Is this destiny?

Back in the area where ladies gathered around Samara…

Samara collected contact information from the ladies present and promised to send samples to all of them.

After this, Sarah went to find Aiden and to check how they are with the schedule for the event, and other ladies dispersed as well, leaving Ellie, Emma, JoAnna, and Samara.

Ellie spotted Jasper who was standing nearby with Mathew.

Mathew was in Chicago and he planned to spend some time with Grayden, but then he saw that Angelo is there and at the last moment Mathew decided to attend Ron's party. Mathew knows Ron and he would rather be anywhere else than to hold a candle for Angelo and Melissa.

"There is my husband!" Ellie exclaimed and nudged Samara while gesturing toward Jasper. "Now you can see that he is more handsome than Charlie."

Samara realized that she is in a predicament. How can she comment on the handsomeness of two men in front of their wives? No matter what she says, it will be a problem, and they are getting along well so far. Samara saw that both Ellie and Emma are looking at her expectantly, and she felt like crying. JoAnna is looking at her as well. What should she do?

Samara's gaze fell on Mathew and she saw him as a safe exit.

Samara smiled and responded to Ellie. "Well, if you ask me… I like them more mature. And I love tattoos so my choice would be the man next to your husband. He is super handsome."

Well, Samara didn't lie. She likes more experienced men, and Mathew has a good body that can't be hidden under his well-fitted suit, and his facial features are attractive.

Samara swallowed hard when she saw that the mood changed suddenly. Why is Ellie giving her a deadly stare? She didn't make a mistake, did she? The younger man is the husband and she played it safe by picking the older one!

"That's my dad." Ellie said stiffly.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean much by it. I was just saying that he is handsome. Your mom is a lucky woman." Samara said quickly while hoping that this is enough to fix her blunder.

"I don't have a mom…" Ellie mumbled.

JoAnna rolled her eyes and interjected. "Don't worry about it, Samara. Her father is a free man for a long time. If you like him, go and talk to him, he does not bite." JoAnna shot a side-glance at Ellie. "Don't tell me that you expect your dad to stay single forever?"

Ellie frowned. "Well… no…"

"And do you mind if Samara talks to him? Who knows, maybe they get along well…" JoAnna was not willing to drop the topic.

Samara's eyes darted from JoAnna who was talking to Ellie who was frowning, and she wondered, how did the things escalate to this point? She only said that the man is handsome, there are many handsome people here and Samara came to build her network for business, not to find a man! Ah, she only hopes that Jeff does not hear about this! Her cousin will scold her because he told her to behave!

JoAnna was still talking… "…Since Mathew is stepping down from his business, he has a lot of free time on his hands and I'm sure that he is lonely. Don't you think that he could use a companion? I can tell you that Samara is a good person and she would not take advantage of him…"

Samara was happy that JoAnna called her 'a good person' and she jolted when Ellie almost screamed: "OK! Fine! Just... stop talking about it!"

Ellie took Samara's hand in hers and tugged her toward Jasper and Mathew.

"Dad…" Ellie called. "This is Samara and she thinks that you are handsome."

Mathew almost choked on his drink and Jasper patted his back while giving Ellie a questionable look. Ellie gets easily irritated due to her pregnancy hormones, but she never caused a scene at a party so far. He wondered what happened to get Ellie so worked up, but he has no intention of asking because he knows that it might push Ellie further into a rage.

"What?" Mathew was not sure if his ears malfunctioned. Did Ellie just introduce him to a woman?

Mathew looked at Samara and wondered, how old is she? Samara appears to be close in age to Ellie and she is not bad to look at… with a nice figure… and her flustered expression is very cute... Mathew narrowed his eyes while wondering if this is a trap. Is Ellie testing him?

Ellie glanced at Samara and she saw that Samara is super embarrassed and Ellie realized that she allowed her temper to flare and that she was rude.

"I'm sorry, Samara. I know this was not nice from me…" Ellie said to Samara who was not sure where to look.

Ellie turned to Mathew. "Dad, I know that you are not seeing women because you think that I will not approve, and I appreciate that. You don't need to sacrifice your personal life because of me. Maybe I will not approve, but I will learn to accept just how you accepted all the things I did regardless if you agreed with my choices or not. That is what we do, as a family. Samara said that you are handsome, and I thought of introducing you to each other. I know that my approach was not a good one, but who knows, maybe you have something in common…"

Mathew looked at Ellie with a complex expression. "I never thought that my own daughter will set me up for a date." He turned to Samara. "I came here without a date, and if you agree, I would like to accompany you for the evening. My name is Mathew."

Samara shook his hand awkwardly, unsure how to respond, but she knows that rejecting the man in front of his daughter and son-in-law (and JoAnna who is watching from the side) will probably hurt his feelings. "Samara…"

"Can I offer you a drink? What would you like?" Mathew asked while gesturing toward the bar.

Samara thought that this will work. Once they move away and are by themselves, she will apologize to the man and explain the situation, and they can proceed with their lives like these last five uncomfortable minutes didn't happen.

"I would like a drink. Let's see what they have." Samara responded and followed after Mathew.

When they were halfway toward the bar, Samara stopped and turned to Mathew. "I'm sorry for putting you in this situation. I know that you are doing this for your daughter and not to offend me. It's not necessary, I will be fine."

Mathew was surprised by this. "I am the one who should apologize. You ended up being dragged in my unusual family situation. Can I still get you that drink, as an apology?"

Samara thought about how it can't hurt. It's not like she has anything else to do. "Sure. But don't force yourself to entertain me. I can manage on my own."

"How can you say that I'm forcing myself to spend a few extra minutes with a beautiful young lady? I am lucky that you don't mind having a drink with someone my age."

Samara blinked. "What is wrong with your age? Isn't that just a number?"

Mathew shot her a side glance. "That is easy for you to say because you are young."

"I don't know how old you are, but you are Ellie's father, so I have some idea. Your body is nice, which means that you are taking care of yourself, and the tattoos are telling me that you are not the guy who sits in front of the fireplace and solves crosswords…"

Mathew laughed at her comment. "Young lady… for your information, I like crosswords."

They reached the bar and Samara sat on the barstool before facing Mathew. "Crosswords or not, I know that a man like you has a lot of experience, and I like a man who knows what he is doing."

Mathew's eyebrows shoot up and he observed her keenly. "Are you flirting with me?"

Samara smiled. "Do you mind?"

"No." Mathew admitted. The fact that a young and attractive lady like Samara is flirting with him is not bothering him at all, especially because Ellie gave them her blessings. It seems that coming to this party was not a bad decision.

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