Obsession Down Under

by MACADAM, LAYNE

  With a turn of the key, the engine fired and she steered the car into the late-afternoon traffic and toward the hotel where she was staying. The sooner she was locked safely behind her hotel room door, the better she would feel.

  Chapter 26

  Whip folded his arms and slouched against the shop front directly across the street from the bookstore, obscured by the crush of people and passing traffic. Jessie Rose’s words were like knives, carving him up, stabbing him deep, freshening old wounds, and renewing the pain.

  Why the hell was he still here? He must be some kind of dumb-ass masochist. Masochist, because instead of being three blocks away, he was hanging around here waiting to catch one last glimpse of her. Dumb, because by her own admission she’d duped him, and he hadn’t even had the slightest inkling of a clue. If she hadn’t made it as a writer she could’ve always tried her hand at acting, because when he’d proposed and she told him ‘she’d love him for eternity’ he sure as heck had been convinced.

  A game, she’d said. Nothing but a cruel game.

  And now, as they say in the movies, time to get the flock out of here.

  He climbed into the hired car just as Jessie Rose emerged from the shop and turned left to walk down the street. His eyes tracked her every step. This is crazy, he thought, kicking over the engine. When he’d read her book, he’d been sure there must have been a problem because other than the heroine being wheelchair-bound, it was their story. But she was exactly as he remembered. Beautiful. Desirable. Unchanged.

  She didn’t go far. He watched as she got into a car parked in a handicapped zone and minutes later steered into the traffic. He shook his head in disgust then pulled out behind her, several cars back. Nothing handicapped about her. She must really be a piece of work. God, he was a blind idiot.

  When she turned right, so did he, not because he was stalking her but because it was the way back to his hotel. A little farther on she took the entrance into the Hyatt Regency. He smiled and drove by, relieved she wasn’t staying at the same hotel.

  Not more than two minutes after closing the hotel room door behind him, Travis was banging on the other side. He knew it was his brother even before he answered. A twin thing. He was mildly surprised it had taken him so long.

  “Well, how’d it go? Did you talk to her? What did she say?”

  Whip walked over to the mini bar and poured a scotch. “You want something to drink?”

  “That bad, hey?”’

  “Yes or no?”

  Travis slid him a narrow-eyed glare and shook his head. “You’re avoiding the question.”

  “How astute of you, little brother.” The ‘little brother’ remark was guaranteed to piss Travis off. He was six-feet-two and always hated it when Whip called him that.

  Travis set his jaw and shook his head from side-to-side. “It’s not going to work.”

  Whip downed the contents of his glass in one swallow and poured another. Damn, he was going to get good and plastered tonight. Yep, totally fucking wasted. “What’s that you say, little brother?”

  “That shit you’re trying to pull, it’s not going to work. And in case you’ve forgotten, mate, you’ve got that paper to present in . . . let me see,” he said, breaking off to glance at his watch, “just over an hour, so you’d better ease up.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Fuck, indeed.”

  That he was one of the guest speakers at the cattle convention tonight had totally slipped his mind. He was supposed to present his PHD thesis with a question and answer forum afterward. “Do it for me. We look the same. No one will know you’re not me. You can read my notes.”

  “No fucking way.”

  “I’d do it for you.”

  “The fuck you would. You’d kick my ass there and back before you’d do it. Character building, you’d call it.”

  “Pussy.”

  “Bro, they’d know I was an imposter ten seconds after the first question was asked.”

  Travis’ words held truth and logic, his tone and eyes held sympathy. Whip heaved a sigh and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah, you’re right, I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  “So tell me, big brother, what the hell happened that was so bad you’d throw away you’re one big moment in the limelight to stay here and get smashed instead?”

  “I talked to Jessie Rose.”

  “And?”

  “Just call me Captain Shit-for-Brains and forget it.”

  “I swear, Whip, trying to get anything out of you is like pulling teeth. Now, come on just spit it out.”

  “Nothing to tell really, other than she parks illegally in handicapped zones, doesn’t love me, and never did. Apparently I was just her fuck buddy. Convenient. Nothing more.”

  “I don’t believe that codswallop for a second. I saw the way she was with you with my own eyes.”

  “Believe it and believe this, I don’t want to hear her name mentioned ever again. And if I mention her, you have permission to punch me out. I only thank God she’s staying at the Hyatt and not here, so I don’t have to lay eyes on her again.”

  “Whip, there’s got to be—”

  “The subject is closed. Now if we’re going to get to the convention on time then we’d both better get changed.”

  Travis shook his head. Whip might have reached his limit, but as far as Travis was concerned the subject wasn’t closed, merely postponed. “Sit in a crowded room with a bunch of blokes hanging on your every word while you rave on, I think I’d rather slam my cock in a car door.”

  “Have it your own way, mate. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Good luck then.” He clapped Whip on the back and then retired to his own room.

  Once there, he switched on the box, but Whip’s words kept playing through his mind and something his brother had said had bothered him. Handicap Zone. He’d got to know Jessica pretty damn well, and no fucking way would she park in a handicap zone without good reason. The Hyatt, hmm?

  He waited until he was sure Whip would be at the conference before taking the elevator to the ground floor, then headed out the exit and into a waiting taxi.

  “The Hyatt. Thanks, mate,” he told the driver as he climbed into the back seat. The journey was over in no time. He paid the fare and got out but took a few moments to think about what he was about to do. Whip would be pissed, no denying that, but hey - what was family for if not to get in each other’s business and piss each other off?

  A uniformed porter opened the door. Travis acknowledged him with a nod. On entering the hotel he marched over to the reception desk, and with a wink and a smile gave the cute African American receptionist Jess’s name.

  Her fingers tapped the computer keys. “Room Eight-three-three sir.”

  “Thanks, love.”

  “You’re welcome. Take the far elevator.”

  “Cheers.” He took her advice and rode the lift to the eighth floor, strode down the corridor but before rapping on the door he hesitated again. Was he doing the right thing? This was sure as heck none of his business, but he kept replaying in his head how Jessica had been with his twin back at Highland Glen. Only fuck buddies? No fucking way.

  Chapter 27

  The knock on the door surprised Jessica. Room service was quicker tonight. Having unstrapped her prosthesis only minutes before, she grabbed her crutches and opened the door.

  Her heart jackhammered but corrected itself almost as quick when she realized it was Travis McGregor staring down at her.

  “It’s been a long time, Jess.”

  The sight of her on crutches knocked him off-kilter, but his recovery was quick. She studied him as he took in her crutches, then those gray eyes dropped lower and he blanched.

  “Go away, Travis.” She tried to push the door shut in his
face, but his hand came up, barring her attempt.

  “God, Jess, I knew it had to be bad to keep you away from him.”

  This is not happening. This is not happening. The phrase repeated over and over in her head. She’d been strong for so long, but Travis’s compassionate face was the last straw. Tears she’d held at bay for months sprang to her eyes but were brushed away with a brutal hand.

  Travis stepped inside and shut the door.

  “I don’t want your pity, so please just leave and forget you saw me.” Travis had always been kind, so she thought he might cut her some slack. But no, he gently removed her crutches and scooped her into his arms. If she had the energy, she’d have beat on his chest like one of those pathetic heroines from an old movie. But she was out of energy.

  She didn’t protest when he settled her on the bed against the cushions and then sat on the edge beside her.

  “I’m not leaving until you tell me what really happened.”

  He had that same look in his eye Whip got, mulish, implacable. She heaved a sigh and gulped. May as well get it over with. He sure as heck wasn’t leaving until he knew the whole story, down to the minutest detail.

  “It was an accident. A stupid dumb accident.” Her lids closed over tired eyes, and she massaged her forehead, recalling the event. “Trish was set to collect me from JFK when I flew home but got caught up in traffic, so I grabbed a cab instead. Most expensive ride of my life.” Her eyes opened and her gaze went straight to his, but her attempt at humor fell short. Travis’ face was grim, his mouth a straight line.

  “My leg was crushed and they had to amputate. I don’t really remember too much about it.”

  He grasped her chin between his fingers and turned her face to his. “It was wrong of you to keep this from Whip, Jess.”

  Her shoulders lifted and fell. “Right or wrong, it’s done now, and it’s for the best.”

  “Best for who, Jess? Best for Whip? Come off it, that’s just plain selfish and cowardly.”

  Her eyes popped wide with his aggressive words, and she wrenched away and snapped back. “Selfish? Cowardly? I’m doing this for your brother. Whip doesn’t deserve a crippled wife.”

  “Whip deserves to make his own choices and to be with the woman he loves. What if this had happened after you were married Jess, what then?”

  “That would be different, and you know it.”

  “Bullshit. You were engaged, the wedding ceremony only a formality. You’d already made the commitment when you said yes, or is this just an excuse because the truth is you don’t really love him?”

  “How can you ask me that? You know I love him. I love him so much it’s killing me. Today when I saw the contempt in his eyes . . .” She broke off on a sob. Her body shook with the memory.

  She sniffed and wiped the back of her hand under her nose. Travis handed her a handkerchief and waited for her to compose herself. “Do you remember when I came off the bike?” she asked. At his nod of affirmation, she continued. “Whip was horrified I might have been maimed. How could I hold him to an engagement knowing how appalled he’d be?”

  “You’ve misjudged him, he’s not that shallow.”

  “Promise me you won’t tell him. It’s better if he stays angry with me.”

  “I don’t make promises I can’t keep, and I’m warning you, Jess, when I do tell him, he’ll come. You’d better be prepared because he’ll be more than angry, he’ll be furious.”

  “Please, don’t tell.”

  Travis stood. “I’ll go now, but I’ll leave you with this: What if it had been Whip who’d had the accident? Would you have only stayed out of pity or would you have stayed out of love? Now you think about that, little sister.”

  After the door closed behind him, she stayed on the bed thinking long and hard about what he’d said. Was she being selfish? If their positions had been reversed she would have remained faithful, it wouldn’t have altered her love for him.

  She had to concede Travis had a point. One thing was for sure, she did owe Whip an explanation and an apology. She’d undermined his love by taking away his right to decide whether he wanted a future with her or not. He might tell her to go to blazes after her performance today, but she had to see him. Tonight. Tell him the truth, apologize, and beg his forgiveness.

  It was late when Whip opened the door to Travis’s heavy rapping.

  “About time you got back,” Travis said, barging into the room. “How’d it go anyway?”

  Whip narrowed his eyes and gave him a shrewd stare. It was clear his twin had something to get off his chest. “Okay, bro, spit it out, it’s obvious there’s more on your mind than my presentation.”

  Travis prowled the room then, turning to face him, blurted out, “I went to see Jessica.”

  “You fucking did what?” Whip growled and tunneled his fingers through his hair to stop him from throttling his sibling. Travis had the McGregor interference gene in abundance, and just like their mother he thought he could fix everything. Well, some damn things were just un-fucking-fixable.

  He stamped over to the bar, poured a shot of whiskey, and downed it in one gulp. “Hell, Travis, I wish you’d learn to keep your damn nose out of my affairs. What the fuck were you trying to prove anyway?”

  “Jessica’s using a handicap parking spot didn’t sit right with me, and if you’d been thinking straight, it wouldn’t have sat right with you either.”

  “What are you saying? That there’s something wrong with her? Because I can tell you, bro, she looked fine to me.”

  Travis eyeballed him, shook his head, and then whooshed out a breath. “Mate, what if instead of breaking off the engagement back then, she’d e-mailed saying she’d been in an accident?”

  “What’s your point?”

  “Just answer the question.”

  “It wouldn’t have made squat of a difference. You know that.” The hairs on his nape stood on end, his skin prickled, and his limbs felt weak like all the energy had been sucked out of him. “How bad of an accident are we talking here?” He wiped a hand over his face and breathed in a big one.

  “Bad. Real bad. You’d better sit down.”

  “Don’t fuck with me, Travis, just give it to me straight.”

  “Car accident, mate, on the way home from the airport. She’s an amputee, right leg from below the knee. She tried to make me promise not to tell you.”

  “The fuck you say.” He sagged onto the bed, dropping his face into his hands. When he looked up, he asked, with furrowed brows, “Why the hell would she keep something like that from me?”

  “Didn’t want to burden you with a crippled wife.”

  “But that’s crazy. I love her. It wouldn’t have made a difference.”

  “Well, I just thought you should know, buddy. The ball is in your court now.”

  He felt his brother squeeze his shoulder and then he heard the quiet click of the door.

  What Jessie Rose must have gone through, it fair ripped his heart out. All the pain and anger he’d harbored over the breakup disappeared like magic.

  He glanced at his watch. It was late, yeah, almost a year and a quarter too fucking late, but his mind was made up in a heartbeat. He was going to get her now and take her home where she belonged.

  Chapter 28

  Jessica hesitated at Whip’s hotel room door, mustering her courage. After having made the decision to confess the truth, she got busy flipping through the phone book and calling hotels in the area. She got lucky on the fifth call. The front desk confirmed that Whip and Travis were booked in until tomorrow. Now that she was here, though, she wondered if perhaps it would be better to come back in the morning. She stood in the hallway chewing her lip with uncertainty when the door to his room was flung wide and the decision taken out of her hand.

  “
Jessie Rose, what are you doing here?”

  Her breath caught, and her heart swelled. “I owe you an explanation, and an apology. But if you’re on your way out I can come back tomorrow.”

  “No, now’s fine. In fact I was on my way to see you.”