The Billionaire's Matchmaker(73)

Nick’s business card, the one he gave her the day they’d met, lay on the desk. Jenny grabbed her phone and began punching the numbers before she could have second thoughts. Please let the butler answer, please let the butler answer..

“Hello?”

As usual, her wish wasn’t granted. Nick’s greeting rolled through her, making her knees weak.

“Hey.”

“Jenny?”

His note of expectancy made the reaction worse. Swallowing her fluttering nerves, she forced herself to sound casual. “I wasn’t expecting you to answer the phone,” she said.

“This is my private line.”

Of course it was. Because a house line would have made things easier for her.

“What can I do for you?”

“Lulu’s not there by any chance, is she?”

“Why would your dog be here?”

“I can’t find her, and I thought maybe she and Charlie…” Hearing her thoughts out loud made Jenny realize how idiotic they truly were. “Never mind.”

“No, wait. Lulu’s not home?”

“No. I woke up this morning, and she’d disappeared.”

“Isn’t she supposed to have her puppies any day now? Gideon told me,” he added.

When he’d called about her bill. “That’s what has me concerned. I’m afraid she might have gone looking for somewhere to have her puppies. And to be with Charlie. Do you know where he is?”

“Unfortunately, yes. I let him out earlier this morning, but he returned about an hour ago. He’s been curled up in his chair ever since.”

“So much for that theory. I guess I’ll have to come up with another.” Jenny gripped the phone tighter. Having heard Nick’s voice again, she found it difficult to say good-bye. “If she does show up, will you let me know?”

“Of course. I hope you find her soon.”

“Me, too.”

“Will you call me when you do? So I know?”

“Sure.”

“Thank you. And Jenny?” He called through the receiver, catching her before she could hang up. More than anything, Jenny hated how her heart sped up soon as he said her name.

“Yes?” she asked.

The line was quiet. If not for the sound of his breathing, Jenny might have thought he’d ended the call. Instead, she imagined him gathering his words. To make the most of regaining her attention.

“Good luck,” he said finally.

Jenny’s heart sunk a little. They weren’t the words she’d hoped to hear, but they were the words she expected. “Thank you,” she whispered in reply. She disconnected.

…

Since Lulu wasn’t anywhere around the house, nor in any of her neighbor’s yards, Jenny headed out on foot to search. Given the spaniel’s swollen belly, the little gal couldn’t have gotten too far. That is, unless she went out at dawn, Jenny amended, an unsettling thought since foxes and coyotes also roamed around at that hour. She could only imagine how tasty a slow, fat spaniel would look to one of them. To that end, her first instinct was to cover the path Lulu and Charlie had taken last week.

Did all roads have to lead back to Nick Bonaparte? she asked herself as she entered the woods boarding his property. Why was it that every blessed thing she did this week brought back memories of their one evening together? Her longest, most pathetic relationships hadn’t affected her as much. Johnny Woods had strung her along all through high school, and she got over him the day after graduation. But one kiss in the woods with Nick had given her an ache in her chest the size of the Grand Canyon for more than a week. Granted, Johnny didn’t kiss like Nick. No one kissed like Nick. Nor had she met anyone with whom she felt so drawn to in so short a time. She didn’t just mean sexually, either. She was drawn to the emotions hiding behind his blue stare.

And then there was that voice inside of her, still whispering how she might be passing by on “the one.” She was beginning to really hate that voice.

Up ahead, right before a turn in the path, she noticed a small clump of branches curled in on one another to form a small hollow. The perfect place for an animal to crawl under? “Lulu?” she called, hoping the spaniel might bark in reply. “You there?”

There was a rustle of leaves and Jenny knelt down, hoping to see beneath the clump.

“Lulu?”

A bundle of white and brown burst around the corner, barking excitedly. There was only one problem: it was the wrong bundle.

Charlie danced about on hind legs trying to lick her face hello. “What on earth are you doing here?” she asked him.

More importantly, if Charlie was roaming here in the woods, did that mean…?

“Looks like we had the same idea.”

Nick came around the corner. Jenny tried not to react to how rustically handsome he looked in his jeans and barn coat. She failed. Even the floppy brimmed cowboy hat looked good. It was going to take another six days before he was out of her system. Probably more, she realized, awareness pooling in the pit of her stomach.

“After you hung up, I realized Lulu might be en route,” he said. Lord, his voice still sounded like honeyed gravel, even in the daylight. “Figured of anybody, Charlie had the best chance of sniffing her out. So far, we haven’t had any luck.” While he spoke, he moved around the brush.