Page 14 of Far from Destined

“Traitor,” I said.

“Nah,” Cross replied. “But Iamyour brother. And you need a night out, too. You guys need to get along. I don’t know what’s going on, just get rid of the tension, and then we can move past this.”

“So, all of you are in on this? Forcing Dakota and me on a date?”

“It’s not a real date,” Hazel said. I wasn’t sure I believed her. “It’ll get Dakota out, and then we’ll be done. We won’t force her out on another date. She just needs some time away, and we all promised that this date wouldn’t lead to marriage, babies, or anything serious. Just one night of fun.” She narrowed her eyes. “But nottoomuch fun. She’s still family.”

I looked at them and then drank the last of my beer in one big gulp. I set the bottle on the brick and ran my hands over my face.

“You’re not going to let me get out of this, are you?”

“No, we aren’t,” Myra confirmed.

“You could try, but we outnumber you. And we can take you.”

I looked at Paris, at her little arms, and realized that she probably could take me. She was maniacal like that.

“If she hates me more at the end of this, it’s not my fault.”

“Dakota’s not going to hate you. She really just needs a night out. And, honestly, I think you do, too.” Hazel raised an eyebrow.

I looked up at her and swallowed hard. I could still hear her screaming, even when I tried to block it out. Maybe I did need a night out. And I was sure Dakota needed one.

Besides, I wanted to figure out why she hated me.

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

I held up my hand as everybody started talking at once. “But no outside interference. This is just friends. That way, she can stop scolding me about every single thing I do.”

“You see? What’s with the sniping and the growling? I don’t know what’s up with you two.”

I ignored Myra. “But…then we’re done. No more dates.” Not that Dakota would agree to more. “No more interfering or whatever the hell is going on here. Just let us be.”

“We can try,” Hazel said. “But she’s our best friend, Macon. We want her happy. If she’s happy on her own, then that’s great. But she needs a night to enjoy herself, and you two need to be friends.”

I wasn’t going to touch on that. But I would be a good friend. I could do that.

And maybe I could figure out why she hated me so much.

Chapter 4

Macon

The next day,I pulled at my collar, grateful that I hadn’t put on a tie. I still wore a suit jacket, a button-down shirt, and nice slacks.

For some reason, I felt like I should have brought flowers or a corsage or something.

It hadn’t been that long since I’d been on a date. But, Jesus, I had never been on a blind date.

Though this wasn’t really a blind date, at least not for me, though I would be a surprise to her.

We were meeting at an upscale chophouse; one the girls had said Dakota had always wanted to try. I had been there a couple of times before, mostly with my business partner Jeremy and his wife. Thankfully, Jeremy had never set me up on blind dates, even though his wife wanted to. For those outings, I hadn’t minded being the third wheel.

This was something altogether different. I just hoped to hell that Dakota didn’t throw her drink in my face when I arrived.

Why was I so nervous? This wasn’t a real date. I was simply getting our friends off our backs. This was only to get Dakota out of the house. I didn’t think I was the right person for the job, but here we were. Hopefully, if the others realized that this was a bad decision, they would stop bugging.

I rolled my shoulders back, ignored the wandering gazes of two women waiting for their seats, and went up to the podium.