She had already been contacted by two TV shows about giving her a makeover. Contacted as well by multiple tabloids and internet sites about doing interviews and photo shoots. Cait had declined all of them, though the makeover ones had been a little tempting.
Hayes was no doubt getting bombarded with such publicity and requests for interviews, though it was hard to know for sure since Hayes hadn’t been exactly chatty. Yes, he’d called her as promised to tell her that he had a meeting with the top executives of Outlaw Rebels and that he’d be tied up for a couple of days shooting a scene and some promos for the show.
Apparently, “tied up” meant that he didn’t have time to call her again to let her know what was going on. Then again, he was working and was caught up in this SSS, too, so maybe that’s why he’d only texted to let her know he was okay, that there’d been no final decision from the studio as to the fate of Outlaw Rebels and that he’d be in touch soon.
Soon was dragging on into what felt like forever.
“How many of these do you think we’ll need?” Em asked.
That question drew Cait’s attention back to the woman, and Cait saw Em had put a dozen bottles of sparkling wine into the shopping cart that was already loaded down with other wine bottles and soft drinks.
“I think that’s enough,” Cait assured her.
After all, it wasn’t going to be a big to-do since the triplets were hiding out from tabloid cameras and crews, too. That meant not having the party anywhere in a bar or other public place where a reporter could sneak in. Instead, they were having it at Em’s, and it’d be more of a gossipy, winey snack fest with some dirty movies thrown in just to keep in the spirit of a bachelorette party. But not too dirty since Kinsley would be there. No need to give the fifteen-year-old any ideas, though Cait suspected Kinsley already had plenty of those.
There’d been some debate about the guest list. Or rather the lack of one. The triplets had friends in town. Friends out of town, too. But with each person they considered inviting, there was the potential that something that was supposed to be a celebration would instead turn into tabloid stories. Friends wouldn’t necessarily spill gossip, but even idle chatter could become headlines. It could blossom from there into more “alien abduction” and “secret baby” hype.
“Let me get another shopping buggy for the snacks,” Cait suggested just in case Em went overboard with that, too.
The diner was preparing the actual food and some cupcakes that they would deliver and set up, but they’d need something if the munchies struck them during the night.
Cait pushed the drinks-filled cart to the front of the store, intending to leave it near the checkout. And that’s when she saw it. The tabloid cover in the rack by the cash register. This one had no mention of her. Nor was it outdated or grainy.
It was Hayes with his arm around a busty blonde.
Busty, though, was a serious understatement. She qualified for thunder-tit status.
Cait knew the curvy woman whose image screamed “I’m soooo hot” was Athena Marlow, the actress who played Hayes’s on-again, off-again love interest on Outlaw Rebels. Over the years of the show’s run, Hayes and the actress had been purported to have a real-life on-again, off-again relationship, too. The photo made them look very much “on.” So did the headline, which claimed “Athena Climbed On, Again.” It was obviously a play on words of Slade’s catchphrase. Climb on, bitch, and kiss me.
“Oh,” someone said.
Cait glanced back to see that Em was watching her stare at the tabloid. So was the store owner, the cashier and two other customers. No reporters, thank goodness. Jay had been good at keeping them out of the grocery, but all activity had stopped, apparently to see how she was going to deal with this.
“I think we should get some Cheez Doodles for the party,” Cait remarked to Em. “And some of these.” She traded her full cart, and she raked the entire display of malted milk balls into the empty cart that she grabbed.
Cait figured it was never a good idea to try to eat your way out of a pissy mood, but she was going to give it a try. While Em trailed along behind her, Cait went for those Cheez Doodles, some chips and salsa, more candy and the makings for chocolate-covered strawberries. By the time she was done, Cait had blown her entire food budget for the next two years, and Jay had helped her load twenty bags, plus the wine and sodas, into the back of Em’s truck.
With the tabloid photo of Athena and Hayes branded in her mind, Cait followed Em to her ranch, and with Tony’s help, they unloaded all the stuff. The drinks got crammed into the fridge, where there wasn’t an inch of space left, and she assembled the nonperishable goodies on the kitchen table. By the time she was done, Cait was sweaty, exhausted and in need of some sulking time, which she would get since she didn’t have to be back at Em’s for another two hours.
To fuel her trip home, Cait snagged one of the boxes of malted milk balls. One bag of the Cheez Doodles, as well. And because she didn’t want to risk choking, she also took a bottle of water. She managed to down a sizable portion of all three on the drive to boost her blood sugar, hydrate and coat her fingers with orange-goo dust. Still, it was a start to a sulky two hours.
However, she knew her alone time would have to wait a little longer for her pity party when she pulled up in front of her house and spotted the burly silver SUV. A reporter, no doubt. It wasn’t the first time they’d come looking for a story at her place, and while Cait had given the others a more or less polite get lost, she wouldn’t bother with polite today.
Gathering up her food stash and her purse, Cait got out of her SUV, and she immediately called out, “Leave or I’ll arrest your ass.”
The driver didn’t leave, though. He turned off the engine and stepped from the SUV.
Hayes.
Any sulking and fatigue vanished, and she could have sworn that her heart skipped a couple of beats. But it was a good kind of skipping.
Mercy, she was glad to see him.
She forgot all about the picture of him with his costar. Forgot that the picture had hurt her in places she hadn’t thought could hurt. Hayes was here, and that seemingly fixed everything.
Cait didn’t move. In part because she was afraid he’d disappear, that maybe this was some lovely dream. If it was, she wanted to hang on to it as long as possible, even if standing out in the blazing sun might lead to heatstroke.
“I figured it was time for me to rent a vehicle instead of bumming rides,” Hayes said.
Hearing his voice made him real. No heartbeat skipping this time, but she thought maybe there were some extra beats. Fast ones that made her breath a little thin and her head more than a little light.
He didn’t move toward her. He just stood there, looking better than any man had the right to look. Actually, he looked sort of Hollywood. He’d had his hair trimmed, and there wasn’t a trace of any of the bruises left on his face.
It hit her then. Maybe he’d come to tell her goodbye. Maybe her heart was acting up and skipping beats for no good reason. And that’s why Cait stayed put, too. She needed her feet anchored in case he was there to tell her that it was over, that he was going back to LA for good.
“You willing to share those Cheez Doodles?” he asked.
He flashed her a smile that could have melted every glacier on the planet, and Cait felt the tightness in her chest ease. She felt other things, too. Hot, dreamy sex things when Hayes finally got moving. He went to her, hooked his arm around her neck and kissed her.
* * *
HAYES WOULD HAVE breathed a sigh of relief had his mouth not been on Cait’s. He’d thought that maybe she would tell him to get lost, that she was done with him, and he couldn’t have blamed her. After all, he’d barely been in touch with her over the past week.
But he’d missed her every minute, every second of that week.
It was as if she’d taken something from him
. Exactly what that something was, he didn’t know. Contentment? Peace of mind?
His heart?
The last seemed way too poetic for him, but during his entire time in LA, he’d felt as if something was off, something was missing. At the moment, he felt as if he’d found it.
And he would probably lose it just as quickly.
He tried not to get too caught up in the kiss. Hard to do, though, when Cait really got into it. Despite the fact she still had hold of her purse, the bag of Cheez Doodles and the candy, she pulled him closer, kicking the kiss up a heated notch and letting him know that she’d missed him, too. That she wanted him. Hayes sure as hell wanted her, too, but he wasn’t about to play dirty and get her into bed. She had to know what was going on.
Cait finally broke the kiss and eased back. She looked up at him and smiled. God, that smile was good to see, and he hated to see it vanish. Hated as well that in just a couple of minutes, he might not see that hot invitation in her eyes. Everything about her was welcoming him to her bed.
“How are your ribs?” she asked, still smiling. Yeah, that was also an invitation.
“Good.” And for the first time in weeks, that wasn’t a lie. Despite all the moving around he’d had to do on the set and filming location, the pain had finally decided to take a hike.
Hayes wanted to stand there a while longer, holding her, along with holding on to this moment. But he couldn’t. He owed Cait the truth. So he took a mental snapshot of her amazing face and adjusted their positions, sliding his arm around her waist until they were next to each other so he could get her moving inside.
“How much time do you have before the bachelorette party?” he asked.
“About two hours. When do you have to be at my brothers’ stag party?”
“The same.” And it wouldn’t take him long to get there since it was at the Jameson ranch. Like the brides, the grooms had opted for a private venue so they wouldn’t be hounded by the press.
“Plenty of time,” Cait concluded.
It was indeed long enough for them to fool around, recover and fool around again. But unfortunately, Hayes had to use that time for something other than fun.
“You’re staying at the Jameson ranch tonight?” she asked before he could say anything.
He shook his head. “I’ll risk going back to Em’s.” Where Cait would no doubt still be. That’s why it was a risk. She would likely be tipsy, maybe even drunk, and her defenses would be down. That’s why he had to handle this now. “We have to talk,” he insisted.
She groaned, and he felt her muscles tense. However, she didn’t say anything as they went into the house. Cait just turned and faced him.
“You’re dumping me,” she concluded. The invitation in her eyes was already gone, and he could see her steeling herself up. “Except it’s not really dumping because you told me from the get-go that you’d be leaving after the wedding. I knew anything we had would be temporary.”
All of that was true. But it still stung. Still hurt because Hayes knew he’d done exactly what he’d sworn he wouldn’t do. He’d hurt her. That kiss sure as hell hadn’t helped, either, because it’d given her a couple of seconds of false hope.
“Well,” she continued, taking a deep breath. Cait repeated that one word, went to the kitchen and took out a bottle of water. She downed it as if it were medicine and faced him again. “So this is goodbye.”
That stung, too. No. It was more than that. It hurt. Hayes thought he would have felt less pain had she just slugged him.
“I’ll be leaving after the wedding,” he confirmed. He didn’t go closer to her. Best not to be tempted to pull her back into his arms. “The show wasn’t canceled. The studio wants to sign everyone in the cast to another season.”
That had taken some doing, though. Or as Abe had put it—Hayes had had to say the right thing. And the right thing was that he was committed to Outlaw Rebels. It hadn’t been an easy decision to make, not until he’d actually stepped on the set. Then he’d remembered just how much he loved what he did. It wasn’t just a show or a way of life—it was also who he was. Better yet, it was who he wanted to be.
But it would come with a huge price tag.
It would cost him Cait.
She tried to work up a smile. Failed. But there was plenty of concern on her face now. “Are you good with Outlaw Rebels continuing?”
He nodded, and again it was true. “The show and the cast have been my life for a long time now. We’re like family. We know we can’t do it forever, but we thought we should give it at least one more year and go from there.”
“The cast,” she repeated, and her concern morphed into something with an edge. And Hayes thought he knew why.
“You saw the picture of Athena and me?” he asked.
“I caught a glimpse of it,” she admitted. Yeah, definitely an edge along with some anger.
Now he did go to her. Hayes went into the kitchen and risked touching her. Not a big embrace. He probably couldn’t have managed that anyway because she still had the food tucked in the crook of her arm. So he just ran his fingers over the sleeve of her shirt.
“Some of the cast went out to eat, and the paparazzi got some shots just as Athena and I were walking in. Not together,” he emphasized. “She’s living with a pro wrestler.” And the guy hadn’t been pleased, either, about the photo. “I’m sorry it upset you.”
She stepped away from his rubbing fingers and shrugged, obviously dismissing the hurt. Well, at first she tried to do that, but then she groaned. “I ate at least three thousand calories because of that picture.”
Hayes couldn’t help himself. He smiled. Not many women would have admitted that, but then Cait wasn’t the sort to play games. That’s why this was even harder.
She tried to make that easier for him, though. Her expression turned light, but that light didn’t quite make it to her eyes.
“Another season of climb on, bitch, and kiss me,” she muttered. Still holding on to the food, she opened the fridge again, got out another bottle of water and handed it to him. “Your fans are going to be thrilled. And FYI, I’m one of them. I’ve watched every single episode, and I can tell you exactly how many times you bared your incredible ass for the camera.”
He looked to see if that was a joke. It wasn’t. “How many times?” Hayes challenged.
“Eighteen,” she readily answered. “Nineteen if you count the shower scene where you’re behind the rippled glass. I count that one,” Cait added with a wink. “Hey, an ass glimpse is still a glimpse, even if it’s somewhat obscured.”
He wanted to latch on to that wink, to the moment she was trying to give him. A moment where she was trying to convince him that he hadn’t been a dick to start up with her.
She finally set what was left of the Cheez Doodles and the candy on the counter. “Help yourself,” she offered. “Then you can tell me all about the scene you had to reshoot and what your schedule will be like now that you’ve agreed to do another season.”
Cait must have believed this would be a long chat session, because she made herself comfortable on the bar stool. She didn’t eat any more of the junk food, though, probably because she hadn’t wanted to add to her already-high calorie count.
“The reshoot took most of the week,” he said, figuring she didn’t really want the details. The final product of the filming might look exciting, but a lot of rehearsals, takes and retakes went into it. “As for my schedule, there’ll be twenty-two episodes in the new season, and each one will take about ten days to film. I’ll need to be on set for about seven of those ten days.” He stopped. “You really don’t want to hear this.”
“But I do,” she argued. “I’d like to get a feel for how busy you’ll be in case I decide to make a trip to LA. I get two weeks’ vacation every year. I could spend a few days of it to go see you.”
Hayes did a mental do
uble take on that. It hadn’t occurred to him that Cait would actually want to see him after he left. In fact, he’d thought she would want to completely wash her hands of him.
“You’d do that?” he asked, wishing that he didn’t sound as stunned as he probably looked.
“Of course.” She lifted her shoulder in what she probably thought was a careless shrug. “Well, unless I’ll cramp your style—”
Hayes kissed her to stop the rest of that. He made sure he applied some finesse to it, too, and he let the taste of her slide right through him. There was just a hint of Cheez Doodles and chocolate, but it was still a taste that kicked his need for her into overdrive. Not good. He was trying to do the right thing here, and dragging her to the bed or the floor wouldn’t be good in the long run.
It’d feel damn amazing, though. He was certain of that.
He forced himself away from her mouth and met her eyes with his. “I’d really like it if you came to visit me.”
Her lips twitched a little. “But?”
Hayes hoped she didn’t smile, because that would be giving him an out. He didn’t deserve an out. “But we still wouldn’t be together except for those couple of days.” He cursed, scrubbed his hand over his face. “I can’t give you what you want, Cait.”
More lip twitching, and she smiled, and man, it had some snark to it. “What is it you think I want?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “And so help me, if you say a white picket fence, I’m going to throw a big handful of these malted milk balls at your crotch.”
He was pretty sure a white picket fence equaled the futures that his sisters were about to get. With variations, of course. But they’d have lives that included marriage and kids.
In other words, normal.
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