“Oh! Should I share the time you got yourself in a right pickle with Merry Pritchard?” Laci teased, causing Rian to blush. Of all the stories, not that one! At his obvious discomfort CoCo nodded vigorously, egging Laci on. “Okay, well, as you might imagine, Rian was quite the little charmer in high school. He had all the girls chasing after him, wanting a piece of that Dalton pie, if you know what I mean.”
“I can imagine,” CoCo agreed, laughing. When Rian rolled his eyes, she said, “Aw, is someone embarrassed?”
“I probably should’ve mentioned that Laci is a pathological liar,” he quipped. “She gets away with it because she’s famous and all but don’t believe a word that leaves her mouth.”
Laci gasped playfully in mock outrage, looking to Kane. “Are you going to let him say things like that about me? The nerve!”
“Well, you have been known to spin a tale or two,” Kane said with a glint in his eye telling that he was kidding. “But go on, because I love stories where Rian gets what’s coming to him.”
“Merry’s dad nearly skewered me on a pitchfork!”
“What’d you do with his daughter?” CoCo asked.
“Nothing she didn’t want,” he said, his ears heating. “And besides, she chased me for weeks! I practically had to peel her off with a spatula!”
“Merry did have a singular attachment to Rian, which I never understood, but it was hilarious to watch,” Kane said.
“Yeah, totally hilarious,” Rian grumbled.
“Annnnnyway,” Laci said, clearing her voice to continue her story. “Rian thought it would be a good idea to take his stalker, I mean friend, out on a date, which then turned out to be a make-out sesh in her driveway. And you can imagine how that didn’t end well when Merry’s dad caught them.”
“What were you doing making out in her driveway?”
“It was late. I figured the old man was asleep. It seemed a calculated risk,” he answered sheepishly. “Besides, if anyone was the aggressor, it was Merry! She practically ripped my shirt in half!”
“Aw, poor Rian. Attacked by desperate high school girls,” CoCo said, not the least bit sorry for him, although her eyes twinkled with mischief. “I’m sure you were the victim.”
“I was,” he insisted, looking to Kane. “C’mon, man, back me up!”
“Sorry, no can do. No one forced you to date Merry. I told you at the time it was a bad idea and if old man Pritchard hadn’t been intent on putting your liver on the end of his fork, I would’ve let him give you some lumps because you needed a whack on the head at that time.”
“Yeah, well, thankfully, I got away but Pritchard knew we were staying at the Bradford Ranch and followed me.”
Laci hooted with remembered laughter. “Oh, yes! And if fire could’ve shot out of his eyeballs, Rian would’ve been a scorch mark on the grass. But Kane and Warren came to his rescue, settled old man Pritchard down with an apology from Rian and an express promise that he wouldn’t come within twenty feet of Merry ever again.”
“How’d that work out?” CoCo asked, curious.
“Actually, turned out to be a blessing. She got bored with trying to get me alone when I was avoiding her like the plague and she set her sights on Chase Nolan instead. I guess they were a good fit, because they got married right out of high school. Last I heard, they have five kids and a mortgage together.”
“Ah, a happily-ever-after,” CoCo said, delighted.
“Yeah. I guess so. The poor bastard,” Rian said and the table erupted in laughter.
A moment of easy silence passed around the table and Kane brought up the case. “So any leads?” he asked.
CoCo looked to Rian and Rian answered, “Not so far. But I’m removed from that part of the investigation. I wonder if no news is good news?”
Laci turned to CoCo. “Are you worried about your father’s safety? I would be worried sick knowing that some crazy person wanted to hurt my family.”
CoCo nodded. “Yes, but I know my dad has great security and they’re doing everything they can to nail this nut job. I just want it to be over so I can get back to my life.” Her statement hit Rian like a punch to the gut. It shouldn’t have because he knew this gig was temporary, but hearing it said aloud made it so much more clear that they were just playing around and having a good time. CoCo sensed his sudden change in demeanor even though he fought to keep his expression neutral and said, “I mean, I feel lucky to have Rian looking out for me. He’s been a Godsend.”
“The Dalton boys are the best to have in a crisis,” Laci agreed. “I always hire Kane and Rian’s company now for tours. I’ve had my share of crazy fans. One tried to rip my dress clean off! Another practically snatched the hair from my head. You never know what kind of crazy person might be fixating on you.”
“I just want my family to be safe,” she murmured, shooting Rian an inquiring look, but he ignored it and chose instead to finish his beer and then rose with his dishes.
“Your cooking reminds me of Cora, God rest her soul,” Rian said, pressing a kiss on top of Laci’s head in a brotherly fashion. “Great chicken.”
“It was nothing,” Laci said, but her smile widened under the praise. Laci loved being a domestic goddess on her off-time. She said it made her feel close to Cora even though she was gone. “How long do you think you two will be here?”
“Just a few more days, I suspect,” he answered, going into the kitchen to drop off the plates. Returning, he said, “Think you can put up with us for that much longer?”
“I’ll weather it,” Laci said with a wink. “In the meantime, I can get to know CoCo better. We can gab like girlfriends while you guys do ‘guy’ things.”
“Sounds like a plan,” he said, but his stomach was like lead. Why was he so bothered by the fact that CoCo was openly ready to go back to her old life? What else was he thinking was going to happen? And what did he want to happen? He gestured to the outside, saying, “I’m going to feed the horses.”
Normally, he would’ve offered to help with the dishes but he needed some air. His head was on screwy after that comment and he needed to get it together. Maybe this was a blessing. He was starting to have feelings for CoCo, which had no future, so this was a great reminder that he needed to settle that shit down before things got complicated.
How much more complicated could it get than him sleeping with a client? He wanted to groan and smack his head against a post for being an idiot.
Well, at least his secret was safe. He knew CoCo wouldn’t say anything. If he could just keep it together for a few more days, Kane would never know how far things had gone and he’d just have to file this experience under the file labeled “Big Dumbass Mistakes” and move on.
Except life wasn’t that easy and he should’ve known better.
He’d just tossed the first handful of hay into Amelia’s stall when Kane entered the barn and said, “So, how long have you two been sleeping together?”
And he knew his pooch had just been screwed.
* * *
COCO HELPED LACI with the dishes in the kitchen, enjoying the opportunity to spend a little more time with the effervescent woman, but as luck would have it Laci had her own agenda.
“I know it’s none of my business but I couldn’t help but notice the chemistry between you and Rian. Is there something going on between you two?”
CoCo hesitated. They weren’t going to tell anyone about their relationship—if you could call it that—but CoCo really could use some perspective and decided to be honest. “Rian is going to kill me but, yeah, we are kind of seeing each other. But it’s completely complicated. And we plan to break it off as soon as we return to Los Angeles.”
Laci digested the information and then said, “I know it seems like it should be easy to break things off when things started off casually but I can tell you right no
w the chemistry between you two is hot enough to burn. It’s going to be really difficult to say goodbye. Have you thought about that?”
CoCo had not been able to think of anything else. She nodded, biting her lip, and said, “I didn’t plan on having feelings for Rian. I don’t know how to continue what we have once we return to our worlds. The fact is, there’s no way Rian would fit in my world and I don’t fit in his so it seems best to end things before it gets messy.”
Laci nodded. “That would be the smart thing. But if I know anything, it’s that the heart never cooperates with the brain. Let me tell you a little bit about me and Kane. My daddy thought that Kane would stand in the way of my career so he convinced Kane to turn me loose and in doing so broke my heart. Sure, I recovered, but I never forgot about him, and when we saw each other again it was as if time had never passed. Our chemistry was just as undeniable as it ever was and it was like a flame to a powder keg. There were plenty of reasons why our relationship wasn’t going to work. But try telling that to our hearts. In the end, the heart wants what it wants and you just have to find a way to make it work. That is, if you want Rian.”
The way Laci told the story, it was so romantic but she and Rian weren’t star-crossed lovers who suddenly found themselves again. In fact, the way they hooked up certainly wasn’t a story she’d relish sharing. “I wish it were that simple. The thing is, I’m a different person in Los Angeles than I am here and a part of me misses the wild and crazy life I have, but then a part of me wants to do something different.”
“So be different,” Laci said as if it were that easy to change.
“What if I don’t know how to be different? I don’t want to invite Rian into the mess that is my life and drag him down with it.”
“Oh, it can’t be that bad,” Laci reassured her but CoCo knew better.
“The very first night we met I was having a party at my mom’s Malibu beach house and one of my guests got a little too touchy-feely without my permission. Rian basically tossed him out on his ass. I’m pretty sure he saved me from being assaulted.”
Laci smiled. “That sounds like Rian. He’s a sucker for a woman in distress.”
“Yeah, and I wasn’t very grateful about it, either. I was irritated that he had crashed my party and chased off my guest. You see, I did not actually believe that there was a credible threat and I thought my dad was overreacting by hiring Rian to be my bodyguard. But then I convinced Rian to go out to a club with me and my friend dosed him with a drug and I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that that’s part of my life. I mean, what kind of person doses another human being for their entertainment? Before I met Rian I might never have questioned that.”
“We’ve all made decisions that we’ve regretted, but if you spend so much time looking backward, you’ll never be able to see the great things that are right in front of you,” Laci said with a warm smile. “I really wish Cora were alive so that she could lay some of that country wisdom on you. You’ll just have to settle for me. Here’s the thing, life is complicated. Life is messy. But that’s part of the fun. If everything in life were a straight line, we would never experience the joys and wonder of those hills and valleys. My life has had its share of sorrows but I have been blessed a million times over with happiness. I choose to focus on those good things in my life rather than the dark places that I’ve traveled. You have to figure out which road you want to walk.”
“I know.” CoCo knew that Laci was right but knowing and doing something about it were two separate things. It didn’t feel as if she’d only just met Laci. Rian hadn’t exaggerated that Laci was a true down-to-earth person, which made it incredibly easy to share private stuff that CoCo usually kept clutched tightly to her chest. “What if I let Rian down?” she asked. “What if I can’t be the person that he wants me to be?”
Laci shook her head. “You’re missing the point. Don’t be who Rian wants you to be...be who you want to be. If Rian is meant to be in your life, he’ll love whoever you are.”
“That’s deep,” CoCo murmured, struck by how wise Laci was. “You know, for the longest time I thought that nobody expected anything of me, so why should I try if no one cared? But being here, and seeing Rian work around the ranch and meeting Warren and Adeline, and you, it’s made me realize that there’s a whole lot more to life than the expectations that others put on you. Rian asked me if I’m still sketching and I told him I wasn’t but that wasn’t entirely true. I can’t stop sketching. My dad is a shoemaker but at heart he’s an artist. It’s just that his particular canvas happens to be made from shoe leather. I guess I inherited that itch.” She paused and risked rejection by asking, “Would you be willing to look at a few of my drawings? I would love your opinion.”
“I would be honored,” Laci answered. “Top designers are always sending me samples so I’m used to seeing stuff before it hits the runway. I can give you an honest assessment of what I think if you’d like.”
CoCo nodded, her stomach flipping with anticipation. It’d been a long time since she’d shown anyone her sketches. The fact that Laci seemed genuinely interested was a huge boost to her fragile ego. “That would be awesome. Even if the idea does scare me a little. In the past I haven’t dealt well with rejection.”
Laci chuckled. “Nobody likes rejection. But you come from shoe royalty. My guess is that you’re far more talented than you realize. Do you have your sketches with you?”
“Actually, I have them on my phone. I have an app that allows me to sketch and I store them in the cloud.”
“That’s amazing. I am wowed by technology these days. I’m not exactly technologically savvy. Half the time I can’t figure out my damn phone. I am in awe of anyone who has mastered the apps on their phone.”
CoCo laughed, wondering how she got so lucky as to meet Laci McCall and to find her so easy to talk to. “They say you should never meet your idols because they almost never measure up. But I can tell you right now, you have exceeded my expectations. You’re a wonderful person and Kane is so lucky to have you.”
Laci smiled, appreciating the kind comments. “You’re too sweet. If anyone is lucky, it’s me. Kane is my better half and I’ve known it since I was fifteen years old. I count Kane among my many blessings.”
CoCo blinked back tears. To have something so precious, and to know it, must be an incredible gift. She didn’t know if she and Rian were meant for the long haul but she knew that there was something special between them even if she had no idea how to make it work. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your advice. It’s been a long time since I’ve had anyone in my life worth listening to. I’ve surrounded myself with too many superficial people for too long. It’s a nice change to listen to someone who actually knows what they’re talking about.”
“I did that for a long time. I think it just comes with a certain level of fame or celebrity status or even wealth, but the good news is if you have a good foundation, those things work themselves out. Eventually you get tired of the same old scene, the same old people, doing the same old things. You might’ve already gotten to that point. But trust me, it won’t always be this way. Once you know what you want in life, and you have the confidence to go after it, nothing will ever be the same. There’s this great quote that I love sharing with people and it goes like this. ‘When sleeping women awaken, they move mountains.’ It’s really powerful and it helped me realize that the power to make change is always inside of you. If you don’t like the way that your life is, then change it. You’re not locked into a track. And you have more resources than most. You can do anything you want with your life. A strong woman. I see it in you. Plus, I know Rian wouldn’t be interested in somebody who was weak. That’s just not who he is. So whatever you want to do with your life, just go for it.”
CoCo blinked back sudden tears. It wasn’t like her to bare her soul. If anyone had suggested that she’d be ready to
dissolve into ridiculously happy tears in front of a woman she barely knew, she would’ve laughed in their face. But she’d never had somebody encourage her like this and she was quickly losing the protective layer she’d insulated herself with.
CoCo wrapped Laci into a hug, unable to contain herself. “You have no idea what it means to me to hear you say this,” she explained through a sheen of tears. Even though she could’ve held on to Laci for another long minute, she released her with a laugh, saying, “Sorry about the impromptu PDA but I just can’t explain how your advice has touched me. I don’t know, maybe it’s all this clean air. It’s messing with my brain.”
“Don’t apologize, sweetie,” Laci said, laughing. “Genuine hugs are the best.”
“Thank you again. I really appreciate it. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”
Laci nodded and then said, “So, break out those sketches. You’ve got me curious now. I want to see what the new Abelli rising star is going to be like.”
CoCo blushed but eagerly went to find her phone. Laci McCall wanted to see her sketches and she’d successfully baked a pie. The day was ending on a really good note. At this rate, she could almost completely forget that some crazy person was trying to kill her.
21
RIAN SHOULD’VE KNOWN that Kane would miss nothing. It was a waste of time to lie so Rian met his brother’s stare. What could he say? “Are you going to bust my balls about this? Because it’s complicated.”
Kane grunted in answer and pushed off the barn door, coming toward him. “I know it’s about to get a hell of a lot more complicated when the father finds out that you’re banging his daughter—the daughter you’re supposed to be protecting.”
“Ah, so you are going to bust my balls,” he muttered. “Look, I know I screwed up. I don’t know what to say—some things happened between us and now we can’t seem to stop.” His cheeks flared as if he were a boy caught with his pants down and he got flustered. Trying to explain himself just made it worse. “Mind your own business, Kane. I’ve got this handled.”
Sex, Lies and Designer Shoes Page 15
