The Billionaire's Matchmaker(23)

Their footsteps echoed around them as they walked down the circular stairway of the grand foyer. When he got to the bottom step, he said, “You’re going to have to get accustomed to hearing noises in here. A house with a ceiling this high is bound to have lots of echoes.”

“Right.” More hormones awoke at the deep, masculine sound of his voice. Holding her head high and pretending she wasn’t fighting the urge to rip off his shirt, she marched to the control box for the alarm then stepped out of the way.

He walked over, hit a few buttons, and a green light blinked on. Grinning like a Cheshire cat, he faced her. “That might have been the problem.”

She swallowed and simply stared, wondering if he knew how lucky he was to have such beautiful eyes, a chiseled chin, and sculpted cheek bones.

A few seconds ticked by before she realized her foyer was silent and he was staring at her. And not the way she was staring at him—with undisguised interest—but with disgust.

He shook his head and turned away. “You’re fine.” His voice took on a hard tone. “I’ll do one more check outside then I’ll swing back in to make sure you’re okay. But I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t make any more 9-1-1 calls to meet your neighbors.”

“What?”

“It’s wrong to call 9-1-1 for anything other than a genuine emergency. In fact, it’s a crime.”

Mortification replaced attraction. “Do you think I called 9-1-1 to get to meet you?”

“Look. I’ve seen you around town for a couple of years now. Which means you probably knew I lived out here and that I’m the person who’d be dispatched when you called.”

“I heard a noise!”

“I’m sure you did. And I’m sure you forgot to set the alarm too.”

“I didn’t forget to set the alarm! I was so afraid to be living out here in the dark that I kept checking it all night. I must have hit the button and knocked it off one of those times I was messing with it.”

“Right.”

He didn’t believe her! Her breath caught. She pressed her hand to her chest. “I called the police—not you—because I was terrified.”

Instead of the apology she as expecting, the room became incredibly quiet. He really didn’t believe her. And she was only making things worse by arguing.


She lifted her chin. “Actually, there’s no need to come back after you check my yard. I’m fine. You can go.”

He walked toward her front door. “I’ll be back anyway.” He turned and grinned at her. “For one more look.”

The double meaning of that statement cut through her like an embarrassing knife. Not only did he not believe her, now he was laughing at her.

“I said I was fine.”

His gaze rippled from her head to her toes. His lips lifted into a confident smile but he didn’t reply.

He walked out the front door and she plopped down on the third step of the stairway.

Get ahold of yourself, Marney!

Oh, right. Get a hold of herself. It was little late for that. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d behaved like a teenager in heat. So she couldn’t fault the sheriff for making a bad assumption. He was incredibly good looking, and women probably did do weird things like call 9-1-1 to get to meet him. Plus, her situation did appear odd. But once she’d explained that she really had heard a noise and she’d probably accidentally turned off her alarm, he should have understood. Actually, he should have apologized for accusing her of calling 9-1-1 just to get him to her house. Instead, he thought she was some kind of sex starved…idiot.

He returned about ten minutes later, flashlight in hand, but he didn’t step inside. As if afraid of her, he stayed on her front porch, telling her not to worry, she was safe now. Then he grinned his infuriating I-know-you’re-attracted-to-me grin and left.

Marney fell to her steps again and covered her head with her hands. She’d just made a colossal fool of herself.

…

Driving back to his house, Sheriff Dell O’Neil shook his head in wonder. Local jewelry shop owner Marney Fields was a beautiful woman with her long brown hair and dark eyes that flashed when she’d realized he’d noticed her sizing him up.

Lucky for her, he wasn’t interested in romantic entanglements or he probably could have taken her on her Italian marble floor.

But her image popped into his brain as he got ready for bed and again the next morning when he drove past her house. He thought about her when he walked by the little shop she had on Main Street and again when he drove home at about three. Worse, he thought about her on the long drive to his parents’ house in Chicago to attend a fund raiser for his parents’ pet charity.

Since his divorce, he hadn’t allowed any woman to rent space in his head and he had no idea why Marney Fields had suddenly set up residence there. But he did know he would get her out.

…

After work Friday afternoon, Marney drove to Chicago, grateful to be getting out of town. After her embarrassing encounter with Sheriff O’Neil, she needed the weekend to chill out.

She had a fundraiser to attend that night, an exhibit of the work of several up-and-coming artists. The gallery owner had committed his share of the profits to the Heart Association, one of her favorite charities. But more than that, this was payback for all the people who had supported her exhibits when she was new. Divorced, just starting out as a jewelry designer, she’d appreciated the gallery’s support and the money she made from her exhibits. She would definitely buy something tonight.