by Ripley, Meg
This time, she was even more of a participant than the last time he’d brought her there. Sitting astride a massive horse, Samantha led the charge at the other side. From where she sat, she could see no difference between the enemy’s army and her own. Somehow, though, she had picked up on the hostile feelings all around her, and she wanted to cut them down. The horse lunged forward with dizzying movements, and she clung to the reins with her left hand as she raised a battle axe with her right. Thunder rolled in the distance, but she realized that it wasn’t thunder at all. It was the sound of her army advancing.
A battle cry sounded around her, and Samantha swung her axe. It hit a wooden shield with a thunk that shuddered up her arm, racking her bones.
Something in the sky swooped down toward the armies. It was massive, yet it glided through the air as though it didn’t weigh a thing. Samantha looked up at the great red creature as it rushed past, unable to see it all at once. The wind it generated nearly knocked Samantha from her mount.
It also brought a surge of understanding to Samantha’s mind. She threw her axe to the ground. “No! I’m not doing this!” There were soldiers all around her, but she had to get out. Samantha stood in her saddle and jumped off.
She hit her bedroom floor with a heavy thump, terrified of the shadows around her until she realized they were only the shadows of her own home and not of this dark spirit who insisted on reaching out to touch her. Crying, Samantha hauled herself back into bed and huddled down between the sheets. She was exhausted, both physically and mentally, but she hadn’t slept well in months. She could only hope this specter didn’t follow her to California—and if he did, that Jane would be far more understanding than Mark had been.
Chapter Three
“This is exactly what I needed.” Cameron picked up his drink and took a sip, knowing it would be amazing—just like everything else was at Indulgence. Jackson Casey, the owner and a good friend, made sure of it. Even the music was hand-picked and approved by Jackson—instead of being randomly chosen by a DJ—and no matter how popular a song was, it wasn’t allowed to be repeated too often. Of course, that was to be expected of an A-list nightclub that only let in the cream of the crop. Unfortunately for Cameron, the heavy guitar rhythms of Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” thumped through the club, reminding him of just why he was there.
“Rough week?” Blane Vinson sat across the small table from him. He’d just come off the set of the latest Rob Reiner film, and his hair had been dyed a shade lighter for the role. It was a big change from his normal dark coloring, but it suited him.
“You have no idea. Welda left for Germany, and she’s not coming back. I guess I was delusional to think she could just take care of Andy until he went off to college, but I still didn’t think she would leave so soon. It’s going to be impossible to find someone to replace her.” It’d been less than a week since the nanny had boarded her plane. Cameron had insisted on driving her himself so that he and Andy could see her off. It was hard on both of them, but it’d been hardest on Andy.
“How’s he taking it?” Blane accepted a second drink from a young waitress who fluttered her heavily-lined eyes at him and tipped forward as she passed him the glass, hoping he would take notice of her cleavage. Blane barely even regarded her, only having eyes for his wife Courtney. “I know what kind of a fit Amanda throws when we change things around the house, and she’s a lot younger.”
Cameron shook his head and sighed. “He’s miserable, honestly. It was like losing a part of himself. Andy’s only five, and he’s always been a really good kid. He’s hardly gotten in trouble a day in his life. All of a sudden, it’s like I can’t control him. He’s shifting whenever he wants to, regardless of who’s around or what he might damage. He doesn’t want to go to bed, and then he doesn’t want to get up in the morning. I’ve got a temp taking care of him while I work, but I have a feeling I’m going to be running through those pretty quickly with the way he’s behaving.”
Blane shrugged. “I wish I knew what to tell you, but you’ve got a lot more parenting experience under your belt than I do. The way Courtney handles Amanda, you would think she’s her biological mother. I got really lucky with her. Maybe the same thing will happen with you.” A spark of mischief shone in his eyes.
“You can take that back,” Cameron said with a friendly laugh. “There’s no woman out there who would want to deal with this. Andy’s throwing fits, and then I have to find someone who can understand him. His speech impediment makes it hard, and it gets worse when he’s stressed.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Blane settled back in his seat and crossed his arms in front of his chest, still smiling. “I’m sure there’s a young lady out there who’d be perfectly happy to deal with that if it means being married to a rather famous and wealthy film producer in Hollywood.”
The idea was simply out of the question, and for so many reasons. “Thanks, but no thanks. I wouldn’t want someone who was only interested in my reputation and money. There’s never going to be another woman like Tess.”
“Suit yourself. The domestic life isn’t so bad, you know. I always thought I’d be miserable with a woman following me around, telling me what to wear and how to behave. Of course, Courtney was doing that anyway, since it was her job, but it’s actually completely different now.” His smile changed and he got a distant look in his eye as he spoke of his wife.
Cameron imagined that he’d probably gotten that same look when Tess was alive. It was great that Blane had found someone who made him so happy, but Cameron had resigned himself to a life alone, even before Tess died. “Enough about that. How’s everything else going in your life?”
“Can’t complain. Billy Idol is doing a song for the soundtrack of the movie I’m in, and he came by the set yesterday. I know I’m supposed to be a celebrity myself, but it’s still exciting to meet people like him.”
Cameron nodded and smiled, tuning out the conversation for a minute as his mind wandered back to his son. What would Tess have done if Cameron had been the one who had died? Would she have remarried? Or would she have stayed stubbornly single, trying to find someone capable of raising their son while she worked? It was an uncomfortable thought, because as much as he didn’t like the idea of Tess being with another man, he also didn’t like the thought of her being as stressed out as he was.
The music shifted to a slow tempo as “Lady in Red” by Chris de Burgh pumped through the speakers. Cameron had avoided that song every time it’d come on the radio, because it reminded him too much of the graceful red curves Tess boasted when in her dragon form. The lyrics spoke to his heart and the way he’d felt around his wife, and he knew he would never feel that way again.
But as he looked up across the room, hoping to find something else to distract himself with, his eyes landed on a woman who’d just come through the door. Her blonde hair was a cloud of golden curls, and her blue eyes shone, even in the dim light. Laughing and talking with her friend she’d come in with, she was the epitome of being light and carefree. Those eyes slid to his from across the room and locked, and Cameron felt his mouth go slack. The beautiful woman turned her head toward her friend while still keeping her gaze on Cameron, then she finally dragged her eyes away from him.
All of this was enough to make Cameron wonder if he’d already had too much to drink. He’d really only had one, but maybe it’d been a little stronger than usual. In his line of work and when he was out with his friends, he’d encountered plenty of gorgeous women. Many of them were actresses, and some were even supermodels, yet they’d never caught his attention like that. To make matters worse, she was wearing a red dress that too closely matched the description in the song.
“You okay?” Blane’s voice cut through to Cameron, bringing him back to the moment.
“Oh, um, yeah. Sorry.”
“What are you looking at?” He turned in his seat, then smiled and waved. “Jane’s here. I didn’t know you were interested in my sister.” His tone was almos
t accusational.
Cameron waved off the notion. “No, man. She’s cute, but I wasn’t looking at her. I just…thought I saw someone I knew.” It was the best excuse he could make up on the spot. Considering how hard he’d been denying the idea of ever being attracted to a woman again, he wasn’t about to tell Blane how the stranger in the red dress had turned him upside down for a minute. He looked across the room again to see that the mysterious woman was heading straight for him. Her friend was Jane. He hadn’t even noticed, and he’d known Blane’s sister for a long time. Cameron’s throat went dry.
“Hey guys!” Jane said in her usual bubbly voice.
“Is your band taking the night off?” Blane asked. “I thought you were booked solid.”
“Oh, we are,” she assured him, her eyes wide with excitement. “But I made sure we were free tonight since my friend Samantha just arrived from Illinois. Sam, this is my brother Blane, and this is Cameron.”
The woman in the red dress smiled and shook Blane’s hand. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
“None of it’s good, I’m sure,” he replied with a look to his sister.
“Not as bad as you might think.” Samantha turned those big blue eyes to Cameron and reached out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Cameron didn’t want to shake her hand, and he didn’t want to give the normal polite reply when being introduced. There was something about this woman that was making his brain all fuzzy, and he wasn’t sure if he loved it or hated it. But he knew he couldn’t make a scene, and he slowly took her hand in his. The electric sparks that throbbed up his wrist made his throat a little tighter. “You, too,” he replied dumbly.
“Samantha’s staying with me until she finds a place.” Jane looked at her friend fondly, like she was proud of her. “But before we do any of that, I’m taking her around to show her everything.”
“There’s a lot to see and do. That’s going to take you a while,” Blane pointed out.
“I don’t mind. I think I’m ready for a little bit of adventure.” Samantha smiled.
Cameron thought he was going to lose his lunch. His inner dragon was fighting to get out of him. While everyone in Hollywood and probably all the movie buffs knew he was a shifter, Cameron made it a point not to show off his abilities. It was a personal experience, and one that he preferred to keep to himself unless absolutely necessary. Even his friends had only seen him transform on occasion. The other three at the table carried on amiably, but Cameron was barely paying attention until Samantha walked away.
“Where’s she going?” he asked as he watched her red dress disappear into the crowd, the skirt of it swinging around her long, sexy legs.
Jane tipped her head at Cameron. “She just said she was going to get her sweater. Sam’s always cold, even in the summer.”
“Oh.” Cameron continued to look in the direction Samantha had gone, wondering how soon she’d be back.
“Are you all right?” she asked. “You don’t seem quite yourself today.” A waitress brought by a B-52 shot, and Jane quickly downed it.
“He’s trying to find a new nanny,” Blane explained when Cameron didn’t answer. “His left earlier this week, and he’s all messed up about it.”
Jane raised on eyebrow. “Is that so?”
“Yeah,” Cameron admitted, relaxing a little now that Samantha wasn’t nearby. “She’d been working for me for the last five years.” Once again, he was overwhelmed by how difficult it was going to be to replace her.
“So, I suppose you need someone who’s really good with children?” Jane asked.
“Well, sure. Obviously.” Cameron wasn’t phased by the odd question. There was never any telling what might come out of Jane’s mouth. As a musician and a party girl, she always liked to shake things up a bit.
“And ideally, someone with a really good reputation and some references,” Jane said with an impish smile.
“Mmhmm.” Cameron considered the bottom of his glass, wondering if he should have another or if he should just quit for the night. He was already acting like an idiot.
“And whoever you hire would be a full-time nanny? You’d give her room and board?”
“What are you getting at?” Blane asked of his sister. “Just spit it out.”
“Samantha!” she exclaimed. “She’s going to need a job out here, and she just left her position at a pre-school. She has all the credentials you could ever need. Plus, I’ve known her almost my whole life. I can vouch for her.”
Cameron wrinkled his brow at Jane. He’d always liked her in a sisterly way, and she was a good person at heart, but she didn’t seem like the kind who would have a nanny for a friend. “I don’t know. Andy is pretty special. And he’s a shifter, just like I am. I’m not sure if an ordinary human is a good match for him.” He couldn’t explain how he knew that Samantha wasn’t a dragon. It was common for shifters to automatically recognize each other, whether it was something in their eyes or the way they behaved or some pheromone that scientists had yet to discover.
Jane put her elbows on the table and leveled her eyes with Cameron’s. “She may be human, but she’s anything but ordinary. She’s been through a lot, and she’s no stranger to unusual things. Samantha can handle it.”
The image of the new woman flickered at the forefront of Cameron’s mind, and his entire body reacted once again. It was best to keep someone like that at arm’s length, not in his home. “She’s only just moved here. It’ll probably be too much for her. Besides, Andy has that stutter. Welda and I are the only ones who can really understand him.”
“That’s not a problem!” Jane shook her head, letting her short fringe of black hair swing around her jaw line. “She’s not exactly a speech therapist, but she has experience with these things. Some of the children who went to her former preschool had developmental disabilities.”
Cameron opened his mouth to argue once more, but he couldn’t find another point of contention. He couldn’t exactly tell her that being in the same room with Samantha was hard to tolerate. “All right. Fine. I’ll interview her right now.” He heard the words but was only vaguely aware that he had spoken them. It was as though they had come out on their own.
“What?” Blane looked from Cameron to Jane and back again. “You don’t have to do that. Jane, you need to stop manipulating people into doing whatever you want.”
Jane looked offended. “I’m not manipulating anyone, I’m trying to help a few people out! She needs a job, and he needs a nanny. It’s not that hard to figure out, Blane.”
Cameron didn’t want to start a fight between the siblings, and he knew Blane could be a little hard on his sister at times. “Really, it’s fine. Jane’s right. If I don’t start doing something about finding a new caregiver for Andy, then he’ll be stuck with temps for far too long. He deserves better than that.” Instinctively, Cameron looked across the room just as Samantha came back in. Her sweater was red, too, and all the air left his lungs. This was going to be difficult.
* * *
“Sorry, I know this is a strange place for a job interview.” Cameron and Samantha had moved to a separate table and ordered a round of drinks. He’d decided it was better to keep himself relaxed—even if it was only artificially—so that he might not make a complete idiot of himself.
She smiled at him as she picked up her glass. “It’s completely fine. A surprise, but completely fine.”
Cameron took a deep breath, unsure of where he should even start. He wasn’t prepared for this. Once they’d gotten their own table, he’d spent a few minutes telling her a little about Andy while she listened with a dreamy look in her eyes. It seemed like a good start, but he wasn’t sure where to go from there. “Why don’t you tell me about your teaching experience.”
“Well, I got my degree from the University of Illinois, and I spent the last three years working at Little Wonders Preschool. I had a lot of friends that wanted to teach the older ones, but I’ve always enjoyed little kids.” Her face glowed as
she spoke.
“Why did you come all the way out here?” Cameron waited for the same answer that almost anyone would have to that question. Most people who migrated anywhere near Hollywood were looking for a job in entertainment. Maybe Samantha wanted to host a kids’ television show or something. She could certainly do it if she was as good at talking on camera as she was in person. Just some slightly softer makeup and a different outfit, and she would be the kind of entertainer that entranced children and enchanted their parents.
A strange look crossed Samantha’s face as her smile faded slightly. “I went through some things at home, and I was ready for a fresh start. I’ve known Jane for a long time, and she gave me the opportunity to come here. I couldn’t really pass it up.”
Jane had also mentioned that Samantha had been through some hard times, and Cameron couldn’t help but be desperately curious. He also couldn’t help but feel this strange animal magnetism toward her, something he’d only felt once in his life before and never thought he’d feel again. “Do you think you’d be happy being a nanny for just one child? I mean, it’s not going to be the same type of work you’re used to.”
Samantha wrapped her arms around herself and leaned her elbows on the table as she rolled her eyes up and to the left. She looked both chilly and thoughtful, and it was a good look on her. “You know, I think it would be a wonderful change of pace. I loved working in a classroom, because I felt like I was making a difference for all those children. But at the same time, they usually put far too many kids with one teacher. There were times at the end of the day that I didn’t feel like I’d paid enough attention to each of them. So yes, I think I would like it quite a bit.”
Damn. She was just so perfect. Jane had indicated that was going to be the case. Still, Cameron questioned his own judgement on this. Tess had been the one to hire Welda. How did he know he wasn’t just interested in employing her because she was hot? George Michael’s “I Want Your Sex” was now playing in the background, which was awkward at best during a job interview. “There’s something you need to know about Andy. He’s got a really bad stutter. The women that have come in from the temp agency can’t understand him very well at all.”