Time Out (22 page)

“You can
explain to me what the hell you’re still doing here. The Derby is
over. Your horse won.”

“It’s not over.
As the owner of the winnin’ horse, I have to participate in-”

She held her
hand up and glared at him. “Save it. I’ve watched you mope around
here all week. You haven’t said one word about what happened with
Megan, but I know it has to weigh heavily on your mind.”

Nick sank down
on the foot of the bed and dropped his head into his hands. “I
don’t know what the hell to do. I’m just so confused.”

Avery sat
beside him, rubbing his back. “I know it must have come as a shock
to you, honey. But it’s not like she cheated on you. Those pictures
were taken before you two even met.”

“Yeah, but…”
Every time he pictured the look of ecstasy on her face in those
pictures, it nearly did him in. “I thought we had somethin’
special. Now I’m not so sure.”

“Why do you say
that?”

He couldn’t
tell his mother the truth, so he said, “The dirtbag’s wife gave me
this list of men she’s been with. Let’s just say competing in that
crowd would be pretty tough.”

Avery huffed.
“Since when have you been worried about holding your own against
some other man?”

“This is
different. She meets with rich, powerful, famous men all the time.
She’s a gorgeous woman. How do I know she isn’t gonna meet someone
who can give her something I can’t?”

“You don’t know
that any more than I did when I married your father. I had to come
to terms with the fact that the man I loved would have groupies
throwing themselves at him every night.” She inhaled as she cupped
her hands on her knees. “Believe me, it wasn’t easy. I had to trust
him. Without trust, you have nothing, Nick.”

“I know. You’re
right.” He glanced at his cell phone. Megan hadn’t tried to call
him once since he left. Not that he could blame her, given his
hasty departure. “Did you talk to her before you left
Nashville?”

“I did.”

“What did she
say?” What he really wanted to know was whether she’d said anything
about him, but he wasn’t in high school, and his mother wasn’t the
appropriate person to ask.

Avery reached
for his hand. “She just thanked me for everything. If you’re
worried about the pictures surfacing and embarrassing either one of
you, don’t be. Brianna put the fear of God into Robert’s wife.” She
laughed. “Ryan told Bri to make sure that woman understood who she
was up against. No one wants Titan Records as an adversary. With
their money and connections… Well, let’s just say you’d have to be
a fool to want to make enemies of them.”

“I really
appreciate them steppin’ up like that.”

“They consider
you family, and anyone can see you’re crazy about Megan. As far as
we’re all concerned, she’s one of us.”

It meant the
world to Nick that his family and friends stepped up to help the
woman he loved out of a tight spot, but he wouldn’t have expected
anything less. “Thanks for sayin’ that. It means a lot to me.” He
heaved a sigh. “I’ve really made a mess of things, haven’t I?”

Avery smiled.
“Yeah, you really have. But we all make mistakes sometimes.”

“I should have
stayed. I should have talked to her about the pictures, about her
relationship with that guy… and all the others. I should have asked
her whether they meant anything to her.”

“Yes, you
should have. It’s not too late, Nick. You can always go home and
talk to her now.”

“Tomorrow I’m
supposed to be at-”

“Your dad and I
will be there to represent the Triple M, honey. You go home and
talk to Megan. Convince her you were a fool to leave her and you’ll
never make that mistake again.” Avery leaned in to kiss his
cheek.

Nick held his
mother in a tight embrace. “I just hope to hell she believes
me.”

***

Nick jumped out
of his truck as soon as he pulled up in front of his stables. He’d
already been to Megan’s hotel and his parents’ house. She’d checked
out of the hotel days ago and returned her key to their
housekeeper. She was gone. He didn’t know how the hell he would get
her back.

Nick ran down
to the barn, praying Stephan would still be there. He closed his
eyes and said a silent prayer of thanks when he saw Megan’s brother
grooming one of his horses. “Stephan,” he said quietly, not wanting
to startle the man or the horse.

He smiled. “Oh
hey, Nick. I didn’t know you were coming back today.”

“I wasn’t
planning to, but…”

“I heard your
horses cleaned up this week. Congratulations.”

Stephan looked
good. His eyes were bright. He’d shaved and gotten a haircut. Ranch
life seemed to agree with the California boy. “I need to find your
sister. You have any idea where she went?”

Stephan turned
his attention back to the horse. “She went home.”

“When?”

“Three or four
days ago. She said she had to start making some plans and check out
other opportunities.”

Nick couldn’t
help but wonder whether anyone special was waiting for her back
home. He prayed not, but he’d be willing to fight to the death for
one more chance with her. “But you decided to stay behind.
Why?”

He shrugged. “I
really like it here. It’s the first place I feel like I belong. My
adoptive parents had a dairy farm in Utah.”

“Huh, so you’re
not from Cali?”

“Hell, no!”
They shared a look, and Stephan laughed. “It’s okay, but it’s not
really my thing.”

“What happened
with your parents?” Nick wanted to retrace his steps and get back
to the airport, but he owed it to Megan to make sure Stephan was on
the right track first.

Stephan fixated
on the horse, brushing her down gently as he said, “I screwed up. I
started drinking too much in high school, got kicked out of
college.” He shrugged. “I went to work at my girlfriend’s father’s
car dealership, but I managed to screw that up too, ‘cause I was
coming into work drunk all the damn time.”

“Is that why
you left town?”

“I turned to
the bottle because I was trying to drown the fact my own parents
didn’t want me. By the time I realized I would only get sober if I
confronted them about it, they were both dead. I guess I’ll never
know why they decided to give me up.”

“Does it
matter?” Nick asked quietly.

“Wouldn’t it
matter to you?”

“Your family
are the people who raised you, Stephan. They’re the ones who
matter. And you have a sister who really wants to see you get your
act together. You have a hell of a lot more than some people.”

“Yeah, I guess
you’re right.” He propped his sunglasses up on his head. “You mind
if I stick around a while?”

“As long as you
do a good job and stay clean, you can stick around as long as you
want.”

“Thanks, man. I
really appreciate it.”

“Now I need
somethin’ from you,” Nick said.

Stephan
grinned. “Lemme guess, you wanna know how you can track down my
sister?”

“You got
it.”

***

Nick wandered
around the airport to kill time before his flight, and he spotted
Anna and Justin. “Hey, what’re you two doin’ here?” They’d been
with him in Kentucky, celebrating his victory just hours
before.

“Justin had to
get back,” Anna said, slipping her arm around her brother’s waist
as they walked. “He has a race coming up. I decided to come home
too and get ready for work tomorrow.”

“Thanks for
comin’ with me, guys. Havin’ y’all there meant a lot.”

“It was our
pleasure,” Justin said, falling into step beside his fiancée.

Anna looked up
at Nick, her eyes exposing her concern. “I couldn’t help but notice
someone was missing. Bri told me what happened. Are you okay?”

He sighed. “I
don’t know yet. Meg left Nashville a few days ago.”

“Damn, I was
afraid of that,” Anna muttered. “Is that why you’re here? You’re
going to L.A. to talk to her?”

“That’s the
plan.” He only hoped Megan was willing to listen.

“My jet’s all
ready to go, Nick,” Justin said. “Why don’t you come with me? I’ll
have the pilot file a new flight plan. He can drop me first and
then take you to L.A.”

“You sure it
won’t be a problem?” The faster he could see her, the better. Every
time he’d tried to call Megan, it went straight to voice mail. He
was starting to panic.

“No problem at
all.”

Justin and Nick
said goodbye to Anna before boarding the private plane. Once they
were seated, the flight attendant offered them a drink.

Nick accepted a
shot of scotch. He tipped his head back against the leather seat
and closed his eyes. “Man, what a week.”

“You’re not
kidding. Talk about highs and lows, huh?”

“Yeah.” Nick
looked at his future brother-in-law. “What do you know about Meg’s
relationship with Logan?” Justin and Megan’s former fiancé knew
each other from the racing circuit, and Nick was hungry for any
information he could glean about the man she’d once promised to
marry.

Justin laughed.
“Logan always told me it was hell bein’ with her.”

Nick went on
high alert as he sat up straighter. Nothing Justin could tell him
would impact the way he felt about Megan, but that didn’t mean he
wasn’t curious. “Why’s that?”

“Everywhere
they went, men were coming on to her, and not just your average
guys.” He smirked. “She ran in the same circles with all the
hottest celebrities. Poor Logan. You’ve got to be one secure guy
when the man voted ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ is asking your fiancée
out.”

“Yeah, I guess
you do.”

“According to
Brock, she was always faithful to him. That wasn’t why their
relationship ended.”

“Good to know.”
Knowing he wore his insecurity like a second skin was a little
embarrassing, but he already considered Justin family, so he
wouldn’t try to hide the truth from him. “So, why did it end?” He’d
heard Megan’s side of the story, but he was curious to hear Brock’s
perspective.

“Logan had to
face facts. She would never love him the way he loved her.”

Nick had to
wonder whether he would have to confront the same fate when he and
Megan finally came face-to-face again.

“He says she’s
a great girl. One of the best people he’s ever known.”

“Yeah, she’s
special all right.” So special, Nick knew he would never be able to
replace her if he couldn’t convince her to forgive him for
deserting her when she needed him most.

Megan swore when she
glanced at the time on her cell phone. She only had twenty minutes
to get to the airport. At that time of day, that would be nearly
impossible. After giving her condo a quick once-over to make sure
she hadn’t left anything behind, she grabbed her keys and opened
the door. Nick stood on the other side.

Nick glanced at
the suitcase she was gripping. “I’m glad I caught you. It looks
like I’m just in time. You plannin’ a trip?”

Megan had
almost convinced herself she wouldn’t have to see him again, and
she was on the verge of convincing herself that wasn’t a fate worse
than death. Then he had the audacity to show up on her doorstep
looking even more gorgeous than sexy actors paid to look that way.
“I don’t have time for this. I have a plane to catch.” When he
seemed unwilling to step out of her way, she glared at him. “How
did you get in here? We have security.”

He grinned that
breathtaking smile that stole her heart the first time. “Stephan
gave me the code.”

“I’ll deal with
him later.”

He pushed the
door open. “Fine, but you can deal with me now.” He advanced,
forcing her to step back before he closed and locked the door.

“I don’t have
time for this. I’m already running late.”

“Whatever it is
can wait. This is more important.” He threaded his hands through
the hair at the nape of her neck and kissed her as though they’d
been separated for months instead of days.

“You don’t have
the right to do that anymore,” she said, wishing her voice didn’t
sound as broken as she felt.

He let his
forehead fall against hers. “I know. But I can’t help myself, baby.
God, I’ve missed you.”

“Stop it! I
don’t want to hear this. You made it perfectly clear how you felt
when you took off to Kentucky without talking to me first.”

“I was goin’
through hell,” he whispered. “Seein’ those pictures… seein’ some
other man touchin’ you that way… It took everything in me not to
hunt him down.”

“I don’t want
to talk about those pictures. I can’t.” She’d imagined Nick looking
at those pictures and the disgust he must have felt dozens of
times.

Nick kissed her
hand as he led her toward the white sectional. “We have to talk
about the past before we can look to the future, sweetheart. Your
past and mine.”

She couldn’t
imagine Nick having anything as shameful in his past. He wasn’t
naïve enough to be lured into being the third person in a failing
marriage.

“I have a job
interview in New York,” she said, hoping he would take that as a
sign she was moving on with her life… without him. She had no
choice. Loving him and losing him again wasn’t an option. Coming to
terms with her life, post-Nick, had nearly destroyed her.

He sat down,
pulling her down with him. “New York? Is that really where you want
to be?”

“I can’t stay
here.”

“Why not?”

The fact he
would ask her that question smacked of indifference, which made her
wonder why he was there at all. Was his conscience pressuring him
to say goodbye in person, to wish her well, and give her the empty
‘friends’ speech she despised, even when she was the one delivering
the hollow words?

“I can’t get a
decent job here now. Not with that crazy bitch on the loose,
wielding those pornographic pictures of me.” Even though insulting
Robert’s wife made her feel marginally better, she couldn’t blame
her. If Megan were Nick’s wife, she may have gone to the same
lengths to prevent another woman from sinking her claws into
him.