by L. P. Dover
“Are you going to say something or just stare at us all day?” I asked her.
She sipped her orange juice and set it down on the table. Justin glanced over at us and smiled reassuringly. I was glad he stayed. I didn’t know how he was going to react. Samantha shook her head and focused on me.
“How? I’m so confused right now.”
My gaze instantly found Justin. It was like anytime he was around, I couldn’t look at anything else. “I gave him a ride home from the airport. Turns out, he bought the Southfork Ranch from the McEntire’s.” I closed my eyes and replayed our first meeting in my head.
“Did you not go crazy when you met him?” she asked incredulously.
I shook my head and laughed. “Nope. That’s just you. I actually pretended not to know him. It was fun at first, but then I came clean and told him I knew. We both promised to keep his whereabouts a secret. I don’t want the media knowing he’s here, much less involved with me. I have Ellie to protect.”
Her eyes widened, and she grabbed my hands. “Are you sleeping with him?” My cheeks burned, and I bit my lip. “Holy shit, you are. This is insane. The guy’s a celebrity, and he’s out here fixing your fence.”
I pointed to Trey’s blue truck. “And the truck. Once the parts are in, he’s going to get it running again. I told him he could have it if he got it fixed.”
“Wow,” she gasped, letting my hands go. “You really have moved on. Never thought you’d get rid of it.”
I shrugged. “It’s time. I’m pretty sure he’ll leave it here when he goes back to Charlotte. He only has a few weeks left before hockey starts up.”
Her brows furrowed. “What about you? What are you going to do?”
She finished off her juice, and I grabbed her cup to take it inside. I walked over to the edge of my patio and watched Justin. “What can I do, Sam? We only have a few weeks together before we go back to our normal lives. Am I going to miss him?” I glanced at her over my shoulder. “Yes, I am. The man makes me feel more alive than I’ve felt in a long time. I don’t want it to end, but there’s no other choice.” Eyes burning, I hurried inside and set her cup in the sink. I didn’t realize she was behind me until she hugged me.
“You could always have both, Meghan. There are no rules when it comes to love. The guy does have some baggage right now, so I can see why you don’t want anyone knowing, but don’t let that scare you away.”
I really wanted to believe her, but it wasn’t going to be that easy. I patted her hands and turned around, hoping she couldn’t see my insecurities. I had to believe I was doing the right thing. “It’s for the best. In a few weeks, he’ll go his way, and I’ll go mine. I’m fine with it. Ellie doesn’t have to know and neither does Emmett. It’ll be our secret.”
Her lips tilted slightly, and she shook her head, clearly not believing me. “Keep telling yourself that, babe. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“You won’t,” I said, brightening my smile. “Now that you’re calmed down, let’s introduce you to him. I don’t want him thinking my best friend is a starstruck idiot.”
She took a deep breath and let it out slow. “Okay, I can do this.”
She followed me outside, and I tried not to laugh. Her hands were shaking from being so nervous. Justin had already finished a whole two sections of fence by himself. I cleared my throat, and he turned around, showing off his glorious abs. The smile he gave Samantha made her sway on her feet. It was a good thing Emmett wasn’t there.
“Justin, I’d like you to officially meet my best friend, Samantha.” He held out his hand, and it took a few seconds for her to respond. She still had stars in her eyes.
Samantha shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry I was a bumbling idiot earlier.”
I patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry. He’s used to it.”
Justin winked at her. “Meghan wasn’t that impressed when she met me. She told me she’d shoot me if I tried to kidnap her.”
She grabbed her chest, swooning all over him. “If only I was that lucky.”
“Okay, Sam,” I said, laughing. “You’re acting like an idiot again. Justin’s just like any normal guy.”
She scoffed under her breath. “Yeah, but with millions of dollars.” Money was something I never talked about with Justin. He never flaunted it, which made me respect him even more. Smiling sheepishly, she backed away. “I think I’ve made enough of a fool out of myself today. I’m just going to go.” Her eyes met mine. “I’ll tell Emmett you aren’t coming to the party this weekend. There’s no sense in trying to hook you up when you’re already taken.”
Justin chuckled and put his arm around me. “It really was nice meeting you, Samantha.”
She laughed nervously and smiled at him. “Thanks. And don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about you two.” Hurrying off, I could tell she was embarrassed as she jumped on her four-wheeler and rushed off.
Justin turned me around and put his arms around my waist. He kissed me and I melted against him. “I’m so sorry about that. I wanted to warn you.”
He shrugged. “It’s okay. I was more worried about how you were going to take it. I was afraid you wouldn’t want to see me anymore once Emmett found out.”
That caught me off guard. “Why would you think that?”
He shrugged again, looking uncertain. “He’s not going to want you with me, Meghan. If you were my sister, I wouldn’t want you anywhere near someone like me. Then again, I tried to keep her away from Dallas, and that didn’t work.”
I burst out laughing. “Exactly. For however much time we have left, I want to be with you. I don’t want to waste a moment of it.”
He picked me up in his arms, and I held onto him, yelping. “In that case, let’s not waste it.”
“What about the fence?” I asked, giggling as he carried me toward the house.
“It’ll still be there when we get done.”
Chapter Fourteen
Justin
Windows down, Meghan and I spent the entire day driving through the Grand Teton National Park. There were a ton of people at the different trailheads so we didn’t stop, but it was nice to take her out in the truck.
Feet on the dash and eyes closed, Meghan leaned back in the seat, her hair billowing in the wind. Three weeks had passed and not once had we spent a day apart. The only problem was that time was moving way too fast. In just two more weeks, we’d have to say our goodbyes. Never once had she asked to come with me or for me to stay in Wyoming. A huge part of me wanted her to ask, to know that she cared about me as much as I cared about her. Maybe this was my karma for all the bad mistakes I’d made over the years.
There was a good view of Grand Teton up ahead, so I pulled over on the side of the road. A group of bison grazed in the distance, and I took a ton of pictures, making sure to include Meghan in them. Over the past few weeks, I’d snuck pictures of her without her knowledge. I’d even sent a few of them to Callie, who demanded to see what we’d been up to. Basically, she was living vicariously through me since she couldn’t travel.
We hopped out of the truck, and I dropped the tailgate so we could sit on it. “Now that we’ve finished the fence, the barn, and your truck, what are we going to do over the next couple of weeks?” I asked her. She didn’t know my birthday was tomorrow. I wanted to take her somewhere, away from Wyoming.
She met my gaze but then focused on her dangling feet. “I don’t know. We’ve already been fishing and hiking on your land a gazillion times. With not being able to really go anywhere, it’s hard to find new things to do.” She looked over at me and smiled. “Honestly, I don’t care what we do. As long as I’m with you, I’m happy.”
When she said things like that it gave me hope, but I’d convinced myself not to read too much into it. “What would you say if I told you my birthday is tomorrow?”
Mouth dropping, she shrieked and punched me in the arm. “Oh my God, how could you not tell me that?”
Chuckling, I r
ubbed my arm. “I’m telling you now.”
She clapped, her whole face beaming. That was one of the things I was going to miss about her—she had an energy about her, so full of life. “We have to do something fun. I don’t know what, since we can’t go out in public, but I’m sure I can come up with something. We could …”
“Actually,” I cut in, “I was hoping you’d go somewhere with me.”
Head cocked to the side, her brows furrowed. “Where?”
I held up my hands. “Hear me out before you say no. Since we only have two weeks left, I was thinking we could take a private jet and fly to Turtle Island. I’ve always wanted to go to Fiji.”
Her face lit up, but then it saddened. “Won’t the people at the resort see us? What if they take pictures? I don’t mind going somewhere with you as long as nobody can find out who I am.”
That was when it hit me. I grabbed her hands and pulled her to me. “I got it. I have a friend who owns a private island. His name is Lucas Montgomery. He’s a professional golfer. Ever heard of him?”
Her mouth gaped, and she laughed. “My father loves to golf, and Lucas is his favorite. I can’t believe you’re friends with him. I wish I could tell him all of this.” You could, I wanted to say, but I didn’t want to pressure her.
“Well, it turns out, he bought a private island for his wife before they got married. It was so they could see each other on the down low and enjoy their time together without the paparazzi following them around.” Mine and Meghan’s story reminded me so much of theirs. Lucas’s wife was a doctor that didn’t want her reputation tarnished because of his past indiscretions. He was in the same boat I was in at the moment. It turned out well for them, and I had to believe I had a chance.
Meghan’s eyes twinkled. “A private island? Must be nice. Where’s it at?”
“South Carolina. They named it Secret Isle. As soon as we land, I can get him to pick us up and we can take his boat out to the island. No one has to know we’re there.”
Biting her lip, I could tell she was contemplating it. The pessimistic side of me knew she was going to say no, but the second she grinned and nodded, I knew I’d won. “Hell yeah,” I hollered happily. “Let’s go pack and get out of here.” I jumped off the tailgate and lifted her up in my arms. I kissed her hard and swung her around. “Thank you. This means a lot to me.”
My phone rang, and I set her down. She sat back on the tailgate while I pulled it out of my pocket. I figured it’d either be Corey, Callie, or Maddox. Some of the other guys on the team had called every now and again to see how I was, but most of the time I was busy with Meghan to even pick up the phone.
It was Corey.
“Hey, bro,” I said, voice elated. I couldn’t wait to get Meghan on the beach, all alone on a private island. Lucas had offered it to me before, but I never had anyone special to take there until now.
“Hey,” Corey replied. “You sound happy. What’s going on?”
“Meghan agreed to fly with me to Lucas’ private island for my birthday. I want to leave tomorrow.”
The line went silent, and I didn’t like it one bit. He knew Meghan didn’t want to be seen in public, and I had a feeling he was going to persuade us not to go. Out of this whole ordeal, he’d shown a great interest in Meghan’s privacy and making sure I kept her secret, for her sake. I was glad he cared about her, even if he’d never met her. They’d talked on the phone for the first time a couple weeks ago, and they hit it off great.
“Why aren’t you saying anything, Corey?”
Meghan clasped her hands in her lap and fiddled with her fingers like she always did when she was nervous. Even though she was a tough woman with a witty tongue, she still had her insecurities, just like me. Corey cleared his throat. “Will you put me on speakerphone so Meghan can hear?”
I did as he said and set the phone on the tailgate so I could hold her hands. That way, she couldn’t fidget anymore. I brought them up to my lips and kissed them. “You’re good. She can hear you.”
“Hi, Meghan,” he said.
“Hey, Corey.”
He cleared his throat again. “Do you think you two can put off the island vacation for a couple of days?”
“Why?” I snapped, not meaning to sound mad, but he’d better have a pretty damn good reason for us not to go. It was my birthday, after all.
“It’s looking like Callie’s about to go into labor a little early. She asked me to call you to see if you’d come back home for a couple of days.”
Panic settled in my gut. “Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine,” Corey assured me.
I didn’t want to leave Meghan, especially considering we only had two weeks left together. Meghan could see the turmoil on my face and kissed me. “Go,” she whispered. “I’ll be here when you come back.”
“About that,” Corey interrupted. “Callie asked that you come too, Meghan. I know you don’t want anyone seeing you, but I have it all planned out. Just wear a hat and sunglasses to be on the safe side.”
The wheels in her head turned, but it looked like she wasn’t ready to make the decision. “I’ll have James here with the jet tomorrow morning. I’ll be there no matter what.”
“Sounds good, brother. I kind of leaked it to the press that you were in the Turks and Caicos. That should keep them from searching for you when you get here.” Hopefully, that would help sway Meghan. “And Meghan, please try to come. I promise, it’s not going to be as bad as you think. On the contrary, it’s looking like things will be looking up for Justin very soon. I have everything I need to clear his name.”
Relief flooded through me. It’d been weeks with nothing but Miranda talking shit about me to the press. Unfortunately, my “disappearance” made me look guilty.
“Fuck me, it’s about time. I’ll be ready to deal with that when I get home. In the morning, I’ll let you know if Meghan’s coming with me.”
We hung up, and Meghan’s face beamed. “You’re about to free of the mega-bitch. How does it feel?”
I helped her off the tailgate and pulled her into my arms. “Pretty damn good. It’ll be nice to clear my name.”
“I bet.” She wrapped her arms around my neck, her eyes searching mine. Taking her back to Charlotte with me was risky, and all I wanted to do was beg her to come with me. I wanted her to see the other part of me that I couldn’t show her in Wyoming. “Do you honestly think we can get to Charlotte and not be seen by the paparazzi?”
With a heavy sigh, I shook my head. “Maybe when we arrive, but once I deal with Miranda, my whereabouts will be exposed. You’ll have to be disguised after that. Apparently Corey has a plan to help. I wish I knew what it was. You’ll just have to trust him.”
Taking a deep breath, she slowly let it out and smiled. “All right, I’m in. Don’t be embarrassed if I pull a Sia and wear a wig over my face.”
I burst out laughing. “You could wear a brown paper bag over your face and I wouldn’t care. Unfortunately, it would only make the press work harder to find out who you are.” Her lips pursed in defeat, but she finished it off with that sexy grin of hers. “Think you can handle it?”
A nervous laugh escaped her lips. “I hope so. I’m meeting your family, Justin. This is huge for me.”
I winked. “As long as you don’t go drooling around in front of my cousin, Maddox, I’ll be fine. The ladies tend to love him.”
Clasping her hands on my face, she kissed me long and hard. A car drove by and honked their horn at us. “You have nothing to worry about.”
Chapter Fifteen
Meghan
What the hell was I doing? In just a matter of hours I was going to be on a private jet, headed to North Carolina to meet Justin’s family. The thing I was worried most about was the unknown. I had visions in my head of the paparazzi camping out in front of Justin’s house to get pictures, but he assured me it wasn’t like that all the time. Hell, I wouldn’t want that any time.
One of the good things about the t
rip was that Justin would be able to be free of Miranda, once and for all. Only I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be easy. I was almost done packing when Justin knocked on my bedroom door.
“You okay? It’s quiet in here.”
I folded up the last of my shorts and zipped up my luggage. “Just thinking.” He walked in and set my purple suitcase onto the floor so he could lie on the bed. He patted the space beside him and I sat down. “What am I going to do while you’re dealing with the Miranda?”
His jaw clenched and anger flashed in his eyes. “I don’t plan on wasting much time with her. But while I’m gone, you’ll be at my house. You can use the pool, watch a movie in my theater room, or play in the game room. It’s all up to you.”
Mouth gaping, I stared at him incredulously. “A theater room and a game room? How much are you worth, Mr. Money Bags?”
A sly grin spread across his face. “Millions, baby girl.”
I could see having that much money being a blessing, but on the flip side, a curse. Kicking off my sandals, I lied down beside him on my elbow. “How does it feel to have that much money? I’ll never see that amount in my lifetime.”
His smile faded, and he brushed his fingers over my cheek. “It’s nice, but it doesn’t buy you love or true friends. I’m lucky to have those all on my own.” Leaning over, he kissed me softly. “Thank you for coming with me tomorrow. I really wasn’t ready to leave you yet.”
I held his hand to my cheek. “I know how you feel.”
Pressing his lips to mine, he nipped my bottom lip. “Is there anything else you want to know about me before we leave tomorrow?”
There were a million things I wanted to know, the main one being if he was falling in love with me the way I was falling in love with him. It was a question I wasn’t ready to ask. If I heard his answer, it could easily change everything between us. I liked what we had, even if I wanted more.