For One Night Only (14 page)

Only she knew that they had flown out of Vegas together over a month ago and shared dinner—possibly more—in his suite later that same night. Only she knew what a huge threat this woman was to her future plans.

Indescribable pain had almost paralyzed her when she first realized they were in
Miami together. She’d thought the woman was history, after all, there had been no sign of her for weeks. Unable to confirm whether they had shared a room, as security was so tight, she only knew
Bethany had been staying in the same hotel.

Ruben had left
Florida
for
Paris and he hadn’t taken
Bethany with him, thank God. She didn’t know what it meant, but she prayed that he had gotten bored of her. Unable to follow him out of the country until her passport came through, she hoped he would still be alone by the time she caught up with him in
Madrid
. Damn passport. Why hadn’t she thought of it earlier?

She was glad she hadn’t followed him when he left the hotel earlier, choosing instead to watch and wait for the brunette. She’d seen her up at the window of one of the rooms as he had driven away.
Bethany had certainly looked like she was in love but he had still chosen not to take her to
Paris with him. She hoped that meant he didn’t feel the same way.

A couple of hours later, when the woman left the hotel, she had followed.
It was much easier stalking somebody who wasn’t famous, that was for sure.
Many times, she’d been close enough to reach out and grab a handful of her hair or push her to the ground, but there were always too many people milling about.
Bethany had strolled along Ocean Drive, staring through the windows of the exclusive boutiques and checking out the street traders, before stopping at an ocean front terrace for coffee. The small suitcase she’d had with her made it clear she didn’t intend to return to the hotel.

She had not wanted to get too close, whether
Bethany would remember it or not, they had met before in LA and she couldn’t risk being recognized, so she had waited outside until the brunette re-appeared, jumping straight into a cab. She had almost lost her before finally managing to hail one herself. The friendly Haitian driver lost his ready smile when she’d snapped at him to take her to the airport, making it clear she was in no mood for friendly banter. She just hoped she’d guessed right and that
Bethany was indeed leaving
Miami.

Minutes later, she’d been able to relax. Her cab had caught the other easily, heading out towards the airport on I-95. Luckily, she had arrived a few minutes ahead of her target and tipped the driver handsomely, surprising him into risking another smile her way. She’d returned it that time.

Following
Bethany into the terminal, she kept her distance, watching carefully to see which departure lounge she was heading for. Checking the gate number against the information board, she’d been hugely relieved when it confirmed her fervent hope that the woman was heading back to Vegas, alone.

Lurking at the back of the line, she had waited until
Bethany had passed through the gate and out of sight before heading back to the hotel. Emotions warred within her. She was grateful to see the back of her but oh, how she would have loved a moment alone with that woman.

She turned off the laptop, tired of seeing them together. Reassuring herself with the knowledge that Ruben and Bethany were now on two different continents, she hoped she would at least be able to relax and get a good night’s sleep. The last week had been awful for her. Taunted endlessly by thoughts of them together, her imagination had run riot. She smiled ruefully, doubting that Ruben was even capable of the deviant behavior she had tortured herself by imagining.

Bethany
, however, looked like a filthy whore, and she wouldn’t put anything past her. Knowing they were apart made her happy and she breathed a little easier than she had in days. Getting the woman’s full name and address became a priority and something she could focus on to stop herself going crazy while she couldn’t be with Ruben.

Then, it was only a matter of time until she would pay
Bethany a visit and make her sorry she’d ever put her sleazy hands on him.

Chapter 13

Ruben leapt from the bed with a laugh as he heard her open their hotel room door. He’d gone almost crazy waiting for her all day, imagining the ways he could welcome her home from work and show her how much he had missed her.

He was pleased at how well things had worked out. Initially, he’d been worried about how he would feel spending so much time with another person, but things were good. Beth was doing a fantastic job in her new role. She loved it, so much so in fact, he often had to ask her to shut up about it.

Hours later, his desire and good humor had disappeared as he sat watching her intently, wondering what in the hell was wrong. Time alone together was so rare and it irritated him that she had spent so much of it away from him, just to return in a touchy mood.

She’d practically swatted him away as he kissed her in greeting and excused herself to the bedroom, pleading a headache. But he’d walked in to find her crying. His concern had turned into annoyance as she refused to tell him what was wrong. The tears dried up, but her mood had not lifted by the time they ate dinner in awkward silence. Her attempts to disguise her sadness with a brittle smile every time he looked at her were not fooling him. When she thought he wasn’t looking, the smile faded and a look of pure desolation took its place.

Bethany
disappeared again after their meal, forcing him to look for her. He found her staring silently at her reflection in the bedroom mirror, pain etched across her features. His temper finally snapped. ‘What’s going on?’

The harshness of his tone caused her to jump. She made to shake her head, but he stopped her, telling her to save whatever lie she was thinking up and tell him the truth. Ruben saw the temper flare in her eyes then and he welcomed it. Anything was better than her earlier sadness.

‘Simon,’ she sighed wearily.

‘Simon?’ Ruben’s incredulous tone caused her to wince. ‘Why the hell are you thinking about him?’

‘He rang me earlier,’ she said, adding quickly, ‘Now don’t get angry. He called to tell me his mother died.’

‘Were you very close?’ he asked quietly, feeling guilty for shouting at her.

‘Not really.’ She shrugged her shoulders, ‘I always blamed her for the way he turned out, truth be known.’

‘Then why are you so sad?’

Carefully re-arranging the items on the dressing table, she avoided his gaze. ‘It just got me thinking…about the past…and him.’

‘What about him?’ Ruben could hear the coldness in his own voice. His stomach clenched uncomfortably as she kept her eyes downcast. ‘Because you still want to be with him?’

Bethany
shook her head fiercely. She seemed to be collecting her thoughts as she kept him waiting for an answer. Barely holding his temper in check, he tried to calm his reaction to the idea of her spending all day thinking about her ex-fiancé.

Finally, she spoke. ‘I don’t know where things went wrong. We were in love at first and I thought that would never change. I can’t believe I was so wrong about him and that scares me.’

He took a deep breath, but his relief at her words was short lived. ‘What if I am wrong about us Ruben?’ She blundered on, ignoring his astonished reaction. ‘I realized earlier that I am making the same mistakes with you as I did with him. I have no life of my own…’

‘You cannot be seriously comparing me to him,’ he shouted, beginning to pace, agitation causing him to run his hand through his hair. He understood her concerns, but he had always been kind and supportive.
How could she think he would ever treat her as badly?

‘It’s not you Ruben. It’s me.’ She answered as he told her his thoughts. ‘I trust you implicitly. But I trusted him too and look where that got me.’ She shook her head as he started to respond, silencing him. ‘I can’t afford to rely on my own judgment anymore.’

Crossing the room, he tried to pull her up into his arms. Finding her stiff and unyielding, he sighed and let go. Struggling for the right words, he tried to make things better. ‘I love you, Beth and I would never hurt you. I want you with me constantly.’ Pausing to look at her, he felt his words were not getting through.

Taking her face in his hands, he continued. ‘We’re good together, Baby. How can what we have be wrong?’ She didn’t seem convinced.
What the hell did she want from him?
Turning from her, he had to walk away before he said something he’d regret.

He paused as realization dawned. ‘You know, Beth, he is still controlling you,’ he stated calmly. Her quizzical look prompted him to continue. He shook his head in disgust. ‘He doesn’t even need to be around to ruin your life anymore. You do it for him.’

Fresh tears fell, but he couldn’t feel responsible. She hadn’t even bothered to disagree with him and her lack of belief in their relationship pissed him off
. Didn’t she think they were worth fighting for?
If she wanted to wallow in self-pity, she was going to have to do it alone.

‘Ruben,’ she called as he picked up his jacket and headed for the door, ‘where are you going?’

‘I need to clear my head. I suggest you do the same,’ the look he leveled at her brokered no argument. ‘Don’t mention his name to me again,’ he threatened, slamming the door behind him.

The walk did him good. Never one to stay angry for long, he sat in a nearby park, trying not to think too hard about her ex. Focusing instead on Bethany, he wondered why she had been so upset.
Maybe a part of her still wanted Simon?
He doubted it, but hell, there must have been some reason she stayed with the jerk all those years.

Ruben didn’t want to lose her. He couldn’t believe he’d wasted so much of his life without knowing what it was like to have a woman care for him. It wasn’t like she waited on him hand and foot but she made him feel loved. And not because of anything he’d done—she just seemed to love him.

The one dark spot was her stubbornness. She refused absolutely to allow him to take care of her and would never admit she needed him for anything. Also, she spent a lot of time away from him during the day and he wondered if it was by accident or design? Her independence was important to her, he knew that, but surely she realized by now she could trust him? He wasn’t anything like Simon.

Ruben thought back to the fight they’d had the first time she had spoken about her ex-fiancé. He’d tried to be supportive as she went on and on about how much she had loved him and what she had sacrificed for him, but eventually his jealousy had flared. Being prone to that emotion wasn’t something he was proud of and he’d always had to fight to control it when he was younger. She’d laughed at first before realizing that it was the worst thing she could have done when his temper escalated. She hadn’t backed down, though.

Hell, he hadn’t cared enough about anyone to get jealous in years. He had never really experienced the emotion as a mature man and it unnerved him to realize it was still there, beneath the surface.

The way she kept her escape route open pissed him off too. She still had her house and medical practice in Vegas. Of course, he understood why and he guessed it gave them both freedom. But it implied that she didn’t have much faith at all in him or their relationship. He was beginning to need her, much more than she needed him it seemed, and he didn’t like it. Not one bit.

Unable to find any real answers, he gave up making himself crazy thinking about it. He wanted to get back to her and drive the painful memories away forever. Her body was his. It was time she let him into her mind.

Entering the suite much more quietly than he had left, he poked his head into the bedroom to find her watching a movie. She looked up at him as he approached and the warmth in her eyes and her smile told him the storm had passed for now. Relief coursed through him and he wasted no time in climbing into bed beside her and ensuring she was incapable of thinking about anyone else for the rest of the night.

* * * *

The bubbles around her felt luxurious. What a pleasure it was to have a proper bath after all those showers on the tour bus. The two-week stint in
Europe had been grueling for both of them.

Ruben hadn’t even had time to rest since their arrival early that morning. He’d left first thing, a busy day ahead of him.
Bethany offered to keep him company, but he’d shook his head, saying she should take it easy and enjoy the suite. Thinking of him brought a smile to her face. The last few weeks since she had joined him had been wonderful—so much more than she ever dared dream. The contrast to her previous life was staggering.
Who would have thought that she could ever be so totally happy?