The Bridesmaid and the Billionaire

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Kane didn’t want to do anything resembling a doggie massage, but he also didn’t want that stray hanging around his cabin, so he’d suck it up and do what Susannah asked. He leaned forward, splayed his fingers and sunk them into the dog’s deep fur. The dog wriggled against his touch, and seemed to almost…smile.

Beneath his fingers, the retriever’s fur was thick and heavy, but it parted easily, allowing him access to the animal’s skin. He gave Susannah a dubious glance; she offered him an encouraging smile, and he dug in, doing his best to offer—

A soapy doggie massage, as insane as that sounded.

Yet his thoughts kept returning to the blond human beside him. Susannah started humming snippets of an old sixties tune, her hips swaying with the rhythm, her hair catching the dance, as if her whole body was part of the concert. So natural, so uninhibited. So different from anyone he’d ever met.

“I hear people find TLC rewarding, as well,” Kane said.

“Mmm-hmm.” Susannah stopped humming and stroked the dog behind the ears instead. “That’s a good girl, Dakota. Just a few more minutes, pup.”

But Kane wasn’t thinking about the canine at all. His thoughts were entirely focused on Susannah. In a few days, the two of them would be at a wedding together, which meant he’d be escorting her down the aisle, then dancing with her at the reception. Holding her in his arms. The anticipation drummed in his veins.

Maybe…he didn’t need to wait that long. He could ask her out and—

His cell phone began to chirp, its annoying ring cutting through the room like a bullhorn.

“Do you want me to get that for you?” Susannah asked.

“Ignore it. I’m on vacation. Apparently not everyone got the memo.” His assistant was supposed to redirect all calls, but a few must have gotten past her eagle eyes. Either that, or his father was already noting his absence. Regardless, Kane refused to be reattached to the business umbilical already.

He had more important things to attend to right this second. Things like Susannah Wilson.

“Speaking of people TLC…do you know a place in this town that has good food? For people, not dogs.” He gave her a grin. “I think I have the dog menu all covered.”

“You can get great takeout at the Corner Kitchen over on Main and Newberry. The owner makes homemade everything, from strawberry jam to mashed potatoes. It’s nothing gourmet, but—”

Kane chuckled. “To me, that’ll be exotic, trust me.”

She gave him a curious look. “How can mashed potatoes and strawberry jam be exotic?”

He directed his attention to the dog again, using the overhead sprayer to rinse out the shampoo, and to avoid looking at Susannah. Damn. Good thing he’d never gone into the CIA. His cover could have been blown by a three-year-old. “I, ah, eat out a lot. You know, all that nonhomemade food. The Corner Kitchen will be a real treat. I haven’t had food like that since I was a little kid.” Actually, he’d never had any of that kind of food, but at least saying “since I was a little kid” sounded plausible.

“Did you have an aunt or something who liked to cook?”

“Something like that.” A maid. Who’d fixed gourmet meals at his parents’ beck and call. And after that, a host of restaurants that served five-star meals, none of which had strawberry jam or sweet-potato pies on the menu.

“What about you? Do you have dinner plans?”

“I’m busy tonight, sorry.”

The brush-off came as fast as a bucket of ice water. Something new for him—a woman turning him down so quickly. That must come with the incognito territory.

And instead of depressing Kane, the words invigorated him. Issued a challenge, of sorts. He had finally met a woman who didn’t know who he was, had no interest in his money—because she didn’t even know it existed. How many women had he met, who had looked at him with dollar signs in their eyes? They saw his money first, and him last, if at all.

All his life he’d wanted to meet a woman—meet people in general—who connected with him for him, not for his fortune. Not for his name. He’d thought he’d done that back in college, until his father had yanked the relationship away, with that all-powerful dollar. All Kane had ever wanted from his father was a relationship, but he’d only received criticism and money. Even now, his father was back in New York, probably in the Lennox Gem Corporation boardroom, raising a holy fit over the fact that he had no idea where his son was right now. Not because he cared, but because he’d lost control of the reins.

Which left Kane free to pursue Susannah Wilson, if he wanted to. If she did date him, even only for the few days he’d be here, it wouldn’t be because he was Kane Lennox. Or because she hoped to be draped in diamonds by the end of the week. Not because of anything other than she truly liked him.

A curl of desire ran through Kane, a feeling so new, it was almost foreign. It awakened a hunger he hadn’t felt in so long, he thought he might have imagined it all those years ago.

Beside his feet, the stray dog, which Susannah had started calling Rover, raised his snout and let out a little bark. “I think someone else wants a bath, now that Dakota’s about done,” Susannah said. “We could always do a two-for-one today.”

“Sorry. One dog’s my limit.”

“You did a good job,” Susannah said a minute later, thankfully taking Kane’s place and allowing him back into doing leash-holding duty. “Dakota’s nice and clean. Maybe I’ll offer you a job.”

“I have one, thank you.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m, ah, in the jewelry business.” He left it at that. No telling her he imported billions of dollars worth of diamonds and precious gems.

“Really? Do you work in a shop, too?”

“Uh, sort of.”

The last of the suds ran down the drain, and Dakota, sensing the end of her bath, began to shake. Susannah tightened her grasp on the leash, and calmed the dog with a few soothing words.

“If you want, I can bring Rover closer, and then we can get that two-for-one,” Kane said.

She laughed. For the first time, he noticed how easily her laughter came, how light the sound was, almost like chimes. The animation in her face brought a lightness to him, too, like spreading sunshine. “Now, there’s a great business idea. Almost like assembly-line dog washing.” She reached over the tub for a giant hose and turned it on, blowing a steady stream of warm air on the dog. In minutes, the retriever was nearly dry.

A teenage girl breezed into the shop, dumping an overstuffed neon-pink backpack into a chair as she did. Her brown hair, tied back in a ponytail with a blue-and-gold ribbon, swung back and forth as she bounced over to the cage holding the standard poodle. “Sorry I’m late, Suzie,” she called over her shoulder. “Hey, Dakota. Hi, Fancy Pants.” She cooed at the white dog, unlatching the cage and opening the door enough to give the dog a little head scratch.

Then, as if Kane was a lesser species that she had just noticed, the teenager latched the poodle’s cage and sent Kane a half nod. “Oh, hi. Who are you?”

“This is Kane. Kane, meet Tess.”

He greeted the girl, but she had already bent down and started petting Rover. “Do you belong to him? He’s a cutie.”

“No, no. No.”

Tess grinned when Rover perked up at the sound of Kane’s voice and darted over to his side. “Seems he disagrees.”

Susannah opened the gate on the side of the tub, helped Dakota down, then led the retriever over to a grooming table in the next room. Kane took Rover out to the front of the shop. With the distance of a room between them, relief whispered through Susannah. Working so close to Kane had set her on edge.

She’d been aware of his every move, of the water droplets on his skin, of the way his muscles flexed when he’d worked the soap into Dakota’s coat. She needed distance from him, from the senses he’d awakened. Most of all, she needed to redouble her focus on her job—and her ultimate goals.

“Tess, do you mind finishing up Dakota and then holding down the fort alone for a little while? There’s only one more appointment left for the day.”

“Not at all.” Tess slipped a Sudsy Dog apron over her head and helped Susannah get Dakota into place on the grooming table, then readied nail clippers and brushes. “Let me guess. You have ten thousand errands to do for other people.”

Susannah smiled, but the grin seemed to droop. “Only nine thousand and ninety nine.”

“Just say no. That’s what they teach us in health class.” She grinned.

“That might work with randy teenage boys, but not when it comes to my sister. She’s—”

“Needy. And you’re too nice to turn anyone down.” Tess patted her on the arm. “I know, I know, I should keep my mouth shut and respect my elders and all that.”

“No, you’re right.” Susannah sighed. One of these days, maybe Jackie would get it and stop relying so much on Susannah. She knew she should simply stop doing for her sister, but that was easier said than done. She’d gotten so used to watching out for Jackie, to being both mother and father, that turning that instinct off was nearly impossible. Susannah took her apron off and hung it on a hook. “Anyway, I better get going. I’ll be back to walk the shelter dogs later tonight.”

“No problem. Me and Fancy Pants and Dakota will put on some Rolling Stones and have a great time. A real party.” Tess winked.

Susannah was still laughing when she reached the main part of the shop, where Kane and Rover waited. “Thanks again, Kane. I appreciate your help today.”

“Not a favor. A deal, remember?” He handed her the leash, collar and dog food she had given him earlier. “Thank you for taking my problem off my hands.”

“It wasn’t a problem.” She smiled. “At all.”

When Susannah’s gaze met Kane’s, a part of him wondered if she was talking about the dog. Or dealing with him. Or something else.

Dating Susannah Wilson could certainly be a great part of his vacation. She was a fiery, beautiful woman, one who had captivated his attention. By spending time with her, perhaps his days in Chapel Ridge would be a lot more entertaining than he’d expected—and come with a few extra perks, beyond a couple of days alone in the woods, time that allowed him to temporarily leave the problems of his real life far behind.

But as Kane left and the door to Susannah’s shop shut behind him, he felt something brush up against his leg. Kane looked down and saw the little barrel of brown-and-white fur, right beside him, a determined stowaway. Apparently, leaving his problems behind wasn’t going to be as easy as he’d thought.

CHAPTER FOUR

“YOU are a saint.”

Susannah laughed. “Far from it. I’m just helping Jackie.”

Kim Sheldon put a fist on her hip and arched a brow. Curvy and brunette, Kim brought her straight, no-nonsense approach to everything from her conversations to her jeans and in-your-face T-shirt logos. Today’s read Get Your Ducks In A Row…And Keep Them Outta My Pond.

“Story of your life, Suzie.” Kim reached into one of the boxes and pulled out a squat glass bowl, then placed it on the round table. “Tell me again why you’re here instead of at the bachelorette party. I mean, that is one of the duties of the maid of honor, too, you know. To get rip-roarin’drunk and embarrass herself with a really hunky male stripper.”

“I don’t have a whole lot in common with those girls.”

“What’s to have in common? You look at the sexy guys, toss out some dollar bills and throw back some Long Island iced teas.” Kim grinned. “For some people, that’s the basis of a lifelong friendship.”

“Jackie didn’t need me there. She needed me here.” Susannah opened a bag of clear glass beads, poured several dozen into the bowl, then began arranging light blue and white artificial flowers in the center. After the flowers were set, she draped silver ribbons along the edges of bowl, giving the centerpiece a touch of shimmer.

Kim put a hand on Susannah’s as she reached for another bowl with her opposite hand. “She asked you to pick the centerpieces up, not set them up. So what gives with the big avoidance deal?”

Susannah sighed and sank into one of the cranberry flocked chairs. “Jackie’s friends have really never been mine. Every time I’m around them, I feel like a fifth wheel. A square one at that.”

“But why? You’re just as accomplished as any of them.”

“Kim, I wash dogs for a living. That’s not exactly achieving my full potential.”

Kim gave her friend a one-armed hug. “To the dogs, it is. They love you, and so do your customers. Heck, you started when you were eleven, and now look at you. You have your own shop, no debt, an appointment book so full it threatens to explode on a daily basis—”

“While my sister’s friends are all married to doctors and lawyers and driving around town in SUVs, talking about their designer baby bags. I’m not just a bridesmaid, Kim, I’m the proverbial old maid of the group.” Every time she tried to talk to her sister’s friends, the conversations died midstream. Susannah felt like she had yet to experience life, had yet to reach beyond the borders of this small town.

“Jackie’s friends are not that bad.”

Susannah paused in filling another bowl and traced a circle into the white tablecloth. “No, they’re not. I’m just grumpy, I guess. Anxious to get out of town.”

“To live your life. Not everyone else’s.”

“Exactly.” She looked up into Kim’s understanding brown eyes. “I’ve waited so long for this chance. Now that Jackie is getting married…”

“You feel like it’s your turn.”

Susannah nodded.

Kim’s hand covered hers again. “Maybe it was your turn a long time ago. Did you ever consider that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Jackie’s twenty-two. An adult, Suzie. You stopped being responsible for her a long time ago.”

Except that mantle had never left Susannah’s shoulders. She’d worn the heaviness like a thick winter coat every day of her life since their parents had died eight years ago and at only eighteen herself, she’d been left in charge of fourteen-year-old Jackie. Jackie had grown up, but that hadn’t stopped Susannah from worrying, from feeling as if she should stay around one more day, one more hour, and keep on watching out for her not-always-responsible younger sister. “You’re right, but…”

“But you don’t always take your own advice.” Kim smiled. “When the wedding’s over, promise me you’ll stop being such a mother hen.”

“Definitely. I’m going on a long, long, long trip. Three weeks in Paris by myself. You never know,” she added, grinning, “I might love it so much, I might not come back.”

“Leave this town forever? You?” Kim scoffed. “I don’t think so. You love it here. Everyone who lives here loves you, too.”

Susannah rose and stretched out her arms, spinning as she did, as if she could shake all that off. “I want to see the world, Kim. I want to see what else is out there. I want…” She heaved a sigh. “I want to experience everything.”

Kim laughed. “What you want is to hit the lottery to pay for these big dreams.”

Susannah lowered her arms and nodded. “Yeah, I do. But at least I can take a trip, then come back here and say I did that, saw that, experienced this. It’s a start. And it can tide me over for a long time while I’m living in an apartment and saving for the next trip. It will get me through the next four hundred poodles.” She grinned, then went back to the boxes.

Kim’s cell phone rang. She checked the number. “Damn. Speaking of family, that’s my mom. I’m late picking her up. She has a doctor’s appointment and I promised to run her over there.” Kim’s gaze swept the stacks of boxes, the piles of tablecloths waiting to be laid out—another money-saving step Jackie had volunteered to take on but left in Susannah’s lap. “I hate to leave you with all this.”

“Go, go. I’ll be fine. Seriously.”

“That’s what you always say, you glutton for punishment.” Kim gave her friend a quick hug. “Promise me you won’t stay too late. I’ll call you when I’m done, and if you’re still here, I’ll zip back and finish up with you,’ kay?”

“Sure.”

Kim hurried out of the ballroom. Quiet descended over the vast room, broken only by the occasional sound of the hotel’s staff working in the kitchen beyond the doors. The Chapel Ridge Hotel was small—and not much of a hotel, considering its location in the itty-bitty town. But it had a view of the lake, and because of that, the hotel did a brisk wedding and prom business.

To keep their costs low, Jackie and Paul had chosen to hold their wedding on a Friday in mid-April, before the busy season began. The owner, the father of one of Jackie’s high-school classmates, had given the young couple a break on the price and as many bonuses—like a few extra days for setup—that he could.

Susannah dropped into one of the chairs, her leg muscles aching from the long day spent standing, and got busy assembling the centerpieces. The work became mindless. Dumping in the glass marbles, assembling the silk flowers, adding the ribbons. She worked in assembly-line fashion, creating four at a time—all that she had room for on the space before her.