by L. P. Dover
When he looked at me, my heart sank. “Okay, so what does all of this mean?”
Sighing, he set his plate down. “It means, I won’t be able to take you home tomorrow. Robert is going to fly over and escort you back.”
My eyes burned and my chest ached. I knew we were going to have to say goodbye, but I was hoping I could coerce him to stay a few days in California. I wasn’t ready to let him go. “I see. What kind of mission are we talking about? Is it dangerous?”
“Everything I do is dangerous, princess,” he murmured.
Nodding, I focused on my plate. I didn’t want him to go on another mission. Was that how it was going to be for the rest of his life? “How long will you be gone?”
“I don’t know. It all depends on what happens. But as soon as it’s over, I’ll come see you, wherever you are.”
Swallowing hard, I nodded again and quickly wiped under my eyes.
Blake moved over and put his arm around my shoulders. “Baby, don’t cry. You know our lives are completely different. You’ll be leaving me to sing at your concerts and I’ll be leaving to go on my missions. I don’t know what else to do.”
“I know. I guess I just thought things would be easier. I have one night left with you and then everything’s going to change. I’m afraid I’ll never see you again.”
Holding me in his arms, he gently laid me down on the blanket, his body covering mine. He wiped away my tears and placed a gentle kiss on my lips. “I promise you’ll see me again. I’m in love with you, Hadley. I don’t want tomorrow to come any more than you do.”
He kissed me again, but I gasped and pulled away. “What did you just say?”
Brushing the hair off my face, he smiled and traced my lips with his fingers. “I said I love you.” He trailed his lips down my neck. “And I want to make love to you . . . right here. Tonight is all we have.”
Blake nipped at my ear. “I bought you something. Hopefully, you’ll think of me when you look at it.” We’d just made love under the open sky and were snuggling under one of the many blankets he’d brought. He turned and reached over to pull out a small jewelry box from the picnic basket.
Handing it to me, I gasped as I opened it. “Oh wow, it’s beautiful.” Inside was an amethyst stone necklace, held in place by swirls of diamonds encrusted in the silver lining. He took it out and placed it around my neck. I tried to look down at it, but could barely see it through the tears. “Thank you. I’ll wear it every day.”
“Even when you’re walking the red carpet without me?” he asked flippantly. As much as he joked, I could see the pain in his eyes.
“Yes, even on the red carpet. I want you with me, always. I love you, Blake Evans.”
Hadley
“I think Nightshade’s going to miss you,” Tyla said, coming up behind me.
Gasping, I turned around, clutching my chest. “Holy hell, I didn’t hear you come in.”
She smiled and patted Nightshade’s back. “You were too busy talking to him to notice. Although, judging by the way Blake is this morning, I’d say this horse isn’t the only one who’s going to miss you. How did it go last night?”
“Amazing, and I wanted to thank you for that. The food was out of this world. It’s almost not fair how you can be so good with horses and cooking.”
She brushed her shoulders off. “Thank you. I figured I could help Blake out with his last night with you. I have to say though, it doesn’t look like either one of you are happy about this situation.”
I glanced over her shoulder at Blake, who’d just walked outside with my bags and the case with his grandfather’s guitar in it. “We don’t have a choice. I have to go.”
“No, you don’t. You can always stay here.”
Sighing, I shook my head. “If you only knew.”
“If I only knew what,” she placed her hands on her hips, “that you’re Hadley Rivers?”
I froze. “How did you know that?”
She chuckled. “It was quite easy to figure out. You look just like her, minus the makeup, and I caught you singing your songs when you thought no one was listening. Plus, I know what Blake does for a living. When word got out that you were in protective custody, I put it all together.”
“You didn’t tell anyone did you?”
“Are you kidding? I care about Blake and I admire what he does. I would never jeopardize this for him, or for you.” Her gaze landed on Blake. “I’ve never seen him like this before. He loves you.”
“And I love him, but it doesn’t change anything. I still have to go back to California.”
She snorted. “Why? I’m pretty sure celebrities don’t always live in Hollywood. You could stay here and still travel.”
“Robert’s coming,” Blake called.
Sucking in a breath, I heard the car come down the driveway. “And I would’ve, if he’d asked me to stay. But that hasn’t happened.” All night, we’d made love to each other, and all night, I waited on him to ask me to stay. That was what hurt the worst. I thought he would; especially after he told me he loved me. The words never came.
Tyla pulled me into a hug and squeezed. “He might not have said it, but he wants it. He’ll come to his senses.”
A tear fell down my cheek. “I hope so, Tyla. I truly do. Maybe one day, I’ll see you again.”
“You will.”
Taking a deep breath, I let her go and slowly walked up to the front of the house where Blake stood. “I guess this is it,” I said, forcing a smile.
He pulled me into his arms, burying his nose against my neck. “Call me when you get home, so I know you got there safely.”
I nodded. “I will. Be careful on your mission.”
“Always am.”
As soon as he let me go, I jumped back in his arms and kissed him hard.
At first, he opened up to me, but then he pulled away and rested his forehead to mine. “You’re not making this easy.”
“Neither are you,” I whispered.
“Hadley?” a voice called.
What the hell? I jerked around to find my father in the driveway beside Robert. “What are you doing here?” He stood there dressed to perfection, in his crisp gray suit and his white hair expertly coifed. My father was worth millions and his appearance reeked of it.
He cleared his throat. “I came to see you home safely.” He turned and threw a glare to Blake. “Mr. Evans, I seem to recall paying you to keep her safe, not to take advantage of her.”
“Wait, what?” I turned back to Blake. “What is he talking about?”
Jaw tense, he returned my father’s glare. “I would never take advantage of your daughter, sir. So don’t come to my house threatening me. You want your money back? Take it, I don’t give a flying fuck about the pay.”
Robert held up his hands. “All right, that’s enough. I’m sure there’s an explanation for all of this, but it’ll have to be settled at another time. We have a plane to catch. Blake,” he said, extending his hand. “It’s good to see you again. Thank you for keeping Hadley safe.” Blake nodded and shook his hand.
“Hadley, it’s time to go,” my father commanded.
“In a minute,” I growled, anger boiling in my veins. I pushed past Blake and he followed me to the side of the house, out of my father’s sight. “Care to tell me what’s going on?”
He unclenched his fists. “Yeah, your dad’s an ass.”
“I know that already. What about the money? How much did he give you?”
Sighing, he lowered his head. “Ten million.”
Mouth gaping, I almost choked on my words. “Is that the only reason you agreed to let me stay?”
“Yes.” When I tried to walk away, he grabbed my hand and pulled me into his arms. “Don’t walk away from me, Hadley. I admit, I didn’t want you here in the beginning, but you knew that. I don’t care about the money, I care about you. That’s why I haven’t touched a cent of it. The money isn’t what I fell in love with.”
I sagged in his arms and let the tears flow. �
��Then keep it. I’m sure you’ll find something to do with it.” The horn beeped and I stepped away. “I have to go.”
Blake reached for my hand, but I pulled back. “Don’t leave like this, Hadley. What do you want me to say?”
“I can’t be the one to tell you, you’ll have to figure this one out on your own.” Turning on my heel, I walked straight past my dad and into the car. Real life wasn’t like the movies. I thought for sure he’d scoop me into his arms and beg me to stay. Instead, he let me go and I watched him disappear behind the cloud of dust from our car as we drove away.
“It’s good to see you again, sweet pea,” my father announced.
Huffing, I turned away from the window and glared at him. “You didn’t need to be rude to Blake. He didn’t use me for the money.”
He sighed. “I know, but getting involved wasn’t a good decision on either part. Nothing can come of it.”
“Why? Because he’s not a celebrity? What does that matter?”
“You’ve been through this before and I don’t want to see you get hurt again. You need someone who can handle the press, and what it’s like to be in the public eye. Nick can do that and I know he cares about you. We’ll just keep your relationship with Mr. Evans a secret.”
I shook my head. “No, Dad. I love Blake and I want to be with him. Once he’s done with his mission, he’ll come for me.”
He blew out a sigh and ran a hand over his weathered face. “Honey, don’t you see? He can’t be with you and keep his job. What kind of undercover detective would he be if he’s in the spotlight? Everyone would know his face. He’ll have to give up his career. And even if he was willing, would you let him? He’d resent you in the end.”
I glanced at Robert and he nodded. “It’s true. Blake won’t be able to do his job if he’s with you. But it’s a decision he’ll have to make for himself.”
Could I let him give up everything to be with me? I knew the answer, and it felt like a kick to my gut.
Blake
One Week Later
“What the fuck, Evans? You almost killed him,” Mason barked.
I slapped handcuffs on the sick fuck we’d been tracking and dragged him to his feet by yanking on his neck. His face was a bloody mess, but the bastard deserved it after raping and strangling two women because they wouldn’t go out with him. I wanted to kill him.
“I still can,” I snapped back. “Maybe I should cut off his dick and see how he likes that.” The guy whimpered and I smacked him across the head. “Shut the fuck up! Hope you enjoy being raped and mutilated in prison because that’s exactly what you’re going to get.”
Mason drove us to the station and I happily tossed the fucker through the front door. If he didn’t get out of my sight immediately, it wasn’t going to be long before I did something I’d regret.
Mason slapped a hand on my shoulder and pulled me to the side. “Dude, you need to calm the fuck down. I know the guy deserves to get the shit beat out of him, but one more knock to the head could kill him. His punishment isn’t done, believe me. Now go outside and calm down. I got this.”
Once we were done at the station, we headed back to the hotel to pack our stuff. We’d been in Texas for a week, and during that time, I’d gotten one message from Hadley. I couldn’t stop replaying it over in my mind. What made it worse was, she wouldn’t return my calls.
“Still haven’t heard from her?” Mason asked.
Clenching my teeth, I shoved the rest of my clothes into my duffle. “Nope. But I’ve seen a lot of pictures of her and her boyfriend floating around the internet.”
Mason finished packing and sat down on his bed. “I thought she wasn’t dating him.”
I huffed. “That’s what she said, but every time I search for her on the internet, there’s a new picture of them together. It pisses me the fuck off.”
“What did her message say? You never told me.”
I signed into my voicemail and clicked on her message. “Here you go.” I tossed him the phone. It was on speaker, so I could listen to it again. I guess I loved punishing myself.
“Hey, Blake, it’s me. I got home safely and it’s been nothing but craziness since I got back. So . . . on the way home, I did some thinking. As much as I love you, I just fear that by being with me it’ll hold you back. If you’re seen with me and people find out who you are, you can’t exactly do your undercover work anymore.”
She paused and cleared her throat, her voice shaky when she spoke again. “I’m not going to ask you to give that up for me. I won’t. I love you so much, but if I have to let you go, I will. I’ll do it for you.”
Mason blew out a long breath. “She has a point. If you go to her, I don’t see how you could keep up this life. Are you ready to do that?”
“You didn’t give it up. You’re an MMA legend and still doing this work. How come you can have the best of both worlds?”
He slapped me on the back and handed me my phone. “Because I’m good at what I do, just like you. But think about it, I can’t go undercover anymore. And your face would be in the news all of the time. You’d be relegated to more of a desk job. It’s something I’m sure you could pull off, but that’s up to you if it’s worth it.”
Grabbing my bag, I headed for the door. “You’re right. And I know exactly what to do.” As I ran down the hall, I dialed Hadley’s number. It wasn’t a surprise when she didn’t answer the phone. Beep.
“I don’t know why you’re not answering my calls, but you will listen to what I have to say, even if I have to rope you in, like I did before. I choose you, Hadley. As long as I have you, nothing else matters. If you don’t want me, that’s fine, but I want you to say it to my face. I’ll be with you soon.”
Hadley
“Hey, babe. What are you doing out here?” Nick asked, elbowing me in the side.
The party was so loud, I’d went outside to catch a break and then realized I’d missed a call from Blake. Tears streamed down my cheeks, but they were happy tears.
“I needed some fresh air.” Which was true, but I also wanted to listen to Blake’s message. It was exactly what I needed to hear.
“Why are you crying then? Is there something you want to talk about?”
For the past week, I’d ignored Blake’s calls, even though I really wanted to answer them. I was afraid he was going to let me go and by not talking to him, I didn’t have to hear it. But now I knew he was coming for me, and that meant I had to end the ruse with Nick—breaking his heart in the process.
Taking a deep breath, I turned to him and took his hand. “Nick, you know I care about you, right?”
Sighing, he set his beer down. “You’re breaking up with me, aren’t you? I knew this was coming.”
“Technically, we weren’t really going out.”
“What happened? Ever since you came back, you’ve been different. You barely let me touch you.”
I nodded. “I know and I’m sorry. I didn’t want to tell you on the phone and it’s been killing me not to tell you since I’ve been back. I just hadn’t figured everything out yet, and the last thing I wanted to do was hurt you.”
He waved me on. “Spit it out, so we can get this over with.”
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and let it out slowly. “I met someone.”
His eyes widened. “Met someone? Who? You’ve been in protective custody!” When I didn’t answer, he let go of my hand. “Holy fuck, you have to be kidding me. You fell for your bodyguard?”
“He’s actually an undercover cop. And I didn’t want to fall for him, it just happened.”
Jaw tense, he shot to his feet. “And does he care about you?”
I sighed. “He loves me, Nick. He’s coming for me. Look, I don’t want to lose you over this. You’re my friend, my best friend.” Shaking his head, he stormed off through the gardens and disappeared into the darkness. “Nick, wait!”
“What’s with all the yellin’?” Tristan asked. He’d walked up to me, followed by Kip a
nd Dawson.
I pointed to where Nick disappeared. “He’s pissed at me. Will you guys make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid? I know how he gets when he drinks.”
Kip laughed. “What did you do, break up with him?” He lifted the beer to his lips and stopped when I glared at him. “Fucking shit, did you?”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s a long story, but yes. I don’t want him out there, drinking alone. You guys tend to get stupid when you’re drunk and angry.”
“Maybe these assholes,” Tristan replied. “I’m playing it sober tonight. Don’t worry though, we’ll take care of him.”
“Thanks, guys. And thank you for helping me move into my apartment. There was no way I could stay at my house after what happened.”
Kip and Dawson sandwiched me in a hug. “You’re welcome,” they said, before letting me go.
Tristan pulled me in next and blew out a sigh. “Do you need a ride?”
“No, I’ll be fine. If you hadn’t noticed, there’s a giant mammoth of a man watching us from a few yards away. He used to be a fighter in Ireland.”
Tristan glanced over my shoulder and chuckled. “I see. Guess your dad wants to make sure you’re protected. Looks like a solid choice.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to be followed around for the rest of my life.”
“You’ll get used to it. Sometimes it’s for the best.”
He hugged me again and Kip whistled. “Come on dude, let’s go.”
All three guys waved and disappeared into the darkness. My heart hurt for Nick, but I couldn’t play pretend with him forever. Hopefully, he would understand.
“Miss Rivers, is it true you ended things with Nick Myers last night? Our sources say you cheated on him. What do you say about that?”
Connor pushed his way through the crowd and growled, “I say you get out of her face, now.” His Irish accent was thick and I doubted any of the reporters could tell what he said, but they moved out of his way. It was either that or get trampled. My dad had made sure to pick a bodyguard I wouldn’t be interested in.