The Billionaire's Matchmaker(37)

…

Marney licked her lips. Her throat ached with the need to cry. Her heart ached with the pain of realizing she’d never see him again if she told him the truth.

All she had to do was laugh, say she was teasing, pretend she didn’t love him…and he’d be back tonight. Heck, they’d probably eat breakfast together.

All she had to do was pretend.

And spend the rest of their relationship longing for him to love her? Controlled by a love she felt but he didn’t?

That wasn’t how she lived. It wasn’t who she was.

Her gaze slowly rose. When it connected with his blue-gray eyes, eyes she could stare into forever, her heart splintered. But she knew what she had to do.

She swallowed. “I love you enough to know that if I let you stay you will really, really hurt me someday.”

She turned and walked out of her kitchen.





Chapter Seven



That afternoon, Dell sat at his desk, trying to forget the sad look on Marney’s face before she’d turned and walked out on him. With the May sunshine brightening everything, he’d left the main office door open to let in some fresh air, hoping to dispel his mood.

He was not wrong. She was. He’d made his intentions known. She’d agreed to his terms. He wouldn’t be upset.

Suddenly, something cold hit the little space between the cuff of his trouser leg and the top of his sock. He glanced down, and there sat Charlie.

He lifted the furry pup and scratched behind his ears. “What are you doing here?”

Charlie barked.

Dell shook his head. “I’m not taking you back.” He set him on the floor. “Go. Go back to Marney’s.”

The dog sat and—if dogs could grin—Dell swore the little beast grinned at him.

He tried taking him to the door. He tried shooing him up the sidewalk. Each time, Charlie plopped on his butt and grinned at him. Annoyed, he picked up the dog and headed to Marney’s shop.


Two doors away, he bumped into Laura Jennings, the first-grade teacher. From her soft yellow hair to her pretty blue eyes, she was the vision of the kind of woman Dell usually liked to woo. In fact, he’d considered asking her out.

Take that Charlie.

She caught his hand. “Dell! I’m so glad I ran into you. I’m having career day right after lunch and I need a solid closing speaker. After the way you saved Mrs. Baker a few weeks ago, I know the kids would love to hear from you.”

Dell frowned. He hadn’t had a reaction to Laura’s touch. Nothing.

Charlie barked. Laura patted his head. “See, even your dog thinks you’d be a perfect speaker.”

He might have been attracted before, but he wasn’t now. As for speaking to the first graders…Well, he was the chief and these kids were his responsibility. Teaching them was the serve part of protect and serve.

“All right. I’ll be there. What time?”

After getting the details, he took Charlie to Marney’s shop.

Claudette greeted him. “Hey, that’s Charlie!” She took him from Dell’s arms and hugged him to her. “Bad puppy! How’d you get out anyway?”

Dell said, “I don’t know how he got out, but he made it to my office. You might want to put him on a leash. Don’t forget we have a leash law.”

“He has a leash. Marney only takes it off when she’s working.”

“Yeah.” He glanced at the office door. Closed. His heart stuttered a bit, surprising him. Normally, he didn’t have a problem losing someone—he’d learned not to care so much that it hurt. But Marney had been a friend as well as his lover. He had to admit he would miss her.

But this was for the best.

…

Even though everyone in town knew who he was, Dell had to sign in at the elementary school and have an escort take him to the first-grade classroom. Gideon Roth, the town vet, was just coming out as he approached the door. He shook Dell’s hand. “Tough crowd in there. Good luck.”

Dell laughed. As he entered the classroom, the kids saw his uniform and they cheered.

Halfway through his talk—a little speech that was part admonition for the kids to be good and stay on the right side of the law and half description of his job—he noticed a little girl sitting in the back. Her brown pigtails reached her shoulders and her brown eyes could light up a room.

Marney immediately came to mind, and he had to squelch a chuckle. That was probably what Marney had looked like as a little girl. But another thought quickly replaced that one. He suddenly realized that adorable girl in the back looked exactly like what Marney’s daughter would look like.

This time his heart stalled. Marney would someday have kids without him.

He went back to his speech, telling himself to forget that and stop thinking about her. But two rows over, he spotted a little boy who reminded him of himself at that age. Inquisitive. Funny. Smart. His heart beat out of rhythm for a few seconds. It was odd to see himself as a child—then he realized he wasn’t seeing himself but what his son would look like.

Confused, he shook his head to clear it. He didn’t want kids. He had. When he was younger, he’d wanted lots of kids. But he didn’t want them now.

“So that’s my job. Anybody have any questions?”

Ten hands bulleted into the air. But the little boy who reminded Dell of himself, simply shouted, “Yeah, have you ever shot anyone?”