The Bridesmaid and the Billionaire

“Let me guess. A hot dog in a tub?”

“You got it. Except, he’s really a dachshund. It’s the cutest dang sign ever. My Orin painted it himself.” Then she hung up.

Kane groaned. He looked down at the dog, who looked back up at him, still wagging. “Looks like we’re going for a ride.”

That got the dog off his feet. He popped to all fours, tail beating a drum of anticipation against Kane’s leg. Kane headed out to his rental car, trying not to cringe at the thought of dog hair all over the leather interior, then opened the door. Before he could say “Lay down on the floor,” the dog was sitting right beside the driver’s seat.

Looked like he was going to have a new best friend for the next few minutes.

Whether he liked it or not.

Susannah latched the wire crate holding Mrs. Prudhomme’s standard poodle, then took off her apron and brushed the bangs off her forehead. “You’re looking gorgeous after your beauty treatment, Fancy Pants. Which is more than I can say for me.”

The white dog let out a woof, then settled down in the cage to wait for her owner to pick her up. Fancy Pants was in here once every two weeks, and though she barely tolerated the manicures, she enjoyed the grooming process.

Susannah glanced at theArc de Triomphe poster on her wall. Nine hundred dogs. Three hundred cats. And now she was there—she finally had enough money saved to take that trip. To finally experience a life outside this little town. To put all those years of French classes into practice. To dust off her never-used passport. And see the world.

She traced her finger down the two-dimensional image of the intricate carving of the Departure of Volunteers on the Arc, imagining herself in a world so much more glamorous than this one. Heck, working almost anywhere would be more glamorous than doing what she did for a living.

The bell over the door jingled and Susannah let out a sigh. Back to work. And back to reality.

“Take this…this thing off my hands. Please.”

Susannah turned around and found first, an adorable brown-and-white dog at her feet. Then, a fuming best man behind him. The same man from the morning, only this time he was wearing shoes—and a frown. “You again.”

“I could say the same thing. You work here?”

She nodded, not bothering to correct him and tell him she owned the business. Susannah bent down to scratch the dog behind the ears. He let out a happy groan and pressed himself against her legs, his tail wagging. “Is this your dog?”

“God, no. He’s some stray who can’t seem to get the hint.”

She arched a brow. “Seems to be a lot of those in town lately.”

Kane leaned an elbow on the cabinet and gave her a smirk. When he did, the facial gestured transformed him, taking Kane from ordinary to…

Well, extraordinarily handsome, almost playboy handsome, like something out of a magazine. A quiver ran through Susannah’s gut, but she ignored it.

“You aren’t talking about me, are you?” he said.

“Not at all.” Susannah’s voice raised into high and innocent ranges. She straightened, the dog remaining by her side. “So whose dog is this? He looks like a Brittany spaniel, or a Brit mix.”

“You tell me. He just showed up at my cabin.” Kane thumbed toward the door, in an easterly direction. “I’m staying in one of the Lake Everett cabins.”

He was renting one of the rustic cabins? Sure, he was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but the shirt was as clean as one straight out of the package. And his shoes—

Now that he was wearing them, she noticed he had on expensive dress shoes. Not the kind anyone would wear in the woods, especially not that kind of leather, which looked as soft as kid gloves. A high gloss bounced light off the finish, which sported fine, delicate stitching.

He was too…perfect to be the typical renter who came into town in the summer, stayed a week or two for the fishing, then went back to his normal life. Kane Lennox could have passed for a cover model, one of those men clad in a three-piece suit, hawking expensive cologne or designer watches. Except…

Except for his eyes. His eyes held a summer storm, the dark blues of passing thunderclouds, the depths of unplumbed mysteries. Behind his cobalt gaze, Susannah wondered, was the real Kane Lennox the man in a suit, or the barefoot man she’d met this morning?

“Well, I don’t recognize this little guy,” she said, bending down to stroke the dog’s silky ears, distancing herself from thoughts of his temporary owner, “but I’ll put up a notice in my shop.”

“Good. I appreciate you doing so.” Kane turned on his heel.

“Wait. You’re not leaving him here, are you?”

He stopped in the doorway. “Of course. I couldn’t possibly be responsible for the caretaking of a dog.”

“Why not? Are you allergic?”

“I don’t believe so.”

That right there. The way he talked. That, too, didn’t fit with the image of a cabin renter. Some weekend fisherman, or an avid hunter on a few days’ break from the daily grind. Every one of Paul’s friends was the typical guy-next-door, the kind that sat at the bar and knocked back a couple of beers, told a bawdy joke or two. This guy…not at all that type. How on earth did he ever become Paul’s friend, and not just friend, but best friend?

“Do you have two hands?” Susannah asked.

“Yes.” He gave her a dubious look.

“Two legs?”

The dubious look narrowed. “Yes.”

“Then that, along with this,” Susannah grabbed a five-pound bag of dry dog food from the shelf and thrust it into his arms, “is all you need for now. Even though we take great care of our shelter animals here, we first try to find foster families for them.”

“Foster families. For dogs.”

“Yep. And since this little guy is already attached to you, it should be no sweat for you to take him home. He’ll do much better emotionally with you, at your house, than he would stuck in a kennel all day anyway. And really, all you have to do is feed him, walk him and wait until his owner claims him.”

He stared at her. “Are you completely insane? I am not a dog person.”

Again, he had that air about him. Not just out of town, but completely out of her world. Out of her social stratosphere. Clearly, the man came from some money. He had to, given the way he dressed and talked. Why would someone like that want to stay in Chapel Ridge, Indiana, any longer than he had to?

While they’d been debating, the dog had left Susannah’s side and was now plopped down beside Kane, his little snout turned up expectantly. “Apparently he disagrees.”

“He’s a dog, he doesn’t know any better.” Kane waved in her direction. “You are the hot dog wash person. You take him.”

“No can do. I’m too busy with the wedding plans.”

“Last I checked, you weren’t the bride.”

No, she wasn’t. And Susannah had no intentions of becoming a bride anytime soon, that was for sure. A relationship, especially a serious one, would only derail the dream she’d worked so hard to fulfill.

“Let’s just say that being a bridesmaid doesn’t lessen my level of responsibility,” Susannah said with a little laugh.

Kane eyed her with a visual question mark, but didn’t press the issue. “He’s just a dog. Surely—”

“You can handle it as easily as I.” Susannah ran a hand through her hair. She didn’t need one more thing on her to-do list. Couldn’t the man see that? He may be handsome, but he had an obstinate streak as long as the Mississippi River.

She grabbed a leash and collar from the shelf and handed those to him, too, adding them to the top of the dog food. “You might want to put the leash to use right now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Rover there has some needs to attend to.” She pointed at the dog, who was sniffing at the room like a drug addict.

“He can wait.”

“Only if you don’t mind him messing up your car later.”

It took Kane a second, then he made the connection. His face wrinkled in disgust. “Absolutely not.” He waved at her. “Well, tell him to go do what he needs to do then.”

Susannah laughed. “I can’t tell a dog to do anything, at least when it comes to that particular bodily function. But you could try walking him.”

“Why? He has four paws of his own.”

Susannah rolled her eyes, then took the leash and collar out of Kane’s hand, fitted them onto the dog, then handed the other end back to Kane. “Walking the dog is when you move your two legs. The dog will get the idea, believe me.”

He stared at her, seeming horrified by the entire idea. “What about you?”

“I have other things to do, like my job.” She started to walk away.

“Wait!”

Susannah pivoted back. And nearly laughed out loud. Tall, muscular Kane looked lost. “It’s a pretty simple concept, Mr. Lennox. Put one foot in front of the other. Rover will follow. And if you go near some grass, his natural instincts will take over.” Before he could protest or ask her to do it, she pointed toward the back door of the shop. “There’s some grass right in the back parking lot. It’ll take five minutes, I swear.”

Kane scowled, but did as she said, walking stiffly out the door, with Rover following behind, pausing every half second to sniff. Susannah watched through the window, biting her lip, trying not to laugh. Too loudly.

A few minutes later, Rover was feeling much better and Kane had returned to the shop. “Now will you take him?”

“Why? You’re doing great. And besides, you’re on vacation, right? Staying at a cabin in the woods? Think of him as…a roommate.”

Kane scowled. “I don’t want, nor do I need, a roommate.”

The dog had plastered himself to Kane’s leg. Susannah gave him a grin. An SUV pulled into the parking lot, a familiar golden furball in the passenger’s seat. Her next appointment. “Seems like you have one, like it or not. Now, unless you want to help me bathe a golden retriever, and deck her out with some bows in her hair, you might want to head on home with your new best friend.”

An incredulous look filled Kane’s eyes. “Bows? On a dog?”

“She’s a girl. She likes to look pretty. Even if doing so leaves me looking like a sopping wet disaster afterwards,” Susannah added, brushing a clump of dog hair off her T-shirt. God, she was a mess. She looked about as good as her canine charges—before their baths.

Not that she cared, of course, what Kane Lennox thought about her appearance. It was simply that this man had her feeling off center. She didn’t care at all if he found her unappealing because she’d just finished giving a poodle a bath.

Except a part of her did care. And that part was annoyed that she worried whether she had any lipstick left on her mouth. Whether her bangs were askew. Whether she reeked of eau de puppy.

“What if…” He hesitated. “What if I help you with your work? Will you take this—” he shifted his weight to the opposite foot “—this thing off my hands then?”

“You’re going to help me give a golden retriever a bath?”

He dropped the bag of dog food onto the counter. The spaniel watched the kibble transfer and heaved a sigh of disappointment. “Why are you so surprised by my offer?”

“You don’t strike me as the dog-bathing type. Especially considering the way you’re reacting to your new best friend here.”

Kane’s stance straightened, consciously, or maybe unconsciously, putting some distance between himself and the small dog. “I’m simply making a business proposition. Quid pro quo.”

Susannah considered the neatly pressed Kane again. She doubted he had any experience with pets. Nary a shred of shampooing or grooming background. Yet, she’d give about anything to see this stiff, uppity stranger covered in soapy bubbles and dog slobber.

She thrust out her hand and when he took hers, a spark traveled up her arm, taking Susannah completely by surprise. Attracted? To him?

She couldn’t be. He was not her type. At all. For one, he had that air of uppercrust about him. For another, he was too vague about who he was, where he was from. She liked the men she dated to be open, friendly.

Sort of like a good golden retriever, come to think of it. This man was more of a Lhasa apso, too pretty to be a workhorse. But if Kane was willing to take a little of the burden off her shoulders, who was she to turn him down?

“You’ve got a deal, Mr. Lennox,” Susannah said, attributing her reaction to him as being too tired, too overworked. “I just hope you can keep up your end of the bargain.”

A slow grin stole across his face. “If there’s one thing I always do, Miss Wilson, it’s make sure that the deal is a win-win for me, too.”

And as that smile widened, Susannah had to wonder whether she’d just been outwitted—and whether she’d be the real loser in this proposition.

CHAPTER THREE

INSANE.

Kane Lennox never made spur-of-the-moment offers. Every move in his life had an intention, a purpose, a plan behind it. He operated like a Mercedes with a well-tuned engine and a navigational system. No breakdowns, no detours and no surprises.

Then what on earth had made him open up his mouth and actually volunteer to bathe a canine? He didn’t even like dogs. Or at least, he didn’t think he did. He had no experience with canines, so therefore, no opinion one way or another, except he knew he had no time for that stray, and no room in his life for a spaniel. And yet, here he was, elbow-deep in soapy water beside a way-too-friendly golden retriever.

He glanced over at Susannah Wilson, who was cooing to the dog as she sudsed the animal’s head, and knew exactly what had possessed him to throw that sentence out there. Her. She’d distracted him nearly from the minute he’d met her. Combined with the day he’d had, the dog and his discomfort at being in a strange town, out of his normal element—

Oh, hell, it was really all the pretty woman. The way she had half her blond locks tucked behind her ear, the other half drifting along her cheek in damp waves. And the way she stared at him like he was some kind of weird stalker come to invade her town with a highly viral disease.

The combination—attraction mixed with distrust—sparked amusement in him, and raised his interest in her to a level unlike anything he’d felt in a long time.

Kane had met hundreds of women over the course of his life. Dated dozens of them. But in the circles he traveled, the women were too perfect, too pampered. Susannah Wilson, on the other hand, had a less finished edge to her, like a diamond that had yet to be cut and polished. She was…

Unique.

Intriguing. Very intriguing.

“Hey, I thought you were here to help. That means holding her steady,” Susannah said.

“Easier said than done,” Kane grumbled. “This dog is as slippery as an eel in an oil vat.”

Susannah chuckled, then tightened the rainbow paw-printed lead attached from the top of the deep stainless steel tub to the dog’s neck, which shortened the dog’s roaming room. “Didn’t you ever have a pet?”

“No, never.”

“Not so much as a gerbil?”

“No.” Kane snorted. “Let’s just say rodents wouldn’t have gone with my mother’s décor.”

Susannah gave him a curious look and Kane cursed himself for that slip. He should have lied and told her he’d had half a dozen pets. But he was no better at lying than he was at starting a fire, so his best bet was to keep his mouth shut altogether. Except Susannah—when she didn’t have that look on her face that said she thought he was either crazy or criminal—had the kind of personality that begged friendliness. Openness.

She had a wide smile, a deep, contagious laugh and luminous green eyes filled with curiosity. They drew him in, making Kane forget his cover story, his life in New York, and had him instead longing fora little of that magic she seemed to possess. The same magic she used to calm dogs, as easily as if she were a human warm blanket and bowl of puppy food.

Perhaps, Kane thought, studying Susannah’s bent head, then letting his gaze slip along her lithe form, he could add a little female R & R to his holiday? After all, he was the best man, and she was the maid of honor. They’d have to be together for the wedding. Wasn’t it almost expected that they end up sharing a little more than a dance or two?

The golden retriever squirmed under his inattention, sending a river of water down Kane’s arm. “You better hold on there,” Susannah said with a laugh and a tease in her eyes. “Or I might end up grooming you by accident.”

“You wouldn’t.”

She held up the huge water sprayer. “Accidents do happen, you know, all the time in the workplace.”

He laughed. “What is this, revenge for this morning?”

“What revenge?” She gave him a look of pure innocence. “I’m just saying—” her finger slipped a teeny bit on the button, sending a quick dribble of water his way “—I’m the one in control of the water here and you better stay on my best side.”

The woman didn’t seem to have a bad side, at least in the beauty department. From her bright smile to her deep green eyes, to the shapely curves that begged his gaze to slide down her form, everything about Susannah Wilson drew his attention over and over again. Even in jeans and a T-shirt, she looked as beautiful as the runway models he’d known in New York. Maybe even more so, because there was a natural rawness to her looks that set off his libido and had him craving everything about her.

“You’re in control, huh?” he said, grinning. Then he stepped to the right, fast, ripping the sprayer from her grip before she even saw him coming. He gave her a quick blast on the belly, and she let out a shriek.

“Hey! No fair.”

“All’s fair in war and business, didn’t you know that?”

Susannah squirmed around in his grip, which brought her directly beneath him, and made Kane very, very aware of their close quarters. Of her parted lips. Of how all it would take would be a breath of a movement, and he could be holding her, having her in his arms, and even more, kissing her.

“Give that back,” she said.

“Make me.”

She reached for the sprayer. He feinted to the right. She dodged to the left. They collided, closer. Then again, closer still, and both of them froze.

A second ticked by on the clock above. Another. Susannah swallowed. Kane leaned forward, the game forgotten, the sprayer falling into the tub, his hands moving to brace on either side of the stainless steel, when the dog, apparently sensing the distraction of the humans in the room, gave a quick shake, bathing all of them in soapy bubbles.

Kane jerked back. Susannah spun back around and soothed the dog. “We should, ah, get back to work.”

“Yeah, we should.”

But he knew—and knew she knew—that as much as they might be pretending to return to all business, there’d been a shift between them from just acquaintances to something a little more.

“What made you decide to do this for a living?” he asked, changing the subject. Get your mind in the game, Lennox. Or he’d end up covered in dog and suds, possibly ticking off Susannah—which would mean she’d send him home with that spaniel. Definitely not a win-win. “It’s not like dog washing is on the guidance counselor list of career paths.”

She bristled slightly. Damn. He’d offended her.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“No, it’s okay. This is only a temporary gig anyway. I started walking dogs in high school for extra money, and one thing led to another. Before I knew it, I had a business.”

“You own The Sudsy Dog?”

She grinned. “All mine, soap bubbles and all.”

Yet another surprise. His esteem for her raised several notches. “I’m impressed. Seems like you’re doing really well. A one-woman shop and everything. That’s not easy to accomplish.”

She shrugged. “It’s not much.”

He reached out, placing a hand on hers, intending only to get her attention, but when his touch slipped against hers because of the soapy water, a zing went up his arm. The charge detonated in his brain, reigniting the sparks from earlier. When was the last time he’d felt that way?

Seven years ago. Rebecca Nichols, a woman Kane had met in his business-ethics class. Rebecca hadn’t come from old money or new money, or anything other than a normal apple-pie-eating American family. They’d dated for six months—six fast and furious, amazing months. She’d been the first woman he’d dated who hadn’t been handpicked by his father. And Kane had hoped in some crazy way that Elliott would approve. That his father would see his son’s choice in a woman as bold. Unique. Carving out his own path. Exactly the qualities Elliott always preached about to his employees—then seemed to do his best to squash in his son.

Kane and Rebecca’s relationship had been fun, exciting and perfect—until Elliott Lennox found out his son was dating an “unacceptable” woman and paid Rebecca’s family enough money to convince them their daughter would find a better education abroad.

Kane had gotten the message. His father didn’t see his son as bold or determined. Simply headstrong and foolish, particularly when it came to women. Stepping out of line with the family plan would cost him. Dearly. The business and the family image came above everything, even personal happiness.

Kane had been allowed to stay at Northwestern, but only after agreeing to tightly toe the Lennox family line. And the price Kane had to pay? His father sent him a new roommate—to make sure Kane stayed in line.

Now, here he was, for the first time in forever, feeling a powerful surge of attraction again. Real, honest desire. For a real, honest woman, not the kind who put on social airs. Damn, it felt good. Real good. Kane caught Susannah’s gaze. Had she been affected, like he?

But no. She gave him a look as blank as a clean slate, waiting for him to speak. Kane tried to refocus, to remind himself he was here for a short vacation, a work reprieve, not a major life departure. He cleared his throat. “It’s a lot, believe me. Up to fifty percent of all new businesses fail within the first five years. You should be proud.”

Now her gaze narrowed. “How do you know so much about business?”

Damn. He had yet to learn the keys to a good cover story. Keep your mouth shut and know your lines.

He couldn’t very well rattle off his real résumé. Kane Lennox: fourth-generation CEO of the largest gem importing company in the world. Kane Lennox, one of the Lennoxes, the family that had been listed in the Forbes 500 issue for as many years as the magazine had been printed. Kane Lennox: the man with enough personal fortune to buy this town ten times over and still have change left over to line the streets with thousand-dollar bills.

If he told her any of that, she’d look at him just like everyone else did. With awe. With reverence. She’d step back and stop seeing him as just Kane. And for the first time in his life, he wanted to just be—

Kane.

Ordinary man. In ordinary clothes. Doing ordinary things.

With no butlers. No limos. No expectations.

“I, ah, just like to read business magazines,” he said finally. “When I’m not at work. You know, in the spirit of getting ahead.”

“That I can understand.” A soft smile of empathy stole across her face. “Working hard for what you want, right?”

“Exactly.”

“That’s my personal philosophy, too.” She shot him a grin. “Who’d have thought I would have anything in common with a guy I met on my sister’s lawn?”

He echoed her grin. “A barefoot guy at that.”

She laughed. “And here I usually go for the kind who wear shoes.”

“I’ll keep that in—” The dog wriggled then, shaking off the soapy water, spraying the room, Susannah and Kane with a fine sheen of bubbles. Kane backed up, warding off the foamy onslaught, cursing under his breath. But that only seemed to encourage the golden dog, who shook even more vigorously, her tail becoming a soap-spraying fan.