by Sarah Curtis
The heat smacked her as they stepped out of the air-conditioned building. As she’d predicted, it was sweltering.
“Still feel up to packing?” Nate asked as they walked hand in hand through the parking lot.
“Absolutely.” She eyed Nate’s car with a critical eye as they passed it. “Will we be able to fit everything in that?”
“I’ll make it work.”
“Okay.” She brushed his cheek with a kiss before starting a light jog to her trailer, calling over her shoulder, “Last one packed is a rotten egg.”
She slowed at the stairs to search through her bag for her keys. Still not finding them when she reached the top, she leaned her butt against the handrail. Raising her left knee, she placed her foot on the middle bar, creating a shelf with her leg for her purse so she could properly look through it, and felt the railing give against her weight. Her purse flew from her hands, sailing over her head, its contents raining around her.
She teetered—for what felt like endless moments—staring up at the bright light of the sun, until unable to keep her balance, she shrieked as she tumbled backward over the top of the handrail. The ground swooped up, and she landed painfully on her hip with her shoulder taking the next brunt then finally her head. Dazed, she saw a sprinkling of stars before blackness.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Victoria’s shriek had Nate’s head whipping her direction. He watched—as if in slow motion—as she flipped over the handrail, disappearing from view behind the stairs. It was at least a four-foot fall.
“Victoria!” His feet started moving before his brain could compute what he’d just seen. Picking up speed, he sprinted full-out only slowing to round the stairs. His foot skidded on some loose dirt, and out of reflex, he made a grab for the tilted handrail. It tore away from the trailer, the side he wasn’t holding, landing with a thump a few inches from Victoria’s head.
“What the fuck?”
Tossing the railing to the side, he dropped to his knees, his hand coming out to lightly skim Victoria’s face. He was afraid to touch her. “Tori?” Her lids fluttered. “Tori, baby, can you hear me?” His hand fell to her neck, searching for her pulse and was only slightly relieved when he felt the strong beat under his fingertips.
“Tori?”
Her head moved toward the sound of his voice, her eyes fluttering open. He brought his face down to her level. “Sweetheart, can you hear me?”
Her arm flew up, her hand coming to rest on her forehead. “What happened?”
“Don’t move.” He reached into his back pocket of his jeans for his cell phone. His fingers trembled, making it difficult to wake it, but he finally found the correct buttons to connect his call.
His heartbeat pounded at an alarming speed through his ears as he waited for the operator to pick up. “Starlight Studios, how may I direct your call?”
“This is Nathan Reed. I need an ambulance sent to my trailer, immediately.”
“One moment, sir. Please hold the line.”
“Nate?”
He felt Victoria try to shift, and he quickly moved his hand to her shoulder holding her in place. “Baby, please don’t move until someone comes and looks you over.” He didn’t want her hurting herself worse than she already may be.
“Emergency services.” A female voice said over the line.
“This is Nathan Reed,” he clipped out, pissed he needed to repeat himself. “I need an ambulance at my trailer, studio thirty-nine.”
“One is on its way with an ETA of three minutes. Can you tell me the nature of the emergency?”
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, knowing he wouldn’t be doing Victoria any favors by yelling at the people trying to help her, he said, “My fiancée fell off some stairs—about four feet. She hit her head, blacking out for a minute. She’s pregnant.”
“Thank you, sir. The information has been relayed to the EMTs. Please stay on the line until they arrive.”
“Nate, I’m fine. You didn’t need to call an ambulance.”
Nate put his phone on speaker and set it on the ground. “You’re going to the hospital. No arguing this time.”
She didn’t argue, but her lips compressed, and she shot daggers at him. If he weren’t so worried, he would laugh at her effort to restrain sassing back. As it was, he was doing his best not to flip the fuck out.
He heard a car approach at the same time he heard sirens in the distance. Turning his head, he looked over his shoulder to see security pull up. A large, beefy guy stepped out of the car and headed his direction.
“What’s going on, Mr. Reed?”
“Banister gave way and my fiancée fell over the side.” Nate nodded at the handrail, lying discarded on the ground.
He watched the security guard inspect the rail and the side of the trailer but was soon distracted when the EMTs arrived.
“Sir, you need to step back.”
Though it went against every natural instinct, Nate did as the medic asked, watching with a hawk eye as they examined Victoria, asking her questions and taking her vitals. After securing her neck with a brace, they lifted her onto a stretcher and started wheeling her to the ambulance.
“Wait.” He stopped the medics before they could lift her. “Where are you taking her?”
“Cedars,” the EMT on the right piped up.
Nate stepped closer to the stretcher so Victoria could see his face. “I’m going to follow in the car, behind you. You’ll be okay?”
He took her hand, and she gave it a light squeeze. “I’ll be fine.”
“Mr. Reed!”
Nate ignored the security officer calling his name. “I love you. You’re going to be fine.” He wasn’t sure if he was reassuring her or himself.
“Mr. Reed!”
“I know. Stop worrying.” She gave his hand another squeeze, stronger this time. “You’d better go see what he wants.”
“Mr. Reed!”
Nate scowled over his shoulder, holding up his free hand. “I’ll be right there.”
“Sir, we need to go.”
Nate nodded to the EMTs, releasing Victoria’s hand and stepping back. He watched as they lifted her into the back, one of the medics staying with her, and the other closing the doors then rounding the side of the ambulance to get in the driver’s side. He stayed watching until it drove away then made his way over to the guard, his long strides quickly eating the distance.
“You said the railing fell off when Miss Lee leaned against it?”
Nate spied his phone still on the ground and picked it up, tucking it into his back pocket. “Yes, that’s right.”
“Funny.” His tone implied funny curious and not funny ha ha.
“What’s funny?” Nate asked, taking a step closer.
“I only found one screw on the ground.” He held out his hand, a single screw lay on his open palm. “Where’s the rest of them?”
Nate’s eyes scanned the ground. No other screws were in sight. “Are you saying this wasn’t an accident? That someone maliciously fucked with it?”
“That’s what it looks like. I need to call this in to the authorities. You’ll need to stick around and make a statement.”
Nate was already shaking his head before the guard finished speaking. “I’m leaving, now. I’ll be at Cedars if the cops want to talk to me.” Then, not giving the guard a chance to object, he turned on his heel, giving him his back and making quick work to his car.
Nate ran into the emergency entrance of Cedars Sinai Medical Center nearly colliding with two people on his way to the nurses’ station, but he didn’t slow down. He’d been away from Victoria long enough already.
“My fiancée, Victoria Lee was brought in a few minutes ago.”
The nurse looked up from her computer, did a double-take then went bug-eyed and slack-jawed.
Nate usually had patience for star-struck individuals, even sympathizing with them, but not today. “Victoria Lee?” he barked.
The nurse quickly looked back to he
r computer, tapping at the keyboard. “Room one-twenty. Just down the hall.” She pointed to her right.
“Thank you.” Nate didn’t waste any time making his way down the hall, looking at numbers on doors until he found the right one. The door was slightly ajar, and he pushed it open then soundlessly closed it shut behind him.
Victoria, draped in a hospital gown, lay on a bed in a private room. A hospital employee stood at her side fiddling with a large piece of equipment. He didn’t make a sound as he walked deeper into the room, but as if sensing him, Victoria’s head turned his direction, their eyes locking. She greeted him with a small smile, but he could see worry in her eyes, and he picked up his pace to reach her side.
“How are you feeling?” He reached for her hand, engulfing her icy fingers with his warm ones.
“They’re about to do an ultrasound to make sure the baby’s okay.”
His stomach dropped, and his heart started beating too fast. “Are they worried?”
She shook her head. “It’s just a precaution.”
Finished fiddling with the machine, the technician turned, freezing at the sight of him before getting her act together. “I… I’m ready to start.” The tech’s face turned red, and she pulled her gaze away from his to look at Victoria. “Is it okay if the gentleman stays?”
He liked that the tech had asked but liked Victoria’s answer even better. “Yes. He’s the father.”
Something shifted in his chest, and a feeling of pride and possession filled the space when Victoria acknowledged she was carrying his baby to a total stranger. Overwhelmed by the strange emotions, he directed his eyes to their joined hands, his thumb playing with the ring on her finger.
His brand.
His shouted announcement for all that came near that she belonged to him.
The tech raised Victoria’s gown, revealing her stomach while being careful to leave the sheet covering her hips, in place. “This might feel a little weird.” She held a bottle over Victoria’s stomach, squeezing out a zig-zagged line of clear goo.
Victoria’s belly fluttered, and a small hiss escaped her lips.
His eyes flashed to her. “You okay?”
“Yeah, it was just a little chilly.”
The tech placed a wand-shaped instrument on Victoria’s stomach, and after a few seconds of positioning, a swishing sound filled the room.
“What the hell is that?” Nate whipped his head around as if the source of the sound would magically appear.
“Your baby’s heartbeat.”
Nate, at a loss for words, was floored further when the tech turned the monitor of the machine, angling it their direction. He needed no explanation for what was displayed on the screen. He could see it plain as day.
His baby.
Head. Arms. Kicking legs.
Pointing the cursor to a little fluttering spot, the tech said, “The baby’s heart and heartbeat.”
Victoria’s hand squeezing his, drew him from his daze. He took a step closer—his thighs pressing into the rails of the bed—to get a better look. They silently stared at the monitor. He couldn’t look away. He knew he was awed and figured Victoria was feeling the same way.
The tech spent time adjusting the wand and clicking the computer mouse, leaving little dots on the screen. “According to the measurements, your due date of February seventh seems accurate.” She zoomed in and clicked one last button before the screen went blank. Setting the wand aside, she cleaned off Victoria’s stomach with a towel then put her gown back into place.
Finally, finding his voice, Nate asked, “So everything looks okay. The fall didn’t hurt it?”
For the first time since he’d first walked in the door, the technician looked at him. She started blushing before she even opened her mouth. “Everything looks fine, Mr. Reed.” She held a photo out to him. “A still shot of the baby.”
His eyes flicked to her name badge. “Thank you, Angela.”
If possible, her cheeks turned redder. “The doctor should be with you shortly.” She backed the cart, holding the ultrasound, from the side of the bed then made her way to the door, looking over her shoulder at him, one last time, before leaving.
Nate’s attention was on the photo when he heard Victoria say, “And another woman falls victim to your devastatingly handsome good looks.”
Nate gave Victoria a smirk. “But I only have eyes for you.” He heard a delicate snort. “What? You don’t believe me?”
“You’re a man. Men’s eyes roam.”
He felt a frown pull at his brow. Where the hell had that come from? He knew their argument from the day before was still fresh, but before that she’d never come off as the jealous or distrustful type—not that he’d ever given her reason not to trust him. Maybe it was time they had the Past Relationship talk.
He’d been avoiding the issue for two very good reasons. One, he hadn’t wanted to bring up a bunch of women that hadn’t meant anything to him, stirring up any resentment, and two, he sure as fuck didn’t want to know who’d come before him. It was a case of ignorance truly was bliss.
But as much as he’d love to bury his head in the sand, he couldn’t let that shit slide. “Some men’s eyes might roam, but mine won’t. I’ve got everything I’ll ever want to look at sitting right in front of me.”
She looked down at their clasped hands but didn’t say anything.
“Hey.” Taking her by the chin, he tilted her head back. “Talk to me. What’s running through that head of yours?”
Her lids fell, blocking their gazes. That, he wouldn’t stand for. He wanted to read her expression, but more importantly, he wanted her to read his. “Look at me.” When he had her eyes, he repeated, “Talk.”
“The last relationship I was in, he cheated on me.” She sighed, leaning her head back on the pillow but still maintained eye contact. “We were together for a year. I know things were good at first. We were in an off-Broadway play together and with each other practically twenty-four-seven. But then the play ended. He got another bit part practically right away. I didn’t have anything lined up for a couple of months.”
Kind of like their situation now. He could see how her imagination jumped to the wrong conclusions when she saw those pictures.
“Anyway, a few weeks after he started the new job, I started seeing less and less of him. At first, I chalked the late nights up to new-show rehearsals, and then I justified his absence to working extra hard to make a good impression. We both know the hours involved to produce a flawless opening night, right?”
She gave him an imploring look, begging him with her eyes to agree with her. He knew where this story was going and didn’t have the heart to disagree, so nodded his understanding.
“I thought it would be nice to surprise him with dinner one night. He’d texted me earlier and told me everyone had worked through without a chance to eat. When I arrived at the theater, the place was empty. Of course, curiosity got the best of me, and I went backstage. I found him in his dressing room. He wasn’t alone. He also wasn’t wearing any clothes.” For the first time in her story, a glint of anger hit her eyes. “And that, as they say, was the end of that.”
As fucked as that story was, it wasn’t nearly as fucked up as the thoughts going through his head—how he was happy the prick fucked up, giving him his shot with Victoria. Of course, he didn’t say that out loud, that would make him an asshole, admitting he didn’t give a shit about Victoria’s feelings. And he did care, he hated that she got hurt, but he was selfish enough to admit, at least to himself, he was happy it had happened.
Now he just needed to know one more thing, then he could set her straight and put this whole fucking conversation to bed. “Did you love him?”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Victoria contemplated Nate’s question. He deserved a truthful answer, but she didn’t want to come off sounding fickle, uncertain, or especially, insincere.
Dropping her eyes to her lap, she said, “At the time, I thought I did, until you sho
wed me what real love feels like. Now, I know what I felt for him isn’t even close to the feelings I have for you.
“We’d met on set, and at first, I hadn’t been interested in a relationship. It was my first major role, and I’d wanted to put everything I had into the part. But he wore me down, and I thought, anyone who would put that much interest into pursuing someone had to be serious, so I gave in.
“Looking back, I think it was more the challenge he was interested in. Even after we were together, he had to work for my affection. I was so focused on my role, I didn’t have time for much else. I made him wait months until I was ready to sleep with him and even after that, our sex life was sporadic at best. I think I knew, deep down, he wasn’t the one for me, but I was so busy living in the moment, I never stopped to analyze my feelings.
“Flash forward a year later, the play is done and so are we.” She shrugged. “I should have realized when it only took me two-point-five seconds to get over him that what we had wasn’t real.”
Looking up from her lap, she stared right into Nate’s eyes. “It felt nothing like I felt when I saw those pictures and thought you’d betrayed me. I’d never felt a pain like that before. It was also when I realized how much I loved you. The true know-it-down-to-your-soul kind of love.”
Sincerity lacing her words, she finished, “I want you to know, I truly am over Chad—have been for years. I think the similarities of the situation messed with my head and made me overreact and run. I know that wasn’t fair to you.”
He’d patiently listened the whole time she talked, not once interrupting, and she was grateful he let her get everything out in one fell swoop. But now done listening, he said, “No, it wasn’t fair, but understandable now that I know where your head was at. I have a couple of things to say, and then we’ll never talk about this again. Understand?” At her nod, he continued, “First, what we have, who I am, is nothing like what’s-his-face.”
“Chad.”
His eyes blazed, and she saw, for the first time, the anger he was holding in check. “For my sake, baby, please don’t mention that asshole’s name, now or ever again.”