Time Out (3 page)

“It just so
happens I do.” Megan reached into the pocket of the blazer hooked
over her arm. “Here you go.”

He looked at
the embossed business card as though it was a winning lottery
ticket. “I’ll be callin’ you real soon.”

Megan winked.
“I’m counting on it.”

Shaw got into
his truck, tipping his cowboy hat and grinning one last time before
he backed into a clearing and drove away.

Megan fanned
her face with her hand. “Wow, I’m starting to like Nashville a
whole lot more. Apparently some of the cowboys around here are
charming, Nick. I was beginning to think they were all mean and
surly like you.”

Nick tried to
rein in his temper by reminding himself that the woman was a guest
in his parents’ home. “You can’t go out with him.”

She threw her
head back and laughed.

As irritated as
he was that she dismissed his warning, he couldn’t help but
appreciate her beauty. He admired the gentle curve of her neck when
her head tilted back, conjuring up more images of Megan in a state
of abandon. Not that he intended to bear witness to
that.

“You wanna tell
me what the hell is so funny?”

She covered her
mouth. “You are. You actually think you can tell me what to
do?”

“He’s just
using you to piss me off.” That got her attention.

Her smile
faded, and her green eyes shone with purpose. “You care to tell me
why you think that?”

“Carver and I
have been rivals for as long as I can remember, sweetheart. We’ve
competed for everything from the startin’ quarterback position on
our high school football team to women.”

She scanned him
from the brim of his dusty hat to his scuffed cowboy boots. “You
think Shaw asked me out because he assumes you’re interested in me?
Anyone can see you and I are as different as day and night. No way
could we ever… hook up.”

“What makes you
think Carver and I are any different?” Nick moved in closer as an
intimidation tactic. Even with her high heels on, he towered over
her. He expected her to back up, to yield to him, but she stood her
ground.

“For one, he’s
a gentleman.”

“Is that what
you think? He’s really got you fooled, hasn’t he?”

She pretended
to be unaffected by Nick’s proximity, but her heaving chest
indicated otherwise. “Unlike you, Shaw didn’t make assumptions
based on my appearance. He’s willing to look beyond the surface to
see if there might be some substance.”

Nick chuckled.
“Darlin’, I can promise you the only thing he’s interested in
looking beyond is your clothes.” That analogy backfired and hit him
like a sucker punch. The thought of Carver undressing Megan didn’t
sit well with him for reasons he wasn’t willing to analyze.

“Maybe if he’s
lucky, I’ll let him.” With that comment, she walked over to his
pickup truck with a little swing in her hips. “I’m ready to go to
the main house.”

Gravel crunched
beneath Nick’s boots as he closed the distance between them.
“Listen to me, seein’ him would be a bad idea.”

“I can decide
that for myself, but thanks for the warning,” she said as she
opened the passenger’s door before he could reach her.

Getting behind
the wheel, Nick fired up the engine and clenched the steering wheel
with both hands. “You’re gonna ignore everything I’ve just said,
aren’t you?”

“That’s the
plan.”

***

Megan couldn’t
get Nick’s warning about Shaw out of her head. She usually had good
instincts, but since her recent lapse in judgement had nearly cost
her everything, she was a lot more cautious. Megan wandered from
her room to the family room to watch some TV.

Avery looked up
from her laptop. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“I’m sorry, I
didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“Don’t be
silly.” Avery closed her computer. “I couldn’t sleep either. I was
just killing time surfing the Net.”

Claiming one of
the oversized leather chairs flanking the huge fireplace, Megan
asked, “How well do you know Shaw Carver?”

Avery smiled.
“Very well. Why?”

“He asked me
out tonight. Nick warned me not to go out with him. Is Shaw really
as bad as your son thinks?”

Avery took her
reading glasses off and set them on the arm of the sofa. “Only
according to my son. Shaw and Nick are cut from the same cloth.
They’re both driven, competitive, and smart.”

“Those don’t
seem like bad qualities,” Megan said, tucking her legs under
her.

“They’re not,
but put those two in a room together, and you’d best stand
back.”

“That bad,
huh?”

“Worse. I can’t
tell you how many split lips I’ve mended over the years, and Shaw’s
mama’s done the same. Neither one of them comes out on top in those
brawls, but that doesn’t seem to matter. I swear, good sense goes
out the window when the male ego’s involved.”

Megan laughed.
“Don’t I know it.”

“I heard you
were engaged to Brock Logan. Is that true?”

“It is.” Megan
had ended her relationship with the professional race car driver
less than six months before. Then she made the mistake of getting
involved with the wrong man. “We were together for a few years,
but…” She shrugged. “It just didn’t work out. We were moving in
different directions.”

“I’m sorry to
hear that.”

“I guess it
just wasn’t meant to be.” Megan had believed she loved Brock, but
when he’d pressured her to set a wedding date, she couldn’t.

“That happens
sometimes. Maybe there’s someone out there even better for you.”
Avery smiled. “Who knows, it might even be Shaw.”

“So you think I
should go out with him?”

“Sure, why
not?”

“You don’t
think he’s… dangerous?” Megan felt a little silly asking, but she
couldn’t afford to be careless.

“Of course not.
In spite of what my son may say, Shaw is not the devil incarnate.
He comes from a good family. He’s polite, respectful, hardworking…
not to mention handsome. Right?”

“You noticed,
huh?”

Megan and Avery
shared a knowing look before they burst out laughing.

“I’m really
glad you’re here, Megan,” Avery said, smiling.

“So am I.”

“Do you think you can
find what I’m looking for, Sela?” Megan scanned the listings her
realtor had given her to peruse. She had been staying at the McCall
house for more than a month. Though Avery and Ty had been kind to
her, every time she saw Nick, she felt she’d overstayed her
welcome.

Sela turned
away from her computer. “I don’t think it should be too difficult.
You’re hoping to move in as soon as possible?”

“The sooner,
the better.”

“Why the hurry?
I’ve known the McCalls a long time. They’re lovely people.”

“Most of them
are,” Megan said. She wished she hadn’t said that aloud.

“Uh oh, is
someone giving you grief? Don’t tell me. It’s got to be Nick.”

Megan reached
for her take-out cup of espresso. “He’s a piece of work, isn’t he?
I can’t figure out what I did to piss him off, but it must have
been bad because he’s had it in for me from the start.”

“Don’t pay him
any mind. He’s a sweetheart, but he’s a little overprotective of
his friends and family.”

“I’ll have to
take your word for the sweetheart part. How could I possibly pose a
threat to him or his family?”

“Oh good, I’m
just in time for a little girl talk,” Anna McCall said, poking her
head into Sela’s office.

Megan really
liked Nick’s sister, but she didn’t intend to confide in Anna about
her problems with Nick. Megan got to her feet to hug the other
woman. ““Hi, Anna, it’s so good to see you.”

“You too,” Anna
said, squeezing her back. “How’s my big, bad brother treating
you?”

Nick made no
secret of the fact he didn’t like Megan, so the question wasn’t
unexpected. “I try to steer clear of him whenever possible,” Megan
said. That often meant she had to wake up early and come home late,
since Nick ate at the main house regularly.

Anna walked
around the desk to hug Sela before sitting in the guest chair next
to Megan. “That’s gotta be rough. I know he’s a sucker for Hazel’s
cooking. He must hang around all the time.”

“Why do you
think the poor girl is willing to move into a shoe box just to get
away from him?” Sela asked.

“Oh no,” Anna
said, reaching out to squeeze Megan’s hand. “I’ve split my time
between here and Charlotte so much I didn’t realize how bad it had
gotten between you two.”

Anna was seeing
Justin Hunt, a professional race car driver, and his home was in
North Carolina. Megan said, “I don’t want to burden you with my
problems. Don’t worry, I can handle your brother.”

“But you
shouldn’t have to. Why don’t I try to talk some sense into
him-”

“No! Please
don’t say anything to him about me. I’ll be moving out soon, so it
won’t be an issue.” Megan didn’t want Nick to think she’d asked his
sister to intervene.

“Fine.” Anna
sighed. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs, as
though she was content to settle in. “So, I’m dying to know. How
are things going with Shaw Carver?”

Anna and her
cousin, Lauren, had seen Megan and Shaw together at Jimmy’s one
night, and they’d asked for status updates ever since.

Megan smiled.
“He’s a sweet guy, but I’m not looking for anything serious. I
don’t intend to stay in Nashville long, so getting too involved
would be silly.”

“You never know
what might happen,” Anna said. “If Justin has taught me one thing,
it’s to expect the unexpected.”

Megan smiled.
“I’m so happy for you guys. You’re perfect for one another.” Just
because Megan hadn’t found her soul mate didn’t mean she couldn’t
wish the best for others. She wasn’t a total cynic; she’d just
learned at an early age she needed to guard her heart.

“Thanks,” Anna
said, getting a faraway look in her eyes. “I never thought I’d meet
anyone who makes me feel the way he does. You know what I mean,
that feeling you get in your stomach when you see your guy.” She
giggled.

Megan couldn’t
relate. She’d never had that feeling, except when she saw Nick, but
she attributed that to nausea. “I can’t say I do.”

Anna and Sela
exchanged a look of dismay. “It’ll happen for you, honey. You just
have to be patient,” Sela said.

Megan shrugged.
She tried to pretend the thought of spending the rest of her life
alone wasn’t daunting. “If it does, great. If it doesn’t, I’m okay
with that. I have my work…” Which was only temporary. “Friends…”
Who were only temporary. Okay, she was starting to get
depressed.

“Didn’t you
feel that way about Brock?” Anna asked.

“Brock was a
sweetheart. He always supported my career, but I’m afraid I didn’t
give our relationship the time and attention it needed. I don’t
blame him for getting tired of waiting around for me to set a
wedding date.” Megan knew she wasn’t answering Anna’s question, but
she didn’t want to explain why she’d accepted Brock’s marriage
proposal even though she knew he wasn’t
the one
. The truth
was, she didn’t want to be alone. Acknowledging that, even to
herself, made her feel weak.

“Does it bother
you that he’s engaged to someone else now?” Sela asked.

“No, I’m happy
for him.” When Megan heard the news, she’d paused, waiting to feel
overcome by remorse that she’d been stupid enough to let him go,
but she felt nothing. She knew, without a doubt, she’d made the
right decision.

“You’re so
strong, so independent,” Anna said, sighing. “Sometimes I wish I
could be more like that. I need people: family, friends, Justin.
You just seem so self-sufficient.”

“Being
self-reliant isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, Anna. You’re lucky
you have people you can depend on.” Megan had lived her life as an
outsider out of necessity, not by choice. She’d always been an
afterthought in her mother’s life. She’d gone away to school, and
she’d been the one left on campus when her friends and classmates
returned home for the holidays because her mother had planned an
exotic vacation with her new boyfriend. Megan had wanted a sibling
to share her woes, but when she finally met her half-brother,
Stephan, she’d wished she could retract her secret fantasy. The
last thing she needed was an out-of-work alcoholic showing up on
her doorstep begging for money and a place to crash.

“I’m sorry. I
didn’t mean to be so insensitive,” Anna said quietly as she shared
a sympathetic look with Sela.

Megan took a
sip of coffee before forcing a laugh. “You insensitive? Not even if
you tried.”

After a short
silence, Sela smiled at Megan. “I was supposed to show Anna a few
houses today as well. Would you mind tagging along and then we can
look at those apartments we talked about on the way back?”

“Oh, that
sounds like fun,” Anna said, touching Megan’s shoulder. “I could
really use another opinion so I can narrow it down before Justin
comes to town in a few days.”

“I didn’t know
you guys were looking for a house,” Megan said.

Anna grinned.
“I’m not; he is. I promised I’d check out his prospects with Sela
and find a few I liked. We’ll visit those when he comes to
town.”

Sela smiled as
she put file folders into her briefcase. “Unless I miss my guess,
he wants you to choose the house because you’ll be living there
with him when you two tie the knot. Am I right?”

Anna grinned.
“We’ve talked about it, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself.
He’ll propose when the time’s right.”

“And of course
you’ll jump at the opportunity.” Megan laughed.

“Hell,
yeah!”

All three women
laughed at Anna’s enthusiasm as they filed out of the office to
begin their afternoon of house-hunting.