I remembered teasing her about her cheesy romance novels when I was growing up, but she didn’t care. Bodice rippers, I’d called them, hearing the term from my aunt years before. I doubt anything would make her stop reading them.
“She sounds great.”
I smiled. “She is.”
Dillon went back to staring out the window. It didn’t take long until we approached the front gate. I heard Dillon’s sharp intake of breath and I tried not to smirk. This place was impressive.
“What do you think? Is it a good place to have a wedding?”
“Holy hell. I would die if I got married in a place like this. It’s unbelievable.”
Something inside me gave a funny little pull when I thought about Dillon getting married. God, we were so far off from that, but for better or worse the idea was firmly planted in my head. Stupid metaphors.
If you’d asked me a few weeks ago, I would have said I never planned on getting married, but now…now the idea didn’t seem quite as insane. Of course, I also had to consider the idea that Dillon was still lying to me to get information. That conversation smarted more than it should have. The only reason I was still taking her on this trip was because of Savannah and my mom. Otherwise I probably would have cut her out completely after what I’d heard the other day—at least the old me would have.
“So do you think you’ll ever want to try getting married again?”
She turned and gave me a funny look. “I guess. One day maybe if things seemed right. It didn’t turn out so hot last time though, so I’m not anxious to run down the aisle.”
I grunted a response and focused on not allowing the car to slide as I pull into a parking spot. It was a little frustrating that the idea of marriage wasn’t on Dillon’s mind, but that it was on mine.
We climbed out of the car and walked up the walkway hand in hand. The cold air turned her cheeks pink and I smiled before squeezing Dillon’s hand and opening the front door. It wouldn’t surprise me if my mom and Savannah were staking out the front door so they could pounce the second we arrived. But the sound of Dillon’s heels clicking on the marble floor was the only thing we heard as we made our way into the foyer.
I helped her take off her red pea coat and hang it in the front closet along with my leather jacket. She smiled nervously and I wrapped my arm around her waist as we made our way further into the house.
“Just be thankful they didn’t attack the second you walked in the door,” I whispered in her ear.
She giggled quietly and I couldn’t help leaning down to kiss her. I meant for it to be quick, but my fingers tangled in her hair and her hand fisted around my shirt as I deepened the kiss.
“Holy hell, I’m going to get pregnant just watching you two.”
Savannah’s voice broke through the lusty haze surrounding us. Dillon tried to pull back in embarrassment, but I kissed her forehead before tucking her under my shoulder.
“Hey soon-to-be-sister.” I grinned. “Where is everyone?”
She grinned back at me. “Your mom’s in the library. David and Justin are in the kitchen, arguing about what the best brand of scotch is.”
“Who’s winning?” I asked.
“Neither of them, I think they’re just trying to get drunk to be able to be in the same room,” she said dryly. “You know how much your brother loves David,” she said, sarcasm dripping from her words. Savannah looked at Dillon. “I’m so happy you made it. That sweater is gorgeous. Come on, let’s go meet my soon to be monster-in-law.”
Dillon’s eyes went wide and Savannah winked at her. I felt Dillon relax against my side. The last thing I needed was her being nervous as hell meeting my mom. We trailed behind Savannah as she led the way to the library, chatting the whole way about wedding details.
“Who in heaven’s name are you talking to out here Savannah?” my mother asked as she came out into the hall. “Zane, you made it!”
My tiny mother, all five feet three inches of her wrapped me up in a tight hug. Her chestnut hair tickled my nose as I hugged her back. I frowned as I looked at her. She’d probably lost ten pounds since I saw her last. The woman barely weighed a hundred pounds as it was, she didn’t have much to lose in the first place.
“Momma, I want you to meet—”
“Dillon.” My mother’s smile was bigger than I’d ever saw it. She wrapped her up in a hug just as big as the one she’d given me. Dillon wrapped her arms around my mother and gave me a nervous smile over her shoulder. My mother pulled back and held her at arm’s length to study her. “You’re just as pretty as I pictured. I’m so happy to meet you.”
“I’m excited to meet you too ma’am. You have a beautiful home. Thank you both for inviting me,” she said to both Savannah and my mother. “I’ll try to stay out of the way because I know you’ll both be busy with wedding preparations, but let me know if I can help in any way.”
My mom laughed. “Oh honey, you’re the first girl my Zane has brought home voluntarily, I’m not letting you go anywhere.”
I felt a flush run up my cheeks. “Do we really have to—”
“I’m sure that can’t be the case, Mrs. Roth. He never brought home anyone from college?” Dillon asked giving me a funny look.
“Call me Danielle, honey. And no one that mattered.” She wrapped her arm around Dillon’s middle and pulled her along beside her. “I’m going to have so much fun telling you all his embarrassing stories from when he was growing up.”
Savannah and I followed behind the two as my mother asked Dillon a million questions, trying to figure her out all at once.
“I’m glad you convinced her to come with you,” Savannah said quietly.
“Me too.” I just wish I could trust her.
“Is everything all straightened out now?”
I nodded. “For the most part.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“It’s nothing. I promise I won’t ruin your perfect weekend with my drama. We will be the least drama filled people at your wedding.”
“I’m not worried about that. You two are good for one another. I don’t want you to ruin a good thing by not talking through your issues.”
I scoffed. “We’ll be fine.” Maybe. “All you need to be worrying about it making sure my sorry brother makes it down the aisle.”
She smirked. “That’s your job, best man.”
I grinned. So it was.
Chapter 17
Dillon
Dr. David Roth was just as much of a prick as I thought he would be. In the hospital, I’d always gone out of my way to steer clear of him, but in his home I couldn’t exactly do that. Within fifteen minutes of sitting at the dinner table with him I was devising ways to silently kill him without anyone noticing. The only problem was he never shut up. The man loved the sound of his own voice.
I couldn’t understand how a woman as sweet as Danielle could end up with someone so awful. There were brief glimpses of an actual human when he doted on her, but the man was awful to her children. He belittled their opinions and argued with everything they said. I struggled to keep my mouth shut after a heated discussion about a surgery that Zane was adamant was screwed up by the original surgeon because they were either high or drunk.
The douchcanoe actually implied that maybe it was Zane that was impaired.
I rubbed my hand over Zane’s leg to help calm him down. He’d gone a bright color of red that I’d never seen before and didn’t particularly want to see on him again. When David turned his dark eyes on me, I had to stop myself from wincing.
“Dillon Hart, you’re a journalist aren’t you?”
I took a sip of wine before answering. “Yes, I am. I work for the Georgia Inquirer.”
Zane rested his arm over the back of my chair. “She’s won several awards and she’s one of the only active AP reporters on staff.”
David leaned back in his chair. “I don’t think there’s much integrity in journalism these days.”
I raised my eyebrows and gave him a pointed look. �
��I think that’s true in most professions. There are tons of doctors around the city that I would say the same holds true.” Zane squeezed my leg in warning. “I think it just depends on the individuals’ veracity.”
Try me asshole. I’ll cut you at the knees.
I looked around the table and saw Kade hiding a grin behind his wine glass, while Danielle just looked confused at the hostility bouncing around the table. Savannah and Justin shared a look. Damn it, as much as I wanted to bring this prick down a peg, I wouldn’t do it at the expense of their special weekend. I straightened my expression and smiled at David. I was rewarded with a confused look on his face before I turned towards Savannah.
“Are you ready for the wedding? I can’t wait to see your dress.”
She smiled gratefully. “Everything is all set. Now as long as all my bridesmaids get here on time, we’ll be good to go. The rest of the wedding party should be here tomorrow.”
Justin took Savannah’s hand in his. “As long as the snow holds off another few days we’ll be just fine.”
We finished dinner in silence, no one tempting fate at trying to hold a conversation. Even Danielle was quiet. I tried to keep my head down, but I felt David’s stony gaze on me as I quietly ate my dinner. Within ten minutes Zane was pulling me away from the table with Kade, Justin and Savannah following closely behind.
“I never thought we would escape,” Justin said, closing the door to the library behind him quickly and walking over to the drink cart. He pulled out five glasses and started pouring. We all needed it.
“That was the worst—and best—dinner we’ve had in a while. You definitely make things interesting, Dillon.” Savannah smirked at me. “I used to rile him up too. It’s fun to piss off the old bastard.”
“Yeah, but there’s—”
Zane cut me off quickly. “There’s nothing to worry about. I’ll take care of it. Mom is probably going to chew him out for running off a potential wife.”
Maybe he doesn’t want everyone to know about the article.
I giggled. “No chance of that happening, you’re safe. She won’t have another wedding to plan anytime soon.”
Zane tried to laugh, but there was no humor in his expression. What the heck was that about?
“Let’s do something tonight. We don’t ever get to spend evenings together because of our insane schedules,” Kade said from one of the plush leather sofas. He’d made himself at home, sprawling out over the large piece of furniture. “We need to celebrate your last few nights as single people.” He leaned up and smirked while looking at Justin and Savannah. “I dare you.”
Justin, Savannah and Zane groaned at his words and I looked at them in bewilderment. Why would they have a reaction that strong to a child’s game? Zane took my hand and squeezed. Justin handing me a lowball glass and I sniffed.
Scotch.
I was in heaven. These men had great taste in women and drinks. Now if I just had a cigar I would be one happy girl.
Justin was standing at the drink cart pouring the next glass. He turned back to tell me what was going on. “Back in college we used to play truth or dare. We played all the time, randomly daring each other to do stupid things.” He glared at his friend from across the room. “Kade never learned boundaries.”
Savannah shook her head. “Thanks to Kaden, I have a permanent record.”
“What?”I squealed. “You?”
She nodded. “Yep. This asshole dared me to flash a cop. It just so happened that the one he picked out the one cop at SCU that didn’t have a sense of humor and he charged me with disorderly conduct. The guy tried to get me on public indecency, but luckily we know a good lawyer.” She winked at Justin. “Yet we all still continued to play his stupid game.”
“It’s a fun game,” Kade defended, but not meeting anyone’s gaze.
“Until one of us end up drunk with sharpie all over our face and body twenty-four hours before we have a law school interview.” I stifled a laugh as Justin glared at Kade. “I still owe you for that one.”
“You still got into Harvard, asshole. It’s no biggie,” Kade said, taking a drink of his scotch. “The one that should really be mad is Zane. You two really screwed him over on that one.”
I glanced over at Zane. His jaw was set and his hands wrapped tightly around his glass. If looks could kill, his best friend would be dead on the ground.
“Maybe we should leave that story for another time,” I said quickly. “What’s the plan for tonight?”
“I think we should play,” Zane spat, his voice tinged with irritation. “It could make the weekend more entertaining.”
“Okay,” I said slowly, unsure that this was a good idea. “What are the rules?”
Justin shook his head. “There are no rules, only the most outlandish dares and invasive truths you could ever think up.”
Oh dear. This could be really fun, or this could end up going really badly.
“I’m making up one rule,” I said, looking around the room. “No messing with the bride or groom in a way that could screw up the wedding or their pictures.”
Savannah smiled. “I knew I liked you.” She turned back to Kade and narrowed her eyes. “I’ll murder you if you ruin my wedding by dying my skin a weird color, or cutting Justin’s hair so it looks fucking ridiculous. Mess with me and I’ll kick you in the balls so hard you won’t have kids for two lifetimes.”
Zane, Justin and I started laughing.
“Is that threat really necessary?” Kade asked wincing. “I might be an asshole, but I wouldn’t fuck up your wedding.”
From the looks on their faces, yes, the threat probably was necessary. It crossed my mind that I might be in over my head here.
“Kade.” I smirked. “Is there a bar in town?”
“Yes,” he said cautiously.
“How far away is it?”
“Not even a quarter of a mile away,” Zane answered for him.
“I want to start this night off right.” I winked at Savannah. “Kade, I dare you to walk there in nothing but a pair of socks. There is snow on the ground, so I guess you can have your boots too.” I smiled serenely. “We’ll follow in the car and if you make it all the way without giving up, I’ll buy you a drink of anything you want.”
He looked at Zane. “Is she serious? That’s all it takes?” Zane just shook his head. “I have expensive taste.”
“And I have deep pockets.” I grinned. “Let’s go.”
“Now?” he asked. “It’s still light outside.”
He didn’t seem so confident now.
“What’s the matter, Kade?” Zane asked. “You can dish it out, but you can’t take it when it’s your turn?”
Kade’s jaw tightened. “Let’s just get this over with.”
I grinned as I watched him start pulling his shirt off over his head. Next came his jeans and boxers.
“Kade, you should cover your junk so mom doesn’t have to see it when you’re going down the stairs,” Zane said laughing.
Kade flipped him off and went over to the door. He pointed at me before twisting the knob. “Hart, I’m coming for you next.”
“Bring it on,” I taunted.
After the fun walk down to the bar, where Savannah and I teased Kade mercilessly about the cold and shrinkage and if his sperm count would ever come back up after his stroll, I did end up buying him a drink. The whiskey he ordered was only a hundred and fifty dollars. It could’ve been much worse.
I gave him props because it was cold as hell outside and he didn’t complain once. It’s possible that he couldn’t because his jaw was frozen shut, but he did complete his dare.
There were some tamer dares and a few truths while we were at the bar, but nothing too crazy. I kept scooting my chair closer to Zane’s until he finally just pulled me into his lap and nuzzled my neck. A soft sigh fell from me as he nipped at my earlobe.
“Ready to go back?” he asked huskily.
I nodded and grabbed my purse off the chair next to us.
Justin and Savannah smirked as we stood up.
“Going somewhere?” Savannah asked.
Zane didn’t even bat an eye. “Yes.”
Kade leaned in. “They’re going to fuck,” he said in a stage whisper.
I laughed. “Yeah, we are. I’m sorry all you’ll have for the night is your hand, Mr. Shrinkage.” He swore under his breath and I smiled at him sweetly. “Good night everyone.”
We left Justin and Savannah laughing at the table as Zane threaded his fingers through mine and led me outside. The cool night air had me moving closer to him and urging him to put his arms around my waist. I shivered from the sexual energy coursing between us. It took everything I had not to throw myself at this sexy man as we walked the few blocks back to the amazingly romantic house we were staying at.
Somehow I’d found myself in this fairytale story, except I knew my prince was a beast most days. And damned if I didn’t like it. I was under no disillusions; Zane was the big bad wolf that was going to eat me alive.
I couldn’t freaking wait.
Zane squeezed me tighter and shot a heated look in my direction as he sped up our steps. If I didn’t hurry I had the feeling he planned to throw me over his shoulder and run the rest of the way to the house. He paused when I reached out to get his attention.
“I can’t run in heels, Zane.” He glanced down at my boots. I loved these shoes. They were a warm camel leather color with buckles. “Don’t make me break my ankle. Or scuff my boots, these are my favorite.”
“They’re all your favorite,” he mumbled before tossing me over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold. I squealed and latched onto his back.
“Zane! Don’t drop me!”
“Well quit squirming around and I won’t.”
He slapped my ass and chuckled into the dark, night sky. The sound reverberated off the snow covered buildings. I’d only heard him laugh like that a few times and it was breathtaking. I reached down to pinch his butt and giggled as he jumped.
“I really will drop you if you don’t stop that.”
I grinned as his hands travelled further up my leg. He gripped tighter before swaying a little from the alcohol. My shriek made him laugh harder. We were a hot mess right now, drunk and giggly, basically making a scene for anyone that saw us.
Coming For You Page 13