Hot Silver Nights: Silver Fox Romance Collection

by Ainsley Booth

  “Get out!” They escorted Lance out of the bar again.

  “Where the hell did he come from?” Arla yelled.

  “I’m going,” cried Meghan.

  “You’re making a mistake,” Arla yelled and before she could stop her, Meghan had stormed out, leaving her with the two men.

  “Some crazy dude, and a crazy bitch,” the Army Tank guy barked.

  “Don’t talk about my friend like that,” Arla snapped, getting ready to leave.

  “The guy’s a jerk. Didn’t you hear the rumors?”

  Arla looked up sharply. “What rumors?”

  “He had an affair with that student he saved.” He lifted the bottle of beer to his lips. “I don’t blame her boyfriend for wanting to shoot him.” The two men laughed. The wind in Arla’s lungs emptied with a whoosh. What rumors? An image of the shooting flashed across her mind.

  She hadn’t heard a thing.

  Chapter 30

  The evening had quickly descended into a hellhole of epic proportions. Meghan rushed past groups of people many of whom had turned to watch Lance get thrown out of the bar by the two burly security men.

  She had to know. She had to be sure. Something Lance had said made sense. When she recalled being in his apartment, she noted that it didn’t seem at all like a family home. She rushed out into the warm night air but it was dark now, and she couldn’t see him anywhere. She looked around frantically for him but there was still no sign of him. Slipping her hand into her purse, she fished out her cell phone in order to call him.

  “Meg?”

  The voice came from behind her. His voice. She turned as he stepped out from the shadows. “What are you doing there?” she asked.

  “Looking through the windows to see if you were okay.” He took a few steps forward. “What are you doing out here?”

  She folded her arms. “I came looking for you.”

  He walked up to her until they were no more than a few inches apart. “I haven’t lied to you.”

  She swallowed. “But you’re married.”

  “I’m in the middle of a divorce. We’ve been living separately for over a year.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything that day?” He stared at her as if she’d asked him something silly. “Because Cassie thinks I’m living away for work. Even when we separated, when I moved out of the family home and got an apartment nearby, even then we told her that Daddy had to work.”

  She breathed in and out a few times. Breathing long and slow and deep, making time stretch out, buying time, because she wasn’t sure she could trust him. Even though she wanted to. She could not go through that torment again.

  “She’s only five, Meg. I don’t want to make things hard for her, and Vivian is a good mother, most of the time. We’re trying to do what’s right for our daughter.”

  “But telling her lies isn’t going to help.”

  “We’re not telling her lies, we’re just not telling her the truth yet.”

  Meghan thought back to that moment that his wife had turned up in his apartment and had seen her. “But she made of point of saying that she was your wife.”

  “Vivian doesn’t want us to divorce.” Meghan’s inner alarm system sounded at this. “I’m telling you, because you should know. She doesn’t want us to break up, I’m the one who’s instigated it.”

  “Why?”

  “Irreconcilable differences.” A vein popped out in his neck and he looked as if he didn’t want to talk about it.

  “Why should I believe you?”

  “Because it’s the truth, and because I would never, I have never set out to hurt you, Meg. Not then, and not now.”

  She considered what he’d told her.

  “I know you don’t believe me, Meg, and you have every right to question me.”

  “It seemed…” She hesitated. “It seemed like a pretty big thing to omit, that’s all.”

  “How many times did we meet?” he asked, placing his hands on his hips. “It never seemed like the right time to mention it. And to tell you the truth, I never thought things between us would happen so fast. I was going to tell you about Vivian and Cassie tonight. It’s the reason why I wanted us to meet for dinner and talk. We moved too fast the last time. I couldn’t help it, even though I tried, but…,” he tapped his finger to his temples, “you’ve been in here too long, Meg.”

  “Arla doesn’t think I should believe you.”

  “Arla?” He looked confused. “I’ve heard that name before.”

  “My friend, Arla. Arla Starburger.”

  “Starburger?” he asked, the word floating over him. He frowned. “It rings a bell. Of course! Your friend at school.”

  “She saw you at the sports center with your wife and daughter.”

  He looked confused. “I’ve never taken my wife to the sports center. It’s the last place she’d want to be.”

  A feeling of dread, like arsenic in her veins, crept into Meghan’s bloodstream. Arla had seen him. She’d seen him kissing someone. Why was he lying again? “Then who were you kissing at the sports center? You did go, yesterday, didn’t you?” She stepped away, afraid of his answer, steeling herself for the bitter truth she felt coming. He turned his head from side to side slowly, as if he were trying to figure out what she was talking about. “I took Cassie swimming. There wasn’t anyone else.”

  No? His words were like a crack in the mirror. An ugly lie with veined forks, lies leading to other lies, spreading out, staring her in the face. It wasn’t until she needed to take a breath that she realized she’d been holding it in.

  “Oh, wait,” he said, clicking his fingers and rubbing his forehead. “Yeah. I remember. One of the ladies from the gym saw me. It was the first time she’d seen me in weeks because I stopped going for a while after the shooting. I kissed her, on the cheek,” he added, “Now I remember.”

  The frown didn’t leave her face. Should she believe him? A trickle of doubt resurfaced, leaving her without anything to say. “I feel as if I’m being spied on,” he said, staring at the ground. “I never meant for anything to happen between us then, Meg,” he said, softly. “I was worried about you. I could see something wasn’t right with you, and then the more we got talking, the more I found out, I wanted to help you. I never, even intended or would have pushed the line.”

  “I know.”

  “But I don’t regret anything that happened between us now.”

  She looked up, held his gaze, tried to draw the truth out from it. Her heart faltered on the precipice of something new and unknown. Only, she wasn’t sure she could take that leap.

  “I thought this was a second chance for us, and I wasn’t prepared for Vivian to mess things up. If I have any regret, it’s that I didn’t stop and tell you everything first, but I didn’t know things between us now were going to happen the way they did. Sometimes you can’t control how things happen, and sometimes you have to grab the moment. And sometimes, you have to fight to make the truth be heard. I don’t expect you to believe me. Why should you? I wouldn’t expect Cassie to blindly follow anything a man said to her. He’d have to prove himself to her first.”

  And that was just it. Lance Turner had proved himself to her, time and time again.

  “I think I believe you,” she said.

  “It’s not enough to think you believe me. It has to be stronger than that.” But she did believe him. She believed him because it all made sense and more than that, it felt right. His story, his side of things. Now when she looked back on it all, she saw Vivian’s reaction in a different light. If she did get into anything with Lance, she knew now that Vivian would do whatever she could to get in the way, but as long as she was aware of it, and Lance was, too, they could deal with her.

  Because when she looked back on it all, Lance Turner had always been there for her.

  “Why don’t we go our separate ways, Meg, and see how things work out? I’m not involved with anyone, and I can wait. I will wait for you to decide what you want to do, and it�
��s up to you whether you want to give us another go.”

  But she had already thought about it. “What if I don’t want to wait?”

  “Don’t you think you should? This evening’s been a rollercoaster of emotions.”

  “I know,” she said, staring at his eyes, then his nose, and letting her gaze settle on his lips. “But I think I’m ready to get off the roller-coaster now.” She lifted her finger to his face and caressed it.

  A couple walked out of the bar, looked at them, did a double take, and then whispered something to one another. They’d recognized him, maybe from the shooting, or maybe because they’d just seen him being thrown out.

  The local hero.

  Her parents and siblings weren’t going to like the news that she was with that teacher but she didn’t care, because it had been that teacher who had helped her through a dark time in her life. Finding one another again was like a second chance for them both. Second chances were for the taking, they were to be grabbed with both hands and cherished.

  You can read the conclusion to Lance and Meghan’s story in Book 2 when it releases. Click here to receive new release updates (and a free book)

  I sincerely hope that you enjoyed this story and if you have a moment to spare, please consider leaving a review of this book at Amazon. A review can be as short as a sentence. Your opinion goes a long way in helping others decide if a book is for them.

  Thank you so much.

  Lily

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  Acknowledgments

  I would like to thank my wonderful team of proofreaders without whom it would be impossible for me to release a book. These ladies help to polish my manuscript and eliminate the errors, typos, weird words and phrases which often find their way into my story. I am eternally grateful to them for their help and support:

  Sherrie Brown

  Marcia Chamberlain

  Nancy Dormanski

  April Lowe

  Dena Pugh

  Charlotte Rebelein

  Carole Tunstall

  About the Author

  Lily Zante is the pseudonym for an author who writes contemporary romance.

  She lives with her husband and three children somewhere near London, England.

  Connect with Me

  I love hearing from you – so please don’t be shy! Email me, message me on Facebook or connect with me on Twitter.

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  www.lilyzante.com

  lily@lilyzante.com

  Promise Me - Lori Whyte

  Sanctuary Lake #3

  Foreword

  She's a witness afraid for her life. But when she flees to her family's cabin in Sanctuary Lake, Kayla doesn't expect to find Aiden waiting for her—as sexy and tempting as ever. And he makes it clear he's prepared to protect her, no matter what.

  Click here to join Lori's Author Newsletter ~ Copyright © 2017 by S.L. Paton.

  Chapter 1

  Aiden Randall brushed his fingers over the oak wainscoting he'd been sanding. The last of that god awful green paint had finally disappeared, revealing the beautiful grain of the wood beneath. A fine film of sawdust showered to the floor as his touch slipped over the smooth, velvety surface. He grinned. Whoever had painted this back in the seventies wouldn't recognize this place by the time he was done with it, but the Bells, who'd hired him to do this renovation, would love it.

  Outside, the late autumn wind howled over Sanctuary Lake and buffeted the cabin. He glanced out the window as the building groaned under the force. The weak light on the back porch barely penetrated the darkness beyond the railing on the deck. A few bared twiggy shrubs stretched up like skeletal hands grasping the charcoal night and, past that, the water was black as sin.

  No snowflakes fell from the sky yet, but it wouldn't be long now. By morning, the ground would be covered in white. He didn't mind the chill in the air, but if the forecast was right, next week would be a hell of a lot colder. He'd need the space heater he'd brought over yesterday.

  He stretched and cocked his head from side to side. His vertebrae cracked. There were days when he wondered if he was getting too old for this, but there was always something someone needed fixed and he hated being idle. Maybe he should think about getting a partner, like his son kept telling him. But that wasn't happening tonight.

  It was well after midnight and he had to meet his brother Drew in the morning to discuss more renovations for the inn. Besides, the Bells wouldn't be back until Christmas, so he had plenty of time to finish without working until dawn. It was the same with all the vacation properties around the lake. The owners wouldn't recognize Sanctuary Lake in this in-between season when the yellow leaves had long been knocked off the trees by the winds and the cleansing layer of snow hadn’t yet blanketed the land. People came out at the holidays and for a few weeks in the summer. Then the places sat empty the rest of the year, which suited Aiden perfectly. He enjoyed the quiet. He would take a blustery day like today over any crowded noisy day in July.

  His brothers called him antisocial when he said shit like that. And maybe he was. But he was too set in his ways to change now.

  Besides, he liked his space. When he'd been growing up, his adoptive parents kept acquiring children. They had one daughter and then adopted five boys. He and his brothers were stacked on top of one another in bunkbeds that filled one little bedroom. He wasn't sure how George and Edna had been allowed to do that, but it had happened. Most of his memories from that time were of the ceaseless noise and the constant presence of other people. He loved his siblings, whether they were genetically linked or not, but was it any wonder he preferred the quiet of his own space now?

  Being out here in this half-renovated cabin all alone would always be better than that.

  It only took a few minutes to tidy up. The Bells had helped a lot by packing up their personal belongings and lake gear, so it was easy to keep things orderly as he worked. Only a few large pieces of furniture remained in this part of the house, giving Aiden lots of room to move. Just the way he liked it.

  When he was done, he grabbed his jacket and headed to the door. He'd just flicked off the lights when the bright beams from headlights whisked across the window.

  Who the hell would be coming to an empty cabin in November?

  But he could guess. There'd been a rash of break-ins lately. Bored teenagers, he suspected. Luckily, he'd already installed the security bars on the windows on the main floor. So even if he hadn't been here, they would have been forced to look elsewhere tonight.

  He crossed his arms and watched the car pull to a stop beside his. They were some brash kids to continue with their plans when his truck was parked out there. The driver killed the engine and the lights died, throwing the car and its occupants in darkness.

  One person emerged.

  One petite feminine-looking person.

  Ah hell. It was Kayla, the Bells’ daughter.

  He yanked open the door as she approached.

  Her scream was deafening. She scrambled away from him, all but running for her car.

  "Kayla, stop. It's me. Aiden."

  She froze, holding her handbag in the air like a weapon. "Aiden?"

  "I didn't mean to scare you," he said. He stepped out of the shadows of the porch and the motion sensor kicked in, turning on the light. It cast a feeble glow over them.

  Her hair was mussed, like she'd been standing in the wind for longer than a few minutes. Her smooth pale skin looked as flawless as always, but for the dark smudges under her eyes. A trick of the light, perhaps. It didn't matter. She was still beautiful. Time hadn't caught up with her, like it had him. She eyed him carefully, and he realized his face was still obscured because his back was to the light. He pivoted slightly, so she could see his profile.

  "It is you." She swore and leaned against her car. "What are you doing here?"

  "Some work for your parents."

  "Work?"

  "Renovations."


  "Ah, man. I told them I would get to it," she muttered. She pushed her hand through her hair.

  Aiden shrugged. "Guess you didn't know, hey?" He'd wondered why her parents hadn't asked her to sketch up their ideas for him to use. She was an architect, after all, and had the skills to draft up their thoughts better than he could.

  "Nope." She sighed.

  The wind whipped at them and her hair flew around her face like ribbons. Aiden stepped forward. It'd been a while since he'd last seen her. He'd begun to think she'd left him behind for good. Hell, maybe she had. It wasn't like she'd sought him out here. But he couldn't stop himself from drawing closer.

  "What brings you here?"

  She looked away and clasped her arms over her purse. "Just… getting away from the city for a bit."

  He shook his head. She was lying to him, but he couldn't blame her for not saying anything. Whatever had happened between them in the past had more of a friends-with-benefits vibe than a confidant thing. Fewer words, more action.

  "Can't stay here unless you want to rough it," he said.

  Her gaze snapped back to him. "Why?"

  "I turned off the water when I gutted the bathroom. The new toilet and sink don't come in until next week."

  Her shoulders drooped. She took a deep breath in and let it out long and slow. Then she did it again.

  "Kayla?" He drew closer again. "You okay?"

  "Yep. Fine." A sheen of wetness shimmered in her eyes, but she blinked it away. "I guess I'll have to go up to the inn."

  He shook his head. "Mason and Anna have shut it for the week. They're finally going on their honeymoon."

  She tilted her head back and stared at the sky as if imploring some heavenly being for help.