Oh, no! It's happening again.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Nights in White Satin Denim

  Shelby

  I turned to the door, expecting the worst—Mitch or Alex interrupting my engagement party. One of them trying to cart me off again. I grabbed the nearest chair.

  I put my hand over my heart in relief as Charlie happily charged the newcomer. Jesse stood in the doorway, carrying a rose and small wrapped gift. He kneeled down to let Charlie give him a dog kiss.

  Our guests were stunned again as they realized who had just arrived and that Charlie, usually such a good judge of character, loved him.

  Dex released me and hurried to Jesse, giving him a big hug and silencing the sudden tension of the crowd. He pulled Jesse to the front of the room next to me while I tried to recover from my shock. I had my hand over my mouth, just staring at Jesse.

  "Everybody, let me introduce the real star of Gold Digger, Jesse Parker! He's our hero, our friend. If not for Jesse, Shelby and I might never have met. At least not in the way that we did. You could say he put the wheels of fate in motion. And he's been a terrific sport about it all. Jesse is now one of our good friends."

  "What can I say? The best man for Shelby won." Jesse slapped Dex on the back and held the rose and gift out to me.

  I finally recovered enough to take them from him and throw myself into Jesse's arms for a big hug, nearly crushing the rose. "What are you doing here?"

  "Who else was I going to spend the premiere night with?" He kissed my cheek. "Now let me see the ring." He took my hand to admire it.

  "You didn't have to bring a gift." I suddenly realized that the sound van was just a ruse. It must have been how Dex smuggled Jesse in without me knowing. Dex didn't seem at all surprised to see Jesse.

  "Of course I did. You deserve a souvenir from this record season. You're my good-luck charm, after all."

  "Record season! Oh, Jesse, that's fantastic." I hugged him again. When I pulled away, I shook the package. "What could this be? It shakes."

  "Just one of my thousands of ounces of gold, Gold Digger."

  "No!" I shook it again. "Thank you."

  "I still expect you to come to the Yukon and mine some of your own. How is my puppy?" He had a twinkle in his eyes.

  Charlie barked.

  "Not you, show-off," Jesse said to Charlie, giving him a good scratch behind the ears. "Your progeny, kid."

  "Don't confuse Charlie," Dex said. "He hasn't met his puppies yet."

  "The puppies are all perfect," I said. "Healthy and wiggly. But since you haven't picked one yet, I can't get more specific."

  "I'll be over to see them while I'm here," Jesse replied.

  "Do that," I said.

  A crowd was forming around us, impatient to congratulate us and meet Jesse.

  Dex pulled me close to him as we formed an informal sort of reception line.

  I was hugged, and hugged, and hugged. Congratulated. And interrogated about every detail. People had to see and admire my ring. I was glad I'd had my nails done.

  Grandma had tears in her eyes as she hugged me. "At least I get to go knowing you're going to marry the man you love."

  I swallowed a lump in my throat as I hugged her tightly.

  As the party adjourned to the back terrace, where music was softly playing, I got a text from Tim the dog-sitter. The first puppy has opened its eyes!

  And we missed it, I thought, a little heartbroken.

  Tim had attached a picture. My heart fell. The puppy in question was the "Corgi," the only one that we thought might be a purebred. He was the cutest, sweetest puppy. The picture was adorable. His eyes big and open. Most puppies have bluish-gray eyes. But in this case, the truth couldn't have been clearer—the puppy had bright blue ghost eyes. Just like Charlie's, who was at our heels.

  "Mitch is going to be furious and disappointed," I whispered to Dex.

  He was holding my hand and staring at his phone. He'd received the text at the same time. “I’ve seen a lot of just-opened puppy eyes. Those are definitely going to stay blue.”

  I glanced down at Charlie.

  Dex's gaze bounced between his dog and me. He shrugged. "Like dog, like man. We can't help it if we're potent."

  "And have dominant blue eyes?"

  "Striking, hot, adorable blue eyes." Dex grinned.

  "Unmistakably distinctive blue eyes."

  Dex grinned at Charlie. "Looks like all the puppies are yours, stud." Dex gave me a quick hug.

  "Don't worry. We'll deal with it. Later." He slipped his arm around me and led me to the dessert table.

  The caterer had done a fabulous job. The table was loaded with an impressive assortment of mini cakes in a wide array of flavors and a champagne fountain. With chocolate truffles dusted in real gold.

  Dex grabbed a glass, clinked on it to get people's attention, and made a toast. "To the beautiful woman who agreed to marry me! Even if I did have to swoop in with a helicopter to get her."

  Jesse raised his glass. "I'll drink to that. To the woman who agreed to marry me, too, but chose that guy over me. Shel, you're just too popular for me to keep up with. Dex, you'd better drag her down the aisle before anyone else steps forward to claim her. But seriously, I wish you all the happiness in the world."

  Just as our guests lifted their glasses, a commotion on the perimeters of the patio turned people's heads. A scream of feedback made everyone jump. The sound system went dead.

  Alex, dressed in his Wellston suit, appeared from behind a clump of trees, a wireless mic in his hand. He began singing one his new love songs, one of the brokenhearted stories. He paused to interject in the middle, "Babe, Shelby, you're killing me."

  My eyes went wide. How did he get in? Somebody grab that mic from him.

  "You told me you weren't engaged." He took a step closer to us.

  Dex pushed me behind him and stepped between Alex and me.

  "You were holding out on me all this time?" Alex thumped his chest with the mic, causing another loud noise that made us all jump. He began singing again.

  We all stared in disbelief.

  "Enjoying this, Shelby? You'd better be. This is the only time I'll sing at an occasion for you and another man. I won't sing at your wedding, no matter what my contract says." He came closer and tried to step around Dex, but Dex kept him away.

  "Tell me, right to my face, babe, that you're planning a wedding with this nerd." There was a sneer in Alex's voice, but it was also filled with hurt. And he was angry.

  He held out his hand to me. "Take my hand and run away with me. Right now. Right here. I have a car waiting. Come with me on the circuit."

  My emotions swirled. I was shocked momentarily speechless. I was furious. I was stunned. I was sorry to have hurt him.

  All eyes were on us, waiting for me to say something. To do something.

  Jesse, who stood not far away, made a fist. He flexed it, his big gold ring looking like it would make an effective brass knuckle. Some of the guests aimed mini champagne bottles at him, ready to pop him with their corks.

  Dex stood his ground between us. "In a minute, security will be here. Walk away now. Go peacefully and we'll just forget this."

  In the distance, I saw a drone coming toward us. I wasn't sure who was flying it, but I knew the damage it could do. And Alex didn't even see it coming. I wondered whether Dex or one of his friends was controlling it. Dex always had a fleet of security drones ready to defend us.

  Grandma caught my eye and gave me the gentlest nod, encouraging me to take action.

  I had a sudden vision of her at my wedding to Dex. And then I pictured a wedding with an empty seat where she should be sitting. I felt all the pressure of everything that had happened in the last few weeks.

  I pushed forward and stepped around in front of Dex. "I'm not coming with you, Alex. I would have, two years ago. But I'm over you now." I reached behind me and took Dex's hand. "I'm marrying Dex. In October. This October."

  I stuck a finger in Alex's face. "And you will sing at my wedding. It's in your contract. And you'll consider it an honor. And hopefully learn in the process to become a decent human being, like Jesse."

  I blinked back tears, not sure where they sprang from, anger or sadness at Alex. "You can still be a part of my life, as my friend, but not if you don't grow up."

  Grandma nodded her approval.

  The crowd gasped and broke into applause. Dex's mom looked pleased with herself. My parents beamed. Dex was trying to cover being stunned, but I knew he was. I had to explain.

  "There's a drone approaching." I pointed it out to Alex. "I would suggest that you apologize before it dive-bombs you, or releases voice-ruining gas, or whatever secret weapon it's set to deploy. Then maybe sing something nice for our guests. As your gift to us this evening. As an apology for showing up uninvited and interrupting the lovely toasts."

  I whispered to Dex, "We need to talk. In private." I turned to our guests. "We'll be right back. Party on."

  As I pulled Dex toward the house, I turned over my shoulder and pointed at Alex. "Not 'Love at Will-Call.'"

  Alex sighed and raised the mic to his lips as the drone hovered near. As Dex and I slipped inside, Alex began crooning an old-fashioned love song, one of my favorites.

  Good guy. There's hope for you yet.

  Dex stopped just inside the dining room, out of sight of the guests on the patio. "Did you mean that? What you just said about setting a date? Get married in October?"

  I couldn't tell whether he was panicked or just dumbfounded. "Absolutely."

  "But Shel, neither of us are good at commitments. You've been through four engagements and never succeeded in walking down the aisle."

  "Yet. Succeeded yet." I bit my lip and smiled through tears of joy at him. An idea had just occurred to me. "But who says it has to be a real wedding?"

  A smile slowly spread over Dex's face. "What are you talking about, my little schemer?"

  "A fake wedding. We've had a fake relationship, and a fake engagement, so why not a fake wedding?"

  He rubbed his chin, quietly thinking for a moment. "A fake wedding." He tipped my face to his and looked me in the eye. "This is why I love you, Shelby Hudson. You think like me—deviously. A fake wedding, brilliant. Why not?"

  "Why not, indeed?" I pulled him into a kiss.

  ***

  NEXT UP: Weddings, weddings, weddings! Shelby and Dex are happily planning a fake wedding, with no intention of making it legal. Enter ex-fiancé number one…

  Get Loves Billionaires and Weddings!

 

 

  Gina Robinson, Loves Billionaires and Puppies: A Feel-Good Romance

 

 

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