“Too bad,” I said, kissing his cheek. “Go find David. I’ll just be right over there talking to Katie. I promise not to go off alone.”
Luke begrudgingly nodded. “Alright. Have fun.”
“Where’s my money, Uncle Luke?” I teased.
“Cute.” Luke winked at me. “I’ll make sure you have fun later tonight and you won’t even need any money for what I have in mind.”
I just shook my head and walked away. Katie spotted me headed in her direction and she waved frantically.
“I’m so glad you are here!” She threw her arms around me. “I heard about the craziness with Collin.”
“You did?” I was stunned. “Who told you?”
Katie blushed and looked away. “Greg. I was with him when Luke called him about changing your locks.”
“You and Greg?” I slapped her arm. “When did that happen?”
“Right after you and Luke went public. Greg and I couldn’t think of any reason to keep our true feelings a secret any longer.” Katie grinned. “I guess I owe you one for having that big reveal in the bar.”
“Glad I could help,” I said, unable to resist her happy attitude. “Where is Greg right now?”
Katie shrugged. “He’s around. Probably over by the bar. Do you want a drink?”
“I can’t,” I said, a little too quickly. “I’m driving tonight.”
“Right. Safety first.” Katie didn’t look convinced by my lie, but she let it go. “Should we go find our boyfriends?”
“Probably. They can’t be trusted to stay out of trouble.” I followed Katie in the direction where Luke had headed. When we got closer to the beer tent, I saw David standing with a group of men, but none of them were Luke. I waved at David and then turned to Greg. “Have you seen Luke? He was headed over this way.”
“Yeah, he was over with David just a minute ago. I think he headed toward the bathroom.” Greg gestured vaguely across the way. “I’ll be over to your place first thing in the morning to get those locks changed.”
“Thanks, Greg.” I checked my phone to see if Luke had sent a text. He’d been so worried about me going off alone and now he’d done that very thing. “I’m going to see if I can track him down.”
I could see the sign for the restrooms, so I headed in that direction. When my phone buzzed with a text from Luke, I was surprised to see that he said he had gone back to the truck without me. I was worried that his shoulder or head was bothering him from the accident, so I headed through the carnival quickly. I could see Luke’s truck in the distance, but I didn’t see Luke. Then someone else stepped around a van behind Luke’s truck.
“Wow, you really fell for that?” Collin said. He was holding Luke’s phone in his hand. “I can’t believe you are that trusting.”
“What did you do to Luke?” I asked.
“Relax. He’s fine. I just plucked his phone while he was on his way to the restroom. He really should be more careful.” Collin came closer and I could see something in his hand. It wasn’t a gun, but I couldn’t make it out in the dark.
“What do you want, Collin?”
He tilted his head. “I thought it was obvious, Emery. I want you.” He took another step forward and his hand twitched. The object he was holding lit up in a blue spark. It was a Taser. “I don’t want to use this on you, but I will if you put up a fight.”
“Collin, this is ridiculous. You know that I’m with Luke.” I was surprised by the amount of annoyance in my voice. “I don’t want to be with you.”
I knew that I couldn’t let Collin get any closer to me. I couldn’t let him get close enough to use that Taser on me. I took a step back.
“He’s abusing his position of authority,” Collin said. “I’m sure you’ve been charmed by his money and good looks, but he’s just using you, Emery.”
“I’ve known Luke since I was eighteen, Collin,” I said.
I saw a flash of surprise in his eyes. Somehow, Collin had missed the news that Luke and I had been friends long before I moved to Starlight.
“He’s not who you think he is,” Collin insisted. “Did he tell you how he dumped my sister for another girl? They were together for almost four years and then one day he said, I’m in love with someone else. Is that the kind of guy you want to be with?”
I saw Collin’s eyes dart frantically over my shoulder and I knew that someone was headed our way. I just had to hope that it was someone who would help me. When Collin took another step forward, I turned and ran. At first, I didn’t even know where I was running, I just knew that I couldn’t let Collin catch me. I kept my eyes focused on the ground because I knew that if I tripped and fell, I would ruin any chance I had of escaping. Then I heard Luke calling my name and I looked up. He was racing toward me with Greg close behind him.
Just as I was beginning to think that I might reach them in time, Collin slammed into me from behind and I hit the ground, hard. I tried to roll away from him, but I ended up pinned beneath him instead. He lifted the arm holding the Taser and said, “I told you not to provoke me, Emery.”
“Collin, don’t!” Luke had reached us, but he couldn’t get closer without potentially causing me harm.
“Stay out of this, Cooper!” Collin’s eyes were wild when he looked at Luke. “I’m going to hurt her just like how you hurt my sister.”
He turned his hateful eyes to me and brought the Taser closer. “Collin, please don’t,” I pleaded. Then, taking a gamble that there might still be humanity left inside Collin, I said, “I’m pregnant.”
“What?” His armed dropped to his side and I didn’t hesitate. I shoved him hard in the chest, knocking him off-balance. As I scrambled away, Greg slammed Collin to the ground and kicked the Taser away. Luke was at my side in an instant.
“Em, are you okay?” He ran a hand over my body, presumably checking for injuries. “Are you in pain?”
“I’m fine,” I sagged against him as I struggled to catch my breath. “He didn’t hurt me, Luke. I’m fine.”
“Thank god.” Luke held me closer. “What made you come out here alone, Em?”
I laughed dryly. “You. Collin took your phone and he texted me. I thought it was you and I was worried.”
“That’s what happened to my phone? I thought I dropped it.” He groaned. “I’m sorry, Em.”
Katie came rushing up, followed closely by two police officers. Her eyes widened as she took everything in. “What happened?”
The police took over for Greg and he climbed to his feet. Katie gave him a big hug and he grinned at me. “You’re one tough girl,” he said.
“Nice body slam,” I told him.
“I had to save the pregnant lady.” Greg grinned and Katie gasped.
“Yeah, about that.” Luke helped me to my feet. “That’s not exactly public knowledge yet.”
“I won’t tell anyone.” Greg looked at Katie. “Besides her.”
I turned to Luke. “Who the hell is Collin’s sister and why did you break her heart?”
“My college girlfriend was Sandy Rasman,” Luke said with a grimace. “I broke up with her because I was in love with you.”
“I really want to be mad at you right now, but I just can’t.” I sighed as he put his arm around me.
“I’m just so glad you are okay.” He kissed my forehead and then pulled back as the police came over. Backup had arrived and we were surrounded by cops and flashing lights.
We each had to give our statement and Collin was loaded into the back of a police cruiser and hauled away. I breathed a little easier once he was gone. Officer Sholz was confident there was enough evidence against Collin to put him away for a long time.
Greg and Katie decided to head back to the carnival, but I’d had enough fun for one night. It was only when Luke was opening my door that I noticed his sling was missing. “What happened to your arm?” I said.
“I tore off the sling when I was running toward you. Have you ever tried to run with one arm strapped to your chest?” He grinne
d. “It was my hero moment and I didn’t want to look silly.”
“I think technically Greg was my hero,” I said. “You’re like the Robin to his Batman.”
“Ouch.” Luke feigned hurt. “I knew I should’ve tackled Collin. When I saw you on the ground, my instincts took over and I just wanted to get to you.”
I touched his cheek and stared into his eyes. “You’re even better than a hero, Luke. You’re my Prince Charming.”
About the Author:
Hunter J. Keane lives in Chicago where she surrounds herself with good food, great books, and fantastic friends. She is the author of the numerous romance series, including the Second Chance Series, the Restless Hearts Series, the Forever Moore series, and her newest series, Starlight Valley.
Connect with Hunter Online:
www.hunterjkeane.com
Buy Hunter’s books on Amazon:
Hunter’s Author Page
Keep reading for an excerpt from
Searching for Glory
CHAPTER ONE
When I was eight years old, my mother decided to cut my hair. She was higher than a kite at the time, and the hair fell away in large chunks. The resulting style, if it could be called that, was something akin to poorly landscaped shrubbery. Ordinarily, this would be enough to humiliate a young girl. But my childhood was nothing close to ordinary.
The next day was school picture day and if that wasn’t bad enough, I was also sporting a shocking purple bruise around my right eye after spilling one of my father’s favorite domestic brews. Considering his usual proclivity toward violence, I had been glad to escape without a worse punishment. Needless to said, my third grade picture was not a keeper. And yet it was still better than the one I was currently looking at on the front page of Celebrity News.
“Look at it this way,” my agent Franny Zo said as she handed me a mug brimming with piping hot coffee, “at least you didn’t flash everyone your girly bits.”
“Yes, that is very good news,” I mumbled around a bite of my blueberry muffin. Franny pretended not to notice the sarcasm and launched into a speech about how even bad press is good press in Hollywood. I ignored her and focused instead on the disaster before me.
Two nights earlier, production on my television show Silver Lining had wrapped after four years. Naturally, the cast and crew had wanted to celebrate in style at the newest trendy nightclub, Louvre. I didn’t remember much of what happened that night, but I knew there had been a lot of shots of various liquors involved in our celebration.
At some point, I decided it would be a good idea to dance on stage. Unfortunately, I was hampered by four inch heels and enough alcohol to make even the most dedicated alcoholic want to check into rehab.
The result, as you probably predicted, was a photo of me biting it big time. I lay flat on the ground, my face smashed against the stage at an unflattering angle and my normally perfectly coiffed hair was instead a tangled mess illuminating an unsightly sheen of sweat on my face. The skin-tight dress I was wearing had hiked itself up so that the very bottoms of my butt cheeks were visible. The headline was the best part, in my opinion: “Fallen Star- Gloria Star’s Crash and Burn.” The subtitle asked, “Is this the beginning of the end for her career?”
I cut Franny off in mid-sentence. “You really think me making an ass out of myself is a good thing?”
Franny fluttered about her office, each erratic movement furthering my belief that she should never be trusted with sharp objects. “Gloria, this is nothing. It’s not the first time the press has tried to make you look like a lush. And it’s not even the most unflattering photo they’ve ever used. This is nothing. I swear.” She even drew a cross over her heart with one perfectly manicured fingernail.
“Thanks. I feel much better.”
“Look, all we need is a little damage control.” Franny finally took a seat across from me on the purple leather couch. “You and Richard need to be seen in public tonight. The press salivates whenever the two of you go out. Give them something to whet their appetite. Flash around that big diamond for once. Let slip some wedding plans. Grope each other inappropriately. Whatever. I don’t really care, just do something.”
I sighed loudly, realizing that she was probably right. Franny got on my nerves more than any other human being on the planet, but in her eight years as my agent she had been right more times than she had been wrong. “Fine. We’ll do dinner.”
“Excellent.” Franny practically squealed as she retrieved her blackberry from under a pile of contracts. “I’m making you reservations at Shadow for seven tonight. There will be a ton of paparazzi so come prepared.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll call Richard and let him know. He’ll be thrilled.”
My fiancé, Richard Masterson, was nothing less than a press whore. He was a celebrity in his own right- a bona fide movie star. He made five million per picture, usually action movies that involved a lot of shirtlessness, and he loved an excuse to get his picture taken. Last season, he was booked as a reoccurring guest star on Silver Lining which was how we met.
The first day on set, I decided he was nothing more than a prick. He liked to talk about himself- a lot. He assumed that every female within a fifty foot radius would fall on their knees if he asked them to. He liked to check himself out in any object that gave a reflection. And most annoyingly of all, he had been obsessed with me.
He asked me out every day for three months and my answer was always no. He sent me flowers whenever he was away from set and brought me coffee whenever we had early morning filming. Eventually, my hard outer shell started to soften. I resisted as long as I could, mostly because Franny decided our union would be nothing short of the second coming of Christ.
I had known that she was at least partly right; the press would eat it up. But that also meant we would never have any privacy and my life would become more exposed than it already was. Even more than that, though I no longer hated him, I still wasn’t sure I even liked him. Despite that, we finally hooked up after the last day of filming for season three. I’m still not sure what made me give in, or give up, but we had been together ever since.
Three months ago Richard proposed and I couldn’t think of a good enough reason to say no. So now I wore an embarrassingly large diamond on my ring finger occasionally, and an even bigger chip on my shoulder all the time. It wasn’t fair to Richard; he hadn’t done anything wrong. Mostly I was just angry with myself because I knew the real reason I should have said no- I didn’t love him.
Sure, there were times when I tricked myself into thinking I was in love. Sometimes people do that because love, even forced love, is a better alternative than loneliness. Sometimes I faked it so well that I started to actually believe I might be in love with him. But the moment would pass, and I would feel like crap again.
I had actually been in love once- deep, can’t-live-without-this-person love. It had been intense and painful at times, but it had always been completely real. I often wondered if I could ever get back to that place; if not with Richard, then maybe with someone else. But a part of me believed it would never happen, so I kept up my charade with Richard and hoped that eventually I wouldn’t have to fake it.
“Well here’s some good news that will turn that frown upside down,” Franny said as she peered at her phone.
“What’s that?” I asked somewhat wearily. Franny and I have vastly different ideas of what constitutes good news.
“You, my dear, were just named Sexiest Woman Alive.” Franny held up the phone for me to see.
She was right. According to Men’s Mag, I was chosen from a list of fifty female celebrities and was named their Sexiest Woman Alive. I looked at the phone, then at the picture of me lying on the floor in a drunken mess. It seemed to be a perfect metaphor for my life and I burst out laughing.
“WELL WHAT DID YOU EXPECT, babe?” Richard said, sipping his scotch. “If you get that drunk, something bad is going to happen. And we both know it could have been much worse.”
I swirled the ice in my water glass before taking a sip. “You make it sound like I’m an alcoholic. I hardly ever drink like that. I just made a mistake.”
“Well hopefully you’ve learned something from it.”
I fought the urge to throw my water in his smug face. We had been fighting throughout dinner, just as I knew we would. Richard loved trendy restaurants where we could see and be seen. I hated places like Shadow, and hated even more being stared at by other diners. It always made me uncomfortable and in turn, I took my discomfort out on Richard.
“Let’s talk about something else,” I said, pushing away my barely touched plate of food.
Richard smiled at me, a genuine smile and not his phony celebrity smile. When he smiled at me like that, I started to remember why I began dating him in the first place. “How about a toast to the Sexiest Woman Alive,” he said with a perfectly timed wink. Everything about Richard was like that wink- equal parts charming, attractive, arrogant and repulsive.
I clinked my water glass against his scotch glass and studied him with open curiosity. He was insanely attractive, sure. Easily one of the most handsome men I’ve ever seen. He had a prominent forehead, and perfectly chiseled nose. His chin held a deep cleft and his jaw was square and strong. I knew from experience that his body was even more sculpted than his face. But there was something about him that didn’t fit; I could never quite put my finger on it, but I kept trying to figure it out.
“Have you thought about a wedding date?” he asked, helping himself to a bite of my abandoned pasta.
“I’ve had thoughts.”
“Anything you’d care to share with your fiancé?”
“Nothing specific.”
“Have you talked to your sister about it?” He was prying for information now and we both knew it.
“Not really.” I was being vague, the way I always was when he asked me about my family.
“Well you’re at least going to invite her to the wedding, right? I think it would be nice to finally meet her.” Richard looked at his watch and I knew he was thinking we should leave soon or the paparazzi would be gone.
Home with You (Starlight Valley Book 3) Page 13