She held his hand as he leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Hi, J.T., it’s nice to see you again. Where’s your lovely wife tonight?”
Megan had interviewed Nikki Spencer McCall for her TV show. She was as sweet and genuine as she was talented. Nikki had joked that once she set her sights on J.T., he didn’t have a prayer of maintaining his single status.
“She’s down with a cold, I’m afraid. I’m headed back to her now. I promised her I’d pick up some chicken soup on my way.”
“Awww, you’re such a good husband.” Megan couldn’t explain why his thoughtfulness hit her square in the chest. Perhaps because she wanted a man who loved her enough to drop everything to bring her soup when she was under the weather.
J.T. stepped away from his doorman. “She’d do the same for me.”
“How have you guys made it work under the intense pressure of your careers?”
J.T. smirked as he placed a hand at the small of her back to lead her through the crowd. “Is that question off the record?”
“Sorry,” she said, smiling. “I guess I can’t help myself. Living in L.A. and doing what I do tends to make a person cynical about relationships. But you guys seem to have it all figured out around here. What is it about country musicians that makes them so much different than other celebrities? I mean, they’re all about family and friends and…” Except for one country musician who came to mind. The only family her father cared about was the one he shared with his current wife. She realized she’d gotten lost in her thoughts when J.T. shot her a curious glance. “Never mind.”
“I thought you weren’t lookin’ to put down roots here?”
Megan didn’t know if confiding in Nick’s uncle was so easy because of his roots as a bartender, but she found herself saying, “I don’t. I mean, Nashville isn’t my home. L.A. is, but that doesn’t even feel like…”
“What?” J.T. put his arm around her shoulder.
Shaking her head, Megan decided against finishing her thought. “It’s just been nice getting to know you guys. Your brother and Avery have made me feel at home out at the ranch, almost like part of the family.”
J.T. squeezed her tighter. “I know that’s how they feel about you. They’ve told Nikki and me plenty of times they think you’re a great girl. I know how much they’d love it if you’d at least think about stickin’ around.”
Her life would have been so different if she’d had a father like Ty or J.T. instead of Manny Moore. Someone she could depend on, who would listen when she had a problem or dry her tears when some boy broke her heart.
Nick appeared at her side. “Change of plans?” he whispered in her ear.
She flinched, hoping he couldn’t tell his presence affected her. “No.” She smiled at J.T. “Excuse me, J.T. It was great chatting with you again, but I see my date over there.”
“Have fun, sugar.” He kissed her hand. “Listen, why don’t you stop by for lunch sometime? I’d like to finish our chat.”
Megan knew Nick’s uncle was the last person she should confide in, but she didn’t want to offend him. “How does tomorrow sound?”
“Perfect. I’m lookin’ forward to it.”
***
Nick watched Megan approach Shaw’s table, his eyes roaming her curvaceous body in that tight little dress. No matter what, he wouldn’t let Carver be the one peeling it off of her tonight.
“Man, she’s somethin’ else. You gotta be outta your mind to let Shaw have her,” J.T. said as he shook hands with a patron who passed by.
“I didn’t let him have her. She met him her first day out at the ranch. They’ve been seein’ each other ever since.”
“You think it’s gettin’ serious?” J.T. watched the couple. “Maybe he’s the reason she seemed a little more hesitant about leavin’ Nashville.”
“You think so?” Nick wished he had some insight into her thoughts and feelings.
“I don’t know.” J.T. nudged his nephew. “You want me to try to find out for you?”
Nick knew he shouldn’t even consider using his uncle’s friendship with Megan, but his window of opportunity seemed to be closing, and he wasn’t ready for that. “Yeah, see what you can find out.”
“You know anything she tells me in confidence is off limits.”
Nick wasn’t surprised. The McCall men were all cut from the same cloth. Honor your word, no matter the cost. “I get that.”
“Man, if you’re into her, don’t waste time.”
“I’m afraid it might be too late to undo the damage I’ve done. She doesn’t trust me.”
“Why’s that?”
“I gave her a real hard time when she came here. I found out some stuff about her, things that didn’t sit well with me. I worried she was usin’ my parents.” Nick watched Megan throw her head back, laughing at something Shaw said, and his gut tightened. Nick wondered if he was too late to explore his feelings for her.
J.T. elbowed him in the ribs, trying to get his attention. “You don’t still think that, do you? Anyone can see she’s an honest, hard-working girl just trying to make a decent life for herself away from everyone and everything she knows.”
“I’m startin’ to see that now, but I’m wonderin’ if I might be a day late.”
“What do you mean?”
“Megan walked in while I was talkin’ to Anna last night. She heard me call her a gold-digger and tell my sister I couldn’t stand her. Now she thinks I’m workin’ some angle because I told her I wanted to try to get along.”
“Are you?”
“No.”
“What changed your mind?”
Nick couldn’t describe the way Megan had made him feel when they stood mere inches apart: the hitch in his breath when her soft curves brushed against him, the scent of her perfume, the smoothness of her skin that made him want to discover whether every secret crevice was as soft as the skin on her cheek.
He wanted to know if she would tremble in his arms when he kissed the back of her neck or if thrill bumps would rise on her skin when he slid his tongue along the slope of her shoulder…
“Hello,” J.T. said, snapping his fingers in front of his nephew’s face. “I asked you a question. What happened to change your mind?”
“I’ll be damned if I know.” Nick watched Carver lead her to the dance floor when a slow song started. “Last night, I started feelin’ somethin’. It caught me off guard.”
“Did it really?”
“Yeah.” Nick tore his attention away from Megan just long enough to look at his uncle. “Why?”
“Seems to me you’ve been fightin’ your attraction to her for a while now.”
“What makes you say that?”
“You didn’t want to like her because you saw her as Carver’s woman, but you couldn’t help yourself. You told yourself she was an opportunist because you weren’t willin’ to admit the truth.”
“Which is?”
J.T. gave him a wry grin. “Carver has somethin’ you want a hell of a lot more than you’ve ever wanted that Derby trophy.”
Nick closed his eyes to shut out the image of Megan wrapped up in Carver’s arms. Damn. His uncle was right. He wanted Megan. He just had to figure out how to make her want him.
***
Megan tried to ignore Nick’s laughter, but it wasn’t easy with him sitting in the booth right behind her. He was having drinks with Evan and Ryan Spencer and Aiden Cooper. They sounded as though they were having a great time, especially if the women who frequented their table were any indication. The other men were married or engaged, so the girls must be trying to score points with Nick.
“Excuse me, Megan,” Shaw said, getting to his feet. “I’ll be right back. Why don’t you order us another round? Unless you’d like to go somewhere else?”
If she was smart, she would jump at the opportunity to leave, but her intelligence seemed to take a backseat to her baser instincts. “No, I have to call it an early night. I have an interview with Tori Warner in the morning.” She�
��d nursed the same glass of wine all night, knowing she had to drive home. “Maybe I’ll just order a cup of decaf before I hit the road.”
Shaw laughed. “Better make it the real stuff for me. It’s a long drive back to the ranch.”
Megan was scrolling her messages when Nick’s shadow fell over her table.
“I believe you promised me a dance,” he said, extending his hand.
That lop-sided, dimpled grin got her again. Fortunately, she was a pro at slipping her mask in place. “I remember you assuming I would dance with you. I don’t remember promising I would.”
He chuckled, and the low rumble settled over her like a warm blanket on a cold night.
“Fine.” He crouched down in front of her, looking into her eyes. “You want me to beg? I’m on my knees.”
She knew Nick had probably never had to ask a woman for anything twice, and she couldn’t resist the urge to smile. “I have to admit, I kind of like this humble side of you.” He was close enough she could smell the alcohol on his breath. If she leaned in just another inch…
“So, how about that dance?”
Evan Spencer poked his head around the booth and grinned when he saw Nick. “Man, I never thought I’d see the day a girl would bring you to your knees.”
“Mind your own business,” Nick muttered, shoving him out of his line of sight. “So, are you gonna continue to make a fool of me, or will you put me out of my misery?”
After pretending to consider her options, Megan caved. “Fine, one dance.”
Nick stood and reached for her hand. Tucking it into the crook of his arm, he led her to the dance floor. “How was your day?” He brought her in close as he settled her hand against his chest.
Megan was struck, for the first time, by his sheer power. She knew he was a big man, only a couple of inches shy of six and a half feet, but when she felt the muscles bulging under his thin cotton shirt, she realized he was huge. With his arms holding her close, she felt safe, protected. She hadn’t felt that way… ever. Not even with Brock.
“Is there a problem?”
She realized she’d been so wrapped up in the way she felt, she hadn’t responded to his question. “Um, my day was fine. Yours?”
“What were you thinkin’ about?”
“Nothing.” She wouldn’t tell him the truth. Letting a strong, capable, successful man like Nick McCall step up and take care of her, protect her from harm would be so easy, but Megan had made it through life by learning early on that the only person she could rely on to take care of her was herself. That wouldn’t change just because being in his arms made her feel like a woman instead of the entertainment correspondent the world saw.
“You’re lyin’,” he whispered, lowering his head.
His lips skimmed her ear, and she couldn’t stop the tremble moving through her.
“Your eyes are so expressive.” He drew back to stare into them. “I can tell exactly what you’re thinkin’… what you’re feelin’.”
If that was true, she was in deep trouble.
“Like right now, you’re turned on.”
She should be offended, but she couldn’t deny he was right.
“So am I.” He let his hand fall to the small of her back. Flattening his palm against the swell of her bottom, he urged her step forward and feel his reaction to her. “You’re a gorgeous woman, Meg.”
Meg. The simple intimacy of his abbreviation made maintaining her walls difficult. He was wrong for her, for so many reasons. She still didn’t believe she could trust him. He may be using their attraction to get closer so he could learn enough to expose her mistakes and tarnish her professional reputation even further. Could she really take that kind of risk?
His other hand cupped the back of her neck, and he settled her head on his chest. “Drive me home tonight.”
A soft sigh escaped her lips as she closed her eyes. It felt so good to just let go, even for a minute. To let someone hold her, guide her, take care of her. Between her mother’s illness and funeral, her brother’s sudden appearance, his demands for money, the fiasco at the station, ending her relationship with Brock… Her life had been in constant upheaval for the past two years, and she was suddenly bone-tired.
“That’s it, sweetheart, just let go. I’ve got you.”
How could he know that’s exactly what she needed? She needed someone to hold her up when the weight of the world weighed her down. Her body felt so fluid, the rigidity melting away as his large hand caressed her back.
“Everyone needs to let go sometimes. It doesn’t make you weak. It makes you human.”
She felt the prickle of tears behind her closed eyes. His kind words felt like a balm soothing her broken spirit.
“Look at me.”
Megan knew she couldn’t look at him. He would see every heartache she’d ever experienced and hidden from the rest of the world.
“It’s okay,” he said, surrounding her head with his hands as he tilted her face up to his.
He kissed her damp eyelids so tenderly her breath caught in her throat. They were on the dance floor in the middle of a crowded bar, but he didn’t care who saw them or what they thought. The only thing that seemed to matter to him was easing her distress.
“Everyone needs someone to take care of them sometimes. Who takes care of you?” Nick asked.
A sob escaped. She buried her head in his chest, wishing she never had to see the light of day again. She wanted to hide from him and the rest of the world. She couldn’t admit she felt so alone sometimes she didn’t even want to drag herself out of bed. Nick, with his big family and huge network of friends and business associates, would never understand what being a loner felt like or why she felt forced to make that choice.
Megan had claimed to have friends in L.A., but acquaintances was a more apt description. The few women she had been close to worked at the station, and when she’d been led out of the building by security guards, she’d ceased to exist in their minds. She was no longer invited to the big parties. Her name wasn’t on the V.I.P. list at the hottest nightclubs anymore. As far as they were concerned, associating with her could only hurt their careers. In their minds, it was better for them to cut her off and forget she existed. Those were the people she used to call her friends.
“I was wrong about you.”
Megan knew expressions of regret wouldn’t come easily for a man like Nick, but she’d been lied to, ignored, and abandoned too often to forget trust came at a high price. She said, “You don’t know that any more than I know whether I was wrong about you. Only time will tell.”
“I do know.” He slid his hands into her hair, gently massaging the nape of her neck. “You have no reason to trust me yet. I know that. But give me a chance to earn your trust. Let me prove to you I’m not a jerk.”
“I don’t think that. I’ve seen you with your parents, your sister, and your friends.” Her heart beat double time when his eyes locked with hers. “You love deeply. You protect the people you care about, and I really admire that.”
“I admire you, Meg.”
She didn’t know if that was true, but her heart swelled nonetheless.
“What the hell do you think you’re doin’, McCall?”
Megan winced at Shaw’s voice. He’d slipped from her mind the second she’d slipped into Nick’s arms. That told her everything she needed to know and more than she was willing to admit.
“What does it look like I’m doin’? I’m dancin’ with the lady. If you were smart, which we both know you’re not, you’d back the hell off.”
“Let’s go, Megan.” Shaw grabbed her upper arm.
Nick stepped between him. “Take your hands off her, or I’m gonna lay you out right here.”
Shaw smirked. He was a big man, almost as big as Nick, and Megan knew, given their history, any altercation between the two would result in a bloody battle. She had to do or say something before it got out of hand.
“Shaw, I’m going to take Nick home. He’s been drinki
ng, and his parents would never forgive me if I let him drive home.” She knew it was a lame excuse, but she couldn’t think of another way to diffuse the situation.
“Let one of his buddies drive him home,” Shaw said, still glaring at Nick.
“The ranch is so far out of their way, and I’m going there anyways.” She pulled on Nick’s arm, hoping he would step aside. She was leaving with him, not Shaw, and that had obviously been his plan all along. Megan hated being a pawn in their feud, but she had too much respect for Avery, Ty, and J.T. to let the situation escalate if she could do something to prevent that.
Nick stepped back, letting Megan wedge her body between them. “I’ll call you tomorrow, Shaw,” Megan offered.
Shaw glanced over her shoulder, his expression telling Nick he hadn’t won the war. “Fine. Let me take you out for dinner tomorrow.”
“I can’t. I’m sorry. Titan is having a party to celebrate Ty’s latest album going double platinum. I have to be there to cover it.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Nick folded his arms over his chest. “Like hell you will. It’s invite only, and you sure as hell aren’t invited.”
Megan grasped Shaw’s forearm. “I have to work. It’s not a social thing for me.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said, leaning in to kiss her. “We’ll make plans for the weekend.”
She hadn’t been intimate with Shaw and was beginning to question whether that day would ever come, so she wouldn’t allow him to deepen the kiss just to give Nick a false impression of their relationship. “Drive safely,” she said, putting her hands on Shaw’s chest.
“Yeah, you too. Why don’t you call me when you get home? Let me know you got there safely.”
She knew that was just a ploy to make sure she was sleeping alone. “Tomorrow,” she said, her tone leaving no room for argument.
Shaw shot one last look over her shoulder before he walked away.
“You made the right call,” Nick said, the amusement evident in his voice.
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