“So?” Gina put her face in her hands for a long moment.
“Hey, whatever it is, it’s okay.” Linda placed a comforting hand on Gina’s shoulder. “Really. It’s okay.”
Gina sniffed loudly and shook her head before she wiped her eyes. “You’re the only one I trust. Except maybe Chuck.” Gina ignored Linda’s snort of derision. “He’s been good to me. He’s been a rock while I rebuilt the business.”
“Why don’t you start from the beginning?” Linda’s forehead creased as she watched her friend struggle to find her voice.
Gina was always so together, so confident. This was a side of her friend Linda hadn’t seen for years. Even at college Gina rarely showed her emotions and Linda had only ever seen her fall apart in the privacy of the small dorm room they once shared.
“I met someone.” Gina sniffed loudly, and Linda stuck her hand in the glove compartment and handed her a tissue.
“Here.” Linda watched Gina wipe her eyes before she pulled away from a red light. The traffic was heavy, and her car crawled along petulantly.
“Thanks.” She dabbed her eyes. “I met someone, who I thought was really special. And I thought he liked me a lot, too.”
“What happened?” Linda didn’t have to be clairvoyant to know the relationship had ended badly.
“He took some explicit pictures of me and threatened to put them online if I didn’t do as he wanted.”
The car lurched forward as Linda fought the need to rip someone’s head off. “Gina, I am so sorry.”
She shrugged. “I should have known better. No one has ever loved me for me, it’s always been because of who I am.”
“Are you pregnant?”
Gina nodded and erupted into tears once more. “I don’t know what to do.”
“About what?” Linda asked as she glanced sideways at her friend. She looked so young and vulnerable, as if they were back in college and she was being told her fees hadn’t been paid. Harvey. Linda would bet good money he was behind this.
“All of it.” Gina wiped her tears away. “Damn, I need to get a grip.”
“First you need to stop blaming yourself.” Linda threw a stern look Gina’s way. “This is not your fault. And you are not alone.”
Gina hiccupped. “Thank you.”
“So let’s break it down. How did it all begin?” There was still an hour’s drive until they reached the airport. “We might as well fill the time by filling me in with all the gory details.”
“Thanks.” Gina cleared her throat and composed herself. “I was at a conference. Afterward I wanted to relax and so I went to a bar. There I got talking to some guy.”
“Names. I want all the details.” If she was going to help Gina she was going to need all the facts, even those Gina might think inconsequential.
“Joaquin Marsh.” The color rose in Gina’s cheeks. “Although I’m going to admit we didn’t get much further than first names. Not at first. And even then, I had no idea who he was.”
“And who is he?” Linda steered the car onto the main highway, happy to be free of the city traffic.
“He is the son of a machinery merchant.” Gina shifted uneasily in her seat and rubbed her forehead with her index finger.
“Wow. Impressive.” Linda raised her eyebrows.
“Don’t.” Gina smothered a smile before continuing.
“Sorry.” Linda took a left turn and the black sports car leaped forward as she accelerated.
A shuddering breath made Gina’s teeth chatter. “Joaquin Marsh is trying to blackmail me.”
“How?” Linda’s eyes widened.
“His company is in a bidding war for a contract to supply truck tires to Taylor Transport. If I don’t accept their bid, he’ll release the photographs.”
“Bastard!” It all made sense now.
“I’m due to meet with them tomorrow.” Her cheeks flushed a deep red.
“And you needed moral support rather than a bodyguard.” The tightness in Linda’s chest gave way to a dull ache.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m going to give Joaquin Marsh a piece of my mind, and if I don’t get those photographs back I might have to take a memento of my own. One of his front teeth for example.” Linda’s hands tightened around the steering wheel. “What a bastard.”
“The thing is, I don’t know if he is the one who sent the photographs.” Gina smoothed her hair back, making her ponytail slick once more.
“Oh. So someone else took the photos and is trying to manipulate you into what? Giving the contract to someone else, a rival firm, because you won’t be blackmailed.” Linda nodded. “That makes much more sense. Like reverse logic or something.”
“It does.” Gina looked out of the window for a moment, her thoughts far away. When she finally spoke, her voice was no more than a whisper. “Or… What if whoever is behind it thinks this is the perfect way to kill my happiness? I wonder if it’s Harvey’s way of getting back at me. He knew I was going to the convention…”
“I never took Harvey for being the manipulative type.” Linda didn’t like the way Harvey had treated Gina since his dad fired him, but he was always a straight-talking guy.
A simple guy, her bear agreed.
Gina dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “Before we left, after I spoke to you…”
“Go on, Gina,” Linda urged.
“Chuck said he’d gotten proof Harvey was in town when the convention was on. What if he set the whole thing up? Or maybe he stalked me and then took the photographs. Or paid someone…” Gina put her face in her hands. “I don’t know.”
“Then we’ll ask Joaquin.” Linda swept away the images in her head of her bear roaring in Joaquin’s face. They didn’t even know what he looked like.
“I don’t know if I can see him again.” Gina shook her head.
“I thought you said you were happy with Joaquin Marsh?” Linda asked gently. “What if he is innocent? Do you want to throw that away? With the pregnancy and everything?”
“He was funny, he made me laugh. He’s great in bed.” She smiled a wistful smile. “The time I spent with him was a million miles away from my life at Taylor Transport. If he’d asked me I would have walked away from it all.”
“Why didn’t you?” Linda knew Gina had only joined Taylor Transport because she was needed. Her dreams lay elsewhere.
“Because it’s family. My dad might not always have been there for me, and Harvey no longer speaks to me…but they are all I’ve got.” She smiled a sad smile. “Maybe if my mom was still around it would be different. Maybe my relationship with Harvey would be different. We wouldn’t have been pitted against each other.”
“You don’t know how many times I’ve thought the same thing.” Linda sighed heavily. “Families, huh?”
“What do I do?” Gina asked.
“Have you spoken to Joaquin?” Linda asked.
“No. I stopped answering his phone calls and texts when the pictures arrived. I was so angry.”
“You really thought he was behind it?” Linda glanced sideways at Gina. The hurt on her friend’s face was painful to witness.
“At first, then I started to look at it objectively and realized it was unlikely.” Gina smoothed her hand over her stomach. “Then I found out I was pregnant.”
“Hey.” Linda placed her hand over Gina’s as her friend sobbed loudly.
“I don’t want him to know I’m pregnant.” Her fists balled in her lap. “I can’t believe this happened. It was complicated enough, but the baby makes it all worse. What if he uses the baby to manipulate me for life?”
“It isn’t your fault and you are not alone,” Linda reassured Gina.
“Do you think my dad will see it that way?” Gina replied hotly. “If those photos get out… You know he thinks the family reputation is worth more than his kids’ happiness.”
“That’s not true. He loves you,” Linda assured her.
“A baby out of wedlock? You know how old-fa
shioned he is.” Gina sniffed loudly.
“It happens.” Linda looked at Gina, and a wave of jealousy swept over her that she soon pushed away. She would love Gina’s baby as if it were her own. Perhaps that’s what fate had in mind for Linda. No children of her own, no man of her own, but a surrogate family who needed her instead. “And I’m here for you, whatever you need. And maybe your dad will be happy to have a grandchild.”
“Thanks, Linda. Although I know how busy you are with your job.”
“Then I’ll give it up. I can get some work locally. As long as I can pay my way, I’m okay with that.”
Gina laid her head back and grinned. “I could hire you as a nanny.”
Linda laughed. “Oh, honey, don’t even joke about that because I’m so damn broody right now I might take you up on it.”
“So no man in your life? No mate waiting in the wings?”
“Nope, I think he’s hiding in the hills somewhere.” Linda could only imagine meeting the man of her dreams. Falling in love was something she had never experienced and so even though Gina was nursing a broken heart and the guy she’d fallen for might be a blackmailing asshole who had left her pregnant, she was envious of Gina.
What a twisted mess her life was.
And what a twisted mess Joaquin Marsh would be by the time Linda had finished with him.
Chapter Four – Craig
“That is the plane?” Craig asked as he stood next to Joaquin Marsh in the airport lounge overlooking a private runway. Yes, they were now on first-name terms. No, it wasn’t very professional, but the guy was hard not to like.
“It is.” Joaquin’s lips formed a thin line. He wasn’t so keen on the small plane either.
They had flown for two hours only to land at an airport where they would board a different, much smaller, plane which would fly them to Reamington, a large town just outside of Bear Creek.
Twitchy, erratic, and nuts, his bear added to the list of character traits Joaquin possessed.
You forgot loyal and in love, Craig replied. What wouldn’t he do for his mate?
“And this woman of yours is due to board this plane at seventeen hundred hours?” Craig looked at his watch. Ten minutes until the scheduled take-off time. Perhaps the love of Joaquin’s life was about to stand him up without even realizing it. Some people didn’t catch a break.
“She’ll be here,” Joaquin said confidently. Or was his confidence a mask for his desperation? After the two-hour flight to get here the thought of his woman not turning up must be hard to take.
“How do you know?” Craig asked. “How do you know she’s going to get on that plane?”
“Because she has a meeting in Reamington tomorrow morning with my father.” He glanced up at Craig. “It’s a deal that could help prop up Marsh Machinery. The recession hit us hard.”
“And you hope to persuade her to take the deal?” Craig closed his eyes and berated himself for getting emotionally involved. The letter in his breast pocket should have reminded him why he made it a rule not to get involved in other people’s business.
“No.” He looked kind of guilty. “I just want to talk to her and find out what happened between us.” There was nothing so sad as a desperate man. No wonder the woman had stopped talking to Joaquin. This was a conflict of interest that would kill any budding relationship.
“Oh, man. You are in love with the woman who could destroy your family business. This is not going to end well.” Craig clamped his hand down on Joaquin’s shoulder. “As your bodyguard, I aim to march your right out of here and not let you get on that plane.”
“There she is.” Joaquin didn’t appear to have heard the last words Craig spoke to him. Instead his body was as straight as a poker and his attention was fixed on two women who were running across the airport heading for the gate that would lead them out onto the tarmac where the toy plane sat waiting.
Yes, it was a real plane, but Craig doubted it would take off once he and the other three passengers were on board, especially since one of the women who had just arrived at the gate was built like an Amazonian warrior woman.
He swallowed down his own desire. He had no right to go lusting after a woman like that, especially since she might be the woman Joaquin was in love with.
However, Craig couldn’t just swallow down his desire or push it from his mind. She drew him toward her, one step at a time.
Craig faltered, taking a firm hold of himself. Was she some kind of siren? If he was in love with her and Joaquin was in love with her, what other explanation could there be?
“We should go.” Joaquin reached out for Craig and pulled him forward, his attention fixed on the two women who were showing their tickets and being ushered through the gate. “We need to let them get on the plane and then join them at the last possible moment, so Gina can’t get back off.”
Craig watched the two women as they disappeared down the tunnel leading to the tarmac. However, just before they were out of sight, the tall Amazonian woman swung her head in his direction and locked eyes with him.
Craig stopped dead. Both his feet, and his heart, refused to function as he stared into her eyes. Time and space ceased to exist. They were locked together in a moment of recognition.
Then the other woman reached for his mate and pulled her forward.
His mate. Craig was certain that’s who she was. His woman. The person he was supposed to spend the rest of his days with had entered and exited his life in a fleeting moment, leaving behind only a snapshot of her face.
“Come on.” Joaquin beckoned him forward.
For a moment, Craig stood in a daze, then he took one step forward, and another, until he was running after his mate. There was no way he was letting her get away from him now. Fate had set them up to be here at the exact same time and fate was never wrong.
The two men followed in the footsteps of the two women like two primal beasts tracking down a female to procreate with.
Only what if they were both chasing the same woman?
Joaquin was about to be disappointed. Craig might like the guy but not enough to relinquish his true mate.
“Did you see her? She’s perfect.” Joaquin paused at the door leading out onto the tarmac. “I don’t want her to see me.”
Craig resisted the urge to shove Joaquin out of the way and run to the plane without him. He had to act like a professional. No matter what happened, he was under contract to protect Joaquin Marsh, even if that was from himself.
“We have to go.” Craig jostled Joaquin forward as the small plane’s engine started. “If we don’t go now the plane will leave without us.”
Joaquin nodded and stumbled forward. He recovered quickly, and the two men sprinted toward the plane.
“We thought you’d changed your mind. Another minute or two and the plane would have left without you.” The guy waiting at the bottom of the steps looked distinctly annoyed but didn’t say anything else as Craig and Joaquin boarded the plane.
“You should go first.” Joaquin was right, if he wanted to stay out of view, he should walk in behind Craig, who was nearly twice as wide as him and half a foot taller.
Only when Craig went to move past Joaquin, it was almost as if the strength in his body had been zapped away. He looked up, his eyes resting on the back of the woman who was his mate. She was hunched over in her seat with her friend comforting her. “I’m sorry I got you into this. Do you think you’ll be okay?”
His mate nodded and said, “I’m fine, it’s not your fault. It must be lack of food.”
“Here, I have some chocolate.” The other woman dug in her purse as Craig and Joaquin sat down in their seats at the back of the small plane and fastened their seatbelts.
Behind them the steps were stowed, and the door shut with a clang. As the plane began to move forward, Craig was overwhelmed with the idea they were about to go into the air in a tin can. His hands went to the buckle of his seatbelt. He had to stop them from taking off, this was such a bad idea, he had
to protect his mate.
“Craig, it’s okay,” Joaquin said beside him. “I’ve flown in these planes loads of times.”
“You have?” Craig asked. Their roles were reversed. Joaquin was the one taking care of Craig.
“Yes, I’ve even flown one once or twice.” He smiled wistfully. “I wanted to be a pilot when I was growing up, but my dad wanted me to work for the company. The compromise was I worked for him and I learned to fly. It’s my backup plan.” He laughed ironically. “If this goes badly I might need it.”
“Good to know. So if the pilot has a heart attack or anything, you’ll get us down safe?” Craig’s voice wavered with nerves. What was wrong with him? He’d served his country for years, done more tours of duty than he cared to remember and flown into some of the heaviest fire imaginable. Now here he was scared to go into the air and fly over the mountains next his hometown of Bear Creek.
Because of her, his bear reminded him.
Yes, because of her. He couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to his mate. Yet Joaquin was right, they were safe, these small aircrafts were subject to stringent safety tests.
So why did his stomach drop down to his boots when the wheels left the ground?
He gripped the armrests of his seat and closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. Almost immediately they flew open again.
And met the intense stare of his mate.
He opened his mouth to speak. He had to say something, even though his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth and he could hardly swallow because his throat was constricted.
The woman seated next to his mate looked up at her with concern and then glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes widened as they rested on Joaquin and she screeched, “You!” Gina’s voice pierced the small airplane cabin. At least Craig’s mate wasn’t the woman Joaquin was in love with.
“I can explain.” Joaquin was still sat in his seat with his seatbelt on, but he had his hands outstretched as if trying to calm his true love down.
Craig gave a fleeting thanks to fate for not making him fall in love with the same woman as his temporary employer.
Survivor Bear Page 3