Two Nights with His Bride (18 page)

“If you love two people at the same time, choose the second one, because if you really loved the first one you wouldn’t have fallen for the second.”

—Johnny Depp

“L
eprosy?” The hot-off-the-photocopier
script practically burned Nancy’s hands. “He wants me to die of
leprosy
?”

“Afraid so,” her agent said.

She tossed
the script onto the couch in her dressing room, narrowly missing the garbage can, where it belonged. “No way. I left him at the altar so he couldn’t take me apart piece by piece. I won’t let him do it on TV.”

Mike grimaced. “If you walk away, you’ll be in breach of contract.”

“Is that the same contract that’ll be terminated as soon as I deliver this scene?”

“Yep. But at least you won’t be sued
for it.”

Nancy pressed her fingers against her throbbing temples and let out a deep breath. After a blissful night in Wyatt’s arms, she’d returned to the ranch to find hell waiting for her. Jared had demanded she return to the set the next day, and she’d had to travel overnight to get here. She’d worried Wyatt would argue against her going, maybe even tell her she wasn’t allowed to in that chest-pounding,
me-Tarzan way she’d grown so sadly used to from Jared. But he’d held her hand, driven her to the airport, and kept his opinions to himself. Oh, they’d radiated off him, but he seemed to know adding pressure wouldn’t help her face this decision.

She would’ve loved to have told Jared where to shove his vengeful script, but he’d dangled a carrot bigger and more appealing than anything else he’d
dangled in front of her before.
“Come back and shoot your death scenes, and I’ll burn the prenup.”

His motives were painfully transparent. He wanted to control her one last time. Wanted to squish her under his thumb, prove he had the power she’d stolen from him by galloping away, and be the author of her humiliation on a grander scale than ever before.

“I won’t do it.”

Mike crossed his arms
and perched his butt against her table. “There’s something else I need to tell you.”

“You’re dumping me.”

He cringed. “I don’t like doing it, Nancy. I took you on because I believe in your talent.”

“And because Jared told you to,” she quipped.

“Okay, mostly that. But it helped that you’re talented and could make me money. Let’s be frank—it’s going to be a long time before you make any more
money. Hollywood has a long memory, and Jared’s is even longer. You backed out on the biggest contract of your life, and right now production companies aren’t in a position to take big risks—especially with Jared whispering in their ears that you’re so fragile you had a mental breakdown because you couldn’t handle planning a wedding. I hate to say it, but you’ll have to work your ass off to get anyone
to take a chance on you, and I have too many clients bringing in too much money to hang on to dead wood.” He shrugged. “I know that sounds harsh, but that’s the business, baby.”

Angry tears burned her eyes. She’d known this was coming, but it still hit her like a boxer’s punch to the face. “You know why I left him.”

“I have an inkling, and I don’t blame you. Hell, I wouldn’t marry the guy. Fortunately,
there’s not much chance of him asking me to, so I don’t have to make that decision. I just have to make decisions about my business, and that’s what this is. Business.” He nodded toward the script. “Here’s my last piece of career advice, for what it’s worth. Do the scene. Murder it. Be the best leper in the history of the portrayal of bacterial infections on screen. Walk out knowing you
did your job, and make sure you watch him torch that prenup. Then go home, lie low for a few years, maybe pop out a kid or two, and come back even stronger.”

Nancy kept herself upright till he left the room but collapsed onto the couch the minute he closed the door behind himself.

“Leprosy,” she muttered. “Unbe-freaking-lievable.”

She reached for her cell phone without even thinking about it,
grateful Wyatt had thought to program his number into her phone because her brain had been scattered all over the place yesterday. He answered after the first ring, but she could hardly hear him over a cacophony of sounds. “Wyatt? Where are you?”

“At the store. Hold on, I’ll go to my office.” A minute later, the noise died away. “Better?”

“Much.” She grabbed a pillow, clutched it to her chest
and snuggled into the couch, pretending it was him. “Do you have a few minutes to talk?”

“Always. What’s going on?”

“I need some advice. Not help,” she rushed to clarify, “just advice.”

“On one condition. Promise you won’t get upset when I give it.”

Her brows drew together. “You don’t even know what I’m going to ask about. How do you know your opinion’s going to upset me?”

“Previous experience
with just about every girlfriend I’ve ever had. It’s not necessarily that my advice will upset you, but the way I deliver it. I don’t know how to soften blows.”

For the first time all day, she smiled. Why did he always seem to have that effect on her? “You think I don’t know that?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you do. Tell me what’s happening.”

“I got the script. He wants me to die of leprosy.”

The phone went silent for several long seconds, and then she heard the soft sound of typing.

“Wyatt?”

“One sec. I’m booking myself on the next flight so I can disfigure
him
instead.”

Her grin grew bigger. “So you think I shouldn’t do it?”

“
Hell
no, you shouldn’t do it.”

Her smile fell away and she buried her face in the pillow.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“What did you expect me to say? ‘Sure, go on
and let this guy demean you some more, if he pays you for it.’ Sorry, sweetheart, but I value you far higher than a million dollars.”

Tears sprang to her eyes, and she let out a shaky breath, only now becoming aware of how badly she’d needed to hear that. But it didn’t make her next admission any easier. If anything, it made it far harder. “There’s something else, something I haven’t told you.
There’s a good chance my career’s dead in the water—at least for the foreseeable future. And I still owe about three million on the ranch.” She pressed her palms against her aching eyes, wanting to shut out the world and all her doubts about him and her ability to judge men. “If I have to pay Jared back, it won’t be long before I can’t make the mortgage payments. I…I could lose the ranch.”
And
you could take advantage of that to take it away from my parents.

She wouldn’t blame him. Well, she
would
, but the ranch had been in his family for generations. It had been his childhood home.
She
was the one who’d swooped on it when she’d discovered his dad was going to lose it.

But that had been a fair business transaction. Now that they’d started something intimate with each other, it would
feel like a betrayal.

Silence vibrated across the line. She gripped her phone tighter. “Are you still there?”

“Why didn’t you tell me that before?” he asked, his voice rough as gravel.

“I think you know why.” She pressed her lips together before the usual excuses could tumble out, implicit apologies about how
she
was the problem, not him. But the truth was, she just didn’t know whether she
could trust him. He’d helped her see Jared for what he truly was, but he’d also taught her a few uncomfortable truths about herself, too—most importantly, that she not only
worked
in the land of make-believe but also sometimes took refuge in a fantasy land instead of facing the truth about the men she fell for.

“I see.”

“I’m not trying to hurt you, Wyatt. That’s the last thing in the world I
want. But I’m trying to be as bluntly honest with you as you are with me.”

“How can I convince you to trust me?”

“Give me time, I think.”

He blew out a frustrated breath. It echoed in her ear. “I’ll do my best. Doesn’t mean I won’t get angry.”

“I understand.” She shifted to lie on her back and stared at the ceiling. “Would you be disappointed in me if I did the scene?”

“No, sweetheart. I’d
hate to see you put yourself at his mercy again, but I won’t be disappointed in you. The only thing that could disappoint me is if you got back together with him.”

Her breath caught. “How could you even
think
—”

“You wouldn’t be the first person in the world to be manipulated back into a relationship.”

A knock at her door interrupted before she could assure him she would never get back with
Jared. “I have to go. That’ll be my hair and makeup artist.”

“Already?”

She sat up and planted her feet on the floor. “I’m shooting all the scenes today, but they’ll be stretched out over a week of shows. In the early scenes I just start to show symptoms. Around three this afternoon they’ll give me the full-on makeup, so I have to decide before then whether I’m walking away.”

“Walk away. Please.”

She grimaced as she stood and crossed to the door. “Wyatt, I don’t have a lot of options here, and all the options I have range from awful to unthinkable. Thank you for listening to me.”

“Don’t thank me for that. Call me as soon as you can and let me know what’s happening. And sweetheart—”

“Yes?”

“My offer’s still open. I’ll be on the next plane if you say the word.”

“Doing it myself, remember?”

“How could I forget?” he asked wryly.

She hung up and plastered a smile on her face as she opened the door.

And saw Jared.

‡

“Love is the grace that transcends any kind of injustice in the end.”

—Mark Ruffalo

W
yatt rushed out
of the store so fast his floor manager shouted, “Is there a fire?”

“No!” was all he had time to reply before he ran out the door and jumped into his truck. Whether Nancy knew it or not, she’d given him a deadline.
Before that deadline hit, he needed to talk to several people, and they weren’t the kinds of conversations that would go down well over the phone. He needed to be able to see their reactions, weigh up their responses.

When he got to the modest neighborhood where Gabriel’s girlfriend, Molly, lived with her son, he parked on the street and hopped out, hoping like hell that Gabriel was here and
not in his cabin on Copper Mountain. That would require a long hike to the middle of nowhere and set him back several hours. His chances didn’t look good, though, since Gabriel’s truck wasn’t in the driveway.

He strode up the long, wonky wheelchair ramp Josh used to get in and out of the house. A few seconds after he knocked, Molly answered the door, shock etched across her face. “Wyatt! What…um…”

“Need to talk to Gabriel.”

She blinked at his abruptness, and he gave her a chagrined look. “Sorry. Let me try that again. Hi, Molly, how are you?”

She leaned against the door jamb and crossed her arms. “Never been better. How about you?”

“Definitely been better. Gabriel here?”

Her glance was packed full of pity, probably for his social ineptitude. “I’m afraid not, but he should be back soon.
He went to the store. Want to wait—” The sound of a truck engine getting closer interrupted her. “Looks like you won’t have to wait after all.”

As soon as Gabriel had the truck in park, he jumped out, his face full of concern. “What’s wrong? Is it Aaron?”

It took Wyatt a second to figure out that his presence here was so unusual that Gabriel would immediately leap to conclusions something had
happened to Wyatt’s dad. “He’s fine. It’s not that.”

Gabriel’s gait grew stiff as he walked up the ramp, his hand sliding over the rail as he battled the injury that had ended his Air Force career. “What are you doing here, then?”

“I want to talk to you about the camp you’re planning to start.” Sudden dread rushed through him, and he turned back to Molly. “Shit. I hope that wasn’t a surprise.”

“Of course it’s not. We have no secrets from each other.”

Gabriel brushed past him and put his arm around Molly, drawing her onto the porch. “I told you before, I don’t need your help.”

“I know. I need yours.”

Gabriel’s eyes flickered with momentary surprise. “You’re coming to me for help?”

“Actually, I’d be more comfortable calling it a mutually beneficial business relationship.”

“And I’d
be more comfortable calling it you asking me for help.” His arm tightened around Molly’s waist, and she leaned into him. The two were so damn cute it made Wyatt’s teeth ache. “Come inside.”

When Molly turned to lead the way, Wyatt caught a glint of light off her finger, and his last conversation with Gabriel rushed back at him. “Holy shit! You’re getting married.”

They hit him with matching
sappy grins, and he couldn’t contain his own. He wrapped his arms around Molly and gave her a big hug. “Welcome to the family, Molly. We’re so messed up that it’ll be a relief to add some normal DNA to our gene pool.”

She stiffened in his arms. “Um, thanks.”

Gabriel’s eyes had shuttered over, and Molly’s cheeks pinkened. Wyatt had obviously stepped in some kind of turd, but hell if he knew the
variety of stink he’d caused. “What did I say?”