The Rival

by Joanne Rock

  Her heart pounded faster at the admission, a fragile hope taking root while Evangeline nuzzled the back of her shoulder.

  “You seemed content enough with your decision when I left the gala.” It had taken all her strength to walk away with her head held high. Where was he going with this?

  “I never gave myself a chance to trust a relationship, in light of the twisted role model I had.” His thumb brushed her cheek and she couldn’t bring herself to pull away. “I told myself our connection was just physical, even when my heart knew there was far more to it than that.”

  She knew it, too. But hearing him say it, seeing the truth in his eyes, swept away the last of her pain and opened her heart to beautiful possibilities she hadn’t dared to entertain before now. Before Devon.

  “What made you change your mind?” she asked, still needing to hear the reasons.

  He sounded more certain of himself this time. Outside the stables, a gust of wind battered the windowpanes, reminding her how cold the night had turned.

  “My mother and I had a video chat.” He reached to stroke the horse’s muzzle as the Appaloosa nosed closer to them. “She told me she was eloping. She was already in the car with her fiancé, and they were going to catch a plane to Greece to get married by a ship’s captain.”

  “That sounds wildly romantic.” She was happy for his mother. Relieved that her mom hadn’t totally wrecked the wedding plans with her ploy for media attention.

  “It is. Even though the wedding plans were going up in smoke, she still seemed so happy they were together, because her fiancé turned a tough situation around for her.” His brow furrowed as his focus turned on her, the truth of his emotions plain to see. “Seeing that bond, the unshakable connection, really slammed home how I’d failed you when you needed me.”

  Her throat burned with emotions as he shared the memory with her. She blinked through the feelings, not quite sure where it was all leading, but hoping desperately that his being here meant he wanted to fix things. Try again. She couldn’t speak over the lump in her throat.

  “More than that, Regina,” he continued, his eyes locking on hers in the shadowy light cast by that single brass lantern, “it made me realize how much I wanted to bring you that kind of happiness. It made me understand that I love you.”

  The words reverberated as if he’d shouted them, even though he’d never raised his voice. The echoes of that simple, incredible statement burrowed deep into her heart. Her soul.

  Unable to hold back another moment, she flung her arms around him and buried her face against his chest to feel the warmth of him against her. The scent of the holly berry sprig on his tuxedo lapel mingled with a hint of his aftershave, familiar to her after the nights spent in his arms. In his bed. She breathed him in along with his love as he kissed the top of her head.

  When she had soaked up his strength, and reminded herself he was real—that all of this was real—she edged back to look up at him.

  “Does that mean you forgive me?” he asked, his voice a raw whisper that revealed how much he meant what he’d said.

  “Yes.” Knowing how important this was to him soothed every hurt in her soul. “It also means that I love you, too, and it stole my breath that you feel the same way.”

  He bent to kiss her lips. The long and lingering kiss stirred her more than ever with the strength of this love firing through them.

  “Everything else we can fix,” he vowed as he pulled back to look at her. “I promise I’ll never hurt you like that again.”

  “I’m trusting you.” She remembered how Millie told her that you take risks to reap the sweet rewards. She couldn’t imagine a sweeter feeling in the world.

  “I’m going to make sure you never regret it.” He wrapped her in his arms, making her feel safe. Loved. Desired.

  She arched up to kiss him again, her heart and thoughts full of joy over how she could look forward to repeating the pleasure.

  “What are you doing for Christmas?” she asked, ready to have him all to herself for the night. “Because I have some free time I could spend with you before I have to be back at work.”

  “The cabin is mine for the rest of the week,” he mused, a glint in his eyes. “And the tree is already decorated. I have an excellent idea for how we should spend the holidays, just you and me. Together.”

  “Perfect.” Contentment curled around her. She would be able to see her friends, who’d become like family. But most important, she could be with Devon to plan for a future. “We can have a cowboy Christmas.”

  Epilogue

  Two months later

  “This view is so gorgeous.”

  Devon heard the awe in Regina’s voice as she emerged from the bedroom to peer out the living area’s bay window in the luxury cabin he’d rented them for the week. Glacier National Park sprawled before them, the cloudless blue sky making the mountains stand out in sharp relief above Saint Mary Lake.

  “I’m looking at an even better one,” he assured her, rising from the sofa where he’d been waiting for her to dress for an early dinner.

  She took his breath away, the same way she had since they’d first met. For the last two months, she’d allowed her hair to return to its natural color, a pale blond that made her gray eyes all the more dramatic. She didn’t seem concerned with hiding who she was anymore, even with the media’s renewed interest in her family. But she also seemed content to leave her identity as Georgiana behind. Tonight, with a diamond ring in the pocket of his jacket, he hoped she would consider taking a new last name, as well.

  She’d chosen an amethyst-colored sweater dress that hugged her curves and sky-high gray heels that showed off beautiful legs. But the best part of this outfit was her contented smile, a radiant happiness he liked to think he’d helped to put there.

  The investigation into his father’s past continued—privately, thanks to April Stephens—but Regina seemed content to wait for answers about why he’d written his book and where the profits went.

  “You are completely biased,” she teased, turning toward him. A pair of heart-shaped diamonds that he’d given her for Valentine’s Day dangled from her ears. “But thank you just the same.”

  “I’m a lucky, lucky man.” He folded her in his arms, drawing her against him to savor the feel of her.

  In the months since Christmas, they’d never gone more than three days apart, even though she’d wanted to stay on at Mesa Falls Ranch for a while to find her footing again. He’d respected that, knowing how much she enjoyed the horses and the sense of family she’d gained from the friends she’d made there—something she hadn’t experienced since her youth.

  But he’d brought her to New York on her days off, showing off the city to see what she thought, since his work was based there. His mom adored her, and had lobbied for her to move closer so they could see each other more, an invitation Regina seemed to be seriously considering. He’d move anywhere to make her happy, and find a way to do his job wherever he was now that he and Marcus had decided the only path forward for Salazar Media was to keep the company together. To continue to run it as a team. The decision felt right now that they both understood brotherhood didn’t have to be a competition. They could succeed together.

  So Devon could work on the West Coast or in New York, and it didn’t matter to him. Yet Regina genuinely enjoyed Manhattan, delighting in the luxuries that the city could provide. Tonight, he was going to see what she thought about a farm upstate where they could keep horses and he could commute in a few days a week.

  If she didn’t love that idea, he could see about setting up a presence in Montana, because this place would always hold a piece of his heart for bringing this woman into his life.

  “I hope you still feel lucky now that your girlfriend is officially unemployed.” She arched an eyebrow at him. “It seemed strange to pack up my things from Mesa Falls yesterday.” />
  “I know it wasn’t easy.” He understood that she was more attached to the friendships than anything else. But he also wanted her to find whatever path in life brought her the most joy, and he had the feeling she was getting ready for her second act now that she’d put her past to rest. “But Millie said she’d come and see you no matter where you end up.”

  They’d talked about taking time off—together—to travel for the next two months. See new places. Explore the world. Find out what made them happiest. Marcus—already a married man since he’d tied the knot in Paris on New Year’s Eve—had been supportive, assuring him the company would survive without him for eight weeks.

  Devon hoped he would be as fortunate as his brother. He couldn’t wait to ask Regina to be his wife.

  “I know.” Regina rested her head against his shoulder for a long moment, gazing out the window with him. “It’s up to me to figure out what to do next.”

  “Are you okay with that?” He tipped her face up to his. “I know there’s been a lot of change in the last few months. But I’ll move mountains to make you happy.”

  He’d already helped her navigate a meeting with her father—the actor who’d raised her and then shut her out of his life. The guy had reached out twice after Tabitha’s announcement at the launch event, expressing his regret that he’d handled his wife’s betrayal so poorly. But Regina had been open to talking to him again, and Devon had hope that the two of them—not related by blood, but by a shared bond and obstacles—would heal.

  “I know you would.” Her gray eyes met his, her fingertip grazing his lower lip. “And I love you so much for that, Devon. Thank you for giving me a chance to find myself again.”

  “You’re the woman I’ve been waiting for my whole life.” He felt it deep in his heart. In his soul.

  He never questioned the direction of their path. All that mattered was that they took it together.

  * * *

  As the mystery around

  Alonzo Salazar’s legacy deepens...

  Is Weston Rivera keeping a secret?

  Find out as

  Dynasties: Mesa Falls

  continues in February 2020!

  Don’t miss a single story

  in this must-read series!

  The Rebel

  The Rival

  Rule Breaker

  Heartbreaker

  The Rancher

  The Heir

  by USA TODAY bestselling author

  Joanne Rock

  Available exclusively

  from Harlequin Desire.

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Red Carpet Redemption by Yahrah St. John.

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  Red Carpet Redemption

  by Yahrah St. John

  Prologue

  “We have to clean up your image, Dane,” his publicist, Whitney Hicks, informed him while they sat in his trailer in Mexico, going over Dane’s public appearances for late July. It was blazing hot and he’d come in to get out of the heat.

  “It’s not my fault,” Dane Stewart responded, leaning back on the sofa and propping his legs on the sofa arm. “I had no idea Lia Montgomery was taken. I pride myself on having one relationship at a time and being a one-woman man.”

  “Who according to tabloids can’t stay with one woman.”

  Dane shrugged his broad shoulders. “Can I help it if a woman can’t manage to hold my attention?”

  “You’re going to have to learn,” Jason Underwood replied. Jason had been his manager and agent for years. He was tall, lean and always in a suit. “Negative publicity could damage your image as America’s Sexiest Man Alive.”

  “I beg to differ. I think it shows what a hot commodity I am,” Dane said with a smirk. He was thirty years old and in his prime.

  “Thanks to your shenanigans, the studio wants you to do some damage control. They don’t want this kind of publicity attached to what essentially is your best acting work. You could get a best actor nomination for your latest film. Think of how this would catapult you into the stratosphere.”

  It had taken Dane years of callbacks and tending bar to be in the position he was in now. He didn’t have to act in the big budget action flicks or romantic comedies anymore. Instead, his success in Hollywood had finally allowed him to choose a passion project like the film he’d just wrapped. Dane was proud of the work he’d done and didn’t appreciate the press making him out to be some Neanderthal who couldn’t keep it in his pants.

  “Although I think this is all a load of hogwash,” Dane responded, “I agree now isn’t the most convenient time for this to blow up. I want my work to define me, not what I do behind closed doors.”

  “Good. Then you’ll agree to the publicity I have scheduled?” Whitney inquired.

  Dane trained his eyes on her. “Depends on what it is.”

  “You’ll like this one.” Whitney reached for the remote to turn on the television and start a recording.

  Dane watched as a local newscaster talked about a young boy, six-year-old Jayden Turner, who was in need of a bone marrow transplant. The camera panned to the cute boy with a mop of curly hair and dark brown eyes. The doctor talked about Jayden’s acute lymphocytic leukemia in which the bone marrow made too many white blood cells. He went on to say the best form of treatment was a bone marrow transplant. Then the camera zoomed in on Jayden’s mother, Iris Turner, a tall, slender woman with a beautiful smile.

  Iris pleaded with the public to register to have their bone marrow screened. Dane immediately sat upright and listened to her impassioned plea. He admired her quiet strength. There was a tranquility to her he was drawn to, even though she wasn’t a dazzling beauty like many of the models and actresses he usually dated.

  “Let me guess. You want me to be screened?” Dane asked over the hum of the television.

  Whitney beamed. “Great minds think alike.” She walked toward him and he scooted aside, making room for her. “This is exactly the kind of positive press you need.”

  “I won’t make a mockery of what that mother is going through,” Dane stated vehemently.

  “And we’re not asking you to,” Jason chimed in. “Just a photo op after the screening. Your involvement will be a huge help raising awareness for Jayden’s cause.”

  Dane inhaled deeply, staring at the screen. The mother was staring back at him and he could see how desperate she was for a chance to save her son’s life. “I’ll do it.”

  Whitney grinned. “I’m glad that didn’t take too much convincing. Now here are my other ideas.”

  Dane listened as Whitney rattled off several other appearances, including late-night television, a morning talk show and a stop at the local food bank, but all he could see was the haunting eyes of Iris Turner. Dane hoped his presence at the hospital wouldn’t disrupt her and Jayden’s life.

  One

  Iris Turner was praying for a miracle. She didn’t know when or in what form it would come, but she knew God wouldn’t be so cruel as to take away the precious gift He’d given her six years ago. Her son, Jayden.

  “Do you think it will help?” her mother, Carolyn, asked as Iris sat at her parents’ kitchen table, wringing her hands. It had
been several days since the news story about Jayden had aired, and there was still no bone marrow match.

  “I don’t know. I hope so.” Iris glanced down the hall to where her father and Jayden were playing in the living room. To the outside world, he looked like a normal kid; now all of Los Angeles knew how sick he was.

  “It will.” Her mother reached across the short distance to squeeze her hand.

  Her family had thought Iris had lost her mind when she’d decided to become a single mom. Her mother had discouraged Iris, telling her Mr. Right would come along one day, but Iris had known it wasn’t true. She was damaged goods and no man would want to sleep with her—let alone make a baby—if he saw her body in the dark.

  Eight years ago, when she was twenty, she’d gotten mixed up with the wrong crowd, dating a musician who liked to drink and have fun. One night, he’d had a little too much fun and wrapped his car around a tree with Iris in it. She’d suffered severe burns to her arms and thighs. Iris had lost count of the reconstructive surgeries she’d had since then to help with the disfigurement. Her arms had been transformed almost back to their original state, but after many painful procedures, Iris had finally given up and accepted she wouldn’t be completely healed.

  She’d attempted dating, but once the evenings had become intimate, men had shuddered, making a speedy departure. Some were more direct; one outright told her she was a monster. Iris hadn’t dated since.

  “Let’s not dwell on it.” Her mother went over to the stove and removed the kettle she’d turned on earlier. “How about a cup of tea?”

  “Sounds great, Mom.” Iris offered a smile. Her mother was not only her best friend but an excellent cook and homemaker. She’d always been there when Iris needed a shoulder to cry on or someone to accompany her to the endless medical treatments. Iris had wanted to be just like her, and part of that was having a child of her own to love and being the best mom she could be like her mother.