FRAUD: An Unfit Hero Novel

by Faiman, Hayley

  I nod, deciding not to think about this conversation for another moment. I’m going to have plenty of time to stress out about all of this, about infidelity, about lies, about every little thing. I have no doubt that I will too.

  As much as I want to blindly trust Beaumont, I can’t, not until he can prove to me that he is trustworthy. And a week together doesn’t prove that. Maybe I’m being neurotic, expecting him to prove himself to me, but I can’t just go on with my life with blinders on. I can’t do it.

  My chair is full nonstop for the entire day, clients come in, I beautify them and then they leave. Every single one of them still wants the scoop on Beaumont, on me and Beaumont specifically.

  Unfortunately, Laurie can’t keep quiet at all. She has zero chill and although it’s one of the things that I love about her, it also makes me a bit uncomfortable when she’s talking about my life instead of someone else’s.

  Now that the day is over, I’m certain that every single woman in hill country knows that I’m dating Beaumont and he’s invited both of us to attend several of his concerts in the next few months.

  “Do you know which ones you want to go to?” Laurie asks when her client walks out of the door.

  Biting the corner of my lip, I sink back down in the desk chair again. The list stares back at me, and it’s daunting.

  “What about just doing the Texas stops?” I ask, knowing that we could road trip to almost all of the ones on the list.

  Laurie snorts. “We are not driving to these. If he wants to fly us, then fly us he will. I’m thinking California, Washington, and South Dakota.”

  Frowning, I lift my gaze to hers. “South Dakota?” I ask.

  She nods. “I want to see Mt. Rushmore and God knows I’m not going to go that far north all by myself.”

  Laughing, I drop my eyes back down to the paper and pull up my calendar on the computer. Looking between them, I find a couple of Friday and Saturdays that don’t have any appointments booked yet. I coincide them with the date on the itinerary that are in the states Laurie picked. Then I choose one more, just for me, Colorado. I’ve never been there and I want to see the Rocky Mountains.

  “Oh my God, we’re really doing this,” she cries.

  Dread fills my belly at the highlighted concerts. I don’t know why, but the entire thing makes me feel sick to my stomach. I don’t really want to go, but then again, I need to see what his life is really like.

  How can we be together if I don’t know what his life on the road entails? The Beaumont that is here, that is the man that I’ve dreamt about, that’s the man that I’ve fallen in love with all over again. The one on the road? I need to know him too.

  “We are,” I agree.

  I go about closing down the shop for the day, then pause after I hitch my purse over my shoulder. Laurie is watching me, but gone is the excitement in her eyes. She frowns, walking toward me, then without a word she wraps her arms around my shoulders and brings me into her body for a hug.

  “It’s going to be okay, no matter what,” she whispers.

  “Can you tell I’m nervous?”

  She laughs, pushing back and looking into my eyes. “I can practically smell it on you. But seriously, I think it will be okay. He wouldn’t have pursued you if he wasn’t ready for a real relationship.”

  I nod. “I know,” I lie.

  I don’t know.

  I don’t know anything and that’s what makes me feel so uneasy. I mean, he claims he’s being honest, and to a degree, I believe him. I’m just worried about what happens tomorrow when he leaves. We aren’t secure yet, and I am definitely not secure when it comes to what we are and what we are working toward.

  This whole insecurity thing makes me feel whiny, even to myself. Walking over to my car, I unlock the door and sink down in my seat. Shaking my head, I try to shake off all of my fears and worries.

  This is the last night that I have with Beaumont before he leaves. I don’t want it to be depressing. In fact, I only want to be with him, to be held by him and just breathe him in before he goes.

  BEAUMONT

  “Surprise.”

  The room erupts in cheers as soon as I walk in the front door of my house. My hands are full of bags of food for dinner and dessert for Hutton and I. Judging by the number of people in my living room, I have a feeling the two small bags that I have will not even begin to feed them all.

  “What’s going on?” I ask, looking around.

  “We wanted to throw you a little surprise going away, congratulations on the tour, party,” Channing says.

  Looking around, I notice that it’s all the people that I call family standing in front of me. There’s Louis and Ford, Wyatt and Exeter, then there is Channing, Rylan, and their baby Reese. Shaking my head, I can’t stop a smile from playing on my lips.

  “You guys,” I say.

  “Where’s Hutton?” Exeter asks, looking past me to the closed door behind me.

  “She’s coming here after work. I don’t know what time she’ll be done tonight.”

  No sooner do I say the words than does the door open behind me. Turning around, I see her. She isn’t looking at me, instead she’s looking past me at all of the people in the room and her face goes visibly pale.

  Stepping in front of her, I block her view of my friends. “They surprised me,” I murmur, dipping my chin to look into her eyes.

  Hutton shifts her gaze up to me, her lips turning up into a trembling smile. “I… it was just a shock.”

  “We came bearing food,” Exeter calls out.

  Dipping my chin, I touch my lips to hers. “We’ll have dessert alone, together, after they leave,” I rasp against her mouth.

  I am rewarded with a hitch of her breath at that. Sliding my tongue across her bottom lip, I then straighten and turn toward the people in the room.

  “Let me put this stuff away and then we can get down to eating and partying.”

  I turn away from her, leaving her in the living room with everyone else. Although, as soon as the food is in the fridge, I turn around to see Ford, Louis, Wyatt, and Rylan standing directly in front of me.

  “Yes?” I ask.

  Louis inhales a deep breath then lets it out. “Robby called me,” Ford announces.

  “Fuck,” I hiss. “I didn’t tell Hutton about that. He called me first thing this morning.”

  “What are you going to do?” Wyatt asks, his mouth turned down and his brows furrowed.

  Looking between them, I shrug one shoulder. “Nothing. I haven’t seen her in over ten years. She married someone else. I’m with Hutton. There’s nothing to do.”

  “You don’t think she’ll try anything?” Louis asks.

  Lifting my hand, I wrap my fingers around the back of my neck, the other I roll into a fist and place on my hip. Raising my head, I look over at my friends. They’re so fucking concerned and I have a feeling it’s more for my sobriety than anything else.

  “Never loved her,” I say. “I was fucked up by what she did to me, the way that she did it, but I never loved her and she certainly didn’t love me.”

  “Her being back in town, that could get sticky, especially since the entire town is abuzz with talks of you and Hutton.”

  I let out a breath, shaking my head again. “I don’t think she’ll give a fuck. Robby called me to warn me, but honestly, I think it was more cautionary than anything. I’m leaving in the morning, so I doubt she’ll do or say anything. She’s got her own shit going on.”

  “Want us to keep an eye and ear out for Hutton?” Wyatt asks.

  Nodding, I release my hand from around my neck. “That would be great. I think she’s a little nervous about me going, worried for me, about us, all those things, anyway. The last thing she needs is Chelle trying anything, which I don’t really think she’ll do.”

  “We got you, brother,” Louis says.

  One by one, the men turn around and head toward the dining room where the food is all set up. I’m starving, and kind of want this
party to get going and get over so that I can fall into bed and inside of Hutton.

  “This is a lot happening all at once,” Rylan says. He hasn’t moved from his spot and until now he hasn’t spoken a word.

  “It is.”

  “How are you feeling?” he asks.

  Inhaling a deep breath, I let it out with a long exhale. “Nervous. The tour will be okay, but me and Hutton. I’m thinking I possibly made a mistake by starting this now, instead of when the tour was over. I’m going to take a long break, I should have started things then,” I admit.

  “You’re talking to a man who got out of prison and within weeks fell in love with a woman who was pregnant with another man’s baby. When something is meant to be, the timing isn’t always perfect, but it’s always exactly what it needs to be.”

  Chuckling, I take a step forward, wrapping my fingers around Rylan’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze along with a solid shake.

  “Fuck, but you’re right. Okay, yeah. It’ll work out.” I nod, trying to talk myself into it.

  “It will.”

  Together, without saying anything else, we walk into the dining room, meeting the rest of the group.

  Chapter Twenty

  HUTTON

  The group is a little overwhelming, but they’re all so nice and filled with good intentions. Exeter asks me about coloring her hair, which I advise that she doesn’t do. Her hair is gorgeous. I do talk to her about adding a few highlights though. Sun-kissed highlights are my absolute favorite look for brunettes.

  “I’m a little thirsty, do you guys want any water?” I ask them.

  They both decline, deciding to drink the sweet tea in front of them. I haven’t had nearly enough water today, and I can tell. I feel a slight headache coming on and my skin feels dry. Making my way toward the kitchen, my feet stumble and I stop when I hear male voices.

  It only takes me a moment to figure out that it’s Beaumont and one of the men from the party, but I can’t tell who the other voice is.

  I shouldn’t be listening to his conversation, obviously he wants it to be private because he’s having it away from everyone else. But I can’t stop my nosy ear from turning to the side so that I can hear a bit better.

  “Nervous. The tour will be okay, but me and Hutton. I’m thinking I possibly made a mistake by starting this now, instead of when the tour was over.”

  My heart stops beating inside my chest. Immediately, I turn around, not wishing to hear anything else. I don’t know what the context is, but it doesn’t matter. I knew it. Deep down I knew that he thought we were a mistake. That I was a mistake. I’ve been questioning him, questioning us, because I just knew that something was off.

  My feet carry me quickly into the dining room, but I’m halted when I slam into a hard body. Lifting my eyes, I look up into Ford’s gaze. Why can’t I feel for him even an ounce of what I feel for Beaumont when I look at him? Ford is so handsome, he’s from here and not ever looking to leave. He lives on a farm for heaven’s sake.

  “Hutton, you okay?” Ford asks.

  I bite the inside of my cheek hard enough to taste the copper tang of blood, but don’t answer him right away.

  Honestly, I don’t know what to say. I don’t want to tell him what I heard, he’s not my friend, he’s Beaumont’s. None of these people are my friends, not even Channing and Exeter. These are Beaumont’s people and I’m just here as his for-now-girl. Let’s face it, that’s what I am, too.

  “I’m fine,” I lie, shaking my hair and blinking back the tears.

  Ford’s brows furrow and he lifts his gaze from me to over the top of my head and looks behind me, then flicks his eyes back to meet mine.

  “Okay.” He nods.

  I watch as he turns his back and walks away from me. He’s wearing jeans that hug his ass and thighs but flick out slightly at the calves and ankles to make room for the shaft of his boots. His body is thick, but muscular, every ounce of his bulk earned on his farm. Once again, I curse myself for not being attracted to him the way that I am Beaumont.

  A warm hand presses against my stomach just as Beaumont’s lips touch the side of my neck. “Hey, darlin’ girl, let’s get you something to eat,” he murmurs against my skin.

  I inhale a trembling breath, then nod. Taking a step forward, I’m unable to go any farther. His hand at my stomach holds me completely unable to move. Slowly, I turn around in his arm, looking up at him, blinking as I wait for him to say or do something.

  Beaumont frowns. “What happened?” he barks.

  The chatter in the room quickly dies down at his hard tone. “Nothing,” I lie.

  He shakes his head once. “Lie. Tell me, what has happened between walking through the door and now?” he demands.

  “Beaumont, why don’t you let the girl eat somethin’? Worked all day long, I’m sure she’s starvin’” Ford drawls.

  I send him a silent thank you that he can’t hear or see, because I’m staring into Beaumont’s almost angry gaze. I watch as he clenches his jaw, a muscle jumps in his cheek then he nods his head once.

  “Fine,” he hisses, releasing me.

  I pissed him off. But, his words, they didn’t make me angry—they hurt.

  The rest of the party isn’t very exciting. I stay huddled with the girls and baby Reese, while the men all hang out together and talk in low murmured voices.

  “You okay?” Exeter asks after we’ve finished eating.

  Nodding, I give her a fake smile. “I am. I’m good.” She eyes me, not calling me on my lie, but no doubt seeing it.

  “How about dessert. I don’t know why, but the cake at HEB looked so good, I decided to just buy one,” Exeter practically shouts.

  Channing’s eyes slide over to me, her lips turning up into a sly smile as Exeter hurries toward said cake. I glance at it and lick my lips. I have to admit it looks fantastic. It’s a tall chocolate frosted cake with chocolate ribbons adorning the top and dusted in powdered sugar.

  “I think she’s pregnant,” Channing whispers, leaning over to me.

  Turning to her, I know my eyes are wide. “You do?” I ask.

  She nods. “Yeah, I mean I’m not sure she even knows. But I do. Not only did she just have to have that cake. She also commented in the deli that the smell of cheese made her nauseous. I couldn’t smell any cheese.”

  “Oh my,” I breathe.

  “Wyatt will be over the moon if she is.”

  “Really? I mean, they’re still young and didn’t they just get married?”

  Channing shakes her head, her gaze shifting from Exeter to me, her look is so soft that it takes me aback slightly. “Wyatt loves kids. Rylan told me that he’s been wanting to start a family for years. He has a good career, owns two homes. He’s been preparing for this since he was sixteen.”

  “Most boys don’t think about babies at that age, do they?” I ask, confused why Wyatt would have been even thinking about children, let alone planning them at that age.

  Channing shrugs one shoulder. “Probably not, but Wyatt wasn’t most boys, and he’s certainly not most men,” she says, almost defensively.

  I don’t know all of his story. Sure, like Ford, I’ve seen him around town over the years, but I’ve always been a shy nerdy wallflower, the only things I know about any of them are hearsay from Laurie, which isn’t much.

  “Here,” Exeter says, shoving a piece of cake against my chest. “If you people don’t eat this, then I’m going to eat it all.”

  “Do you have something you want to tell us?” Channing asks, a smile playing on her lips.

  I watch, as if it’s in slow motion as Exeter slowly turns to her, then her lips part slightly before she snaps them back closed.

  “Nope,” she states.

  Channing hums, then laughs softly. “I’m here, always.”

  Exeter nods her head before she turns around and walks back to the cake. I watch her for a moment, cutting and plating the cake before she begins serving them again. I bite the corner of my lip
, unable to take my gaze from Beaumont as she hands him his plate.

  Slowly, as if sensing my eyes on him, he lifts his own and his gaze meets mine. “You love him,” Channing whispers.

  “Are you clairvoyant?” I ask.

  She giggles. “No, I just know that Exeter looks at Wyatt the way you’re looking at Beaumont and if I had to guess, I look at Rylan the same way.”

  Breaking my staring contest with Beaumont, I turn to Channing. “It’s not real though, not between us. Not like it is with you guys,” I admit for the first time aloud.

  “Why do you say that?” she asks, tilting her head to the side.

  I shrug one shoulder. “It just can’t be.”

  “Because he’s famous or because you’re still hurt by what he did so long ago?”

  Letting out an exhale, I stab my cake with my fork and bring a big bite to my mouth. Shoving it inside, I buy myself a couple of moments, all the while Channing just watches me. Waiting.

  “Both,” I admit. “I’m not the kind of woman that a man like him dates seriously. I’ve seen the wives of stars, and that is not me. I’m meek and shy, a loner. I spend my weekends taking care of my grandfather, and not just because he needs the help, but mostly because I don’t have anything else to do.”

  Channing blinks, then I watch as her lips turn up into a wide smile before she starts to laugh. It’s a little too loud and I glance over my shoulder to see that Beaumont is staring in our direction. Turning back to her, I frown.

  “What’s so funny?” I snap, harsher than I intend.

  She doesn’t even act fazed by my tone. “I think it’s kind of comical that you don’t see what a catch you are. That you think you have to be a supermodel for Beaumont to be interested in you. You’re gorgeous and I’m extremely jealous of all you have going on, body-wise.

  “Also, Beaumont is one of the most down-to-earth people that I know. Between him and Louis, I forget that they’re even famous. He would never settle down with some glittery Hollywood person. He’s a hometown boy through-and-through, so to me, you guys fit one another extremely well. The thing is, it won’t work unless you realize that. Unless you believe it.”