Meet Cute(90)

“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.”





Chapter Twenty-Seven