Love by Design

“Wouldn’t you know, Bootsie had the gall to refuse to give me his address? She just wants to lord them over me, but we’ll show her, won’t we, Dakota? I’m sure with your contacts, you’ve got him on speed dial.”

I wish. Relieved that Nancy had come up for air, she wrote down what information she could gather from her client’s monologue so that Susan could pursue the lead. Dakota reasoned that Bootsie loved to talk as much as Nancy did, and if that was the case, it was time to get a manicure.

After seeing her client to the door, Dakota left a note for Susan to stop in when she returned from lunch. Needing a break from sheets and Bootsie Ellerby, she focused on Belle Cove—and Logan.

It was not her intention to pique her friend’s interest to know more about the past, but as far as Dakota was concerned, their history was ancient.

Still, things had progressed better than she expected. Their last meeting had gone very well. Pictures were great, but Dakota was looking forward to seeing the resort firsthand. She had received a call from his travel agent with instructions for their trip. A car was coming to pick her up and take her to the airport. From there, she would fly to Ocho Rios on the Montagues’ company jet. Dakota could not contain the thrill she felt. It would be her first time on a private plane, and she looked forward to the experience.

Dakota’s doorbell chimed. Susan. Her friend had agreed to help her pack for her trip. When she opened the door, she greeted her bag-laden office manager with a smile.

“You’re late. I’m just about finished with the packing.”

“Sorry, but now we have more time to socialize.”

Dakota shook her head, but stood aside to let Susan enter. “What’s all this?”

“I’m sorry I’m late, but I figured with all the packing and worrying you’d be doing, you wouldn’t have time to make yourself dinner, so I brought it with me.”

She followed Susan to the kitchen and helped her unload the cartons of Chinese food.

“I’m not worrying.”

“Uh-huh.” Susan moved around Dakota’s kitchen with ease. She retrieved two wineglasses and a corkscrew out of the cabinet while Dakota set the table.

“Thanks for this,” she said after Susan poured the wine.

“You’re welcome.”

“So, are you ready to begin this project?”

Dakota was thoughtful while she chewed. “As ready as I’ll ever be. Who knew after all these years that I’d see Logan again, much less have him for a client.”

“I’ll admit, the timing is…interesting,” Susan replied.

Dakota let out an unladylike snort. “Don’t read too much into it. I wrote him off once before…and after this is over, I’ll do it again.”

“You think it’ll be that easy this time?”

“Sure, why not?”

“Why not? Dakota, it’s obvious that the two of you have unfinished business. I’ll hand it to you, up until this point, you’ve done a very good job of acting like he doesn’t exist. The fact that I didn’t know about him, or how deep the history runs between you two, is proof enough.”

There was a light hint of censure in Susan’s voice that Dakota did not miss.

“I know. I’m sorry, Suzy. I just… It was hard enough living through that time in my life without having to relay what happened to anyone else.”

“What did happen, Dakota?”

She sighed and sat back in her chair, absentmindedly swirling the wine in her glass. “It all started with an argument. From the moment I began spending summers at my grandparents’ house, the neighborhood kids made fun of me for being the outsider. I was getting teased badly by a group of girls one day, when Logan Montague walked past and heard them. He stood up for me. He was my champion that day. Eventually, we became inseparable, and I spent every summer in Chicago. My parents thought it was better for me to branch out and get to know more kids, but I didn’t want to. We played together, spent long hours reading our favorite books, talking about the future, or being knee-deep in some adventure. Logan was my best friend for five years. One day he betrayed me by ruining my relationship with Michael. Not to mention leaving, and breaking my heart—after we kissed, of course.”

Susan sat back and crossed her legs to get comfortable. “Whoa, wait. Who’s Michael?”

“He was my first boyfriend. Logan didn’t like him from the start, and always razzed me about him. He never missed an opportunity to point out how Michael was lacking in some way. I was livid at his interference in my love life, but I was torn because he was my best friend. In the end, I thought him very high-handed to assume Michael wasn’t right for me.”