"Mitch would have come around eventually," I said. "I really think so."

  "Definitely."

  "But I'm the one who returned his ring. For doing the right—and smart—thing, I have to make all the concessions and pay the price."

  "Not fair." Courtney was trying her best. But a failed wedding is like a death in the family. People simply don't know what to say.

  "Yeah." I put my hand over hers. "But it will never happen to you. I know it. I can sense it. You and your guy are the real deal. Believe me, when I do your wedding lettering, you'll see what I believe, how I see your love."

  She took my hand and squeezed it. "I can't wait. But…how is Mitch? Has he been in touch?"

  "Only about the stud. Mitch knows he has it over me right now. That I feel terrible and guilty and all that. Stupid for getting engaged in the first place and not realizing how mismatched we were long ago." I sighed. "I'm not heartless, Courtney. I'm not. I didn't want to break his heart."

  "I know you're not."

  "It was a double whammy, though. If I ever find out who put that video of me running from the final fitting on YouTube—"

  "At least it was just your back as you ran away," Courtney said, ever the optimist. "People on the street won't recognize you. You have plausible deniability."

  I frowned. "Word has gotten out around the industry. People know I broke my engagement. Some of them have seen the video. Some clown even tagged me in it." I growled low in my throat. Bella had taught me well. "'Is this Shelby Hudson, wedding hand letterer and runaway bride?' 'Do you want this jilter commemorating your special day?' 'Does she even believe in love?'"

  "Ignore it. I'd guess it's a jealous competitor," Courtney said. "It's a dog-eat-dog world out there."

  "You're telling me. It's a PR nightmare, is what it is. It's making clients, and potential clients, uncomfortable." I gave Courtney a sly look from beneath my lashes.

  "Caught." She hunkered her shoulders. "I'm over it now."

  "Good." I gave her hand another squeeze and released it. "A piece of advice?"

  "Yeah?"

  "Don't buy a house together before you actually say your vows. Not that I have any doubt you will say your vows. It's just…extricating my finances from Mitch's has been as tricky as going through a divorce."

  I let out a breath. "If we hadn't bought the house, I wouldn't owe Mitch one of Bella's puppies as part of the settlement we agreed to." I bit my lip. The whole breeding thing nearly gave me hives.

  "I can't believe he still wants a puppy." Courtney sounded truly sympathetic. "I thought that was a bonding thing. A way to make you a family by having a puppy together."

  I wondered that, too. It didn't make any sense. "He claims he fell in love with Bella, too. That she didn't call things off with him. Then he lays a guilt trip on me about arranging for the stud and how hard Corgis are to get."

  "That's true," Courtney said. "We keep detailed statistics about dogs here. Corgis are the most popular breed in Seattle.

  "I remember when you came back from Hannah's bachelorette party with Bella. It was such a surprise. None of us could believe that you just flew home like that without a word to any of us. Left the rest of us in Vegas to sober up the bride and take your suitcase home. We all expected you got a guy's name tattooed on your breast or get drunk-married or something like that that you regretted. Something normal. But adopted a puppy? At least it made sense why you had to get home."

  Courtney didn't know half the story. Or how close she was to the truth.

  "I know. I lucked into getting her. She's been the best thing in my life." That was true.

  Courtney hesitated. "What happens if Bella's pregnant with Charlie's puppies? What will Mitch do?"

  "I have no idea. I used to think I knew him. But I hurt and embarrassed him. Publicly. He's a stranger to me now. I can't predict how he'll react."

  But I didn't think it would be reasonably.

  Courtney's stomach growled. She pulled out her phone. "We'd better order lunch. I wasn't kidding about ordering from the Broiler. What do you say?"

  I shrugged. Dex had already given me twenty-five hundred dollars and a bitch hat. What was one more expensive lunch?

  Chapter Four

  Dex (Smooth talker, PR manager.)

  I couldn't get Shelby off my mind. I knew her. I knew her from somewhere. How could I forget a woman like her? But I couldn't place her, and that bugged the hell out of me. Recognizing people and remembering their names was one of my superpowers. And if I wasn't mistaken, and I wasn't, she'd recognized me, too. So what was she hiding? Why hadn't she come clean?

  My interview was on our employee services floor one floor above reception. The floor housed our cafeteria, HR offices, entertainment room, gym, sick room—both dog and people—and dog trainer offices.

  A national entertainment TV magazine show was doing a human-interest piece on me. The latest in a string of many. I'd become a mini celebrity of sorts. My PR department was stellar. The story was your basic little guy makes it big. From ordinary middle-class guy to billionaire. Make money off your dog. Get a crazy idea and take it to the limit. That kind of thing. Afterward, I was giving them a tour of the floor.

  Shelby Hudson. Shelby. Nothing.

  The name meant nothing. But how could I ever forget startling green eyes like those? And those beautiful, full lips. She had an arresting face and a stunning figure. When I caught her, I'd felt an instant, inconvenient zing of attraction. Highly inconvenient, since she thought I belonged in the pound. I was definitely in the doghouse.

  I racked my brain. Nothing.

  It was time to look away from it. I was thinking too hard on it. Time to let my brain process it in the background. It would eventually pop up.

  As I walked to the elevator bay, I called my personal assistant, Maryanne. "I need you to do some investigative work for me this next hour while I'm at my interview. I want you to dig up anything you can find on Shelby Hudson. She's Courtney's friend and has something to do with her wedding."

  "Will do." Maryanne stayed abreast of all the company gossip, but she didn't offer anything more up.

  If Shelby was hiding something, I was going to find out what it was. I was going to remember her, damn it. "I want everything down to the pedigree of her dog.”

  "You got it."

  Maryanne didn't sound the least bit surprised at my request. I asked her to do crazy crap for me all the time. She had so much experience now that she could hang out her own PI shingle. She was a social media stalking genius. I liked to think I'd helped her learn her trade.

  "And get the word out that what just happened on our first floor has been handled and everyone's happy. Impress the employees with the importance of keeping bad press and misinformation to a minimum. This is a delicate time for our stock."

  "I'm on it. But what just happened?"

  "You mean the rumors haven't flown to our executive suite yet?"

  She laughed. "I'll make a note to whip the grapevine into shape. Put in a low productivity report."

  "You do that." The elevator doors opened. "Charlie's been accused of"—I lowered my voice—"rape."

  Maryanne gasped and laughed nervously. "You're kidding?"

  "Well, nonconsensual sex. Same thing. It's all a misunderstanding. This is strictly confidential. No one but you and me should know. I need information. I want you to get the facts. What actually happened while Charlie was on his beta run to the new dog groomer in West Seattle? He's been accused of running around off leash."

  I stepped into the elevator. I would have taken the stairs but didn't want to pit out my shirt. I was already sweating bullets as it was. Shelby had gotten under my skin. I didn't like the way she set my pulse racing.

  "That's a lot of work to do in an hour, Dex."

  "You can handle it." I pressed the button. The doors closed. "Call our PI if you need reinforcements."

  "Done."

  We hung up. As I stepped off the elevator, I was greeted by Megan Paulson, the on-the-spot reporter I was expecting, and her crew.

  "Well, if it isn't our star." Megan sized me up. She was a stunning woman in her forties who looked like she could have been in her thirties. She was made up and polished and wore a formfitting dress.

  "You're the star here."

  She laughed. "Let's get you into makeup and get to it. This way."

  They'd set up in one of our conference rooms.

  "Was that barking we heard downstairs?" she asked.

  "Yeah," I said, thinking on my feet. I grinned, trying to disarm her. The best way to lie was to tell as much truth as possible. "One of our employees has an old, blind dog. We all love that dog, but he's a character."

  I lowered my voice. "He gets excited when we have visitors and—how do I put this politely? He…humps…things. People. Legs. He humped one of our guests just a few minutes ago. She was taken by surprise. That got the other dogs riled up."

  I pulled my sonic anti-barking device out and showed it to Megan. "This is a topnotch anti-barking device that I recommend for calming barking dogs. It's perfectly safe and effective. I used it. The dogs calmed immediately."

  "Isn't it distracting when the dogs get worked up?" She watched as her makeup team got the shine off my nose.

  I shrugged. "It doesn't happen often. We only allow dogs that are well behaved and obedience trained here at the offices. We make note of any dogs that need improvement. But occasionally, dogs will be dogs. That's why we love them."

  Leo was going to have to be written up. It was probably time to suspend his office privileges. Shelby might even insist on it. I hated to do it. It was hard to leave an old dog at home on his own.

  "And for dogs who don't behave themselves?"

  "We offer free obedience training, either with our on-staff dog trainers and dog psychology experts, or we offer a stipend for the trainer of the owner's choice."

  "You have some unique employee benefits at Puppy Love."

  "We do." I seemed to have convinced her. With luck, she wouldn't think twice again about the random act of barking she'd overheard. "Has the interview started already?"

  "I'm just getting a feel for you," Megan said. "Excuse me while I check on the crew. I'll see you in the hot seat."

  Ten minutes later I was seated in the interview chair beneath the lights. Megan was pleasant and easy to talk to. She knew how to draw people out, which kept me on my guard. This was just a puff piece. About me. Nothing controversial. As long as she didn't discover the real reason for all that barking or run into Shelby.

  I talked about my journey and founding Puppy Love. About where my idea for it came from. "People don't believe this, but Puppy Love started as a college gag," I said. "I was a nerdy guy. Not the kind of stud who got the girls."

  "That's hard to imagine." Megan flashed a flirty, charming smile as she ran her gaze up and down me. "You look anything but nerdy now. We hear you're top of Seattle's most eligible bachelor list."

  "Thank you. I caught a wave. Geeks are hot right now. Geeks with dogs, even better."

  She laughed. "And modest, too. Puppy Love. You were saying?"

  "What's a poor nerd to do? I studied guys who knew how to get girls. See? I really am a geek. So there I was, the skinny guy creeping around Greek Row where the cool guys lived, when I observed a trick frat guys used during rush week."

  "Spiked punch?" Megan asked.

  "Better. First, I have to set this up. Sorority girls weren't supposed to talk to guys during rush. It was against the rules. A girl could get kicked out of recruitment week and not get invited into a sorority if she did. That's how serious an offense it was.

  "Undaunted, the frat boys did everything in their power to get the girls to break their vows of silence. The most devious trick up their sleeve—puppies."

  "Puppies?"

  I nodded. "Puppies. They stood outside the frats, holding puppies. Cute, friendly, squirming puppies."

  "That's diabolical," Megan said.

  "Exactly right. The girls couldn't resist them. How hardhearted do you have to be to ignore a puppy? They flocked to the puppies. The girls weren't dummies, either. While admiring and speaking 'to the puppies,' phone numbers were exchanged, dates were made for after pledge week. No rules were broken. Girls met boys. Boys got girls. It was ingenious."

  Megan looked delighted. "So you got a puppy?"

  "I went in search of one. But getting one was easier said than done. They weren't easy to come by. Seeing a gap that needed to be filled, I started a service that rented puppies to guys who wanted to attract girls. That's why we're called Puppy Love."

  "That's brilliant."

  "Thank you. I won a college business competition with my puppy-renting business proposal and got angel investor funding. That's where I met my mentor. But it was a niche business, mostly suited for college kids. Out of college, I put it on the back burner for a few years. It didn't seem scalable. Until I came up with the idea for dog-walking and dog-sitting services structured like we have them now."

  "As a dog lover, I'm curious. What did you do with all the puppies?" Megan asked. "They must have grown up." She leaned back and gave me a tentative look, like she hoped they grew up.

  I laughed. "Yeah, they grew up. We didn't drown them in the river, if that's what you're asking."

  I leaned down and scratched Charlie behind the ears. "Charlie was one of my stars. He was the most adorable puppy you've ever seen. The runt of the litter and a total flirt. You still are, aren't you, boy?" I crossed my fingers that Megan didn't find out just how much of a lover dog Charlie was.

  I smiled at Megan. "I got him for the business. But I fell in love with this guy. I had to keep him. Look, the truth is, I had no trouble adopting the puppies out. None at all. Turns out I was fairly typical of our clients. People love dogs. They quickly become part of the family. Ninety percent of the time the guys who rented the puppies adopted them. For the rest, I had a waiting list of people who wanted them. My puppies became campus celebrities.

  "I actually have a bulletin board in my office full of pictures of couples my puppies brought together. People send me their wedding pictures. And pictures of the puppies their puppy has. And their own babies. Puppy Love has spawned a great, big family."

  "So you're a matchmaker of sorts?"

  "I give all the credit to the puppies. But not so much anymore. We don't rent puppies now. Haven't for years. But my bulletin board is one of my favorite accomplishments."

  Megan laughed. "What kind of puppies were most popular?"

  "The usual suspects—Corgis, Aussies, labs, and retrievers."

  "Purebreds? Breeders trusted you with their puppies? They're usually pretty particular about who adopts their dogs."

  "I didn't just offer purebreds. I had mixes. Pomskies, for example, were very popular. And goldendoodles. I scoured the shelters for cute pups. Mutts. I trained them. I prettied them up. But you asked about breeders. I took their runts, their dogs that weren't perfect enough for showing or being studs. Their puppies that needed extra love and attention.

  "Dogs love me. The breeders saw that. I was less a rent-a-puppy service and more of a find-a-home for misfit dogs. My senior year, the local shelter even gave me an award for helping them adopt out so many dogs."

  "You don't need puppies to get women these days. Since we announced you were going to be on the show, our app has been overwhelmed with requests to meet you." Megan leaned over, face to face with Charlie, and gave him scratches behind the ears. He ate it up and begged for more. "What a good boy."

  I laughed, on guard for the inevitable question. "These days Charlie attracts all the attention. He's a flirt, as you can see."

  "He's adorable." She looked me in the eye. "When are you going to find this sweet guy a mama?"

  And there it was. "No comment. Right now, all my energy and attention is focused on Puppy Love. All I can say is that any woman who wants to be part of my life will have to love Charlie as much as I do."

  Megan sat up. "That shouldn't be hard. Who wouldn't love this handsome guy?"

  Right off the top of my head, I could think of one person. She was sitting in the Cedar conference room having lunch and thinking of ways to rip me ball from ball. My guess was that she wanted to see both Charlie and me neutered.

  "So, just to be clear for our audience, any potential mate would have to love billionaires and dogs?" Megan asked.

  After the interview, I gave Megan the tour with her cameraman and crew. I was used to being mic'ed and having a camera in my face.

  "Isn't this cute?" Megan pointed to one of our coffee bar and snack centers. "You have snack dispensers for doggy treats as well as people snacks. I love the little sign—doggy food."

  "Man's best friend likes to snack, too," I said.

  "I don't see a collection can or place to insert money or use your credit card," Megan said.

  "All people and dog treats are free of charge to our employees and pets. One of the perks of working at Puppy Love."

  "You have a lot of innovative perks. I imagine people must be knocking your door down trying to get jobs here."

  "Send me your résumé, Megan," I quipped. "I'll see what I can do. We give every new employee a stipend to get a dog. If they want one. I can set you up with an irresistible puppy."

  She broke out laughing and pointed at her cameraman. "Don't even think about applying and leaving me." She turned to me. "Don't tempt people with puppies. It's not fair."

  "It never has been. But since when has that stopped me?" I winked at Megan and shrugged at the camera. "This way. I'll show you our outdoor dog run and terrace. We have one on each floor."

  Charlie trotted after us, flirting with Megan. Good dog. Charlie always had my back.

  As Megan and her crew admired the view from the outdoor terrace and talked to employees enjoying their lunch and walking their dogs, accompanied by Charlie, Maryanne texted me. Here you go. Everything you asked for.

  I interviewed the dog walker who took Charlie to the groomer. You may want to talk to her yourself. But she told me that as they were coming out of the groomer, Charlie started barking and pulling at his leash. It snapped. She went after him. It took her about just over half an hour to find him. She reported the broken leash. She didn't see any dog coupling. When she found Charlie, she was relieved he hadn't rolled in the dirt and ruined his grooming. She had no reason to suspect he'd been up to anything.