Chapter 14

Dodge

SITTING ON MY BED, I stared straight ahead at the door that separated Sierra’s room from mine. Ever since our kiss, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it. The way her tongued moved against mine. Then she wrapped her arms around me and deepened it and I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

The knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts. Getting up, I opened it up to see Sierra standing there, in a robe, looking panicked.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Worrying her bottom lip, Sierra looked up and down the hallway and then placed her hands on my chest and pushed me into my room.

Hell, yes! This is what I’m talking about.

Shutting the door, Sierra spun around and looked at me. “I have a problem.”

Wiggling my eyebrows, I asked, “Ah, baby. And you thought I could ease it for you?”

Sierra looked at me like I had lost my mind. “What?” Shaking her head, Sierra let out a frustrated sigh. “Dodge, I’m serious. I can’t get the zipper down on my dress. I asked your mother which dress I should wear and she said the long formal. I can’t get it on! What am I going to do? I don’t want to disappoint your mother. I really like her.”

Laughing, I said, “Just slip it over your head.”

Sierra glared at me and my heart fell even more for her.

“It doesn’t just slip over your head, Dodge. It’s not a sweater. It’s a gown!” Grabbing me, she turned and opened the door and peeked out.

“You know, there is a door that separates our two rooms,” I said as Sierra looked back at me with a gaped open mouth.

“There is?”

“Sierra, did you not notice the door in your room?”

Frowning, she shook her head. Taking her hand in mine, I led her over to the door. Grabbing the key off the holder next to the door, I unlocked and opened the door up and pushed Sierra into her room.

“Holy shit! How did I not even see this door?” Looking next to the door, she touched the key hanging up. “So even if I lock the door, you can still come in with your key?”

Smiling, I gave Sierra a wink. “Yep.”

Placing her hands on her hips, Sierra shook her head. “That’s stupid. That makes no sense at all.”

Shrugging, I placed my key in my pocket and slapped my hands together. It was then Sierra noticed I was already dressed. Her eyes moved slowly over my body as she let out a low moan that I was positive she didn’t mean to let out.

“You look . . . amazing,” Sierra said as she took two steps away from me. Adjusting the bow on my tux, I gave Sierra a wink.

“I’d like to think I look fancy. You know like Iggy Iggy’s song.”

Sierra pulled her head back and let out a gruff laugh. “Why did you say her name twice? It’s just Iggy.”

“You do, I. GG. Y. Iggy, Iggy.” I made a motion with my hands like I was rapping. “You feel me?”

“Oh. My. God. Don’t ever do that again. Please,” Sierra said as she spun around and picked up the light-blue gown. Turning it around, she practically shoved the dress into my face.

Rubbing my hands together, I worked on the zipper. Pulling a few times, I started to worry. “Um . . . Sierra . . . I don’t think this zipper is gonna budge.”

“No! It has to!” Tears began to build in Sierra’s eyes. “I still have to do my hair and your mother said how important this benefit ball was and I don’t . . . I don’t . . .”

Facing away from me, Sierra cursed. “Shit. It’s just your mom was so sweet to me when we came home earlier and told me about the benefit and I . . . I . . . I just wanted to look nice . . . for your parents. She liked this gown and asked me to wear it.”

My heart broke as I heard the hurt in Sierra’s voice. I took the dress and sat down and started working on it again. “Start working on your hair, Sierra. I’ll work on the zipper.”

Sierra spun on her heels and smiled so big it had my dick jumping and my heart dropping to the ground. Walking over to me, Sierra threw her arms around me. “Thank you, Dodge! It won’t take me long to do my hair.”

Sierra walked into the bathroom while I worked on the stupid-ass zipper. Finally it broke loose and unzipped. “I got it!” I yelled. Glancing down at my watch, I stood up and laid the dress on the bed. “It’s almost time to go, Sierra.”

“Okay! One second and then will you zip me up?”

“Sure,” I said not even thinking what I was opening myself up to.

Sierra walked back into the bedroom. Her hair had been pulled up and she had a few strands of hair hanging down. “Wow! That was fast.”

Spinning around so I could see the back, Sierra laughed. “It’s a French twist. It was the first hairstyle my mother taught me when I was little. Every time I put it up like this, I think about her. Makes me feel like she’s here in a way.”

Smiling, I asked, “How old were you when you lost your mom?”

Her smile faded some as she looked away. “Thirteen.”

Damn it. “I’m so sorry, Sierra. I didn’t mean to bring up memories.”

Glancing back at me, she shook her head. “No. I love talking about my mother. I’ve been missing her a lot more than usual is all.”

Walking over to the bed, Sierra held the dress up. “Will you hold this for me?”

“Sure,” I said, again not thinking what would happen in the next five seconds would forever change everything between Sierra and me.

Sierra untied the robe and pushed it open, revealing a light-blue strapless push-up bra and matching lace panties.

I almost stumbled backwards when I saw the garter belt holding up her stockings. “Motherfucker,” I whispered.

Sierra glanced down and looked at herself. Glancing back at me, she gave me a Cheshire cat smile and said, “You like what you see, Aaron?”

My eyes locked on hers. Something about the way my name fell from her lips had my dick instantly hard as a rock. I wanted to hear her say my name while I made love to her.

Swallowing hard, I asked, “Um . . . how do you put this on?”

Lifting her hands, Sierra motioned for me to put the dress over her head. “Just be careful of my hair.”

Moving slowly, I helped the dress over her, making sure to not mess up her hair. Sierra held the front up as she turned her back toward me. My hands began shaking as I zipped the dress up. Sierra’s skin looked so damn soft. I fought like hell not to touch her. Or kiss her shoulder softly.

“Thank you,” Sierra whispered as she walked over to the side table and grabbed something. She turned back to me and that’s when I got the full view of the dress. It dipped low and showed the perfect amount of cleavage. The jewels that lined the dress caught every color in the room. My eyes roamed over her body before they were caught by the most beautiful baby blues I’d ever seen.

“Sierra . . . you look . . . you look—”

Someone knocked on the door, causing me to jump and stop talking. “Sierra, are you ready?” Em called from the other side of the door.

“Um . . . yes. I’ll be right down.”

“Okay! Hurry, I’m dying to see how beautiful you look!”

Smiling shyly, Sierra slipped on a pair of shoes that matched the color of the light-blue gown. Walking up to me, Sierra went to talk but someone else knocked on the door.

“Sierra? Darling, did you need any help getting dressed?” my mother asked. Turning, I headed back to the door that separated our rooms. Taking a deep breath, I walked through it and shut it, leaving Sierra alone on the other side of the door and me fighting to regain the knowledge on how to breathe in air.

Walking over to the dresser, I grabbed my wallet as I listened to my mother and Sierra talking as they walked by my door. Taking in a deep breath to calm my nerves, I opened the door as I saw them walking down the hall toward the stairs. “Mother, will you allow me to walk downstairs with you both?”

Stopping, my mother turned and smiled. Walking up to them both, I extended my arms. When I looked into Sierra’s eyes, I wasn’t sure how to read her. She seemed . . . lost. Maybe she was just nervous. It was obvious she wanted to make sure this evening went exactly how my mother wanted. I just wasn’t sure where Sierra wanted the evening to go.

Walking both Sierra and my mother down the staircase, my father took one look and let out a whistle. Both my mother and Sierra giggled. “My goodness. I’ve never seen such beautiful women. I’m going to have to worry about the three of you all night,” my father said as he held his hand out for my mother. Taking it, my father kissed the back of her hand. Em walked up to Sierra and let out a gasp.

“Sierra! You look so beautiful.” Looking at me, Em asked, “Doesn’t she look beautiful, Aaron?”

Smiling, I nodded. “She’s breathtaking.”

Sierra’s lips parted open slightly as her face blushed and she looked back at Em.

“Shall we?” my father asked as he opened the front door for everyone.

Sierra reached down and grabbed my hand as she gave me a nervous smile as we walked out to the cars. My parents and Em were taking one limo, and Sierra and I were taking another. Sierra looked at me. “When are we going to work on the questions?”

Shrugging my shoulders, I said, “We have all day tomorrow. Tonight it’s all about celebrating my mother.”

Looking away, Sierra began chewing on her lower lip. Stopping before getting into the limo, Sierra shook her head. “Dodge, this is a family event. Why am I going? Why did your father want me to come?”

Placing my hand on the side of Sierra’s face, I rubbed my thumb across her soft skin. “Sierra, my father knows we are friends. He asked me a few weeks ago. I told him how important you are to me.”

“W-what?” Sierra asked.

Shit. Shit. Shit. I didn’t mean to say that just yet. I had made a promise to myself that as soon as I won this case, I was going to tell Sierra exactly how I felt about her. She was becoming much more than a friend. I could no longer deny my growing feelings.

My parents’ limo pulled off as Sierra stared at me. Shaking her head, Sierra quickly turned and slid into the limo that had pulled up. When I got in, I couldn’t help but notice that Sierra was as far away from me as possible.

***

Sitting at the table, I watched as Sierra spoke with some asshole lawyer from Dallas. My father had introduced them about an hour ago and the fucker hadn’t left her side since. Placing my drink up to my lips, I finished it off.

My father walked up and slapped my back as he sat down next to me. “What’s your flavor this evening, son?”

Holding up my empty glass, I said, “Scotch.”

Taking in a deep breath, my father pushed it out and sighed. “Aaron. I know I strong-armed you back into the firm, but are you happy there?”

Lifting my glass, the waiter nodded. “Surprisingly, yes, sir, I am. Plus it makes Mom happy. That’s all I care about.”

Letting out a gruff laugh, my father shook his head. “What in the hell are you doing, Aaron?”

Rolling my eyes, I was wondering when my father would start in on me. Things had been too good between us. I chalked it up to my mother’s cancer treatments. I figured my father didn’t want the added stress in his life, or hers. “I have no idea what you are referring to, sir.”

The waiter walked up and handed me another scotch. My eyes looked back over to Sierra and the fucker who kept inching closer and closer to her. Sierra was smiling, but I could tell she was ready for the conversation to end.

Clearing his throat, my father pointed to Sierra. “She is who I’m referring to, Aaron. You didn’t really think I would invite a client to spend the weekend with our family, did you? Or that I would have her attend a ball in honor of your mother if I didn’t have a damn good reason.”

Shrugging, I took another drink. “I just figured you were doing it because I’m friends with Sierra.”

Right then, Sierra looked at me and gave me that beautiful bright smile of hers; I couldn’t help but smile back.

“She has an amazing smile,” my father said.

Nodding my head, I whispered, “She does.”

Placing his hand on my shoulder, my father gave it a slight squeeze. “Aaron, look at me.”

Turning, I looked at him. “That girl needs someone to love her. Someone who is going to pour their heart and soul into her. I knew the moment she sat down in my office she was lost. She also reminded me of your mother. A fighter. You can see it in her eyes. Feel it in her spunkiness.”

Smiling, I nodded. “She is a fighter. I just want her to be happy, Dad. I want to take that asshole husband of hers down.”

My father smiled. “I know you do, but Aaron, there is something I need you to do for me.”

“Of course, Dad.”

“Aaron, you need to listen to your heart. I’m pretty damn sure you’re feeling things you’ve never felt before. You need to open your eyes and see what everyone else around you sees.”

Pulling my head back, I asked, “What do you mean?”

Glancing back over to Sierra, my father said, “I’ve never seen you look at anyone like you do Sierra, Aaron.” Turning back to me, my father looked me in my eyes and winked. “It’s time to open your eyes, son.”

Swallowing hard, I shook my head. “The case.”

Standing up, my father winked at me. “Is in three days, and we are in Port Aransas. I’ve had Chip watching Sierra since she’s been here. No one is following her.”

Turning, my father started to walk off before he stopped and looked back at me. “By the way, the guest house is empty.”

Widening my eyes, I watched as my father let out a chuckle and walked over to my mother. Leaning into her, he whispered into my mother’s ear. Her eyes looked over to me and she smiled.

Jesus. Did everyone know how I felt about Sierra?

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Em walking up. Stopping in front of me, she smiled. “I think you should ask Sierra to dance.”

Raising an eyebrow, I shook my head. “You told Dad didn’t you?”

Giving me a smirk, Em reached her hands out for me. Taking them, I stood up and kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks, Em.”

Blushing, Em nodded her head. “That’s what sisters are for.”

Searching for Sierra, I noticed she was slowly backing away from the asshole lawyer who was now trying to back her into a corner.

Smiling, I headed over to the DJ. It was time for me to not only open up my eyes, but Sierra’s as well.