Decadent (43 page)

“What are you doing here?” the waitress asked, horrified. “It’s supposed to be a secret!”

Shayla Black Decadent

“I had to see him!” protested the fan with the autograph book.

“Are you really going to marry
her
?” Another female fan looked at Kimber with disdain.

Neither one answered.

The photographers kept taking shots of Jesse as he autographed the girl’s book and handed it back to her with a smile as phony as the huge gold loops dangling from her ears.

“Could you leave us alone?” Jesse said to the press. “We’re trying to have lunch here.”

“Answer the girl’s question,” shouted one reporter. “Are you marrying Ms.

Edgington?”

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“I’m so sorry,” the waitress babbled.

Jesse ignored her and scowled at the photographers.

“You’ve had your pictures. There’s no story. Get the hell away from us.”

“Public property,” one quipped, then captured the shot of anger mutating Jesse’s face.

As if to underscore the point, more people wandered down the side street to investigate the growing crowd. The number of passersby swelled. The sound became a cacophony of voices and cameras. A van stopped a few feet away. One of the local news stations.
Great. How had they received word so quickly?

Someone reached out to grab the shirt Jesse had draped across the back of his chair. She yelped with excitement and sniffed it. Actually held it to her nose and inhaled. Kimber could barely pick her jaw off the floor as Jesse reached out to grab Shayla Black Decadent it back, but she darted through the crowd. Other girls chased her, grabbing at the shirt, too.

Holy cow, how does he put up with this everywhere he goes?

Call appeared beside Jesse and murmured, “The crowd is only getting bigger. I think you should go.”

“How did they find out I was here?”

Call shrugged. “Probably the waitress. Doesn’t matter. This is going to get out of hand if you don’t leave now. You take the car back to the hotel. I’ll make sure Kimber gets home safely.”

Jesse looked pissed, as if he was being forced into a position he didn’t want and impotent to do anything else.

402

“It’s fine. It’s for the best.” She touched his arm in reassurance.

More cameras clicked, capturing the moment.

“Are you going to marry Ms. Edgington?” The pushy reporter asked again. “And what do you say about the entertainment industry’s prediction that marriage would ruin your career?”

“If he gets married, I’m not buying any more CDs,” one bitchy fan snapped.

“Knowing he’s tied himself to some other woman kills the fantasy,” Kimber overheard another girl telling the reporter. He ignored everyone and looked at Kimber with regret.

“You going to be okay?”

Shayla Black Decadent

“You heard Cal. He’ll follow me to make sure I reach home safely. You get out of here before this turns into a bigger circus. Call me when you’re free and we’ll talk.” He sighed with acceptance, then whispered into her ear, “I really do love you.” In his one-sided way, she believed he did. But now it was time for him to stand on his own two feet, just like she’d have to do. “Take care.” Jesse kissed her cheek, and Kimber did her best to ignore the clicking of cameras.

Yikes, this was likely to be all over the front page. If it was…could it really hurt his image, his career? If so, that was yet another reason he’d be better off without a wife right now.

As he turned away, Kimber watched. He jumped the little fence and darted for his car. The horde followed him, cameras bobbing, girls screaming.

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An eerie quiet settled over her and Call in his wake.

“That’s crazy,” she said as the last of the mass disappeared down the street.

“That’s showbiz.”

“Would people really stop being his fans if we married?” The whole idea seemed inconceivable to her. They either liked his music or they didn’t, at least in her mind.

“You heard it yourself. Most of his fans are women who see Jesse as the ultimate catch. If you’ve already caught him, they’re out in the cold. You ready to go home?” Call asked.

“Sure.”

“I’ll follow you, just to make sure no one else does.” Shayla Black Decadent Emotionless. Expressionless. Call was all business, all the time. Right now Jesse needed that. Kimber just hoped that he’d listen.

As they turned toward the parking lot, a sleek, black Maserati Spyder convertible zoomed past them, tires screeching as it turned out onto the main drag. Then Jesse was gone. Probably forever, and she could live with that. They each had their own lives ahead of them. And his would be what he chose to make of it.

404

Shayla Black Decadent

CHAPTER
20

Kimber curled up on her bed in the fetal position, her pillow bunched beneath her head, and tried to drift back to sleep. No luck—and no wonder. Her life could make a soap opera look tame these days.
Love triangle, check. Surprise pregnancy,
check.
Possible psycho-stalker, check.
Gosh, throw in a good catfight or aliens from outer space and she could rival any daytime diva’s dilemmas.

Lack of sleep, no surprise there. True, she’d been tired most of the day, a symptom of pregnancy, she’d heard. She sighed. In a few days, she’d see the doctor, have them confirm everything, give her a due date, explain what would happen over the next nine months. Then she’d have to tell her family. Kimber cringed at the thought of Logan’s and Hunter’s reactions.

Turning over, she punched her pillow, wrestled it under her a bit more. Why 405

wasn’t this position any more comfortable than—
Tap, tap, tap.
Pause.
Whoosh.

What the hell was that?
Those noises were totally foreign, and seemed to be coming from her living room. Yes, it was her first night back at her apartment, but Kimber had lived here long enough to recognize the usual sounds. None of those fit that category.

The people above her had kids who usually ran around until close to eleven. The newlyweds next to her had sex every night—at least once—and she could hear their bed banging against the wall every time. But this sound… It was subtle. Like someone trying to be quiet.

In fact, it sounded a whole lot like someone forcing one of her windows open.

Easing out of bed, Kimber got to her feet, nervously grabbing her cell phone off her nightstand with a damp palm and smoothing her tank top over her jumpy stomach with the other. She approached the hall, intending to investigate the odd Shayla Black Decadent noise when she heard footsteps on her hardwood floors. Soft footsteps, like someone creeping slowly. There was no mistaking the sound.

On bare feet, she whirled and darted into her closet and eased the door shut.

Then she dialed 911 and whispered her address quickly. The operator wanted her to stay on the line and wait for the police.

The ever-closer footsteps let her know that waiting around for the cavalry wasn’t an option. She was going to have to defend herself.

Suddenly, she was damn glad for every self-defense skill her brothers had insisted she master, every time they’d roped her into being their martial arts sparring partner, and every male endurance/fighting/general toughness contest they had put her through.

The footsteps entered her bedroom, paused, wandered around, then headed to 406

the closet.

As Kimber braced herself against the wall behind her walkin closet’s door, her hand came into contact with something solid, wooden. She smiled. And she was damn glad that she’d been on the apartment complex’s co-ed softball team.

Wasn’t this shithead in for a surprise?

#

Deke’s palms had sweated for the entire one hundred miles into Dallas. Nearly twenty-four hours after Kimber had dropped her bombshell, he was ready to talk to her. No, he
had
to talk to her. So he’d driven west, into the thick, inky night, with his insides jolting like he was hooked up to jumper cables.

Luc had spoken a lot of truths. A dozen years ago, Deke had been guilty of many things. Having sex with an emotionally unstable girl. Thinking with the wrong Shayla Black Decadent head. Letting the abundance of Heather’s emotions—and her family’s—drown out his logic.

What he hadn’t done, as his cousin and Kimber had pointed out, was forced Heather to swallow the pills. A hard fact to accept, but the truth. She’d chosen that path herself…for reasons he’d probably never understand, but weren’t all related to the pregnancy.

Facing his grief again had brought Deke right to the source of his guilt—and he was finally seasoned enough to understand where he’d most fucked up with Heather. He’d let her go before he knew what could have been between them. He’d been seventeen and terrified by her pregnancy, then furious that she’d fucked someone else to spite him. They hadn’t spoken for nearly three weeks…then she’d ended everything permanently, leaving him with nothing but questions and gut-wrenching remorse.

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Had he loved Heather? Maybe he’d been too young to know what love was, but he hadn’t been ready for their bond to be broken, especially by Heather’s suicide. In retrospect, what he’d been most guilty of was being too stupid and scared to fight for what might have been.

He was
not
making that mistake with Kimber, especially since he
knew
he loved her. If she wanted to end their relationship, the choice would be hers.

Unfortunately, Deke had no illusions; he’d behaved like a deranged moron after Kimber had announced her pregnancy. Like Luc had said…he’d treated her worse than he’d treated Heather.

The revelation of his cousin’s secret hadn’t contributed to his overall good mood or mental health, either. But now that he’d had time to process all the shocks and talk himself off the emotional ledge, it was time to make things different. Or at least try in his way.

Shayla Black Decadent Looking up Kimber’s address on the Internet had been too easy. He’d have to talk to her about protecting her personal information a little better. Later.

He cruised the apartment complex’s parking lot, trying to find her building in the dark. It wasn’t well marked, damn it. Deke frowned as he glanced around. The units were far apart, with a park-like area in the middle. A lot of trees all around.

Lots of dark, shadowed corners. No guard gates around the place.

Why was it that women, the more vulnerable sex to attack, never thought about security before they settled into a place to live?

Maybe after tonight, she’d leave here and go with him, so the lack of safety measures here wouldn’t be an issue. Yeah, he could handle that. Hell, he craved it.

First, he had to find out if she’d have anything to do with him.

408

He spotted Kimber’s building toward the back of the complex, butting up against an empty field and surrounded by big trees casting shadows under the moonlight.

She had a ground-floor unit. And on his first pass by her apartment, he could see that her window was wide open.

With a ripe curse, he parked his Hummer, wondering why the fuck she hadn’t just locked up tight and turned on the airconditioning. Why had Logan and Hunter let her move into such a hard-to-defend place? Why hadn’t her brothers lectured her within an inch of her life about the fact a single woman leaving doors unlocked and windows wide open was a fucking engraved invitation to violent sickos who looked at rape and torture as entertainment?

Locking the vehicle behind him, Deke jogged to her door and knocked. And waited in the still night barely broken by crickets chirping.

Nothing.

Shayla Black Decadent He frowned. Maybe she was fast asleep. Or maybe she wasn’t here.
Ever think
about that, asshole?

He’d heard on the radio today that she’d been spotted at a cozy little deli having lunch with the prick with the falsetto pipes. Was Kimber having feelings for Jesse again? Deke could hardly blame her after the way he’d treated her, but God, the thought made him want to throw up.

He whipped out his cell phone and called her. No answer. She had caller ID, so she was avoiding him. Had to be. Deke wanted to beat the fucking phone against her door. Frustration boiled inside him, shooting upward like some science experiment coiling up a test tube and about to blow. But he wasn’t giving up. It was hotter than hell tonight, looked like it might rain. But that meant shit. He’d camp on her front door step all night— days, if necessary—until she came home.

Deke’s shoulders sagged. He couldn’t pretend that knowing she didn’t want to 409

talk to him didn’t hurt. And if he didn’t stop walking this mental territory again, he’d start bawling like a baby. Again. He wanted to be a man when he faced her, so he could look her in the eye and promise he’d do everything he could to be the man for her. But could he be the man she needed? Self-doubt lashed him like a vicious whip.

Pressing his forehead to her door, Deke resisted wrestling with his inner demons, but the fuckers just kept coming after his hope. Fisting his hands against the door, he wished she was here, that he could hold her. He loved her so much… Her no-nonsense approach. Her quick wit. That surprising naughty streak. The way she rolled with the punches and handled life with aplomb. Her ease with her emotions, the times she’d shared them so totally when he’d been with her…inside her. God, let her come back to him.

Shayla Black Decadent A sound—a grunt?—ripped through his thoughts. Faint, but…out of place. A man’s grunt coming from Kimber’s place. He frowned and drifted over to the window. Another sound he couldn’t place. A crash, like something hitting the wall.

What the fuck?
Anxiety clawed at his gut. Was she…spread out under some other man, maybe Jesse, in her bed? No. He would not believe— No, not Kimber. She wasn’t Heather. But Deke still didn’t know what the noises were. He only knew they were out of place.

Crawling inside the window, Deke withdrew his SIG Sauer from his shoulder holster, just in case. He crept around the sofa, past the galley kitchen, then down the hall, gun in the lead. He fought the urge to charge like a bull. Slowly, carefully, until he knew what the fuck was going on.