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Dodge stood up. “I wasn’t accusing; I was trying to get answers, Sierra.”
Shaking my head, I took a few steps back. “Is there anything else we need to discuss before the hearing? I’m not feeling very well and ready to head home.”
Dodge’s father looked at him. “No, I think we’re good to go. I would like to go over some questions they might ask you. Prepare you for questioning,” Dodge said as he pushed his hand through his hair. I wanted to be turned on by the motion, but my heart was still throbbing from Dodge’s accusations of me having an affair.
“Sierra, are you free this weekend?” Mr. Walker asked.
Dodge began choking on his own spit. Good. I hoped he passed out and hit his head on something hard. “Dad, what are you doing?”
Holding up his hand to quiet Dodge, I glanced over at him and gave him a smirk. “We are running out of time before the trial and I really want to go over some things with Sierra before next week,” Dodge’s father said.
“No, sir. I’m totally open all weekend. No plans at all,” I said.
Turning back to Mr. Walker, he wore a huge grin. “Perfect. I’ll have my car pick you up at your house tomorrow morning around seven. You’ll be in Port Aransas just in time for lunch.”
My smiled dropped as I stared at Dodge’s father. Swallowing hard, I whispered, “Excuse me?”
Placing his hand on my shoulder, Mr. Walker gave me a wink. “Pack casual clothing and maybe one formal gown for dinner on Saturday night at the country club.”
Wait. What? What the fuck just happened?
Turning to Dodge, his back was faced toward us as he stared out the window.
“Wait, um, Mr. Walker what do you mean?”
Guiding me out the door, Mr. Walker started laughing. “You’re spending the weekend at my beach house, dear. We are having a family get together. It will be perfect for Aaron and me to prepare you for everything that Dr. Jackson’s lawyers are going to try to ask you while you’re on the stand.”
I glanced over my shoulder to see Dodge talking to Kyle. Looking straight ahead, I tried to concentrate on breathing.
Oh my God. I’m spending the weekend with Dodge and his family. How did this happen?
Oh Christ.
I’m screwed.
“Ryn! You’re not helping me any!” I shouted into the phone as I stared at two gowns hanging up in front of me.
“Okay, sorry. I can’t help but laugh at how stupid you were to walk right into this weekend.”
Rolling my eyes, I sat down on the edge of the bed. I could feel my heart pounding in my damn ears. “How in the hell did I know Dodge’s father was going to ask me to crash their family beach weekend?”
Ryn started laughing again. “I don’t know. But I would have given anything to see your face!”
“I hate you. Like, I mean I’m really feeling the hate for you, bitch.”
“Oh! I wonder if Princess will be there?” Ryn asked as she shouted something to Tristan.
“Princess? Who the hell is that?” I asked as I stood up and held the shorter gown up to me as I looked at myself in the mirror.
“You don’t know? You were the one who gave the dog to Dodge in the first place.”
My mouth dropped open as I tried to let that all soak in. “Wait. He named the damn dog . . . Princess?”
Ryn giggled. “Yep. Tristan said she goes to doggy daycare every day while Dodge is at work. Tristan even said that Dodge has admitted to sneaking her into work once or twice.”
Dropping the dress to my side, I smiled. “He kept the puppy?”
Ryn laughed. “Of course he did, Sierra. What did you think he would do with her?”
Slowly shaking my head, I paused for a moment as I pictured Dodge with that sweet little ball of fluff. “I don’t know. I figured he would have given her away.”
“It’s a chick magnet! Dodge is probably thanking you for her, Sierra. He told Tristan he has never had so many women offer up their numbers as he did when he was out walking Princess.”
Dropping my mouth open, I closed my eyes. Oh my God. Instead of pushing women away from him . . . I led them straight to him. Falling back onto the bed, I let out a moan.
Fuck. My. Life.
The car honked right on time. It was seven on the dot. Grabbing my bag and the two dresses, because I couldn’t narrow it down to just one, I headed to the door. Setting the alarm that my father insisted I have put in, I started to walk to what I thought was going to be some black mysterious-looking car. Nope. God is out to get me . . . clearly he likes to see me suffer.
Sitting in my driveway was a black Toyota truck with one dashingly good-looking asshole sitting in the front seat. Of course he had a shit-eating grin on his face as I stood there, frozen in my spot.
Dodge rolled down the passenger window. “Come on, Sierra. We need to be in Port A by noon or my mother will flip.”
His mother? Oh my God. I was going to puke. I was meeting Dodge’s mother! And I was not meeting her in the way I wanted to meet her, though. Dodge wasn’t bringing me home to meet her because I was the woman he loved more than anything in this entire world and he wanted to share that with his mother. No, he was bringing me to meet his mother because I was a client who needed to be prepped for her asshat husband’s stupid lawyers’ endless questions regarding an affair that never happened!
Ugh! This is not happening!
“Hello? Earth to Sierra?”
Shaking my head, I walked toward the truck as Dodge jumped out. Reaching for my bag, I pulled it back. “No. No, this isn’t right. Your father said his car was going to pick me up. He didn’t say anything about you picking me up.”
Dodge gave me that damn melt-my-panties-in-an-instant smile of his. “What’s wrong? You afraid to drive with me, short stack?”
Ugh. Dodge had given me that stupid nickname months ago and apparently it was going to stick.
I was about to answer when I heard a puppy bark and a little fur ball jumped up and looked out the window. Gasping, I pushed my bag and the two dresses into Dodge’s chest and made a beeline to the puppy.
“Oh my goodness! Look at her! She’s gotten so big!”
Dodge opened the back door to his truck and set my bag down. My heart melted when he hung up my two dresses. Most guys would have just tossed the dresses into the back seat.
“Wait. You’ve seen Princess before?” Dodge asked as he reached in and grabbed the puppy and put her in my arms as I sat down in the truck. Shutting the door, Dodge leaned in and my stomach dropped with how he was looking at the puppy. Why couldn’t he look at me like that? Looking forward, I snarled my lip. Did I really just think that? Good lord, I didn’t need to be near this man for the next three hours.
“Of course I’ve seen her before. Kacey was trying to get me to take her for a few weeks before I suggested you maybe wanting a dog.”
Dodge placed his finger on my chin and turned me to face him. His eyes met mine and I wanted to let out a moan. “What makes you think I needed a dog, Sierra?”
Smiling, I said, “Oh, Dodge. Don’t get all sweet and lovey on me. I only suggested it because I thought it would make your life a living hell.”
Dodge fought to hold his smile back, but I saw it in his eyes. “Thanks for that.”
Shrugging my shoulders, I said, “That’s what friends are for. Right?”
The light from Dodge’s eyes faded some. “Right.”
Shit. This was going to be a long drive.
SIERRA HELD PRINCESS ALMOST THE entire trip down to the coast. We only stopped once for Princess to go potty. There was something so flippin’ sexy about Sierra holding my dog in her lap and loving on her. I’d never admit it to Sierra, but I loved that damn dog. She kept me company and gave me someone to talk to.
Looking away, I fought to keep the crazy emotions down. I knew I was falling more and more for Sierra, but when she mentioned things like us being friends, I didn’t know how to read her. One minute she looked at me like she wanted to kiss me, the
next it was as if she wanted to knock the hell out of me.
Sierra seemed to be really nervous and I had no idea why. Kind of like I had no idea why my father invited Sierra along on a family only vacation, but I wasn’t going to argue with him. When Sierra was around, the happier I felt. Sierra’s leg was bouncing up and down as she looked out the window. Reaching down, I took a hold of her hand. “Sierra, is everything okay? You don’t seem like yourself.”
Sierra’s eyes caught mine as she sucked in a breath. Good lord she had the most beautiful blue eyes. I could swim in them for the rest of my life.
“Um . . . I just . . . I guess I’m nervous about the hearing and all. I’m ready for this to all just be over so I can move on with my life. What if he wins, Dodge? What if they push it back again?”
Damn. The last thing I wanted was for her to be nervous. “Don’t be nervous. I promise you, Robert is not going to win this and they have exhausted all extensions. The judge assured us the hearing will go on as planned. It’s going to be in our favor.”
Sierra glanced down and asked, “How do you know that, Dodge?”
Placing my finger on Sierra’s chin, I lifted her eyes to mine. “Because I’m not about to let him hurt you anymore, and I’m your lawyer now. Didn’t you know you had the best lawyer in Austin?”
Giving me a weak grin, Sierra said, “No, I thought you were just known as the best lemon drop maker in Austin.”
Grinning, I moved my hand to the side of her face and gently brushed her tear away. “Please don’t cry, short stack. I can’t take you crying. You’re probably one of the strongest women I know next to my mother. Please don’t worry.”
Giving me a slight smile, Sierra asked, “How is your mother feeling?”
Smiling, I said, “The chemo has taken its toll on her, but she is doing amazing. This whole weekend is about celebrating her win over cancer.”
