The Bridesmaid and the Billionaire by Shirley Jump

Author:Shirley Jump [Jump, Shirley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises
Published: 2009-01-29T23:00:00+00:00

Kane had lied.

Well, partly. He did drive Susannah to The Sudsy Dog. And he did drop her off. But he didn’t go back to his cabin. He headed over to Flanagan’s Pub, took a seat at the bar, and told himself several times he should go home, and instead lingered in downtown Chapel Ridge.

“So, are you a friend of Paul’s?” the bartender asked.

Kane nodded. “In town for the wedding.”

“He’s a good guy. Him and Jackie both.” The bartender put the glass he was drying on the shelf, then stuck out his hand. “Name’s Larry.”

“Kane.” The two men shook. “I’m staying out at one of the lake cabins.”

“Good fishing out there.”

“So I hear.”

Larry put a foot onto the stool beside him, his face drawing pensive. Behind him on the wall-mounted television, a sports commentator was droning on about spring training. “Yeah, I used to get out there all the time with my son. I miss it.”

“Paul told me about him. I’m sorry to hear about all you’ve been through.”

Larry shrugged. “It’s been hard, but you know, living here makes it easier. Knock small towns all you want, but me and my wife, we got plenty of friends around here. Friends and family, they make ’bout anything easier to bear, don’t you agree?”

“Yeah.”

Though Kane’s experience with either was slim, at least until he’d arrived in Chapel Ridge. Odd, in a matter of days, he felt closer to the residents of this town than he did to most of the executives at Lennox Gem Corporation.

“Anyway,” Larry said, waving off the discussion, “you didn’t come here to hear all about my problems. What can I get you?”

Kane was about to order a beer when he saw Susannah come out of her shop with three leashes in her hand—and three equally large dogs attached to the end of those leashes. “Uh, nothing, thanks. I just saw what I wanted outside.”

Then he left, hurrying to his rental car to get Rover before heading over to Susannah.

“I thought you were going home,” she said.

“And I thought you were going to do paperwork.”

“This is one of the other parts of my job.” She held up the leashes. “Walking the shelter dogs three times a day.”

“Alone? At this time of night?”

Susannah laughed. “This is Chapel Ridge, Kane. Not the crime capital of the world. I’ll be fine.”

“If I promise not to tell you what to do with your life, how about you let me help you walk the dogs?”

She shouldn’t let him. After all, “Just Kane” had this wall up she couldn’t seem to see over. She understood him wanting a little privacy while he was on vacation, but she also had a nagging sense that he was hiding something—something big. And those red flags were becoming increasingly hard to ignore. “I have this under control.”

“I’m sure you do. I’m simply sharing the burden.” He reached over and took one of the leashes from her, brushing off her protests just as her heart did the same thing with her better judgment.

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