The Billionaire's Matchmaker(26)

Of course, he could still be in Chicago—

Oh, yeah, right. Unless he’d told his staff he was going out of town—highly unlikely since he kept that part of his life a secret—they’d call him on his cell phone and he’d know she’d called 9-1-1 again. He might even think she’d called to get him to her house.

She grabbed her smart phone from the bedside table and called her best friend Gabby Wilson—now Gabby Shepherd.

“Who is this?”

“It’s me. You’d know that if you ever looked at your caller ID.”

“What time is it?”

“Gabby, focus. I’m coming over to get Charlie.” She’d kept the pup Gabby was dog-sitting for the reclusive Nicholas Bonaparte while Gabby had been on her honeymoon, and she knew Charlie was a barker. He would alert her if there really was an intruder.

“The dog?”

“I keep hearing an odd noise in my house.”

“Call your next-door neighbor, the sheriff.”

She sucked in a breath. She’d told her three friends Gabby, Mia, and Jenny about hearing the noise and about Sheriff O’Neil being her next-door neighbor, but she’d left out the part about him being attractive. She almost told Gabby that he was still in Chicago but she bit her tongue. She didn’t owe the man a damned thing, especially not secrecy, but something inside her wouldn’t let her spill the beans about who he really was.

So she said, “Please. There was nothing the last time I called him. I don’t want to go through all the rigmarole of calling and having him come over and find nothing.”

“So you’d rather go through the rigmarole of waking me and T.J.?”

“Thanks. I knew you’d understand.”

She clicked off the phone and headed to Gabby’s to pick up her newly appointed guard dog.

…

Monday morning, Marney had just slid the key into her shop door when Charlie, Bonaparte’s adorable Jack Russell terrier, barked and strained against his leash. Her heart sped up out of fear, but when she turned and saw Sheriff O’Neil, her blood raced through her veins for an entirely different reason.

Ignoring him and her body’s automatic reaction to him, she inhaled sharply, twisted the key in the lock, and opened the door.

Charlie barked and growled.

“Charlie! Come on now! Stop that!” She hoisted her purse on her shoulder and lifted Charlie into her arms.

Sheriff O’Neil followed them into the shop.

“If you’re here to apologize, don’t bother. I’m fine.” She deposited Charlie on the glass display case along the back wall, disconnected the leash from his collar, and set him on the floor. He raced into her office, where he knew she kept the doggie treats.

She turned from the display case with a smile but Sheriff O’Neil’s pretty blue-gray eyes shot sparks of fire at her.

“Apologize? For what?”

“Well, we could start with the kiss. I think you owe me an apology for trying to bully me like that.”

“Bully you?” His mouth fell open, drawing her attention. Memories of kissing that mouth and being kissed by that mouth flooded her. She swallowed hard and jerked her eyes to his again.

“You were the one all but threatening to tell everybody in town about my family. If you think you worry about your new house, imagine having a hundred times the money you have. They get death threats. They worry about their kids being kidnapped.” He laid his hand on his chest. “I live here in this nice little town without any of those worries because no one really knows who I am. I won’t let you ruin that.”

“Humph. You’d think you’d be nicer to me then.”

“Nicer to a woman who all but threatened me?”

“I didn’t threaten you!” Tired of his tirade when there was no reason for it, she walked over to him. “I was teasing you. But now that I know you have no sense of humor I’ll stop. You don’t have to worry. I can be trusted.”

He snorted a laugh. “Right.”

Her chin lifted. “Hey! I had brunch with my friends yesterday. Three women I’m closer to than sisters and I didn’t breathe one word of your stupid secret. You could be James Bond for all I care.”

“I hope you mean that.”

He turned on his heel and stormed out, and she leaned against her display case. Dear God, that man was handsome. Even confronting her, he had left her breathless.

Charlie trotted out of her office and over to her. He blinked up at her.

She reached down and lifted him into her arms. “I know what you’re thinking. He’s the first man I’ve reacted to since Doug. I can’t just dismiss that. But he’s also arrogant and self-centered. He didn’t give a damn that he’d kissed me. But he virtually wanted me to sign a blood oath that I wouldn’t tell anybody about his real identity. He’d be a handful.”


Charlie barked.

“You think that makes him a challenge?” She laughed, loving the way Charlie barked again as if they really were having a conversation.

“And you wonder what kind of woman would it take to break through and find the real Dell?” She ruffled the fur between his ears. “I don’t know. But it’s insane to even consider it. I married one arrogant, self-important guy. I shouldn’t want another.”