What to Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection (WTRAFSOG Book 9)

by Kristine Cayne

  “Oh hell, you feel so damn good,” Randy uttered.

  Blaine pulled his face toward her, stroking his cheeks with her thumb. She kissed his jaw and made her way to his lips. She closed her eyes, then opened them and stared up at him, then caught a quick sight of the stars. This was perfect.

  Blaine buried her face in Randy’s neck, stifling another cry. She was on the edge. It wouldn’t be long until he took her on a river of emotions that she never wanted to come back from. It was so hard to be quiet!

  They came together, both holding back a yell as they molded their bodies even closer together, clinging, holding on for dear life. A few seconds later, Randy finally stopped spasming and Blaine leaned back, her head sinking into the soft pillow. He slid out of her and flopped on his back beside her, reaching for her hand.

  Moments of silence followed. Blaine wondered if he’d fallen asleep. She squeezed his hand. “What happens if I fall in love with you and you forget me to find your dreams?”

  No, no! She did not just say that! Ugh! When would she ever learn?

  “Where did that come from?” He turned his head, sounding curious.

  Cringing, she avoided looking his way. The moonlight was bright enough that she could still see his face. “My feelings are evolving and I’m scared. You’re about to find your Nashville dream.”

  With a sigh, Randy sat up, letting go of her hand. He touched her face instead. “We might be jumping a little ahead here, but if we were to get serious, your dreams and needs would be seriously taken into consideration at all times.”

  “I’m sorry. You know me-”

  “I do know you. You’re blunt, you’re gorgeous, and you make me crazy. Sometimes in a good way. Sometimes … well…” Randy shrugged, his smile returning. “I never expected any of this, but I’ve wanted it for a long time. We’ll move at your pace. You’ve had a special place in my heart for a long time, Blaine, and I’d never do anything to jeopardize it.” He kissed her softly.

  “Thank you for that,” she whispered.

  “I’m going to sneak away real quick and grab our clothes. I can pull out the dry blankets and we can lay here and talk for a while longer if you want, or we can head back.”

  “I like the peace and quiet out here.” She just wasn’t ready to leave the scene yet. Not while she wanted to remember every little detail of their lovemaking here.

  “Okay.” He climbed out of the truck. Blaine watched him run to the creek. He bent to retrieve their clothes and she had to laugh. Randy Hughes, running butt naked in the middle of the night. Yeah, she liked this side of him. Not really a bad boy, but most definitely a wonderful man.

  He slid his pants back on before running back to her with the rest of the clothes. “I should toss one or two of yours in the water, but I think I’ll be nice. I’d rather curl up with you in my arms and be warm.”

  She wanted that too.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Once Blaine was dressed, Randy set up the dry blankets, then opened the back window of the truck and turned on the music. Baby Stetson’s demo was still in the CD player, so they decided to listen to that as they huddled under the blanket nestled in each other’s arms.

  “You know how you want me to spill one of my secrets?” Randy murmured, pressing soft kisses on her forehead.

  “Yeah.” Blaine opened her eyes to look at him.

  “Got one for you.”

  “I’m ready.”

  “My passion for music didn’t come to me naturally.”

  “No way!”

  Randy nodded. “Truth. In sixth grade, Marsha wanted piano lessons, but she didn’t want to do it herself. For some reason, I was roped into it. I protested at first, but found that I had a knack for it. Marsha dropped out after three months, but I continued because I fell in love with playing. I’d never thought about playing music before that. Even when Jameson and Avery started singing together that one summer, it took me a lot longer to realize I wanted more out of music than just the occasional piano playing. So, there’s a secret revealed just for you.”

  Blaine had no idea what to say. She thought Randy’s love for music had been life long. It made her feel a little better. She leaned forward and kissed him. “Thank you.”

  “For not having a passion naturally?” Randy teased.

  She giggled. “No! For telling me. I just assumed. I know what they say, but that hasn’t stopped me yet.”

  “That’s one secret. Let’s see, you spilled three I think. So let me find some more to be even.”

  He wanted to tell her things? She loved this. Chilling in the back of the truck, watching the stars. Holding each other after one hell of a good night.

  “All right. No one knew this. Not Jameson. Not any of my sisters. When I was sixteen, I asked Alice if she would give me kissing pointers in case I ever got the chance to kiss you.”

  Blaine laughed, then groaned. “Alice, as in the one working for the Callimers?”

  “Yes, the one and only. Hey! No comments. I was desperate. A dorky, shy teenager, hopelessly crazy for a girl two years older and my best friend’s sister. Don’t judge.” God, was he blushing?

  “So, what happened?” She kissed his cheek, loving his warmth.

  “It didn’t, though she was willing. Her parents happened to have walked in, and they are strict! I think I got her in trouble.”

  “Ooh, Randy the troublemaker,” Blaine said in a sing-song voice.

  “You better never spill that one, got it?” Randy warned, his voice low and sexy.

  “I’ll make a deal with you. No more Hollywood nicknames, and the thought of you and Alice will be pushed far out of my mind. But … Alice? Why her? You didn’t actually tell her you wanted pointers so you could kiss another girl, did you?”

  “That’s what I get for being the nice guy again. You’re not going to let me live that down,” he grumbled. “I couldn’t ask Avery. Jameson would’ve killed me. I wasn’t going to ask Laura, because she was dating someone. Alice was like me; kind of a shy, quiet one. I figured it couldn’t hurt. And to answer your last question, no. I didn’t tell her why. She never asked either.”

  “Hey. I have a soft spot for nice guys,” Blaine whispered. “Especially ones that tell me their secrets even though they don’t have to.”

  Randy chuckled, then placed his forehead up against hers. He had an arm around her, trailing his fingers along her back. “Last one,” he said softly, leaning over for a kiss. “I saw you naked once. Before tonight.”

  “What? When?” Blaine gasped.

  “Remember the picnic at the inn that one summer? I think it was right before my freshman year of high school. My sisters decided to have a mud fight. You ran to the house to change. Jameson and I came back for something and I guess you thought you were alone. You darted across the hall to your room, not wearing a thing. I saw you and ran out of the house so you and Jameson didn’t know.”

  She laughed. “You little peeper. So, did the view get better twenty or so years later?”

  “Absolutely. You’re beautiful, inside and out. If someone doesn’t tell you that enough, well they should.”

  Her heart thudded at his sweet words. “Is that when you started crushing on me? When you saw me sporting my birthday suit?”

  “Nope. Long after. But you were the first naked girl I ever saw.”

  “And it didn’t scare you to pieces? Wow, that says something,” Blaine quipped.

  “Silly woman.” He moved his hand from her back and massaged her scalp gently.

  “I know we should probably get back before we’re too tired, but I’m not ready to yet.” Blaine stifled a yawn. Randy’s hand in her hair wasn’t helping to keep her awake, and she sure as hell didn’t want him to stop.

  “I know. If we move, we might lose this moment. I’m not ready for that.”

  “What happens now with us?” She wasn’t sure if she was ready for another relationship, even with Randy. Her heart seemed to have different ideas. She was all over the pl
ace!

  “What do you want to happen?” His eyelids closed halfway.

  “There you go again with the questions. I want-”

  I want to be in your arms like this for as long as possible.

  Blaine wasn’t sure if she said the words out loud or thought them.

  A scream pierced the night, slicing through the silence. Randy bolted upright and wondered why the hell his back and head hurt so much, then realized where he was. Shit, he and Blaine fell asleep in the bed of his truck, wrapped in each other’s arms. He untangled himself carefully from her and slid down the tailgate and off of the truck, trying to figure out where that scream came from. He reached into his pocket for his phone to use as a flashlight. He had a few missed calls and texts, including one from Jameson. He’d look at them later. Looking back at the truck and a sleeping Blaine, he eased away quietly, muttering at the twigs and stickers jabbing at his bare feet as he walked.

  He listened out for any other sounds. Maybe somebody was camping nearby and saw a big bug or something, maybe even an animal.

  He heard a female’s high pitched shout, but he couldn’t figure out where she was. “You bastard! You’ve had her followed, then you came down here to get her when you’re supposed to be with me? You’re sick!”

  Randy froze, not sure if he wanted to go any further. It sounded like a lover’s spat, and not one he wanted to get involved with. He’d had enough of those with his sisters and their husbands.

  But the woman sounded so angry. And she’d screamed. Or was that even the same woman?

  “We should have just gone home,” Randy muttered. He knew at this point he couldn’t just leave. He had to find out if everyone was okay. What happened if someone was hurt and he’d just walked away? That wasn’t right. Heaving a defeated sigh, Randy followed the sounds to investigate.

  “This is for all those videos! What kind of man does that?”

  “Stop!” A heavily accented baritone voice yelled.

  Randy heard that voice a time or two. He recognized it.

  “Randy? What are you doing?”

  Shit! Blaine. She was awake and had followed him.

  “Go back to the truck. Something’s going on and it doesn’t sound good.” He gestured, hoping for once her stubborn self would listen.

  Blaine moved closer. Damn it! “I heard yelling. I don’t want to go without you.” He heard the pleading tone in her voice. He could understand.

  “Stay right behind me. I don’t know what’s going on, but if someone needs help, I want to make sure I can.” He should have at least put on socks, but those were the last things you think of when hearing a scream in the middle of the night. His feet ached and throbbed from stepping all over sharp, jagged rocks. With one hand, he held out his phone, using the flashlight feature to light the way through some of the trees.

  Still unable to tell where the people were, Randy cringed as he heard a loud thud, then a splash.

  “No! Get up, you jerk! Get out of that water! I didn’t mean to hit you so hard,” the woman he’d heard earlier screamed.

  Oh hell, this went from bad to worse within seconds. Did she kill the guy? Blaine gasped behind him. He reached back with his free hand, craving her touch. Her fingers met his.

  “You sure you don’t want to go back? I’m not sure what we’re going to see.” Randy tried again. He already knew her answer, but it didn’t hurt. His natural instinct was to protect her.

  “I’m going with you.” He heard the firmness in her voice and decided not to push the subject any more.

  “Please hurry! Someone’s been hit. I don’t know if he’s dead.” The female voice stuttered. Was she on the phone? What was she going to do, play it off as if she hadn’t done anything wrong? Anger and adrenaline raced through his veins. He let go of Blaine’s hand without thinking and ran forward.

  “Hey! Come back here!” he shouted, hearing the footsteps as the woman ran. From a distance, he caught her shadow darting away from the creek. Damn! He couldn’t even see her. Next step, check for the guy and make sure he was still alive.

  “Randy!” Blaine called, fear evident in her voice.

  He stepped back in the chilly waters, wincing as the cold currents overwhelmed him. He tossed his phone over to the shore, far enough away to keep it from getting wet. “Blaine, will you grab my phone? I’m going to check around. I don’t know if the person she was arguing with is okay- ow!” His foot slammed against something hard and heavy. A crowbar? What the hell? He bent down and picked up the item from the water. Sure enough, that’s exactly what it was.

  This wasn’t an accident. The woman intentionally planned this! How did the guy not see it coming?

  “Randy, are you okay?” Blaine yelled. He turned for a second. She stood at the edge of the water, holding his phone. The light illuminated her face.

  “Stubbed my toe. Honey, you might want to call the police. I don’t know what we’re dealing with here.” He walked through the water until he noticed something large floating nearby. “Hey! Are you okay?” Randy’s heart thudded against his ribcage, blood roaring in his ears. He couldn’t shake the conversation he’d heard earlier and how familiar the man’s voice was, but it couldn’t be!

  Just as he reached the person and was about to check him, Randy heard a loud voice.

  “Freeze! Drop your weapon! The police are on their way!”

  Blaine stared in shock and disbelief at the flashing red and blue lights ahead of her.

  Frederic had come looking for her. She thought after the lack of phone calls, maybe he’d given up. But no. He’d come to Harmony’s Echo. What didn’t make sense was the woman he’d been fighting with and why she hit him. She’d run off, leaving Blaine and Randy right there at the scene of the crime, and of course, Randy had stumbled over what Frederic had been hit with and picked it up not knowing.

  Then when they pulled the man from the water broken and bleeding, she’d recognized him.

  Yeah, this didn’t look good at all. No alibi except for each other and they’d been here at the creek all night. Frederic was her ex and it was very public about his comments he’d made about her the past few weeks.

  So here they were an hour later, going through their story over and over again with the cops as the first rays of daylight began to spread on the horizon. Blaine had no idea where Randy was. They wouldn’t let her see him.

  “You didn’t have your new boyfriend try to get rid of your old one?” one of the cops asked her. His attitude needed a major adjustment.

  “I came home to get away from Frederic and his trouble, not have it follow me here! I didn’t hire Randy to do anything! We were both sleeping when he heard something and got up. Him being gone woke me up.” Blaine fought back the tears and the urge to be sick. She ignored the ‘new boyfriend’ comment as it was the least of her concerns to correct the guy.

  “But you didn’t see the woman.” They sounded like they didn’t believe her.

  “Of course not! It’s dark! She took off running. Randy was further ahead than I was, so I really didn’t even see her.”

  Trouble seemed to find her, back in Hollywood and here at home. When did trouble suddenly become her mantra?

  “Your boyfriend was found holding the crowbar.”

  “Well duh! It was in the water and he stumbled over it! How was he supposed to know that’s what the person used to hit him!” Were these people stupid? What happened to the good small town cops? Had things changed that much since she’d left? Blaine tried to peer around the cops to see if she could find Randy. Her stomach clenched. “I bet if you tracked the other call that came in about someone being hurt at this location, you could find her. Randy’s innocent. He didn’t do anything wrong.” Except for fall in love with me.

  They fired question after question. She heard someone comment about the man who’d seen them and called the cops, something about how Blaine and Randy would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for that witness. Apparently the guy had been looking for
his lost dog and lived nearby.

  What seemed like eons later, Blaine was able to call someone. She debated on who, then decided on Jameson.

  “Blaine? It’s so early! I’ve been trying to get a hold of you and Randy for hours. Are you okay?” Her brother’s concern finally sent her over the edge.

  She burst into tears. “I think they’re going to arrest Randy for something he didn’t do, and I’m being continuously questioned. We’re at the creek, but they’re taking us to the police station. They won’t let me see Randy!”

  “What? Blaine, calm down. I’ll be right there. Promise. You just hang in there, okay? I’m coming right now.”

  “Jameson, don’t get Mom or anyone else involved yet, please? Just you?”

  He hesitated for a second. “Just me.”

  “Thank you.” She choked back a sob.

  She had to ride in the cop car without Randy. She’d made sure his truck doors were locked. As the car pulled away from the creek, Blaine stared out the window, wishing she could start the night over.

  Jameson was right there at the station when she arrived. She rushed into her brothers arms, sobbing on his shoulder.

  “I’m sorry to bother you-”

  “Hey. You’re my sister and you don’t bother me. Let’s go in and do what you need to do, then we’ll talk. You haven’t seen Randy yet?” Jameson kept an arm around her shoulders. Her brother was the perfect calm person in a crisis. He always had been.

  “No! They think he- they think he tried to kill my ex.” She left it as ex, not saying ex-husband on purpose. That would be a whole other bombshell.

  “Your ex?” Jameson drew his brows together, watching her closely.

  “He apparently came down here. I don’t know how he knew where we were. I just don’t know! I have so much I have to tell you.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  They separated Randy from Blaine, thinking he was the one who had something to do with Frederic’s accident. The shadow of suspicion was lifted off him slightly when they did find a set of shoe imprints leading away from the creek on the opposite side, where he’d seen the woman run earlier. The prints were much smaller and Randy was barefoot. They hadn’t arrested him yet, but it wasn’t looking good right now. Why did he pick up that stupid crowbar? Oh, that’s right, because he wasn’t thinking. Once again, he’d found himself in a bit of trouble that he had nothing to do with.