Beneath the Surface
BENEATH THE SURFACE
The Matchmaker, Book 1
Gracie C. McKeever
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SEX RATING: SCORCHING
This book is rated SCORCHING for one or all of the following reasons: (1)
many sexually explicit scenes using adult language, (2) may contain
unconventional sex considered offensive to some readers, and/or (3)
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The Matchmaker, Book 1
Beneath the Surface : Terms of Surrender : Manifest Destiny
Angela Calminetti, mother of five, New Age practitioner and gifted psychic and telepath, is proud of her family ties and does everything she can to make sure that all of her younger siblings are as happy in love and marriage as she is…whether they want her to or not.
Note: Each book is written to stand alone.
Beneath the Surface
Former Madison Avenue ad exec EJ Vega just landed a seven-figure advance from Renegade Publishing. Older sister Evelyn convinces him he needs a fashion makeover before he goes on his first national book tour and has just the person in mind to turn his wardrobe inside out. EJ, too late, recognizes the handiwork of his oldest, matchmaking sister Angela, and by the time he realizes what he's gotten himself into, a very hot and uptight personal shopper has invaded more than just his wardrobe; she's invaded his soul.
From a broken home and driven by past demons, Tabitha Lyons is the proprietor of flourishing
Lyons Style, Inc.
and knows success when she sees it. In EJ she sees not just success, but sexy and sin with a capital "S." She doesn't want to turn his wardrobe inside out as much as she knows EJ will turn her world upside down...
BENEATH THE SURFACE
The Matchmaker, Book 1
Gracie C. McKeever
Siren Publishing, Inc.
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BENEATH THE SURFACE
Copyright © 2006 by Gracie C. McKeever
www.GracieCMcKeever.com
First E-book Publication: April 2006
ISBN: 1-933563-17-6
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Cover art by Jinger Heaston
All cover art and logo copyright © 2006 Siren Publishing, Inc.
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Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Beneath the Surface
The Matchmaker, Book 1
by Gracie C. McKeever
Copyright 2006
Wantagh, Long Island
“EJ needs to settle down,” Angela Calminetti opined “I worry about him.”
“All you worry and think about is that all our unmarried siblings need to settle down, Angie.”
“Well, you all
do
.”
Evelyn chuckled at her oldest sister’s oft-repeated conviction and reached into her handbag for her Camels before she remembered she was sitting in Angela The-Surgeon-General’s kitchen and that her sister didn’t allow smoking in her house, even when her five kids weren’t in the vicinity. Instead, she extracted and opened an emergency piece of Godiva chocolate, glaring at Angela as she popped the creamy candy into her mouth and unconsciously moaned when it melted on her tongue.
“I’d rather have you fat than in the hospital wasting away from cancer some day.”
“Oh, you’re so melodramatic.” Between her oldest sister and her youngest brother, she was going to have a fatal nicotine fit long before cancer got a hold of her.
“Here, have a big dose of caffeine instead.” Angela giggled, dark brown eyes sparkling as she ignored her youngest sister’s pique and poured first herself, then Evelyn 1
Gracie C. McKeever
a cup of espresso. Pushing her sister’s cup across the oak table she asked, “Now, where was I?”
Evelyn huffed and shoved a stubborn black curl behind her ear. “Like you don’t remember.”
“Don’t be such a grump.”
“You want to fix up all our unmarried sibs so we can all be as happy as you and Freddie.”
“Hey, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”
“I did, remember?”
“I know, but at least you’re not as bitter about your divorce as Donna is about hers.”
“Tell me about it. That girl could give Lorena Bobbitt a run for her money.”
Evelyn lifted her cup and took a sip of her espresso, thankful for at least one chemical rush today, especially if she was going to get into a session of psychoanalyzing her other sibs with Angela.
Granted, each and every one of their siblings—and Evelyn included herself and Angela in the mix—had enough angst and complexes to keep several psycho-therapists busy for years to come, though Evelyn didn’t think her brothers and sisters were anymore dysfunctional than any other brothers and sisters from a relatively large family.
Sure, Donna-the-cynic came off as a man-hating maniac capable of dismemberment when she got on one of her all-men-are-dogs rants. Evelyn knew, however, the bold threats and harsh sentiments were all an act to cover up how hurt her sister had been when her husband of just nine months did the unthinkable and left Donna for the “other woman” who turned out to be her husband’s pregnant ex.
Once burned, twice shy, goody-two-shoes Emilia hadn’t dipped her toes back into the dating waters since discovering, shortly after giving birth to their son, that her husband of fifteen years had been unfaithful for most of their marriage. Anthony was eight now, and Evelyn didn’t think her sister had had an orgasm—self-induced or otherwise—since his arrival into the world, poor woman.
Nick, the perennial bad boy could be an arrogant womanizer on his worst days, and an irresistible cad
on his best, but Evelyn remembered how difficult it had been for him coming up dyslexic in a home full of academic over-achievers, even down to his baby brother. She remembered how hard their father had been on Nick, harder than on any of the other Vega kids. She remembered too how Nick had rebelled and acted like their father’s approval didn’t matter to him; remembered how he had gone out of his way to be independent and tough, as if he didn’t want or need any of his siblings’ or his father’s love.
Of all Joe and Viviana’s kids, Nick was the most private, at least as much as Angela would let him get away with, which wasn’t much.
Flirtatious free-spirited EJ was so busy trying to make everyone happy he had half-convinced himself and his family that he had long ago gotten over losing his soul 2
Beneath the Surface
mate in high school. But Evelyn knew he wasn’t fooling anyone, least of all her and Angela.
Then there was oldest sister Angela, the general and organizer, buddinsky sibling supreme with a heart as big as her determination and passion to see each of her brothers and sisters happily committed and wasn’t afraid to use every skill in her idealistic arsenal, short of an old-fashioned shotgun wedding, to match all her siblings up.
Shrugging now as she put her cup back on its accompanying saucer on the table Evelyn said, “To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t mind putting my hand in the fire again.”
“See! That’s the kind of positive thinking I’m talking about. The kind you and EJ
have. You’re not afraid to get back on the horse after it’s thrown you.”
“Thanks for the metaphor.” Evelyn frowned at the gleam of hope lighting her sister’s eyes again, hating her current dry spell more than Angela would ever know. She wasn’t, however, willing to engage in casual sex just to appease her libido and end it, at least not anymore. She had her vibrator for that, and for now, it would have to do. “I don’t know if you can put me and baby brother in the same category though. He’s too much of a confirmed bachelor to think about settling down.” Though EJ rode a lot of fillies, he never gave them a chance to throw him before he jumped off in search of another mount.
“Oh, pish-tosh.” Angela waved a dismissive hand in the air.
Evelyn laughed and thought how much her sister reminded her of Martha Stewart.
A less white bread, swarthier, Italian Martha Stewart of course. From the hand-sewn calico aprons and curtains in the kitchen, to the homemade baked goods that always filled the porcelain cookie jar on the counter to the immaculate spic-and-span floors and surfaces throughout the house, Angela Calminetti could have given the infamous domestic diva a run for her money any day.