Time Out (Nashville Nights Next Generation -6)

by Cheryl Douglas

“Sure.” The sooner she found out what he wanted, the sooner she could send him away.

  “If you want money, don’t ask her.” Nick reached into his pocket and extracted a business card. Handing it to Stephan, he said, “You want money, you can work for me.”

  Stephan turned the business card over. “Triple M? What the hell is that, a ranch? Dude, I don’t think working on a ranch is my thing.” He laughed.

  “I don’t think you have any other options, do you?”

  “But-”

  “You want money, you have to earn it. Your sister’s days of supportin’ you are over. You got me?”

  “But-”

  “But nothing.” Nick pointed at the door. “You want a job, meet me at the ranch at noon tomorrow. You’re one minute late, and I rescind my offer. Got it?”

  “Yeah, I got it.” Stephan paused before stepping forward to shake Nick’s hand. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”

  Nick accepted his hand and looked him in the eye. “Prove it.”

  Megan waited until Stephan closed the door before she stepped into Nick’s arms. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “Yes, I did. If he doesn’t learn how to be a man, he’s gonna harass you all the goddamn time. I’m not havin’ that.”

  Nick was so sure of himself, so in control. Just being around him made Megan feel stronger. “I missed you,” she whispered.

  He kissed the top of her head. “You better have. I was goin’ out of my mind without you.” He pulled Megan’s robe apart. “I hate the way we left things, Meg.”

  He wasn’t the only one. She’d replayed their last conversation over and over in her head until she was certain she was losing her mind.

  Nick said, “Whatever happened in your past, I don’t care. Whatever your plans for the future, I’ll support you. Just let me have time with you. Please.”

  Megan leaned into him, letting him slide the robe off. She needed him more than she’d ever needed anyone, and that gave him the upper hand.

  He kissed her shoulder, whispering endearments as his hot breath tickled her sensitive skin. “You’re everything I’ve ever wanted, sweetheart.”

  “But I’m the last thing you need.” Saying it pained her, but she couldn’t live with herself if she led him on. “I’m not good for you.”

  He walked backward into the bedroom, taking her with him. “Don’t say that. I don’t want to hear all the reasons we’re wrong for each other, baby. No way in hell can something that feels this right be wrong.”

  She couldn’t dispute his words. They did feel right together, as though he was the missing piece in the puzzle of her life. When they were together, everything clicked. It didn’t matter that her brother was a freeloader, or her father didn’t want her, or her mother used her to collect child support. The only thing that mattered was the way Nick made her feel: precious, worthy of love, and that the other people in her life had been too self-absorbed to realize she was special.

  “I love the way you make me feel,” she whispered, working the buttons running down the front of his shirt. “I’ve had the worst day, but you walked in here, and none of that mattered anymore. I felt like I could face anything. My brother, irritable bosses, and sulky celebrities… it all just kind of faded away.”

  He closed his eyes, a smile teasing his lips as she stripped off his shirt and kissed his chest. “I love that you feel that way, angel. More than anything, I want to be your safe place.”

  Her safe place. She’d never had a safe place. Even with a lock on her bedroom door, she knew her mother’s newest boyfriend was just across the hall. At school, her so-called friends had rummaged through her personal things at their leisure. Even her condo, which was supposed to be a safe haven, was anything but once her ex-lover’s wife found out where she lived.

  Megan couldn’t tell him how much it meant to her that he wanted her to feel safe. She’d vowed to take care of herself and refused help from anyone who offered because she feared she couldn’t repay the debt when they came to collect. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you…”

  He smiled and ran a finger down her cheek when her voice cracked. “You don’t have to do anything. Just be who you are.” He leaned in to kiss her deeply, thoroughly, showing her without words how much he’d missed their connection. “You act as though I made your life better, but you don’t realize how much you’ve given me.” He coaxed her down on the bed with him. Toeing off his boots, he lay down beside her and propped his head in his hand.

  He ran his hand over her stomach, but she was soothed instead of aroused. Nick said, “My whole life, I’ve had to be that much better than everyone else at everything to gain their respect. Everyone assumed I had it all ‘cause my old man was rich and famous. They didn’t realize it came with a price. He was gone a lot, and that was tough when I was young. I wanted him to be at my football and baseball games, but he couldn’t ‘cause he was on the road all the time.”

  Megan watched him trace circles on her stomach, mesmerizing her with his words and his actions. “Your life, your family, it all just seems so perfect. I guess I never really thought about the sacrifices involved,” she said.

  “Don’t get me wrong, my dad’s the best. He’s always been there when I needed to talk, but did I miss havin’ him there on my tenth birthday or at my high school graduation? Hell, yeah.”

  “It’s hard to believe Ty would miss out on those things. He seems so devoted to you and your family.”

  “He is, but he doesn’t get to call all the shots in his career. He has to answer to his label, fans, promoters, managers, everyone. He can’t very well tell them to cancel a sold-out show just ‘cause his kid’s football team made the playoffs. It doesn’t work that way.”

  She linked her hand with his. “No, I guess it doesn’t. I guess no one has a perfect childhood, huh? We all got our share of cuts and bruises, physical and emotional. We can choose to heal or play the victim card, right?”

  He kissed her shoulder. “Exactly. You’re one of the strongest women I’ve ever met, Meg. Everything you’ve been through only makes you more appealin’ in my eyes. I want a strong woman, someone who’s not gonna fold when things get tough.”

  She smirked. “If there’s one thing I know, it’s how to stand up to adversity.”

  “You were made for me.”

  The intensity in his eyes left her speechless. Without question, Nick was a man she could count on today, but how would he feel in a year or ten, when all of her secrets and fears were revealed? Would he still want her if she told him she didn’t know if she wanted children because she had no idea how to be a mother? Would he still look at her that way when he found out she’d slept with another woman’s husband and destroyed a family?

  “Nick-”

  He cut her protest off with a kiss. “Don’t tell me you weren’t. I know how I feel and what I want. You. Always.” He held her hand against his heart.

  She winced when her pounding head reminded her she wasn’t out of the woods yet.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Just a headache.” She pressed her fingertips to her temples. “I get migraines sometimes, when I’m stressed and not sleeping enough.”

  He settled her head on his chest, massaging her scalp with his free hand. “Just relax. I’m right here, and I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

  “But don’t you want to…” She curled into him, grateful for his strength and warmth.

  He chuckled. “I always want to make love to you, but there’s always tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow. It’s a date.”

  “I have to go to Kentucky tomorrow for the start of the Derby festivities. I want you to come with me.” He pressed a kiss to her temple.

  “I have to work.” Her eyelids fluttered closed as the promise of sleep and his masterful hands began to ease the ache in her head.

  “Why don’t you talk to your boss about coverin’ the event? It’s always a big deal. Lots of celebrities show up.”

  “Okay,�
�� she said, pressing her ear to his heart. “I’ll talk to him about it.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Megan was just leaving her suite the next morning when she nearly ran into Stephan.

  “Is your boyfriend still here?” he asked, looking over her shoulder.

  “No, he had to go to work. So do I, so if you’ll excuse me.”

  He grabbed her elbow and led her back into the suite, closing the door behind him. “We need to talk. Now.”

  “Fine. Talk, but make it quick.” She took in his appearance. He looked clean, rested, and sober. He must have used Nick’s money to rent a room instead buying a bottle.

  “I came here to warn you about your ex’s old lady…” He snapped his fingers. “What the hell was her name?”

  Megan didn’t even have to ask. Only one of her former lovers had a wife, or ex-wife, with a score to settle. “Vicki Alfinore?”

  “Yeah, that’s it. She came to your condo looking for you. She’s out for your blood, sis.”

  Megan’s heart pounded erratically. “What did she say?”

  “She said you slept with her husband and ruined her life. She said she would ruin yours.”

  Megan sank down on the sofa. She should have known leaving L.A. wouldn’t end her nightmare.

  Her producer, Robert, had been new to the station and new in town. He was handsome, charming, and much older. They became friends while she tried to cope with her mother’s illness.

  “Damn it,” she whispered, dropping her head into her palm. “I was hoping she’d let it go once I left town. I thought she’d realize I was no longer a threat to her marriage.”

  Stephan sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulder. “How the hell did you let yourself get mixed up with a married man? It doesn’t seem like your speed.”

  “I didn’t know he was married.” She sighed. She had still been coming to terms with ending her engagement to Brock, and Robert was her rebound man. They both knew their relationship wouldn’t last, but it helped her through a difficult time… until she found out the truth.

  No one at the station knew him well, so when he’d said he was divorced, everyone took him at his word. When his assistant overheard him on the phone talking to his wife’s doctor, people became suspicious.

  “He told me he was divorced. Apparently his wife was in a psychiatric hospital recovering from a nervous breakdown. One day, his daughter showed up at the station and made a huge scene in front of everyone, calling me a home-wrecker and her father a lying, cheating bastard.”

  “Damn, no wonder you were so anxious to leave town.” Stephan drew her in to rest her head on his shoulder.

  Megan was surprised by the show of comfort, but she didn’t try to fight it. “He told me the whole ugly story after his daughter left. According to him, he and his wife hadn’t gotten along for years. When he told her he wanted a divorce, she went ballistic. Even became violent, attempted suicide…” Megan shuddered. “She was unbalanced, to say the least. I don’t know if she was always that way or if he drove her to it, but once she got out of the hospital, she came looking for me.” She sighed, feeling physically exhausted even though it was only eight o’clock in the morning.

  “Why didn’t you get a restraining order against her?”

  “I tried, but she violated it repeatedly. Apparently those aren’t worth the paper they’re written on until the accused takes it to the next level.”

  “That sucks,” Stephan said, squeezing her shoulder. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but she has pictures of you and her husband together. She said she’s going to use them to humiliate you.”

  Megan’s empty stomach churned as she looked at Stephan. “What kind of pictures?”

  “I didn’t ask to see them, but apparently they’re pretty nasty. She hired a private investigator who planted cameras just about everywhere you two were… uh… intimate.”

  She dropped her head into her hands. “This can’t be happening.”

  “Apparently she knows about you and the horse dude too.”

  “What? How?”

  “You were photographed together at some party. The pics were posted online. I guess she found them and decided now would be the perfect time to use those pics to hurt you.”

  “I don’t believe this.” She should have known her poor judgement would come back to haunt her. How could she make Nick understand why she’d slept with another woman’s husband?

  “She plans on using them to get you fired too.”

  “Of course she does.” She was a TV personality. People would be interested in any scandal involving her private life. “What the hell does she want? Money?”

  “I think all she wants is revenge. She wants you to suffer the way she suffered.”

  Megan reached for the bottle of pain relievers on the coffee table when she felt another migraine coming on. She dry swallowed two pills before asking, “So, she’s going to go to the station manager with them? That’s her plan?”

  “For starters. I think she’s going to show them to your boss, then Nick. I’m sure she intends to plaster them all over the Internet too.”

  “Oh, God.”

  “Yeah, she said you’d never be able to show your face in public, much less get a job again.” Stephan looked at her sideways. “What exactly did you do with that guy? It doesn’t sound like it was just vanilla sex.”

  Her cheeks flamed when she thought about the things Robert had been into, the things she’d let him talk her into trying for the first time. “I don’t want to talk about it.” She checked her watch. “I have to get to work and figure out how to break this to my boss.”

  Stephan reached for her hand. “If you need to talk, call me, okay?”

  “Thanks, I will.”

  ***

  Megan took one look at her boss’s face and knew she was too late. “You know.”

  Mr. Bradford, an aging, silver-haired man with a paunch and wire-framed glasses, tipped his swivel chair back and sighed. “What the hell were you thinkin’, Megan?”

  “I wasn’t thinking.” She sank down in the chair across from him, torn between hiding her face in shame and pretending she wasn’t mortified. She sighed. “I was going through a rough time. My mother was dying, and I didn’t know Robert was married. None of that matters now. I did what I did. The pictures are out there. The question is, how do we handle it?”

  He shook his head before sliding a thick hand through his hair. “I wish I could say or do something to help you, but I can’t. This is out of my hands.”

  “You’re firing me?” She didn’t know why the news blind-sided her. She should have expected the worst.

  “I don’t have a choice. Your contract states any behavior reflecting negatively on the station will result in immediate dismissal. We just can’t afford the bad publicity.”

  “I know. I understand.” She shook her head, still feeling numb. She got up, her legs feeling wobbly. “I’ll just get my things.”

  “I’m sorry about this. You were damn good at your job. If there was any other way…”

  “It’s okay. This is my fault.” She squared her shoulders and vowed not to cry as she offered a trembling hand across his desk. “Thank you for giving me this opportunity, sir. I’m sorry I disappointed you.”

  He took her hand. “We’re real sorry to see you go, Megan. Good luck.”

  ***

  Megan’s half-brother arrived five minutes early for their appointment, surprising Nick. “Oh, hey, come on in,” Nick said, beckoning Stephan into the stables.

  Stephan offered his hand. “It’s good to see you again, Nick.” He cleared his throat. “Have you, uh, talked to Megan yet today?”

  Nick frowned. “Not since I left her suite this mornin’. Why?”

  “Uh, no reason. Just curious.”

  “I don’t have a lot of time. I’m headin’ out to Kentucky today. I’ve got two horses competin’ in the Derby. Truth is, I should have been out there all week, but I was hopin’ t
o work things out with your sister before I took off.”

  “Since you left her suite this morning, I’m assuming you worked things out last night?”

  Nick thought about how they’d started their day: in each other’s arms, making up for lost time with the most passionate sex he’d ever had. “Yeah, we’re good.”

  “Glad to hear it.”

  The tone of Stephan’s voice drew Nick’s attention. “You got a problem with me datin’ your sister?” Nick asked.

  “No, why would I?”

  “I don’t know. You seem like-”

  “Excuse me.”

  Nick looked at the door and saw a well-dressed, middle-aged woman carrying a manila envelope. Her high heels, coiffed hair, and perfectly applied makeup told him she didn’t spend a lot of time in horse stables. “Can I help you, ma’am?”

  “Yes.” She narrowed her eyes when she saw Stephan.

  Nick noted the exchange. He could almost hear the silent warning issued. “I don’t have a lot of time,” Nick said, tapping the face of his watch. “I have a plane to catch in a couple of hours.”

  “I’d like to speak to you in private,” she said, glaring at Stephan.

  Nick had no idea how the two knew each other, but they obviously did. He turned to Stephan. “Follow the trail to your left down to the barn. My manager, Joe, is down there. I told him you’d be stoppin’ by today. He’ll start your trainin’. I’ll check in with you when I get back. You have my business card. My cell number is on it, so if there are any problems while I’m gone, feel free to call me. There are living quarters at the back of the property. A lot of my ranch hands stay there. You’re welcome to do the same.”

  “I’ll do that. Thanks.”

  “I’ve told Joe he can issue your first pay check in advance, if need be.” Nick looked Stephan in the eye. “Don’t disappoint me, man.”

  “I won’t. I promise.”

  “Another one of the guys, Tony, goes to A.A. meetings. He can hook you up.”

  “That’d be great. Hey, good luck in Kentucky this week.”