Time Out (20 page)

“He is, but he
doesn’t get to call all the shots in his career. He has to answer
to his label, fans, promoters, managers, everyone. He can’t very
well tell them to cancel a sold-out show just ‘cause his kid’s
football team made the playoffs. It doesn’t work that way.”

She linked her
hand with his. “No, I guess it doesn’t. I guess no one has a
perfect childhood, huh? We all got our share of cuts and bruises,
physical and emotional. We can choose to heal or play the victim
card, right?”

He kissed her
shoulder. “Exactly. You’re one of the strongest women I’ve ever
met, Meg. Everything you’ve been through only makes you more
appealin’ in my eyes. I want a strong woman, someone who’s not
gonna fold when things get tough.”

She smirked.
“If there’s one thing I know, it’s how to stand up to
adversity.”

“You were made
for me.”

The intensity
in his eyes left her speechless. Without question, Nick was a man
she could count on today, but how would he feel in a year or ten,
when all of her secrets and fears were revealed? Would he still
want her if she told him she didn’t know if she wanted children
because she had no idea how to be a mother? Would he still look at
her that way when he found out she’d slept with another woman’s
husband and destroyed a family?

“Nick-”

He cut her
protest off with a kiss. “Don’t tell me you weren’t. I know how I
feel and what I want. You. Always.” He held her hand against his
heart.

She winced when
her pounding head reminded her she wasn’t out of the woods yet.

“What’s
wrong?”

“Just a
headache.” She pressed her fingertips to her temples. “I get
migraines sometimes, when I’m stressed and not sleeping
enough.”

He settled her
head on his chest, massaging her scalp with his free hand. “Just
relax. I’m right here, and I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

“But don’t you
want to…” She curled into him, grateful for his strength and
warmth.

He chuckled. “I
always want to make love to you, but there’s always tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow. It’s
a date.”

“I have to go
to Kentucky tomorrow for the start of the Derby festivities. I want
you to come with me.” He pressed a kiss to her temple.

“I have to
work.” Her eyelids fluttered closed as the promise of sleep and his
masterful hands began to ease the ache in her head.

“Why don’t you
talk to your boss about coverin’ the event? It’s always a big deal.
Lots of celebrities show up.”

“Okay,” she
said, pressing her ear to his heart. “I’ll talk to him about
it.”

Megan was just leaving
her suite the next morning when she nearly ran into Stephan.

“Is your
boyfriend still here?” he asked, looking over her shoulder.

“No, he had to
go to work. So do I, so if you’ll excuse me.”

He grabbed her
elbow and led her back into the suite, closing the door behind him.
“We need to talk. Now.”

“Fine. Talk,
but make it quick.” She took in his appearance. He looked clean,
rested, and sober. He must have used Nick’s money to rent a room
instead buying a bottle.

“I came here to
warn you about your ex’s old lady…” He snapped his fingers. “What
the hell was her name?”

Megan didn’t
even have to ask. Only one of her former lovers had a wife, or
ex-wife, with a score to settle. “Vicki Alfinore?”

“Yeah, that’s
it. She came to your condo looking for you. She’s out for your
blood, sis.”

Megan’s heart
pounded erratically. “What did she say?”

“She said you
slept with her husband and ruined her life. She said she would ruin
yours.”

Megan sank down
on the sofa. She should have known leaving L.A. wouldn’t end her
nightmare.

Her producer,
Robert, had been new to the station and new in town. He was
handsome, charming, and much older. They became friends while she
tried to cope with her mother’s illness.

“Damn it,” she
whispered, dropping her head into her palm. “I was hoping she’d let
it go once I left town. I thought she’d realize I was no longer a
threat to her marriage.”

Stephan sat
down beside her and put his arm around her shoulder. “How the hell
did you let yourself get mixed up with a married man? It doesn’t
seem like your speed.”

“I didn’t know
he was married.” She sighed. She had still been coming to terms
with ending her engagement to Brock, and Robert was her rebound
man. They both knew their relationship wouldn’t last, but it helped
her through a difficult time… until she found out the truth.

No one at the
station knew him well, so when he’d said he was divorced, everyone
took him at his word. When his assistant overheard him on the phone
talking to his wife’s doctor, people became suspicious.

“He told me he
was divorced. Apparently his wife was in a psychiatric hospital
recovering from a nervous breakdown. One day, his daughter showed
up at the station and made a huge scene in front of everyone,
calling me a home-wrecker and her father a lying, cheating
bastard.”

“Damn, no
wonder you were so anxious to leave town.” Stephan drew her in to
rest her head on his shoulder.

Megan was
surprised by the show of comfort, but she didn’t try to fight it.
“He told me the whole ugly story after his daughter left. According
to him, he and his wife hadn’t gotten along for years. When he told
her he wanted a divorce, she went ballistic. Even became violent,
attempted suicide…” Megan shuddered. “She was unbalanced, to say
the least. I don’t know if she was always that way or if he drove
her to it, but once she got out of the hospital, she came looking
for me.” She sighed, feeling physically exhausted even though it
was only eight o’clock in the morning.

“Why didn’t you
get a restraining order against her?”

“I tried, but
she violated it repeatedly. Apparently those aren’t worth the paper
they’re written on until the accused takes it to the next
level.”

“That sucks,”
Stephan said, squeezing her shoulder. “I don’t know how to tell you
this, but she has pictures of you and her husband together. She
said she’s going to use them to humiliate you.”

Megan’s empty
stomach churned as she looked at Stephan. “What kind of
pictures?”

“I didn’t ask
to see them, but apparently they’re pretty nasty. She hired a
private investigator who planted cameras just about everywhere you
two were… uh… intimate.”

She dropped her
head into her hands. “This can’t be happening.”

“Apparently she
knows about you and the horse dude too.”

“What?
How?”

“You were
photographed together at some party. The pics were posted online. I
guess she found them and decided now would be the perfect time to
use those pics to hurt you.”

“I don’t
believe this.” She should have known her poor judgement would come
back to haunt her. How could she make Nick understand why she’d
slept with another woman’s husband?

“She plans on
using them to get you fired too.”

“Of course she
does.” She was a TV personality. People would be interested in any
scandal involving her private life. “What the hell does she want?
Money?”

“I think all
she wants is revenge. She wants you to suffer the way she
suffered.”

Megan reached
for the bottle of pain relievers on the coffee table when she felt
another migraine coming on. She dry swallowed two pills before
asking, “So, she’s going to go to the station manager with them?
That’s her plan?”

“For starters.
I think she’s going to show them to your boss, then Nick. I’m sure
she intends to plaster them all over the Internet too.”

“Oh, God.”

“Yeah, she said
you’d never be able to show your face in public, much less get a
job again.” Stephan looked at her sideways. “What exactly did you
do with that guy? It doesn’t sound like it was just vanilla
sex.”

Her cheeks
flamed when she thought about the things Robert had been into, the
things she’d let him talk her into trying for the first time. “I
don’t want to talk about it.” She checked her watch. “I have to get
to work and figure out how to break this to my boss.”

Stephan reached
for her hand. “If you need to talk, call me, okay?”

“Thanks, I
will.”

***

Megan took one
look at her boss’s face and knew she was too late. “You know.”

Mr. Bradford,
an aging, silver-haired man with a paunch and wire-framed glasses,
tipped his swivel chair back and sighed. “What the hell were you
thinkin’, Megan?”

“I wasn’t
thinking.” She sank down in the chair across from him, torn between
hiding her face in shame and pretending she wasn’t mortified. She
sighed. “I was going through a rough time. My mother was dying, and
I didn’t know Robert was married. None of that matters now. I did
what I did. The pictures are out there. The question is, how do we
handle it?”

He shook his
head before sliding a thick hand through his hair. “I wish I could
say or do something to help you, but I can’t. This is out of my
hands.”

“You’re firing
me?” She didn’t know why the news blind-sided her. She should have
expected the worst.

“I don’t have a
choice. Your contract states any behavior reflecting negatively on
the station will result in immediate dismissal. We just can’t
afford the bad publicity.”

“I know. I
understand.” She shook her head, still feeling numb. She got up,
her legs feeling wobbly. “I’ll just get my things.”

“I’m sorry
about this. You were damn good at your job. If there was any other
way…”

“It’s okay.
This is my fault.” She squared her shoulders and vowed not to cry
as she offered a trembling hand across his desk. “Thank you for
giving me this opportunity, sir. I’m sorry I disappointed you.”

He took her
hand. “We’re real sorry to see you go, Megan. Good luck.”

***

Megan’s
half-brother arrived five minutes early for their appointment,
surprising Nick. “Oh, hey, come on in,” Nick said, beckoning
Stephan into the stables.

Stephan offered
his hand. “It’s good to see you again, Nick.” He cleared his
throat. “Have you, uh, talked to Megan yet today?”

Nick frowned.
“Not since I left her suite this mornin’. Why?”

“Uh, no reason.
Just curious.”

“I don’t have a
lot of time. I’m headin’ out to Kentucky today. I’ve got two horses
competin’ in the Derby. Truth is, I should have been out there all
week, but I was hopin’ to work things out with your sister before I
took off.”

“Since you left
her suite this morning, I’m assuming you worked things out last
night?”

Nick thought
about how they’d started their day: in each other’s arms, making up
for lost time with the most passionate sex he’d ever had. “Yeah,
we’re good.”

“Glad to hear
it.”

The tone of
Stephan’s voice drew Nick’s attention. “You got a problem with me
datin’ your sister?” Nick asked.

“No, why would
I?”

“I don’t know.
You seem like-”

“Excuse
me.”

Nick looked at
the door and saw a well-dressed, middle-aged woman carrying a
manila envelope. Her high heels, coiffed hair, and perfectly
applied makeup told him she didn’t spend a lot of time in horse
stables. “Can I help you, ma’am?”

“Yes.” She
narrowed her eyes when she saw Stephan.

Nick noted the
exchange. He could almost hear the silent warning issued. “I don’t
have a lot of time,” Nick said, tapping the face of his watch. “I
have a plane to catch in a couple of hours.”

“I’d like to
speak to you in private,” she said, glaring at Stephan.

Nick had no
idea how the two knew each other, but they obviously did. He turned
to Stephan. “Follow the trail to your left down to the barn. My
manager, Joe, is down there. I told him you’d be stoppin’ by today.
He’ll start your trainin’. I’ll check in with you when I get back.
You have my business card. My cell number is on it, so if there are
any problems while I’m gone, feel free to call me. There are living
quarters at the back of the property. A lot of my ranch hands stay
there. You’re welcome to do the same.”

“I’ll do that.
Thanks.”

“I’ve told Joe
he can issue your first pay check in advance, if need be.” Nick
looked Stephan in the eye. “Don’t disappoint me, man.”

“I won’t. I
promise.”

“Another one of
the guys, Tony, goes to A.A. meetings. He can hook you up.”

“That’d be
great. Hey, good luck in Kentucky this week.”

“Thanks. Your
sister’s goin’ with me, so if you have any problems, you call me,
not her. Understood?”

“Yeah, I got
it.”

“Good. I’ll see
you later.” Nick waited for Stephan to leave before he turned his
attention to his visitor. “Sorry about that, ma’am. How can I help
you?”

She glanced at
the door Stephan had just passed through. “Do you really think it’s
a good idea to hire a drunk?”

Surprised by
the question, Nick took a moment to respond. “I don’t see how it’s
any of your business who I hire. Why don’t you tell me who you are
and what you’re doin’ here? Like I said, I don’t have time to
waste.”

She smoothed a
hand down the front of her dress. “This is about your
girlfriend.”

“What about
her?” Nick tried to ignore the uneasiness unfurling in his stomach.
The last thing he and Megan needed was someone stirring up trouble.
They were finally on the right track.

“I have
something to show you. You may want to sit down before you open
it.” She handed him the envelope.

Nick pulled
glossy photos out of the envelope, and his stomach pitched in
protest. He looked through them slowly. Like a car wreck he
couldn’t turn away from, they were forever burned in his memory.
“Where the hell did you get these?”