When she tried to take his arm, he jerked away. He saw the agony in her eyes, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care about anything at this moment. “I’m sure there are a number of people at the ball who will be glad to take you home, Simone. You and I are done here. In fact, we’re done permanently.”
“Hutch, please...” Tears spilled down her cheeks. “You’re twisting the facts and coming up with the wrong answers. This isn’t as bad as it seems.”
He opened the car door and managed not to groan when he slid behind the wheel. “I don’t want to hear it, Simone. Goodbye.” Barely allowing her time to jump out of the way, he put the car in gear and screeched out of the parking lot. Though he was cautious getting out of town, when he made it to the interstate, he pressed down on the accelerator and tried to outrun his demons.
Thank God he hadn’t told her he loved her. That would have been the final indignity. He felt like a credulous fool. Hell, he was a fool. He had let hot sex blind him to Simone’s real nature. She was a user and a manipulator.
He drove on into the night with no particular destination in mind. At last, though, his massive headache forced him to pull off and find a motel room for the night. The clerk gaped at him—he must have looked like something out of a horror movie—but handed over the key without protest.
Hutch parked in front of the door to 11C. He had no suitcase, no shaving kit, nothing. What did it matter?
Before he could collapse onto the bed, he had one phone call to make. He was scheduled to work Saturday and Sunday. Fortunately, he was able to get in touch with his second in command, who agreed to switch shifts for a couple of days.
That left Hutch totally unencumbered for the next forty-eight hours. He stumbled into the bathroom, took a quick shower and carefully washed the wound on his head. Then he went back into the other room, pulled back the hideous bedspread and fell facedown on the mattress.
* * *
The following morning, he awoke with the hangover from hell. Then he realized he hadn’t been drinking. After that, he remembered that Simone was gone. He felt empty inside. Though he was hungry, no amount of food could fix what was wrong with him.
Even so, he couldn’t sit around in his tux all weekend. He downed some acetaminophen and made it out to the car on shaky legs. Fortunately, there was a diner nearby...the ubiquitous staple of rural Texas. The waitress took one look at his face and didn’t bother with chitchat.
After a hearty meal of bacon, eggs and toast, Hutch felt marginally better. Next on his list was a stop at a discount store. There he found a pair of jeans that fit his long, lanky body. He grabbed a couple of plain knit shirts, some underwear and socks, and cheap sneakers.
Back at the motel, he took another shower. It was hot as hell outside. Afterward, he put on his new duds and stretched out on the bed to watch TV. He rarely had time in his life for something so mindless and sedentary. Every day was filled with work and more work and, recently, Simone.
For the first time, he allowed himself to remember what had happened. There was plenty to be pissed about. The worst was that she had lied to him. By omission, but still. She told him she got pregnant because she wanted to be a mother.
Maybe that part was true, but it wasn’t the whole truth. The real truth was money. Lots of it. People would do almost anything for money.
Eventually, his anger was replaced by a dull acceptance. Maybe he wasn’t supposed to get married and have a family of his own. Maybe he was supposed to devote his life to helping other people have healthy babies.
By Sunday morning, both bumps on his head were healing nicely. In addition to his new clothes, he had bought a handheld mirror so he could look at the knot on the back of his skull. That was a mistake, because suddenly the memory of Simone stroking his brow and running her fingers over his head came back with a vengeance.
He had to check out of the room by eleven. After that task was accomplished, he sat in his car and clenched the steering wheel with two hands. One thing was certain. He was not returning to Royal in order to worm his way back into Simone’s good graces. He probably wasn’t even in love with her, not really. He’d been dazzled by good sex and his need to watch over triplets who needed him.
Slowly, he cruised the small town, which was little more than a wide space in the road. They had a fast-food place but little else. The only meal he had eaten was breakfast yesterday. His stomach had been rolling and pitching too much to think about food again. Now, though, he was hungry.
In the drive-through he ordered a double cheeseburger with fries and a Coke. His whole life was in ruins. Why not indulge in junk food, as well?
The calorie-laden meal filled the hole in his stomach. Unfortunately, the aching maw in his chest was not so easily appeased. It hurt. His whole body hurt. So be it.
He turned the vehicle around and headed for Royal. Monday morning would come bright and early. He’d taken far too much advantage of his flexible schedule lately. If he kept this up, the hospital board would decide they had made a mistake in hiring him.
Hutch was good at medicine. He was lousy at love. It made sense to concentrate on the one aspect of his life that had never disappointed him.
When he finally made it back to Royal, darkness had fallen. He deliberately avoided looking at Simone’s house when he was forced to pass by it on the way to his. At home, he walked from room to room, pacing aimlessly. In the back bedroom there were still a few boxes he hadn’t unpacked yet. Maybe he would list the place this week and move across town.
If he were honest, though, he didn’t want to give Simone the satisfaction of knowing she had that kind of power over him. He’d been taken in by a pro, but he didn’t have to let it happen again.
* * *
Monday morning, he showed up for work clean shaven and bright eyed. He’d slept reasonably well from sheer exhaustion. Despite that, the pain in his chest and his gut remained. Doggedly, he concentrated on the cases at hand. His own personal trauma would not be allowed to interfere with the quality of his performance.
The day lasted a thousand hours. It was all he could do to dispel the images of Simone from his mind. She was what she was. He needed to cut his losses and move on.
He was thirty minutes from finishing his shift when he ran into Janine.
She frowned at him. “You look like hell. Are you ill? Go home, Hutch. Get some rest.”
“I’m not sick,” he said. “Just tired. I was about to leave.”
“I know you’re glad Simone is doing better,” she said.
Hutch went still. “Oh?”
Janine frowned. “I assumed you’ve been with her since she got out of the hospital. Isn’t that why you look like you’re running on four hours’ sleep?”
“I haven’t seen Simone recently,” he said carefully. “What’s wrong with her?”
The other doctor stared at him. “She collapsed at the party Friday night. One of the guests found her in the parking lot. No one could find you, so they called an ambulance.”
Hutch felt his bones turn to water. “An ambulance?”
“Her blood pressure skyrocketed. She had some kind of panic attack. Because she was already weak from the battle with nausea, we had to give her IV fluids again. Simone told me you were meeting her at her house. That was the only reason I released her when I did.”
“I wasn’t there,” Hutch said slowly. His heart slugged in his chest. “But I’m headed there now. Thank you, Janine.”
This couldn’t be happening again. Another woman he cared about slipping away, and him powerless to save her. Simone wasn’t perfect. If he took a mental step backward, though, he could admit that the love she had demonstrated for her babies was real and fierce.
Maybe he had made too much of her original motives. God knows, he had screwed up at several major points in his own life. Was it fair to judge
Simone for her missteps, when his had been equally egregious?
The truth dawned slowly, in tandem with incredulity. The reason he’d been so angry with her at the party was because he loved her. Her betrayal had cut straight through to his heart, leaving him bleeding in more ways than one.
He drove like a madman, half expecting to find Simone unconscious or worse. When she answered the door at his first knock, the moment was anticlimactic at best.
“Why did you lie to your doctor?” he demanded, going on the attack.
Simone gazed at him with blank eyes. “What are you doing here, Hutch?” She didn’t back up, and she sure as hell didn’t invite him in.
Suddenly, everything coalesced into one shining bubble of certainty. “We need to talk.” He said the words quietly, trying not to spook her.
“I don’t think so.” She tried to shut the door, but he stuck his foot in the opening.
“Please, Simone. Let me speak my piece. Then if you want, I’ll leave.”
She lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug. “Whatever.”
He closed the door behind him and followed her to the den. Simone chose a straight-back chair. Hutch decided to stand. “I’m in love with you,” he said bluntly.
Her eyelids flickered, but the look on her face didn’t change. “I see.”
“I don’t care if those babies aren’t my biological children. I want to be their daddy.”
“That’s not going to happen.” At last a spark of blue in those lovely eyes gave him hope. He couldn’t get through to frozen Simone. Angry Simone was another story.
He ran a hand over the back of his neck. “I’ve done a lot of thinking in the last seventy-two hours. I was a fool to think your motives for carrying those babies were anything but pure. It was a knee-jerk reaction. You’ll never know how sorry I am for not trusting you.”
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better? You shut me out, Hutch, and not for the first time.” Her anger made him wince.
“I know. My only excuse is that your Maverick guy got inside my head. As far as your inheritance goes, who am I to judge? Money isn’t a bad thing in and of itself.”
“Just people like me...” Her facade cracked. For a moment, he saw how deeply he had hurt her.
“Oh, God, Simone.” He knelt at her feet. “I was an ass. I lost you once. I won’t lose you again. I love you, and I’m pretty sure you love me, too. Marry me, sweetheart. Let’s make a family together. Forgive me, little mama.”
She lifted a hand to touch the scab at his temple. “People would talk.”
“Let them. Nothing matters except you and me and those precious babies. I won’t give up on us. I won’t. This is too important.”
Simone eluded his hold and stood, fleeing to the other side of the room. She had her back to him, so he couldn’t read her expression. “There’s something else you should know,” she said.
His chest tightened. “Oh?”
After a long silence, she turned around. “You wouldn’t be marrying an heiress.”
“I don’t understand.”
“As soon as I deliver these babies, I receive five million dollars. That was the deal. I could only inherit my share of the estate if I produced an heir of my own. Otherwise, all of it went to my father. But my lawyer has drawn up papers to put three million in trust, one million for each of the children when they turn twenty-five.”
“Two million is still a lot of money.”
“That’s how much I’m donating to Homes and Hearts. I didn’t want to keep any of it. Not after the way you looked at me Friday night. I need you to understand why I did what I did.”
“You don’t have to explain. You’re entitled to your own choices.”
Her short laugh held little humor. “Don’t you mean my own mistakes? Here’s the thing, Hutch. I’ve been jockeying for my father’s attention my whole life. He and my grandfather made no secret of the fact that I was a disappointment. They wanted a boy, another Parker male to carry on the family tradition. When I heard the terms of the will, I was hurt. And angry. I’ve never been good enough, you know?”
“Simone—”
She held up a hand, cutting him short. “I don’t want you feeling sorry for me. It is what it is. But I’m keeping the land. Those acres of Texas are my birthright. Generations of Parkers have lived there and ranched and farmed and done whatever they had to do to survive. I won’t apologize for wanting that legacy, not only for me, but for my children.”
He exhaled, his shoulders tight. “Are you done?”
“What else is there to say?”
“You could tell me you love me.” He managed to say the words jokingly, but the fear he had ruined something precious choked him. Simone’s silence was frankly terrifying. “I’ll grovel if need be, my sweet firecracker.”
He saw the muscles in her throat work as she swallowed. “You’ll want children of your own.”
It wasn’t a question. He frowned. “I think it would be more correct to say I will want more children of my own. I already cherish those three little lives you’re carrying. I don’t care if their biological father is blond and blue-eyed. We live in a global world. I grew up understanding that many people drew lines to shut me out. I want to make a family with you, of children who never have to know those limits. We’ll build our lives around love, Simone. You and I were both made to feel less at times, but that’s over. Tell me you believe that. Tell me you love me. Tell me I didn’t destroy our second chance.”
His life hung in the balance.
Tears rolled down cheeks that were too pale. She came to him at last, sliding her arms around his waist and resting her cheek over his heart. “I do love you, Hutch. I never stopped. And, yes...I want to marry you and make a family together.”
“Thank God.” He held her tightly, his own eyes damp. “I adore you. I swear you won’t regret this.”
After long, aching moments, Simone pulled back and looked up at him. “I’m sorry these babies aren’t yours,” she said, regret shadowing her gaze. “I’m so very sorry.”
He shook his head, feeling everything in his world settle into his place. “That’s where you’re wrong, my love. Those babies are mine, in every way that counts. I love them, and I love you. Now hush, and let me kiss you.”
Simone smiled at him tremulously. “Only a kiss?”
“Oh, no,” he said, scooping her into his arms. “We have a lot of makeup sex coming our way.”
His bride-to-be gave him a wicked grin, looking more like herself at last. “Then let’s get started, Dr. Hutchinson. I’ve been waiting a long time for this.”
He strode down the hall and up the stairs with his precious burden. “So have I, sweet Simone. So have I...”
* * * * *
Don’t miss a single installment of TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB: BLACKMAIL.
No secret—or heart—is safe in Royal, Texas...
THE TYCOON’S SECRET CHILD
by USA TODAY bestselling author Maureen Child.
TWO-WEEK TEXAS SEDUCTION
by Cat Schield.
REUNITED WITH THE RANCHER
by USA TODAY bestselling author Sara Orwig.
EXPECTING THE BILLIONAIRE’S BABY
by Andrea Laurence.
TRIPLETS FOR THE TEXAN
by USA TODAY bestselling author Janice Maynard.
June 2017: A TEXAS-SIZED SECRET
by USA TODAY bestselling author Maureen Child.
July 2017: LONE STAR BABY SCANDAL
by Golden Heart® winner Lauren Canan.
August 2017: TEMPTED BY THE WRONG TWIN
by USA TODAY bestselling author Rachel Bailey.
September 2017: TAKING HOME THE TYCOON
by USA TODAY bestselling author Catherine Mann.
October 2017:
BILLIONAIRE’S BABY BIND
by USA TODAY bestselling author Katherine Garbera.
November 2017: THE TEXAN TAKES A WIFE
by USA TODAY bestselling author Charlene Sands.
December 2017: BEST MAN UNDER THE MISTLETOE
by USA TODAY bestselling author Kathie DeNosky.
* * *
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Keep reading for an excerpt from LITTLE SECRET, RED HOT SCANDAL by Cat Schield.
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Little Secret, Red Hot Scandal
Triplets for the Texan Page 17
