My brows rose in surprise at Vaughn’s words. Dane had learned the hard way not to trust women in Hollywood. I knew it would take a special person to capture his interest. For his sake, I hoped she was the real deal.
“I owe the man my career”—even though it was frustrating me to no end at the moment—“so I have no interest in getting on his wrong side.”
“Whose wrong side?” Mila asked after one last stroke to Duke’s back.
“My agent, Dane Garrison.”
“Oh,” she gasped, her cheeks turning pink.
Allie sighed as she stood, tugging on Mila’s and Morgan’s hands. “C’mon, let’s finish our walk. I’m sure the guys will wrap up whatever they’re talking about soon.”
“Yeah, as soon as we get ten feet away, they won’t be able to resist following us,” Morgan chuckled.
Her prediction was right because the women had barely made it past my mailbox before the guys bade me a hasty goodbye and stomped after them. They were all headed in the same direction I’d intended to take Duke. As interesting as the group was, I wasn’t in the mood for company at the moment, so I decided to change my plans. “Let’s go to the park instead.”
I had a lunch meeting scheduled with Dane in about an hour and a half at a little Greek place in Beverly Hills that was dog friendly, so I could bring Duke with me. The house I’d had before making the move into the gated neighborhood had been near the restaurant, and Duke’s favorite dog park was right there, which meant we could hang out there for a while before the meeting.
I strapped Duke into my black Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon, and we headed out. He loved riding with the top off, but it could get a little hot with the sun beaming down on us. I cranked the air conditioner up and aimed a few vents his way to keep him cool during the drive, which took about a half an hour. After pulling into a parking spot, I gave Duke a quick drink of water. Then I tugged my ball cap as low as it would go on my head. It only worked as a disguise if people didn’t get too good of a look at me, but it was the best I could do.
Seeing that the park was mostly empty, I heaved a deep sigh of relief. It was short-lived, though. As soon as Duke and I made our way through the gate to the off-leash section, a young woman approached us, waving excitedly at my dog. He tugged at the leash and raced toward her like she was an old friend.
She was dressed casually in a pair of blue shorts and a cream top, with her long, brown hair pulled up in a ponytail. There wasn’t a speck of makeup on her face, and her bright blue eyes were partially hidden by her black-rimmed glasses, but it didn’t detract from her beauty in the least. She was naturally stunning without even trying.
“Sir Duke, you’re back!” she exclaimed as she reached us. “I’ve missed you, you handsome devil.”
Crouching down, she put out her hand and began petting his head. He panted happily, his tail wagging about a hundred miles an hour as he ate up the attention. Duke was a lot of things, but guard dog wasn’t one of them. Normally I was fine with that, but I couldn’t believe he was letting someone who was likely as fuck a mega fan this close to us. Considering that she knew my dog’s name, all signs pointed to the overzealous fan scenario. I wasn’t thrilled about that, either. I had a strict never-date-a-fan policy, but goddamn if the beauty bent down in front of me wasn’t making me think things I shouldn’t. Irritation surged through me as I caught myself wondering just how much I was willing to bend my rule.
For fuck’s sake, I’d had to uproot my life and move because of a stalker. There was no way I could seriously consider trying to woo a fan. Not now, not ever. That being the case, I needed to take Duke and get the fuck out of the dog park.
I tugged at the leash attached to Duke’s harness. When he ignored me, twice, I stiffly gave him a command. “Dammit Duke, get your furry ass over here.” Looking up, he huffed and gave me a dirty look as he turned away from the beautiful girl fawning all over him and came to my side.
The beauty frowned as she stood. Putting her hands on her hips, she narrowed her eyes. “Does Jen know you curse at him?”
Fucking great, I thought. If she knew Duke and also knew my assistant, Jen, the beauty before me likely wasn’t just a regular fan. Worse, she probably scoped out the park every day.