Hidden Charm

by Jill Sanders

  “It’s like winning the lottery.” JT looked at his sister. His mother and Kayla were the only family that hadn’t asked anything of him, even after he’d offered.

  “What did you tell him?” Kayla asked. He could tell she too was done eating, since she’d pushed her half-empty plate away.

  “I told him no,” he replied.

  “Did you ask him anything? Did he say anything else?”

  “No.” He shook his head. “Just that he was short on cash and that I owed him.”

  “You owed him?” Rowan jumped in. “For what?”

  JT sighed and glanced around the table. “Why do all kids owe their parents? I suppose for him it was for putting up with me.”

  “That’s bull—” Kayla shook her head and glanced over at her son. “Shiitake,” she finished, causing JT to smile. “No child owes their parents for raising them.” Her eyes narrowed.

  “You were better off without him. Trust me.” He took another sip of his beer, then reached over and grabbed a roll and nibbled on it. “Our old man was never a father to me or you,” he told Kayla.

  “No, I suppose he wasn’t. Mom was better with him around, until recently.” She smiled.

  “Your mother has made a vast improvement in the past few months,” Rowan added.

  “She’s stronger than she believed.” JT relaxed and welcomed the change of subject. “We finally cleared out her garage so she could get her car in there.”

  “I know she really appreciated everything you did, helping out.” Kayla started cleaning CJ up. She chuckled. “How’d you get chicken in your hair?” Kayla asked him.

  “Chickens can’t fly,” CJ said as if that explained everything.

  “Right,” JT said, laughing.

  “We watched Chicken Run last night,” Rowan added as everyone laughed.

  JT helped Rowan clear the table as Kayla, CJ, and Emma moved into the living room. CJ wanted to show Emma his newest fire truck.

  “How long is Emma staying with you?” Rowan asked softly as they piled the dishes into the dishwasher.

  “I’m not sure. I know she broke things off with the creep she’d been seeing.”

  “You mean Mark Rayes?” When JT nodded, Rowan whistled. “No wonder she’s hiding at your place, if all the rumors are true.”

  He stopped what he was doing and looked at his soon-to-be brother-in-law. “What rumors?”

  “Well, it was all over the news. I mean, there were several videos, but they were so grainy and dark, no one believed it was really them. Never mind.” Rowan shook his head.

  “What?” JT set the dish down and turned fully to Rowan.

  Rowan glanced down the hallway and then lowered his voice again. “Like I said, the video was bad, but when a man punches a woman in a crowded bar, there’s talk. Lots of it. Haven’t you seen the video?”

  JT could barely register anything else that Rowan was saying. Mark Rayes had hit Emma?

  His eyes moved to the doorway.

  “Easy.” Rowan’s arm rested on his. “Obviously she’s fine. She wouldn’t be here if she wasn’t.”

  “She didn’t say… she said they had a public fight.”

  “No mention of getting hit?” Rowan asked.

  “No. No wonder she’s hiding out.” He had a funny taste in his mouth and swallowed some beer to soothe the anger and disgust that had knotted in his throat.

  “Yeah, the paparazzi wouldn’t leave her alone. It’s funny, they started painting it as her fault.”

  “What?” JT almost screamed it, causing both of them to turn and look towards the doorway with concern.

  “Mark held a conference the following morning, saying that he’d just found out that she’d cheated on him and that he’d gotten a little mad and that it wasn’t as bad as the video made it out to look. When Emma didn’t come out with a statement, the press ran with the story.”

  “He was the one cheating on her. He’d been cheating since day one.”

  “Yeah, everyone who isn’t the press figured that out.” Rowan finished loading the dishwasher and shut it. “Have another beer.” He popped the top and handed it to him. “Don’t let her see that anger in your eyes. There’s no cause for it at this point. The man you want to punch is clear across the country.”

  “Yeah,” he said, letting his shoulders relax as he took another drink. “What gets me is, the son of a bitch is going to be even more famous because of me.”

  “Oh?” Rowan said, leaning against the bar.

  “I’m the one who picked Mark to play Dylan St. Clair.” JT shut his eyes. “Still, I guess he really does fit the bastard.”

  “In your book, doesn’t everyone die at the end?”

  JT’s eyes met Rowan’s. “Yup.” JT’s gut did a twist.

  “I like your family,” Emma said as JT drove them back to his island on the boat. The night was so dark, she doubted she could see her hand in front of her face if it weren’t for the floodlights on JT’s boat.

  She was still a little nervous about finding the island, but trusted JT completely.

  “I think you won them over,” JT said, glancing over at her. “I think CJ is in love.”

  She smiled. “He said I could come back and play with him anytime. He even offered me one of his toy trucks.”

  “Wow, you must have made an impression. He only lets me play with them.”

  “I wish your mother could have been there. I hope she feels better,” she added. Shortly after they had arrived, Kayla had informed them that his mother had called and said she had a fever and didn’t want CJ to catch a cold from her.

  “Yeah, Rowan will check on her tomorrow.” There was something in his voice that had her looking his way.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Hmm?” he replied just as they were pulling into the boathouse.

  “You sounded as if there was more behind the issue.”

  He cut the engine of the boat. The silence of the night surrounded them.

  “My mother was not only a hoarder, she also struggles with agoraphobia. For almost five years, she never left her house.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said and watched him jump onto the dock. Bo followed him and raced off into the night. “That must have been hard on you.”

  “Me?” he asked, tying the boat to the dock.

  He helped her step onto the dock. “Sure, I mean, having someone housebound is a lot of work. Delivering groceries, checking on her, you know.”

  “It wasn’t work.” He shrugged. “She’s my mother. She had a local boy deliver food, I showed up twice a week when I went to the mainland.”

  “JT.” She waited until he looked at her. “I know what it’s like to watch someone you love deteriorate in front of you. Whether physically or mentally, it’s still hard.”

  He took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, it was hard. I think it hit Kayla a lot harder when she returned home. Then, going through what she had with CJ’s father…”

  “Kayla told me that Connor’s father killed himself. Do they know why?” Emma asked, falling into step with him as they made their way up to the house.

  “His wife and baby had died. He came here to try and patch things up with Kayla, but she turned him down. She was already getting involved with Rowan.”

  Emma was silent for a while. “Kayla doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would have been the other woman.”

  JT took a deep breath. “She wasn’t. The scum led her on and secretly married someone else his family approved of.”

  “That must have been hard for her.”

  “They’re better off now.” He smiled. “Rowan was my best friend at one point. I still count him as one of the people I’m closest to.”

  He opened the back door, and Bo rushed past them into the house. JT shook his head at the dog.

  “That dog needs training,” he mumbled.

  “He’s still a puppy,” she replied, smiling when the dog rushed over and started lapping up the water in his bowl. “Beside
s, he was thirsty.”

  She had stopped just inside the door and turned around, causing him to bump solidly into her. His arms came up and held her still.

  For a full thirty beats of her heart, she was lost in his blue eyes. She’d never seen so many different emotions cross behind someone’s eyes before.

  He went from concern about his sister to frustration about Bo and settled on desire for her. Her own body reacted quickly to the nearness of him.

  He was almost a foot taller than her and his shoulders were so wide, they blocked out the doorway behind him. His hands were light on her shoulders, but tightened when she moved a step closer to him and the heat behind his eyes intensified.

  “Emma.” She didn’t know if it was a warning because she placed her lips over his too quickly.

  She’d been dreaming about kissing him again for over a year, twelve long months of wishing. She had felt those lips over hers. She’d wanted to feel his hands on her body and allow herself to relax around a man and enjoy herself.

  Her hands moved up his arms, over his shoulders, and tried to pull him closer. It was like moving a stone statue. The only thing moving on him was his lips over hers.

  She pulled back slightly and looked up at him.

  “JT?”

  He shook his head as his eyes closed.

  “I want… You’re killing me, you know that, right?” He looked down at her again. Then he dropped his arms and took a step back, and she could tell the moment was gone. His eyes met hers. “Why didn’t you tell me about the fight with Mark?”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “I did.”

  He tilted his head and she knew that he knew everything. Crossing her arms over her chest, she walked into the living room, knowing that he would follow her. If she was going to tell him everything, she wanted to get comfortable first.

  Chapter 12

  JT sat next to Emma in the living room and waited. As she started talking, Bo sat on the floor next to her.

  “So, you know Mark and I were engaged shortly after you left.”

  “I’d heard.”

  “It was all a sham. We were to remain engaged through the release date. Then, after the movie was released, we could break things off. Quietly.”

  “But?” he asked, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. His eyes scanned her face for any sign of emotion. He expected a woman who’d broken things off with her fiancé to show hurt or anger. Instead, there was only weariness.

  “We went to a party, separately, and Mark was either drunk or high, whatever.” She rubbed her forehead in frustration. “He was usually either or both lately. Anyway, he tried to convince me to take him back and I brushed him off. Then later in the evening he didn’t like it when I talked to someone at the bar. He caused quite the scene.”

  “He hit you?” JT asked, already knowing the answer. He hadn’t seen the video yet, but by the look in her eyes, he knew.

  “Yes. I had never expected anything like that. Especially in public.”

  Behind her eyes, he noticed the emotions appear. Leaning closer, he reached out and touched her hand as it rested on Bo’s head, which was leaning on her knee as she talked.

  “He hurt you.” It was a statement and when their eyes locked, he watched her relax slightly.

  “Physically. Emotionally, no.”

  “Being embarrassed in public is hurtful.” He moved closer as their hands locked. “What did you do?”

  “Do?” Her eyes were locked on their hands.

  “Tell me he spent the night in a cell.” He said.

  “No.” She shook her head. “I… left the party and went home. I haven’t taken his calls since.”

  “That’s it?” He stood up and began to pace in front of the fireplace.

  “What did you expect? I’d call the police and have him locked up? He’s Mark Rayes. He’d be out before the ink on his fingers dried.”

  “So, you just left and no one called the cops?”

  She shrugged and looked down at Bo. His dog watched her as if he understood everything that was going on.

  “I woke to a phone call from my agent. He told me there was a video of what Mark had done to me that night. By the time I saw it, there had been close to three million views.” She closed her eyes and he could tell she was embarrassed.

  “So you decided to come here?”

  She looked up at him and nodded briefly. He could see there was something she wasn’t telling him, but decided not to push her further when he saw the weariness in her eyes.

  “Why don’t you head up and get some rest. I’ve got some more writing to get done tonight.” He tucked his hands into his jeans, wishing he could kiss her again.

  She stood, suddenly, and Bo jumped up and followed her towards him. She laid her hand gently on his face.

  “I’m not sorry I kissed you.” Her chin moved higher. “I’ve thought about it and you for over a year.” Her tongue darted out as she licked her bottom lip. “I came to you because I knew I’d be safe here, away from the limelight.”

  “And you are,” he promised.

  Her hand dropped and she turned around to go.

  “Emma.” She stopped a few feet away and looked back at him. “I’ve thought about you, kissing you, since the first moment I laid eyes on you.”

  Her smile lit the entire room and made his heart flutter like a damned schoolgirl.

  “Goodnight.” She turned and he watched her walk up the stairs with Bo trailing behind her.

  “Traitor,” he whispered to his dog’s back. He couldn’t blame the beast. He’d rather be snuggling with Emma then walking through the dark to his office on the far side of the island.

  When he opened the back door, the sound of far-off thunder greeted him and he groaned.

  “I should have converted the attic into an office,” he mumbled as he made his way in the dark.

  The way he figured it, he had about five hours of work to catch up on. There were edits for one of his work-in-progress titles, summaries to write for another book, and he was close to five thousand words in on his new WIP. Everything seemed to be past due.

  He’d put a lot of work off to spend time with Emma, but she was worth every minute of lost sleep.

  He spent the next three hours trying to stay focused on his work. By the middle of the fourth hour, he gave up and made his way back to the house in the rain.

  When the house came into view, he noticed the light was still on in his room. Was Emma still awake?

  As he moved closer, his heartbeat stopped completely when a man’s shadow crossed the bedroom window. Someone was in the house with Emma. His entire body went on guard.

  He took off at sprint. He hit the pathway and slipped on the slick bricks. His hands took the brunt of the fall as the skin on them ripped open. Still, he was up and running once more with only Emma’s safety in his mind.

  When he opened the back door, he started calling out to Emma as he raced through the house.

  Taking the stairs two at a time, he barged into the room, just as Emma was dropping the towel that had been wrapped around her.

  Emma screamed, then gasped and covered herself quickly. Her hair was soaking wet and he could tell that she’d just come from a shower.

  “Are you okay?” he barked out as Emma secured the towel around her body.

  “What? Why wouldn’t I be?”

  JT scanned the room quickly, then he rushed into his massive walk-in closet and checked every corner. When he came up empty, he went room to room.

  “Where’s Bo?” he asked when he made it back to the master bedroom. Emma had pulled on one of his thick robes and was sitting on the edge of the bed, her face a little pale. Her eyes were huge as he stopped directly in front of her.

  “I… let him out. He woke me up. I had fallen asleep reading and he was barking. So, I let him out and decided to take a warm shower while I waited for him to do his business. I was just about to let him back in. What’s going on?”

  “Did yo
u lock the door after?” he asked.

  She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I was just going to be a minute. Then, I… forgot...”

  “Someone was in here,” he said, his eyes still scanning the room for anything out of place.

  “What?” Panicked she looked around and then nodded to the pillow as she closed her eyes.

  He moved over and with shaking hands, picked up the note.

  “GET OUT” was written in large block letters in red ink.

  “Someone doesn’t want me here,” she said softly.

  Emma tried to get some rest, but knowing Bo was out in the storm somewhere, alone, bothered her.

  JT had left to look for him and had come back empty-handed.

  He’d assured her that Bo knew how to take care of himself, but the fact that he hadn’t come running when they had called him told her he was either hurt, drugged, or dead.

  Tears ran down her face as she thought of the sweet dog hurt and alone. The room lit up with a flash of lightning, and she jumped and closed her eyes tighter.

  She wanted to bury her head under the blankets, but all those old horror movies kept playing over in her head. If she buried her head, she wouldn’t be able to see the man standing over her bed with the big knife as it was ready to plunge down into her.

  She opened her eyes and scanned the empty room for the hundredth time since JT had left her to get some sleep.

  Sitting up, she crossed her arms over her knees and bit her bottom lip. There was no way she was going to get any sleep.

  Taking the thick green robe from the edge of the bed, she wrapped it around herself and tiptoed across the room.

  She stood just outside the door and whispered for JT. He had decided to sleep in the room just down the hallway, even though it meant he had to sleep on an air mattress.

  “JT?” she called a little louder this time. Silence. The entire house was quiet. She could only hear the sound of rain on the roof and thunder in the distance.

  Tiptoeing down the hall, she pushed open the door to his room.

  “JT?”

  “Hmm?” he finally replied, causing her to relax slightly.

  “I can’t sleep. Can I come in here with you?” she asked. “I’m worried about Bo,” she added as if the dog was the only reason she couldn’t sleep.