The Protective Billionaire Read online

  Maya brushed against her leg as they walked, pulling Aubree out of her funk.

  It was uncanny how her dog could read her moods.

  “Why did you run off?” she asked as Janie’s cabin came into view.

  Maya trotted forward, reaching the porch and stopping to slurp from her water bowl.

  With a shake of her head, Aubree sighed. Next time they went on a walk, she’d keep Maya on a leash.

  Chapter Six

  Aubree dabbed grass-green paint onto the canvas, adding a bit of shading to the profusion of wildflowers she’d painted earlier. It was the day after the altercation with her neighbor and she was feeling more settled—although when she replayed the incident, a mix of embarrassment and fury reignited all over again. But mostly fury. Why hadn’t the man just asked her why she was following him without scaring her half to death? What was his problem?

  With any luck Tyler would be found and she would be able to leave the ugly and embarrassing incident with her neighbor behind and safely return to her life in LA. Except her small part in Love & Lies was no more, and with how expensive living in LA was, if she didn’t get another part soon, her savings would run out and she’d lose her apartment.

  Holding back a sigh, she reached down and stroked Maya’s soft fur as Maya lay beside her on the back porch. Maya lifted her head and looked at Aubree, then rolled onto her back.

  Softly chuckling, Aubree scratched Maya’s belly, forcing away all thoughts of her troubles, then she turned back to her painting.

  An hour later, Aubree paused to admire the beauty of nature spread out in front of her, then her gaze slid to the spot where Maya was napping. But all she saw were the pavers.

  Where had Maya gone?

  Aubree had been so focused on painting, she hadn’t noticed Maya leaving.

  Certain her dog had wandered away for a potty break, she stood to find her. Janie’s lot was large and of course it wasn’t fenced, so Maya could have gone anywhere. After the way Maya had taken off the day before just when she’d needed her, she couldn’t stop the twinge of worry that poked at her.

  “Maya!” she called out. “Maya, come!”

  Nothing.

  Certain she had to be nearby, Aubree walked to the edge of the open space and stepped into the shade of the trees as she entered the forested area.

  “Where are you, baby girl? Come here!”

  Still nothing.

  Maybe she wasn’t in the forest at all. Maybe she was lying in the shade of the cabin, somewhere around the side.

  Aubree walked around the cabin, her gaze probing every spot darkened by shade, but Maya was nowhere to be seen.

  Not allowing herself to panic just yet, she walked the perimeter of the yard, calling out to Maya as her eyes pointed into the forest. Studying every inch of space within her sight, she silently prayed that Maya would appear.

  She completed the circuit with no sign of her beloved dog. Heart racing with building panic, she stood in the middle of the yard as her gaze shot in all directions. She had no idea which way to go.

  Face beginning to crumple, she dragged in a deep breath to get her emotions under control. She had to find Maya. She would find Maya.

  Exhaling loudly, she chose a random direction and entered the forest, calling, “Maya! Maya, where are you, girl?” Her voice echoed through the trees, but the only reply was the sound of pine needles swaying in the breeze.

  Walking deeper into the woods, her chest constricted with distress. “Maya, come!”

  Ten minutes later, as she continued striding briskly between the trees, her gaze going in every direction with no hint of Maya, tears filled her eyes. Was she even going the right way? Maya could have gone the other way completely. Turning around to look behind her, Aubree’s heart pounded. What if Maya had gone toward the road? Cars didn’t come by often, but when they did, they drove fast.

  “Maya!” she yelled, her voice choked with tears. “Come back!”

  If something happened to her sweet dog, she didn’t know what she would do.

  Aubree stopped and then spun in a slow circle. Her forehead furrowed as her gaze probed every inch of the forest, concentrating on every shadow, every flutter of a bush. Maya’s beautiful cream-colored coat should stand out against the dirt of the forest floor, the brown of the pine tree trunks, the green of the bushes that were here and there, right?

  Please! she silently prayed. Please let Maya show herself. Please help me to know where to look.

  If Maya was lying in the shade, would Aubree be able to see her? She needed Maya to come trotting out, to make herself visible.

  Then she heard it. The sound of some sort of power tool. Faintly. In the distance. Maybe Maya had gone toward that sound. Maybe whoever was working had seen her. Maybe she was even there. Maya loved people. If she saw someone, she would want to say hello.

  Fresh hope surged through Aubree as she closed her eyes and focused on the sound, desperate to figure out which direction it was coming from. After several moments of concentrated listening, she began walking.

  Listening intently, when the sound became louder as she walked, she knew she was going in the right direction. At least in the direction where someone was outside. With no idea if Maya had gone that way, she didn’t know what else to do. At a minimum, she could ask the person working to keep an eye out for Maya.

  It was a chainsaw. She could tell that now. She must be getting close.

  Going into a jog, a frightening thought suddenly occurred to her.

  What if Tyler was trying to lure her out?

  She stopped where she was, her mind racing.

  Being away from any kind of help and at the mercy of the man who had held a knife to another woman’s throat scared her to death. But if Tyler wanted to get to her, he would just go to the cabin, wouldn’t he? Why use a chainsaw acres away from the cabin? That didn’t make sense.

  With a shake of her head, she dismissed the idea that the person using the chainsaw had anything to do with Tyler.

  Feeling marginally better, she set off again, and when the outline of a house became visible and the whine of the chainsaw became louder, she paused behind the relative safety of a tree trunk as she sought out the person using the power tool.

  At first she couldn’t see the person wielding the chainsaw, so she peeked farther around the tree trunk. And then she saw him. It was the man from the day before. The man who had clamped his hand over her mouth. The man on whose property she had been trespassing. The man she had been rude to.

  He stood a good fifty feet away. He was turned so that she only saw his profile, but there was no mistaking that he was tall and well-built. Squinting into the sun, she studied him. He wore jeans, a grey t-shirt, and a baseball cap. Brown gloves covered his hands and safety glasses protected his eyes. A long, thick log lay in front of him and he appeared to be cutting it into smaller pieces.

  Aubree watched as he drove the chainsaw blade into the bark. Chunks of wood sprayed in all directions, but her gaze was drawn to the man’s sun-kissed biceps, which strained against his short sleeves. Something about seeing a man wielding a powerful tool with ease made her insides do a little flip.

  She watched him a moment longer. Until she remembered why she was there in the first place. Maya. Her sweet Golden Retriever. She had to find her.

  Swallowing over the knot that instantly formed in her throat, she stepped out from behind the tree and took several steps in the man’s direction. He was focused on his task and didn’t seem to see her. Not wanting to get anywhere near that spitting blade, she gave him a wide berth, stopping about ten feet in front of him, facing the forest with her back to his house.

  Chapter Seven

  The physicality of cutting down the tree felt great. It helped Cameron think. Though completely focused on sliding the blade of the chainsaw through the log over and over, at the same time he was able to think about the programming problem he’d run into. Possible solutions came to him and he catalogued them, stacking th
em up like notecards in his mind so he could try them when he was back in front of his laptop.

  The day was beautiful, but he was getting hot. And thirsty. He shut off the chainsaw, then lifted his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

  That’s when he saw her. An angel. Standing not ten feet away. Staring at him, her forehead creased, her green eyes filled with worry.

  The woman from the day before. It was as if she’d appeared out of thin air.

  What was she doing there?

  Kind of stunned to see her after what had happened the previous day—and thinking about it brought on a fresh bout of embarrassment—Cameron lowered his hand to his side while with his other hand he set the chainsaw on the dirt-packed ground.

  The day before he’d been so focused on the idea that she’d been following him, and then he’d had to defend himself against her and her branch, that he hadn’t noticed her ethereal beauty. Now though, with her standing in front of him, he couldn’t see anything but that.

  He stared at her. Her white-blonde hair just reached her chin and her skin was luminescent. But those eyes. Something about those emerald-green eyes reached into his soul and nearly took his breath away.

  Then his gaze slid over her body. Trim, she wore jeans and a yellow t-shirt with bits of paint spattered here and there. Her fingers were dotted with color as well.

  “Can I…help you?”

  Her lips parted as if to speak, but no sound came out. Then she closed her eyes before meeting his gaze once again. “Have you seen my dog?”

  Deeply disappointed that he would have to give her the wrong answer, Cameron shook his head nonetheless. “I’m sorry, but no.”

  Her shoulders slumped and Cameron wished mightily that he could make her dog appear out of thin air as the woman seemed to have. “What’s your dog’s name again? In case I see her.”

  “Maya.” Then the woman’s face kind of crumpled, her eyebrows bunching and her chin quivering. She covered her mouth and nose with a delicate, paint-speckled hand as her eyes squeezed shut.

  He had to do something. Seeing this angel in distress was like a kick to the gut. “I can help you look for her.”

  The woman opened her eyes, the green shimmering. Her hand fell away from her mouth. “You’d do that?”

  Cameron nodded. “Yeah. Of course.” She could ask him to help her hunt for a unicorn and he’d be all over it.

  The memory of warning him off with a branch the day before jumped into her head. She’d threatened him, yet he was offering to help her look for Maya.

  Maybe he was trying to make up for slapping his hand over her mouth from behind.

  Desperate for help, she gave him the benefit of the doubt. It didn’t matter what his reasons were. She was just grateful he was willing to help.

  “You do want my help, don’t you?”

  Nodding, Aubree said, “Of course.”

  He took off his leather gloves and the safety glasses, set them on the log, then he smiled. “Okay, then.”

  Beyond relieved to have some help, Aubree let her lips tug upward a fraction of an inch. “Thank you.”

  The man returned her smile. “Remind me what Maya looks like.”

  Aubree took her phone out of her back pocket and pulled up a picture of Maya wearing her adorable doggie smile. Then, with her phone held out, she walked over to the man, stopping on the opposite side of the log. “Here’s a recent picture.”

  The man reached for her phone but stopped before taking it. “May I?”

  Nodding, Aubree let him take it from her hand.

  He studied the picture, then with a nod, he handed her phone back to her. “When did you last see her?”

  “I was sitting on the back porch, painting, and she was lying on the patio beside me. Next thing I knew, she was gone.”

  He looked toward the forest to his right, then back at her. “Where is this back porch?”

  Aubree pointed in the direction she’d come from. “The house is that way. It belongs to Janie Baker. Do you know her?”

  He shook his head. “I just moved in.” His lips curved into a smile. “I’m Cameron, by the way.”

  She remembered him asking for her name the day before and how she’d huffed a sigh before walking away. She’d been so rude. Okay, the man had scared her nearly to death so maybe he’d deserved her response. But now, twenty-four hours later, and with Maya missing, what happened then had lost all significance. Despite her rudeness, he was willing to literally drop what he was doing to help her. It was time to show him a little trust. “Aubree.”

  Aubree the Angel. Yeah. Made sense.

  “Which way are you going to go?” Aubree the Angel asked.

  “Which way am I going to go?” For some reason Cameron had thought they would look together. Like, side by side.

  “Yeah. We’ll cover more ground if we split up.”

  “Right.” Of course that made the most sense. “Uh, that way?” He pointed to his right.

  “Great. I’ll go that way.” She pointed in the opposite direction. “She’s really friendly, so if she sees you, she’ll probably come right to you.” She bit her lip. “Unless something’s happened to her and she’s scared.”

  Wanting to see that smile again, Cameron said, “She’s probably having a great adventure.”

  Aubree looked like she was making a valiant effort to smile. “I hope you’re right.”

  “Course I am.” Cameron looked to his right again, then he turned back to Aubree. “Cell service is unreliable, so should we plan on meeting back here in, like, an hour?”

  “Yeah. Okay. And if you find her, just bring her here and, I don’t know, tie a rope to her collar.”

  “Will do.” Cameron very much wanted to be the hero in this search. Maybe then Aubree the Angel’s green eyes would sparkle. “Can I get your number?”

  She recoiled a bit as her eyes went wide. “I…”

  Why had she responded that way? It wasn’t like he was hitting on her. Although he admitted that he wouldn’t mind getting to know her better. Really wanted to, as a matter of fact. “In case I find Maya. And, you know, if I have cell service.”

  Her face relaxed, ever so slightly. “Right. Of course.”

  They exchanged numbers, then she turned to walk away.

  “Hang on,” Cameron said.

  She stopped and spun around to face him, her eyebrows raised in question.

  “You should take some water.”

  She nodded. “Good idea.”

  “Just a sec.” Cameron dashed into the house, grabbed two cold bottles of water from the fridge, then hustled back outside, stopping beside Aubree. “Here you go.”

  She smiled slightly. “Thanks.” Then she turned and trotted off, disappearing into the trees like a figment of his imagination.

  Wait. Had he just hallucinated this whole exchange? His throat was parched and he’d been working pretty hard. Maybe he was dehydrated and had been seeing things. Maybe he’d just been remembering the woman from the day before. Then he took his phone out of his pocket and checked his contacts. There she was. Aubree the Angel. Yes, he’d actually put that in his phone. Along with her number.

  Of course, he could have made it all up in his delusional state. But he didn’t think so. Certainly hoped not.

  With a last look in the direction she’d gone, he turned and jogged into his search quadrant. A moment later his phone chimed a text.

  Surprised, he slowed to a walk and brought up the message. It was from Aubree. An image of Maya appeared along with the message Thanks for your help!

  So, she really had shown up in his yard.

  Cameron grinned, then he continued on, calling out Maya’s name from time to time.

  As he searched, he thought about Aubree—she was all he thought about. That stack of notecards in his head tied to his programming project had slid right off of his mental desk, although when he concentrated he was able to recall what he was going to try when he was in front of his laptop.


  Satisfied that he hadn’t forgotten any of his ideas, he let his mind drift back to Aubree. Something about her tickled his memory. Of course, he’d seen her the day before in the forest, but now that he’d gotten a look at her when she wasn’t about to swing a branch at him he had an odd sense of déjà vu. He was usually very good about recalling just about everything, so why did she feel so vague?

  He pictured the paint splatters on her yellow t-shirt. Must be an artist. He was impressed, but knowing her profession—hobby?—didn’t help him figure out why he felt this sense of familiarity.

  He pictured her as she’d stood beside him. He’d towered over her petite frame.

  A recent memory jumped into his head.

  Grocery store. Slender, petite woman standing on the bottom shelf reaching for a box of cereal, then falling. He hadn’t been able to see her face, but he knew it was her. Aubree was the woman at the store.

  What were the odds?

  Thank you, Maya!

  Oops. He’d been so focused on Aubree that he hadn’t been calling for her dog. “Maya! Maya, where are you, girl?”

  He pictured Maya from the day before. She was a beautiful animal.

  Eager to be the one to find her, he focused on his task.

  Chapter Eight

  Though beyond grateful that Cameron was helping her search, with each passing moment of not finding Maya, Aubree became more and more discouraged. Where was that silly, sweet dog? Aubree crisscrossed the forest, hoping she wouldn’t get lost, and pulled out her phone to check the time. It had been forty minutes since she and Cameron had split up.

  She tucked her phone back in her pocket and called for Maya, pausing to listen for some sort of reaction. None came.