He swallowed down the rising fury and ripped the tabloid from his bag, reviewing the photos, sifting the information through the past month. They had been taken during father’s first day in hospital, based on his appearance. Had Eisley been there? He reran the scenes from that day. Yes, Eisley had taken care of Simon. His throated tightened.
Wait. She was never alone with his father. Not once. Wes blinked. In fact, she hadn’t even entered his father’s room until two days later, when he brought her. The doubts ground into a knot of anger. Dana Lewis? Who was she, and why was she trying to frame Eisley? Because that was the only reasonable explanation to connect Eisley’s number with his father’s photos. He couldn’t reconcile the woman he loved with a betrayer like Jane or Vivian. Until proof left no room for doubt, he’d believe in her.
He stood and strengthened his resolve. Hopefully that proof would never come.
***
Eisley wore a little black dress. Lacy back and sleeves. Slimming V-neck line. And a little flirty ruffle at the knee. She even dared heels. Safe heels, if there was such a thing.
Wes had surprised her with dinner in the small neighboring city of Winston-Salem, at one of the more upscale restaurants. Everything should have been perfect, dreamy, but it wasn’t.
Despite his typical swoon-worthy appearance—spicy-leather scent, open-collared green oxford, and black jacket—his smiles held an air of apprehension or caution; a look she hadn’t seen since they first met. What was going on behind those gray-blue eyes? “Is your dad okay?”
His gaze shot to hers and he tilted his head. “He’s well.”
Her stomach twisted. “Has my dad done something to you?”
“Nothing out of character.”
She had to grin at his perfect reply. “Were my kids too hard on you?”
His brows creased and he looked completely confused. Well, at least that was better than distant and suspicious. “I adore your children.”
“Then what’s wrong? You’ve been extra quiet since we left my house.”
He paused, drew in a deep breath, and slid a hand through his hair. “You’re right. I should be honest with you.”
She reached to grip his hand, a little bit of fear nibbling at her confidence. “I’m a big fan of honesty.” Except, maybe, right now. In fact, maybe he should resort to acting all lovey dovey again.
“Yes. Yes, you are.” He spoke as if reminding himself and then covered her hand with his. “Andrew sent me some information today. The name and number of the person associated with the tabloid photos.”
“Oh.” She sighed away her concern. “No wonder you’re distracted tonight. What did you find out?”
“Have you ever heard of the name Dana Lewis?”
Her mouth dropped open. “Yes. I mean, I met her once. Last week.”
“Did you?” He watched her with such intensity, she wished she could read his mind.
“I meant to call you after it happened, but it was the day you surprised me from England.” Her lips stretched into an apologetic smile. “And I kind of got distracted when you arrived in the flesh.”
His shoulders relaxed, but his eyes still watched her with some reserve. What was going on? “Listen, you’re making me a little nervous right now, so I guess you’d better tell me whatever it is you’re not saying. I’ve been honest with you this whole time, and you’re the one who came all the way over here to surprise me, so if you’re having misgivings now…” She cleared the rising emotion from her throat and held his gaze. She’d tried to keep her distance from day number one, but he’d pursued her. If he didn’t trust her, she wanted to know sooner rather than later.
“I’m sorry, Eisley.” He tugged her hand between his warm palms and exhaled a kiss over her fingers. “Could you tell me what happened?”
She wasn’t fooled by that sweet kiss, even if her fingers tingled all the way up to her wrist. Something was still wrong…very wrong. She slipped her hand from his and sat back, trying to pull her feelings away as much as her body. “It was strange. She showed up at Julia’s bakery when I was getting ready to close up shop. She said she was doing an interview for the local paper, but then she started slipping out a few British words and I knew something was up. She got out of the restaurant before I could confront her.”
His dark brows scrunched. “Hmm. This leads me to another part of Andrew’s information.”
Something in his expression spiked her concern.
“The photos were taken from your mobile.”
She didn’t hear him correctly. “I don’t understand.”
“Andrew was able to track the photos to the mobile number from which they had been sent. It was yours. You know what this means?”
“Whoa. How is that even possible?” She fisted her hands in her lap. “You don’t believe I had something to do with it, do you?”
His gaze lingered on her face, taking its time examining her features. Not again. He wouldn’t mistrust her after all they’d discussed, would he? His expression softened and he gathered her hand in his. “No, not you. But I’m trying to work out how your number is associated with those photos.”
She released her tense breath into a sigh. “Right. How? And why my number? Who would I know in England besides Lizzie and your family?”
“Exactly. Can you think of any way someone would have had access to your mobile? Or…I don’t know. Used it?”
She scanned through her memory, revisiting the day at the hospital. “I didn’t even have my phone for part of the time, remember?” Her gaze shot to his. “I…I lost it in the elevator with Vivian the Vicious. We found it an hour or so later at the nurse’s station.”
A sudden flare of certainty came into his eyes, something she desperately needed to see. “Vivian?” He whispered the name and tapped the table. “Someone is attempting to frame you, Eisley.”
“Why me? I’m not—” she waved a hand toward his very swoony self—“famous. I’m not even popular.”
He rubbed his thumbs over her knuckles. “If Vivian is involved, then I think she might be using you to hurt me in some way. I don’t know how. And what of this woman…Dana Lewis?”
“Do you know her?” This whole thing was getting more Nancy Drew than Scooby Doo.
“No, but tell me everything and we’ll attempt to sort it out.”
She explained the entire exchange, but none of her information seemed to help in identifying who she was or why she was involved.
He slid his chair closer to her around the table as she talked, gaze softening with each detail of the story. By the time she’d gotten to the end of the tale, he’d gathered both her hands back into his and pressed them to his lips, holding her gaze. “I’ll work through this, pet. Vivian is quite adept at manipulation, I’m afraid.”
Vivian. Just her name left the scent of trouble behind. Beautiful, bold, a part of Wes’ past. Eisley stiffened against the comparison. Nope. Wes had chosen her not Vivian.
“You’ve gotten quiet.” He narrowed his gaze and leaned close. “Hey, don’t worry about Vivian. I’ll sort it out. She wants to steal my happiness out of spite, I believe, but I won’t allow her to touch you. Not if I have the power.” He placed a lingering kiss on her wrist as a promise.
She squeezed his hand. “How about we sort it out together? As a team. You and me.” She teased him with a grin. “Besides, I want to steal something from you too.”
“Do you?” He must have caught the intent because the smoky glint returned to his eyes.
“I’m after your heart.”
“Well, you’re a clumsy thief, my dear, because I’ve already placed it in your hands for safe keeping, and you can’t give it back.”
“Oh, I’m playing for keeps too. The happily-ever-after kind.”
His attention dropped as he placed his napkin up on the table, brow crinkling in a serious way. “I want to give you that kind of happiness, Eisley.” He stood, offering his hand. “Let’s finish this conversation in a more private setting. I have
some things I’d like to share with you; things I need you to know, first.”
Her stomach fisted against the suggestion. “Okay.”
He tugged her close and brushed a touch across her cheek. “Besides, we have another appointment to make.”
To her delight, they drove to Old Salem, a restored two-hundred-year-old Moravian village nestled near downtown. Christmas decor still clung to the brick and stone box-shaped houses, and the old-fashioned lanterns cast a magical glow across the street. A few couples walked arm-in-arm, snuggled tight against the slight chill in the January air.
“They have a performance of Peter and the Wolf tonight.”
Eisley pulled her gaze from the tranquil town. “Oh wow, really?” She rubbed a hand over his jacket. “You’re pretty great, you know that? And I really like having you around. Do you have to leave in a week?”
His grin tipped. “Actually, I’ll be back in two months for an extended stay.”
“The audition?”
He took her hand into his, thumb tingling a smooth caress over her knuckles. “They rang today and said I was the perfect fit. I think the chemistry between Sarah and me was tops.”
Eisley gulped down a strangle. Chemistry? With Sarah? Who the heck was Sarah? “So, what did you have to do to show chemistry, exactly?”
The rotten man’s lips twitched like he was trying to rein in a smile. Torture really shouldn’t be so cute. “Since I’m no longer making movies of questionable romantic content, all we had to do was go over a few scenes and kisses.”
“Kisses?” She tried to pull her hand free, but he wouldn’t let go. Okay, she’d assumed in his line of work he’d kiss other women, but the jerk was practically bragging about it. Eisley drew in a deep breath. Did he like kissing her? No doubt Sarah liked kissing him. She frowned. Bad thought. But hurt? To her surprise, not even a little. Which proved she was either insane or she actually trusted him.
“You can ask most actors. It’s only part of the job. Fairly meaningless to the heart, pet.”
Meaningless? When his kisses sent her spiraling into drool-mode? How on earth could it be meaningless? Maybe she should take back her forgiveness, just in case.
She stared at him, searching for any hint of deception, but his tender appeal only deepened her faith in him. “I know. I know.” She sighed and leaned back in the seat, eyes pinched closed. “My head realizes it’s not a big deal, but my heart kind of gave a twinge. Don’t worry. My heart is sometimes slow on the uptake, but it’ll catch up eventually.”
“I understand that.” He squeezed her hand. “Like earlier, my head knew to trust you. My heart was afraid.”
“Old scars carry deep reactions.”
“Do you know what?” His chocolate-rich voice edged close just before his lips warmed the skin beneath her ear, lingering to graze a trail down the side of her neck.
“Hmm?” She leaned into his touch, breath staggering an uneven rhythm.
“I think you’ve improved my auditions, especially the kissing scenes.”
She pulled her mind out of the glorious haze. “How on earth could I have improved your kissing auditions?”
“I merely pretended she was you.” His words breathed against her mouth, tempting her to bridge the gap, but she steadied the inner vulture.
Oh yes, she was getting the hang of this romance thing. “So, I’m your muse?”
“Without a doubt. That is fiction. You are quite real. I’ll not confuse the two.” His palm brushed across her cheek, thumb smoothing a slow trail over her lips. He dropped his gaze to her lips, eyes hooded. “If you want, I can reenact the scene with much more sincerity.”
He took her in a lingering kiss, slow and gentle, caressing his mouth over hers until she felt the gentle ridges of his lips. Her hand slipped up his chest to palm the back of his neck, the slightest nudge for him to enjoy the journey. He deliciously obeyed. Their shallow breaths whispered into the darkness. He tasted of the crème brûlée they’d shared at dinner.
“I can safely say I have never been kissed the way you kiss me.” She kept her eyes closed, her lips tingling. “I could drown in all of the beautiful warmth your touch leaves behind.”
She opened her eyes and met his smile.
“I’ve never cared for any woman the way I care for you.” His Adam’s apple bobbed with his swallow and his expression turned pensive. “Which leads me to an important topic of conversation. I need to tell you about Jane and Vivian. The whole story.”
Vivian’s words from the elevator came back to gnaw on Eisley’s inner peace. She gave them a mental shove. Nope, over and done. “You don’t have to tell me anything. It’s in the past. I trust the man you are now.”
He gathered her hands back into his. “Thank you for saying so, but the past has a way of touching the present whether we like it or not. There will be enough challenges in the future; I don’t want any secrets surprising us.”
“Okay,” she whispered. The past is in the past. No matter what he had to say, it couldn’t be worse than Vivian’s claim.
“There were several things surrounding Jane’s death that were not known by the media—information which only the most intimate people in our lives knew.” He looked away toward the misty Moravian street. “Four months prior to her death, she informed me she was pregnant.”
Eisley released her clenched breath, gaze unswerving. “Oh, Wes.”
“The news of the pregnancy wasn’t what either of us expected, not with our growing careers, but I accepted it as a part of the choices we’d made, and I asked her to marry me.”
Sounded like Rick’s history—except his fiancée disappeared from his life without a hint to her whereabouts.
He ran his free hand through his hair and released a slow breath. “Three months later, she lost the baby.”
“Oh, no.”
“She fell into depression, withdrew from her current film, and wanted no one with her but me. We grieved together. I harbored my own sense of loss.”
“It hurts the father, too.”
“Right.” His chin tightened, a clear attempt at controlling his emotions. “And there was this associated guilt, as though I’d failed to protect the child in some way. Was it punishment for my profligate life? My ruthless choices?”
“You know that’s not the case.”
“As you said earlier, one’s heart and one’s head aren’t always in agreement. The news of our sudden engagement caused a backlash of new conflict. News of her infidelity over the past year came to light, which even brought the parentage of the child into question. My reaction?” He winced. “I had every intention of making Jane suffer for her infidelity. I called off the engagement and separated myself from her. In a way, perhaps I severed her lifeline by doing that.”
“No, Wes. It wasn’t your fault.”
“But…Vivian.” He sighed and stared down at their hands. “Vivian remained, feeding me the attention and the words of affirmation I thought I deserved, inflating my pride.” His gaze sought hers, pleading for her to understand. “I was weak, Eisley. Grieving, selfish, and an easy target of manipulation. I see it now, the competition between the two of them—the impenetrable bitterness with everything: Their careers, their popularity, their love lives. I was merely another pawn.” His brow creased as he looked away. “One night, after drinking away my sorrows, I slept with her.”
The admission didn’t hurt as much as she’d thought. Watching the remorse work its way out through his words added clarity to his choices—his wrong, painful choices. He’d beaten himself up over them for much too long. She knew the feeling. It was past time for both of them to live free.
His expression held such remorse. Pale moonlight highlighted his features, bringing a white sparkle to his eyes. At that moment, she saw him as a regular man. Someone as flawed and stupid as she could be. Someone humbled by his own brokenness. Someone who sought reconciliation and admitted his faults quickly. A human hero. The realization melted her fears. “I know.” She touc
hed a palm to his cheek. “Vivian told me.”
“What?”
“In the elevator at the hospital. She tried to intimidate me, and it worked for about five minutes, until I realized what I believe about you and God and forgiveness.” Her lips twitched crooked. “You’re a new man, remember?”
He stared, eyes wide, until without warning, he took her face in his hands and kissed her. Everything sweet and tender between them melded into it. She gripped his jacket, holding him close, until she tasted salt. Salt?
She drew back and met his watery gaze. “Wes?”
“You’re amazing,” he rasped, palms keeping a gentle caress to her cheeks. “Even after I doubted you? You hear the worst about me and stay?”
“I don’t want to be anywhere else. Besides, I’m sure I’ll need you to remember this moment the next time I screw up and you need to forgive me.” She pushed her finger into his chest. “Because I’ll give you plenty of practice, too.”
“I certainly hope you do, so we can even the score. I’m at a distinct deficit.” His smile spread to double-dimple gorgeous, even as tears glimmered in his moonlit eyes. He pushed her hair back from her face, staring at her as if she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Unbelievable…and completely addictive. “I never imagined God could—” He kissed her again. “I’ll finish the full story so you’ll know everything.” He stole another kiss. “When I woke the next morning and came to the full realization of what I’d done, I left straightaway, determined to distance myself from the entire Barry family. But Jane had left a haunting voice message, telling me goodbye. I didn’t understand until I arrived at her flat, with Vivian directly behind me.”
“I’m so sorry, Wes.”
“My father came to London to retrieve me. Otherwise, I have no idea how I might have harmed myself. I was so riddled with my own guilt over her death, but God had not forgotten this lost man.” He brushed back her hair. “He rescued me in my darkest moment, gave me hope again, and sent you.”
“Best Christmas present I’ve ever gotten.” She patted the lapel of his jacket.
He shook his head and brushed the back of his hand over his eyes. “Speaking of gifts.” He pulled a small box from his jacket and raised a brow. “Beware. It isn’t a double web blaster.”
Just the Way You Are (A Pleasant Gap Romance Book 1) Page 29