Secret Love (23 page)

She placed the tray of food on the nightstand next to the bed. “You’ve been sleeping for a long time.”

Jake sat up in bed. “What time is it? How long have I been sleeping?”

Diamond sat on the edge of the bed and faced him. “It’s past noon and since you last made love to me around four this morning, you’ve been asleep ever since.”

Jake’s brow lifted. Nearly nine hours? He’d been asleep that long? To a rancher that was almost an entire workday. He hadn’t been aware of just how tired he had been.

“Are you ready to eat?” Diamond asked, interrupting his thoughts.

He smiled over at her. “It depends on what you’re feeding me,” he said huskily.

Diamond sighed as she stood and removed her robe and gown and crawled back in bed with him. “Daddy’s cook prepared you a tasty lunch since you missed breakfast.”

Jake wrapped his arms around her. “Yeah, but nothing is more tasty than this,” he said, kissing her.

After his long, deep kiss Diamond pulled herself out of his arms and looked at him. “I understand you and my father had a long talk last night.”

Jake stared at her. “Who told you that?”

“He did,” she said, studying him. “You want to tell me about it?”

Jake reached out and fingered a curl that had drooped down on her forehead. “What did he tell you?”

“Only that the two of you had talked.”

Jake smiled at her. “Yeah, we talked. And we both understand each other’s position. He’s your father, and I’m your husband. Our roles in your life are different.”

Diamond nodded and snuggled against him. “I think he likes you.”

Jake chuckled. “That’s good to hear, although I’m not going to lose much sleep over it if he doesn’t. He made you unhappy a few times, and I can’t forget that.”

Diamond looked up at him with pleading eyes. “Please try. I think he’s regretting some things, and I’m willing to meet him halfway. He’s my father, and I love him. Our child is his grandchild.”

Jake nodded. He knew from his conversation with the man last night that he loved his daughter and intended to make a number of changes in his relationship with Diamond. They were changes that Jake approved of. “We’ll talk more about your father later,” he said, pulling her into his arms.

“Are you ready for lunch?” Diamond asked, smiling at him.

“Not yet.”

He pulled her into his arms to show her exactly what he was ready for.

I
t seemed that all of Hollywood had come out for the premiere of the predicted summer blockbuster movie,
Black Butterfly,
that had Diamond Swain and Sterling Hamilton in the starring roles.

A number of stars attended the pre-premiere reception. Afterward they began migrating from the plush and elegant restaurant in limousines to the theater where the movie would be shown. Sterling was throwing an after-premiere party at his home in Malibu Beach, and everyone was definitely looking forward to that.

Movie critics had given the film excellent reviews. Some considered it Sterling and Diamond’s best work yet, and a number of them predicted their performances had guaranteed them Oscar nominations. Movie tickets were to go on sale within a week. Already
ticket lines had begun forming at various theaters around the country. There were those who predicted the movie would be even more successful that last summer’s blockbuster, that featured Will Smith and Julia Roberts in the starring roles.

The photographers had a field day when the tall, handsome and dashing Texan, Jacob Madaris, and his gorgeous, sophisticated and beautiful wife, actress Diamond Swain Madaris, descended from the limo. Smiling for everyone, they dazzled the crowd of people that greeted them at the theater. Diamond returned the thumbs-up sign a number of her fans gave her for encouragement.

Amid the glow of bright lights and photographers’ flashing bulbs, a number of poses of Jake and Diamond were captured on camera, then the reporters began throwing out their questions.

“Mrs. Madaris, is it true you’re pregnant?”

Diamond smiled up at Jacob before answering the reporter’s question. “Yes, it’s true. I’m almost three months along. And according to my doctor I’m doing fine, and if all goes well Jacob and I will have a little Madaris this November.”

“Mr. Madaris, how do you feel about your wife’s pregnancy?”

Jake thought that was a pretty dumb question for the reporter to have asked but decided to keep his opinion to himself as he held Diamond’s gaze. Her smile widened to let him know that she’d known just what he’d been thinking about the reporter’s question. “I feel like a very blessed man. What man wouldn’t feel that way with a beautiful and talented wife—and a baby on the way.”

Another reporter asked, “Mrs. Madaris, what do you think of Conrad Ammons’s attorney’s insanity plea?”

Diamond took a deep breath as she looked out over the group of reporters. For a number of years she had grown accustomed to seeing Ammons among them. “I read the article in the paper. What happened to Mr. Ammons’s sister was unfortunate. And although it wasn’t his fault, he loved his sister deeply. A part of me understands him for wanting to blame himself for it all these years,” she said sadly. She didn’t add that she understood because a few months ago she had been ready to walk away from her true love because of misplaced blame.

“So,” she continued, “I have no problem with it if the court goes along with the plea. If they do I just hope he gets the proper medical treatment to recover. I believe he was a fine reporter.” She couldn’t help but grin. “He certainly kept me on my toes with his questions whenever he interviewed me.”

Jacob’s arms around Diamond tightened. His wife was such a warm, caring and forgiving person. He was glad the reporter hadn’t bothered to ask him that particular question. He would have told him straight out that it would not have bothered him in the least if they locked Ammons up and threw away the key. But then, he thought, that was why he loved Diamond so much. It had been her incredible ability to care so much for others that had made him realize just how different she was, and had made him fall head-over-heels in love with her.

“Mr. Madaris, is it true that you and Kyle Garwood have formed some sort of a production company and that Sterling Hamilton will take the role of producer
and put together a movie that will be filmed on parts of your ranch, Whispering Pines?”

Jake lifted a brow, wondering if there was anything that could be done without the media finding out. He smiled. Yes, he knew of one thing—his and Diamond’s marriage. Their secret love. For eighteen glorious months, they had outsmarted the news-hungry press.

“It would be premature for me to discuss any business deals regarding me, Kyle Garwood and Sterling Hamilton, especially since nothing has been finalized yet.”

He then smoothly and tactfully changed the subject by asking, “Have any of you seen
Black Butterfly
and if so, what do you think of it?”

Diamond smiled at the positive responses they received and how Jacob was expertly handling the reporters. He was not a person to let anyone, including the media, get an upper hand. She shook her head, thinking how at one time she actually thought she had to protect him from them.

“Only one more question, you guys,” she said cheerfully. “We don’t want to be late for the movie. The opening scene is one of my favorite parts.”

“Mrs. Madaris,” a reporter jumped in. “Are you still giving up acting?”

Diamond looked up at Jake and smiled warmly. “Yes, I’ll be too busy raising our family for a while, but I’m not going to say I’ll never venture into acting again. If Sterling does trade in his acting shoes for a pair of producer’s boots, then I’d love doing a project for him. Sterling and I enjoy working together.”

A few minutes later, Jacob escorted his wife inside
the plush theater. “Well, how did I do?” She leaned closer and whispered to him.

“As always you were wonderful, sweetheart.” He leaned over and placed a kiss on her lips.

It was a loving gesture that was captured on camera by a photographer who thought the snapshot would be picture-perfect, just like the couple.