Meet Cute (Page 52)

Kailyn drops her hand to her lap and focuses there for a few seconds. “I know I broke your trust when you were in a vulnerable position and that earning it back won’t be easy, but know that everything I’m doing right now is because I want what’s best for you and Emme, and that’s for you to have each other.”

She takes a deep breath. “I admit that when Beverly presented me with the offer for partner, I took you on as a challenge. I had a very different opinion of who you were. I also wanted to make sure that Emme wasn’t being taken advantage of. I had no idea what your reasons were, if you were just after Emme’s money like Linda so clearly is.” Kailyn meets my gaze with an imploring one of her own. “The first few years of my life weren’t good, Dax. Thankfully, I don’t have a lot of memories, but the ones I do have are the reason I’m here fighting for Emme to stay with you. I want you to know that the partnership stopped being a factor when I realized how hard you were trying to do what was best for Emme.”

“And when was that, exactly?”

“When you called me from CVS.” She smiles a little, maybe at the memory. “That’s when I saw the real you.”

chapter twenty-six

AMENDS

Kailyn

I will him to say something, anything that will let me know forgiveness is possible.

Confirmation comes in the form of his mouth crashing down on mine. For a moment I’m frozen and stunned, but my body seems to know exactly what to do even if my brain takes a few seconds to catch up.

Dax drags me out of my chair and pulls me up against his body, tongue stroking inside my mouth, arms wrapped around me. There’s no place I feel safer than where I am right now. And I know that giving up the partnership was the right thing to do if it means I get to have this man instead.

We have the wherewithal to make it to the bedroom before we’re frantically undressing. We collide with need and want, apologies given and accepted through touch. And when he’s finally inside me again, the ache that’s been weighing down my heart finally dissolves.

“Dax! Are you up? I’m leaving for school in, like, fifteen, and the house doesn’t smell like coffee!”

I bolt upright, the covers dropping to my waist. I mouth shit while Dax blinks blearily, confusion turning to heat as he takes in my bare breasts.

He clears his throat and calls out, “Be right down!”

A long silence follows before she finally replies, “’Kay.” A few seconds later her bedroom door closes.

Dax gives my bare breast a squeeze. I smack his hand, my nipple already perking up from the attention. “What the hell am I going to do?”

“Uh, maybe there’s still something of my mom’s in the back of the closet? I know Emme missed a few things when we cleaned everything out. We can pretend like you showed up this morning?” It’s more question than plan, but it’s a whole hell of a lot better than the alternative.

I find a plain black dress that’s about two decades old and close to my size. I guess it could be considered retro. I shimmy into it. It’s tight at the hips, and the hem falls below my knees since his mom was several inches taller than me.

I finger comb my hair because Dax doesn’t have a brush. I still have sleep lines on my face, but there’s nothing I can do about that. I follow Dax to the kitchen. Thankfully, Emme is still in her room, so I’m able sit my ass down at the island and calm my breathing.

Dax is all smiles as he goes about making coffee. I don’t know how he can be so calm when it feels like my heart is going to slam out of my chest. The bag of doughnuts I picked up on my way over last night helps make our charade look more authentic, minus the fact that there’s no coffee to go with it. It’s not that I have an issue with Emme knowing that Dax and I are talking again, it’s her finding out because I’ve just walked out of Dax’s bedroom with a serious case of post-sleepover sex hair.

Dax passes me a cup of coffee just as Emme appears. She shrieks and rushes over, throwing her arms around me. “Oh, hi! I didn’t hear the doorbell ring!”

“Dax and I have a meeting this morning. We thought we’d go together.”

She releases me and steps back, panicked gaze darting between Dax and me. “What kind of meeting?”

“The good kind, don’t worry,” Dax reassures her. At least we’re hoping it’s going to be the good kind.

“Oh. Okay. Can you drive me to school so I can hang out with Kailyn for a bit?”

“Sure.”

Emme tells me all about her weekend plans, which include a sleepover at her friend Marnie’s. I glance at Dax and he grins, clearly thinking the same thing I am. Dax runs upstairs to change into a suit before we drive Emme to school. We’ll be coming back here as soon as we drop her off, but this keeps up the ruse.

Emme almost trips over a pair of shoes on the way down the hall. Shit. They’re my llama-print Toms.

“You’re wearing those to work?” Emme’s nose crinkles.

Obviously there’s more than one flaw in our half-assed plan. “I have heels at my office.”

“Oh. Okay.” She shrugs and slips her feet into her purple Chucks—I have the same ones—and shoulders her backpack.

“We can take my car,” I offer.

Emme bounces down the driveway and puts her hand on the hood of my car. “What time did you get here this morning?”

“Just before you came downstairs.”

“Huh.”

“What?” I ask, suddenly nervous she’s onto us, which is ridiculous.

“Oh, nothing. Let’s go! Don’t want to be late,” she says with a big smile plastered on her face.

I meet Dax’s WTF gaze over the hood before we get in. Emme sings along to the radio for a few minutes before she says, “Does this mean you two are back together?”

“What?” Dax and I ask in unison.

I catch her eye roll in the rearview mirror. “Oh, come on. I’m not dumb. I know you guys are, like, a thing, and then you wouldn’t talk to Kailyn and now you are again. So that means you guys are back together, right?”

“Um . . .” I glance at Dax, because I have no idea what to say to that.

“Yeah. Kailyn and I are back together.”

“So my plan worked.” She has the same smirky smile as her brother.

“And what plan was that?” Dax asks, fighting his own grin.

“I invited Kailyn last night so you two would sit together and talk, and it worked. You’re welcome.”

I laugh as I pull into the student drop-off zone.

“Thanks for looking out for us, Em,” Dax says.

Her head pops between the seats, and she gives us both a peck on the cheek. “Oh, and I totally heard Kailyn come over last night, so next time you don’t like have to pretend like you didn’t sleep over, ’cause it’s totally okay. Oh! There’s Marnie! See you after school.”

The door slams, and Dax and I stare at each other slack jawed until the car behind us honks.

“Well, I guess we’re not nearly as sly as we think we are, huh?” Dax laughs.

“Apparently not.”

After we drop Emme off at school, we go back to Dax’s to collect all the evidence pointing to Linda’s less-than-altruistic motives for wanting custody of Emme. Once we have it organized, we log into his mother’s email account and filter through the ones between her and Linda—something we didn’t think to do last night—and discover an endless stream back and forth between her and her sister asking for financial support. All fingers point to a gambling addiction that she battled on and off over the years and seems to have lost. It also seems to have been a significant part of the reason her most recent marriage failed.

We can only guess as to how much debt she’s amassed, but it certainly explains why she’s been so intent on discrediting Dax and seeking custody of Emme.

“Are you ready to take Linda down?” I ask once we’re back in my car.

Dax drums on the armrest, surprisingly composed considering everything he’s found out in less than twenty-four hours. “Sure am. Want to make the call?”

I pull out my phone, dial the school number, and wait for them to patch me through to reception. “Hi, Linda, it’s Kailyn Flowers. Do you have a minute?”

I have her on speaker, so Dax is able to hear both sides of the conversation.

“Oh, hi, Kailyn, what can I do for you?”

“I have some new information that could impact the state of the trust and change how the custody hearing is managed.”

“Oh?” I’m not sure if I imagine the nervousness in her voice or not.

“I know it’s incredibly short notice, but I was hoping I could meet with you to discuss this in person. It’s rather urgent.”

Dax drums his fingers on his thigh, and we hold eye contact while we wait for her response.

“Isn’t this something we can talk about over the phone?”

“I’m sorry, but it’s rather time sensitive and would be best discussed in a private meeting.”

There’s silence for a few moments before she finally responds. “My lunch break is in half an hour. I could meet you at your office at eleven thirty?”

“That’s perfect. Thank you so much, Linda. I’ll see you then.” I end the call, and Dax’s smile mirrors mine. “She’s never going to see this coming.”