“There’s always later.” Chynna smiled mischievously.
Noah was about to comment when Caleb returned in a clean shirt, jeans and wearing the same snakeskin cowboy boots as before. “The prodigal son is back,” Noah said, walking toward his brother, but then Caleb stopped dead in his tracks as he came face-to-face with Chynna and truly saw her for the first time. “Why didn’t anyone tell me we had a celebrity in our midst? If you had, I would have dressed better.”
“What are you talking about, Caleb?” Madelyn asked.
“C’mon.” Caleb laughed incredulously, looking back and forth between his parents and siblings. “Don’t tell me none of you knew you were having cocktails with the Chynna James.” He turned to Rylee. “C’mon, sis, you have all her music.”
Noah turned to Chynna, and her entire face blanched. That’s when he stared directly at Rylee, but his sister hung her head low too ... and that’s when Noah knew Caleb was telling the truth. The woman who’d been a part of his family for weeks, would he’d been falling for, been about to make love to, had been lying to him about her real identity as a pop star?
Noah fixed his eyes on the woman of the hour, willing her to tell him the truth. “It’s true, isn’t it?”
“I’m so, so sorry for the deception,” the words tumbled out of Chynna’s mouth.
“Really?” Noah snapped.
“Yes, really.” She turned to face Madelyn and Isaac. “I’ve wanted to tell you the truth.” Tears welled in her eyes. “But you see, my life has been in turmoil, carried out in the media for the entire world to see. I,I just needed a little reprieve from the real world for a world for a while, so I used my twin’s name, Kenya, instead of telling you my real name, which is Chynna James.”
“I’ll say,” Caleb replied. “You probably wanted to get away from all those folks calling you a slut and a homewrecker.”
“Caleb!” His mother was horrified by his bad manners.
“I’m just repeating what the press said weeks ago. They had pictures of her,” he said, nodding toward Chynna, “kissing a married man.”
“I am not a homewrecker!” Chynna stomped her feet. She couldn’t believe the progress that she’d made with Noah was about to slip through her fingers. “None of what they wrote is true.” She faced Noah with pleading eyes. “Just because the press writes a fiction doesn’t make it fact.”
“Then how did they get photos?” Noah asked. Although he hadn’t seen them, it sounded awfully suspicious. And where there was smoke ... Chynna stared at Noah several long moments. She could see in his eyes that his image of her was tarnished. Will he ever look at me the same? She gave a horrified cry and ran toward the main house.
Noah turned a murderous look on Caleb.
“Listen, I’m sorry, okay?” Caleb’s voice softened at seeing a beautiful woman in distress. “I was just running my mouth off at what the tabloids say. How was I to know she hadn’t told you the truth? I mean, you are dating her, are you not?”
Noah stared at Caleb with bewilderment. For the first time, Caleb was right about one thing. He’d been falling for a woman he didn’t really know. A woman who’d lied and deceived him about who she truly was. And if she was lying to him about something as simple as her real name, what other secrets was Chynna hiding?
He stared at her retreating figure and wondered, Can I believe anything that happened between us in the last two weeks? Or was it all just a lie or a figment of his imagination? Who is the real Chynna?
Acknowledgements
Deciding to branch out on my own with e-books and forego traditional publishing was a little bit scary, but I am hopeful that my readers will continue to want more of the romantic, sexy stories I have in store for them.
I would first like to thank Bob Mount and the entire Westgate River Ranch family in Lake Wales, FL for their support of this book. They allowed me to stay at the ranch and follow them around for a day to complete my research for this series. I would also like to thank Wayne Gey for allowing me to tour his ranch & home to help me understand what it takes to run a breeding ranch. Check out pictures of my journey on my Facebook page:
My support system is vast, but they keep me grounded. Thank you to my love Freddie Blackman who reminds me every day why I write romance. A big thank you to my dad and mom Austin and Asilee Mitchell, my BFFs who are like sisters to me Tiffany Griffin, Tonya Conway, Therolyn Rodgers and Dimitra Astwood; last but not least my personal gurus: Kiara Ashanti and Bhushan Sukhram; you guys are the best entourage a girl could have.
About the Author
Yahrah St. John is the author of fifteen published romances and 2011 RT BookReviews Reviewer’s Choice Award Nominee. A graduate of Hyde Park Career Academy, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Northwestern University. A member of Romance Writers of America, St. John is an avid reader of all genres. She enjoys the arts, cooking, traveling, basketball and adventure sports, but her true passion remains writing. St. John lives in sunny Orlando, the City Beautiful and is working on her twelfth book Delicious Destiny for Harlequin. For more information, please visit:
www.yahrahstjohn.com
Other Books by Yahrah St. John
One Magic Moment
Dare to Love
Never Say Never
Risky Business of Love
Playing for Keeps
This Time for Real
If You So Desire
Two to Tango
Need You Now
Lost Without You
Formula for Passion
Dirty Laundry
Delicious Destiny
A Chance With You
Entangled Hearts Page 17