The Matchmaker

Chapter 42

"Just one."

"Zander, I am not taking a photo like that!" I cried alarmed by his scheming.

"Oh c'mon! Just one!"

"You're crazy!"

"You wouldn't be the first to say so and it's definitely not the first time you've called me crazy either."

A week passes by in a blink of an eye and we've managed to expose Patrick Greene's love affair with a mysterious woman that high society hasn't heard of.

Both Patrick and Celia were immediately flown out to meet Grandma Greene and between that interrogation and sugaring up to Dana, they had a lot on their hands. I hardly saw Celia and most of her field work was put on pause, matchmaking on hold in the meantime.

It was now our turn to take romantic photos to showcase Zander in a happy new relationship before the press come swarming in.

Since Patrick and Celia were now exposed, we had to be quick. Dana can't be given a chance to place two and two together, if she finds out that the Wyatts are Celia and Patrick then we'll never get our shot at sneaking into Randy's workroom.

But here we were, five in the morning at a park in the middle of nowhere. The sun was just beginning to rise but my brain is still fast asleep, in my bed miles away.

The enormous sunglasses I'm wearing don't help either. Zander insisted we get a matching pair and wear them out...completely robbing me of my sight so early in the morning when the sun is barely present.

Apparently it was a thing all celebrities and public figures wore when they're out as a precaution and a means to ward off reporters and photographers, but I think it's one of the dumbest ideas ever that just draws more attention.

I had my designer pair perched on the top of my head now because I kept walking into trees and park signs.

There was nothing romantic about a dodgy looking park that posed as the perfect backdrop for a murder. Regardless of the eerie atmosphere, Zander sat on a bench, expectantly waiting for me....to sit in his lap.

Of all the degrading and humiliating things he could have asked for....

"No," I sniffed, planting a foot firmly and lean against it.

Tilting his head, the smile never leaves Zander's eyes glinting with mischief. "You've been in my lap before."

"That's- that....that's different!" I squawked, my cheeks immediately heating at the memory he's recalled.

"C'mon, Cat. We need these photos."

"So just take one of us walking, that is plenty of exposure."

Raising a brow, he only smirks. "I really don't want to do this but, may I remind you of the photos we took of Patrick and Celia?"

No way in this murderous park am I making out with Zander the way those two did back at the café we rented out for their shoot. He knows any mention of that day makes me squirm, my innocence damaged beyond repair from what I had to witness.

"If I sit next to you, it's as good. And wh......why do I have to do all the lap sitting?" I blurted suddenly, Zander chuckling at my stuttering.

"You want me to sit on yours? I'm not sure you'll manage to hold my weight." To demonstrate, he gets up halfway and I smack the idiot's butt so he'll sit back down on the bench.

The nerve of the guy to question my out of shape body. I'm so tempted to say 'let's try,' but bite back on the words because I didn't need to be humiliated a second time after all the tree crashing.