by Lori Ryan
“You don’t have a show for another six days,” he said, and then wanted to kick himself when she looked at him sharply, no doubt surprised he knew her schedule.
“True,” she said slowly, drawing the syllable out.
“Do you have interviews or appearances lined up?” he asked.
“No,” she said with a bit of a laugh. “This was supposed to be six days of rest and relaxation. I haven't taken that much time off in a long time. Now it’ll be six days of hiding out and trying to ignore phone calls, and the constant temptation to jump on the Internet to see what’s happening.”
“You should come to Connecticut with me.” What? Where did that come from?
“What? Connecticut?”
Hell. Why not?
“I keep a house there that no one knows about. I bought it a few years ago because I like to have a place to go where I’m not offered room service and turndown at night. No one knows about it except my friends. We can take my private jet. You can just fall off the grid for a few days, get some real rest.”
He could see her thinking about it, chewing on her bottom lip as she eyed him through lowered lashes. He didn’t want to pressure her, but man, he suddenly wanted to be the one to be able to take her away from this shit situation she was in. The one to give her the respite she needed while the whirlwind of her life settled down for a bit. And, he wouldn’t lie to himself. He’d had a better time with her tonight than he ever had with any of the women he’d dated. Just talking to her, with nothing sexual between them other than the way his imagination ran away every time she moaned over a bite of food or laughed at one of his jokes, was better than a lot of the nights he’d spent wrapped in some naked woman’s arms and legs.
He’d been resisting the sexual attraction and wouldn’t act on it when she was so down, so vulnerable. But, at least he could be there for her. He could support her and help her through this without acting on the chemistry that shot between them whenever they were together.
“No strings attached, PJ. I promise. I’m headed there anyway to see some friends and go to a two-year-old’s birthday party. What could be better than balloons and cake? Just two friends, getting away for a while. That’s all it will be.”
It’s not all I want it to be, but I’ll take it.
PJ had never shown any inclination to hit on him—which made sense. The first time they’d met, she’d only been eighteen or nineteen and he’d been twenty-nine. She probably saw him as an old man. With her current age of twenty-nine and him at thirty-nine, it would be considered acceptable if something did happen between them, but he had a feeling she still saw him the same way she always had. Old.
PJ looked as though she struggled to come to a decision. She finally nodded her head, slowly. “All right. If you’re going anyway, I’d love to tag along.”
Chapter Four
PJ knew she needed to face her team and call her parents before heading to Connecticut. Her phone was filled with missed calls and unanswered texts. She didn’t blame them for being concerned, and she knew they’d need to hear from her before she left—to confirm she wasn’t drunk. It might have been thirteen years since her addiction had almost ruined her career, but she knew it was hard for her parents to forget their struggle to save her. To straighten her out.
PJ made her way across the hotel to her suite and shut the door behind her, relieved neither Lydia nor Ellis waited there for her. She dialed her mother’s number and wasn’t surprised that she answered on only the second ring. She checked her watch. Her parents wouldn’t leave for their small bookstore outside Deep Creek Lake in Maryland for at least another hour.
They’d gone through so much with her early on in her career with the addiction and pregnancy. It always made her feel good to picture them in their bookstore doing what they loved—happy and relaxed again instead of on edge and worried for her. That would all change if her journal was released to the media. Her fault again.
“Hey, Mom.” PJ could hear her father in the background.
“Hi, sweetheart. Your father wants to know how you’re doing. Did you book extra interviews for this week to respond to Kirt’s comments?” her mother asked, drawing a wince from PJ. It was hard to talk about Kirt’s comments about her performance in bed when it was her parents she was having this conversation with. Ugh.
Her mother didn’t wait for her response before continuing. “You don’t have to respond to that…that….” PJ almost laughed as her mother sought the right word to describe Kirt. Her mother didn’t swear. Ever. But, it sounded like she was dying to right now.
“Ninny,” her mother finally finished. “Debra called earlier to fill us in. She said she put out a short press release so you can leave it at that, PJ. Don’t feel like you have to engage him or the press over this. Personally, I think we should ignore it now. We don’t need to give him any more attention than he’s already gotten.”
PJ laughed at her choice of words. Yup. Ninny was about as nasty as her mom was going to get.
“I’d rather just ignore them and let the whole thing die down, Mom,” PJ finally answered when her mom took a breath during her diatribe. PJ knew this wasn’t going to just die down on its own. When the rest of her journal became public, it was only going to get worse. A lot worse. But her parents didn’t need to know that right now.
“I’m going to take a few days off. I’ll meet the team in Denver for the next show, but I just need to take a break for a bit.”
“Where’re you headed to? Do you want to come here?” her mom asked.
PJ blushed, thankful her parents couldn’t see her through the phone. “I’m going to Connecticut to spend a few days with Gabe Sawyer and his friends. He’s headed there and offered to let me come, just to get away from everything.” She tried to play it off as if it wasn’t a big deal, but really the idea of spending a week with Gabe, even as friends, made her stomach do backflips.
PJ could almost envision her father’s eyebrows going up and wasn’t surprised to hear his voice coming through the phone, although it was muffled, as if he were speaking over her mother’s shoulder. “Gabe Sawyer, as in owner of The Grand Tower…that Gabe Sawyer?” her father said.
“Do you really think that’s wise, Prudence?” her mother asked.
“Mmm hmm,” she murmured. She should have known she wouldn’t slip that by them so easily.
“Pru, don’t you think he’s, well.... He seems to love the limelight a bit much, don’t you think? Is it really wise to be seen with him right now? What if he’s just hoping to capitalize on your spotlight?” Her father must have taken the phone from her mother. His voice was coming through more clearly now.
PJ shook her head. “No, Dad. Gabe doesn’t like all the attention any more than I do most of the time. In fact, he’s managed to keep his house in Connecticut completely off the radar so far. Only his friends know he has it, so the chances of us being found there are slim to none.”
As she spoke, she tossed a few outfits into a backpack. She’d ask Ellis to swing by and have her other luggage taken to the tour bus so it would make it out to Denver and be there when she arrived to perform.
“You’re not... Well, w-what I mean is…are you two...?” Her mother, now seemingly back in control of the phone, all but stammered.
PJ rolled her eyes. “Oh for heaven’s sake, you guys. I’m not a gullible teenager anymore. Gabe isn’t looking for anything like that from me.” She might not be a teenager, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words sex and Gabe in the same sentence to her parents. This whole conversation was a lot more than she wanted to deal with right now, but she knew they had their reasons for worrying.
“Gabe is a friend. Nothing more. He has his own money, his own fame and his pick of any woman he wants on the planet. Believe me, there’s literally nothing Gabe could want from me.”
PJ had to admit, saying that out loud hurt more than a bit. She’d had a crush on Gabe Sawyer for a long time. But the truth was, he only saw her as a f
riend—and that was all right. She was glad to have his friendship. It was all she could offer right now with the shape her world was in anyway. It was really all she needed…. Really. Maybe if she kept telling herself that, she’d stop hoping for something more from him.
Chapter Five
PJ gasped. “It’s incredible, Gabe.”
The two-story, light-gray house with black shutters had a small carriage house off to the side of the driveway, and an enormous landscaped yard behind tall stone walls. There wouldn’t be any issues about privacy here. At least, not until the paparazzi got wind of her location and tried to climb the walls. At eight feet, they looked fairly formidable, but you never knew what people would try once the rest of the news in her personal journal broke.
PJ faltered a bit as her thoughts turned back to her journal, but she was determined to step away from all that for a while. She just wanted one week to rest before she had to face the storm that would surely hit soon.
Gabe pulled Pru’s bag from the trunk of his car and took held her arm to walk her up the steps.
“Wait till you see the back. I bought it for the privacy, but the view of Long Island Sound can’t be beat, and the outdoor patio is amazing. I had the caretakers stock the kitchen for us, so other than going over to Jack’s house, we can hide out here.”
He pulled her through the foyer and down a long hallway that led straight out the back of the house. They ignored the formal dining room, sitting room and living room and landed in a large, open kitchen. From there, French doors spilled out onto the stone patio at the back of the house.
“Oh my gosh,” PJ said, knowing she sounded like an idiot, as she looked out onto the sparkling water of the infinity swimming pool that appeared to fall off into the ocean in an incredible optical illusion. An immaculately manicured lawn sloped to the ocean, and there were tennis courts off to the side of the patio.
Gabe nudged her shoulder and pointed to their left where a full outdoor kitchen and grill sat next to a large stone fireplace.
“Ohhhhhh. It’s like a private spa. A completely perfect oasis,” PJ said, and she knew she moaned again as she looked at the teak chairs in front of the outdoor stone fireplace with the Jacuzzi tub nearby.
PJ wondered how far they’d have to go to get to the party at Jack’s house the following day. She honestly wasn’t sure she wanted to leave the sanctuary Gabe had just shown her.
“Where does Jack live?”
Gabe’s face broke into a wide grin—one of his grins that always made her breath catch, and her panties want to fly off and scream ‘take me!’—well, that is, if panties could scream.
“That’s the best part.” Gabe slipped his hand into hers and pulled her further out to the edge of the patio, then leaned a bit further and pointed to the right. The large stone wall continued around the side of the house, even blocking access to the ocean. PJ had seen a gate at the back of the yard and assumed that led to a private beach. But, now she saw another small gate in the wall and the roof of a large house beyond it.
“That’s Jack’s house,” Gabe said.
PJ laughed. “You bought a house right next to your friend?”
Gabe nodded, and his grin widened if that was even possible. “I couldn't resist. That way, I know there won't be a psycho over there. And the guy on the other side of me is Andrew, Jack’s best friend. He and his wife, Jill, will be at the party tomorrow. We all have the codes to each other’s gates so we can cut through our yards. It’s perfect. Chad lives about three houses up, so he and Jennie need to walk down the road or take the beach,” he said, as if that were the greatest hardship in the world.
PJ just continued to shake her head, but she was smiling. She couldn’t believe all his good friends owned houses so close to one another. What would she give to have that kind of life? That kind of friends?
Anything, she realized. She had huge bank accounts and had invested in several profitable businesses, but now she saw the limitations of that. Only building money, not much of a life….
She could see why Gabe was thinking of giving up his hotels. Everything he needed was right here. She would want to stay here full time, too, if she were him.
PJ’s phone beeped in her purse.
“I should let you get settled in, I guess,” he said, nodding in the direction of her bag.
PJ nodded. It felt a little awkward suddenly, now that they were really here, all alone, in his house together. “Yeah, I should check messages and touch base with Debra. Make sure everything’s still on track for next week’s shows. I’m sure Lydia’s giving her hell. She’s probably furious that I’m not adding interviews to the schedule this week. If Lydia had her way, she would have milked this episode for all the publicity she could get.”
He ran his hand across her lower back as he guided her toward the house. “Let’s get you to your room, then. I can start dinner while you take care of things.”
Gabe showed her to a room just off the patio where they stood just moments earlier. The queen-sized bed was piled high with welcoming pillows and a vase of fresh flowers brightened the room, but it was the doorway leading out to a private side patio that drew her attention. The French doors had an archway over them, and they practically beckoned her to go outside and sit in the sun. Teak furniture that matched the set on the patio created the perfect private sitting area. As with all of Gabe’s hotels, everything she could want was set out for her—every luxury available to her.
“This is perfect, Gabe. Thank you,” she said as he set her bag down on the bed.
“Let me know if you need anything. Something light for dinner?”
PJ wrinkled up her nose, drawing a laugh from Gabe. “Comfort food, it is,” he said, walking toward the bedroom door. “Double bacon, blue-cheese burgers and mashed potatoes coming right up. I’ll throw a salad together on the side to fight off some of the guilt.”
PJ laughed and then pulled her phone from her bag and sank down into an overstuffed wing chair in the corner of the room. The laugh dried to dust in her throat as she read the line of text messages on her phone. PJ scrolled to see the phone number for the incoming texts, but the originating numbers were blocked.
How is that possible? Her phone number was kept under lock and key. Her parents, Debra, Lydia, Ellis, the band and a few friends had it. She was fairly sure Lydia and Ellis’s mom had it since both her children worked so closely with PJ, but no one on that list would give it out.
PJ scrolled to the top text and read through to the bottom. They’d all come within minutes of one another:
Did you think I was going to let you off the hook so easily, Pretty Prudence Cantrell?
Last night was just a taste of the hell you’ll be going through in the weeks to come.
Did you cry yourself to sleep last night?
How many times do you think your baby cried himself to sleep without you?
Time to pay the price for your selfishness, Pretty Pru.
PJ closed her eyes and squeezed them until the tears she’d felt threatening backed off just a bit. Crying wouldn’t change anything.
Her hands shook as she typed in a response.
What do you want?
She jumped when the phone beeped almost immediately.
Tsk tsk, Pretty Pru. I already told you that. You’ll pay. It’s that simple. The world has only seen what you’ve let them see. You have them all fooled. But not me. I know the truth. I know all your dirty little secrets. And, I plan to make your payment long and hard.
PJ took a deep breath and pulled up her contacts, then pushed the entry for her uncle and aunt, Brian and Susie Chambers. She listened to the ringing on the other end of the phone as her mind raced through the list of people who could be behind this.
“Hello.” It was Brian who picked up the phone.
“It’s me,” PJ said and realized she sounded awful. The words came out sounding more like a sob than anything intelligible.
“Pru, how’re you holding up?” Brian asked, an
d she could hear the genuine concern in his voice. It took several minutes for her to get it together enough to answer him.
“Uh, it’s not good, Brian.”
“I know, hon. Susie saw it on one of the talk shows this morning. Your mom said you were handling things okay. That you’re taking a few days off?”
PJ shook her head even though he couldn’t see her over the phone. “I didn’t tell Mom and Dad all of it, Brian.”
There was a slight pause on the other end before her uncle answered. “Didn’t tell them what, Pru?”
“Whoever leaked those things from my journal—they have the whole thing. They have all of it, from the time I left rehab on. They know, Brian.”
PJ could hear him talking in the background before Susie’s voice came on the phone.
“Are you sure they have it all? Maybe they just got pieces of it?” Susie asked, and PJ lost her fight against the tears as she answered.
“The journal is missing—they have it. And they texted me. Whoever it is mentioned the baby. They know.” PJ’s shoulders slumped, and she pulled her knees up to her chest as she waited for a response.
“Did they ask for money?” Susie asked.
“I don’t know what they want. He said I’d pay, but I honestly don’t know if he was talking about money or something else.” She could hear more muffled talk as Brian and Susie spoke.
Brian came back on the phone. “Susie and I need to talk about this, Pru, but we’ll call you soon. I want you to tell your parents about this, you hear me? You need to let them know what’s going on so they can increase your security and help you deal with this if it does come out.”
“I’ll tell them soon, Brian. I just want a few days, and I’m in a safe location right now. No one knows where I am.”
And, no one was supposed to have your cell phone number, either.
It was stupid really, but PJ was twenty-nine years old. She didn’t want to run to her parents to fix her problems anymore. Lord knew, they’d had to do enough for her when she was younger. They shouldn’t have to carry her through this now. Whatever this person wanted, she’d handle it herself.
