“Thanks. Your sister’s goin’ with me, so if you have any problems, you call me, not her. Understood?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
“Good. I’ll see you later.” Nick waited for Stephan to leave before he turned his attention to his visitor. “Sorry about that, ma’am. How can I help you?”
She glanced at the door Stephan had just passed through. “Do you really think it’s a good idea to hire a drunk?”
Surprised by the question, Nick took a moment to respond. “I don’t see how it’s any of your business who I hire. Why don’t you tell me who you are and what you’re doin’ here? Like I said, I don’t have time to waste.”
She smoothed a hand down the front of her dress. “This is about your girlfriend.”
“What about her?” Nick tried to ignore the uneasiness unfurling in his stomach. The last thing he and Megan needed was someone stirring up trouble. They were finally on the right track.
“I have something to show you. You may want to sit down before you open it.” She handed him the envelope.
Nick pulled glossy photos out of the envelope, and his stomach pitched in protest. He looked through them slowly. Like a car wreck he couldn’t turn away from, they were forever burned in his memory. “Where the hell did you get these?”
She clenched the designer purse tighter. “The man in the photos is my husband. Your girlfriend and my husband were involved before she left L.A.”
The producer. He had been mentioned a few times in the articles Nick had read about Megan when she first got to town, but he’d never seen them together. His hand shook. That look in her eyes. He knew that look. He’d seen that look when she made love to him. God, he’d thought he was special. He’d thought she loved him.
“I know how you must feel,” she said quietly. “I felt the same way. That bitch ruined my life. She stole my husband, took my children’s father away. She wanted money, security. I guess she didn’t consider how much the divorce would cost him.”
Nick sank back on a bale of hay, trying to process what she was telling him. He wanted to tear the photos up, but he couldn’t take his eyes off them. The acts Megan was engaged in… It made him wonder if he knew her at all.
“This is a pattern for her, you know.”
Nick lifted his head. “Excuse me?”
She pulled a sheet of paper out of her handbag and passed it to Nick. “This is a list of all the men she’s been involved with.”
He glanced at the names. Many were athletes, actors, and musicians. “How the hell did you get this?”
“I hired a private investigator. I knew something was going on with my husband when he came to visit me. He was distant, and I suspected it had something to do with another woman.” She released a shaky breath. “I’d been married to that man for twenty-five years. I loved him with everything I had. And that’s how he repays me.” Her bottom lip trembled as she took a tissue out of her purse.
“I don’t know why you’re tellin’ me this.” Nick wanted to pretend Megan’s past didn’t matter, but seeing her like that with another man shredded him.
“I’m telling you so you won’t be her next victim.” She gestured to the paper Nick held. “Don’t you see a pattern there, Mr. McCall? She only dates wealthy men, men who can give her the kind of financial security she craves. I’ve done my homework. I know you’re a very wealthy man in your own right. Your family is very prominent.” She sighed. “I know this is hard to hear, but that’s the only reason she wants you.”
The accusation felt like a kick to the gut. Nick thought back to his own reservations about Megan when she first came to town. He’d thought she was an opportunist. His research led him in that direction, but when he got to know her, he’d given her his heart. Which of his impressions of her was correct?
“You’re more than welcome to check my facts. Speak to any of the men on that list. They’ll all tell you the same thing. They gave her expensive gifts, jewelry, cars… They fell in love with her, Mr. McCall. But that didn’t stop her from moving on without a second thought. Are you really going to allow yourself to be the next casualty?”
Nick couldn’t think straight. He closed his eyes, but the pictures appeared in vivid, gory detail. “I think you’d better go. I have a plane to catch.”
***
Megan parked her car in front of the stables. Her stomach twisted in knots when Stephan walked toward her.
He waited until she got out of the car. “Hey, sis.”
“Where’s Nick?” She knew he was gone before she asked.
Stephan ushered her into the stables. “That bitch was here, Megan. She showed him the pictures.”
Steadying herself on the gate of an empty stall, she asked, “How do you know he saw them?”
“She walked in here with an envelope. A few minutes later, Nick tore out of here. I put two and two together.” He touched her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
She flattened her palm against her churning stomach. “He asked me to go to Kentucky with him. But that was before…”
“Maybe he just needs a little time…”
She forced a smile. “I don’t think so. I knew it was too good to be true. Guys like Nick McCall don’t fall in love with girls like me.”
“Don’t say that,” he said, reaching for her hand. “He’d be lucky to have you.”
Megan closed her eyes, wishing she was having a nightmare and she would wake up in Nick’s arms. He would tell her he loved her, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life loving her. “No, I’m toxic for a man like him. I would destroy his life. I have already. He needs somebody from a stable family, who knows what it means to love and be loved. That’s not me. That’ll never be me.”
Megan turned toward the door when she heard the crunch of gravel. Avery.
Stephan glanced at Nick’s mother before asking Megan, “Do you need me to stick around?”
She managed a tight smile. “No, I’m fine. Thanks.”
“Will you let me know what you’re gonna do?”
“Sure.”
Stephan greeted Avery with a low, “Ma’am,” and tip of his baseball cap before he left.
“I guess you heard about my job,” Megan said, unable to look Nick’s mother in the eye.
Avery sighed as she stuck her hands into the pockets of her dress pants. “I heard. You want to tell me how you got yourself mixed up with a married man, Megan?”
“I didn’t know he was married.” She knew she couldn’t win back Avery’s respect, and that was one of the hardest pills to swallow. Nick’s parents had been so kind to her, making her feel like one of the family, and she hated that she’d disappointed them. “I’m so sorry about this. I should have known this would come back to haunt me. I should have told you about it.”
“I already knew.”
“You did?”
“Yes.” Avery smiled. “It’s my business to know everything there is to know about my clients before the rest of the world finds out. I won’t deny quashing those photos before she has a chance to use them will be hard, but that doesn’t mean we roll over and die.”
That was exactly what Megan felt like doing. “I appreciate your concern, but this isn’t your problem. I made the mess. I have to figure out how to clean it up.”
“As your publicist, that’s my job.”
“Why would you still want me as a client?”
Avery crossed the distance between them and took Megan’s hand. “Because I care about you, and when someone hurts someone that I care about, I fight back.” She opened her arms, and Megan didn’t hesitate to step into them.
Megan tried in vain to stem the flow of tears, but before she knew it, they dampened the shoulder of Avery’s white blouse. “I’m sorry. I made a mess of your shirt,” she said, sniffling as she wiped her eyes.
“I don’t give a damn about that. What I do care about is my son and what this must be doing to him. He loves you, Megan. Anyone can see that.”
Avery’s claim went t
hrough her like a double-edged sword. Hope on one side, hopelessness on the other. Megan couldn’t expect Nick to forgive the mistakes she’d made or the feelings that prompted her to make them. Megan said, “I hate that I hurt him. I never meant to.”
“I know that. I know it hasn’t been easy for you since your mother died.” Avery brushed away the tears sliding down Megan’s cheek.
Megan choked back a sob. She lifted a shoulder. “It wasn’t easy before she died. We were never close.”
“I know what that’s like. I wasn’t close to my parents growing up. After I met Ty and we planned our family, I was able to start repairing that relationship.” She squeezed Megan’s hands. “What I learned is that my parents are only human. They made a lot of mistakes while I was growing up, just like I made a lot of mistakes while my own kids were growing up.”
“I can’t imagine that. I see you with Anna and Nick. You’re a great mother. They both love you so much.”
“Just like you loved your mother and she loved you. Just like you love your father, even though he’s hurt you.”
Megan refused to go there. She was too raw from learning she’d lost her job and the man she loved in the same day. She couldn’t deal with her feelings about Manny Moore as well.
Avery brushed Megan’s long dark hair over her shoulder. “Your mother’s gone, honey, but your father’s still here, and you have a half-brother and half-sisters. You have a family. You have us, and we’d love nothing more than to be your family.”
Megan was overcome. No one had ever reached out to her and tried to care for her the way Avery had… except Nick. “Do you happen to know where your son is right now?”
Avery’s eyes fell. “He called to say he was on his way to Kentucky.”
“I see.” Megan saw everything clearly. He didn’t want her anymore, and who could blame him?
“I’m flying out there in a little while. Why don’t you come with me?”
Facing him knowing he didn’t want to see her would be too painful. She gave Avery a fierce hug. “I don’t think so. Thank you for everything.”
“Is this goodbye?”
“I’m afraid so.” Megan tried to smile, but she couldn’t force her trembling lips to cooperate. “You’re the best, Avery. I won’t ever forget what you tried to do for me.”
“Be happy, sweetheart. You deserve it.”
Chapter Fifteen
Nick wasn’t surprised Brandi was crossing the room toward him. He knew she would be at the Derby with her parents to support her brother. He couldn’t deny she looked lovely wearing a pink cocktail dress and hat in keeping with Churchill Downs’ annual theme.
He hadn’t seen her in almost a year. When she’d returned from school, she came to his ranch, hoping to pick up where they’d left off. He told her, as gently as he could, their relationship had run its course and he had no interest in revisiting the past.
“Hey there,” she said, reaching up to give him a hug. “It’s great to see you.”
He kissed her cheek. “You too, Brandi.”
“What’s new?”
Aside from the fact my life is falling apart? “Not much. You?”
She grabbed a champagne glass off a waiter’s passing tray and smiled at Nick when the bubbles tickled her nose. “I don’t know why I drink this stuff. You know I hate it.”
“Tradition. How’s workin’ for your brother goin’?”
She lifted a shoulder when she glanced at Shaw. “It’s not what I expected to be doing when I came home from school, that’s for sure.”
Nick knew Brandi had hoped their relationship would progress to the point where she’d be living at his home, calling the shots as mistress of his manor. “Sometimes life has a way of throwin’ you a curve ball now and again.” He thought of the pictures tucked into the nightstand drawer in his hotel room.
“Shaw tells me you’re involved with someone.”
Leave it to Shaw to stick his nose where it didn’t belong. Since he had no idea where his relationship with Megan stood, he was reluctant to talk about it. “How about you? You seein’ anyone special?” he asked, trying to deflect.
“You know I’m interested in only one guy,” she said, running her hand down the lapel of his black jacket. “I’m just waitin’ for you to come to your senses.”
There may have been a time when marrying Brandi seemed a logical choice. She was beautiful, intelligent, loved living on a ranch, and they had so much in common. But that was before he meant Megan and realized it didn’t matter whether all of the boxes were checked. The only thing that mattered was whether he got that feeling… the one that told him his life wouldn’t be the same without her.
“Brandi, you really shouldn’t waste your time waitin’ on me to come around. It’s just not gonna happen. What we had was good. It was fun, but it wasn’t meant to last forever.” Nick regretted the flicker of sadness in her eyes before she fixed a smile on her face.
“But what you have with her is?”
“We’re still tryin’ to sort things out.”
She lifted her chin, looking every bit the spoiled daddy’s girl he knew her to be. “Shaw seems to think she’s too good for you.”
Nick chuckled. If that was intended as an insult, she’d missed her mark. “For once, your brother and I might actually agree on somethin’.”
She slipped her clutch under her arm and twisted the stem of her glass between her fingers. “I have to admit she’s beautiful. I’ve seen her on TV.”
Nick knew how much admitting that cost Brandi, so he rewarded her attempt at civility with a smile. “I think so.”
“Is this the girl who’s finally gonna talk Nick McCall into settling down?”
“We’re not there yet.” The way things were going, Nick didn’t know if they would ever get there.
She gripped his forearm, and the sincerity in her gaze caught him off guard. “You deserve the best, Nick. Don’t settle for less.”
No man in his right mind would consider a future with Megan settling. “Meg’s special, Brandi. Let’s just leave it at that.”
***
The following day, Nick was still torturing himself with the pictures of Megan and her former lover when a knock sounded at his hotel room door. He didn’t want to see or talk to anyone.
“Not now!” he shouted, hoping his tone would deter his visitor.
“Nick, open the door. We need to talk.”
Great, his mother. He shoved the pictures into the nightstand drawer while chastising himself for not tearing them up. Seeing the woman he loved engaged in lewd acts with another man was making him crazy.
He pulled the door open, muttering a curse under his breath when Avery glared at him. “I’m really not in the mood to-”
“I don’t care. You’re going to listen to what I have to say whether you like it or not,” she said, pushing past him.
Taking a deep breath, he reminded himself his mother deserved his respect. With anyone else, all bets were off, but he would never unleash his anger on his parents. “What can I do for you?”
“You can explain to me what the hell you’re still doing here. The Derby is over. Your horse won.”
“It’s not over. As the owner of the winnin’ horse, I have to participate in-”
She held her hand up and glared at him. “Save it. I’ve watched you mope around here all week. You haven’t said one word about what happened with Megan, but I know it has to weigh heavily on your mind.”
Nick sank down on the foot of the bed and dropped his head into his hands. “I don’t know what the hell to do. I’m just so confused.”
Avery sat beside him, rubbing his back. “I know it must have come as a shock to you, honey. But it’s not like she cheated on you. Those pictures were taken before you two even met.”
“Yeah, but…” Every time he pictured the look of ecstasy on her face in those pictures, it nearly did him in. “I thought we had somethin’ special. Now I’m not so sure.”
“Why d
o you say that?”
He couldn’t tell his mother the truth, so he said, “The dirtbag’s wife gave me this list of men she’s been with. Let’s just say competing in that crowd would be pretty tough.”
Avery huffed. “Since when have you been worried about holding your own against some other man?”
“This is different. She meets with rich, powerful, famous men all the time. She’s a gorgeous woman. How do I know she isn’t gonna meet someone who can give her something I can’t?”
“You don’t know that any more than I did when I married your father. I had to come to terms with the fact that the man I loved would have groupies throwing themselves at him every night.” She inhaled as she cupped her hands on her knees. “Believe me, it wasn’t easy. I had to trust him. Without trust, you have nothing, Nick.”
“I know. You’re right.” He glanced at his cell phone. Megan hadn’t tried to call him once since he left. Not that he could blame her, given his hasty departure. “Did you talk to her before you left Nashville?”
“I did.”
“What did she say?” What he really wanted to know was whether she’d said anything about him, but he wasn’t in high school, and his mother wasn’t the appropriate person to ask.
Avery reached for his hand. “She just thanked me for everything. If you’re worried about the pictures surfacing and embarrassing either one of you, don’t be. Brianna put the fear of God into Robert’s wife.” She laughed. “Ryan told Bri to make sure that woman understood who she was up against. No one wants Titan Records as an adversary. With their money and connections… Well, let’s just say you’d have to be a fool to want to make enemies of them.”
“I really appreciate them steppin’ up like that.”
“They consider you family, and anyone can see you’re crazy about Megan. As far as we’re all concerned, she’s one of us.”
It meant the world to Nick that his family and friends stepped up to help the woman he loved out of a tight spot, but he wouldn’t have expected anything less. “Thanks for sayin’ that. It means a lot to me.” He heaved a sigh. “I’ve really made a mess of things, haven’t I?”
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