Then You Happened (17 page)

“Thank you for dinner.” I smiled as I hugged Clive and Ava goodbye.

As soon as they left, I downed both shots like water.

“Feel better now?” Cameron asked.

“A little.” I smiled.

My phone beeped with a text message from Kirsty.

“James and I are here. Are you okay?”

Cameron and I left the country club and met them out front. Kirsty came running over to me. “Are you okay, sweetie?” she asked as she pulled me into an embrace.

“I’m fine. Let’s get the hell out of here,” I slurred.

As I was about to get in the limo, I looked over and saw Ryan standing on the grass. His back was turned and it looked like he was on the phone. At that moment, something inside of me snapped. I guess it was the last three years of self-pity and no answers that did it. My heart began to pick up the pace as I stood there and watched him casually talk on the phone. I took off my shoes.

“Sierra, what are you doing?” Cameron asked.

I threw them down on the cement, as well as my purse, and started speed-walking towards Ryan.

“Sierra, don’t,” I heard Cameron say in the distance.

“You never put a Prada on the cement,” Kirsty yelled as she ran after me.

Some sort of possession took over me as a strange growl erupted from my chest and out of my mouth as I ran and tackled him to the ground.

“You fucking piece of shit!” I yelled as I pounded on him. “What happened to your little whore? You know, the one that was hotter than me and better in bed, you stupid little fuck!”

“Sierra, oh my God, stop it!” he yelled back as he tried to grab my wrists.

Cameron pulled me off of him and held me back by my arms. I tried to wiggle free, but no luck. He was strong.

Ryan sat there on the ground in disbelief as he stared at me with wide eyes.

“You fucked up my life.
You
did. Seven lousy years with you and you did nothing but belittle me. You said horrible and mean things that affected me in a bad way. Let me tell you something, you sorry piece of shit. You’re no man. You’re a coward because you couldn’t face me. You and your little girly balls couldn’t face me. YOU’RE A FUCKING COWARD.”

“Sierra, I’m sorry,” he said as he wiped a spot of blood from his lip.

“SORRY. YOU’RE SORRY!” I screamed. “I’m sorry too. I’m sorry for the day I ever met you. You, Ryan, never existed in my life. Yep, that’s right. So from now on, when we see each other on the streets, we’re total strangers. Strangers who never met and never will. Do you understand me?”

He nodded his head as he stood up and stared at me.

“Good. Let’s go,” I said as I yanked my arm away from Cameron, grabbed my Prada bag from Kirsty, and walked back to the limo.

We climbed in and I immediately put up my hands. “I had a temporary moment of insanity and now it’s over. I don’t want to talk about it ever again.”

Chapter 30

Cameron

I lightly brushed the strands of blonde hair away from her face as she slept. I was still in shock that Sierra did what she did. She took tough to a whole new level as far as I was concerned. I had hoped now that she saw him and got out all her pent-up anger that she would start to see things more clearly where relationships were concerned. She opened her eyes and looked at me as my finger traveled down her cheek.

“Morning.”

“Morning. What time is it?”

“It’s almost six o’clock. Your alarm will be going off in a few minutes.”

“Why are you up already?” she asked with a sleepy voice.

“I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about you and what you did last night.” I smiled.

“Ugh,” she said as she rolled over and hit the button of her alarm. “We better get up. I have to get to the office,” she said as she kissed my lips.

I lay there and watched as her naked body climbed out of bed and strolled to the bathroom. Today was going to be the day I started to win her over.

“Sierra, I’m going down to my place to get ready. I’ll see you at breakfast.”

“Okay,” she said.

I went downstairs and Rosa was just coming in. “Morning, Rosa.” I smiled.

“Good morning, Builder Boy. Is she up?”

“Yes. She’s in the shower.”

“Good. Breakfast will be ready soon.”

“Thanks, Rosa.”

****

Sierra

“Congratulations. You made the front page of the newspaper. What the hell happened last night?” Rosa asked as she handed me a cup of coffee.

“Great. Just fucking great.”

A few moments later, Cameron walked in. “You have that look. What’s wrong?”

“Senorita made the front page. He
re, see for yourself,” Rosa said.

Cameron took the paper from her and followed me to the table. He began to laugh as he was reading.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“This picture. Look at you. You were pissed as hell.”

Of all the pictures for the paper to print, they had to pick the one where I was on top of Ryan and looking like the daughter of Satan.

“Oh my God,” Kirsty said as she stormed into the kitchen. “Did you see this?”

“Yes,” I said as I waved my hand.

“I’m going to have to do damage control. Our clients aren’t going to want a firm that beats other people up representing them. We’re going to have to say it was joke. A publicity stunt or something.”

“We aren’t saying anything. It’ll blow over.”

“How scandalous is this?” James smiled.

I rolled my eyes. “He deserved it. I don’t have any regrets and I’m certainly not going to apologize to anyone.”

“I would have given anything to see that,” Rosa said as she set a plate of French toast on the table.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Cameron asked as I got up from my chair.

“No. I’m going to take two aspirin and go change handbags. It’s a Michael Kors kind of day.”

When I walked into my room, my phone was ringing. It was Delia. I hit ignore because I wasn’t in the mood to deal with her. I was sure she saw the newspaper. I changed handbags and fetched Kirsty and James to start the dreaded day that I knew was coming my way.

I walked into the building of Adams Advertising and, just as I expected, all eyes were on me. People were trying not to stare, but I could see them out of the corner of my eye. As I walked through the lobby and to the elevator, I stopped, turned around, and put out my arms.

“What? He deserved it. Seven years and he deserved it,” I said as Kirsty pushed me into the elevator.

“Stop that. Don’t feed into it.”

Sasha was waiting for me, like she always did every morning, holding a cup of coffee in her hand. Today, she had a huge grin on her face.

“I put a little something extra in there for you. I figured you’d need it.”

“Thank you, Sasha.” I smiled as I took the cup from her.

I pulled my ringing phone from my purse. It was Don calling.

“Hello, Don.”

“Sierra, I love you. Don’t take that in a sexual way; it’s meant as the love of friendship. Whatever you said to Marta, it worked. I am forever indebted to you.”

“You’re welcome, Don. Remember our little agreement.”

“I do and I will. I saw you in the newspaper. Good for you. I alwa
ys knew you had a wild side, girl. Have a good day. We’ll talk soon.”

I hit end as my mouth curved up into a small smile. Kirsty went to her office and Sasha came in with some news.

“Excuse me, Sierra. The Board of Directors called a meeting for tomorrow morning at nine o’clock.”

“Of course they did, the sexist pigs. It’s fine. I’m sure they want to discuss my actions of last night. I’ll be prepared to fight back.” I smiled. “Send Kirsty in here, please.”

Just as I turned on my computer, Kirsty came through the door. “What’s up?”

“The board called a meeting for tomorrow morning.”

“Uh oh,” she said.

“I want you and Sasha to spend the day digging up everything recent on every board member. I want to know what they’ve spent their money on and where they went.”

“Sierra, you’re playing with fire.”

“No, Kirsty. They’re the ones playing with fire. This is my company and they’ve had it out for me since my father died. Well, now they’re the ones who are going to get burned.”

“Okay. If you say so,” she sighed as she walked out.

I went over to my wall safe and put in the combination. As I opened the door, I pulled out a black book with a leather cover that my father gave me right before he passed away. I sat back in my chair and recalled the day he handed it over.

“I want you to keep this in a very safe place. This book is yours now and it’s filled with information on every board member. Information they never want anyone to know. I already know they aren’t going to be happy about you taking over the company, so this is your firing weapon if you should need it. Use the knowledge that I gave you over the last many years, Sierra. Use what I taught you to your advantage.”

A few hours later, and as I was studying the pages in the book, my phone rang and, when I looked at it, Cameron was calling.

“Hey you,” I answered.

“Are you hungry?”

“For food or sex?” I replied.

“Both sound good to me. But I was referring to food.”

“Yeah, I am kind of hungry. I didn’t eat breakfast, remember?”

“I do remember.”

I heard my office door open and, when I looked up, Cameron was standing there, holding up a brown bag from the deli down the street. I smiled as I hung up and he walked in, closing the door behind him.

“I bring you food. Solid food, not liquid food.”

“What a nice surprise. Thank you. Shouldn’t you be at my house, working on my office?”

“I should and I was, but I got hungry and I remembered you didn’t eat, so I called Kirsty and asked her what I should get you.”

“That was sweet, thank you. Have a seat.”

I cleared off my desk as he took the sandwiches out of the bag.

“It looks like you were reading.”

“More like studying.”

“Studying?” he asked.

“The Board of Directors called a meeting for tomorrow morning. They’re going to scold me for last night. So, I’m preparing to fight back.”

“I have no doubt you’ll win. From what I can tell, your father taught you very well.”

****

Cameron

I drove back to the house and when I walked through the door, Rosa noticed my smile.

“What’s going on with you, Builder Boy?” she asked as she stopped dusting.

“I’m happy, Rosa. I just had lunch with Sierra. Can you keep a secret?”

“Of course, but it’s no secret to me that you’re in love with her.”

“That’s right. I am in love with her and today was day one of doing something special for her. Rosa, I want Sierra to fall in love with me. I want us to have a real relationship.” I smiled.

She walked over to me and put her hand on my face. “You are a good man and she’d be crazy not to love you. I’m on your side.”

“Thanks, Rosa,” I said as I kissed her cheek. “If you’ll excuse me, I have an office to build.”

After a few hours, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. I turned around and Sierra was standing there, staring at the room.

“It’s looking good in here, Mr. Cole.”

“Thanks. It’s coming along.”

“Don’t forget we have our dance lesson in about an hour. I sure hope you’re going to shower. I don’t want to have a stinky partner or I may have to pawn you off on Kirsty and take James.” She smiled.

“I was just finishing this piece and then I was going to get myself cleaned up.”

“Okay. Then I’ll meet you downstairs.”

“I’ll be waiting.” I smiled.

We met Kirsty and James at the dance studio. During our dance lesson, Sierra seemed off. She seemed sad and I hated that something was bothering her.

“How about we go for a swim when we get back,” I said as I drove us home.

“Sure. We can do that,” she said with a small smile.

We finally reached Sierra’s house and I told her that I’d meet her in the pool. I went and changed into my swim trunks, grabbed a towel, and jumped in. After doing a couple of laps, I wiped the water from my eyes and looked up to see Sierra staring down at me. She was holding a bottle of wine and two glasses.

“You in?” she asked.

“I’m in.”

She poured the wine and handed me a glass before stepping into the pool.

“What’s wrong, Sierra? And don’t you dare say ‘nothing,’ because I can tell something’s bothering you.”

“I’m just a little pissed off and worried about tomorrow’s meeting. When my father was sick, they tried to talk him out of leaving me the company. They said that I was too young, a woman on the mend of a broken heart, and a pushover to be running one of the largest advertising agencies in the world. They never had faith in me.”

“But you proved them wrong. Look at you. You’re fierce. You have fire and passion for your company and I think you do a damn good job.”

She smiled as she took a sip from her glass. “I am fierce, aren’t I?”

“The fiercest woman I’ve ever met.”

“I know I’ve asked you this before, but why don’t you have a girlfriend?”

I chuckled. “I guess I haven’t found anyone that I want to spend my time with.”

“Well, when you do, she’ll be very lucky to have you.” She smiled as she poured more wine in our glasses.

I hoped and prayed that she’d be the one who felt lucky when the time came.