The Billionaire's Matchmaker(40)

Mia’s reason for dumping him? He’d said, “I love you.”

Three little words that most women longed to hear. Not Mia. Especially when Gid had gotten down on one knee on Christmas Day and backed them up with a diamond engagement ring large enough to have its own ZIP code.

Panic had bubbled up, burning her like lava. God help her, for one foolish moment, hope had as well—a geyser’s worth of it had shot up and then rained down on the old, painful memories. But nothing could wash away the past, which was why Mia had come to her senses.

Why did Gid have to go and ruin a really good thing with a declaration of love and a proposal of marriage?

Mia trusted neither.

She didn’t trust people in general. With the exception of her three girlfriends, everyone who ever had mattered in her life had pulled a disappearing act. That included her mom and dad, six sets of foster parents, and even the social worker who’d promised she would find Mia a permanent home. Six placements and a decade later, Mia had finally aged out of the system—eighteen years old and completely alone. Now approaching thirty, she was still largely alone. Only this time, it was her choice.

She closed the door and blew out a breath. At her feet, Charlie whined as if sensing her change in mood.

“It’s going to be okay,” Mia said, feeling anything but.

Forty minutes later, she pulled her car into the veterinary clinic’s parking lot. Charlie was riding shotgun, his hind feet on the passenger seat, front paws positioned on the dash just above the glove box. He yipped twice, as if to draw her gaze to the for sale sign that was rooted in the small patch of lawn that ran between the street and the lot. The dog needn’t have bothered. Although the sign was an innocuous white with san serif navy and red lettering, it might as well have been blinking in neon. It had her attention all right.

Gideon was selling? When had that happened? Why? Unfortunately, she thought she knew the answer to at least one of those questions.

…

Even with the heads-up his receptionist had given him, Gideon felt caught off guard when Mia walked into the examination room with a leashed Charlie in tow. It had been awhile since he’d seen her. He figured she was avoiding him. Given his gut-punched reaction to seeing her now, he decided that was probably a good thing.

She’d always been petite, slim. She looked even thinner now in a plain white T-shirt and a pair of jeans that used to fit far more snuggly over her hips. Fragile. God, she would hate that description, as apt as it might be. According to her friends, since the breakup Mia had been putting in a lot of overtime at the flower shop that he knew she secretly hoped to own one day. He hadn’t asked Gabby, Jenny or Marney about her, but they always volunteered information whenever he ran into them in town. Then they would stand around in awkward silence—sort of like how he and Mia were now as they faced one another in the sterile, white-tiled room.

Charlie was the first to “speak.” At his sharp bark, Gideon crouched to give the dog’s head a pat, scratching behind his ears for good measure. Glancing up at Mia, he nodded a greeting.

“Hello, Gid,” she said.

Her voice was as soft and sexy as ever. Those wide-set blue eyes every bit as distrustful as they’d been during his last encounter with her, which meant that chip on her shoulder, the one he’d tried so desperately to dislodge, remained firmly in place.

If only…

He let the thought ripple away like rings from a stone skipping over water. The time for if onlys was past.

He undid the leash and straightened. “Come on up here, Charlie. Let’s have a look at you.”

He patted the exam table, but Charlie didn’t budge. In fact, the dog plunked down his rear end on the floor and whined pitifully.

“No shots today, pal,” Gid promised and patted the table again. This time, Charlie leaped onto it. Gideon turned to Mia. “He’s all caught up on his vaccinations, but there is the small matter of…” He cleared his throat.

Mia raised her brows and leaned in expectantly, bringing the well-remembered scent of lavender with her. Whether it was from the hours she put in at the flower shop or soap, he’d never been sure.

“Yes?”

When Gideon made a snipping motion with his fingers, Charlie let out of an indignant woof! and shook his head. Gid couldn’t help chuckling. “I swear he knows exactly what I’m saying.”

“So, he needs to be F-I-X-E-D?” Mia’s tone turned hushed while she spelled. “Marney didn’t mention it.”

Gideon shrugged. “Probably because it’s Bonaparte’s call. I’ve been after him for awhile, ever since he adopted Charlie. In fact, the deed really should have been done before the shelter handed over the dog. That’s the standard protocol. But…”

“Mr. B’s not one to follow protocol,” Mia inserted wryly. And wasn’t that the truth?

No one in town knew much about the mysterious Mr. Bonaparte, other than that he lived in the largest mansion in the area, traveled extensively for business, and was rarely seen in public. Mia thought it odd that he had adopted a high-energy pet since he spent months at a time out of the country. Indeed, he wasn’t scheduled to return from his latest trip for awhile. But she could see the terrier’s appeal. All of her friends were smitten with the feisty dog.


“Yeah, well given Charlie’s penchant for getting out and visiting the ladies, it’s irresponsible to, um, leave the family jewels intact. Dogs aren’t like us. They don’t bother to use protection.”