No Love Left Behind (Boston Billionaire's Club Book 1)

by Jenni M. Rose

  “Good, good,” he answered her question, nodding as if he didn’t have a hundred-pound dog pressed against his face.

  “Who’s your friend?” she asked.

  “This is Gordon.” If anything, the dog’s body quivered even more, his tail thumping on the passenger seat.

  “Hi Gordon,” she greeted the excited dog. He was a gorgeous animal, big-bodied and smoky gray with a boxy head that said more about his mixed lineage than the white spots on his chest. Pit-bull head. Weimaraner coloring. Lab body. Possibly part Dane.

  He also looked nothing but happy, his lips curled up at the ends into a classic dog smile.

  “Would you mind opening the door?” Lincoln’s voice was distorted as he spoke through smushed lips.

  “Is he friendly?” Sadie asked.

  Lincoln nodded, his hands trying to press the dog away from him.

  “Good with other dogs? Doesn’t go too far off leash? I don’t want him to run away.”

  “No, he’s good. He’ll stay right around if you could just open the door. He loves other dogs. He’s just an idiot.” He growled the last words and she felt a familiar shiver slide down her spine.

  Sadie opened the door and let the beast loose. He leapt out of the car, Lincoln letting out a muffled oomph as the dog used his lap as a springboard. Gordon immediately came at her, tongue hanging out of his mouth, smile on his face. Oh, he was a handful; she could tell already.

  Prepared for his enthusiasm, Sadie turned her body and gave him her back, stepping out of the way. He tried to chase her around in a circle but she ignored him at every turn. Eventually, he got confused and took a step back, watching her.

  She took a treat out of her pocket and fed it to him. “Good boy, Gordon,” she cooed, squatting down to pet him and let him lick her face.

  “Oh, you’re such a good boy, aren’t you? Yes, what a good boy.” She praised him, letting him kiss her and, after a while, sit between her legs.

  She raised her eyes to Lincoln. He was even more handsome than she remembered, chiseled jaw covered with blond stubble, eyes as blue as the sky above them. He stared at her as though he had no idea who she was.

  To be fair, he didn’t have any idea who she was. He’d be surprised to find that the Mercedes Charles he used to know was long gone, replaced with Sadie.

  She stood, digging out another treat for Gordon and one for Aggie, who was waiting so patiently to be introduced. Always a lady, that one.

  “Come, Aggie,” she called.

  Obediently, Aggie trotted over, her graceful Collie roots surfacing as she held her head high and dignified. Wisely, Sadie held onto Gordon’s collar as they sniffed each other out.

  “I can put him back in the car if it’s easier,” Lincoln offered.

  “No need,” she told him as Gordon and Aggie made friends.

  “I didn’t realize you had dogs of your own. Brady didn’t say anything about it.”

  So, Brady was behind this somehow. She’d have to discuss it with him. She’d rather everyone she used to know just forget about her. Not that he didn’t know that already.

  “They’re all friendly,” she told him.

  Lincoln’s eyes widened. “There’s a horse that looks an awful lot like a dog over there.”

  “That’s Lola,” she said, barely glancing over her shoulder. Lola stood stoically on the crest of the yard, guarding the backyard from intruders. Huck waited next to her, his little head swiveling from his new mother figure to Sadie and then back again. “She’s babysitting the little one right now so she’ll stay where she is. If you hang on to Gordon, I’ll put her and Huck in a pen so we can let this guy loose.”

  And then he could tell her what he was doing at her house.

  She handed Gordon back to Lincoln and trotted toward Lola. The big dog easily went into the gated area, waiting for Huck to be put in with her.

  Clearly, Lincoln had come with his dog for a reason. She was sure her brother had meant well, probably trying to drum up business for her. Of all the people he could have sent though, Lincoln Greene would have been her last choice. Not only had she been in love with him her entire childhood but she’d also made a complete fool of herself the last time she’d seen him.

  Mercedes slipped into her Dolce wedges and strutted to the elevator, pressing the button twenty times before the stupid old thing showed up. Securing her flask in her clutch, after taking another healthy chug, she stepped in and leaned against the back wall as the doors in front of her closed.

  She looked around, bored, riding by herself the four flights down. The entire thing was mirrored and at least she got a good look at herself from all angles. She was gorgeous.

  When the elevator bumped to a stop and the doors slid open, her heart flip-flopped at the sight of Lincoln Greene standing at the door. He was one of her brother’s oldest friends and by far, the most attractive. His square jaw was a stark contrast to his very blue blood, making him look work-roughened when she knew damn well he wasn’t. He was wearing a button-up shirt, minus the sport coat, managing to look casual, yet serious at the same time. Sandy-brown hair, combed neatly to one side, as if he could will it to stay down, which again, she knew damn well he couldn’t. By the end of the night, wherever he may be, his hair would look tumbled and windswept.

  “Lincoln,” she cooed, stretching her mouth into a seductive smile. “A pleasure.”

  She didn’t move from the back of the elevator.

  He stepped in as far as the doors, so they wouldn’t close, and leaned against the jamb.

  “Mercedes. You’re all dressed up,” he said, disappointing her.

  Women shouldn’t have to beg for compliments. What kind of oaf was he? Didn’t he see what she was wearing?

  “And don’t I look stunning?” she supplied.

  His sharp, azure eyes never left hers. “If you were my sister, I wouldn’t let you leave the house. You’re short about four layers.”

  She huffed as she pushed off the wall and shouldered past him. “You didn’t even look.”

  “I saw plenty. So will everyone else.”

  She turned back around, each of them now standing where the other had been. Who the hell was he to say what was too much or too little for her to wear? She was an adult. She could dress however she wanted and screw whoever she wanted.

  When she caught his eye, she put a pout on her face. “What’s the matter? Is Lincoln jealous?”

  She brazenly lifted the hem of her skirt, exposing the apex of her thighs, freshly waxed and ready for a man, completely naked. He looked this time, which pleased Mercedes to no end. His cheeks flushed and his lips tightened.

  “Now you get to see too, sweetie. See what I’ll give someone else tonight?” She laughed as she spun around and headed for the door. “Have fun with my brother. Losers.”

  She patted herself on the back the entire ride to the club.

  Brady had been looking down on her since the day she was born and his friends were no different. As if they were better because they got taken under their father’s wings and got led by the nose and shown what to do. When you were a girl and your mother died, they sent you to a nanny who showed you nothing. They didn’t teach you anything but how to be a lady and that was bullshit. If they weren’t going to treat her like she belonged in their precious, inner circle, she was going to make sure she really didn’t fit in.

  So far, her plan had worked swimmingly.

  Sadie’d had plenty of years to relive that moment, to regret what she’d done and dissect every second of the encounter. Had there really been heat in his eyes or had it been embarrassment for her? It had been easy for her to pretend that she could move away from her old life and never see Lincoln again, letting that single moment live under the rug where she’d swept it.

  Her brother had opened an investment firm with the guy and she’d managed to avoid him. He was invited to every family event her family planned, and she still hadn’t seen him. He’d been at her family’s vacation house once f
or dinner and she’d stayed so hidden he hadn’t even known she was in the house.

  She turned to see Lincoln, still in the driveway, making friends with Aggie, Gordon sitting beside him, smiling his happy dog smile. He was a good dog, she could tell. Untrained and about as clumsy as a dog came, but he loved Lincoln. She could see it in the way he sat close to Lincoln’s leg, his head resting on his owner’s thigh.

  Oh, he’d give Lincoln a run for his money.

  She wiped her sweaty palms on her shorts and walked back toward the driveway.

  Step one would be to find out exactly what Lincoln was doing here.

  Step two would be to make sure he kept his mouth shut when he went back to the city. The last thing she needed was any more gossip about her plaguing her family. Those people were like vultures, so quick to knock people off their pedestals.

  Not that she hadn’t deserved it.

  Step three, and most important, would be to keep her old feelings for Lincoln Greene locked down. She’d always been too young or too brash, him too far out of her league. She’d tried, in her own clumsy way, to make him hers but that was when she was still part of the social scene.

  Now, they lived in two different worlds.

  It was hard to even look at Lincoln. He was everything she remembered and more, his light brown hair looking like he’d run his fingers through it in the last few minutes. He looked so familiar, yet so different, the subtle changes an indication of how many years she’d missed

  Remembering why she’d lost those years was a sobering reminder of what she’d done.

  Lincoln would be wise to stay away from her at all costs.

  “Good girl, Aggie,” she praised as she rejoined them on the driveway. She reached out her hand, hoping to put them on a more formal playing ground. Something that said let’s do business more than remember that time I flashed my coochie at you. “Lincoln.”

  He seemed surprised by her handshake but went with it. “Mercedes.”

  She shook her head. “I go by Sadie now,” she told him. A far less stuffy moniker than Mercedes, she’d found it had given her some latitude when rebuilding her life.

  He turned the name over for a minute before repeating it back to her.

  “Sadie,” he said slowly. “I like it.” He looked around. “This is quite the spread you have here.”

  She nodded. “It is. You want to let the big guy loose and you can tell me what you’re doing here.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked. “He can be a bit of a handful.”

  It was her turn to laugh. “You don’t say.” She looked down at the dog. “Is that you, Gordon? A handful?”

  As expected, he wagged his tail.

  “You can let him go. Aggie will keep an eye on him.”

  He slowly let go of the dog’s collar, one finger at a time, until Gordon was happily prancing at their feet.

  “You need to run, don’t you, big guy?” Sadie cooed at the dog as she bent over to pet and nuzzle his face. “Go on, then.” She looked to Aggie. “Go ahead, Aggie. Watch him.”

  She trotted to the steps that led up to the house and grabbed one of the balls she kept in a basket there. She tossed it into the backyard and, as expected, Gordon raced after it, Aggie hot on his heels.

  “Come on,” she said as she took a few steps to the yard, waiting for Lincoln to follow her. When he reached her she asked, “Do I want to know what my brother said to get you here?”

  “You came highly recommended.” Lincoln shrugged. “Gordon’s been eating my house,” he admitted.

  “Eating your house?”

  “The couch. The coffee table. The doorknob of the laundry room. A Ferregamo shoe.”

  Yikes, that was one expensive dog toy.

  “And when does he do all of this damage?”

  “While I’m at work.”

  “When he’s alone,” she clarified.

  He nodded his agreement. “Yeah. He’s not into being alone.”

  “Who is?” she said offhand. “How many hours is he alone?”

  Lincoln was quiet for a long moment, not answering her question. She took the opportunity to peek at his face and noticed his uncomfortable expression.

  “Too long, I’m guessing.” It was common that people got dogs, not understanding the commitment they required, not just in training but quality time. Dogs were pack animals and they always wanted to be with their pack.

  “I work long hours,” he admitted. “I tried to hire a dog walker but when they saw what a mess he made, they bailed pretty quickly.”

  She nodded. She couldn’t imagine trying to train Gordon in the city. He was a dog that needed a lot of room to run. A few jaunts in the dog park weren’t going to be enough to tire him out. He needed miles on trail, she bet. Long days hiking or swimming probably would do the trick.

  Just then Gordon came racing out from behind the barn, Aggie chasing him with the ball in her mouth.

  Sadie laughed.

  “He’s a good dog, Lincoln, though I’ve got to tell you, you’re the last person I ever expected to show up here looking for advice.”

  “I’m not looking for advice. I’m looking for a miracle.”

  “Fresh out of those,” she told him. “All I’ve got are recommendations that all require hard work and a lot of time.”

  They thought on that as they walked through the yard and past the garden where she’d been working a short while before.

  “I would have never pictured you in a place like this,” he said. “Mercedes Charles in the country.”

  She shook her head. It had taken her family a long time to understand that she really had changed, that she wasn’t playing some kind of game with them. When she’d been Mercedes, she’d been a terrible person. Selfish beyond belief, she’d put her whims above the needs of others.

  “I told you, I go by Sadie now. Mercedes didn’t deserve living in a place like this.” She looked around, still in love with her little refuge. “She’d have hated it here.”

  “Sorry,” he said, sincerity evident in his voice. “Sadie.”

  “It takes a while.” She forced a smile. “Even my father still calls me Mercedes sometimes and I’ve been correcting him for years.” She was sure, at this point, that her father did it on purpose.

  “You won’t have to correct me again,” he promised. “So, there’s Aggie and the horse,” he began.

  “Lola,” she said.

  “And the tiny one.”

  “That’s Huck. He’s just visiting. His parents are convinced he’s too stupid to be house-trained. They haven’t figured out yet that carrying him everywhere like a fashion accessory is their real problem.”

  “Is he one of those purse dogs?” he asked, horrified.

  Sadie laughed. “Sadly, yes. But, in his defense, I think he’d rather be more like Gordon.”

  “God help us, the world doesn’t need another Gordon. There aren’t enough couches in Massachusetts to handle two Gordons.”

  “No offense, Lincoln, I know you guys are all busy at the firm. But if you’re so busy, why did you get a dog in the first place?”

  “That would be my sister’s doing,” he explained. “She showed up one day with a little fur ball, claiming she’d saved it from being put down at the shelter. Poor thing.” He pulled a face that clearly said he didn’t believe a word of it. “Found in an alley next to its dead mother.”

  Sadie laughed. “So, Audrey saves a dog from death’s door, sells you a sob story, and drops him off with you?”

  “In a nutshell.”

  “And how many couches has she donated to the cause?”

  Lincoln laughed, making goose bumps tickle up her spine as if he’d physically touched her. Mercedes had never made him laugh before.

  “That would be none,” he answered.

  “Tell me more about your setup at home. How’s Gordon’s behavior other than the destruction?”

  As they walked her property, Lincoln told her about his home life with Gordon. Despite th
e fact he hadn’t wanted the dog, it was clear that he cared for him deeply. They made quite a pair, too, she had to say. Every time Gordon trotted through or brought Lincoln a toy he’d found, there was a smile on his face that held genuine affection. Possibly love and pride, as well, Sadie was almost sure.

  It was an interesting story. She wondered what Audrey had been thinking.

  The last time she’d seen Audrey they’d been celebrating the girl’s sweet sixteen at the Greene’s home. Sadie clearly remembered being about ten years old. Her mother had just died and she’d been shocked to see that the world carried on around them without a care. As if nothing had changed.

  She knew Audrey oversaw HR at Charles, Greene, James, and Harrison, so clearly, she didn’t have time for a dog either.

  What were the chances Lincoln would leave Gordon with her for a few days, she wondered? Maybe she could make some headway in at least his manners. It would take more work, with Lincoln especially, to really prove to Gordon who was in charge, Lincoln was going to have to prove it was him, not the dog.

  Gordon might be a hard sell on that point.

  2

  Sadie led Lincoln and the two dogs through the path at the back of her yard. Beyond that, while still part of her property, was a wilder landscape brimming with wildflowers that abutted the woods. She liked to take her dogs out there so they could roam free and they each enjoyed that freedom in their own way. Aggie, when alone, usually stuck to the fields, prancing and sniffing happily. Cocoa, without fail, always bee-lined for the water just beyond the tree line. Lola, tended to stick closer to home and if she had her way, wouldn’t leave the yard.

  “Is this all yours?” Lincoln asked as they picked their way down the field.

  Gordon and Aggie were playing an intense game of dog-tag in the flowers.

  “It is,” she said. “I’ve got a straggler back here, probably knee-deep in mud.”

  “Another dog,” he clarified.

  She nodded, calling Cocoa from where they stood.

  “So,” she began as they waited and watched the dogs play. “How’ve you been?”