Chapter 10
Reid
Five minutes. In five minutes I get to see Kate again.
I’ve been waiting all fucking afternoon.
All.
Fucking.
Afternoon.
Since this morning I haven’t heard her voice.
I haven’t seen her sweet, sweet face.
I haven’t touched her smooth skin.
I haven’t tasted her lush lips.
Damn it. Now I have a boner.
I grit my teeth and adjust myself. There’s no use. Every time I see her, talk to her, even think about her, I get hard.
I want her.
No, I need her.
On set, waiting, I’m in agony.
Tonight Merrick really went all out. We’re taking a starlit cruise. On his dime. I’m on the upper deck, and the thick blanket of shimmering stars overhead is spectacular.
But (holy shit!) nowhere as spectacular as my wife.
She’s standing at the top of the staircase, looking gorgeous. Her full lips curve into a seductive smile and I swallow hard. My dick is trying to drill through my pants, and I can’t do anything to stop it.
“Hi,” she says, her voice smooth and low and sultry. She strolls toward me, her slinky dress emphasizing every fucking curve of her body to perfection. “Busy day?” she asks.
“They had me on set all day, since early this morning,” I lie. I have a surprise for her. A huge surprise.
She purses her lips. I want to kiss those lips. Soon. I hope. I’ll be kissing them soon. “You must be tired.”
“Not at all.” I motion to the table. “Are you hungry?”
“Starving.”
I chuckle. Never have I seen a girl who eats so heartily. I adore that about Kate.
She’s real. One hundred percent genuine.
I pull out her chair and she steps up to the table. She’s so close now that the heat radiating from her body makes me even hotter. I lean forward as I push her chair in, pulling in her fragrant scent. She smells so fucking good tonight. Clean and pure.
I take my seat across from her. “What about you?”
“Oh, they kept me busy for a while.” She glances at the staircase, as if she’s expecting someone. “They had a surprise for me…or maybe the surprise is for you.”
I follow her lead.
And see what she was looking for.
Rather, who she was looking for.
Emma. Poor, crazy girl I dated for a while…who’d ended up in McLean after we broke up…
I look at my wife.
Fuck. What has Merrick done now?
Emma prances across the deck and throws herself at me. I have no choice but to catch her. “Reid, I have missed you so much!” She cups her paw on my cheek and comes in for a kiss, but I turn my head.
That bastard!
To play with these women like this.
I’m hot.
I’m fucking scorching. Furious.
I’m going to fucking hit someone.
Gently I pry Emma’s hands off me and offer her my chair.
“Always the gentleman,” Emma says, smiling up at me as she plops into my seat. “Didn’t I tell you, Kate? My Reid is always a gentleman.”
“Yes, you told me,” Kate says, looking way too calm and collected, considering the situation. “Your Reid is a gentleman.”
“Reid Carter is not the kind to screw a girl and then tell the whole world. Are you, Reid?” Emma places her left hand on her (ample, surgically enhanced) chest. “When he asked me to marry him, he even kept that a secret.” The ring I bought last year on a whim glitters on her ring finger, and I regret having told her she could keep it when we broke up. But, hell, she fucking went off the deep end. I didn’t have the heart.
Now it’s proof. That we were engaged. Even though I’d regretted asking her to marry me the instant the words came out of my mouth.
In my defense, we were in Vegas. And I wasn’t sober. In fact, I was so fucked up, I barely remembered what happened the next morning.
“This little show is almost over. And then we can make it official, right, Reid?” Emma asks, blinking big doe eyes at me.
Official? What the fuck is she talking about?
“Make what official?” I ask.
Emma giggles. “Oh shit, looks like I broke the rules.” She pats my hip. “It’s okay, Reid. The cameras aren’t rolling. You don’t have to hide the truth.” She glances at Kate. “She knows.”
My mind is fucking spinning.
“Knows what?” I snap.
“That in October you’ll be marrying me. Like we talked about.”
Oh.
Fuck.
Fuckety fuck.
Fuckety fuckety fuck!
I look at Kate.
She’s as cool as an Arctic iceberg. None of this is shocking her.
My gaze drops to her hand.
Kate’s simple wedding band.
It’s gone.
I look at the camera.
Emma is wrong. We’re rolling.
A chair hits the back of my knees and I glance over my shoulder. Alex is scurrying back to her position after shoving the chair at me.
Assholes.
They’ve thrown me into a fucking chummed shark tank.
Now they’re going to catch the action.
This is not what I’d planned for tonight. Not by a long shot. I’d wanted to talk to Kate about the houses I toured today. With the real estate agent. The houses I want her to see. With me. Tomorrow.
A server strolls up, tray loaded with three salads and an extra glass and silverware for Emma. He sets everything out then disappears.
I pour the wine, hoping a little alcohol will help. In all reality it’ll probably make things worse. It generally does. But, hell, I need alcohol right now.
After filling all our glasses, I drain mine. In a series of thirsty gulps.
How the fuck am I going to fix this?
Emma is probably still unstable. If anything, this visit today proves that fact. I’ve had no contact with her—none at all—for months. Where the fuck did she get the idea that we were back on? Is she really that crazy?
Or was it Merrick?
Had to be Merrick. Fucking bastard.
I’m guessing things were going a little too smoothly, so he had to kick a hornet’s nest.
So he messes with a woman who can’t get a grip on reality. And he fucks with my Kate, too. After I promised to protect her from their bullshit.
I’m so fucking done with this shit.
“You seem a little…uncomfortable,” Kate says, sharp eyes focused on me. “Is this a ‘leap’ you weren’t ready for, Reid?”
“Kate, I know how things look, but trust me, they aren’t as they seem,” I tell her, knowing she isn’t going to believe a single word I tell her right now.
“What does that mean?” Emma asks. She pours her entire glass of wine down her throat and slides it, empty, across the table top, toward me. “Things aren’t how they look? How do they look?” Her brows lift. “Oh! You mean, that this woman thinks you’re in love with her when you’re not. That’s what you mean, right? Because you love me. You told me you love me.”
“I hope you can trust me,” I growl to Kate. Then I bite back a cuss word that would get censored and stand, scooping Emma’s arm up in my hand and pulling her to her feet.
I have to talk to her alone.
No Kate.
No cameras.
No.
Cameras.
“Come with me, Emma.”
I tug her toward the stairs, moving swiftly to put some space between the fucking cameras and us. The last thing I want to do is crush the woman’s heart in front of millions of people. She doesn’t deserve that. She had no idea what she was walking into.
Obviously. Merrick lied to her, to convince her to come here.
But fuck, the boat has set off, so there’s only so far we can go.
Hunkered in a corner on the lower level, I have less than a minute to explain before the crew catches up with us.
“Look, Emma. I’m sorry, but you were misled,” I spit out. “We broke up. A long time ago. I have no intention of marrying you.”
The light glares on my face as I say that last part.
Shit, it’s being recorded.
So is Emma’s puzzled reaction. “What do you mean? You love me. That’s what you said. In your letter.”
I take Emma’s hands in mine and look into her eyes. I am so furious at Merrick for what he’s done here. I never thought he’d stoop to such levels. This is completely fucked up. “Emma, I don’t know what you’ve been told, so I am trying very hard not to hurt you. I didn’t write a letter. I’m married now. To Kate. I won’t be marrying you.”
“You’re not really married. It’s just for the show. It isn’t an actual legal marriage. It’s over when the show’s over.”
I shake my head. “No.”
“No? Why would you stay with her? You don’t even know that woman.”
“I know her well enough to know I don’t want to lose her.”
“Yet,” she injects.
“Ever.”
“You say that now. But you’ll change your mind. When you get to know her. Or when you get bored of her.” She tugs her hands out of mine. “And maybe I’ll be there for you when you do. Maybe.” She gives me one last look, sighs and struts away, head held high. She waves a hand. “Get me to shore. Right now. This boat is making me ill.”
I’ll give it to her. She took it well. Better than I expected.
Now, I need to get back to Kate and explain everything.
Damn it, this has to have done some damage.
But I have an idea how to convince her I really am in this for the long haul.
I hope it works.
I turn to Alex. “You fuckers owe me for this one. I need to change this ship’s course. What do you have to do to make that happen?”
She smiles her fake smile. “Leave that to me.”
I point. “You’d better. If not, I’m going to have a few words with your boss when we get back. He isn’t going to like what I have to say.”