“She’s lucky you are such a compassionate person. Most people would have left her there to die.”
The deeply accented Texas drawl shook Nadia out of her secret appraisal of his body. She mentally slapped herself out of the trance she had sunk into.
“I couldn’t leave her there,” Nadia murmured, more to herself than to him. Her fingers sank into the dog’s fur and immediately Nadia remembered what had happened earlier. With all the drama of the thunderstorm, and injuring the dog, she’d almost forgotten the emotions from before. Now it came back, sizzling through her like a firestorm.
Tears hit the backs of her eyes, while humiliation slammed into her body like a wave. She should get used to this. Certainly shame and humiliation would be her constant companion once the truth hit, and she knew it would. For all of its charm and small town flair, Beaumont was a bustling city. Its citizens were good, honest, hard working people but, like always, and mostly in the wealthier groups, there were those that would gossip. She would have to learn to live with it.
She remembered the people milling around Drake’s living area. That was his crowd. The super rich. The elite of society. He’d been born to this. The ins and outs of this world ran through his blood by right. She, on the other hand, was an upstart here. The denizens of this crowd regarded her with something akin to horror and smug defiance. If it were up to them, she would never make it in their world.
The only person who had thought differently, and helped her maneuver the vagaries of her new social calendar, was now enemy number one. Thank God she was a quick learner; otherwise, she would be left out, floundering, and lost to the cruelty of society. Well, she’d learned her lesson and she doubted she would trust so openly again.
Dear God, how would she ever face anyone after this?
Was she strong enough to do this?
She stepped back from Drake’s overwhelming presence. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him regarding her intensely. Of course he was. She was practically having a nervous breakdown in his house.
“I have to leave, but please send word, or call me whenever you find out something. You remember where to find me, right?”
He nodded, and without stopping her, let her leave. The look in his eyes when she turned around showed her that he knew something. Somehow Drake Thompson realized something wasn’t right, and Nadia knew that if she allowed it, he might make everything worse than what it was already. That was the last thing she needed.
***
Camera’s flashed and snapped. Every paparazzo was out for a surprise shot. Drake Thompson knew better than to let one hint of unsettling emotion cross his face. That would only invite their specific brand of torture.
He pressed his arm tighter around Laura’s waist, slipped a lazy, one sided grin on his face and pretended that this was exactly where he wanted to be at the moment. Which was a lie. What he really wanted was his back porch, a cold beer, and his comfortable deck chair to lounge around in. With the sounds of wildlife that was so abundant in south Texas, Drake could unwind and listen to nature calm him like always.
As for right now, he stood there obediently and mentally chanted a small spell which would turn every picture on every frame into a blurry haze for him, a light Amber Druid trick that he incorporated to keep people from getting a clear view of him on camera.
Ten minutes later he was inside the large ballroom that was set up for a certain animal charity tonight. The plate fees were set at two thousand a piece, but with all the proceeds and donations going to shelters and clinics around Texas, Drake hadn’t minded forking out the money. The place was packed, filled to the brim with politicians, ranchers, and business folk who knew just how important this funding could be. Drake refused to get on his soapbox. He would rather work hard and talk less, but he knew his appearance tonight would be remarked upon and might draw generous donations not only for his clinic, but also for others.
Society was like a mistress. You needed to charm her every once in awhile, well, a bit more often than that, and if you were nice you might get lucky every time you stood in her presence. Drake kept that phrase in his mind when he thought of all of the invites he received in the mail. There was no need to attend every single one, but every so often it was needed to keep the peace, so to speak. Drake was a business man first and foremost, so coming out and playing polite every once in a while helped.
“She is an upstart bitch.”
The phrase was scalding and came from across the room. With his Druid ability, the statement cut through the room like a knife with deadly accuracy. Drake could feel the tension rise. Even with every other conversation going on at the moment, the drone of whispers from across the room was amazingly accurate, and Drake didn’t have to look to see where the women were sitting.
“I heard from Tammy the other day that she walked in on Donavan with Suzanne Harrows. They were going at it like rabbits on his office desk in his house. When she noticed, she ran, and no one has seen her since.”
“Do you blame her? I wouldn’t show my face either. Everyone knows he was only with her for the money, and she couldn’t keep him happy one bit.” This was whispered by another woman in the group. Drake could taste their excitement over the juicy gossip that was being shared.
“Ever since Linda Browning died a little over a year ago, Donavan had been sniffing around the new protégé’s tail hoping against hope that she might give in and let him inside. Well, he was let in, and was just getting his hands all up in that particular cookie jar, when little Ms. Upstart caught onto what he was doing.”
Drake continued to glance around the ballroom, make small talk with Laura and a few other guests, but the conversation across the room was giving him more answers than anyone else had over the past week. He usually wouldn’t take anything they said at face value, but for some reason this particular gossip fest felt true, especially when he knew Donavan to be an ass already.
The appearance of Nadia on his doorstep late last Friday night had jarred him a bit. After examining the animal and gleaning a bit more from being in her presence, he could now see what should have been more than apparent to him when he first opened the door. She’d been extremely upset, and not just because of what happened to the animal. Something else caused the anger, hurt, and betrayal to seep from her pores, shimmering above her in luminescent waves.
The new, young protégé of the deceased Linda Browning was a twenty five year old newcomer into the world of horrendously wealthy, diabolically smug socialites. In Texas, wealth was only frowned on when you were newly minted by its clutches. But along those same lines, it was forgivable if you were thrown headlong into the fray. In Nadia’s position, Drake knew that it was pure jealousy and back biting arrogance that was giving her nothing but hell ever since she had taken over the reigns of Linda’s business.
Apparently Linda had seen something-some bright, focused light inside the young woman that cemented the decision in her mind to move her up in the world. At twenty-four, Nadia became president, numero uno, over the brain center of The Browning Corporation. She worked her way up since the age of eighteen, and now, in turn, ran a huge corporation that managed three magazines; two boutiques, one in Beaumont, the other in Houston; and numerous charity organizations. Not to mention, it kept her in a state of luxury that continued to amaze the young woman that came from a lower class working family.
The will hadn’t been that shocking, at least not in Drake’s estimation, and he knew that the job was more than a handful. But the ever resourceful and determined Nadia could make anything run smoothly.
When they first moved to Texas, back when Nadia was twelve, her father, Matt Morales, worked for him until the day of his and his wife’s death when Nadia was a green sixteen year old. Matt had been one of the best accountants that Drake ever employed, and upon his death, Drake had kept an eye on the young and impressionable girl that was left all alone then shipped off to a foster home, but he never forced himself in her life.
At the
age of eighteen, right out of high school, Drake pulled a few strings with Linda, promising her that he would find someone perfect to be the assistant to Linda’s personal secretary. He’d gotten Nadia the interview, without her knowledge, and from then on anything that caught Linda’s eye had been all Nadia.
Now sitting here, suffering through this fanfare event, Drake listened to the gossipy hens on the far side of the ballroom, and was sick to his stomach at what had surely caused that hurt, painful stamp around Nadia’s aura the other night. She was a lovely young woman, brimming with drive and fire, and he only hoped she could come back from that pain and move beyond it.
Now he would just have to contain the urge to rip Donavan Hamilton’s limbs from his body the next time he saw the bastard.
Chapter 2
The hot Texas sun beat down on Nadia’s uncovered head as she sat beside a clearly upset Franco Magana in the outside corner of a trendy downtown restaurant. The establishment’s high walls halfway protected the wealthy clientele from the press, but just twenty minutes ago their waiter had to call the police to pull a photographer from the tree beside Nadia’s table.
The madness was already beginning.
The man was raving about trying to get a picture of the elusive “ice princess,” as Nadia was being called now.
She sunk her fingers into the muscles around her neck, trying to ease the tension away. The model she used for high profile shoots like these hadn’t shown up this morning, which was the last thing she wanted to happen since she was trying to make Mr. Magana happy.
“Darling, I need models that show up on time. With no models, we have no picture taking. I know you realize this, no?” Franco’s head tipped slightly sideways, as his accented voice poured over Nadia’s stretched out nerve endings.
“Mr. Magana, I’m so sorry. I will call in two other models for tomorrow. How is that?” Nadia questioned, hoping to soothe the irate Italian photographer. She needed him for the new spread. THE TREND was on pace to join the ranks of exalted magazines everywhere, and when you were being compared with the likes of VOGUE, COSMOPOLITAN, and VANITY FAIR, every department needed to be running like a ship in top notch performance. This was the first time since she’d come on board as the new president that they were this close to matching those fine journals. She was determined to do everything to make that happen, without losing her vision or her mind along the way.
“Call me Franco, love, and of course that will work. I love you and what you are doing with this company. I know Linda would have loved it too. That is why I work with you, no?” Franco said with surprising honesty.
The middle-aged photographer to the stars was on everyone’s list. For Nadia, she pulled the coup of the decade getting him to shoot a spread for her magazine. So far he was acting totally out of character. She’d heard very bad things about this man, how he was vainer than ten supermodels, an extreme perfectionist and numerous other things, but looking at him now Nadia was just damn glad she could placate him enough to have him come back and try this all over again.
“Darling,” his voice deep with an Italian accent, “you need to let these worries you have pass you by. It is not good for you or for your business.”
Nadia shook her head “I know.” God, did she ever.
She looked up over the table to the handsome Franco and sent him a gracious smile. “Please, let me apologize once more, and like I said, we will be back where we need to be tomorrow with more models than you can shake a finger at.”
A smile full of Italian charm slipped over his features. “Good, I cannot wait to capture the beauty and fire of this great city for your magazine.”
Two hours later, Nadia was beginning to cool off in her downtown office in Beaumont, when Renee opened the door.
“Here are the messages from yesterday that I forgot to hand you, sorry, and also you have an enormously sexy man waiting for you,” Renee told her with a wide smile. The woman was the same age as Nadia, but a little more outspoken with her sexuality than Nadia would ever be. With her dark red-gold curls and an hourglass figure, it was hard for men to have a decent conversation with her, but for Nadia it was Renee’s sharp mind that kept her in this office. She was a shark-ruthless when she wanted information and downright mean when crossed. Nadia was more sedate, but loved Renee’s outlandish moments. The office place was never boring with her around.
“I just got here,” Nadia whined, sitting back in her swivel chair and rubbing those muscles again. She swore she could feel the tension ebbing back into them. The day was never going to end.
“Please tell me that you aren’t going to make me turn him away.” Renee’s blue eyes practically begged Nadia, “If not for the sake of him needing to see you, at least let me tell him that you are busy so that I can keep him occupied in the front.”
He must really be something for Renee to get all worked up. Usually her eccentric secretary knew her worth, but kept the men to a distance, not caring one way or the other if they found her attractive or not. It seemed to Nadia that she really wanted to get her hands on this one.
“I couldn’t care less what you tell him, but allow me to grab something for my head before you send him in,” Nadia murmured, as she went through her top drawer searching for the bottle of aspirin she usually kept there.
“I’ll give you a few moments to unwind before sending him in, kay?” Renee gave Nadia a wink then turned and walked out, closing the door behind her.
After taking the aspirin, Nadia leaned her head back on the headrest and tried, unsuccessfully, to relax. The past week had been hellish and like she assumed, the ugly rumors spread, fueling gossip and more gossip. She wanted nothing more than to crawl under a rock and sleep the next year away. Hopefully, by that time the gossip mongers would find something else to sink their teeth into.
Without giving a thought to what she looked like, she pulled the clip from her hair in the back. The tension eased ever so slowly. Usually she didn’t have to travel to Houston all that much. Her company headquarters were here, in Beaumont, and with Derek running her large office in Houston, she was lucky to stay close to home. Today’s visit was specifically to placate Franco, and she managed to do so.
The afternoon sunlight slipped through her office windows highlighting the beautiful green walls and numerous bookshelves that lined them. Nadia got up and took off her light business jacket, hanging it on the coat rack beside the door. She pulled on her shirt, making sure the edges were still tucked in to her trousers, and then went and sat back down, determined to see what her mysterious “sexy guest” wanted. Then she could send him on his way and finally relax.
Right before Renee buzzed him in to allow him entrance into her office, there was a slight charge in the air, almost as if a jolt snagged through the air and into her body. With some alarm she watched the door open, and not surprisingly, Drake Thompson walked in.
The tingles gave him away. It was always like this for her, even when she had been a young twelve year old girl, new to Beaumont. Back then the tingles had scared the bejesus out of her. Now, she knew deep down inside her body, where she let no emotion reach, that this strong, deeply masculine man touched something far inside of her that had never been visible to anyone else.
His body, massive and honed to hard perfection, paused inside her office doorway. Testosterone oozed from him, stifling the air around him and letting her know that he was a bit more dominant than any other man would ever be. Nadia realized that no matter how persuasive he could be, how tactile and convincing, he was still the suave Texas gentleman, not entering her office until she deemed him able.
“Drake,” Nadia greeted him with a slight nodding of her head, telling him without words that he was welcome. She moved back to her chair and sat behind her desk, hoping the monstrous piece of wood would help her feel a bit more balanced and in command with him nearby. So far it wasn’t working.
“Nadia,” he murmured her name with all the rich vagaries of an exotic slur. To her it seemed t
o take him forever before he finished. His voice rippled like slow molasses warming in the hot sun. Tipping his head, he moved farther into the office and then lowered his body into one of the two chairs across from her desk.
She admired the ease in which he crossed one booted ankle over the opposite knee, sprawling in her chair as if it were a recliner, his body deceptively lazy looking in a half slouch. An older, snap front western shirt covered the broad expanse of his chest, while tattered denim hugged his long legs. Large, worn leather boots covered his feet. The dark warm chocolate of his hair was a bit long around his ears, but what really drew Nadia’s attention were his eyes. A decadent, sinful caramel color, warmed to a rich golden brown. Dark, heavy lashes fanned out around those scorching eyes and Nadia felt her body rise ten degrees hotter.
The buzzing of her phone slapped her back into reality.
“Excuse me,” she murmured to Drake and picked up the phone. “Yes?”
Renee’s eloquent voice came over the line, “Isn’t he just delicious?”
Nadia couldn’t even think of a decent reply, except for the furious blush that was working up her throat at the moment. She mumbled, “I’ll buzz you when I’m done,” then hung up the phone, praying the blush wasn’t as furious as she thought.
Clearing her throat, she looked back at Drake. “What can I do for you?”
“I tried to come by on Tuesday but you weren’t available.” The piercing eyes looking over at her from across her desk were intelligent and deadly accurate. Nadia didn’t even blink wrong, knowing instinctively that he might take something from that and glean the truth. She knew he might already know, but him knowing, and her telling him, were two different things. Her heart couldn’t handle anymore excitement at this moment.
“I was out of the office on business.” Changing the subject seemed like a great idea. “How is the Border Collie? Were you able to patch her back together?”
Her Druid Desire (The Amber Druid Series) Page 2
