A Humble Heart (Hollywood Hearts 1)

“Sounds about right,” Seth said, finishing the last of the juice.

Chapter 15

“What an ass**le,” Edward muttered.

“What? It was mine turn. I didn’t cheat,” Seth said as he bent to take another swing at the colorful golf ball.

“Not that, and yes you did. I just got off the phone with Dana’s father. Apparently he disowned her over this video nonsense and he’s refusing to come out tomorrow.”

“Damn. She probably didn’t want to upset you,” Seth said. “They rigged that clown’s mouth. I should have made that shot!" He sighed. "It’s your turn, Bret.”

The security man took his turn and got it in on the first shot.

“Damn it!” Seth said.

“Who am I going to have walk her down the aisle now?”

“What about that kid, Sebastian? Is he coming?”

“No, he can’t make it. He wants to come, but his Grandmother broke her hip and he’s taking care of her. He’s just happy we’re getting married and that she’s happy. He did threaten to kick my ass if I hurt her so I guess that counts as a blessing.”

“Have Cole walk her down the aisle,” Seth suggested, stealing Edward’s turn, again.

“I guess I could.” Edward thought about how cute that would be.

“Your Mom, Amy and Deana are taking care of everything else, right?”

“Yes, when I told Mom I was planning the wedding she freaked out. She’s afraid I’ll end up wearing jeans and a tee shirt and serve beer and nachos at the reception.”

Seth shot him an accusing look. “Only because you played stupid and led her to believe you were doing just that.”

He laughed unashamed. “Of course. She canceled the berry picking with Dana. They’re dropping the tuxes off at your house tomorrow. I’ll bring Cole with me.”

“How about her dress?” Seth asked.

“I called Eric. He has her measurements and is contacting a designer to get a white gown.”

“You’re a lucky bastard,” Seth said.

“I know. Also, Mom is taking the kids tonight so Dana can have a girl’s night out.”

“Won’t she know what’s going on?”

“Not until tomorrow,” Edward said smugly.

“How are you going to pull this off?” Seth asked.

“Amy is going to tell her she needs to try on the dress for the movie and do up her hair. Then bring her into the back yard, which will be set up by then. She won’t know a thing because Rick is going to keep her in the office all morning going over her book.”

“Nice,” Seth said appreciatively. “What else do we have to do tonight?”

“Nothing. The girls have it all under control. We’ll just sit back and relax. Go to my place later and cook up some steaks and then go to the game.”

“What if Dana’s home? Are you going to be able to hide this from her?”

“It will be fine. I doubt she’ll be home. She’s taking the kids to a water park after she picks up Elizabeth from kindergarten. Then Mom’s taking the kids. Deana, Amy, Diane, and a bunch of women I don’t know are taking her out. They know not to say anything to her.” Edward stepped up to take his shot.

“Sounds good, just don’t mess up.”

Edward cocked an eyebrow at him. “I’m not going to mess up.”

*******

Dana slipped into the pool and sighed with relief. It was well after one in the morning and she was finally done with the fourth Christian and Bailey book. Edward called two hours ago to let her know the game was going into extra innings and that he'd be late. She told him not to worry about it.

Now was the time to relax. It had been a very long day. They ran errands all day. Tyler was really nice and got along with Cole. She took the kids out to the water park and had a great time. It was tiring though. Tyler was a godsend, he let her relax while he took the kids in the water.

When she came home Eleanor and Amy were waiting for her in the kitchen. Eleanor scooped up the kids and took them away, freeing her for the night. Amy made her dress up and they went out with friends. They hit several clubs. Poor Tyler was kept busy pushing away drunk horny guys from them all night.

She got home an hour ago and put the finishing touches on the book. Tyler went home a half hour ago after double checking the house. Now she was alone for the first time in her house, ever. She planned to take full advantage of that by skinny dipping.

If anyone asked she would deny it up and down, but it was very relaxing as long as she knew no one would catch her. She figured she had at least one more hour before Edward came home, not that she would mind him seeing her, but there was always the possibility that Seth would be with him.

A noise caught her attention. “Hello?” She looked around the pool. She didn’t see anyone so she went back to swimming. A minute later she heard another noise. “Look, I know someone’s there. So you might as well come out,” she said, swimming to the edge of the pool, hoping to block the view of her body.

A man stepped out of the darkness in front of the gate. She didn’t recognize him. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“I…I’m sorry…I just had to meet you. I’m a huge fan,” the man said.

He took another step into the light and Dana realized to her horror that the man’s pants were unzipped and he was palming himself. “You need to leave! Now!”

The man reached for the gate and yanked on it. The padlock stopped him. Dana knew it would only keep him out until he found a way to pull himself over the top. Dana pulled herself out of the pool, wrapped a towel around her body quickly and grabbed her cell phone.

She looked back in time to see the man pull himself over the top of the gate. She made a mad dash to the house. She slid into the house and turned around in time to close the sliding glass door. The man grabbed the door and pulled. She shoved as hard she could and locked it. She reached over and hit the panic button on her security system.

Ear splitting sirens went off. Every light in the house and outside flew on. Within seconds the house phone rang. She grabbed it knowing it would be the security company.

The sound of glass shattering sent her flying through the house. The man threw a chair through the glass door and was coming inside. She ran into her office, locked the door and ran for the hidden panel. Her hands were shaking violently as she pressed the code in.

“Come on..come on!” she said. The phone was still ringing. The door slid open. She jumped inside and hit the button to shut the door. She dropped to her knees, gasping for air.