Time Out (7 page)

Shaw laughed.
“Better make it the real stuff for me. It’s a long drive back to
the ranch.”

Megan was
scrolling her messages when Nick’s shadow fell over her table.

“I believe you
promised me a dance,” he said, extending his hand.

That lop-sided,
dimpled grin got her again. Fortunately, she was a pro at slipping
her mask in place. “I remember you assuming I would dance with you.
I don’t remember promising I would.”

He chuckled,
and the low rumble settled over her like a warm blanket on a cold
night.

“Fine.” He
crouched down in front of her, looking into her eyes. “You want me
to beg? I’m on my knees.”

She knew Nick
had probably never had to ask a woman for anything twice, and she
couldn’t resist the urge to smile. “I have to admit, I kind of like
this humble side of you.” He was close enough she could smell the
alcohol on his breath. If she leaned in just another inch…

“So, how about
that dance?”

Evan Spencer
poked his head around the booth and grinned when he saw Nick. “Man,
I never thought I’d see the day a girl would bring you to your
knees.”

“Mind your own
business,” Nick muttered, shoving him out of his line of sight.
“So, are you gonna continue to make a fool of me, or will you put
me out of my misery?”

After
pretending to consider her options, Megan caved. “Fine, one
dance.”

Nick stood and
reached for her hand. Tucking it into the crook of his arm, he led
her to the dance floor. “How was your day?” He brought her in close
as he settled her hand against his chest.

Megan was
struck, for the first time, by his sheer power. She knew he was a
big man, only a couple of inches shy of six and a half feet, but
when she felt the muscles bulging under his thin cotton shirt, she
realized he was
huge.
With his arms holding her close, she
felt safe, protected. She hadn’t felt that way… ever. Not even with
Brock.

“Is there a
problem?”

She realized
she’d been so wrapped up in the way she felt, she hadn’t responded
to his question. “Um, my day was fine. Yours?”

“What were you
thinkin’ about?”

“Nothing.” She
wouldn’t tell him the truth. Letting a strong, capable, successful
man like Nick McCall step up and take care of her, protect her from
harm would be so easy, but Megan had made it through life by
learning early on that the only person she could rely on to take
care of her was herself. That wouldn’t change just because being in
his arms made her feel like a woman instead of the entertainment
correspondent the world saw.

“You’re lyin’,”
he whispered, lowering his head.

His lips
skimmed her ear, and she couldn’t stop the tremble moving through
her.

“Your eyes are
so expressive.” He drew back to stare into them. “I can tell
exactly what you’re thinkin’… what you’re feelin’.”

If that was
true, she was in deep trouble.

“Like right
now, you’re turned on.”

She should be
offended, but she couldn’t deny he was right.

“So am I.” He
let his hand fall to the small of her back. Flattening his palm
against the swell of her bottom, he urged her step forward and feel
his reaction to her. “You’re a gorgeous woman, Meg.”

Meg.
The
simple intimacy of his abbreviation made maintaining her walls
difficult. He was wrong for her, for so many reasons. She still
didn’t believe she could trust him. He may be using their
attraction to get closer so he could learn enough to expose her
mistakes and tarnish her professional reputation even further.
Could she really take that kind of risk?

His other hand
cupped the back of her neck, and he settled her head on his chest.
“Drive me home tonight.”

A soft sigh
escaped her lips as she closed her eyes. It felt so good to just
let go, even for a minute. To let someone hold her, guide her, take
care of her. Between her mother’s illness and funeral, her
brother’s sudden appearance, his demands for money, the fiasco at
the station, ending her relationship with Brock… Her life had been
in constant upheaval for the past two years, and she was suddenly
bone-tired.

“That’s it,
sweetheart, just let go. I’ve got you.”

How could he
know that’s exactly what she needed? She needed someone to hold her
up when the weight of the world weighed her down. Her body felt so
fluid, the rigidity melting away as his large hand caressed her
back.

“Everyone needs
to let go sometimes. It doesn’t make you weak. It makes you
human.”

She felt the
prickle of tears behind her closed eyes. His kind words felt like a
balm soothing her broken spirit.

“Look at
me.”

Megan knew she
couldn’t look at him. He would see every heartache she’d ever
experienced and hidden from the rest of the world.

“It’s okay,” he
said, surrounding her head with his hands as he tilted her face up
to his.

He kissed her
damp eyelids so tenderly her breath caught in her throat. They were
on the dance floor in the middle of a crowded bar, but he didn’t
care who saw them or what they thought. The only thing that seemed
to matter to him was easing her distress.

“Everyone needs
someone to take care of them sometimes. Who takes care of you?”
Nick asked.

A sob escaped.
She buried her head in his chest, wishing she never had to see the
light of day again. She wanted to hide from him and the rest of the
world. She couldn’t admit she felt so alone sometimes she didn’t
even want to drag herself out of bed. Nick, with his big family and
huge network of friends and business associates, would never
understand what being a loner felt like or why she felt forced to
make that choice.

Megan had
claimed to have friends in L.A., but acquaintances was a more apt
description. The few women she had been close to worked at the
station, and when she’d been led out of the building by security
guards, she’d ceased to exist in their minds. She was no longer
invited to the big parties. Her name wasn’t on the V.I.P. list at
the hottest nightclubs anymore. As far as they were concerned,
associating with her could only hurt their careers. In their minds,
it was better for them to cut her off and forget she existed. Those
were the people she used to call her friends.

“I was wrong
about you.”

Megan knew
expressions of regret wouldn’t come easily for a man like Nick, but
she’d been lied to, ignored, and abandoned too often to forget
trust came at a high price. She said, “You don’t know that any more
than I know whether I was wrong about you. Only time will
tell.”

“I do know.” He
slid his hands into her hair, gently massaging the nape of her
neck. “You have no reason to trust me yet. I know that. But give me
a chance to earn your trust. Let me prove to you I’m not a
jerk.”

“I don’t think
that. I’ve seen you with your parents, your sister, and your
friends.” Her heart beat double time when his eyes locked with
hers. “You love deeply. You protect the people you care about, and
I really admire that.”

“I admire you,
Meg.”

She didn’t know
if that was true, but her heart swelled nonetheless.

“What the hell
do you think you’re doin’, McCall?”

Megan winced at
Shaw’s voice. He’d slipped from her mind the second she’d slipped
into Nick’s arms. That told her everything she needed to know and
more than she was willing to admit.

“What does it
look like I’m doin’? I’m dancin’ with the lady. If you were smart,
which we both know you’re not, you’d back the hell off.”

“Let’s go,
Megan.” Shaw grabbed her upper arm.

Nick stepped
between him. “Take your hands off her, or I’m gonna lay you out
right here.”

Shaw smirked.
He was a big man, almost as big as Nick, and Megan knew, given
their history, any altercation between the two would result in a
bloody battle. She had to do or say something before it got out of
hand.

“Shaw, I’m
going to take Nick home. He’s been drinking, and his parents would
never forgive me if I let him drive home.” She knew it was a lame
excuse, but she couldn’t think of another way to diffuse the
situation.

“Let one of his
buddies drive him home,” Shaw said, still glaring at Nick.

“The ranch is
so far out of their way, and I’m going there anyways.” She pulled
on Nick’s arm, hoping he would step aside. She was leaving with
him, not Shaw, and that had obviously been his plan all along.
Megan hated being a pawn in their feud, but she had too much
respect for Avery, Ty, and J.T. to let the situation escalate if
she could do something to prevent that.

Nick stepped
back, letting Megan wedge her body between them. “I’ll call you
tomorrow, Shaw,” Megan offered.

Shaw glanced
over her shoulder, his expression telling Nick he hadn’t won the
war. “Fine. Let me take you out for dinner tomorrow.”

“I can’t. I’m
sorry. Titan is having a party to celebrate Ty’s latest album going
double platinum. I have to be there to cover it.”

“I’ll go with
you.”

Nick folded his
arms over his chest. “Like hell you will. It’s invite only, and you
sure as hell aren’t invited.”

Megan grasped
Shaw’s forearm. “I have to work. It’s not a social thing for
me.”

“I’ll call you
tomorrow,” he said, leaning in to kiss her. “We’ll make plans for
the weekend.”

She hadn’t been
intimate with Shaw and was beginning to question whether that day
would ever come, so she wouldn’t allow him to deepen the kiss just
to give Nick a false impression of their relationship. “Drive
safely,” she said, putting her hands on Shaw’s chest.

“Yeah, you too.
Why don’t you call me when you get home? Let me know you got there
safely.”

She knew that
was just a ploy to make sure she was sleeping alone. “Tomorrow,”
she said, her tone leaving no room for argument.

Shaw shot one
last look over her shoulder before he walked away.

“You made the
right call,” Nick said, the amusement evident in his voice.

“Just say good
night to your friends and meet me in the car.”

Megan was painfully
quiet all the way back to the ranch. Every time Nick tried to make
conversation, she shut him down, and it was driving him crazy. He
needed to know what she was thinking, how she was feeling, and
whether she had any regrets about leaving with him instead of
Carver.

Nick looked up
at the two-story stone and cedar home he’d built on the ‘Triple M’
property five years ago, after he’d won his first Kentucky Derby.
That’s when he knew his life had changed forever. He’d been
involved in horse racing and breeding since he was a child,
learning everything he could from his grandfather, but that was the
moment the world took notice and realized that
kid
from
Tennessee was the one to watch. He’d been earning their respect and
millions of dollars a year since.

“Your home is
beautiful, Nick.”

“Come in. Let
me show you around.”

She’d never
ventured so close to his home before, but he suddenly wanted her to
come inside, to see how beautiful she would look against the
moonlight filtering through the floor to ceiling windows.

“I really
should get to bed. I have a big day tomorrow.”

“Why don’t you
come in for a nightcap? You’re home now. You don’t have to worry
about drivin’ any farther.” His parents’ house was a fair distance
from his, but he would gladly walk her home… unless he convinced
her to stay with him.

“This isn’t my
home, Nick. You’re the one who keeps reminding me of that.”

He hated the
sadness in her voice. It made him feel like a monster, knowing his
rush to judgement had caused it. “I’m sorry for all those things I
said when you came to town, Meg. I was way out of line.” He reached
for her hand. “Forgive me?”

“No.”

He wasn’t
surprised. A woman like Megan, who’d obviously traveled a difficult
path to get where she was, wouldn’t forgive easily. But he hoped
she would eventually forgive him.

Megan said,
“I’m sorry if that’s not what you want to hear. I don’t want to
fight with you. I know the tension between us hasn’t been easy on
your family, and I wouldn’t hurt them for anything, but I can’t
trust you just because you tell me I can. A person has to earn my
trust, and that isn’t easy. In fact, I’m not sure you would even
think it was worth the effort.”

“I do.” He
raised her hand so he could brush his lips over her knuckles.
“Whatever it takes, I’m determined to earn your trust.”

“Why?” She
turned to face him.

“I wish I could
explain it, but I can’t. Something about you… something about the
way you make me feel.”

She withdrew
her hand from his and gripped the steering wheel instead. “I have
so many reasons to distrust you. You’ve made no secret of the fact
you want me out of your parents’ house. I’m dating a man you
despise, and I know you think I’m trying to work my way into your
family through your parents, Anna, J.T., your friends…”

“You’re right.”
He knew she expected him to defend himself, but she was right. Her
reasons for questioning his motives were valid, and she was too
smart to ignore them simply because their physical chemistry was
undeniable. “You have every reason not to trust me.”

She looked at
him a long time before she said, “What could I possibly hope to
gain by manipulating your family? I came to Nashville because of my
father…” She sighed. “But I know you don’t believe that.”

“Tell me what
happened when you saw him.” When she’d shared the story at his
parents’ dinner table, Nick ridiculed her. He’d give anything to
start over from the day they first met.

“I don’t want
to talk about him.”