No Match for Her

No Match for Her

Stacy Travis · Completed · 88.6k Words

1k
Hot
1k
Views
306
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

I need a fake date to my brother's wedding, and billionaire Charlie Walgrove owns a tux. Simple, right?   He’s also my sister’s boss, and I agree to let her set me up with the awkward genius, who apparently has even less luck in the dating game than a struggling artist, aka me.   We’re total opposites, but the date goes okay. We agree to be friends, the kind who won’t become lovers.    Famous last words.   On a series of “friend dates” involving bar snacks, acrylic paint and hedgehogs, I discover that Charlie is nothing like what I expected. Under his hoodie and glasses, he’s handsome and down-to-earth, stuck in a job he hates and afraid to disappoint people by walking away. His heart is as gorgeous as his hidden face.   I’ve always felt like the flaky sister in my family, but Charlie sees me as the artist I want to be. As our friendship deepens, so do my feelings for him. Maybe I’m even falling in love.   But gambling with my heart feels dangerous when all my relationships end in failure–especially if he’s only looking for a friend.   Is it only princesses that get a Happily Ever After? Or is there hope for a hot mess like me?   No Match for Her is a STANDALONE friends-to-lovers, opposites-attract romance. It is part of the Berkeley Hills series.

Chapter 1

Prologue

C

harlie

T

hree Years Ago

I

t’s her laugh that catches my attention.

I hear a chorus of tiny bells, the lilting symphony of piano keys and windchimes late in the summer when the breeze is mild and warm. One of those days when all you want to do is stay outside until the sun drops, casting a warm pinkish glow on ordinary things.

Her laugh sounds pink.

It reminds me of the kind of joy I felt in my bones as a kid when I had a new idea and couldn’t sprint home fast enough to make it happen.

I sure haven’t felt that way lately. And not today.

Most of the time, I don’t know what I feel. Stress, I guess—the weight of accomplishment and expectations ruining what might otherwise be a productive afternoon. I should be building the company I’ve dreamed of since I started messing with circuit boards and computer code two dozen years ago.

I shouldn’t be rethinking decisions that have already been made.

But I think about everything, especially the dreams. I’m a planner, so I work through scenarios, gaming them out with all possible outcomes to be sure I’ve chosen the best one. Even when I should be losing myself in an audiobook out on a run, I can’t stop my goddamned brain from wondering what if?

What if I should’ve when I could’ve?

Doubt will be the death of those dreams. I’ll have to try to remember that when all I can see are the question marks and second guesses.

If my thoughts sound wooden, it’s because they are—thought and overthought so many times they’ve become petrified.

Just keep moving forward, doing what’s expected, and everything will be okay.

More than okay. My virtual reality company, ViviTech, is about to be go public in a stock offering worth billions. Yes, there’s a “b” at the front of that word. I will be a billionaire in a matter of weeks.

And I’d be the biggest douchebag asshole on the planet if I complained. So, I won’t.

I will simply say that the past few years have been a grind. What started as a senior thesis in college with a bunch of my knucklehead computer nerd friends has turned into a twenty-four/seven life.

I’m not being overly dramatic.

Our joint paper on the subject of whether machines could learn emotions opened doors for all of us. Tech incubators and venture capitalists came calling and sent us all off in different directions once we’d turned in our research.

Two of my fellow knuckleheads developed an app that uses tech to predict who’s most susceptible to different kinds of cancers using a couple drops of blood and powerful computers. I founded a virtual reality company that makes a whole new category of sports games and allows astronauts to virtually explore Mars and run experiments there using rovers in real time.

The fourth member of our dude group started a landscape design firm. It has nothing to do with technology or machine learning unless drip watering on a timer counts as high tech. And he’s probably the happiest of the bunch, married to a pastry chef who tries out new recipes on him daily and doesn’t mind when he comes home smelling like fertilizer.

He zigged, I zagged. Until now, I had no problem with spending all my time on algorithms. If managed correctly, they’re predictable.

I like predictable.

So do shareholders. They want predictable profits and growth—and it’s my job to produce.

Billions of dollars will be changing hands based on work I’ve completed and bold promises I’ve made about what I’ll continue to do. Investment dollars will allow my company to grow beyond anything I’ve dreamed of, but every future decision I make will be with shareholders in mind.

A deal with the devil.

No wonder I’m stressed. No wonder I’m grasping at anything that will lighten my load.

No wonder that today, when my mind is deep in a trough of investor questions I’d rather not answer, the melodic laugh kind of saves my life.

It reminds me that in some alternate dimension from where I currently eat, breathe, and sleep my work, some things are still beautiful.

And for some people, still funny.

It’s a foreign sound at my company, despite what I’ve done to make our workspace a pleasant environment with a ping-pong table, flexible hours, and free vending machine food. People like coming to work, but they don’t laugh at work. Not like that.

So, even though I have a hundred emails in my inbox, I leave my glass-walled office and walk through the cubicle farm in search of the sound that warmed me from the inside out.

I’m certain of the source before I hear a second peal that’s even more gleeful than the first. It has to be her—the auburn-haired woman in the red dress standing near one of the lunch tables in our central common area. She’s grinning at my newest hire, Tatum Finley.

Long, dark red waves hang down her back with bronze highlights catching light from the overhead LEDs. I’m struck by the need to put the correct name to the color—copper, russet, chestnut?

The dress defies description, both tastefully covering most of her body in a hip-hugging knit fabric and screaming sexy at the same time. Even from across the room, I can see her long lashes brush her cheeks when she blinks over greenish eyes that could easily be gemstones.

It’s none of my business who Tatum is talking to, and I’m not the kind of arrogant jerk who’d walk over and puff my feathers in front of her just because I founded the company. One of my project managers, Paul, is already positioning his weak, slip of a body between Tatum and her guest. Given his lack of stature, his eyes are right at chest level, and he’s not even embarrassed to gawk. If he gets any closer, he could bite one of her breasts like an apple.

To her credit, the woman says something I don’t hear, but it has him scurrying away like a rodent under the heel of a boot.

A moment later, I hear a repeat of the delightful carefree sound that called me from my office like a siren song. She’s laughing at Tatum, who’s waltzing in front of her with her hands on her hips, her hair flipping from side to side, and a wild sway in her hips. They both break up over whatever they’re talking about, and I feel like a stalker creeper for lingering by the snacks watching them.

For a split second, she looks in my direction, the deep pink of her lips parting to reveal an open-mouthed smile that confirms I was right—there’s something joyful about her. Something uninhibited, as though she isn’t weighed down by a job she hates or a husband who she married for the wrong reasons. Her laugh tells me she’s happy.

Not that you’re projecting…

She just seems…content.

Of course, I don’t know her at all, and I’m reading into the things I want to be true. But isn’t that how it always is? We seize on something and believe in it without knowing whether reality will bear out our hopes.

Maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe the hopes are enough to drive reality.

And maybe it’s because I’ve been working endless, god-awful hours getting the company ready for its initial public offering—listening to power players in the banking industry tell me what they think I want to hear about my brilliance because it will translate into millions of dollars for them—but I could use a little joy and contentment right now.

Berta, the Icelandic model who I married a year ago, has just asked for a divorce. I know she waited for the options to vest before bailing because she told me. I almost don’t blame her for making a shrewd financial play, especially since I knew we weren’t in love by the honeymoon.

I dove headlong into the marriage anyway because I’m good at fixing broken things. It’s taken me a year of therapy to learn the distinction between broken machines and broken people, and I’m still not sure I understand.

Now I’ll stick to the technical things I can repair using logic. I don’t need a relationship in order to live a meaningful life.

Still…I do need to hear that laughter.

Its surprising warmth has me relaxing the smallest degree about all the things on my massive, awful to-do list. Who knew another person could make a sound with the power to do that? Not me.

The fridge has a selection of drinks—ginger tonics, green smoothies, seltzers, cans side-by-side of Red Bull and Diet Red Bull that once launched an office-wide debate—and I take my time deciding on a cranberry seltzer. And because I skipped lunch, I scoop some raw almonds from one of the glass jars into a blue bowl that looks like someone sculpted it out of Play-Doh.

Then I linger in hopes of one more peal of laughter to lift me out of work hell, one more look at this red-haired beauty before I head back to my office for another coding marathon.

Still lost in my head and dreading the calls I need to make when I get back to my office, I nearly miss Tatum and her friend walk past. I don’t even take advantage of the moment and get a closer look at the cherubic features of the woman whose hair bounces as she fades out of range.

I’m left only with a lingering citrus scent that makes me want to grow lemon and orange trees all around my house so I can prolong the memory of her.

Glancing over to the table where the two of them sat a moment ago, my eyes snag on a slip of paper, maybe what they were laughing at, maybe not. But I’m curious enough to walk over and look.

It’s a page from one of the notepads we have all over the office. Rule one in working with people who are paid to find new solutions to old problems is to make it easy to capture the barest whiff of an idea before it’s lost.

That’s the work I love—the creativity, the collaboration, the ideas.

Do I even want the company to go public? Does it even matter? What if I want to own a sports team or a piano bar or an eco-travel company?

Shut up, you whiny, lucky bastard who’s about to have the biggest IPO to hit Silicon Valley in a year.

Yeah, I need to keep my complaints to myself, bury them deep, and forget about them.

The first thing I notice on the paper is the drawing—it’s a pencil-scrawled image of a hockey player sweeping a puck into the net. It’s highly detailed, surprisingly so for what’s basically a doodle.

She drew this?

Beneath it is a quote I know to be from Wayne Gretzky: “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”

Yes, you do.

It’s exactly what I need to hear—or read—today. Not because I need courage before I take the company public. But because of all the other things I want to do someday.

Shareholders? Fuck ‘em.

Sometimes, the universe provides the exact inspiration at the exact time a person needs it. Sometimes, it’s provided by a mysterious redhead with a musical laugh. Either way, I’m smart enough to know it when I see it.

I understand that I’m holding something in my hands that could change my career trajectory if I do things right. It may even change my life. So I’m grateful for something a total stranger scribbled on a page, having no idea it would speak to me in a moment when I needed clarity.

I also know I need to see this woman again. When the time is right. When I have my life in order.

Popping the top on the cranberry seltzer, I take a long sip.

When I have my life in order.

Sure. I have no fucking idea when that will be.

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

You Rejected A Silver Wolf

You Rejected A Silver Wolf

187.3k Views · Completed · Princess Treasure Chuks
After being hated and rejected her entire life, for a mistake she made in the past, Lady Rihanna, daughter of the Beta decided to leave Black Hills.
Wandering off as a rogue, she heightened her powers and became the fearsome dread called Your Silver.
Accompanied by her silver wolf, she was ready to unleash hell on all who rejected her but then she meets her second chance mate, Alpha of Black Rose, who she couldn’t refuse.
An evil is rising that'd need the blood of the silver wolf to succeed. Would Rihanna forsake her pain and work with her mates, old and new?
Or would she charge head-on to the evil risking her own life? Enjoy this enthralling read!!
Second Chances

Second Chances

87.2k Views · Ongoing · Vicky Visagie
He was kissing me taking my attention away from the pain in my pussy and then he started to move slowly and the pain was disappearing. It was getting nicer and nicer so nice I started to move my hips as he was moving on top of me. He bend down while moving in and out of me and took one nipple in his mouth. I could feel myself getting wet around him that just made him move faster in me. “Fuck angel you are so wet.”


When lover found their way back. I was pregnant 12 years ago but I vanished from is life. As my daughter grows and resembles him more, my longing deepens now at a gala, I unexpectedly see him again now a charming CEO.
I loved Nicolas with all my heart for years while we where in Uni but one night I got pregnant the only night we didn't use any protection. I had to run away from him he had a bright future ahead of him he had a business he was groomed to do since he was a child I couldn't get in the way of that I couldn't destroy his hope and dreams like the pregnancy will destroy mine so I had to run and I had to run where he wouldn't look for me. 12 years later I'm a nurse which was not my dream at all but it put food on the table and that is what was important. One of my colleagues gave me tickets to go to a Christmas Ball and who do I run into, the love of my life the man I ran away from the man who my daughter looks like and on his arm was off course the most beautiful model. Since I've left him I made sure to follow him on social media and the papers obviously I used a other name on social media and he always had a model on his arm always. The thing is not one of them looked like me which made me realized he was over me. Seeing him in real life and not just on my phone or in the papers ripped my heart right out of my chest especially with the model by his side.
V for Virgin!

V for Virgin!

187.4k Views · Completed · gossamersilverglow
Every girl should have their best guy friend take her virginity. At least, that's what I think.

Yes, I'm that girl.

That weird girl that always asks for the impossible and just happens to be secretly in love with her oblivious--rightfully so--best friend. Woe isn't my name though. It's Cassie.

And with my impromptu agreement to be a surrogate mother due to financial instability, I'm in a bind. Losing my virginity to a baby is not my cherry-picking dream. I have maybe a month to get him to agree before the in vitro process starts. Of course, he and his boyfriend know absolutely none of this. [M/F/M]
Mated To My Obsessive Stepbrother

Mated To My Obsessive Stepbrother

89.7k Views · Ongoing · Velvet Desires
Trigger warning!!!

Intended for mature readers who enjoy morally complex, slow-burn, possessive, forbidden, dark romance that pushes boundaries.

EXCERPT

Blood everywhere. Trembling hands.

"No!" My eyes blurred.

His lifeless eyes stared back at me, his blood pooling at my feet. The man I loved—dead.

Killed by the one person I could never escape - my stepbrother.


Kasmine's life was never hers to begin with. Kester, her stepbrother, controlled and monitored her every move.

At first, it was all sweet and brotherly until it began to turn into an obsession.

Kester was the Alpha, and his word was law. No close friends. No boyfriends. No freedom.

The only consolation Kasmine had was her twenty-first birthday, which was supposed to change everything. She dreamt of finding her mate, escaping the sickening control of Kester, and finally claiming her own life. But fate had other plans for her.

On the night of her birthday, not only was she disappointed that she wasn't mated to the love of her life, but she found out that her mate was none other than him - Her tormentor. Her stepbrother.

She'd rather die than be mated to a man whom she had known as her big brother all her life. A man who would do just anything to make sure she was his.

But when love turns to obsession, and obsession turns to blood, how far can one girl run before she realizes there is nowhere else to run to?
I Am His Wolfless Luna

I Am His Wolfless Luna

253.7k Views · Completed · Heidi Judith
Ethan's fingers kept rubbing back and forth on my clitoris, while his penis kept jumping inside my body. Every joint on my body is sore and screaming for the next orgasm. All too quickly, I feel that electric tension winding tighter, a mounting pressure that threatens to shatter me. My hips lift involuntarily, urging him to continue his exploration, silently pleading for the release I’m so close to tasting.

Ethan also kept emitting deep roars in my ear, 'Damn... I'm going to cum... !!!' His impact became more intense and our bodies kept making slapping sounds.

"Please!! Ethan!!"


As the strongest female warrior in my pack, I was betrayed by those I trusted most, my sister and my best friend. I was drugged, raped, and banished from my family and my pack. I lost my wolf, my honor, and became an outcast—carrying a child I never asked for.

Six years of hard-won survival turned me into a professional fighter, fueled by rage and grief. A summons arrives from the formidable Alpha heir, Ethan, asking me to return as a wolfless combat instructor for the very pack that once banished me.

I thought I could ignore their whispers and stares, but when I see Ethan's emerald-green eyes—the same as my son’s—my world tilts.
Mating Moon

Mating Moon

89.9k Views · Ongoing · loreleidelacruz
Ashlynn had just graduated Veterinary School, excited to find a job. She was living with her parents on the edge of Pack Land, her father not wanting them to close to anyone. Her father was violent, and often abused her mother. Her mother refused to tell anyone and made Ashlynn keep it secret. Things changed as soon as Ashlynn's father attacked her. When the Alpha intervened, Ashlynn and her mother moved away to avoid embarrassment. Will this new Pack offer them comfort, or more danger?
Up North

Up North

145.4k Views · Ongoing · eenboterham
"I prefer your moans, your gasps, and your whimpers. Don't hold them back, and I'll be more than satisfied..."
My hands move from his jaw to his hair, tagging at its ends. His hands travel down my body and pull the material from my shirt up my body, he places a wet kiss right beside my belly button. I tense as I let out a gasp. He makes his way up, showering my stomach with slow kisses, studying my body as he goes until the shirt is completely off and his mouth is on my neck.


Aelin has been mistreated by her pack for as long as she can remember, but as the threats of the Vampire Kingdom becomes more and more palpable, her pack has to call the Northerners to help them train and prepare for the Vampire Kingdom. What happens when the Northern Alpha takes a liking to Aelin?
Unwanted Mate Of The Lycan Kings

Unwanted Mate Of The Lycan Kings

101.9k Views · Completed · Jessica Hall
Caught in a deadly game, Zirah must outwit three savage Lycan Kings and their lethal pets to survive. But what happens when she finds herself in the heart of the maze, not just alive, but protected by the very beasts sent to kill her? It is supposed to be a game—a game of life and death. But what started with the maze trials ended in a prize that is more than Zirah bargained for. She never thought the prize would be for her to choose between the three Lycan Kings fighting for their father’s throne.

Upon meeting the three Lycan kings, Zirah learns that the Kings are no prince charmings. That this would be no fairy tale love story, but one where her life is constantly balanced on the sharp edge of a knife's blade. A knife that is poised to take her life or leave her horribly broken. The Kings want nothing to do with her or each other and plan to get rid of her.

What they don't expect is for Zirah to fight back, only she plays with something far more dangerous than weapons. She’ll play with their hearts.

Zirah has to pick one King, but secrets will be revealed, and the battle between the Kings will be for more than just the throne. They will battle for the queen that they tried to break. But there's just one issue: Zirah wants revenge, and what better revenge than taking away their precious throne?
Bonded to My Ex's Alpha Brother

Bonded to My Ex's Alpha Brother

73.1k Views · Completed · CalebWhite
My life should have been perfect—successfully starting college, with a caring boyfriend and a best friend. Until I discovered the two of them having sex the night before my eighteenth birthday. Then, during my first full transformation, I discovered a terrifying truth: I am the Soul Bond of Derek Stone, the Alpha of the Darkwood Pack.

The problem is, he's the brother of my ex-boyfriend Bradley.

As a lowly Omega werewolf, I have no right to desire a union with a superior wolf, especially this Alpha leader. Derek Stone isn't just the leader of the Darkwood Pack; he's also a formidable business tycoon. His reputation for ruthlessness makes other packs tremble.

But the ancient werewolf law is clear: if a Pack Alpha rejects his Soul Bond, a curse will descend upon us both.

When Derek suddenly hires me as his assistant secretary, I find myself in a dangerous game. Daily close contact makes the wolf inside me excited, while his cold attitude breaks my heart. Is he deliberately torturing me, or is there something more complex hidden beneath his icy exterior?

As the attraction between us grows stronger, I must make a choice: continue to endure this painful connection, find a way to break the Soul Bond, or make the Pack Alpha fall in love with me and accept me as his Soul Bond.
Crossing the lines ( Sleeping with my Best friends)

Crossing the lines ( Sleeping with my Best friends)

90.3k Views · Completed · Nia Kas
Layla's POV :Little did I think my world would be turned upside down. Dean and Aleck my best friends who who protected me ever since kindergarten and had always remained by my side, truly were nothing like I remembered. Ever since I was eighteen I knew and I kept it hidden, I hid it so well until it wasn't. Falling in love with your Best friends isn't something you should do especially when they're twin brothers. Our friendship was good until I ditched them for my Own sanity. Disappearing did the trick however a spur of the moment
get together with the rest of our college friends,led me to reveal some of my secrets. And some of theirs. From being accused by friends I gave up. Little did I know the get together was just a ruse for them to get back into my life and they were playing the long game, making sure I belonged to them and them only.
Dean's POV : The minute we I opened the door and saw her ,so beautiful, I knew it was either going to go our way or she ran. We fell in love with her at Eighteen,she was seventeen and off limits,she saw us as brother so we waited, when she disappeared we let her ,she thought we had no idea where she was ,she as absolutely fucking wrong. We watch her every move and knew how to make her cave to our wishes.
Aleck's POV : Little Layla had become so fucking beautiful, Dean and I decided she would be ours. She walked around the island unaware if what was coming her way.one way or the other Our best friend would end up under us in our bed and she would ask for it too.
Heartsong

Heartsong

275.7k Views · Completed · DizzyIzzyN
The LCD screen in the arena showed pictures of the seven fighters in the Alpha Class. There I was, with my new name.
I looked strong, and my wolf was absolutely gorgeous.
I looked to where my sister is sitting and her and the rest of her posse have jealous fury on their faces. I then look up to where my parents are and they're glaring at my picture, if looks alone could set shit on fire.
I smirk at them then I turn away to face my opponent, everything else falling away but what was here on this platform. I take my skirt and cardigan off. Standing in just my tank and capris, I move into a fighting position and wait for the signal to start -- To fight, to prove, and not hide myself anymore.
This was going to be fun. I thought, a grin on my face.
This book ”Heartsong” contains two books “Werewolf’s Heartsong” and “Witch’s Heartsong”
Mature Audience Only: Contains mature luangege, sex, abuse and violence
From omega to luna

From omega to luna

62.8k Views · Completed · Dripping Creativity
Graham's mind went blank. He was met by the most beautiful she-wolf he had ever seen. He let his eyes trail over her body. She was short and lean but had curves in places that made his mouth dry and his pants tight.

As he took in her face, his eyes met her ice blue ones, and he stopped breathing for a moment.

While he was frozen, his wolf was ecstatic and tried to push him forward. She looked just as surprised as him. He took two strides and ended up inches away from her.

“Mate!” he growled, never breaking eye contact.

***Bella is an omega, lowest in rank of the pack. But she has accepted her place in life. Graham is the alpha, top of the rank. Strong, fierce, and determined to do what is best for his pack. In his mind, he doesn’t have any time for a mate. Yet they meet each other in the midst of the biggest conflict between the packs and rogues to date.