A Wilde Night (Old Town Country Romance Book 3) (11 page)

Eleven

H
unter

Things got
back to the mundane very quickly after Katie left. She crashed into my life fast and she was gone just as fast.

But she left a hole in my heart the size of a fucking crater.

I’d be a fool to think that anything between us could ever last. She’s a Hollywood star and I’m a small town cop. She certainly doesn’t need the drama of any kind of long distance thing and someone like me is definitely not worth the hassle.

The smell of bacon and coffee fills the air as I head dow
nstairs. It’s a typical Sunday morning in the Wilde household. Cooper and Riley have just come back from a jog and they’re making fresh fruit smoothies. Tucker and Gracie are hard at work making pancakes and bacon for the family. Any minute I expect to see Jake trying to sneak his latest conquest out the front door so he doesn’t have to go through the embarrassment of trying to introduce her to the family when he doesn’t remember her name.

I grab a cup of coffee and savor my first sip, but I nearly spit out my second when I see Jake walking down the stairs holding hands with Harley.

I’m not surprised they had sex. They do that all the time. But it’s usually nothing more than a quickie in the back room at Haymakers. It’s been a long time since she’s spent the night in Jake’s room.

“Morning,” Jake says as casually as he can.

Apparently I’m not the only one who’s shocked to see Harley. Tucker, Gracie, Riley and Cooper are all as wide-eyed and open-mouthed as I am.

“What are you all looking at?” Harley chides as she glares at each one of us.

“Nothing,” Gracie says quickly. She’s the first to turn away.

Tucker just shakes his head and gets back to his work on the pancakes.

Cooper narrows his eyes and gives Jake a long, hard stare. Riley is looking at Harley, but her features are a little softer than Cooper’s.

“I’m starving,” Jake announces.

“I bet you are,” Cooper fires back.

“Quit looking at me like that.” Jake glares at Cooper.

Cooper gives him one more glower than turns his attention to his smoothie.

Riley goes over to Harley and whispers something in her ear and Harley nods. Harley’s not the type of girl who has many female friends, but she and Riley have become pretty tight since Riley got engaged to Cooper.

I’m surprised when my phone buzzes in my pocket. Anyone who would call me is in the room at the moment.

My heart sinks when I look at the caller ID and see it’s a pr
ivate caller. It’s probably my boss. The police station’s phones have the caller ID blocked.

“I
gotta take this,” I announce as I step into the living room.

“This is Hunter.”

I can hear breathing, but there’s no reply. I don’t have time to play games. “Hello?” I say a little more impatiently.

“Hi
.” It’s a quiet voice. And female. Definitely not my boss.

Who would be calling me? The only females with whom I have any regular contact are all making breakfast in the other room.

“Who is this?”

Another pause.
“It’s Katie…Kat.”

“Kat?”
I can’t help the surprise in my voice. I didn’t think I’d ever hear from her again.

“Is it okay for me to call?” She sounds so unsure of herself.

“Of course. Yes.” I’m sure I sound too eager so I take in a deep breath and try to control my emotions a little bit.

She’s quiet again.

“Have things settled down for you? I mean after all the publicity with you and Devon breaking up.”

“You obviously don’t get online very much.”

“Not that much. Sometimes for police business. We catch quite a few criminals on Facebook.”

“Google me.
You can see all the latest. Devon completely trashed me in the press. He said he had no idea why I dumped him and that I completely broke his heart. He’s been acting completely devastated. That’s how they explained my absence on his new show. And the ratings are terrific. I guess there are a lot of young women who feel sorry for him and have volunteered to mend his broken heart. He looks like the victim and I look like a villain. I guess the public has a short memory when it comes to all his past womanizing.”

“I’m not really much of a
Googler.”

She laughs. “Is that even a word?”

“I don’t know. When did Google become a verb?”

“Good point. Don’t you ever Google yourself?”

“I’m not a celebrity. I have no reason to Google myself.”

“I Googled you.”

“Should I be nervous? What did you find?”

“A few things.
There was an article about you and your brothers in the local paper. It was about Wilde Riders. And I found out you were in the marching band in high school.”

“Those are probably the only noteworthy things I’ve ever done in my life. And you found them on Google. That’s actually kind of creepy.”

“You want creepy. Try being a celebrity and in the public eye. You can find everything about me on line, from my shoe size to my grades in high school.”

I’m rarely online, but this has
certainly tempted me. “Maybe I’ll Google you later and see what I find.”

“Just don’t believe everything you read.”

“Don’t worry. Being a cop has made me into a bit of a skeptic.”

We’re both quiet for a few seconds. As happy as I am to hear her voice I can’t help but wonder why she called.

“So…” she says.

“So what?”
I prod.

“I was wondering if I could come out for a visit.”

That hits me like a ton of bricks. Katie Lawrence wants to come back? To see me? “Sure,” I reply. I know I sound hesitant, but it’s only because it’s like the last thing I ever expected to hear her say.

“You can say no if you don’t want to see
me again. I completely understand.”

“Are you kidding?” I say quickly. “I would love to see you again. I’m just surprised that you called. We kind of decided that being together was a one-time thing.”

She heaves a sigh. “I had a lot of fun with you, Hunter. You made me feel normal.”

I’m n
ot sure if that’s supposed to be a compliment. “Don’t most girls want guys to make them feel special?”

She laughs. “Well, I’m not most girls and you’re not like most guys. At least not like the ones here in LA. And that’s a good thing.”

“When do you want to come out?”

“How about next weekend?”

“I have to work, but maybe I can take a vacation day. Can you give me a day or two to ask my boss?”

“Sure. Just let me know. Call me back when you find out.”

“I’m glad you called,” I say.

“Me too,” she replies before she ends the call.

“Who was that?” Harley says when I walk back into the kitchen.

Of course she’s the first person in everyone’s business, but Heaven help you if you try to get into hers.

“No one,” I reply as I grab a plate.

Everyone else already has plates piled high with pancakes and bacon. All I’m left with are the scraps.

“That was an awfully long call for it to be no one,” she pushes.

I glare at her and she glares right back. It’s obvious she’s g
oing to dig until she gets the answer she wants.

I heave a sigh. “It was the girl I brought to Haymakers.
Kat. Remember?”

Harley gives me her sly little grin. “How could we forget? It’s not like you bring girls to the bar—ever.”

“Leave the poor guy alone,” Cooper says in my defense. “We should be celebrating the fact that he’s finally getting laid not giving him a hard time about it.”

I roll my eyes at Cooper. “Thanks a lot.”

I sit down at the table. The only spot left is right next to Riley.

“Why don’t you tell us a little bit more about Kat?”
she urges. “You were rather cryptic about her when you introduced us.”

“I’d like to hear more too,” Harley chimes in.

I’ve never lied to my family before, but I’m not sure I want to get into all of the messy details either. “I told you she’s in the entertainment business. That’s why she lives in LA. She was just in town for a wedding.”

Riley and Cooper glance at each other. They always do that. It’s like they have some kind of non-verbal language that only the two of them can understand.

“Who does she work for?” Cooper asks.

“A variety of different people.
It’s kind of a freelance thing.”

Cooper’s eyes narrow. “Are you sure she’s not into som
ething illegal.”

I frown. “
She’s not. I’m a cop, remember?”

“Sometimes when guys get laid it skews their judgment a bit.”

“My judgment is not skewed,” I spit.

“We’re just a little concerned.” Riley pats my arm. “You seem to have some pretty strong feelings for someone you just met.”

“Like you and Coop have any room to judge. How long did it take before the two of you got together? Five minutes?” I point at Tucker and Gracie. “And the two of you weren’t much better.”

Tucker throws up his hands. “I didn’t say a word. I don’t care who you’re screwing as long as you’re using condoms.”

I cringe a bit because that’s something we’re not doing—not since the first time we were together.

“
Hunter’s like a Boy Scout,” Harley chimes in. “Always prepared. Of course he’s using condoms.”

“Can we talk about something other than my sex life, please?” I grab a piece of bacon from my plate and pop it in my mouth.

“Tell us something concrete about the love of your life,” Cooper urges. “And we’ll put the subject to rest.”

“Fine.
She grew up in Phillipsburg and moved to LA when she graduated high school.”

“So she’s actually a Jersey girl at heart,” Jake comments. “What’s her last name? I still know a lot of people in P-burg, from my football days. I’ll check her out for you.”

I give my oldest brother a fake smile. “You really don’t need to check her out for me.”

“That’s what big brothers are for,” he adds.

“I thought they were for teasing me mercilessly for my entire life.”

Jake laughs.
“That too.”

“What year did she graduate?” Harley asks. “My cousins graduated from P-burg. Maybe they know her. What’s her last name?”

I take in a deep breath. I’m kind of backed into a corner. If I thought I’d never see her again I’d just make up something, but now that there’s a possibility of them seeing her again I don’t want to get caught in a big fat lie. Maybe it’s just time to come clean anyway…

“Lawrence.”

Harley is the first to narrow her eyes at me. “Lawrence? Like Katie Lawrence, the actress she kind of looks like? Is she related to Katie Lawrence? Are they like cousins or something?”

I shake my head and Harley frowns. “I don’t understand.”

Riley and Cooper both eye each other. They’re both sharp enough to figure it out.

Then Gracie turns to Harley and says, “She’s not related to Katie Lawrence. She is Katie Lawrence.”

Harley laughs so hard I think she’s going to hurt herself. When she finally calms down she looks at me with a strange expression on her face. “You’re telling me that Hunter Wilde, an Old Town cop, a guy who’s such a saint he never even dated in high school, somehow got together with Katie Lawrence, the movie star? You’re telling me that this guy…” She points a finger in my face. “Fucked America’s Sweetheart?” She looks around the table at everyone’s surprised faces. “Does anyone else find this hard to believe?”

Tucker puts down his fork and raises his hand. “I do.”

Harley takes a swig of her orange juice and continues. “I can’t believe she waited tables at Haymakers. And she was pretty good at it too. She’s like unbelievably cool. And obviously a really good actress.”

“She did win an Academy Award,” Cooper chimes in.

“Two,” Riley corrects.

“So what’s the deal with you two?” Jake asks.

“It sounds like she wants to come back out to New Jersey to see me again. But you guys can’t let on that you know, okay. We’re trying to keep this really low key in order to avoid the paparazzi.”

“You know I won’t say anything,” Tucker agrees. “Not that I even know who Katie Lawrence is.”

Gracie whispers something into Tuckers ear and he gives her one of his half smiles.

“Okay, maybe I do know who she is. But it’s not like I have anyone to tell anyway.”

I glare at Harley. “You can’t tell any of your friends.” I glance at Jake. “And you can’t tell any of your…um…
friends
either.”

Jake pantomimes a lip zip. “My lips are sealed.”

“I will try,” Harley says. “But you know sometimes things just slip out. I apologize in advance if that happens.”