Chapter 14

14

DIANNA

D ianna groaned and flung her body on the bed in her room. She stared at the ceiling, angry that she'd allowed herself to fall into this mess in the first place. She wasn't relationship material. She couldn't be entrusted with someone else's heart, no matter how much her own heart yearned for that very thing.

"What's the matter with you?"

She gasped and sat up, finding Brielle standing in the doorway. Her older sister eyed her with curiosity. "Getting tired of that job that Constance dragged you into?"

"No. Of course not." Dianna scooted to the edge of the bed. "I'm wondering if I've made too many mistakes over the last couple of weeks."

"What kind of mistakes?" Brielle wandered into her room and sat on the edge of Dianna's bed. "I've made several in my lifetime. Perhaps I can help you figure out a way out of this one."

Dianna peeked at her sister. Brielle had dated several men over the years. She'd been the one to sneak out when their father's rules had still been in place. Perhaps Brielle had a point. "Tristan asked me out."

"You're going to have to give me a little more than that. I have no idea who Tristan is."

"Mathew's father."

"And Mathew is…"

Dianna rolled her eyes. "If you don't want to help, just say so."

Brielle laughed. "Kidding. So the kid's father wants you to go out with him."

"Yeah."

"I fail to see the problem."

Dianna's head spun around to face her older sister. "You're not serious."

Brielle shrugged. "He's a handsome guy with a kid. Isn't that sort of something you've always wanted?"

"Well, sure, but?—"

"Then where's the problem?"

"He's Mathew's dad . Isn't there like some kind of code that says I shouldn't date a client?"

"Mathew's the client. Tristan isn't." Brielle laughed.

Dianna groaned. "It's one and the same if you ask me."

"Oh, come on, Dianna. It's not and you know it. Tristan is the kid's father, and he has nothing to do with hiring you or paying you. He's there to make sure his kid gets the best care. You're getting paid by someone else entirely. Think about it. If there was ever an opportunity to make a mistake that just might turn out great, this one is the jackpot."

Dianna frowned at Brielle, trying to come up with something smart and snappy that would completely break the foundation of her sister's argument, but she couldn't think of a single thing. Scrambling for anything to say, she muttered, "That's rich coming from the person who refuses to get into a committed relationship."

Her sister wagged her finger. "Uh-uh. That's an entirely different issue. I'm single because I choose to be. I'm not going to settle down if I can help it. None of the guys here are worth the trouble. You might have found a good one, but that's because he's not a local."

Dianna rolled her eyes. "You know what I think? You're scared."

Brielle snorted. "I'm the furthest thing from scared. I don't need a man to complete my life."

"Neither do I."

"Okay, but for whatever reason, you want one."

"I want what?" Dianna couldn't help it—she laughed.

"You want a guy. Or maybe not a guy but that guy." Brielle nudged Dianna and her features softened. "Just because I don't want to be tied down doesn't mean that you shouldn't want it. I've always loved the idea of finding someone who could mean as much to me as Mom did to Dad. I might not act like it, but I am a romantic." She expelled a sigh and her eyes grew distant for a few moments.

Dianna studied her sister's contemplative expression. Maybe she made a good point. Tristan was her type. He was a good father, smart, and he came all the way out here just to get his son the kind of treatment he needed.

On the one hand it was easy to be with him. Then there were those moments she thought her heart would explode from their proximity. A smile touched her lips.

"Ha! There . See? I knew you liked him."

Dianna jumped. "I wouldn't go that far. I barely know him."

Brielle pointed at her. "But based on that little grin you were wearing, I can tell there's part of you that wants to get to know him better. It's okay, Dianna. For once in your life, don't stick to all these preconceived notions that you have to follow rules that don't exist." She got up from her seat and faced Dianna with her hands on her hips. "You've always been a rule-follower. Maybe you need to do something daring and just have some fun. No one would blame you."

She nibbled on her lower lip, laying back down on the bed. "What happens when his therapy sessions are over and he moves back home? I?—"

"You're not committing to a marriage ; you're saying yes to a date. For heaven's sake. You might go on a date and realize that you don't even like each other and the only thing you have in common is the way you care about his kid."

Brielle made an excellent point. There were no absolutes. Tristan wasn't asking her to marry him. That was laughable. How had she managed to get into her own head and make such a big deal about this?

She knew why.

This was part of her own spectrum tendencies. She just needed to stop overthinking everything.

Dianna sat up on her elbows, propping herself up to get a better look at her sister. "Fine. I'll do it under one condition."

Brielle tossed her head back and laughed. "I don't care one way or the other if you decide to date him or not. I have nothing riding on this."

"Really? Because sometimes it feels like you live vicariously through those of us who are dating. You have all this advice, and yet you refuse to do anything about your own loneliness."

"I am not lonely," she said, not very convincingly.

"Maybe you are, maybe you aren't. But something tells me you might want to fall in love more than any of us, and you're just as stubborn and maybe even more scared than any of us, too."

Brielle scoffed. "I don't have to prove anything to you."

"I wasn't asking you to."

"Then what was the condition you were referring to?"

Dianna straightened, folding her legs beneath her and offering her sister a sneaky kind of grin. "Shane's hosting a Christmas party this weekend. I'll go with Tristan, but you have to go with Shane."

Brielle's eyes narrowed. "He's not my type."

"Rich billionaire who has a history of being charitable?" Dianna's voice dipped into an exaggerated tone. " Right . I've seen the way you glance at him whenever you two are in the same place. If I had to guess, I'd say the reason you haven't asked him out is because you're worried he'd actually be someone worth risking your heart for."

Brielle scowled, indicating that Dianna had hit the nail on the head, which only made Dianna's smile spread wider. Brielle threw her hands into the air and huffed.

"He hasn't even asked me to go. I can't just show up to a party he's throwing and tell him I'm his date."

"I've got that all figured out. He told Tristan about the party and Tristan asked if he was bringing anyone. Shane said he wasn't. I'll just message Tristan right now and tell him that we can set him up with someone."

Brielle sighed. "Fine. I'll go on one date with the guy, but that's it."

"Maybe."

"Not maybe. I'm not interested in Shane. Like I said, he's not my type."

"Then what is your type?" Dianna pressed.

"I don't know. I'm all over the place."

Dianna chuckled. "Maybe you don't have a type. Maybe everyone is your type and you just haven't clicked with anyone. Maybe you just need to kiss him under the mistletoe and then you'll figure out that he's the one."

"I've kissed plenty of guys, Dianna. I'm guessing that's not the problem here."

Dianna shrugged. "And maybe it is."

"Well, if you think that spending a few hours with a guy like Shane is enough to make him my soulmate, then you're sorely mistaken. I can't see myself as being the good little housewife who hosts parties and drapes on the guy's arm so he can show me off. I have too much pride for that."

Another shrug and a sly smile. Dianna didn't care if Brielle found love or if Shane was that person. Secretly, she didn't want to attend a big event without having someone there she could use for support. Adeline already said she and Sean were busy. And Constance was spending that evening with James's family. Dianna wasn't as close to her younger sisters, which was ironic considering that she was the middle child. Regardless, she had better relationships with her older sisters.

She climbed off her bed and headed over to where she'd left her phone on the dresser. "I'll tell Tristan." Shooting a quick glance in Brielle's direction, her lips twitched upward again. "And I'll make sure he doesn't tell Shane who he's going to be on a date with."

Brielle groaned. "What kind of party is this?"

"It's a Christmas party."

"Yeah, I get that. But what kind ? Is it formal? Do I need a pretty dress? Or is it casual and I can wear one of those ugly sweaters?"

Dianna paused. "I'm not sure."

"You're not sure? Come on. That's one of the first things you need to find out when you get invited to something like this. If it's a bunch of people who are on the upper end of society, that would dictate the kind of party he's throwing. I doubt he'd be serving deviled eggs and fruit cake. Somehow Shane strikes me as the kind of guy who serves up caviar and kuidaore."

Dianna snorted, but it wasn't a small or cute one. The snort that escaped her mouth was loud and sounded more like the pigs she tended to out in the corral. She got a dark look from Brielle.

"What?" her sister demanded.

Shaking her head, Dianna let out another laugh. "Nothing."

"It's not nothing. What were you laughing at?"

"It's just—where did you hear that word?"

"Caviar? You know what that is."

Dianna shook her head again. "No. Kuidaore. Where did you hear that?"

"I don't know. Someone I probably went on a date with. Why? Do you even know what it means?"

She nodded. "Yes. Do you?"

Brielle folded her arms and shifted her weight from one foot to the next. "Of course I do. It's a fancy dish."

Dianna snickered again. "Kuidaore isn't food. It's a Japanese term that basically means you ate yourself into bankruptcy. The literal translation is to ruin yourself in extravagance by food."

"See? Isn't that what caviar is? It's an extravagant food and if you eat too much of it, you'll go bankrupt." Brielle's face flushed. "So what if it isn't an actual dish? It's still food related. And I wouldn't be surprised if Shane were the kind of guy who would buy all that fancy stuff and go bankrupt in the process."

"Actually," Dianna held up a finger, but Brielle's irritated look was enough to put a stop to her explanation. Most billionaires were very stingy. They were careful with how they spent their money, and Shane fit the bill on that one. He was one of the more down-to-earth people she'd ever worked with. He used his money wisely and accounted for every dollar. She didn't see him filling the country club with food that no one would eat. He probably wouldn't serve deviled eggs either, but that was beside the point. Dianna shrugged. "Okay, so we're set. You'll come to the Christmas party as Shane's blind date, and I'll tell Tristan that I will go with him."

Her heart fluttered slightly at the thought. To be with Tristan in a manner that didn't involve his son triggered a new kind of anxiety in her chest. It didn't necessarily feel bad. It was new. And being such, she had to figure out a new way to cope with it so it didn't consume her mind for the next few days.

Brielle huffed and stormed from the room. "I don't even know where you come up with these kinds of words."

"I didn't," Dianna called after her. " You did. I just knew what it meant cuz I read a lot."

Her statement fell on deaf ears. There was no way her sister would have heard the last part. At least their little interaction had brought some humor into Dianna's evening.