Now, he had to remind her who was boss by sending the wolf pack after her, because that’s exactly what the paparazzi would be when they smelled scandal. Sure, the publicity from the reveal that there had been an imposter in Chynna’s place might seem bad to some, because Kenya had been able to successfully imitate Chynna without anyone being the wiser. But Eli was gambling that it might also make people curious about the diva and go out and buy her music. He was certain he would see a spike in ticket sales, because they’d want to see the “real” Chynna on stage.
And so he’d called one of the slimy reporters he kept on his cell phone and anonymously revealed that the real Chynna was in Tucson and the “fake” Chynna had been in her place. The reporter hadn’t understood until Eli had reminded him that Chynna had an identical twin. The comment set the reporter off, and he’d started firing questions at Eli, which he evaded. He didn’t say how long her twin had been impersonating Chynna—he would just let the paparazzi take it from there. Once they smelled blood, they’d be relentless for the truth.
Eli did feel bad for Lucas though. He hated to ambush him and not give him a heads-up, but the paps would need genuine emotion and having them ask him if he was with the real Chynna was just too priceless. The reporter had agreed that if everything checked out, he’d wire the money to the usual personal account Eli had set up. Eli would pocket the fifty thousand dollars they were paying him—as he’d done on previous occasions in which he’d ratted out Chynna—into his rainy day fund for the day when he might have to leave town in a hurry.
As much as Kenya didn’t want to go out with the group—Lucas, Deacon, Penelope, Fiona, her choreographer and a few of her dancers—she eventually acquiesced. And halfway through the evening, she was having a blast. They’d pigged out on one of the many late-night buffets Vegas has to offer before casino hopping at the Venetian, Caesars Place and the Paris hotel.
Kenya wasn’t much for gambling, because losing her hard- earned money was a tough pill to swallow; but spending a little bit of Chynna’s money for fun wouldn’t hurt anyone. The best part was she was starting to win at Blackjack.
“I didn’t know you were that good at Blackjack,” Lucas whispered in her ear.
“Neither did I,” Kenya said, laughing and pointing to the dealer to hit her. When she received two cards of the same value, she split and asked him to hit her again. She won both hands and scored another thousand dollars.
“Woohoo!” Fiona yelled behind her. “You are hot tonight, girlfriend.”
“Yeah, you are,” Deacon said disdainfully.
Kenya heard the slight note of shock in Deacon’s tone and glanced back at him. Kenya pushed back from the table. She’d better not have too much fun and raise further suspicion, especially when she was so close to the finish line. By tomorrow, she would be back in New York to her own life, and her time as Chynna would all be a memory.
At nearly four a.m., Kenya and Lucas returned to her suite at the Bellagio in which they’d rented out the entire floor for Chynna and her entourage. Kenya was exhausted, and Lucas took over putting the hotel swipe card to the door and letting them inside. The room was dark, save for the streaming lights of the Vegas strip shining through the floor-to-ceiling windows that faced the famous fountain.
Kenya walked over to the window and looked out over the strip. Through the window, she saw Lucas’s reflection as he removed his jacket and unbuttoned the cuffs on his shirt as he walked toward her. She tried not to tense when he placed his hands over her shoulders and brushed her hair aside to place a tender kiss on her neck. He teased the sensitive part of her nape with his tongue as his hands encircled her waist and pulled her closer to him. She felt the bulge in his pants as he ground himself against her backside.
She leaned back into his embrace and as one hand fondled her breasts, the other began loosening the straps on the bustier she’d been wearing until it fell to the floor. Then she felt a rush of air hit her thigh as that same free hand began to hike the leather miniskirt further up so one of his hands could reach inside the cheeky panties she was wearing and begin teasing her with his fingers.
It was erotic to see their reflection in the window as Lucas began stroking her slow at first and then faster and faster until her breath began to hitch and red-hot flames of desire began to course through her veins. He leaned around to kiss her closed eyelids and nose before making his way to her mouth. It was open with anticipation of his hot wet tongue, and Lucas easily satisfied her needs by making love to her mouth while his hands brought her to a climax.
“Lucas,” she moaned as the sensations began to shake her entire body.
“Yes, babe ... come for me,” he urged, sliding his finger faster and faster inside her until her legs began to tremble. That’s when Lucas lifted her off her feet and placed her on the nearby desk. She wanted him just as bad; she needed to be with him one last time before their worlds would forever be altered. She reached for the buckle on the belt of his pants to help free that piece of him that she wanted so desperately inside her, to fill her completely.
Lucas fumbled, sliding his pants down and getting a condom on while Kenya circled her arms around his nape and pressed hot kisses on his neck and earlobe.
“Dear God, Chynna!” he groaned, lifting her hips slightly off the desk so he could thrust inside her.
“Sweet Jesus!” she moaned when Lucas entered her. It was heaven and hell all at once, because she knew she would never again find this with another man. Why? Because if she admitted the truth to herself, she loved Lucas, but she had to give him up because there would be no future for them once she left. He believed he was in love with Chynna, not her. Kenya blocked the thoughts out of her head as Lucas began to move inside her. She met his thrust by undulating her hips until they formed a steady, dizzying rhythm. It was lusty and hot, and Kenya wished it could go on forever. Her fingernails dug into his back, urging him onward.
Lucas plunged all the way deep inside Kenya. She felt so good, so right. She was so open, so willing to give herself to him that he lost himself in the physical connection he had with this woman. He couldn’t deny that she’d gotten under his skin in a big way, and he was determined to make her remember him, remember his body buried inside her and never think of another man.
“Oh, it feels so good,” Kenya said.
He covered her mouth with his, kissing her deeply as his lower half drove deeper to seat himself inside her. He could feel her body straining for a release, but he withdrew and slowed the rhythm down, wanting to make the moment last.
When Kenya wrapped her legs around his waist to urge him onward, beads of sweat began to form on his forehead, and he lifted her off the desk and walked them to the couch so he could lay her body over it and thrust inside her once more.
This time, he hit the spot and her orgasmic cry filled the room as she tensed underneath him. The aftershocks of her lush contractions triggered his own release that he’d been restraining. Heat suffused his body, and he gave a loud shout as he collapsed on top of her.
The position was uncomfortable, and he shifted until they tumbled in a heap on the floor with Kenya on top of him. He wrapped Kenya tight in his arms, feeling possessive as he continued to shudder from the force of his orgasm. Tomorrow he would have to figure out what came next between them because one thing he was clear about—Chynna James was his.
Chapter 7
In the wee hours of the morning, Chynna slid out of Noah’s bed to her room to pack. She knew it was a coward’s way out, but she was afraid of the alternative, facing Noah with the fact that it was time for her to go. They’d both been afraid to broach the issue even though he too had to know that she couldn’t stay at Golden Oaks Ranch. Instead, they’d buried their heads in the sand and acted like it didn’t exist. And now, the jig was up.
Kenya had told her in no uncertain terms that she was ready to go back to her life, which meant that Chynna would h
ave to go back and face all those old demons that she’d left behind. She would have to go back and stand up for herself and what she believed in. She would have to go back and write and sing music she felt strongly about and not what Eli or anyone else thought was right for her. It was time for her to take her life back.
Her time here had shown her that she was much stronger than she thought and that she could do anything she set her mind to even if that meant going to battle with her record label. Look at what she’d done here: She’d rounded up cattle and helped Rylee deliver a horse in the middle of a flood for Christ’s sake!
She’d called for a car, and the driver would be coming within the hour to pick her up. Chynna hated to leave like this, but she didn’t know of any other way. If she waited until everyone else was up and she said her goodbyes to the Hart family, it would be much worse.
She would say goodbye to Lila, the horse she’d seen delivered, and that would give her just enough time to go inside to talk Noah before the car arrived. After she closed the two suitcases from the spa that Kenya had left, since Kenya had taken Chynna’s luggage back to LA, Chynna glanced at the bedroom that had been her home for the last month. She would miss the place. Golden Oaks Ranch had been the one place that had felt like home since Chynna had been discovered and left Tennessee for LA.
She closed the door, quietly crept down the steps and outside the Hart home. She took the luggage to the bottom of the steps and went to the stables so she could have a look at Lila one final time before she left.
As if sensing her presence, when she opened the stable door, Lila perked up and walked out of the stall. Chynna smiled and came over to rub Lila’s head. The horse nuzzled against her.
“I will miss you,” Chynna said.
“And will you miss me?”
Startled, Chynna jumped back long enough to see Noah standing in the doorway of the stables with a look of disbelief on his face. He was dressed in jogging pants and a T-shirt as if he’d thrown something on and run out of the house.
“Noah!”
Hurt was etched across his features. “Were you even going to tell me goodbye?”
Chynna dropped her hands to her side and began walking toward him, but he stepped backward. Tears sprung to her eyes. “I planned to.”
“When? When you were in the car and waving goodbye?” He asked bitterly.
“I was about to come and find you.”
“So th-that’s it?” His voice broke. “It’s over?”
“Honestly, I don’t know, Noah,” Chynna said, wiping an errant tear that slid down her cheek with the back of her hand. “And I’ve been scared to find out. Guess it was easier to live in denial of the inevitable.”
“Which is?”
“That I have to go back to LA and resume my life. Even you must have known I couldn’t stay here forever. My sister has been imitating me for damn near a month, and she’s fed up. Told me to get my butt back home. And I have to go. She’s done enough for me already.”
Noah swallowed. “I understand that, Chynna, but we could have talked about this.”
“And?” she let the word dangle in the air.
“And figure something out.”
“Like what?” she asked, folding her arms across her chest.
“Are you ready for a long distance relationship? Are you ready for the scrutiny that comes with dating ‘Chynna James,’ the star,” she said, making quotation mark signs with her hands. “I promise you the press is relentless. They will hound you endlessly if they think we’re together.”
“And you don’t think I can handle them?” Noah asked.
“I didn’t know you would want to,” Chynna said. “And I was afraid to find out. But I guess there’s no better time than the present to ask. What do you want, Noah? Where do you see this relationship going?”
Just then, they heard a lot of commotion and loud voices outside the stable door. Noah was closest and rushed to the door with Chynna on his heels. They stumbled right into the flashbulbs of a dozen members of the press standing outside the Hart stables with cameras and microphones.
One of them pressed a microphone toward Chynna’s face.
“Chynna, is it true you’ve been holed up here with Noah Hart while your twin’s been imitating you for weeks?”
Stunned, Chynna turned to Noah, who she could see was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people gathered around them and cameras flashing pictures of him and his family’s home. In that moment, she knew it was over, knew that he wasn’t ready for a life in the limelight, and she couldn’t ask him to live under its scrutiny. He belonged here at the ranch with his family, and he deserved a woman that would fit into that role.
Chynna spied the car she’d hired sitting in front of the main house. She would have to make a break for it. Of course, that was easier said than done, especially now that she didn’t have her two huge bodyguards with her for an easy getaway.
“Excuse me,” she said, pushing past the throng of reporters screaming at her and taking pictures. Noah followed behind her and was able to keep some of them at bay as she made her way to the vehicle.
Noah made it to the Lincoln Town Car first and opened the car door for her. Chynna quickly rushed inside and slammed the door. Then she rolled down the window long enough to mouth, “I’m sorry.”
Then she rolled it back up and yelled at the driver to take off. Her luggage be damned, she was under fire and this was just the beginning.
Noah stared at the vehicle as the dust sputtered in the air and it sped away. The reporters swarmed around him, each trying to get a picture of him, Chynna James’s newest conquest. But Noah didn’t care. In the blink of any eye, Chynna was gone. Just as she’d sped into his life in a blaze of glory, she’d sped right out of it.
He turned to the reporters and yelled, “This is private property! Get off my land before I have you all arrested.” He started for the main house. When one of the reporters followed, Noah turned quickly as if daring him to take another step. Instead, the reporter snapped another quick photograph before rushing away so he could no doubt chase Chynna’s car down the freeway.
As he approached the house, Noah saw his mother, father, Caleb and Rylee standing in their robes on the porch. They wore looks of shock, disbelief and pity. It was the look of pity he hated the most.
As he walked by, Caleb touched his arm, but Noah shook him off and pointed his index finger at him. “Not a word.” Once inside, he slammed the door behind him.
Kenya had her escape all planned. During the mêlée of everyone preparing to depart for the airport, she would sneak away. She’d paid the room steward a hundred bucks so she could leave through the service entrance so no one would be the wiser.
Sure enough her plan worked perfectly. After giving her a long, deep kiss, Lucas had departed from her bed earlier that morning to pack and make a few phone calls. She went about her day as normal, showering and changing into a Chynna outfit of skinny jeans with a lace peplum shirt and heels, and waited for her moment.
It came when the hotel bellman knocked on her suite door for their luggage. The bodyguards were preoccupied with them. While Deacon and Penelope were so busy talking details about the day, they didn’t see Kenya slip out the side door. It was time to make her move. The meager items she’d taken with her since Arizona had been packed into a duffle bag. Kenya pulled out a baseball cap from her purse and donned some large sunglasses. It was perfect—no one would recognize her.
Proud of her handiwork, Kenya made her way for the elevator.She had no idea that the investigator Eli had hired was watching her every move and had just notified the press of her impending departure.
Once out the elevator, Kenya made her way toward the service entrance. The room steward was waiting for her and led her through the service area and, she hoped, toward the door to freedom. What greeted her, however, when she opened the door to
the outside, was a throng of reporters with microphones in their hands.
“Kenya, how long have you been imitating your sister, Chynna?”
“Who came up with the idea to switch places?”
“Why did you agree to the switch?”
Terrified, Kenya closed the door and locked it behind her. Dear God, we’ve been exposed! How in the world could this have happened after we’d been so careful? She’d been so close to getting back to her own life without anyone being the wiser. Kenya backed away from the door and the loud voices from outside.
What was she going to do? And how was she going to get out of there?
“Calm down, Kenya,” Chynna said on the other end of the line.
“How can I be calm?” Kenya whispered angrily. “I have reporters waiting outside the hotel ready to rip me to pieces.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m in the ladies room,” Kenya said. After the fiasco outside, she’d run to the only place they wouldn’t follow her.
“I know this is crazy,” Chynna said, “but I need you to stay calm. I’m in the same boat. They ambushed me as well. And ...,” she said, glancing behind her, “are following me on the freeway as we head to the airport. Give me a minute to make some calls, and I will get you out of there.”
“Chynna, this is a mess,” Kenya cried.
Chynna sighed. “I know, and it’s all my fault. Just give me a few minutes to figure things out and make arrangements, okay? But I promise you I won’t leave you in the lurch. You can count on me.”
“Promise?”
“I promise,” Chynna said, ending the call. She leaned back against the cushions in the backseat. She was in such hot water, she didn’t know how she was going to get out of this one. She’d never counted on anyone finding out the truth and therefore hadn’t made backup arrangements. She hadn’t told anyone of her plan, and now everyone was going to feel scorned. Is anyone going to help me?
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