Followed by more silence.
Pressing my lips together, I fought to hold in my laughter.
“I hate you,” Dodge whispered as the line went dead. Dropping my head back, I laughed my ass off. Right about that time, my text message beeped. Reaching for my phone, I pulled up my messages. I had a picture from Kacey.
Oh. My. God. I was going to buy her the best wedding present ever!
Blowing up the picture, I studied Dodge’s surprised face as he held up the twelve-week-old Golden Retriever puppy. Fist pumping, I jumped out of the car and did a victory dance.
Damn. Sometimes I even surprised myself. Spinning on my heels, I smoothed out my dress, pulled my hair down from my ponytail and headed toward Sullivan’s Steakhouse. Walking up to the hostess, I smiled.
“Good evening. How many I help you?” Just as I was about to say something, a hand was placed on my lower back. Smiling, I turned to see Elliot standing there. Oh my. He looked even more handsome out of his scrubs.
“Dr. Emmerson,” I purred.
Winking, Elliot whispered against my ear, “Cute, Sierra. Let’s eat, I’m starved.”
Allowing Elliot to guide me into the restaurant, I smiled bigger knowing Dodge’s plans were most likely ruined because he had to stay home and tend to a puppy while I spent the evening with Elliot. Probably the most handsome OB/GYN I’d ever laid my eyes on. Elliot had been asking me out for the last four months. Running into him at the grocery today was pure luck. When he asked me out to dinner, I was all too happy to say yes.
Operation: Move On From Dodge, had officially begun.
OPENING THE DOOR, I STARED at her. “What took you so long?”
Em pushed past me carrying about ten bags from PetSmart. “I had a long list of stuff to get for the sweet little baby.”
Rolling my eyes, I slammed the door shut. “You want her?”
Em started laughing. “Aaron, you know I can’t have dogs in my dorm.”
Flopping onto the sofa, I watched as Em dropped the bags onto the floor and sank to her knees as one very fluffy . . . and cute . . . puppy ran into her arms.
Jeez. I hate Sierra so much right now.
“I’m sorry our dinner was ruined,” I said as I ran my hands up and down my face.
Em looked at me with the most adorable face. “It’s okay, big brother. I forgive you. Mom and Dad got a kick out of you getting a puppy for your birthday by . . . who was it again who gave you the puppy?”
Standing up, I let out a frustrated sigh. “No one. She’s nothing but a pain in my ass.”
Em stared at me with a goofy smile. “In other words, you like this girl.”
My mouth dropped open as I stared at my sister. How do women do that? How do they pick up on this kind of shit?
Turning, I headed into the kitchen. “It’s complicated, Em. Let’s just drop it.”
Laughing, Em jumped up and followed me into the kitchen. “Oh my gosh. Aaron Matthew Walker. You have fallen for someone. Admit it!”
Rolling my eyes, I picked up my home phone and began dialing the number to Home Slice. It was my sister’s favorite pizza place.
“You’re insane, Emily. Sierra is just a friend. She is a smart-mouthed pain in the ass. That’s all.” Of course there was her smile that made my heart skip a beat. The fact that I wanted nothing more than to hold her in my arms and tell her everything was going to be okay. Let’s not forget her body that had been in my dreams practically from the moment I laid eyes on her.
Letting out a sigh, I pushed my crazy thoughts of Sierra out of my mind. I needed to stay focused.
Resting her hands on her chin, Em watched me intently while I placed the order for our pizza. Hanging up, I stared at her. “Why are you staring at me?”
Shrugging her shoulders, Em sat up and smiled. “I’m just taking this all in. I’ve never seen my big brother in love before.”
Busting out laughing, I shook my head. “In love? Ha! Em, you know nothing.”
Raising her eyebrow, Em tilted her head. “Really? If you can look me in the eye and tell me you have zero feelings for this, Sierra, I’ll believe you.”
My heart began pounding in my chest. Did I love Sierra? How could I love her? We’ve pushed and pulled each other pretty much since the day we met.
“I’m waiting, Aaron.”
Brushing her off with my hands, I looked down at the puppy. “Sierra clearly hates me, Em. Who buys a single guy a puppy?”
Giggling, Em reached down and picked up the ball of fur. Jesus, I’m going to have dog hair everywhere.
Grabbing my cell phone, Em took a selfie with her and the nameless mutt.
“What’s her name?”
Leaning back against the counter, I smiled. “Sierra.”
Gasping, Em held the puppy closer to her. “Aaron! You can’t name the dog after the girl who gave it to you.”
Shrugging my shoulders, I asked, “Why not?”
“You just can’t!”
Pushing off the counter, I grabbed my cell phone and smiled as I looked at the picture. Damn, it sure was a cute dog.
“The dog is a bitch, Sierra is a bitch. It’s perfect!”
Shaking her head, Em moved toward the door. “Let’s put her collar on and take her with us to dinner.”
“What? Take her to dinner? They aren’t going to let her in Home Slice.”
Em stopped adjusting the collar and stared at me. “How did you make it through law school, dude? We can eat outside. Maybe take her for a little walk while we are at it!”
Moaning, I grabbed the leash and pulled the price tag off.
This was going to be a long night.
I hated Sierra so hard.
“You need a crate,” Em said as we walked . . . or attempted to walk . . . along the Town Lake trail.
“What for?” I asked.
“Puppy needs somewhere to sleep. She’ll be safe in a crate.”
Smiling, I thought more and more about this crate idea. “Sierra locked up in a cage. Where she can’t bug anyone. I love it!”
Clearing her throat, Em asked, “Are you talking about the dog or the girl you love?”
Snapping my head over to Em, I shot her daggers. “I don’t love her. Stop saying that!”
“You do.”
“I don’t, Em.”
“Do.”
“Don’t.”
“Okay, if you say so.”
Nodding my head, I looked straight ahead. “I say so.”
Smiling, I watched a blonde-haired girl making her way up the trail. She stopped almost on a dime when she saw the puppy. Leaning down, I got a perfect shot of her tits. Huh. Maybe this whole puppy thing was a good thing after all.
“Oh my goodness! What a precious little puppy! Boy or girl?”
Pulling my eyes from her tits, I smiled. “Girl.”
The jogger picked up the puppy and held her against her chest. Fucking lucky dog.
“What’s her name?”
Em poked me in the side. “I haven’t decided yet; my sister isn’t being much help.”
The jogger glanced at Em and smiled. When she turned to me, her lips parted open. “Well, if you need help naming her, I’d be more than happy to help you brainstorm.”
I fucking love Sierra.
Smiling, I said, “A brainstorming session. I like the sound of that.”
Running her tongue along her upper lip, the jogger set the puppy down. “Well then, let me give you my cell phone number and let’s plan it.”
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.
>
“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.”