were ripped open for all to see. I
couldn't breathe and felt like I was about to faint. The room looked like it
was spinning before me and I had to close my eyes. Before I could black out
and embarrass myself further, I felt gentle hands grab me by the arms and lead
me off stage.
    "Are you all right?"
    Her voice brought me out of my daze. I looked up to see
concerned eyes looking at me with pity. It was the straw that broke the camel's
back.
    My anger reared up like a flame and consumed me. How dare
Jake humiliate me like that in front of everyone! The stranger must have
noticed the change in me and stepped back when she saw the look of pure fury on
my face. I had one goal in mind. I had to find Jake. There would be hell to pay
for what he did to me.
    "Where is he?" I asked her. My voice was deadly
calm when I spoke.
    She shook her head, worry creasing her brow. "I'm not
sure."
    Over her shoulder, I spotted him as he walked towards a back
entrance away from the front press line. I never took my eyes off his back. If
looks could kill, he’d drop dead right then and there. I walked past the
stranger and headed straight for Jake. She knew better than to stop me and
stepped aside.
    As if sensing my presence, Jake turned around right before I
reached him. He had a habit of doing that, I noted offhandedly. He looked at me
with just as much undisguised anger and hatred on his face.
    "You hateful bastard!" I shouted. "How dare
you humiliate me like that?"
    "You have no one to blame but yourself." His voice
was deadly quiet; I had to strain to hear him. I was momentarily caught off
guard by his tone and didn't understand why he was so angry when I was the one
who was wronged.
    "What the hell are you talking about?" I shot
back. "You're trying to put this on me? You sick, twisted, lying,
manipulative asshole. Why would you do this?"
    "You know I was perfectly justified doing what I
did," he retaliated. "You should look in the mirror before you start
throwing insults around. You're no better than a cheap liar. It's the attention
you wanted, wasn't it? Well, now you've got it."
    I looked at him like he had grown two heads. "What are
you talking about? I'm not the one who embarrassed you on stage just now."
    "No you've already had your chance. Unfortunately for
you, I’ve seen to it that the story will never be published. "
    "What story? Are you going to explain yourself and spit
it out, are you going to keep being a cryptic jerk?"
    “This little indignant act is getting old Chloe. We both
know what you did; now you have to live with the consequences.”
    “I didn’t do anything!” I shouted. I was frustrated by his
accusations that I had done something, yet he wouldn’t say what it was I did.
“Just tell me what you’re accusing me of.”
    “Enough!” he shouted. “I’m not an idiot and I refuse to
waste any more time on someone like you.” He spit out the last words and made a
sharp turn not waiting for my reply as he stalked off out of the exit to his
waiting limo.
    My mind was in a whirl, I felt faint again. Each second I
was fighting the urge to cry or to run around like crazy and break everything I
saw. In the end, I was too exhausted to do anything but slink down to the floor
and rest my head on my knees.
    "Do you need anything? Can I get your car for
you?" I looked up into kind blue eyes that looked familiar to me. The
woman who helped me off the stage was kneeling in front of me, her hand on my
shoulder. I nodded my head, not trusting myself to speak just yet.
    My anger and rage had evaporated with Jake's exit. All that
was left was a deep sense of sadness. I had such great hopes for tonight, and
they were not only dashed, but set on fire and burnt to a crisp, then the ashes
were spit on. She squeezed my shoulder in a sympathetic gesture before moving
away to