It opened before he could knock. A diminutive grey haired woman fashionably dressed in a coordinating plum and peach pantsuit opened the door. Familiar looking grey eyes that were filled with intelligence twinkled up at him. “Howdy young man. How are you today?”
“Fine, ma’am, and you?”
“Ninety-nine and still going strong. But I’d imagine you’ve come to see my granddaughter, Chris.”
“Yes, ma’am. I have.” He raised a brow in surprise, wondering how in the world she knew. “Is Sara here?”
“Yes indeed.” She opened the door wide, gesturing for him to come in. “But she’s gone out riding. Should be back any minute.”
Chris followed her inside to the small but comfortable living room.
“Have a seat. I’ll get you some tea.”
“Oh, don’t go to any trouble on my account.”
“No trouble at all. Tea’s already made. I’ll just bring you a glass. Sit, sit,” she insisted in a deep Texas twang.
Chris sat down on the floral sofa that looked like it had probably been brand new in the sixties. Everywhere there were photographs of Sam and Sara. He smiled. Knowing their past, he was glad to see that the sisters had found a loving home here.
Maude shuffled back in the room and handed him a tumbler of iced tea. “It’s sweet tea,” she informed him as she settled into an adjacent easy chair. “I hope you don’t mind the sugar.”
“No, ma’am. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Call me Maude. Stop all that ma’am talk. That’s way too formal for friends. Has Sara told you much about her old grandma?” She didn’t give him a chance to respond. “I practically raised her, you know. My daughter, well, she wasn’t much on the child-rearing.”
“No, ma’am. I mean, Maude.”
She got a far- away look in her eye. “Wish Suzy had been here that night, instead of at her own place. Things would have been so much different for everyone, but,” she patted Chris’ knee, “if wishes were horses beggars would ride, wouldn’t they now?”
Chris smiled. Her feisty personality reminded him a lot of Sara. Hearing the sound of horse hooves, he turned to look out the front window.
“Here she is now.” Maude smiled knowingly, as if privy to all his secrets. “Go on out there.”
Chris nodded and walked out onto the front porch, just in time to see Sara break into a full gallop up the road astride a Palomino. Sexy as hell, sitting straight up in the saddle, her long golden brown hair streamed out behind her in the sunlight. Her long jean clad legs were wrapped around the horse, and a red plaid button-down shirt hugged her chest in all the appropriate places. Chris decided right there and then, he could get real accustomed to the sight of her like this.
Sara brought the horse around, reining up to a walk and tossing her hair back over her shoulder. When she reached the porch, she dismounted, flipping the reigns over the fence post before she crossed over to him, scowling.
Her fiery expression as she approached him almost made Chris retreat back into the safety of the house.
“Don’t be afraid, son,” Maude said, placing a reassuring hand on his arm. “She’s much more bark than bite.”
“What the hell are you doing here,” Sara growled, lips and cheeks red from the cold and grey eyes flashing.
“Watch your language, Sara Jo.”
“Sorry, Grams,” Sara’s tone softened and she gave her grandmother an apologetic glance.
“I came all this way just to talk to you.” Chris paused unable to resist. “Sara Jo. You kinda left without saying goodbye.”
“Sara,” Maude chided. “That’s not how I raised you.”
“Grams,” Sara said through gritted teeth. “Can you give Chris and me a minute alone?”
“Be nice to this one, Sara.” She patted Chris’ cheek. “I like him. And I’m the oldest one here and that makes me the wisest. So you’d be good to follow my advice.”
“I like you, too, Maude,” Chris said, leaning down to kiss her soft cheek.
Maude chuckled softly as she shuffled back inside.
Chris flashed his sexy as sin smile at her as the door shut behind her Gram. The snarky words she’d intended to say became lodged in her throat. Outfitted like a true Texan in tight faded Wrangler jeans, a chambray button-down shirt, and practical work boots, he was more Blake Shelton than Big Tex today.
“What are you doing here, Chris?” Sara realized Sam must have told him where to find her. She’d have to have a word with that little traitor. Still, she couldn’t believe his determination. The only way he could have gotten down here so quickly was to take the red eye flight. She shook her head, something she found herself doing a lot about him. The man was a mystery.
“I wasn’t about to let it end that way between us. Honestly, Sara.” He took a step toward her. “You shut down on me whenever I get close. I think I deserve at least an explanation.”
She turned away from his perceptive stare and those brown eyes that could see right through all of her defenses. Tucking her riding gloves into her belt, she said quietly, “I don’t have a good one.”
“Then stop running away from me,” he said in a low voice, reaching for one of her hands and pulling her toward him. “What are you afraid of?”
“I’m not afraid,” she said quickly but was unable to maintain eye contact. “Walk with me, Chris. I need to put Rena up.” Chris fell into step beside her as she led the horse down the short trail to the barn.
Once she had the mare inside the stall, Sara took off the saddle and wiped down the horse with a towel. Her eyebrows stayed knitted together as she worked. Chris leaned against the cold steel rails, watching and waiting patiently for her to speak, breathing in the competing scents of hay, oats, and animal. She was running a brush over the horse’s golden coat when she finally glanced up at him. The sadness in her eyes made him want to hold her.
“Chris, I appreciate the gesture, but I’m afraid you’ve wasted a trip. I’m sorry for how I left things with you, but I do remember specifically telling you that I can’t give you what you want.” She sighed. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” She tapped her forehead. “I don’t think I’ll ever be right in the head. I don’t sleep for shit. You saw for yourself the kind of nightmares I have.”
“Sara…”
“I’m all kinds of effed up.”
“Aren’t we all?”
“Not like me.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, maybe your stuff is a little more extreme than most.”
“You deserve better than me, Chris.” She closed the latch to Rena’s stall and started to walk past him.
“I don’t want better,” he said, grabbing her arm. “I want you.” Her hair flew in an arc as he swung her back around to face him. Eyes narrowing, he placed his hands on her shoulders. “Sara, stop the martyr act. It’s not working. Sam told me about your parents.” He felt her shoulders tense, and she looked away. “I don’t care about any of that. It doesn’t matter.”
Her eyes flashed back to his. “What do you mean, it doesn’t matter?”
“I mean, it doesn’t change how I feel about you. You are not your parents, Sara Daniels. You’re a warm, passionate, smart, sexy woman. And I want you to stop pushing me away. Bitterness and regret are lonely bedfellows. I know. I’ve tried that route myself. Stop merely surviving and live. Let someone in. Let me in.”
Staring intently into her eyes, he placed both thumbs on her brow and gently smoothed out the worried crease between. He threaded his hands through her hair until he held the back of her head gently in his palms. He moved in closer, tilting her head back. She didn’t try to stop him. He lowered his head and touched his lips to hers. He lightly stroked her face letting their lips fuse together. Sara sighed. Chris took that as acquiescence and slipped his tongue inside her dark delectable mouth. He moaned when he felt her tongue touch his and he tasted her. Her flavor was as unique as she was, reminding him of a wild winter storm that he wanted to weather with her.
“I’m so sorry, Beth,” Sam’s voice quavered.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Beth told her, taking a seat on the suite’s couch beside her. Dwight remained standing, his arms folded, his expression troubled.
“But I left the press conference and…”
“Of course you did. I just can’t believe JR.” Beth fumed.
“You both need to stop looking at me like you think I’m going to break,” she said, trying to infuse her features with a steadiness she didn’t really feel. “Really, I’m ready to go back to work now. I’m feeling much better.” She started to get up, but Beth put a hand on her shoulder.
“No,” Beth admonished. “I want you to stay up here for a while. There’s really no reason to go back, anyway. The press conference is over.” Her phone pinged with an incoming message. She glanced down for a moment, her lips moving as she read the message. She returned her gaze to Sam. “It’s Mary. Things are still real tense downstairs.”
Sam cringed.
“Relax. No one who knows you believes a word of what JR said.” Beth gave her a reassuring pat on her hand. “And Mary really cares about you.” She looked at Dwight. “All of you. I know for a fact she would crawl over broken glass to come to your aid, if any of you were in trouble.”
“I’d better get back down there,” Dwight said with resignation. “Marcus was in the process of ripping JR a new one. I don’t want to leave Avery running interference between those two for too long by herself.”
“Wait, Dwight.” Beth held up her hand. “Did JR give you any indication why he would say such a horrible thing about Sam?”
Tears filled Sam’s eyes again as she remembered the cruel words that had ripped her heart from her chest.
Beth took her hand and squeezed it.
Dwight nodded and gave Sam an apologetic look before he spoke. “He said you slept with Danny last night.”
“What?” Sam exclaimed, scooting forward on the couch. “Danny and me? You’ve got to be kidding.” Her face burned. “That guy gives me the creeps.”
Dwight gave her a tight smile. “I believe you, Sam, but JR seems pretty convinced.” He shrugged. “Do you have any idea how he might have gotten that impression?”
“Wait a minute,” Sam gasped.
“What?” Beth asked. “If you know anything that’ll help clear up this mess, you need to tell me now.”
“I just remembered something. Danny asked me to switch rooms at the B&B. I didn’t think much about it at the time but now…” Her eyes narrowed. “I bet he had something to do with this.”
“Tell me everything you can remember from that night.”
Sam leaned forward and recounted every detail including the fact that she had never retrieved her clothes from the other room.
“Hmmm, I wonder,” Beth said when she finished. She tapped her chin for a moment. “We’ll get to the bottom of this, Sam. Don’t worry.” She stood and leaned over to kiss the top of Sam’s head. “Dwight, let’s go. I want to get downstairs and have a little chat with Danny.”
“Sure.” Dwight fell into step beside her.
As they were heading out the door, Sam called, “Hey, wait for me. I want to talk to John.”
“No, Sam. I’m sorry,” Beth told her firmly. “You’re gonna have to stay here and let me take care of this. There’s still a ton of press downstairs sniffing around. Having you show up would be like throwing gasoline on an open flame.” Her tone softened. “Just give me a little time to sort things out.”
Sam reluctantly nodded, closing her eyes when the door shut behind them. Her head pounded. She went to the kitchen and took a couple of ibuprofen and put together an icepack for her throbbing head. On the way back to the couch to lie down, she heard a knock at the door. Thinking Beth must have returned she opened it without bothering to look through the peephole, a mistake she would quickly come to regret.
She only got a brief glimpse of a tall well- built man in a Sutton Place uniform before he powered his way in, throwing his full body weight against the door. The force sent her stumbling backward. Gasping, she looked up into the lined but familiar face. “Papa,” she rasped, recoiling from him. “What are you doing here?”
“Hello, daughter.” He kicked the door closed with his booted foot and advanced toward her. “Haven’t you heard? I’m a free man now. Aren’t you gonna offer your congratulations? I thought after all this time, you’d be glad to see me.”
Heart pounding fast, Sam frantically scanned the living room for her cell. If he knew how terrified she was, his expression didn’t betray it.
“Where’s your sister?” he asked casually as if they were old buddies.
Where was her cell? She needed to get help. There …on the desk…next to the lamp. In a panic, she lunged for it, but he stopped her, wrenching her arm back so violently that she screamed. The pain was so intense that she saw stars and almost blacked out.
“Uh- uh, no can do Kiddo. We don’t need anyone else involved. This is just between the three of us.” He drew a revolver out of the waistband of his pants.
Oh, God.
He pointed it at her head and frowned. “I asked you a question, Samantha. Answer me. You and I both know I will use this thing.”
Sam closed her eyes and said a quick prayer. When she opened them, he was looming over her with a deadly expression on his face. She started to shake. “Sara’s not here,” she told him, her voice strained.
“I swear, Daughter. If you’re lying to me,” he threatened, pressing the cold barrel of the pistol to her temple.
“She’s not. I promise you.” The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. “She’s back in Texas.”
He let out a vulgar obscenity, his breath hot against her cheek. “Then I’ll just have to give her a reason to come to me.”
Those were the final words Sam heard before the world dissolved in exploding pain.
You selfish prick!” Marcus shouted. “I can’t believe you. You are a total embarrassment.”
“Marcus,” Avery said, putting her hand on his arm. “Calm down. It’ll be ok.”
“Sorry, Ace.” Marcus looked down at Avery’s hand and back into her beautiful emerald eyes. He took a deep breath and pulled fistfuls of hair through his hands before he glanced at JR. His eyes narrowed. “You’ve pulled some ridiculous shit before, but this beats it all. We’ll be lucky if Sam doesn’t sue your ass and the band for slander.”
Danny had heard enough. He slinked away from the door where he’d been eavesdropping, a satisfied smile creeping across his face. Determinedly making his way through the convoluted corridors on the conference level of the hotel, he squeezed into the packed elevator. “Lobby, please,” he told the man standing closest to the control panel. After exiting, a quick stroll across the opulent marble foyer brought him to a deserted lounge. A half wall partition separated it from the rest of the lobby. This was a good place. He ducked inside while hitting redial on his cell.
“Hey, Honey. I just gotta thank you for helping me out with the shower thing the other day…Yeah, it worked like a charm. Better than I could have imagined. JR was so convinced that Sam and I did the nasty that he called her out on it at the press conference. The bastard’s totally being raked across the coals now. JR’s finally getting his arrogant ass taken down a notch or two. It’s beyond priceless.”
A flash of long blond hair out in the lobby caught his attention. The supermodel. Hell, yeah. “I gotta go,” he said abruptly. “Something just came up.”
Fred popped up from behind the bar like a jack in the box, the phonebook he’d been searching for completely forgotten. Watching Danny’s retreating form, his expression was grim. Holy smokes. What a soap opera. He needed to find a representative of Brutal Strength in a hurry. Straightening his tie, he took the elevator back upstairs. As the doors opened, he spotted Beth walking down the hall. “Ms. Tate,” he called out.
Beth turned around. “Yes,” she said curtly.
&nb
sp; “Fred Baron,” he said, sticking out his hand. “President of the Official, Official Brutal Strength Fan Club.”
“Yes, yes.” Beth nodded. “I know who you are. But I can’t talk right now. I’ve got a bit of a situation on my hands…”
“I know.” Fred cut her off. “It’s about that. I think I have some news you might want to hear.” He dutifully relayed the details of the conversation he’d just overheard.
“Fred, thank you so much,” Beth said, grabbing his arm, impulsively pulling him in for a hug. “You’ve just confirmed what we suspected. You are a true fan and a real gentleman. BS owes you big time.”
“Don’t mention it,” Fred said with a shrug. “I love those guys. I’m just glad I could help. I would do anything for them.”
“I’m gonna take you up on that. Follow me.” She led him at a jog to the smaller room where the band had gathered after the press conference had broken up. As they burst in, all eyes turned toward them.
“I just came down from Sam’s room.” Beth’s tone was terse. “JR how could you? The girl is devastated… utterly devastated by the way you treated her. I can’t believe you would say something like that to any woman, especially her, let alone at a press conference for the whole world to hear.”
JR opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it as Beth held up her hand. “You really screwed up. And there’s something you need to hear before this goes any further.” She glanced over her shoulder, and nodded for Fred to come forward. “It’s going to take a lot of groveling for you to walk this one back.”
As Fred filled everyone in on what he’d heard, JR groaned. He immediately dropped into a chair with his head in his hands. Avery went and knelt beside him, glancing up at Marcus with a helpless expression.
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