THE PARK OF SUNSET DREAMS

by Ava Miles

  ~ Dare Valley ~

  Jane & Matt

  © 2014 Ava Miles

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  Jane Wilcox has a secret. She’s been the incognito poker scout to a rock star poker player dressed as a smoking hot poker babe. Now that role is over, and she’s living in small town Dare Valley, working as a dog walker—or so everyone thinks. Without her Jimmy Choo heels and Prada gowns, she’s trying to find her new sexy Inner Swan and a fairy tale romance, but she’s afraid she might have turned back into “Plain Jane” until she meets Matt Hale in the dog park.

  The sexy lawyer has a rambunctious dog that needs her Dog Whisperer skills and slowly they move from friends to lovers. Matt is one of the good guys, a hero, totally boy-next-door material. He’s returned to his hometown after experiencing a tragedy. He was unable to find justice for the woman in his last legal case, and now she’s passed away and given him her dog. He’s vowed to give Henry a good home and right the wrongs in the system, so he’s running for mayor of Dare Valley.

  Jane and Matt fall in love during sunset walks in the dog park, but soon Jane’s secret past comes back to haunt her and harms Matt’s bid for mayor. Can Jane and Matt’s love survive the controversy?

  To my sister, Janell. I knew this book was going to be yours when I had to ask for your help on Jane’s designer clothes and shoes. No one knows that topic better than you. Here’s to the inner quest for your bliss, more trips to Paris and Provence, and lots of laughter and good food. I love you.

  And continued thanks to my divine entourage, who continues to redefine my beliefs about abundance.

  Acknowledgements

  So many people continue to support my efforts as a writer. To all of the members of Team Ava. Special thanks to Gregory Stewart for the incredible cover and a million other things.

  To Mayor Sue Fuchtman for giving me the scoop on running for mayor in a small town in Nebraska about the size of Dare Valley.

  T.F. For showing me love is without form and not bound by time.

  And all of my amazing readers, whose support for me living my dreams is one of the greatest blessings in my life.

  Prologue

  It wasn’t every day a woman said goodbye to her entire wardrobe, especially one worth more than half a million dollars. Most people swapped out a piece of clothing here and there, perhaps donating some to charity, but not Jane Wilcox. Now that her alter ego Raven, the luscious poker babe, had gone into retirement, it was time to say goodbye to the goddess stash.

  Fortunately, packing up the hordes of shoes from the finest designers—Christian Louboutin, Miu Miu, Alexander McQueen, Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik—didn’t make her tear up. Those four- to six-inch heels had given her arches fits, requiring way too many visits to her physical therapist. Jane had long ago learned the old adage was true: beauty hurts.

  It was comforting to hear her darling four-year-old rescue chocolate Labrador, Rufus, and Annie, the cutest Chinese Crested puppy alive, scratching at the door as she packed up her old life, but she wasn’t about to let them into the guest room that had been converted into her poker babe closet. Both were good dogs, but she had zero desire to see her beauties nosing through all the double-D bras and breast enhancers lying on the floor. She didn’t know if something like that could scar a dog for life, but she wasn’t about to take the chance.

  Her hand stroked one of her finest raven-colored human hair wigs, the shade symbolic of her persona, Raven. Each of the nearly twenty wigs in different hairstyles she owned had cost a thousand dollars. When she’d worn this particular one, the thick curls had cascaded down her back, making the women who saw her pea-green with envy. It was a total contrast to the pixie cut of her God-given brown hair. She was anonymously donating all her human hair wigs to a cancer society in another state. Her synthetic wigs were long gone since they’d made her break out into hives, defeating her attempts to look like a femme fatale.

  Jane surveyed the racks of sequins dresses in every shade imaginable—the brazen red Versace and gunmetal gray Armani were her favorites—and heaved a sigh as she started to box them.

  Oscar Wilde was right. A woman’s face is her work of fiction. As herself, she was no more a femme fatale than she was an astronaut. And now she was retiring at the mere age of thirty. Were her best days behind her? Had she been more impressive as Raven than she was as herself?

  Well, it didn’t matter. Not really. She couldn’t stay a fake forever.

  She started stuffing as many breast, hip, and butt pads as she could find into another box. They’d given her a curvy, luscious body that had made men salivate when she’d accompanied her boss, World Series of Poker champion Rhett Butler Blaylock, on the poker circuit. Of course, she couldn’t take her clothes off in front of any of those men. She was like a leftover box of holiday chocolates, wrapped up in tantalizing silver paper and a shiny red bow, promising nothing but delight…and empty on the inside.

  Of course, taking off her clothes for men she barely knew was much too brazen for the real Jane anyway.

  Which was why play-acting as Raven had been so fun. And that wasn’t the only reason. No one besides the three of them knew the real reason why she and Vixen, her best friend and fellow poker babe, always accompanied Rhett to the playing tables and tournaments, treating him like the mighty pasha in their harem.

  In truth, she and Vixen were Rhett’s poker scouts. They both had MBAs from Harvard University, where they’d become besties for life. Oh, how many times had she wanted to shove that in some leering, scotch-swilling poker player’s face?

  Now, she was back to being Jane, the real Jane. She didn’t have to pretend to be vapid or hang over Rhett with her gigantic fake cleavage hanging out to distract an unseasoned poker player.

  She could be smart again. Be herself.

  As she looked in the full-length mirror across the room, she wondered what that would entail. For years, she’d been living a double life. It hadn’t always been comfortable, but it had given her the one thing she’d craved most while growing up: freedom from her overbearing family.

  Her hands slid over her petite figure. She turned sideways to examine her nearly flat behind in the mirror. No lust-inspiring butt there. Her breasts…well, they were the size of those hot stones used in day spas. Okay, not stones, she thought, putting her hands under them. More like small apples. Oh God, she was back to being an A-cup again. An A-cup!

  As she gazed in the mirror, she realized the fairy tale she’d been living had just gone in reverse. After Harvard, she’d gone from being a smart ugly duckling to a smoking hot swan.

  Now she was the ugly duckling again.

  She leaned closer to the mirror, staring into her big brown eyes, her best feature.

  Hello! Is there another swan in there?

  Unlike in her favorite Disney movie, Snow White, no booming voice assured her she was still the fairest of them all.

  It would have been a lie anyway.

  She turned away and decided to keep her favorite wig and the red sequins dress with its matching shoes. God only knew what she’d do with the thousands of dollars of Chanel makeup. Too bad she couldn’t hold a garage sale and put up a sign saying, Babes ‘R Us. Of course, that would make the townspeople’s mouths flop open like codfishes in the conservative small town of Dare Valley, Colorado. This was her home now, and it wouldn’t do to make a bad impression. She no longer had another person to hide behind, after all. Even though she was still Rhett’s secret poker scout, she had a new cover story. Officially, she was only his dog caretaker. Annie might belong to Rhett, but she lived with Jane and Ruf
us because Rhett didn’t want to deprive the dogs of each other’s company.

  As she wrapped up her old life, bidding goodbye to Raven, she was shocked to feel herself brought to tears over those stupid shoes that had pinched her toes and made her insteps weep.

  Chapter 1

  Sunset was upon Dare Valley, its fiery orange, primal reds, and soft pinks touching the towering mountains around her. This time of day was Jane Wilcox’s favorite, and if she could manage it, she always spent it in the nameless park that overlooked the valley. A snowy gravel path made for a pleasant stroll with Annie and Rufus.

  The cold January wind made the pines on the ridge above her sway like a crowd doing the wave at the Super Bowl. But it was the view at the edge of the park that always captured her attention and made her feel small in the best way possible. Dare Valley stretched below her. Snow still covered the town and the surrounding land, and when the sunset light touched the white ground, it looked like swirled sherbet in lemon, orange, and raspberry, her favorite flavors. During every walk since arriving here over six months ago, she took a moment to think about her dreams, the ones that hadn’t come true yet, the ones she wasn’t sure ever would. And when the first star rose in the sky, bold and bright, she always made a wish they would come true. Some day.

  Okay, so that wasn’t the only reason she only came to this park. She enjoyed seeing Matthew Hale walk his two-year-old golden Labrador, Henry. Henry. Who named their dog Henry? A practical, down-to-earth lawyer, that’s who. One she’d secretly had the hots for since his return to his hometown a few months ago. They saw each other almost every day, but they’d never spoken. All he did was nod to her. Henry was poorly behaved and beyond rambunctious, so Matthew had his hands full when he took him for walks.

  She eyed her watch. It was about time for them to show up. It was sad she knew that, but since he kept a pretty regular schedule, his arrival at the park was like clockwork. And sure enough, a few moments later his black SUV crunched snow as he pulled in alongside her forest green Range Rover.

  Jane was from a small town. She’d never wanted to live in one again, but she loved her job as a poker scout more than she hated her roots. So when her boss had made the decision to relocate from Las Vegas, she’d followed him. The first time she had felt happy about making that decision was when she saw Matthew Hale walk into his cousin’s local coffee shop, Don’t Soy with Me, a few months ago. Dark thick hair, arresting blue eyes, and a smile that was more like a quirk had set her heart to racing. She’d decided to overlook the fact that he was a lawyer, just like her politician dad and all his sleaze-bag friends, and smiled at him hesitantly across a mountain of delectable pastries. His brows had risen, and he’d returned her smile.

  There’d been nothing since.

  Zip. Nada. Bupkis.

  Annie looked over her shoulder at Jane, her pointy muzzle bobbing up and down in agreement as if to say, yeah, girlfriend, that totally blows. Gosh, wasn’t she the cutest thing ever? Since she had a dark brown hairless body dotted with white spots and streaks, Jane had bought her a pink doggie coat with matching legwarmers to keep her warm while also protecting her delicate skin from the sun.

  Since Jane wasn’t a poker babe anymore, the budget for Raven’s clothes had been transferred to Annie. She dressed the dog in zany outfits when Rhett played poker to attract media attention and keep his flamboyant reputation alive. This new setup didn’t generate the kind of attention that had been garnered by the lovely Raven and Vixen, but he was newly married now—hastily, as his wife, Abbie, would say. The two of them had been in love for so long neither had wanted a long engagement. It had lasted all of ten days.

  It was good that Annie was the one who was playing dress-up now instead of Jane. The little dog certainly enjoyed it more, but still…

  Raven would have attracted Matthew Hale’s attention, even if he’d never date a woman like that.

  Without her longtime alter ego, she was just plain Jane.

  Again.

  She angled the dogs back to the main path as Matthew and Henry wove across the park. God, even while wearing a black stocking cap and a matching North Face fleece, he was arrestingly handsome. The broad forehead, the granite jaw, and the slash of cheekbones. Yum. And a nose her people back in blue-blood Connecticut would call aquiline. She’d always wondered what in the world that meant until she saw Matthew. It meant breeding and handsomeness in an old school way. He rather looked like John Hamm, she realized, and who didn’t think he was a dreamboat?

  Walking behind Matt every day was her routine. So sue her. It meant she could watch his spectacular butt without being noticed. His coat ended at his waist, giving her a tempting view of muscular glutes and strong thighs.

  Sigh.

  That she was objectifying him as she’d been objectified for so long only bothered her a smidgen. Of course, she’d prefer to talk to him and get to know him than admire him from afar. It just hadn’t happened yet.

  She smiled as she watched Rufus and Annie walk together in tandem. A true gentleman, Rufus walked more slowly so Annie, who was much smaller, could keep up. Training them to work together had been easy. All she’d needed to do was what she did with poker. Read books. Studied tape. Observed other players.

  A man who was walking toward them stopped so his German shepherd could sniff a bush, and a huge wind gust suddenly crested across the park. Jane braced herself by planting her feet wider and watched in horror as the man’s hair blew off as though the wind had scalped him.

  What the… Oh my God!

  His hair trailed over the snow like sagebrush as the wind continued to gust. He cursed and dropped the leash, running for that brown nest.

  And then the man’s dog gave chase.

  Jane had to bite her lip to keep herself from laughing out loud. Should she help…catch his hair?

  The dog beat the bald man to the toupee and clamped it between his molars. The man tugged on it. Jane almost cried out, “Don’t!” because the dog did exactly as she’d expected. It thought the hair tugging was a game. And since he wasn’t leashed, the dog had extra freedom. He ran toward the parking lot with the man’s hair, the owner yelling and giving chase.

  Her shoulders started to shake, and she could feel laughter bubbling up. Desperate to hold it in until the owner was out of hearing range, she put one hand to her stomach and watched him. He’d made it all the way to the cars, swearing a blue streak.

  Far enough.

  She let out a bellowing laugh, which slowly trickled into some serious giggling.

  Matthew Hale craned his neck to look at her from where he’d frozen on the path, watching the same thing. Henry was barking, and it almost sounded as if he were laughing too. There was a half smile on Matthew’s face, like he was fighting his own mirth. Their eyes met, and then Henry raced around him with the leash.

  “Dammit, Henry!” he called, trying to untangle the red leash in his hand. The dog raced around him again, and the leash went taut around Matthew’s legs.

  “Shit.”

  And just like that, he fell like a tree struck by lightning. Right in front of her. Henry licked his face, and Matthew shoved him away.

  “Get away, you cretin.”

  Henry couldn’t go anywhere with the leash so taut, so he started to crawl over his owner.

  “Need some help?” Jane asked, still laughing as she and the dogs approached them, secretly delighted she finally had a chance to talk to him. “You look like a damsel in distress.”

  “A damsel, huh?” He grabbed the dog’s collar. “No, I’m an idiot for ever thinking I could handle a dog. Stop biting me, Henry.”

  She transferred both leashes into her left hand. Rufus was prancing, and Annie was doing her little Lipizzaner walk in place. “Sit.” They did.

  “How did you do that?” he asked, still pushing Henry away as the dog tried to lick his face.

  “Training. Authority.”

  His mouth curled. “Yeah, we failed doggie school. Twice. Any ideas
?”

  Oh, he was too cute, trussed up and humble. A full smile stretched across her lips. “Henry!” she shouted as loud as she could, the sound echoing in the grand expanse of the park.

  The dog froze, his brown eyes seeking hers in question. Like how could you talk to me like that?

  “Holy shit,” Matthew muttered.

  “Now, sit,” Jane commanded and reached for his collar. The dog didn’t move a muscle as she stared him down. Then he plopped on his butt without so much as a whimper. “Unclip the leash and untangle yourself. I have him. Rufus. Annie. Friend.”

  Her dogs wagged their heads at him in acknowledgement but didn’t engage, exactly like she’d taught them.

  Matthew’s arctic blue eyes sought hers. “Are you sure? You’re pretty…tiny, and he really likes to jump.”

  As though she didn’t know she was tiny. She’d spent her whole life being underestimated for it. “Don’t worry. He won’t, will you, Henry?”

  Matthew unclipped the leash, and she moved Henry off him, staring into the dog’s eyes all the while. “Stay,” she called when his muscles bunched.

  Matthew rolled over in the snow, unwinding the red leash with the movement. When he stood and brushed the snow off his clothes, he clipped Henry’s leash back on. She let the dog go, and he immediately jumped on his owner.

  “Sit,” she ordered, and the dog instantly obeyed.

  “Amazing,” Matt said. “I want to worship at your feet, oh great dog whisperer.”

  So he had a sense of humor? Man, that was such a turn-on.

  “It’s just a matter of finding the right balance between discipline and love,” she told him.

  His mouth quirked to the side in a half smile that made her hands break out in a sweat inside her gloves.

  “I’m Matt, by the way. Matt Hale. And you’re Jane, right? Rhett’s dog walker.”