“You didn’t tell her.” Jade sent Colt an accusatory look.
“I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“Oh, boy.” Paige frowned. “Maybe we should leave.”
“Maybe someone should tell me what’s going on. I almost shot an innocent person. I think I deserve an explanation.”
Jade scoffed. “Don’t exaggerate.” She patted Paige’s hand. “Sable wouldn’t have shot you.”
“Hello. Gun.” Sable sighed. “Okay. Chances are that at worst, I would have grazed you.”
“Gee, that’s encouraging.” Paige didn’t seem particularly upset. She pushed the fall of blonde hair behind her ear. “Ready for your surprise?”
“I don’t know. Am I?” Sable wasn’t good at surprises. The few that had popped up in her life from time to time didn’t end well.
“You’ll love this one.”
Sable followed Paige and Jade toward her bedroom. She glanced at Colt, a question in her eyes.
“Go on,” he urged. “Beauty and I will finish cleaning up.”
Warily, Sable peeked around the door frame. Everything looked the same as she had left it that morning. Neatly made bed. The items on the dresser arranged with pinpoint precision. Some might say it was too organized. If you opened a drawer, you would find straight rows coordinated by color. Light to dark.
It wasn’t overkill. It was logical. If Sable needed a blue t-shirt and black socks, she knew exactly where to find them. Her system saved time. Her father, then the Army, taught her that a few seconds could be the difference between life and death for her and her fellow soldiers.
It never occurred to Sable to change her habits now that no one was around to notice. She liked order. Life was filled with too many unknowns that she had no control over. This was a small thing, but it was hers.
“Are you ready?”
“Let me have it.”
Jade and Paige exchanged excited grins before throwing open the closet door.
“Ta da!”
Sable’s eyes widened. Slowly, she walked into the room.
Before, her clothing took up one little section. They barely warranted a dozen hangers. Now, she couldn’t tell where her meager belongings ended and a sea of shirts, jackets and dresses began.
Shoes of every style and color lined an entire wall. Another was reserved for accessories. Purses, scarves, hats. Who wore hats anymore? Sable blinked, unable to take it all in. She felt slightly dizzy as though she had walked into a fun house where the mirrors were replaced by Beverly Hills booty.
“Well?” Jade demanded. “What do you think?”
“I think my head is about to explode. Colton Landis! Get your ass in here!”
“Oops,” Paige said. “That is not a happy face.”
Cautiously, Colt entered the room, his trepidation understandable.
“Before you blow a gasket, let me explain.”
“Maybe we should go.” Paige edged toward the door.
“Are you kidding?” Jade pulled her back. “I don’t want to miss the show. Besides, Colt might need us to call an ambulance.”
“I hope you’re joking,” Paige whispered. She didn’t know Sable, but from what little she had seen, the woman seemed volatile. To say the least.
“I am,” Jade assured her. “I think.”
“Don’t worry. Colt can’t return these things if they’re splattered with blood.”
“I’m not returning anything.” Colt calmly crossed his arms. He seemed cool, but he planted his feet, ready for battle. “Didn’t you complain just the other evening about your limited wardrobe?
“I did not complain.” Sable bristled at the implication. “I pointed it out. There is a big difference.”
“You want to argue semantics? Fine. The fact remains, you need these things.”
“It’s too much.” Sable picked up a sling-backed pump with a four-inch heel. “Why would I need this? And in six different colors?” She looked closer. “And how the hell did you know my size. Any of my sizes?”
“That’s my fault,” Jade said. “Colt asked me to check your things. I relayed the information to his personal shopper. I asked Paige to help us put everything away as part of the surprise.”
“It all circles back to you,” Sable pointed an accusatory finger at Colt.
“You’re overreacting.”
Colt looked around. Okay, perhaps it was a bit much. He asked the woman who shopped for him to pick out a variety. She may have gotten carried away. However, he stood by the belief that Sable needed these things. He wouldn’t apologize.
“I won’t touch any of it.”
“We are attending an all-star tribute on Friday.”
“I have a dress for that.”
“Then there’s a cocktail party next Monday. A birthday bash for an old friend the Friday after that.”
“Fine,” Sable huffed. She would bend but she wouldn’t be defeated. “Send the bill to H&W. Alex gives me an expense account that I’ve never used. This will cover it for the next ten years, but he won’t argue.”
Sable had never seen Colt angry. He was such an easygoing, happy person who let things roll off his back without blinking. It was a trait she admired. She imagined it made the day-to-day frustrations he encountered as a movie star easier to live with if he didn’t take them too seriously.
However, everyone had their limits. It appeared Colt had reached his. The warm blue of his eyes turned frosty causing Sable to suppress a shiver. When he spoke, the tone was so quiet and contained, she had to lean in to catch every word.
“Burn the fucking wardrobe if you want. But no one pays for a single item except me. Understood?”
“That’s childish and irrational.”
Colt held her gaze a moment longer, the tension sizzling between them. Then, without another word, he walked out.
“Wow.” Paige fanned herself with one hand. “That was intense.”
Jade smiled. “If anyone smokes, now is the time to light up.”
“He’s angry, not turned on,” Sable said, taking a deep breath. The room sizzled with repressed emotion. Silently, she admitted a lot of the tension was sexual. She had another thought. “Colt can’t go out by himself.”
“I’ll go.” Paige picked up Beauty. The dog had slept through the drama but was now eyeing a pair of flats that looked very chewable. “If I have to, I’ll throw myself in front of the door.”
“Right.” Sympathetic, Jade rubbed Sable’s shoulder. “What’s it going to be? Bonfire or capitulation?”
“It seems there’s no in between.”
Colt had thrown down the gauntlet. Sable could pick it up or be the bigger person and step over it. She wasn’t very good at compromise. In the Army, it was a lesson she had learned the hard way.
“These things are beautiful.”
She ran her hand over a softer than soft gray leather jacket. How many times had she dreamed of owning one item as luxurious as this? Now she had access to hundreds. Not that she owned them. But they were hers as long as she worked for Colt.
“Colt picked the colors and styles. He was very specific.”
“Really?”
Sable looked closer. She had to admit, with a few exceptions, the clothing fit her taste and style.
One row consisted of nothing but evening wear. Dresses of varying lengths. Colors in every hue. Sparkles, lace, and satin. Another side trended toward the casual. Jeans, with designer labels, cotton slacks, silk blouses.
Sable had never hung up a t-shirt in her life, yet here they were in every color imaginable.
“Good thing Colt is tall.” Jade examined a pair of rhinestone-covered stilettos. “You’ll be at least six feet tall in these babies.”
“Don’t tell Colt, but he has good taste.”
“I won’t.” Jade peered at Sable through a sheer lavender scarf. “But you should. He did a good thing.”
“I suppose.” Sable felt more and more like an idiot for, as Colt had pointed out, overreacting. “He d
id this for himself as much as for me.”
“Because it feels good to make someone else happy? Sure. What’s wrong with that?”
Put like that? Nothing. Sable felt another wave of guilt. Damn. Colt wanted to do a good thing and she did her best to make him feel like crap. Way to go, Sable. She gave herself a sarcastic pat on the back. Once again, you find a way of spreading sunshine wherever you go.
“Don’t beat yourself up.”
“I deserve a kick or two in the butt.”
“No. Take it from someone who spent most of her life blaming herself for, well, everything. Apologize. Colt doesn’t hold a grudge.” Jade held a blouse the color of a moonless sky up next to Sable’s face. “And he does have good taste. In clothing and friends.”
“Is that what I am? His friend? We haven’t been doing this very long but the dynamic of our relationship changes daily. My head is spinning. Not a good thing when you’re responsible for another person’s life.”
“Those Landis boys have a way of turning your head,” Jade said, her smile sly. “Does Colt kiss as well as Garrett?”
“I’ve never kissed Garrett.”
“But you have kissed Colt.” Jade did a little happy dance. “Ha! I knew it.”
Sable tried to backtrack. “I admit nothing.” Oh, hell. She wasn’t fooling anyone, especially herself. She sighed. “Damn it, I’m supposed to be a professional. But you’re right, there is something about a Landis.”
“Right? They ooze this outrageous sexuality. It’s irresistible.”
“I’m trying.”
“Why?” Jade demanded. “There are no laws stopping you. And if there were, can you think of a better reason to risk arrest?”
“My father would be horrified.”
Jade frowned. She could write a book about disapproving fathers. Or rather, one in particular. Unfortunately, it would be long and extremely unpleasant.
“You never speak of your father.”
“There isn’t much to say at the moment. We aren’t in touch. Or rather, I try, he doesn’t respond.”
“I’m sorry.” Jade gave Sable a brief but warm hug. She picked up her purse. “I’m going to go. Sable, I hate giving advice.”
“But…?” Sable smiled, letting Jade know she didn’t mind a few friendly words.”
“Bear with me. I’m going to give you the old life is short spiel. Grab the good when it comes because there is way too much bad. Turn around and something will joyfully rain on your parade. And there. I’ve reached my cliché limit for the day.”
They found Paige and Beauty standing side by side, admiring the view. Colt was nowhere in sight.
“Don’t worry,” Paige reassured Sable. “Colt grabbed a beer and mumbled something about taking a shower. He is such a sweetheart. He stomped off and slammed his bedroom door. Thirty seconds later, he stomped out, kissed my cheek and thanked me for helping. Then repeated the first part.”
“Want us to stay?”
“No.” Sable escorted Jade and Paige to the elevator. “Colt will cool off. Or he won’t. Either way, we’ll pick up our routine in the morning. Nothing has changed.”
“Hasn’t it?” Jade asked.
“We’ll see.”
With one last wave at Jade and Paige, Sable watched the elevator door close. Alone, she tried to decide what she wanted. Food or bed. She knew she wouldn’t sleep. So instead of subjecting herself to hours of tossing and turning, she headed to the kitchen. After opening the refrigerator, she stood and stared.
“This is ridiculous.”
The selection was endless. No one person would be able to eat this much food. Colt had told her that he sent it to a shelter, but honestly, what was wrong with these women? They filled his fridge, cleaned his house. Washed his clothes. And for what? The chance to bask, ever so briefly, in the glow of Colton Landis, superstar?
Ugh. Get a freaking life.
Sable grabbed an apple and a bottle of water. She searched the cupboard, happy to find her favorite standby. Peanut butter. And none of that organic, oil on the top crap. This was good old middle-America Skippy.
The bread in the keeper had a few grains, but it wasn’t too bad. Sable slathered on a layer of peanutty goodness, and for good measure, added a couple tablespoons of the strawberry jam.
Sable sat at the table, taking a moment to let her shoulders relax. She said a brief thank you before taking her first bite. Food, no matter how simple, should never be taken for granted.
She had never known hunger, but she’d seen the results. There were entire villages in the Middle East that subsisted on a few crusts of bread a day. The water, if they had any, needed boiling before it could be drunk. Sable knew how lucky she was to be warm and safe. It made that refrigerator full of food all the more obnoxious.
The last bite of sandwich sat on her plate. The apple, juicy and crisp, was nothing but a core wrapped neatly in a paper napkin. Sable downed the last of her second bottle of water. She felt better with a full stomach. She always did. Her current perspective on her inconvenient attraction to Colt was a work in progress. But she was getting there.
Sable put the few items she had dirtied into the dishwasher and decided she should be able to sleep. She closed her bedroom door just as her phone rang. One glance at the screen and the tension began seeping back into her shoulders.
“Mom. How are you?”
“Me? Me?”
Sable held the phone away from her ear, convinced the speech was loud enough to travel three thousand miles without the aid of modern technology.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Iris demanded. “Did you quit your job? My friends are having a field day, laughing behind my back. My daughter, the kept woman.”
“I didn’t quit my job and Colt isn’t keeping me. Your friends need to update their terminology.”
“You think this is funny? A joke?”
Sable wished she could laugh. Unfortunately, her mother didn’t inspire joviality.
Dutifully, Sable listened to the litany of imagined woes her mother suffered daily because of her ungrateful daughter. It went on and on. Long enough for her to brush her teeth, wash her face, and change her clothes. Sable left the drawer filled with sexy nightwear untouched. Instead, she slipped on her usual t-shirt and boxers.
“What will your father say?”
That refocused Sable’s attention.
“He doesn’t know?”
“I certainly haven’t told him. God knows what he’s heard. As you know, when it comes to gossip, an Army base is worse than a beauty parlor.”
Oh, she knew. Better than most.
“If he says anything, ask him to call me.”
“So you can explain?”
Yes. But she wasn’t going to tell her mother that.
“There’s nothing to explain. I’m living with Colton Landis.”
“Oh, Sable.” Disappointment. It seemed like the only reaction her mother could manage. “You didn’t listen to me when you were a teenager. Why should I expect that to change? Men chew you up and spit you out. It’s in their DNA. What will you do when he gets tired of you?”
“Maybe I’ll get tired of him.”
“Please,” Iris scoffed. “The glamour? The money? I’ll bet he’s bought you a bunch of expensive clothing.”
Sable hesitated a moment too long.
“He’s seduced you with luxury. You’ll never willingly give that up.”
It took Iris another twenty minutes to wind down. She ended by reminding Sable that the clothing belonged to her.
“When he dumps you, don’t be a fool. Take everything that isn’t nailed down.”
Words to live by. With that kind of twisted morality, Sable wondered why she didn’t make a living wrapping herself around a stripper pole.
Because in the Ford household, her father’s words always rang loudest. Whether she was in a dirt poor, war-ravaged village in Afghanistan or a luxurious multi-million-dollar Los Angeles loft, Mathias Ford kept Sable on the straight and
narrow.
No matter their personal situation, he was, and would always be, her moral compass.
Sable hung up. She closed her eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath. She was tempted, but she couldn’t turn off her phone. So she plugged it in and set it on the nightstand.
Time to unwind. Music. The best cure for the Nagging Mother Blues. Sable put in her earphones, hit her favorite playlist, rested her head on the pillow, and let her mind shut down and blissfully drift away.
COLT FELT LIKE an idiot. Holing up in his bedroom like a petulant three-year-old. He hadn’t accomplished a thing.
He was hungry and tired. And instead of spending the evening with Sable, he’d wasted it sulking. He should have apologized immediately and saved himself the added embarrassment of having to do it hours after the fact.
A bit of anger lingered. When he set up the surprise, Colt imagined a different outcome. In his fantasy, Sable threw her arms around him, excited by the new wardrobe. She rushed from item to item, exclaiming over each one, holding it up and twirling in a giddy circle.
Colt lowered his head to the marble counter, knocking his forehead against the surface several times. He felt it, but it didn’t knock any sense into him.
Did he know Sable at all? Apparently not. How many times had he said she was different? She didn’t giggle or flutter or lavish him with extravagant compliments. She didn’t care about fame or money. At least, she didn’t care about his.
From day one, Sable treated his family like regular people, not Hollywood royalty.
In his defense, he hadn’t been trying to buy her. He wanted to give her a few nice things to wear and enjoy. In his enthusiasm, he must have made it sound like he was outfitting Sable for the next year, or five. The items were beautiful and perfect, but there were too many of them. Way too many.
Colt glanced across the room. Sable’s door was shut. No surprise. It was after eleven. Had he expected her to wait up on the off chance he came to his senses? She would be asleep—not worrying about him.
Colt put together a sandwich, making a mental note to send the extra food to the shelter first thing in the morning. After that, he needed to call Paige and Jade. It seemed he had apologies to make all around.
Dreaming Of Your Love (Hollywood Legends #3) Page 9
