CHAPTER TWELVE
BELLA
Bella walked into her living room and tossed her keys on the table by the door. She dropped her bag on the floor and flipped the light switch on. As she walked down the hall to her bedroom, she noticed that the bathroom light was on. Dean must’ve been there. She stopped at the bathroom and peered inside. Dean had his head under the cabinet. Bella smiled, happy that he was installing her brand-new basin. Bella leaned against the doorframe. After a long day of searching with no possible leads on who her mystery woman was, Dean had just made her day.
“You have got to be the best ex-husband ever,” Bella admitted.
“Yeah, I’ll bet,” Dean scoffed. “How was your day?”
Bella blew out an exasperated breath. “Don’t ask,” she warned. “How bout you? How was work?”
“My client is guilty as fuck.” Dean chuckled.
Dean was a criminal defense attorney, and he believed passionately that everyone deserved a proper defense. But he hated defending clients he knew were guilty. Nevertheless, he did his best to give all of his clients the best defense possible.
“You sure?” Bella asked.
“Yep. What’s up with your black widow?”
Bella rubbed her temple, exhaled a frustrated breath, and ran her fingers roughly through her hair. “That bitch is invisible.”
“Nobody’s invisible. You’ll get ya girl.”
“Yeah, but in the meantime, I need you.”
Dean slid from under the sink and looked up at Bella.
“What do you need exactly?”
“I need a date for Taylor’s birthday party tomorrow.”
Dean placed his back against the cabinet and raised a brow at Bella. “I’m not about to be your beard, Bella.”
“I don’t think that’s what that means,” Bella scoffed.
“Whatever. I’m not about to help you avoid dude. You obviously got a thing for him. Why do you keep runnin’ from that man?”
“I don’t have a thing for him. Not really. He’s just…well, he’s just real sexy. But I don’t want to get involved.”
“Why? Because he’swhite?”
Bella huffed and rolled her eyes. “Why does everybody keep asking me that like I’m some kind of racist?” Bella asked, exasperated.
“Bella, I know you better than you know yourself. You don’t want to get caught up with dude because you’re afraid that your parents won’t approve.”
Bella opened her mouth, ready to argue, but she thought better of it. Dean was right about one thing. Bella could never bring a white man home to meet her folks. Her mother was Native American for goodness sakes. White people had practically annihilated her entire race. And not to mention the fact that her dad was black. That was a can of worms that Bella wouldn’t dare open in front of her parents. But that didn’t stop Bella from thinking of Lucas every free moment of her day.
It had been three weeks since Lucas Creed had rendered her a breathless, horny fool in his kitchen. Bella’s traitorous body just wouldn’t let her forget the man.
Dean stood to his feet and walked over to Bella. He pulled her closed and hugged her tight. “Bella, your parents have found the great loves of their lives in each other. You gotta worry about finding the great love ofyourlife.”
Bella slapped Dean on the back and pushed out of his grasp. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Will you come with me or not?”
“Nope,” Dean replied simply. He kissed her forehead and returned to the bathroom floor. He tucked his head under the sink and resumed the task of installing Bella’s sink.
“I take it back,” Bella huffed. “You’re a sucky ex-husband!”
“Yep. I know,” Dean muttered. “Gone and get outta here. I’m busy.”
