Loves Billionaires and Corgis: A Feel Good Romance

by Gina Robinson

  I lament that I won't get to see them again if Mitch succeeds in his nefarious, ill-thought-out plan to change me from runaway bride to coerced-in-marriage bride. Or whatever he has in store.

  Dex is running in dress shoes. I irrelevantly think he's going to get shin splints. But I'm worth a case of shin splints, right?

  Mitch is still trying to stuff me in, and I'm still fighting him when Dex reaches the van. He grabs Mitch from behind, spins him around, and gives him a right hook to the jaw.

  Mitch teeters on his feet, stunned. He stumbles back.

  Dex grabs my hand and pulls me into his arms.

  I have never had two guys fight over me before. Certainly not physically fight. I don't date that kind of guy. Or I didn't think I did. Until now.

  I slump against Dex. "My hero. I owe you one."

  "I'll be collecting. You can count on it—"

  I take his face gently in my hands and kiss him like I mean it. If there was ever a man I could see myself marrying…

  Dex cleared his throat, bringing me back to the present.

  "My lawyer"—the lawyer Dex had hired for me to protect my interests—"says Mitch is planning to claim temporary insanity and mount a crime of passion defense."

  Mitch had been arrested and immediately posted bail. He was out on his own recognizance while the prosecutor decided whether to try him for kidnapping or unlawful imprisonment or assault. Or whatever. There was more than enough evidence that he tried to run away with me—hundreds of witnesses and the video from that drone didn't lie. But legal definitions were tricky.

  I sighed with my whole body. As I did, my diamond bracelet, the bracelet Dex gave me during that fateful wedding weekend, jangled on my wrist. I never went anywhere without that bracelet. I've even told Dex, and my family and friends, that if I ever disappeared and my bracelet was left behind, call out the cadaver dogs. I've been murdered.

  I was actually hesitant to push Mitch too hard right now. Because of that punch Dex threw when he was rescuing me. It was clearly in defense of me. But would the judicial system see it that way? Mitch could be such an ass. I wouldn't put it past him to claim Dex assaulted him and charge him in civil court. Or something stupid. He wasn't reasonable right now. The charge wouldn't stick, but Dex had a good reputation to maintain. I wasn't going to take any chance of getting him into trouble.

  "The prosecutor looking into the case also says that under the kidnapping laws of Washington, we'll have a hard time proving first-degree kidnapping," I said. "And maybe even second degree."

  Dex knew this, but I couldn't help reminding him.

  He rolled his eyes. "He threatened to kill you."

  "I don't think he was serious."

  "You don't like to see the bad in anybody." Dex made a left turn. "He was trying to cart you off in a van against your will. You never thought he'd do that, either. I say you make your offer again—that you'll testify in his defense, asking for leniency, if he agrees to get counseling and waives his right to one of Bella's puppies. I don't trust him to be a good puppy parent."

  Dex was a dog lover to his core. He'd founded and owned a major share in Puppy Love, an international startup that provided dog-sitting, walking, and other pet services. His concern for the future of an unborn puppy was touching. But laced beneath it, unsaid, was his concern for me.

  I shared his concern for the puppy's future. "His lawyer is arguing my request to withhold one of Bella's puppies is unreasonable and tantamount to blackmail. That raising a puppy would be therapeutic for Mitch."

  Dex swore beneath his breath. We were almost home, my home.

  "Would it help if I had my staff dog psychiatrist testify that being with an unstable person could be detrimental to a young puppy's mental health and lead to troublesome behavioral issues that would only further disturb a person in Mitch's mental state?"

  "The way your mind works never fails to amaze me. You're brilliant. You should have been a lawyer."

  He grinned.

  "Don't let it go to your head." I liked the idea and loved the way Dex could come up with a solution and counterpoint to absolutely anything. "I like that idea. Let's hold it in reserve."

  Dex pulled to a stop by the curb in front of my Northwest craftsman-style bungalow.

  Out of nowhere, a sense of panic welled up. My heart raced. My mouth went dry. What if my dear runned-away-from groom was lurking somewhere around my house? Not Mitch. The other one, the one without a name that I could remember.

  He could be lurking anywhere. Like in the front bushes that needed trimming. I was half surprised he wasn't lying in wait on my front stoop, with Mitch, having a great chat about how I'd run away from both of them. Commiserating. Strategizing. Maybe duking it out. Over both Bella and me. Maybe No Name would give Mitch one of Bella's puppies if Mitch gave him me. Or maybe he'd claim he wasn't bound by my commitment.

  When had Bella and I become so popular? If they killed each other, all my problems would be solved. But if one of them won and thought he had rights to me and my dog…

  I scanned the length of my property. No men in sight.

  My alarm system hadn't been tripped. There were no messages or incriminating shots from my electronic video doorbell. Everything looked just as it had when I'd left home earlier.

  Being a techno wizard fake boyfriend, one who didn't want Mitch to try to run off with me again, Dex had had every security measure, short of an actual personal bodyguard, installed on my property.

  "Shelby?"

  I jumped. I hadn't realized I'd been so entranced and faraway with fear.

  "What's wrong? You look like you see a ghost in the window."

  "Um…"

  "Sorry." He took my hand. "I spooked you. I shouldn't have mentioned Mitch. He can't get to you again."

  I had to bite my tongue. I almost spat out that it wasn't Mitch I was afraid of.

  Dex squeezed my hand. "Shel—I know it's early days and you're fiercely independent…but if you're worried, come stay at my place for a while. At least until we settle things with Mitch."

  My heart, which was finally calming down, went right back into rapid pitter-patter. His offer was oh so enticing…

  "I live on a gated estate. Big-ass gate—"

  "Mitch got past a gate before. At Adam and Chrissy's wedding."

  "Eh." Dex waved his hand. "I have top-of-the-line security. I'll hire you a bodyguard."

  "A hot, hunky bodyguard?" I waggled my brow and tried to look like I was salivating.

  "A well-trained, topnotch, ugly-as-sin, totally-dedicated-to-his-wife bodyguard." His eyes twinkled.

  "Killjoy. Now I'm not so excited." I crossed my arms like I was pouting.

  "You'll be safe with me." Dex waggled his eyebrows lecherously.

  Dex used humor to deflect from the intensity of his feelings and the magnitude of the situation. It was part of his charm. I was getting better at seeing through it.

  This was out of the blue and totally unexpected. Since spending Memorial Weekend together at the wedding, we'd spent a few nights together at my place. But mostly we kept to our own spaces. I hadn't actually seen his place yet.

  "How long is a while?" I asked, tempted.

  "As long as it takes," he said.

  I'd dated Mitch for almost two years, was engaged to him, and had bought a house with him, and I had never moved in with him. That was a sign, maybe, that he wasn't the one. It was also quite possibly a sign that I was a total commitment-phobe who hid behind her love of independence to avoid completely surrendering her heart. And while this wasn't technically moving in, an open-ended offer could be construed as the first step.

  I didn't know what to say. It was so tempting. And so frightening. What would I do if No Name somehow managed to call again? And the cold, hard commitment-shy part of me was quaking with fear.

  "Think it over," Dex said. "The offer is open." He leaned in to kiss me.

  With her impeccable sense of timing, and jealous nature, Bella barked.
/>   Dex laughed and pulled away. "Thanks a lot, Bella." He shook his finger at her.

  "She's just jealous," I said. "She hates it when you show more attention to me than her." I kissed him, thoroughly. "Are you coming in?"

  I was hoping he would so he could spook out any unwanted guests. But, on the other hand, I didn't want him running into No Name.

  "I'd love to, but I have to get back to a meeting at the office. I need to run. Are you going to be okay, or would you like me to secure the perimeter before I go? Make sure Mitch hasn't violated his restraining order?"

  "Mitch isn't a security genius. There's no way he could break in without tripping my system. I'll be fine. I don't want you to be late."

  Dex held out his hand for my phone. "Let me at least take a look at your security feed before I go."

  I could have protested, but I handed it over.

  Dex scrolled through it. "All clear."

  "You know I have to let Mitch know that Bella is officially pregnant," I said, feeling deflated at the thought.

  "Tell your lawyer and let him tell Mitch's." Dex kissed me again.

  Yeah, we were really selling this "fake" relationship. Even when no one was looking.

  I slid out of the car and grabbed Bella. I waved to Dex from my front porch and watched him drive away. When I slipped inside the house, my panic returned. What did I do now?

  Chapter Three

  Take It on the Run

  Shelby (Woman on the run?)

  As long as I felt like No Name groom guy could spot me, or swoop in and snatch Bella, I wasn't going to feel safe. What to do? What to do? I had to think.

  I always disabled Bella's automatic doggie door when we were away. When I let us in the house, she raced to it and barked, wanting to go out in the backyard and play. She'd been cooped up at the vet's all morning. The vet had given her a doggy treat for being a good girl, but she still expected her reward from me—a nice romp in the backyard.

  I wished I had her complete lack of awareness of the danger we were both in. I would have loved to let her loose in the backyard. I wanted to go out and play with her. Toss a ball around. But…

  I really hated buts.

  But…I was paranoid. If No Name had figured out where I lived, what would stop him from snatching Bella from the backyard? And if I went out to play with her, what would stop him from confronting both of us? Or maybe taking us both?

  Okay, make that super paranoid.

  How could he find us at our house? Again, I'd been smart enough to use a fake address for the business. But (here we go again with hating buts) I sometimes met with clients in my home studio. I have a separate entrance to it, which is cool and all. I don't have to trek clients through the house.

  But what that meant was that some clients knew where I lived. Which meant I'd have to be very careful from here on out to screen clients before allowing them to come to my home. I mean, I always was. Okay, I generally was. But my friends say I'm naïve and too trusting. And I can't argue with them.

  All No Name would have to do was hire some woman PI to pose as a client who wanted to meet me here and my safe spot would be blown. Maybe the best policy, at least for the time being, was to not hold any new client meetings at my lovely in-home studio. Unless I had an armed guard present.

  My phone rang. I jumped. That was how nervous and on edge I was. I was seeing shadows in every corner, hearing menace in every ringtone. I peered at the caller ID cautiously. Any number I didn't recognize was going to voicemail from here on out, too. Fool me once…

  Fortunately, it was my friend Lauren calling. She was the bride we'd been celebrating at that bachelorette party in Vegas two years ago, where I met the groom I left whose name I can't remember.

  "Lauren! What's up?" I tried to sound perky. But I was still shaken, and the coincidence of her calling so shortly after No Name had was a bit unnerving. "What are you doing calling in the middle of the day? Shouldn't you be working?"

  "Oh, fine. Taunt us corporate wonks with your gig economy freedom." She laughed. "Look, sometimes they unshackle us from the daily grind long enough to take a few minutes to deliver a public service announcement."

  "What do you mean? You lost me there with the PSA thing." My heart started racing again.

  "Maybe I should have said private warning." She lowered her voice as if there were ears everywhere. Which, in our high-tech world, was probably true. "I just got a weird call."

  "Oh?" Now I was really nervous. Lauren was my confident friend. She wasn't easily spooked and seldom overreacted to anything.

  "Yeah. From a guy claiming he was interested in hiring you to do some hand lettering for his wedding. He said he saw my testimonial on your website and wanted my true opinion of you before he contacted you. That's not typical behavior, right? I mean, he could just look at your reviews. Or check with the Better Business Bureau. Who calls someone he doesn't know?"

  Okay. Now my heart froze to the point I had to seriously consider getting an in-home defibrillator. Make up your mind, heart of mine—race or freeze!

  I decided to play it cool and be optimistic. But this was too much for coincidence. "I'm sorry, Lauren. I never meant for people to bug you. How did he find you? I only use your first name and don't list any of your contact info anywhere."

  "I know," she said, sounding indignant. "That's what was disturbing. You'd have to do some serious digging to find me. It's obviously possible, I guess. If you put two and two together and connect me and my wedding stuff to your client list. But I never worried about it before. You've had plenty of brides named Lauren over the years."

  "Did he threaten you?" I felt pale.

  "No," she said. "He was incredibly polite, even charming. He had a sexy voice."

  Oh, great.

  "But he asked a lot about you," she said. "I mean, a lot. Like, more than someone who's just interested in hiring you would. At least, that was my impression. He seemed particularly interested in your home studio. You should really take that picture of it off your website. I just got a funny feeling from him. After all the publicity you've gotten lately, I was worried he might be a kook of some kind."

  I was worried he was more than that. I was worried he was a furious dumped groom who would accuse me of dognapping.

  "It's probably nothing. But he seemed like he wanted to keep me talking about you. Prying. Hoping I'd slip up and give something away. Like your address."

  I gasped.

  "Calm down. Don't worry. I'm not stupid. I'm onto that kind of thing. I didn't tell him anything about you."

  "Good." I pressed my hand to my heart, trying to get it to calm down. And trying not to overreact to her news. I didn't want to make her suspicious that something more was going on. "Thanks for the heads-up."

  "Oh, no problem."

  Bella barked for my attention. She was still intent on going out and totally unaware of the danger.

  Lauren laughed. "How's Bella? It sounds like she's mad I didn't ask about her first thing. Your dog is a bit of a diva, you know."

  "Yeah, she is. She's also pregnant." I put a bit of a squeal in my voice. I had to force it, but Lauren would expect it.

  "Awesome! You must be so excited. Puppies in your future." She sounded genuinely happy for me.

  "I am."

  We chatted a few minutes while I raced around the house closing the blinds with Bella at my heels, thinking I was playing a game with her. I kind of was—hide from the ex-groom. Make it look like no one was home or had been home for ages. If only I could get the grass to look un-mowed and pile a stack of newspapers on the front porch. Except I have never had a physical newspaper delivered in my life. Only old people get the paper around here…

  Genius! Getting the paper would be a good disguise. And make me the target of shady siding salesmen everywhere. Every plan has a downside.

  I chatted for a while longer. After I hung up with Lauren, I raced to my computer to fix my website and get rid of that picture of my studio. I didn't think
it was identifying in any way, but maybe a PI could use it to find me. Dex probably could. He was a computer genius. I wasn't wild about giving anyone the opportunity.

  I was ninety-nine percent positive that Mr. No Name was the voice behind Lauren's mystery caller. It was a reasonable assumption, anyway. Which meant he was on the hunt for me. (Did I feel like a hunted animal?) Fortunately, Lauren had attributed his interest to all the media attention I'd gotten lately.

  I tried to think back—had Lauren ever actually met No Name in Vegas? Had I mentioned him to her? We'd all been partying and drunk most of the time. I really couldn't remember. But at least she didn't make the connection.

  I'd just loaded my new page to my website, without the cute studio picture, when my phone rang again. Once again, I jumped. This was becoming an annoying habit.

  I glanced at the caller ID—Olivia, Livvie, one of my good friends. She had been a fellow bridesmaid from Lauren's wedding, and my roommate for Lauren's bachelorette weekend. Oh, the stories she could tell! If she remembered any. Which, to date, she mercifully hadn't. Fingers crossed that remained unchanged.

  Livvie was more direct, "Remember Lauren's bachelorette party?"

  "Uh…parts of it." Good answer, good answer. And not a lie.

  Ordinarily Livvie would have laughed, but she talked right over me. "Well, it's the oddest thing. Remember that hot guy you were hanging around with on Saturday of our weekend in Vegas? The one you ditched us for? The one with the sexy voice?"

  Uh-oh.

  I fought to keep my cool, even though I was trembling with both fury and fear. He'd somehow tracked down two of my friends and fellow bridal party peeps. "I think I was pretty clear—any memories of that weekend are really fuzzy."

  "I think I just got a call from him," she said over me again.

  My knees buckled. I collapsed on to my sofa. "You think? What does that mean?" I tried to control the edge of panic in my voice, but maintaining any kind of control was getting harder and harder.

  "Well, yeah. I mean, it wasn't a video call or anything. I couldn't see him. But it's hard to forget a voice like that. You were certainly enthralled by it, and him."