Undeniable Love - Journey of Love Book 2 (17 page)

“Yes ma’am.”

Sierra leaned back and raised her eyebrows. “Huh. I can’t believe I’ve never seen you here before.”

“Yeah, same here.”

My mouth dropped open when I saw that look move across Dodge’s face. For one brief moment, he was interested in Sierra. He quickly recovered and said, “It’s good seeing you both. I’ve got a meeting I need to get to, see y’all later.”

I watched Sierra eye fuck the hell out of Dodge as he walked away. Dodge turned and gave a quick wave of his hand before walking out of Starbucks.

Sierra regained her composure, even though I’m almost positive she wiped a bit of drool from her mouth. Looking back at me, she smiled.

“Oh my gosh, you have the hots for Dodge!”

Sierra pulled her head back and gave a nervous laugh. “What?”

Pointing to her, I chuckled. “You practically undressed him as he walked out the door.”

Brushing me off with her hand, she rolled her eyes. “Bitch, please. I’m in the middle of a nasty breakup. The last thing I want is another guy in my life.”

Smiling until my cheeks hurt, I leaned in closer. “You know, Dodge is pretty good at making you forget things.” I winked at her as she rolled her eyes.

Sierra mumbled, “Yeah right. He’s done such a fabulous job with you.”

Leaning back in my chair, I shook my head. “I don’t count. I’m in love with Tristan. You can’t stand your ex.”

Jumping up and nearly knocking her chair over, Sierra pointed at me and jumped up and down while yelling out, “I knew it! I flippin’ knew it! Ha! I’m so damn good at this shit!”

Grabbing her and pulling her back into her seat, I put my finger up to my lips to hush her.

“Good lord, Sierra! Keep it down.” Looking around, I offered my apologies to everyone as they shook their heads in disbelief that anyone would have an outburst in their precious coffee shop.

Giggling like a schoolgirl, Sierra kept repeating. “I knew it! I so knew you were not over him.”

Then her smile dropped. “Shit. That must mean,
Homerun
isn’t that good with his bat.”

Narrowing my eyes at her I said, “Wait. What? You mean Dodge?”

“Yeah. Huh . . . his body screams good fuck.”

The table next to us started staring again. Jumping up, I grabbed my purse, coffee, and Sierra and began walking toward the door.

Once we got outside, I started walking away from Starbucks. I was never going to be able to show my face in that place again.

“You made it so I can never set foot in there again!” I called back over my shoulder.

Laughing, Sierra came up next to me. “Nonsense, they’ll get so buried in their work and forget anything that happened to them today.”

Smiling, I turned to Sierra. “He’s great in bed by the way.”

I could see out of the corner of my eye Sierra turn and look at me. “I figured he had to be if you’ve been hooking up with him so long. Then there was the unfortunate incident when I had to listen to how good he was.”

My mind went back to Tristan looking at the kitchen island. “Hey Sierra, can I ask you something?”

“Sure. Can’t say I’ll know the answer, but have at it.”

“Did you tell Tristan about overhearing me and Dodge . . . um . . . you know . . . that day in the kitchen?”

I stopped walking after she remained a little too quiet. “You did tell him!”

Stopping she turned to me and held up her hands. “No! I did not tell him.”

Giving her the same look my mother used to give me when she knew I was lying, I glared at her. “Sierra. You had to have told him. He knew.”

Confusion swept over Sierra’s face. “Wait. He talked to you about it?”

Turning my head to the side, I said, “No. When he brought me home he looked over into the kitchen and I could see it all over his face. He knew.” Slowly shaking my head I whispered, “You broke the girlfriend code.”

Dropping her mouth open, she snarled her upper lip. “Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. I would
never
break the girlfriend code. Well, I mean there may be situations where it calls for a time and place to break it, like if someone was about to get hurt or hurt themselves. Or if your friend had on an awful looking dress and you had to let her go out in it because . . .”

Placing my hands on my hips, I dragged in a frustrated breath. “Sierra!”

Sierra instantly stopped talking as she gave me a blank stare. “Right. What were we talking about again?”

Rolling my eyes as I tossed my hands up in the air. “Ohmygod! You telling Tristan that Dodge fucked me on the kitchen counter.”

Pointing her finger at me, she said, “Hey! I didn’t tell him. He saw y’all.”

I sucked in a breath of air as Sierra slammed her hands over her mouth. Her eyes widened in horror before she dropped her hands and spoke barely above a whisper, “I’ve got to get to work. Later.”

It took me all of five seconds to get my wits about me, and I was taking off after Sierra. “Oh no you don’t. No, no, no! Sierra, you have to tell me the truth. Tristan saw us?”

Stopping, she dropped her head back and let out a loud moan. “Don’t make me do this, Ryn. Tristan is like my best friend now and if I say anything, I’m not being a good friend.”

“Well, what am I?”

Tilting her head and giving me a ‘really’ look she said, “A friend who has been sending my ass to voicemail for the last few weeks.”

Closing my eyes for a brief second before opening them again, I grabbed her hands. “Fine, I’m sorry. I suck at the whole friend thing. I’ll totally make it up to you by taking you to some overpriced fancy spa for the weekend.”

Moaning, Sierra closed her eyes. “Oh that sounds like heaven.”

“The whole package, massages, mani/pedis, facials, you name it and it’s my treat.”

Giving me a smile that screamed she had won this battle, she looked around. “Fine. But you have to swear you won’t tell Tristan I told you.”

Nodding my head frantically, I whispered, “I swear.”

Holding up her pinky, Sierra asked, “Pinky swear? Stick a needle in your eye kind of swearing?”

“What are we, in middle school?”

Jetting her pinky out at me and raising an eyebrow she whispered, “Swear?”

Ugh. If I didn’t really like Sierra so much I’d reach back and punch her right now. I just wanted to know how Tristan saw Dodge and I together.

Twisting my pinky around Sierra’s, I said, “I swear.”

Looking satisfied, she opened her mouth and spilled. “Daddy and I were coming to paint for the day and we walked up to a guy who was standing on top of one of our ladders. I could already hear you and Dodge in your love fest, so I knew he was peeping in on y’all.”

My face burned with embarrassment. “You need to better sound proof your damn house.”

Laughing, Sierra started walking as she kept talking. I followed right next to her, waiting for her to go on with her story. “Anywho, Tristan stepped back off the ladder and it was as if he was attempting to get air in. I thought he was turned on from watching y’all and I was so pissed off until I saw the look on his face. I could tell he wasn’t just a Peeping Tom. He looked devastated.” Sierra stopped talking and looked at me. “His eyes were filled with regret. Kind of like when someone hurts you so badly and in that moment when they realize the mistake they’ve made, they regret it.
That’s
how Tristan looked.”

Covering my mouth with my hand, I felt sick. Tristan saw Dodge fucking me. That was probably one of the rawest moments we had been together and I had loved every minute of it. Except for when I would close my eyes and wish it was Tristan I was with.

Oh God. Tristan saw us.

“Ryn, looking in from the outside, a stranger would think that Dodge hung the moon for you and you feel the same.”

Shaking my head, I felt the threat of tears. “No,” I whispered. “I mean I care about him, but we were just . . .”

Looking away, I inhaled a deep breath. This is why I needed time on my own. No men, no meaningless fucking, no nothing.

Turning back to Sierra, I gave her a fake smile. “Thank you for telling me, Sierra. It helps to connect a few of the missing dots.”

“Ryn, there are more missing dots. Talk to Tristan and decide once and for all if Dodge is more than what you say he is.”

Nodding my head, I gave her a quick hug good-bye. “Have a good day at work, Sierra. I’ll plan that spa weekend.”

Turning, I walked away as fast as I could back toward my house. I tried to make sense out of the week and a half I spent with Tristan. Was that why he was pulling back every time he attempted to get close to me? Was it because he saw Dodge and I together? What did Sierra mean when she said Tristan got spooked last Christmas? Shit! She was about to tell me when Dodge walked up. Double damn it.

Walking into my house, I looked around. I felt like I was in a cage and had no idea how to get out. My heart hurt, my head was confused and I was scared to death that Tristan would end up hurting me again if I was to let him back in.

My cell phone pinged and I pulled it out.

Dodge:
Was great seeing you. Maybe we can do lunch soon?

Ugh! Why is Dodge not giving me the space I asked for? Why isn’t it Tristan pursuing me like this? Maybe Sierra was wrong.

Looking back down at Dodge’s message, I deleted it.

“Damn it! I hate you, Tristan! I hate you for making me fall in love with you.” My mind was still racing and I had no idea how to make it stop.

Walking into my bedroom, I pulled out a suitcase and packed it up. I needed to get away for a few days.

I needed a few days away from anything that reminded me of Tristan and Dodge.

SITTING AT MY DESK, I
pulled in a deep frustrated breath. I stared at the report on my computer and willed myself to finish it. I worked for a semiconductor company as an engineer, and the amount of stress I had with this job was unreal. I hated my job before I was promoted, and now I hated it even more.

Scrubbing my hands down my face, I picked up my cell phone and scrolled down until I found the number I was looking for.

Me:
I need something to relieve stress.

It wasn’t even thirty seconds and she was texting me back.

Sierra:
Sorry dude. Been there and done that. You’re on your own with this one.

Laughing, I shook my head and hit call.

Glancing up through the window in my office, I could see everyone working. Rolling my eyes, I turned my chair away.

“No matter how much you sweet talk me, Williams, the answer is still no.”

“Why does everything to you mean sex, Sierra?”

“Um . . . because you’re a guy. Everything to a guy revolves around sex.”

The knock on my office door caused me to spin around and look. Tim, my boss was standing there mouthing,
lunch?

Shaking my head, I pointed to the monitor and mouthed,
report running.
Talking into my cellphone I said, “Not true.”

“Yeah it is.”

Tim gave me a head nod, and turned away. Standing up, I walked and shut my office door.

“What if I said I just wanted to go get dinner and have a couple of drinks? Would that be so bad? Besides, we already did the sex thing, Sierra. I thought we were good with that?”

“Oh we are, but when you text me saying you’re stressed and need relief, what in the hell am I suppose to say to that?”

Letting out a small chuckle, I shook my head.

“Point taken. All future text messages will be better thought out. Now can we get dinner and a drink?”

Silence.

“Sierra?”

“Oh sorry. Yeah, dinner and a drink sounds good. Where?”

“I’ll let you pick. Text me around six, I should be out of this hell hole by then.”

Giggling, Sierra said, “Sounds good. Talk to you soon.”

“Later, Sierra.”

I spent the rest of the afternoon in one meeting after another. I hated this. I was a hands-on kind of guy. I loved taking shit apart and trying to figure out what was wrong with it. This sitting behind a desk shit was for the birds. Maybe I’ll take a few extra days off and head down to Mom and Dad’s early for Christmas.

My cell phone buzzed during the meeting. Looking down, I saw Sierra’s message scrolling across my phone.

Sierra:
Bess Bistro at six thirty.

Groaning, I rolled my eyes. The upper-level manager of the company I worked for glanced in my direction. Smiling, I held up my phone and he gave me a head nod. He probably thought it was a problem in the fab with one of the tools.

Hitting reply, I typed out my message.

Me:
Fuck no. I am not going to that restaurant.

Sierra:
You said it was my pick! I pick Bess Bistro.

Me:
After our Sandra Bullock marathon the other night I know why you are picking it. No. It’s a chick restaurant.

Sierra:
There is no such thing as a “chick restaurant” you pussy.

Me:
I hate you.

Sierra:
Now now. No sweet-talking me, Mr. Williams. I’m just happy with you paying for dinner tonight. Kisses!

How in the hell did she do that? Dropping my phone back down on to the table, I tried to keep my anger in check. Damn Sierra. Looking over at my boss, he mouthed
everything okay?
Nodding my head, I gave him my fake smile, letting him know all was well.