Page 113 of Chasing Lynda

She shakes her head. “Don’t worry, Lynda. Like I said to you a few weeks ago, I know he’s only ever seen me like a sister and nothing could ever change that. But regardless of whom you’re going to choose, you’re good for Bennett. You’re showing him that he’s worthy of love, despite his upbringing.”

I don’t know what she means, but I feel like this isn’t the right time to ask her about Bennett’s family. “I—thank you for understanding, Callie.”

She smiles. “You’re going to be my sister soon. And it’ll be nice to have another girl around to counteract all that testosterone.”

I laugh at her eye roll. “I think you’re very good at keeping the guys on their best behavior, but I’ll be happy to help.”

She rises from her seat, offering me a hand. “Let’s go choose some sexy dresses. You need to look hot for your fiancé and your guys and I need to look sensational for my ‘plus one.’”

Her excitement is contagious. “Are you bringing a date?”

She turns to look at me after opening her bedroom door. “Yeah. I’ve been seeing this guy for a few weeks now—”

“The guy from the billionaire app?” I ask.

“Yup. I really like him, Lynda. I want him to meet my parents. Maybe, who knows, Dodge won’t be the only one to get married this year. I’ve always dreamed of a winter wedding.”

Taking into account my current circumstances, I’m not in a position to judge her for going fast on a relationship, but I can’t bite my tongue. “I noticed that you’ve been going out most nights lately. It’s getting serious pretty fast ...”

Thankfully Callie doesn’t take my comment the wrong way. “It is. He’s a little older than me. He just turned thirty and I guess he wants to settle down. He’s really charming and so smart. He treats me like a lady. Nothing like the kind of guys I’m used to who would do anything to get in a girl’s pants at lightning speed. He’s taking his time to get to know me and to woo me. I like that, it makes me feel special.”

The sweet smile on her face encourages me to ask her for details. I’m pretty sure Dodge doesn’t know that this relationship is getting so serious; the only way to stop him from hunting down this guy and threatening a fate worse than death if he hurts Callie, is to have some info to give him to calm his anxiety.

“So you haven’t slept with him yet?”

Callie shakes her head. “No, not yet. He said he’d never touch me unless he knew I was the one.”

I think that’ll go a long way in keeping Dodge from going postal at least until we meet him in person; and I’m counting on the fact that the meeting will be in a ballroom full of people. “Hm, that’s very honorable, I guess. But aren’t you worried to wait too long and get too serious and then potentially finding out that there’s no physical chemistry?”

She shrugs. “It’s not like I’ll have anything to compare it to when we sleep together.”

I can’t hide my surprise. “You haven’t—?”

And then it all makes sense because I’ve been in her exact situation when I was crushing on Kelley. “I’ve been waiting for Bennett all these years, Lynda. Now I realize that I was saving myself for someone that would never want me. I know it sounds pathetic, but—”

“It doesn’t sound pathetic,” I reassure her. “I had absolutely no experience until I met your brother and the others. Like I told you before, I liked a guy who didn’t feel the same way about me, so I get it. I’m just telling you to be careful. Don’t make huge life choices letting a broken heart guide you. God knows I did and it ended up being the biggest mistake of my life.” I don’t elaborate any further about letting my parents talk me into the engagement with Aaron because I thought that if Kelley didn’t love me, there was no way my heart could ever belong to someone else.

Callie squeezes my hand in hers before closing her bedroom door behind us. “Don’t worry, Lynda. You marrying Dodge takes all the financial pressure off me. That clause was designed so as long as one of us married within the end of the summer of our graduation, we’d both inherit our full share of the trust fund.”

I didn’t know that. “So as long as one of you fulfills that clause, Mitch gets nothing?”

She laughs. “Pop-Pop wasn’t only a hopeless romantic, he was also an incurable gambler. Dad took after him, he just never had the same infallible instinct to tell him when to walk away from a lose-lose situation. I guess that clause was Pop-Pop’s version of double or nothing.”

We make our way down the stairs do find Patricia sipping champagne with an impeccably dressed guy with a French accent.

There are several racks of high end designer gowns and the stylist’s two assistants are bringing in several boxes of shoes and accessories.

There’s no price tags on any of the items and I bet that most of them cost more than a brand new car anyway.

I’d be lying to you if I said that shopping this way isn’t beyond cool.

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