****
Angela was acting distracted and even her sister knew it.
They were going to see their father today. After his last stroke he’d required round-the-clock care that neither sister could provide at home. The assisted living facility was well equipped though far from the best they’d have picked for their aging father but since the sisters weren’t exactly swimming in money, they had to make do.
“He’ll be fine,” Sasha said, squeezing on Angela’s hand as they sat in their father’s room an hour later. He was asleep when they arrived and instead of waking him up, they chose to sit around, and whisper quietly.
“I know,” Angela said on a sigh. “Though I’m not really happy with the way they’re treating him in this place. I know they do the best they can, but…”
“We’re trying our best. Dad knows that,” said her supportive sister. “That’s why he never complains.”
“He wouldn’t,” Angela agreed, staring at the man whose illness had made him far leaner than he used to be, adding years to his once sturdy good looks. In sleep he looked rested but Angela knew how much he suffered due to problems with his heart and other debilitating complications. But Cassidy Neil was made of stern stuff and though he was mostly in and out of consciousness and woozy or in pain half the time, he never gave them cause to worry. But they did all the same.
“Are you okay, sis?” Sasha asked. “You seem a little off today.”
“I was so sure my career would have taken off by now,” Angela said distantly, her eyes cloudy. “But so far, only one bit part in a feature movie – and simply because I was getting hit on by the director who I ended up dating. Look where that got me. And then one lousy commercial…” She shook her head with a wry smile. “Hardly Hollywood’s finest, am I? I mean, I get offers but not for the kind of roles I want to be in. If I want to continue doing this, I need to move to Los Angeles. There’s no way I can leave Dad though. And now…”
She shook her head, thinking of yesterday and her strange meeting with the even stranger Shane Davis. She’d spent all of last night reading up on him.
The internet had everything she needed to know for background information. Shane Davis had been stock car racing’s hottest new star having won the series Championship two years before. There were countless photos of Shane on the winner’s podium holding up trophy after trophy always with a different big-breasted blonde or two hanging onto his arm. Then sixteen months ago at the Daytona race, Shane and another driver were facing nose-to-nose toward the finish line in the last lap when the other driver’s car bounced off the wall and collided with his.
Angela had felt physically ill as she watched the online video of the two cars flipping over and over until they both exploded in a horrendous crash and finally slid to a halt. Firetrucks and ambulances immediately rushed to the scene. By the time they could extinguish the flames however, the other driver was already dead and Shane was severely injured with third degree burns covering the right side of his face, upper torso, arm and hand.
He’d spent almost a year undergoing numerous surgeries and extensive rehabilitation at a special burn center in Nashville. Eventually he was released and apparently hadn’t returned to racing since then. She couldn’t find a single news item about him after leaving the hospital. It was if both society and the racing scene had written him off for dead too.
Angela couldn’t help feeling sorry for the man. No wonder he was so messed up, locking himself away and keeping in shadows. Offering money for sex and companionship. He’d said the ‘job’ she was to do was a set-up to convince his family he was recovering both physically and emotionally. She wondered if he really was recovering or if this was a desperate attempt to hold them at bay? No wonder they were worried about him. From what she could tell, they had good reason.
Angela had stared at his online photos for a long time-Shane Davis in a driver’s suit, popping bottles of celebratory champagne or leaning against a racecar in jeans and a white t-shirt. A few photos of him shirtless, peering under the engine of a car, always with some sexy model or groupie hanging around in the background; whoever happened to be flavor of the month for him at that time. But those pictures were all from two years ago, before the accident.
Since he’d recuperated enough to return home Shane Davis hadn’t shown himself in public; not to the point of getting his photo taken anyway. So Angela was able to see him as he once was: one of Nashville’s top playboys, lover of fast cars and even faster women from the look of things. Now, he stayed hidden behind the dark walls of his mansion.
Angela had finally switched off the computer in the early hours of the morning. No one deserved to end up looking like that; especially when he’d been such a fantastically fine piece of work. She’d never seen such thick, black hair with sinfully thick waves; or eyes so light grey they seemed transparent. And his lips; curved with wicked sensuality, they stayed etched in her mind as she went to sleep beneath her covers.
What the devil was happening to her? She needed to stay the hell away from that man. No matter the kind of money he’d offered, it was too much of a risk getting involved. Look how he’d gotten under her skin after only one meeting.
Even his scars didn’t seem the turn-off they should have been but only lent him more of a mystical air. She didn’t need this drama. She’d sworn to stay low key and focus on her career. And fake-dating a man like Shane Davis might open them both up to unsavory publicity especially once one considered how ill-matched they were. How could he even imagine this was something they could pull off? That she could pull off?
“Don’t sweat it, sis,” Sasha was saying, cutting into Angela’s troubled thoughts. Angela hadn’t chosen to confide in her younger sister about the offer she’d received. Only mentioned that there was a job prospect she was wary of taking despite the lofty monetary rewards. Sasha had assured Angela that she was sure Angela would make the right decision in the end.
Angela really needed someone to talk to but resisted the urge to now burden Sasha with the details. Sasha was just out of college and working odd jobs until she could get something relevant to her chosen field. Solid employment in the work force was as difficult as getting the right acting roles it seemed. She hated the thought of a college trained young lady having to wait tables at clubs just to get by.
Angela didn’t like it that her twenty-three year old sister was getting exposed to the club life with all her intelligence. Every other night Sasha had to fight off the unwanted attentions of a drunk patron or her boss who owned the club. Sasha hated it just as much as Angela did but what choice did any of them have? Their mother was long gone and they’d been the type of family that scraped by on their father’s modest security job from which he’d been laid off from years ago.
Life hadn’t really been fair to either of them but Angela had always had big dreams, high hopes and encouraged her sister to do the same. Even now Sasha was doing her best to cheer Angela up, reminding her that her agent had promised to fix her up with some promising auditions before the end of the month.
Angela really hoped it would be soon. She didn’t complain often but they both knew the care their father was receiving was sub-standard at best. They didn’t feel comfortable going even one day without swinging by to check on him. She knew there were better facilities available that would be willing to take him in on a moment’s notice if only she had the money.
She looked at her frail father while he slept. He seemed to grow weaker every day. If only she could pluck the courage to give in to Shane Davis’s offer…
There was a knock on the door and one of the nurses appeared loaded down with bunches of beautiful, exotic flowers. Both Sasha and Angela shared surprised looks.
“Who ordered flowers?” Angela asked and Sasha merely shrugged.
“These were delivered for Mr. Neil,” said the burly nurse with a smile as she arranged them as best as she could on the nearby table. “They’re really lovely; never seen bouquets so fresh and beautiful. A note came with them.”
Angela was speechless as she looked down at the card the nurse handed to her. Somehow she guessed who’d sent the flowers. The words were hand-written, bold and black and covering almost every inch of the card. He’d known she’d be there; he’d addressed the card to her though the flowers were for her father. This was her regular visiting day and hours whenever she was in town and it shook her up somewhat that Shane Davis knew so much about her. The note simply said “Angela, I hope your father will like the flowers. Shane.”
Angela didn’t know what to think. It really was nice of him to send the bouquets though it also bordered on stalking. This notion felt even firmer when her cellphone suddenly rang and she picked it up slowly to hear his voice on the other end.
Sasha stared at the flowers and Angela’s face. Her sister looked like she was gearing up to ask some questions. Angela held up a hand to settle Sasha while she rose and made it out the door to take the call.
“I’m sorry for interrupting your visit to your dad,” said that voice that reminded Angela of warm cocoa or more precisely warm cocoa with a hint of Irish whiskey. “I wanted to make sure you got the flower delivery.”
“Oh I’m sure you know the flowers arrived as intended,” Angela said wryly, while she pressed a hand to her beating chest. Why the hell did he make her heart thump about with only his voice? She imagined him sitting behind his desk in that sad, shadowy room and felt a twinge of sorrow. Angela leaned against the wall for support, looking up at the ceiling and cursing herself for being so fanciful.
“Thanks anyway. It was a nice touch. My father’s asleep now but I’m sure when he wakes they’ll cheer him up more than the ones we usually bring him once in a while,” Angela added, wanting to be gracious.
“I’m glad. Have you made up your mind yet?”
Angela’s eyes darted and she didn’t know what next to say. The refusal was already on the tip of her tongue. She sighed deeply and started off with, “Well, I do need the money but…”
“Think of the good it would do,” Shane said lightly. “And I’m ready to go further to say I’ll sweeten the deal and see to it myself that your father gets the finest care this city can offer. And if not here, then wherever he chooses to go. My assistant has done some checking into it. She said there are a couple of very nice assisted living facilities here in Nashville with openings. And your sister…Sasha, right? She can give up that waitressing job immediately. One of my corporate sponsors is recruiting staff and someone with her skills will definitely find a suitable position. She’d be happy for something more stable and better suited for her level of education, don’t you think?”
Angela drew in a ragged breath. “Is there anything about me or my family you don’t know?”
“Don’t hold it against me,” he said with a slight twist of humor in his voice. “I have a reputation about being very determined when it comes to getting what I want.”
And I want you, he didn’t add but she could almost feel the words coursing through her. Oh God, thought Angela. She really, really shouldn’t. He made her feel things she didn’t understand, didn’t trust.
“Three weeks, Angela. Tops. Starting tomorrow night when I’ll be holding a dinner party at my home. Ten or so friends and business associates, at the most,” Shane was saying in a brisk tone. “The papers can be looked over and signed the next morning after you’ve had a chance to try it out. It’s not really about you anymore, but helping your family, as well. This would be the best thing you could do for them.”
Damn! He was right. Angela hated to admit it, but he was. She couldn’t keep waiting for her big break. At age twenty-seven she was getting closer to that stage where younger, fresher faces would get a better chance at certain roles. At least she could make some serious money, more than she could dream of making in two years. Shane was being very generous and yet that was one of the things that made her wary. Why would he pay so much if he wasn’t expecting to get a little something extra from the bargain?
But no…he’d promised her this was legit. And he wanted to help her father and sister. So maybe he wasn’t a sleazy rich playboy who thought his money could buy him everything. He needed her as much as she needed him, she had no doubt about that or why would he have gone to this extra trouble?
“Okay. I’ll do it,” she said breathlessly. She felt like she was taking a chance; falling off the edge without knowing how far off the ground was. But wasn’t life about risks?
Maybe this would be one great big adventure. And at the end she’d be smiling all the way to the bank. Angela was sure if she kept her head on straight, she’d do just fine.