Husband Stay (Husband #2) (21 page)

I didn’t answer.

The call went
through to my message-bank, which beeped a moment later. I clicked on the link
to listen to the call.
Missy Diva, I saw you on the teev. You have
arrived
!
Look at you, snuggling up to Tug Dunn, gorgeous hunk of man that he is. And
what’s the story with Jack being there, speaking of gorgeous men? Are you two
an item? Why did he pretend not to know you? I’m sure all will be revealed when
I can grill you. You’re probably at an after-party glamming it up. Call me!
Finn sends his love. He’s recorded it for you. I’m off to bridal hell with the
florist but I want a debrief when you’re free!

She sounded so
excited, so normal, so…almost married. Almost a mother. I knew these things
would follow in quick succession for Jill, if Finn had anything to do with it.
Lizzie’s baby would be a blip on the radar of their happily-ever-after, soon
forgotten as they created a family of their own.

And then there was
me.

Sad. Lonely.
Gullible. I had all day to find words that would hurt me, words that would punish
me for taking a chance with Jack. But did I want to do that?

I stared at
myself, wondering what I could do to shake off this horrible
victim
feeling.
As teenagers, we’d promised ourselves we’d never allow ourselves to feel that
way, no matter what. And after Danny had left, I’d worked so hard to avoid it. But
now I felt hollow,
used
. It was hard to stop myself sliding down that
slippery slope.

So I rang Louella.

It was crazy to
imagine any form of sympathy from Louella, but that was actually good. I didn’t
want
poor baby
now. It would only make me feel worse. I needed tough
love, and Louella was the only person I knew who wouldn’t feel sorry for me. It
might seem self-destructive, but as I pressed the phone to my ear, I was
determined.

“Angela,”
she
said crisply. “
Ringing to berate me for telling you to date Doug?
”

“No,” I said
firmly. “I know you had my best interests at heart. I wish I
had
felt
something toward him. He’s a decent human being.”

There was silence
for several heartbeats before she said,
“You sang beautifully this morning,
despite that idiot Dunn’s provocation.”

“Thank you.” She
said nothing, so I added, “He invited me to the ARIAs as his date.”

“He’s gay.
”

I blinked at my reflection
in the wardrobe mirror. “But he flirted with me.” She was silent, and when the
pieces fell into place, I stated the obvious, “He was acting to keep his
audience.”

“Correct. He’s
a very good actor. I’ve…worked with him on projects.”

The whole morning—or
at least the Tug side of it—was suddenly recast in a new light. But nothing
changed my situation with Jack, and that’s why I’d rung her.

“I’ve got a
problem. It’s…a man, and I need to talk it out.”

“With me?”
I didn’t hear obvious skepticism in her voice, but she must have been wondering
why I wasn’t speaking to Jill or Fritha. I was about to explain my choice when
she added,
“Then I assume you want common sense, and not romantic nonsense.”

“I do.” I wanted
to dissect the details and put it all into a basket I could deal with and file away
forever. The way I was thinking about my situation made me feel bad, and I knew
that was down to my attitude about what had happened. Louella could help me
reframe that so I wasn’t the victim in my own mind. I needed that clarity
desperately.

Another silence
ensued and I suddenly forgot about myself to wonder where she was, and what I’d
interrupted. She must have been watching
Sunshine
an hour ago, but she
could be out of the house by now.

Finally, she said,
“I’ll come to you. Give me the address.”

“Thank you.”

By the time I’d
put down the phone, I felt better. Not great, but good enough to hit the shower
and wash away the makeup and tears so I could change into a green crop top and
matching Punjabi pants. It was nice to wear colors again. But when I checked my
phone there were four missed calls from Fritha. That warranted a quick text
saying I was just tired and overwrought and going to sleep. Not to worry. She
texted back a frowny face, but said
Sleep Sweet.
Then the buzzer sounded
and I clicked the door button to let Louella into the building and opened my
apartment door to wait for her.

On the other side
of the door, leaning against the wall opposite, his arms crossed, as if he had
all day to wait, was Jack.

The bottom fell out
of my stomach as I stared at him. “You
did
follow Kamal with the box.”
So much for my privacy.

“I did.” Jack
straightened and dropped his arms, holding my gaze for a moment before taking
in my appearance from the top of my loose hair down over my crop top and pants
to my bare feet. He’d lingered on my exposed midriff, looking so hungry I felt
momentarily lost, as if I couldn’t remember whether we were meeting to have
hot, hard sex, or stand in the corridor about to fight.

At last he broke
the spell. “You’ve been crying.”

“Go away.” As if
that would somehow erase the heat between us. It filled the space like a voracious
animal, ready to pounce.

He shook his head.
“I’m not married. I assume that’s what you think.”

I could feel
myself shaking in reaction, but he wasn’t going to bamboozle me. “Then who is
Belle?” I demanded. “And her children?”

His lips pressed
together for a second. “I’m not at liberty to—”

I put up a hand to
stop him talking. “I’m expecting a friend. Go away.” Despite the fact that I
was
quite
sure he was an unfaithful bastard, I wanted him to touch me.
Badly. And not only was that the worst sort of self-destructive behavior,
Louella was on her way up. I had to end this.

He raised an
eyebrow. “And is this
friend,
Tug Dunn, who I thought was Doug. Either
way, he’s a bastard and—”

“Pot kettle!” I
snapped as my trembling reaction morphed into anger. “Don’t lecture
me
about who’s likely to hurt me, who’s likely to
use
me. Of all the
people—”

“
Angela!”
Louella
had just exited the lift. When she had my attention she said calmly, “You’re
making a scene.”

I sucked in an
unsteady breath and forced myself to nod. Louella didn’t do scenes. But before
I could apologize to her, a strange man stepped out of the lift behind her and
I did a double-take. He was not as big as Jack, but remarkably well-muscled, wearing
a black sleeveless vest and jeans. Swirling tattoos ran down one bicep. He
stood close behind Louella, as if he was a bodyguard, and he watched Jack very
closely.

“Is this your
visitor?” Jack snapped, and pointed at the vest-clad stranger.

I glared at Jack,
but I lowered my voice in deference to Louella’s sensibilities. “You don’t get
to be jealous. Goodbye.” I stepped back inside my apartment and waited.

I have no idea
what sort of imperious look Louella gave Jack, but he backed up and said,
“Sorry,” as she walked up and stopped beside him. Her plus-one was bristling at
her side, clearly unhappy to have her in such close proximity to Jack, but she
merely looked Jack up and down, raising an eyebrow at the cowboy boots and
western shirt. Then she turned to me and said, “I assume this man is the
subject of our discussion?”

I pressed my lips
together, completely embarrassed, and nodded.

She sighed and
stepped into the apartment, closely followed by Mr. Tattoo and I shut the door
on Jack, resisting the urge to poke my tongue out at him. That would be
completely childish, but damned if he didn’t bring out the worst in me.

When I’d turned my
back on the door, I saw the vested man helping Louella out of her stylish grey
coat. There was nothing sexual about the action, and neither of them made eye
contact with the other, but still…they seemed very much at ease with the close
proximity. And Louella was normally one to protect her personal space, even
with friends. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there seemed to be some
intimacy between them. Was he a relative I’d never heard of?

“Thank you for
coming,” I said, waiting for the man to be introduced.

Louella merely
nodded and smoothed her hands down the front of her deceptively simple floral
box dress. She’d teamed it with pearls, her usual nod to the sixties, and as
she sat at my tiny kitchen table and placed her hands on her lap, she looked so
self-contained I wished I could emulate that. I’d occasionally imagined her
life was boring, but I’d do anything for an hour of that tranquility now.

“This is Nicholas.”
She didn’t look at him, and he very carefully didn’t look at my bared midriff.
He kept his attention on my face as he stepped forward and extended one hand
for me to shake.

“Angela.” His voice
was deep, and the word was slightly clipped.

I shook his hand
and then he stepped back a pace, not quite behind Louella and not beside her
either. I should have said,
Nice to meet you
, but I had no idea why he
was there when I wanted a very private discussion with Louella.

Nobody said
anything for an embarrassing ten seconds before Louella said, “Do you think your
troublesome visitor is gone?”

“I hope so,” I replied.

“Give it another
minute,” Nick said, “and I’ll check.” He was scoping my apartment, quite
casually, but I got the idea he wasn’t a hundred percent comfortable in his
surroundings.

“Okay.” I
certainly didn’t want to stick my head out into the corridor again. More silent
seconds ticked over before I said to Louella, “Thanks for coming, by the way.”

“My pleasure.”
That was all she said and the rest of the minute was empty space, but I wanted
to make it clear that I wasn’t opening up in front of a stranger so I simply
waited, breathing deeply and trying to get the thundering pulse that Jack had ignited,
back under control.

Finally, Nick went
to the door and opened it. “He’s gone. I’ll wait outside.”

Thank goodness.

Louella ignored
him completely to say to me. “A glass of water?”

“Sorry.” I grabbed
a tumbler and poured her chilled water from the fridge. It wasn’t filtered, as
she was probably used to, but better than straight out of the tap.

When she’d taken a
sip, she put the glass down and gestured for me to sit at the table.

It was my
apartment, but I felt like I was about to be interviewed, and that wasn’t the
way I wanted this to go, so I remained where I was and said, “Who’s he?”
gesturing at the now closed front door. For some reason I wanted that
established first.

“My bodyguard, as
I imagine you’ve suspected. And before you ask,” She held up an immaculately
manicured hand, “I’m perfectly safe. This is nothing to do with me. Marcus has
gotten himself into some trouble and he’s concerned that the people he upset
will come after me.”

I blinked in
shock, my own situation momentarily forgotten. Marcus—her soon to be
ex-
husband—was
a banker. Not a mafia boss. “How is that possible?”

Louella smiled,
but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Marcus has been…reckless, of late. With money.”

“Are you…?” I
wasn’t sure how to ask, but she didn’t make it easy for me. She just sat there
looking at me. “Are you okay, financially?”

“Perfectly,” she
said, and raised her chin, giving me what she probably thought was an imperious
glance. For the first time in a very long time, however, there was something
fragile behind it. “And in any case,” she glanced away, “I’m here to talk about
you and Jack.” So she’d remembered his name from the television segment.

And maybe that was
easier. Later, when we’d hashed out my dramas, I could probe her situation
again. “I’m not sure where to begin—”

 “You’ve slept
with him. Several times I’m guessing.” She raised an eyebrow. “And you think
you’re in love with him. But…?”

Having friends who
knew you inside out was fabulous, until it felt intrusive. But I’d asked for
this. I needed to cope.

“He told me he’s
not married, but,” I frowned. “I’m pretty sure he has children with someone. I
think he cheated on her, with me.”

“You think. Have
you checked?” She sounded so calm, so logical.

And I felt
suddenly stupid. “No.” I sat at the table where she’d told me to. “Is that easy
to do?”

“Nicholas?” In
seconds he was back inside the door. “The man who was just here. Jack…?” She
looked at me.

I squirmed. “He’s
an Olympic medal-winning shooter…” How had I slept with a man when I didn’t
know his surname? I felt like such a tramp.
Super Slut
.

“He was on
Sunshine
with Angela this morning,” Louella said. “Find out if he’s in a
relationship or has children please.”

Nick nodded and
pulled his phone out on the way back to the corridor. The door closed behind
him and Louella turned back to me. “Do you love him?”

I shook my head,
but I was frowning. “How could I, when he cheated on someone with me?”

“I’m not asking
about your head. I’m asking about your heart.”

Somehow I managed
to hold her ice-blue gaze, even though I felt as if it was boring through my
soul. I couldn’t stop myself nodding. “Yes.” There was no point in lying,
especially to myself. “If he was free and asked me to marry him, I would,
despite the fact that I think he’s too reckless to be a good father.”

Her only reaction
was a slight rise of one perfectly shaped brow. “Why do you love him?”

I shrugged, not
sure any of this would make sense. “I’ve never felt this way before. With
anyone. About anyone. He makes me laugh and he also makes me…”
Howl with
pleasure.
“We’re good together in bed.” I tried to ignore my hot cheeks.
Louella wasn’t the person you talked to about sex. But it was an important
component. “When I’m with him I feel…special. Desired. Protected.”

“And suddenly
that’s more important than children?”

I stared back at
her. “I don’t know. That’s why I rang you.”

She gazed at me a
moment longer. “When you’re with him, do you feel loved?”

I shook my head.
“He’s never said that.”

She let a beat of
silence go by before she said, “And men always say what they feel.” She had the
perfect poker face. “Assuming they know what they feel, which is a whole other
discussion.”

She had a point. “He
did say I was…” No, I couldn’t say that. Yes, I had to. “With me was the best
sex he’d ever had.”

She merely nodded
at this embarrassing disclosure. “Is he thoughtful?”

You come first.
Every time.
“Yes. Definitely. And jealous.”

“Sounds like
love.”

We frowned at each
other until Nick knocked and Louella said, “Come.”

He stepped inside
and shut the door, then started scrolling down his phone. “Jack Davenworth,
eldest son of the family who own
Daven Downs
, eighth largest pastoral
station in the country…”

What?

“…Silver medalist
in the
Rifle Three Positions
category. Bronze medal in the—”

Louella cut over
him. “More personal detail, please.”

Nick scrolled down.
“Never married. No scandals on record. Dated various athletes, models, an
actress, a rodeo trick-rider. Longest relationship lasted eight months and
ended five years ago.”

“Who was that?” I
cut in. “Her name. Did they have children?”

“Veronica Miller.
Middle-school teacher. Now married with a three-year-old son.” He looked up
from his phone. “Presumably not Jack’s”

My heartbeat
slowed. “Then who is Belle?” I turned to Louella. “Could Tug have made
something up to—” I stopped and shook my head. “No wait. Jack said
You’ve
got no right to say that in front of other people.
He didn’t deny it.”

Louella was gazing
at Nick. “Something else?” she asked. I turned to find him waiting, eyebrows
raised. I was struck again by how self-contained he appeared.

“Jack has two
siblings. A brother Michael in the air force, and a sister
. Isabelle
.”