Page 32 of Her Big Fat Dreamy Billionaire Ex

Chapter 11

Aiden’s heart brokewith every step back to his villa. Mabel was nowhere to be found. And with each broken tree branch or piece of siding he saw, he feared his dog had not survived the night.

As he approached the deck behind his villa, a vision of Mabel curled up on her favorite deck chair popped into his head and he sprinted up the wooden steps. Holding his breath, he walked toward the chair.

Empty.

He exhaled and sat, sure he was going to break down at any moment. A shuffling noise came onto the deck. Grams. She wore a long housedress and held a cup of something out to him. “No luck?”

He took the mug and sipped the steamy coffee. He shook his head, afraid of what his voice would sound like.

Grams dragged a chair next to him and joined him. “Have you talked to Felicity?”

“No. She didn’t answer her phone.”

“So, she doesn’t know?”

He shook his head again then let his shoulders fall. Another thing he’d screwed up today. Felicity probably hated him right now.

Grams patted his leg. “You’d better go talk to her.”

“I know.” He should have walked to her villa instead of going home. It’s just he had hoped Mabel would be—

A bark sounded and he shot out of his chair. “Mabel?” he called. He set his coffee mug on the glass table and ran to the railing. Felicity was walking toward his villa, Mabel in her arms. Relief poured over Aiden and he ran down the steps.

Felicity set the squirming Mabel down and she ran to him, barking and wagging her tail. Aiden bent down and picked her up. Mabel licked his face. He checked her over for any injuries but didn’t see any. “I can’t believe you found her. I was so worried.”

“Yeah, she was trapped under some plywood,” a man said.

Aiden realized for the first time that Felicity wasn’t alone, and a few things hit him at once. Felicity was wearing a swimsuit, a sexy cover-up, and had her hair pinned so she looked like a model. The man with her wore shorts, no shirt, and was standing too close to be a passerby. And suddenly he wanted to grab Felicity and pull her to him, but he pressed his lips together and tempered that thought. “Where did you find her?”

“She wasn’t too far down the beach from our villas.” Felicity motioned.

“Our villas?” Aiden gave the man another once over. What had happened this morning?

“This is Harold. He’s staying in the villa next to mine. Harold, this is Aiden...we went to the same high school.”

Ouch. He’d been downgraded from ex-fiancé to high school acquaintance. Felicity must be more than mad. She must be furious. Aiden stuck out his hand. He didn’t mean to squeeze so hard, but when Harold winced, he let go. “Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah. You too.” Harold shifted. “Well, we, uh...just wanted to bring your dog to you.”

Aiden gave Mabel one last pat on the head and set her on the ground. Mabel barked and ran up the deck stairs. “So, you two are...?” He let the question hang.

Felicity hesitated. “We were just taking a walk.”

Meaning, together. The two of them. Aiden tried not to grind his teeth. “I see.”

His relief over Mabel being okay was dwarfed by his annoyance that Felicity was at his villa with another man. What was going on? He was a couple of hours late so she decided to meet other men? Yes, he messed up this morning, but she could have called or come to check on what the emergency was. How could she just dump the plans they’d made?

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