The Fan

by Velvet Vaughn

  The man smirked and raked Logan with disdain. “I’ll tell you who I am, buddy,” the man mocked. “I’m her husband.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  It took a second before Logan’s brain could process the scene in front of him. A man was lying in bed with Jade, his arm around her shoulder, his hand cupping her lace-covered breast with familiarity. The same breast Logan touched a couple of hours ago.

  It didn’t appear that Jade minded very much.

  The man’s words knocked at his skull like a woodpecker until finally they penetrated. Her husband.

  Jade was married?

  He almost had sex with her, had been one condom and a thrust away from her welcoming body. It had not been a one-sided affair. Oh no. She'd been a very willing and equal partner, all but attacking him, crawling up his body, begging him. How could she share in the passion when the whole time she was married?

  No, he refused to believe it. “Jade?”

  “Jade? Who the hell is Jade? Her name is Juliet. Honey, tell this joker that I’m your husband so he can leave and we can get back to what we were doing.” The man leaned down and nuzzled her throat, sliding one strap of her nightgown off her shoulder.

  Logan’s eyes met Jade’s. She looked like the proverbial deer in headlights. Smiling awkwardly, she elbowed the man in the ribs. He grunted. The sheet slipped and she grabbed it and yanked it to her chin.

  That split second of silence was all the confirmation Logan needed. He didn’t wait around for an explanation.

  “Logan!”

  His steps didn’t falter as he sprinted down the stairs and shot out the door. He hurdled the fence and eyed the pool longingly. He considered a swim to calm his raging temper but he'd been in such a hurry to rescue Jade, he'd forgotten to bring Isabella’s monitor with him. He sighed. Just as well. He'd already showered once tonight.

  One of Fiji’s chew toys blocked his path to the house. Logan punted it across the yard in frustration, disgusted with himself for letting down his guard, however brief.

  How many times did he have to stick his hand in the fire to realize the damn flames burned?

  If his brother were around, he would engage him in a little friendly combat. He needed someone to knock some sense into him since he couldn’t do it to himself.

  He slipped through the sliding glass doors and sprinted upstairs to check on Bella. She was sound asleep, lying on her side, her two hands were joined as if in prayer and tucked under her head. She looked so adorable his anger evaporated and he forgot to breathe.

  One look at his precious baby girl and everything else faded away.

  #

  “What are you doing here, Kyle?”

  Jade shoved angrily at her ex-husband and pulled the spaghetti straps of her camisole back up her arms. She'd been enjoying the most wonderful dream starring not her actor ex, but her hunky next, as in door neighbor.

  The dream had been vivid, real. She'd actually felt Logan’s hands on her, only to wake up and find out they were Kyle’s cold fingers. His appearance in her bed stunned her, and then finding Logan standing in her doorway, she'd been startled speechless.

  Now Logan thought she was married.

  After the way she'd practically molested him earlier, she didn’t blame him if he hated her.

  And how sad was it that her husband didn’t even remember her real name. If something wasn’t important to Kyle, he simply forgot it—things like birthdays, anniversaries, his wife’s real name. He was the most self-important, arrogant individual she'd ever met.

  His whiny voice snapped her back to the present.

  “I want you back, baby,” he crooned as his finger slid beneath a strap and inched it back down her shoulder.

  “Stop. Just…stop.” Jade smacked at his hand and scurried out of bed. She snatched a robe from the closet, jammed her arms through the sleeves and quickly tied it in place. Fisting her hands on her hips, she faced down her ex and pinned him with an angry stare. “How did you find me?”

  He shrugged and crossed his arms behind his head. “I have my resources.”

  “Nora,” she muttered under her breath. “What did you promise my assistant to get her to reveal my whereabouts?”

  “Who said I had to promise her anything?” Kyle retorted, confirming Jade’s suspicions. One leg crossed the other. He looked utterly relaxed and completely in love with himself. “Chicks dig me. All I had to do is flash my pearly whites.” He displayed his cosmetically enhanced teeth in what he considered his trademark smile.

  Jade’s lips twisted with revulsion. “Well, I hope you have room for another assistant because mine will be looking for a job tomorrow.”

  “You would fire that gentle, innocent girl for telling your husband where you were hiding out?” He shook his head and “tsked.”

  “Ex-husband. Get out, Kyle.”

  He smoothly slid out of bed and stalked toward her. She fought the urge to back up.

  “Sugar, baby, come on. You and me,” he gestured between them, “we’re good together. America’s favorite couple and all that. What do you say?”

  “I say, again, get out.”

  A look of confusion knotted his brows. “You can’t mean that, baby.” He smiled in what she was sure he thought was charming but only served to turn her stomach. “I’m Kyle Ashton. You love me.”

  It didn’t escape Jade’s notice that he didn’t say he loved her. He never had.

  “Oh, I mean it, Kyle.” She stomped to her dresser and picked up her cell phone. “In fact, if you don’t disappear in the next fifteen seconds, I’m calling the police.”

  “Bab—“

  “And if you call me ‘baby’ one more time, so help me, I’ll hurt you. I’ll hurt you bad.”

  Rage darkened Kyle’s face. “Obviously the sweet talk isn’t going to work. Listen, Juliet, we have to get back together. I’m sure you’ve heard by now that I’ve run into a little, er, trouble.”

  Jade rolled her eyes. She could only imagine what kind of trouble. She hadn’t picked up a paper in days. She bet it was along the lines of the mess he'd been embroiled in before they married.

  “No, Kyle, believe it or not, my life does not revolve around you anymore. I don’t know what the situation is, nor do I care.” She punched the number nine on her cell. “I’m calling the cops.”

  Kyle ripped the phone out of her hand and hurled it against the wall, shattering it into a million pieces. He grabbed her shoulders and a small prickle of unease crept down her spine. He'd never hit her before, but then, she'd never done anything during their marriage to evoke any strong emotions from him. The only time she stood up to him was when she filed for divorce. She forced herself to calmly stare at his mottled red face. It was pretty easy to do since he stood eye to eye with her.

  During their marriage, Kyle never let her wear heels when they went out in public together because she would tower over him. At five-six, she was hardly an Amazon. Kyle possessed typical little man syndrome, overcompensating for his height with an aggressive sex drive, one that could not be quenched with one woman. The two inch lifts he wore in his shoes were another stab at vanity. He wanted the public to think he was taller and having a wife even just a few inches above him bruised his ultra-sensitive ego.

  “Listen to me, baby.” He stressed the endearment. “My publicist has already dumped me. MegaPics dropped me as the lead in Cold Front and Sid—Sid!—is threatening to quit, too.”

  Jade rolled her eyes. “Sid would never leave you. What did you do now, Kyle?” She figured she already knew the answer but she wanted to hear it anyway.

  He had the decency to look shamefaced. “There was a little party and things got a bit…out of hand.”

  “Another orgy?”

  Kyle sneered. “You could call it that. Anyway, some jackass taped it all and offered it to the highest bidder.”

  “So you were caught on video having sex with other women while your pregnant fiancée was where? Joining in?”

  The
belligerent attitude returned. “Look, there was a lot of bad mojo at that party. Someone must have slipped something into my drink. Things got really wild and it was just one kinky scene.”

  “Why would someone slip something into your drink, Kyle? We both know you were a willing participant, probably the ringleader, starting the whole—”

  A flash bulb clicked in Jade’s head and she heard the words he wasn’t saying.

  “Wait a minute, you had sex…with another man! You had sex with a man and someone filmed it.” Jade hooted with laughter. “Oh, this is too good. Let me guess the headlines. Big screen stud Kyle Ashton a closet homosexual. No, no, wait—”

  “Shut the hell up,” he snarled, rattling her shoulders violently.

  Jade’s laughter abruptly ceased. “You’re hurting me, Kyle.”

  His grip eased marginally but the damage had already been done. She would have ten round bruises come tomorrow. With both hands, she shoved him away. He stumbled, leaned forward and stuck a finger in her face.

  “This isn’t a joke. Besides, I had sex with plenty of women at that party, too.”

  Jade clapped mockingly and sidled away. “Well, then, that makes it so much better. Instead of being gay, you're just an indiscriminate whore.” She shook her head. “You can’t actually think I'd get back together with you.”

  Kyle looked confused. “Well, yeah. I’m Kyle Ashton.”

  “One mistake a lifetime is enough for me. Let your precious Shauna bail you out of this.”

  “You're the one everyone loves, Juliet. Not Shauna. If you take me back, Sid said MegaPics will and my publicist and even the fans. He said you'd do it.”

  Sid, her agent, too. Never looking out for Jade’s best interests, only Kyle’s and his own. “News flash, Kyle. Sid does not run my life. Squire Shauna around town. If people see your fiancée on your arm looking happy and pregnant, that should quiet the rumors.”

  Kyle slumped to the bed. “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “Shauna dumped me when this came out. She told everyone that the baby wasn’t mine and that I was a,” he swallowed hard, “dud in bed, probably cause I was a homo.”

  Jade had to slap a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. This really was too good.

  “Don’t you see, Juliet,” he pleaded, not noticing her shaking shoulders or the tears running down her face. “You are my only hope. I…I need you.”

  She bit her cheek to quit laughing and swiped at the wetness. She'd never seen Kyle bared to the soul, all of his haughty Hollywood bravado gone, his celebrity pomposity stripped away, leaving nothing but a scared boy.

  Although she still harbored bitter feelings for her ex and the way he handled his affair with Shauna when they were married, she didn’t wish anything this bad on him. He would have a very hard time recovering from this fiasco.

  However, as sorry as she felt for him, her decision never wavered. She rescued Kyle once and got burned in the process. She wouldn’t, couldn’t, do it again.

  “It’s not going to happen; we're not getting back together.”

  The scared boy disappeared and arrogant Kyle took his place. He reclined on the bed and let his gaze travel her body. “Sid said he would make you do it.”

  Sid, her so fired agent. He was also the one who roped her into the whole Frank Talcott mess.

  “Sid has no authority over me, nor do you.”

  “Oh yeah?” He sprung from the bed and stalked forward. “Let’s just see about that.”

  Jade reached in the drawer in her bedside table and withdrew a gun. She kept one handy at all times when the unsettling letters started arriving.

  “I’m only going to say this once more, so tell me which part you're having trouble understanding.” She turned around and pointed the gun at Kyle. “Is it the get, or the out?”

  He stumbled back two steps, his hands raising in the universal surrender sign. “Juliet, baby, you wouldn’t…”

  She flicked off the safety. “Try me.”

  Kyle dropped his hands and narrowed his eyes. “It’s some other guy, isn’t it? That’s what this is about.”

  “What this is about is you getting out of my house, out of my life. For good.”

  “Who is he? Your last co-star Perry Madison? That big ape who barged in here? The nutjob who calls looking for you? Who, Juliet? I’ll kill them. You are my wife.” He jabbed a thumb into his chest. “Mine.”

  “I am not property, you do not own—” Jade froze. “What nutjob?”

  Kyle shrugged dismissively. “I don’t know, some creep who keeps calling asking where you are.”

  “You didn’t tell him, did you Kyle.” Jade’s hands shook as she scooted the safety back in place so she didn’t accidentally shoot him. “Please say you didn’t tell the caller where I am right now.”

  Kyle curled his lip. “Why should I tell you anything? You won’t help me, I won’t help you.” He stomped to the chair and grabbed his jacket.

  “This is important, Kyle. I need to know what you told him.”

  “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?” He paused as a thought struck. “Or maybe I’ll just have to enlighten him if he calls back.”

  “You bastard.”

  Kyle stopped and shook his head mockingly. “You’ve changed, Juliet. America’s Sweetheart you ain’t.”

  He jammed his arms in the sleeves and raked the room with disapproval. “You better get used to dumps like this, Juliet, baby. Without me, you are a nobody in Hollywood. You won’t even be able to get a job flogging garbage bags in an infomercial.”

  He plodded down the stairs but Jade didn’t bother to follow. She knew him too well. He was pissed that she wouldn’t help him so he wouldn’t give her the information she needed.

  He also wouldn’t give up. He would try to figure out some way to persuade her to reconcile, never doubting his ability to succeed. And for some reason in this crazy, mixed up world, people like Kyle always landed on their feet.

  She replaced the gun in the drawer and waited until she heard the slam before she made her way downstairs to lock the door. She really didn’t think Kyle would tell some random caller where she was but she couldn’t be sure, especially now that he was pissed at her for aborting his career-saving plans. The only thing Kyle loved more than Kyle was his Hollywood career.

  She pushed thoughts of her ex and the psychotic letter-writer out of her head and considered going over to explain the situation to Logan. But it was late and she didn’t want to wake Isabella. One glance through the window told her that all the lights were off next door anyway.

  She reached in the fridge for a bottle of red wine, produced by a local vintner. The winery had been listed in the Wall Street Journal as one of the twelve wineries in the United States to visit, a pretty substantial recommendation she figured. They were right. The taste was sweet and soft and had quickly become one of her favorites. She poured half a glass and re-corked the bottle. Kyle’s visit upset her and she just wanted to calm her nerves and go back to sleep.

  Her mind drifted back to dinner with Logan and Isabella. What had she been thinking attacking the man while his young daughter slept peacefully a few feet away? She didn't have room in her life for another man right now. It was the worst possible stage of her life.

  Although her marriage had been over for years, the divorce was still a fresh, festering wound. She needed time to heal, to rediscover herself. A man, no matter how mouth-wateringly gorgeous, did not fit into her plans.

  After one more check of the locks, she headed back to her bedroom. She drained her glass, slipped off her robe and slid under the sheets.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Jade blinked rapidly, letting her eyes adjust to the sunlight filtering through the windows. The ringing phone pulled her from sleep. A glance at the clock told her it was ten in the morning. She never slept that late but she had trouble falling asleep, finally drifting off around three.

  Who would be call
ing? No one had her land-line number except for Nora and Mrs. Edison. Kyle probably got it from Nora. He probably wanted to try to cajole her into getting back together again.

  She let the phone ring.

  She didn't feel like dealing with Kyle again this soon, nor did she want to confront Nora. She put off contacting her after Kyle left because she was going to have to fire her assistant of four years. Sweet, shy Nora who worshiped the ground Kyle walked on.

  How anyone could worship anything of Kyle’s was beyond Jade, and she'd married him.

  The ringing finally stopped. She sighed and dropped back to the pillows. She should really get up and move but the bed was so comfy and besides, there were no looming deadlines she had to rush around to meet. This was her vacation and if she wanted to stay in bed until noon, she would.

  She really should get up and contact Logan. She wanted to explain that Kyle was no longer her husband.

  The phone jangled again.

  Jade cursed. Maybe if she got up and showered, the caller would give up.

  She padded to the bathroom and stripped. The hot water steamed the room and felt so good, she didn’t want to turn it off. Twenty minutes later, she emerged, feeling refreshed and invigorated. Amazing since she hadn't had a cup of coffee yet this morning.

  She dried off and pulled on another sundress she purchased from her shopping trip yesterday. This one was white with big yellow daisies. The flowers made her think of the garden. Maybe she’d pluck some weeds this morning before the heat became unbearable.

  The phone rattled.

  Jade sighed. Obviously she couldn’t put it off any longer. With a huff, she grabbed the receiver.

  “Juliet!” her assistant babbled in a rush when she picked up. No matter how many times she asked Nora to call her by her real name, the girl always held on to the fantasy. “Have you heard the—”

  Jade cut her off before she could continue. The news she referred to was no doubt the latest scandal with Kyle. Not reading the paper or watching CNN was very soothing. “I know you're the one who told Kyle where I've been staying, Nora.”