Sugar and Sin Bundle

by Stacey Joy Netzel

  Russ ended the kiss. “I better go before they send out a search party.”

  Swimming in a turbulent sea of conflicting emotions, Victoria needed a rescue party.

  ***

  Several days later Victoria spent the train ride to the Hamptons rehearsing the speech she’d give to her parents. Now, as her mother’s driver, who’d picked her at the station, pulled up the long driveway of the family beach house, the words blew away with the ocean breeze. She imagined the crunch of gravel beneath the Lincoln Town Car’s wheels were her bones being crushed under the weight of her family legacy. Perhaps she should give in to it. Marry a man of her parents’ choosing. With any luck she might be able to corrupt whoever he might be. But he still wouldn’t be Russ.

  The Bryce’s summer home came into view but it looked more like a mansion imported from England than a beach house. She had spent every summer of her life here wandering the sand dunes like a lover waiting for her man to return from the sea. Forever the romantic when she was young, now forever the realist. The car stopped at the main entrance and she gathered her things and waited for the door to be opened for her. When she had tried once to get out on her own, her mother had admonished her for the act.

  “Thank you, Evans.” She took his hand as she had many times over the years.

  He tipped the ridiculous hat her father made him wear. “You’re welcome, Miss Bryce. Ring me when you’re ready to leave for the train station.”

  “Might want to keep the engine running this time.”

  “Oh no, what did you do now?”

  “Hey, I’ve been good.”

  “Hmrppp, you only got good at not being caught.”

  It appeared Evans was still firmly in her parent’s corner.

  However, the maid, who opened the large oak door and welcomed her home with more enthusiasm than her own parents could ever muster, was in Victoria’s corner.

  “Good morning, Mams!”

  The hardy, but not heavy, woman held Victoria in a fierce hug. Her mother would fire an employee if she considered them slovenly—which meant twenty or so pounds overweight. The long-time maid walked the imaginary line most of the time and when she stepped across it, Victoria battled her mother so Mams could keep her job. “Thanks, I’m going to need that hug.”

  “Remember—don’t show fear.”

  Victoria laughed and she headed down the hall. If it weren’t for Mams she never would’ve had the courage to stand up to her mother—that and the trust fund her grandmother bequeathed five years ago. It’s easy to be brave when you have a cool million in the bank.

  She hesitated at the doorway for a moment to gather her strength for the upcoming battle. No doubt her mother had informed her father of Victoria’s most recent abhorrent behavior. For two years she kept out of the papers but that would mean nothing to them. Neither did the fact that after the initial set-up cost of Victoria Designs, she was not only self sufficient but able to bank money.

  “Victoria, what are you doing standing out there like one of the servants?”

  But that’s how Victoria had always felt—like one of the hired help. It seemed she was always waiting to be summoned. This wasn’t going to go well. As she approached them she tried to gauge the mood of her ageless father. Time had yet to touch his golden hair and one had to wonder whether he was a vampire or had made a deal with the devil.

  It could go either way.

  “Hello, father.” She gave him the expected routine peck on the cheek and, to her mother who held out her cheek, Victoria kissed the air, never daring to make actual contact. “Hello, Mother.”

  Victoria settled into her assigned place on the high-backed formal couch that didn’t belong in a beach house. In fact, if the drapes were drawn one would never know they’d left the Manhattan penthouse behind.

  Her father folded the paper and creased it just so. “I thought you’d finally grown up Victoria, but this latest incident shows me otherwise.”

  “I’m sorry if I’ve disappointed you yet again.” She couldn’t help letting the sarcasm tint her voice.

  “That can be overlooked this once since no one recognized you,” said her mother. “But you must end it with that, that gigolo.”

  “Mother, he is NOT a gigolo.” Victoria was getting mad and when she got mad she said stupid things. “I get it for free.”

  “You see Henry, there is no talking to her.”

  Her father patted her mother’s hand. “You fancy yourself in love with him, don’t you?”

  She did, but she looked away.

  “Oh this is worse than I thought.” Her mother shook her head.

  “I think this might open your eyes, Victoria, to the real world.”

  Her father handed her the paper he’d been reading. The Australian Times.

  “See page six.”

  Victoria turned the pages one by one. Her focus zoomed to the picture of a shirtless Russ and a tall beautiful blonde woman with her boobs hanging out of tank top and a pair of daisy duke shorts. Just the woman she’d feared was his type. Let’s face it, she was the type of a large percentage of heterosexual males. Hell, if she were a lesbian the woman would be her type too.

  Her gaze lifted to the headline. ‘Star of Design Factory Claims Rowland is the Baby’s Father.’ With shaking hands she scanned the accompanying article that read like a classic tale of accusation and denial with paternity tests pending. How did he keep this a secret from the producers of Design Intervention? From her? Was it true?

  Pregnant was bad enough but then to desert the mother of your baby? Russ wouldn’t do that. She knew it in her soul. “Father, this isn’t true.”

  “Really? And you know this because you’ve known him all of two weeks?”

  Her mother was right but Victoria wasn’t about to admit it—not even to herself. “That isn’t fair. You know how these papers are—”

  “And you’d be the expert, wouldn’t you?” Now her father’s voice was laced with sarcasm.

  But he was right. Truth was that the tabloids had never outright lied about any of Victoria’s high jinks. They embellished, implied, but the last time she’d been set up by her so-called friends and that had cut deeper than the headlines. That was her wake-up call. She started to take school seriously and planned her design business. “So he slept with her but he did not get her pregnant and leave.”

  “I can’t believe you’re defending him. Have you no self-respect left?”

  “No, mother you’ve been chipping away at it for years.”

  Her mother stuck the paper in her face. “How could you want anything to do with him after seeing this?”

  “Because this is a lie. Or at least it isn’t the truth until a paternity results are in.”

  “I don’t believe this. Henry?”

  “She’s an adult, Evelyn.”

  “Don’t come back here crawling, expecting us to help you.”

  “Mother, I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  Her mother had never been there for her. Not even after the photos appeared in the paper. Victoria had a couple of drinks, not enough to get drunk, but someone must have slipped her something, because she didn’t remember kissing two girls nor flashing her boobs for the camera. It may not have been the last time she had a drink but it was the last time she’d ever trusted anyone but Ava and Neil. And now as she defended Russ to her parents she realized she had added him to the short list of her trusted circle.

  She was in love with Russ and she would give him the benefit of trusting him. Was that trust misplaced? The words ‘your mine for as long as I want you’ echoed in her mind. How long would that be? Until Neil returned? Until he received an offer in LA? Ava was a damn good agent; she’d get him a job. Perhaps she could ask Ava to concentrate her search to the New York area?

  She hated herself for the thought. She needed to end it. The newspaper article would give her leverage for a break-up. No way Russ could fight her on this one. The standoff continued and she realized the break she needed w
as from her parents, not Russ. She got up without waiting to be dismissed. “I think we’re done here.”

  “You’re not staying for dinner?” asked her mother.

  “I’ve lost my appetite.” Not for food but for trying to get them to love her. With the weight of the world off her shoulders she calmly walked out of the room and to the front door.

  Mams was waiting tearfully. “I’m sorry, dear.”

  “Don’t be. I shouldn’t expect anything else.” She gave her hug. As she approached the car, Evans was on the phone.

  “I see you were right.”

  Victoria fought the urge to stick her tongue out at him like she used to when she was a little girl.

  “That was your mother. She asked if I would drive you back to the city.”

  Her mother couldn’t be too mad if she offered the services of the driver. Normally she would’ve declined and taken the train but she needed to be alone with her thoughts and since Evans wasn’t much of a talker she would have the ride in to decide what to do. She slid into the backseat and tried to make sense of the article. Should she confront him? Give him a chance to explain. Would she believe him?

  Victoria needed this settled and didn’t want to wait until tonight after having all day to stew about it. Glancing at her watch, she’d be in time to see Russ play rugby with his friends or mates as he called them. Would he be happy to see her? Would the paparazzi staking out the park for celebrities spot her? But Victoria was done with worrying about the photo-hogs for now. She needed answers. Just because she believed Russ was not the baby’s father didn’t mean he didn’t have some explaining to do. “Evans, would you mind dropping me off at Central Park?”

  “Not at all—it’s a lovely day for a drive through the park.”

  Victoria thought so too—a lovely day to watch a group of Aussie hunks playing rugby. She hoped they played shirts and skins.

  Chapter 28

  Russ didn’t believe his eyes at first. Was that Victoria sitting next to Ava? What was she doing here? She was supposed to be at her parents’ house. Perhaps it went badly. He hoped he wasn’t the cause but expected that he was. The good news is that she came to him instead of going it alone even if it risked them being photographed together.

  The nagging thought that she was only here to piss off her mother lingered in his mind.

  Russ grabbed the ball then ran down the sidelines hoping to impress her. Brady was hot on his heels and tackled him to the ground hard. Close enough to hear her sharp intake of breath, he spit out a piece of dirt and said, “Hey there, cupcake.”

  “Be careful,” she ordered.

  But he only took orders in the bedroom and then for only as long as it suited him. “No worries.”

  “I’m not worried about you. I’m worried about your face. We have a shoot tomorrow.”

  He winked as he got up. “Chicks dig scars.” Then he ran back to his mates to finish out the game.

  ***

  The waitress placed his draft beer and Victoria’s martini down, but Russ suddenly wasn’t thirsty. She needed to talk to him she said. No, not in private, in a neutral spot, she had added. Was she going to dump him? Had her parents laid down the law and she was here to break his heart?

  Victoria looked out of place in the sports bar with her high heels and even higher skirt. As they left the field earlier she swore profusely that her shoes were ruined. He had laughed but apparently that was a mortal offense in her world. Patrons of the bar were probably wondering what she was doing with him. Their drink choices said it all really. He was blue-collar beer and Victoria was an elegant martini. Right now he’d like to shake and stir her up.

  Her manicured finger slid along the rim of her glass and it was clear to Russ that she was having trouble with the words she needed to say. Well, that was a first. “Out with it.”

  Her startled gaze lifted to his. After she took a deep breath she asked, “Did you sleep with your co-host, impregnate her, and then desert her?”

  Whoa, he was not expecting that at all. How did she find out? He guessed her mother had him investigated. Russ was surprised Victoria didn’t assume the worse or jump to conclusions. She came to him first and without anger as if she already knew the accusations to be false. Still, this conversation was going to be damn uncomfortable. “No to the first, which makes the next two impossible.”

  “Why did you leave then?”

  “No one believed me. I was hated. Followed.”

  “I know how that is.”

  “As she got closer and closer to her due date she became desperate. Refusing a DNA test, then demanding one, then back to refusing one. She showed up on my doorstep with camera crews, screaming at me. Said she would kill herself. So I took myself out of the equation. I left to save my sanity. To start over.” He’d never spoken so much at one time. His throat felt as dry as the outback in full summer heat. Russ lifted his beer and took a long drink. Did she believe him?

  “So what you are saying is that you didn’t sleep with her? Not that I care—I mean—only for the fact that she was your co-host and—I’m your co-host—and you slept with me.”

  Russ took her hand. “I did not sleep with her. And you do care.”

  “I do.” Victoria squeezed his hand.

  His heart melted. She believed him. He could read her eyes as if they were a crystal ball and he her gypsy lover.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” She took a sip of her drink.

  “I would’ve told you if there was even a possibility of it being true. Hell, I would’ve stayed in Australia if there was a possibility—but there isn’t—no way.”

  “So what happens now?”

  “Once the paternity test results come back negative—and they will be negative—this will all go away.” Russ took another long pull on his beer. “There’s one more thing you should know.” He leaned into the table and she did the same, which made it easier for him to admit, “I didn’t quit my night gig for Design Intervention. I quit because of you.”

  Russ smiled as her eyes widened for a moment. What would she do if he admitted his love as well?

  Victoria then turned serious and pulled her hand away. “I’m glad but we still have to wait to go public. The media would create a three-ring circus around us.”

  “Yeah, if she found out that we were dating it would give her more fuel to see me burn in.” Russ looked around the bar relieved to find that everyone seemed too drunk to notice the intensity radiating between them. “I broke one of my golden rules by dating a co-worker.”

  “Then you won’t have a problem with meeting back at my place so we can break a couple of more rules together?” She scooted off the high barstool with a grace that could only come with practice. “Say an hour?”

  He wondered what kind of rules she had in mind. “Thirty minutes.” He lifted his beer as she smiled then turned to leave. With the bottle still in midair he tilted his head so he could watch her sweet backside sashay out the door. Damn he was a lucky man.

  ***

  After a long night of rule breaking the last thing Russ wanted to do was smile for the camera. Where was his ADHD when he needed it? Maybe a little coffee would revive him? Maybe a lot.

  Victoria, on the other hand, glowed. She probably didn’t need a brush of make-up on for this morning’s shoot. The proverbial cat that swallowed the canary smile on her face had the crew worried. Russ had already been asked a half dozen times if she was drunk or on ‘something.’

  The only thing that made him feel better was that he was that something she was on. He was really going to have to beg for sleep tonight. Russ shook his head as she walked over to her mark. A woman had never worn him down. Never.

  He added another packet of sugar to his double shot espresso coffee and gulped it down before joining her.

  Stephen yelled, “Action.”

  Victoria started her spiel, “Today on Design Intervention we are intervening on a bedroom gone business.”

  “And she doesn’t mean monke
y business,” added Russ to the discussion.

  “That’s right, Russ. Rule number one—no desk. Your bedroom should be a place of serenity.”

  “And romance,” said Russ

  “Yes, and that brings me to number two— no TV.” Victoria slapped her hand on the thirty-two-inch box.

  “Whoa, let’s not be rash about this.”

  “Out!”

  “But luv, how are they going to watch Design Intervention?” Russ winked at camera.

  “That Aussie endearment is not going to work on me.”

  Perhaps not in design it won’t, but in the bedroom—oh yeah—it works on her. The rest of segment went quickly and as Stephen yelled cut he heard Victoria squeal.

  “Neil!”

  Russ turned his head to see a tall, thin man, with a shock of silver hair that had to come from a bottle race to Victoria. Dressed in white leather pants even though it was eighty-five degrees out, a bright yellow t-shirt, his squeal of ‘Victoria’ nearly shattered Russ’s eardrums. So this was the famous Neil come to reclaim his co-hosting job. Sure he’d seen clips but none of them had Victoria wrapping herself around him in a big hug.

  He shouldn’t be jealous—Neil was gay but he was Victoria’s best friend, and while he knew how to win over a female’s BFF’s opinion, he never had to win the approval of a male friend of a woman. Russ didn’t know if the same charm tactics would work—hell, he wasn’t about to try.

  Victoria, bubbly and happy, pulled Neil over. “Neil meet Russ.”

  Neil shook his hand firmly. “Ahhh, so this is my replacement.”

  “Oh no.” Russ cut the air with a swipe of his other hand. “It’s been made quite clear that no one could replace you.”

  “Yes, I’m sure it’s been a great HARDship for Victoria here.” Neil swept his gaze over Russ as if he imagining how he would taste. Neil giggled. “Just having some fun with you—you are not my type—you’re too rough around the edges for a delicate flower like me.”

  Russ actually blushed. Bloody hell, had Victoria discussed their sex lives? He knew women discussed it between themselves, but he was damn uncomfortable with another male, gay or not, knowing how he was between the sheets. Neil winked at him confirming his fears.