Time Out (12 page)

He reached for
her wrist. “Are you tellin’ me you can forget what just happened
between us?”

If only.
“It was one hour out of our lives, Nick. A year from now, hell, a
few months from now, it won’t even warrant thinking about.”

His face
hardened, and it was obvious her claim stung. “What the hell
happened to make you so cynical? Who did this to you?”

“No one
did
anything to me.” Blaming others would be so easy, but
that would make her a victim, and she refused to fall into that
trap. As long as she kept fighting, she could get through anything.
She only put herself at risk when she became weak or
vulnerable.

“I don’t
believe that. You’re runnin’ scared.”

She wasn’t a
coward. She was a realist. Her relationship with Brock taught her
good men deserved equally good women capable of loving and being
loved. She didn’t fall into that category.

“I’ve never
been afraid of anything.” She looked him in the eye. She knew he
didn’t believe her, but the only person she had to convince was
herself.

“We’re gonna
run into each other at the ranch. You can’t avoid me.”

“I’ll be moving
out just as soon as I can.”

“Why? My
parents love havin’ you there. I want you to stay. Doesn’t that
matter?”

She stood up
and slipped into her dress without responding. She wouldn’t look
for her missing panties with his eyes boring into her. They would
have to be relegated to another casualty of their one-night stand.
“Your family has been wonderful to me, and I’m very grateful, but
it’s time for me to find a place of my own.”

“I asked Sela
to stop lookin’ for an apartment for you.”

“You what?”
When her dress started to slip, she zipped it up. Feigning modesty
felt ridiculous though. “You had no right to do that. You don’t
make my decisions. I do.”

He sighed as he
threaded his hands through his hair. “You are the most maddening
woman I think I’ve ever met. I did it because I want to spend more
time with you, get to know you better. If you expect me to
apologize, I won’t.”

She tried to
ignore the play of muscles in his arms when he laced his hands
behind his head. He was quite simply irresistible, and if she
didn’t leave, she would damn the consequences and climb back into
bed for another round.

“Just stay out
of my business from now on,” she said, picking up her shoes and
purse.

“You are my
business,” he said just before she reached the door. “You may be
tryin’ to convince me and yourself this is over, but we both know
it isn’t. Tonight was the first time we made love, but I can
promise you it won’t be the last.”

Nick walked into his
parents’ the next morning and found Megan sitting at the kitchen
table alone. He leaned in to kiss that sensitive spot he’d
discovered on the back of her neck, and he noticed she was writing
a check to Manny Moore.

She gasped when
his mouth found the tender skin. “What are you doing?”

“I was about to
ask you the same thing.” He braced his hands on either side of
her.

He caressed her
neck with his tongue until her breath came in short gasps and she
gripped her pen so hard her knuckles turned white. “I thought I
made myself… clear… last night.”

In spite of her
protests, her eyes closed and her head lolled to the side to give
him better access.

“Yeah… ” he
said, between kisses. “I thought… I made myself… clear too. I want
you. I’m not gonna stop wantin’ you just ‘cause you… tell me I
should.”

“Nick…”

He loved
everything about her, from her rare scent to her irrefutable beauty
to the softness he knew lurked behind her tough shell.

His tongue
traced the delicate shell of her ear, hoping he would feel tension
drain from her body. “Let’s go back to my place, sweetheart.” He’d
fallen asleep wanting her, woken up wanting her. If he wasn’t
careful, she could become an addiction.

“I can’t. I
meant what I said last night.”

Nick knew she
could only deny what she felt for so long. He could be patient.

Walking over to
the coffee maker, he poured himself a cup before carrying the
carafe to the table and topping up her mug. “Why are you writin’
him a check?”

She remained
silent so long he expected her to finally tell him to mind his own
business.

Instead, she
said, “I’m repaying him for the financial support he provided while
I was growing up.”

Nick’s mouth
fell open. “He was your father. It was his responsibility to
support you.” His heart broke when her eyes clouded over with a
misery he knew she wouldn’t want him to see.

“He was a sperm
donor, not a father. He told me he wished I’d never been born. I
was his mistake. I don’t want to be indebted to him for anything.
When I was growing up, we didn’t have a choice. I had to eat. My
mother rarely worked, so his money was the difference between
having a roof over our heads and living on the street.” She tore
the check out of the leather bound book and slipped it into an
envelope.

He claimed the
seat beside her and covered her hand with his. “You’re an
incredible woman, Meg. If he can’t see that, it’s his loss.”

Her bottom lip
trembled as she withdrew her hand and reached for her coffee
mug.

“How much do
you feel you owe him?”

“With interest,
$408,240.” She gestured to the envelope. “This is my first payment.
I had to pay off my mother’s medical bills before I could tackle
this debt.”

Nick was
stunned by how much she’d accomplished on her own. He’d always had
his family’s support behind him, but she’d literally been all alone
to cope with problems an army of people would have trouble
tackling. A wave of guilt hit him like a fist to the gut. He’d been
so wrong about her.

“By my
calculations, I should have the debt paid off in ten years,
assuming my next contract is comparable to my current one.”

Nick wanted to
convince her she didn’t owe that miserable excuse for a human being
anything, but he knew trying would be pointless. “I was so wrong
about you, Meg. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t blame
you. You love your family. You want to protect them. I admire
that.” Her lips tilted up at the corners.

He reached for
her hand. “I admire you. You’re stronger than you realize, smarter
than I ever gave you credit for, and you have an incredible spirit
that makes me want to know everything about you. You’re a fighter.
I get that, but you don’t have to fight me or what we could
have.”

She removed her
hand from his again and wrapped it around her coffee mug. “I can’t
be the woman you need, Nick. Pretending I could would be
cruel.”

Nick glanced at
the envelope. The only way he could earn her trust was to prove he
was unlike anyone she’d ever known. “I gotta get to work,” he said,
standing up. He leaned over to kiss her cheek. “I’ll stop by
tonight. Maybe we can hang out, watch TV.”

“I don’t think
that would be a good idea.” She sighed. “But it’s your parents’
house. I can’t stop you from coming over.”

He smiled. She
wanted to spend time with him as much as he wanted it, but she was
still determined to fight the inevitable. “We’ll make popcorn. I’ll
even suffer through a girly movie if it’ll make you happy.”

She rolled her
eyes, obviously trying to hide her smile. “Don’t do me any favors,
cowboy.”

***

Nick rang Manny
Moore’s doorbell. He knew controlling his temper with the man who
had caused Megan so much pain wouldn’t be easy, but he owed it to
her to try. The last thing she needed was more drama.

The aging man
that answered the door was barely recognizable as the singer Nick
remembered on Manny Moore’s album covers.

Manny’s eyes
narrowed as though he was trying to place Nick’s face. Nick looked
a lot like his father, so Ty McCall fans often made the connection
immediately.

“Can I help
you?” he asked finally.

“Name’s Nick
McCall. I need to talk to you about your daughter.”

“My daughter?”
He scowled and looked Nick up and down. “You’re too damn old for my
daughters.”

The fact Megan
hadn’t even entered his mind further incensed Nick. “I’m talkin’
about Megan.” Nick wedged his cowboy boot in the door in case the
old fool thought he could close it in his face.

“I have nothin’
to say about her. Hell, I don’t even know her.”

“That’s the
problem,” Nick muttered. He wasn’t there to try to convince the man
to have a relationship with his daughter. He sensed Megan would be
better off without him in her life. “Listen, this comes down to
money. It would be in your best interest to listen.”

Manny’s eyes
lit up, and he opened the door further. “Fine. Come in and say your
piece, but make it quick.”

Nick followed
him through a narrow hallway to a dated study.

Manny closed
the door behind them. “You said your name was McCall. You any
relation to Ty McCall?”

“He’s my
father.”

“Huh,” he said,
his eyes traveling over Nick. “I thought there was a resemblance.
I’ll tell ya, your old man sure got into the business at the right
time, boy. Back when I was at it, we were lucky to make a fraction
of what these artists do today.”

“I’m not here
to talk about the music business. I’m here to talk about
Megan.”

“I don’t know
what I could tell you about her. How do you know her anyways?” He
raised a bushy silver eyebrow.

“My mother’s
her publicist.” Nick didn’t feel obligated to define their
relationship. Manny would deduce the obvious when he found out the
reason for Nick’s visit.

“Your mother?
Right, Avery McCall.” He smirked. “That little lady wouldn’t give
me the time of day when I was lookin’ for a new publicist to put my
career back on the right track.”

“My mother’s a
smart woman. She’s very selective about the clients she takes
on.”

“What the
hell’s that supposed to mean?”

Nick smiled. A
few insults would take the edge of his anger. “She doesn’t work
with has-beens, Moore. Last time I heard you sing, it was pretty
obvious your best days are behind you.”

“Who the hell
do you think you are?” Manny asked, stepping forward.

Nick chuckled.
He withdrew a certified check from his pocket. His banker had
questioned his reasons for writing such a large check, but he’d
told him it was personal. If the check bought Megan peace of mind,
it would be well worth the cost. “I’m the guy who’s gonna make your
life a whole lot easier. This is a check for the money your
daughter feels she owes you.”

Manny’s hand
trembled as he gaped at the amount. “What are you talkin’ about? Is
this some kind of joke?”

“Does it look
like a joke?”

He reached for
the check. “No, it looks real, but… why?”

“Megan feels
indebted to you, though I can’t understand why. I refuse to let her
spend the next ten years of her life repaying this money.” He
glared at Manny, hoping he could see the contempt in his eyes.

“You don’t
understand. I never loved her mama. She trapped me-”

“Your daughter
shouldn’t have paid the price for that. All she wanted was someone
to love her, someone she could count on.”

Manny sank into
a distressed armchair and dropped his head into his hands. “I never
meant to hurt her. I resented her mama for tryin’ to trap me.”

“Last time I
had sex, I used a condom. You weren’t smart enough to do the same?”
Nick was glad Manny hadn’t taken precautions. The old man’s
mistake
had given him the most incredible woman he’d ever
met.

Manny winced.
“It was different back then. Free love and all that shit. But
you’re right. I wasn’t smart enough to protect myself. I was
drinkin’ a lot, enjoyin’ the good life. I wasn’t thinkin’ about the
consequences of my actions.”

“And Megan had
to pay for that.”

“I know I was
hard on her when she came to see me. It was just a shock. I thought
she was going to hit me up for more money. By the time I realized
she wasn’t, it was too late to take back the things I said.”

Nick could
never feel an ounce of sympathy for the man who’d hurt Megan so
deeply, and he wouldn’t even pretend to try. Manny Moore deserved
to be wracked with guilt. “Meg doesn’t need you in her life. She’s
figured out how to take care of herself, no thanks to you.”

Manny held up
the check. “But I guess now she has you to take care of her, huh?
You don’t shell out this kind of cash for a woman unless you’re in
love with her.”

Love.
Nick hadn’t allowed himself to consider that possibility, but after
last night, he knew he couldn’t rule it out. “Let’s just say I’m
smart enough to recognize an incredible woman when I meet one,
which is more than I can say for you.”

“Look, nobody’s
perfect. We all make mistakes.”

Nick wondered
if Manny Moore regretted never having a relationship with his
first-born. “Yeah, we all make mistakes. But how we deal with them
separates the men from the losers, Moore.”

***

Megan tried to
hide her surprise when Manny Moore walked into her office later
that day. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I was hopin’
we could talk?”

“I don’t have
time for you.” She turned her chair and refreshed her computer
screen, hoping he would take the hint and leave.

“Your boyfriend
came to see me earlier today. He gave me this.” He set the check on
her desk.

“Oh my God.”
Megan reached for the paper. Her hands trembled and her eyes
blurred with tears as she fixated on Nick McCall’s signature. “Why
would he do this?”

“He obviously
loves you.”