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Pulling out my phone, I handed it to her as I said, “The name is Dodge.”
Grinning while she typed in her information, she purred back her name. “Meredith.” Handing it back, she gave me wink. “Hope to hear from you soon, Dodge. We can pound out some ideas.”
Fuck me. My dick just jumped with my baby sister standing next to me. Not cool.
Meredith took off running as I watched her fade into the distance. Damn, she had a nice body. Looking back at Em, she stood there with her mouth gaped open.
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“That was gross! Oh my gosh. Aaron, please tell me you are not calling that floozy! And why did you tell her your name was Dodge?”
Shrugging my shoulders, I laughed. “It’s just a nickname, Em. That’s all.”
Shaking her head, Em looked at me. “Well I like Aaron. Your real name.”
“Yeah well, Dodge and Aaron are two different people, Em.”
Tilting her head, she gave me a smile. “Maybe it’s time you decide which one you want to be . . . Aaron.”
Swallowing hard, I slowly nodded my head before pulling away from my sister’s knowing eyes.
Looking down at my phone, I smiled as I opened up my pictures. Seeing the picture of Em and the puppy, I sent it to Sierra.
Me: My sister Em loves the mutt, even though you ruined dinner with my baby sister on my birthday.
Less than a minute later, Sierra responded.
Sierra: You were having dinner with your sister?
Me: Yeah, why?
Sierra: No reason. Have fun potty training the pup!
Rolling my eyes, I pushed my phone back into my pocket. I was back to hating Sierra again. “Come on, let’s get to PetSmart and get that crate.”
The entire way to PetSmart I had to listen to Em lecture me about whoring around with women. The sooner this day was over the better.
Whining, crying, howling. Holy fucking shit! Pulling the pillow over my head, I yelled out, “Make it stop!”
Looking at the clock, I wanted to cry. It was three in the morning, and I had to get up in a few hours to exercise and get to work. Pushing the covers off of me, I headed into the laundry room.
Opening the door, I glanced down at the sweetest looking face I’d ever seen. The puppy immediately stopped yelping.
Letting out a sigh, I opened the crate and she came running out. Scoping her up into my arms, I made my way to the back door. She took off for the grass and peed for the longest damn time.
Smiling, I leaned against the house. Damn, if she wasn’t already the smartest dog ever. Pesh. Sierra thought she pulled one over on me. Look at my baby girl going potty on her own.
Turning and looking at me, I swear the damn dog smiled as she ran back to me. Picking her up, I gave her a small treat. “What a good girl you are! Yes you are. Who’s my pretty girl?”
Getting rewarded with kisses all over my face, I laughed and looked around. Fuck, if anyone ever heard me talking to her like this, I’d be labeled a pussy for life. Especially if Sierra heard me.
Making my way back into the laundry room, I put the pup back in her crate. Standing up, I looked down at her sad face. Holding up my hands, I said, “Oh no. Don’t even think of giving me that look.”
Then she whined. My heart broke in two. Damn it all to hell. Opening the crate, I picked her back up and carried her to my room. “This is a trial run. You piss or shit in my bed and your ass is right back in that crate. I need some sleep, princess, if I let you sleep with me and you’re good, I might consider a repeat.”
The pup began kissing my chin as I smiled. Crawling into bed, my little princess snuggled right up next to me. It took her less than two minutes to fall asleep. Thank you, God.
My body slowly began to relax. Drifting off to sleep, the thought of how I was going to pay Sierra back slowly faded away.
WALKING INTO THE CONFERENCE ROOM, I stopped and looked at the three men sitting around the table. I had asked for an update on how things were going for the trial. Clearing my throat, I glanced over to Mr. Walker, Dodge’s father, and smiled.
All three men stood as Mr. Walker motioned for me to sit down. “Wow, I’m going to guess y’all have bad news and Aaron was too afraid to tell me.”
All three laughed. “No, nothing like that Sierra. Aaron is running late from an earlier meeting. He asked us to be present during this meeting. Mrs. Jackson, this is Kyle Lenard and Bill Scott. They are both private investigators.”
“Got it,” I said with a smile as I looked at the private investigators. What in the hell is going on?
The door opened and I jumped when Dodge spoke. “Good afternoon, gentlemen, Sierra.”
Looking up at Dodge, I smiled. I hadn’t seen him in two weeks. I avoided Dodge because I was eaten alive with guilt by sending him a damn puppy to ruin a date. When I found out his big hot date was with his sister, I felt terrible.
Pulling my eyes off of Dodge, I caught his father watching me. Smiling the sweetest smile I could, I glanced down at my hands and slowly took in a deep breath.
“Aaron, I’m going to guess you have a good reason to call us all together?” Mr. Walker said.
Grinning, Dodge sat down. “I do. I’ve been looking into who might have broken into Mrs. Jackson’s house. My first guess was Lisa Blank, Dr. Jackson’s current girlfriend. After some . . . um . . . investigation, I was ready to rule Ms. Blank out; now, I’m not so sure.”
Mr. Walker leaned forward, “What do you mean? Are you thinking she was the one who planted the rose?”
Nodding his head, Dodge said, “Yes, I think she played a part in it. I have a theory. I think Robert was banking on us trying to go after him as the one who broke into the house. If we went after him, he was sure to have an alibi to say he was somewhere during the time you were in the tub.” Looking at his father, Dodge nodded his head as his father responded with a nod of his own.
Clearing my throat, I spoke. “Wait, I’m confused.”
Dodge looked at me. “He was trying to set you up, Sierra. Make it look like you were planting things against him to make him look bad.”
Sucking in a breath of air, I whispered, “That bastard.”
“Where does Ms. Blank come in to all of this?” Kyle asked.
Dodge leaned back in chair. “I think she paid the maid to plant the rose.”
Bill nodded his head. “I’ll do some looking around.”
Kyle nodded his head. “I’ve been keeping an eye on Ms. Blank like you asked. I haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary.”
Dodge nodded his head. “We need to find out who has been following Sierra.”
Looking between the four men, I shook my head. “Wait. What makes you think he is still having me followed? I haven’t heard from him at all in a few weeks.”
Dodge’s face fell for a brief second. Sadness filled his eyes.
Glancing over to his father quickly and then back to me, Dodge moved about in his seat before looking back at me. Something moved across his face, but it was gone as quickly as it came. “He has photos of you with a Dr. Elliot Emmerson together before you were legally separated. Since you appear to have started up your relationship again with Dr. Emmerson, your husband is now saying you were having two affairs while you were together.”
My mouth dropped open and my head began to spin. I wasn’t sure what I was more shocked by. The fact that Dodge just said I was having an affair or that Robert was pulling this card.
Standing up, I felt my entire body start shaking. “Are you accusing me of having an affair? I never cheated on my husband. Ever!”
Dodge reached into a folder and pulled out a handful of photos. Placing my hand on my stomach, I felt sick. I’d been out with Elliot three times in the last two weeks. I wasn’t even sure why; I didn’t like him, but it meant I wasn’t sitting at home alone. “Dr. Jackson is trying to offer a settlement. His lawyer sent these photos over yesterday afternoon,” Dodge said as he slid the pictures across the table.
Grabbing them, I sucked in a breath as I flipped through the pictures. One was of Elliot and me leaving the restaurant on our first date. The second one was of us jogging on the Town Lake trail. The next one made me feel sick. Leaning against my door at home, it looked like Elliot was about to kiss me. Finally I came across the one that Robert was trying to use to say I was cheating during the marriage. It was a picture of Elliot holding me in his arms as I was laughing. I knew exactly when and where that picture was taken.
Letting out a sigh, I dropped the photos on the table. “How lon
g has he been having me followed?” I asked as my voice sounded weak.
Kyle cleared his throat and began talking. “When was this last picture taken, Mrs. Jackson?”
Feeling tears build in my eyes, I dug my nails into my hands. “Please, call me Sierra. I can’t stand to hear his name.”
“Of course, my apologies.”
I couldn’t believe Dodge thought I had lied to him. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I turned to Mr. Walker and didn’t even bother to look at Dodge.
“The last picture was taken about six months before I caught my husband in bed with Lisa. It was at a team-building event for work. I have other pictures from that event, as well as a video I’m sure I can get my hands on. It will show that I had just made the winning goal in a stupid soccer game we were playing. Dr. Emmerson ran up and grabbed me and spun me around, congratulating me.”
Taking a chance to look at Dodge, I shook my head and let out a gruff laugh. “Had Robert asked whoever was following me where this was taken, he would have known I could dispute it. Honestly, it appears it’s not only Robert’s lawyer who doesn’t do their homework before they throw out accusations.” Dodge looked away.
Swallowing hard, I looked back at Mr. Walker. “The other photo, of us jogging together . . . we weren’t alone; it was a jogging group that some of the doctors and nurses set up. Elliot asked me to join them for a run and I did. The other photo, Elliot was dropping me off at home and was saying good-bye. He leaned in to kiss me, but I told him no. I’m guessing that’s why the super smart PI didn’t get a picture of us kissing . . . because we never did.”
“Are you dating Dr. Emmerson, Sierra?” Mr. Walker asked.
Shaking my head, I whispered, “No. But even if I was, Mr. Walker, I’m legally separated. Am I not allowed to date anyone?”
Standing up, Mr. Walker walked over to me. “Of course you are, Sierra. It’s just we need you to be careful. It seems Dr. Jackson is becoming desperate. He’s grasping at straws now if he is trying to pull affairs out of the air.”
Nodding my head, I looked back at Dodge. “Maybe next time before you accuse me of something, Aaron, you should ask me first.”
