Hell on Heels Christmas (8 page)

It was the closest thing she could give to a commitment. She didn’t want to promise she would stay and go back on her word. She saw a flash of disappointment on her mom’s face but Valerie didn’t push. The phone on the table began to vibrate and ring. Regan glanced at the screen and snatched the phone.

“He’s a friend,” she said to her mom before she rushed up the stairs and answered as she walked into her bedroom. “JC! Are you back in the States?”

“No. In another week or two I’ll be home. I got your message and Daniel’s been blowing up my phone, asking if I know where you are. What did he do that had you leaving his ass?”

“What do you think? I caught him with his secretary.
So
cliché.”

While she listened to Jean-Charles curse Daniel to hell Regan sat on her bed and waited for him to run out of languages to call Daniel a bastard. Jean-Charles was one of her best
and loyal friends. They met when she was backpacking through Europe. He was a fellow drifter trying to make a living through photography. He introduced Daniel, a distant cousin to Regan. Daniel was intrigued enough by Regan to offer her a job as his assistant. Regan, always ready for an adventure, took the job and worked her way up into her position as regional manager for Martin Hotels.

As
Daniel’s assistant she was his constant shadow and she got to watch him do business which was exciting. Daniel was charming and ruthless and she found that exciting when she was younger. When she accepted his position as Regional Director he made their relationship public and he proposed not long after. They were engaged almost a year when she walked in this week. Most women would have felt devastated, betrayed and furious. Honestly, she’d been relieved because it gave her a reason to leave. Ever since she’d gone into the corporate world her life was work. She enjoyed challenges and Daniel hadn’t been shy about heaping work on her. It gave her a different type of adrenaline rush and she enjoyed the money and travel. She’d been in work mode for the past couple of years to prove she could do this, that she could be normal. Walking away from Daniel and his company was the easiest thing she’d done.

“Good for you, love. Le
aving him and his company floundering was a nice touch. You finally picked up that rust bucket from my property. Why did you go to Montana?” Jean-Charles asked.

“I’m in White
Mist.”

A long pause. “You’re shitting me, right?”

“Nope.”

“You do like to live on the edge don’t you? Well, you don’t sound as if you’ve been stabbed in the back by your sister and mum so I guess all’s well?”

“Yeah. I might take a break here, try to celebrate the holidays for the first time in ten years.”

“How’s that man you cried yourself dry for?”

“He’s here.”

“And?”

She was glad Jean-Charles couldn’t see her squirm. “And nothing.”

“Ah well. I’m in Russia right now. I’ll look you up when I come back, yes?”

“You do that. I miss you.”

“Miss you two. Never a dull moment around you. If Daniel calls you tell him he can go to hell. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

The next morning Regan was proud
of herself for waking as the sun rose. She frowned when she saw that her mom was already gone. Regan had a sneaking suspicion that the store wasn’t doing well but she pushed that thought away. She was finally recovering from her road trip and the years of 24/7 work she’d thrived on. She was sipping her first cup of coffee in thoughtful silence when the front door opened. She looked up as Brooks walked into the kitchen.

“You really need to stop barging into my mom’s h
ouse,” she said as he came over, took her coffee cup from her and drank half of it. “And get your own coffee.”

“I worked through the night.”

She took in his dirty clothes and bloodshot eyes. She took pity on him and rummaged in her mom’s cupboards until she found a traveling mug and filled it with coffee and handed it to him.

“Thanks.”

“Do you have to work today?”

“Yeah.” He glanced at his watch. “In an hour. I don’t have your number so I came over here to get it before I go home and take a shower.”

She stared at him. “You couldn’t wait?”

“I wanted to catch you before you took off today. What’s your number?”

She rattled it off and he punched it into his phone and got to his feet. He leaned over her and grasped her jaw with one hand, lifted her face and planted a quick, deep kiss on her mouth. She gripped his sleeve and he smiled against her mouth before he pulled away.

“I’ll see you later.”

He walked out and she heard his truck start up and then he was gone. She gaped. Was he so sure of her that he didn’t even ask if she was going to
stay
in White Mist? She brushed a hand over her tingling lips and then gave herself a mental smack and got dressed in the clothes she went to her dinner with Wade in. She drummed her hands on the wheel as she drove Brooks SUV to the nearest town which was an hour away. It was a resort town with famous ski slopes and great shopping.

Regan went for the basics she would need while she was in White Mist. She bought sneakers, jeans, coats and so on
and changed into her new clothes before she walked out of the mall. She received a text from Brooks as she hauled her bags out to the SUV.

Where are you?

She called him and he picked up at once. “Are you stalking me?”

“Do I have to?”

“I left White Mist.”

A pause. “To go where?”

“Shopping.”

“Do you want to come to my house for dinner tonight?”

She blinked. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Why the hell are you so sure I’m even staying?” she demanded irritably as she slammed the back of his SUV on her new clothes.

“I’m not. I’m taking up all of your time before you try to leave.”

She was placated somewhat. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Me either. I think we should go to my place because I have a feeling I’m going to crash right after dinner.”

“If you’re so tired why are you asking me to dinner?”

“I want to see you.”

She got into the driver’s seat of his SUV and started up the car. “You’re being very pushy.”

“Only way to g
et you to do what I want. You can drive over around three.”

She hesitated.

“Or I can come to your mom’s house.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll be there
.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

She finally gave into the urge to go through her voicemails although Missy had already done that for her. She erased any from Daniel as soon as she heard his voice and felt a little ashamed for leaving her job in chaos but she knew her second in command, Erica, was capable.
Erica was waiting for this opportunity and Daniel promoted her just as Regan knew he would. She called Erica as she drove back to White Mist. Erica was all business and they talked over some things before Regan hung up, knowing that her employees would be okay once they got used to Erica being at the helm. Feeling better, she frowned when she ran across a message from an old friend.

“
Johnny, what’s up?” Regan asked after dialing his number.

“Regan, where have you been? You always call me back. I thought something bad happened.”

“No. I’m okay. I left Daniel and his hotels. I’m back in my hometown.”

Johnny
perked up. “Never liked Daniel. He’s too stiff for you. You’re in Montana?”

“Yeah. What’s up with you? In your message you said you’re bored.”

“Yeah. I just got off a world tour and I can’t seem to get into any rhythm. It’s messing with my head. I was wondering what you were up to. I know you feel like that sometimes.”

“Aww,
Johnny. I’m sorry I didn’t call you sooner. Where are you now?”

“New York.”

She bit her lip, knowing what he wanted and wondering if she was making a huge mistake. “Do you want to come down?”

“Hell yeah. What’s your hometown called?”

“White Mist. But Johnny there’s, like, nothing here.”

“That’s okay. Maybe I need to get in tune with nature and shit, you know?”

She laughed. Had the whole world gone crazy? Superstars wanted to come to her remote town in Montana? This was going to rock White Mist on its ass.

“Yeah. Fine. Call me when you get here.”

She drove to her mom’s shop and was happy to see Paula wasn’t there. There were several tourists in the shop so she went into the back room to wait until her mom had a free moment.

“You got clothes? Good. I didn’t have a chance
because I’ve been so busy.”

“No. That’s fine. I went this morning. Um, I have a friend that’s coming to visit.”

Valerie paused. “You do? It’s not the billionaire, is it?”

“
Get real. My friend Johnny gets into these funks and he calls me up, stays with me a couple days and then he goes on his way.”

“Why’s he in a funk?”

Regan shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s an artist and he gets like I do- gotta move, gotta do something different.”

Valerie gave her a flat stare. “Honestly, I don’t know how you came out of me.”

“He has money for a hotel but he gets kinda clingy so he might end up staying at the house.”

Valerie grimaced. “I’m surprised you have a friend like that as commitment phobic as you are.”

“Thanks mom. That’s the nicest thing you ever said to me. Anyway, I’m gonna head back to the house and I’m going to Brooks’ for dinner.”

Valerie clapped her hands together and beamed. “Good for you. So, don’t forget to take the condoms in the bathroom and what are you going to make?”

Regan sputtered. “I have to make something?”

“Holly called me and told me Max was working through the night. You can’t expect Brooks to make you dinner after he’s been working over twenty four hours!”

Regan held her hands up in defense. Her mom’s voice could get screechy when she wanted to make an impact. “Okay, okay. I’ll make him eggs or something.”

“Get your butt to the store and make a real meal. You have all day to prepare. You can make meatloaf.”

Five minutes later Valerie shoved Regan out of her shop with two detailed pages with instructions on how to make her famous meatloaf and a shopping list. Regan’s eyes bugged when she saw lubricant and condoms underlined. She stuffed the list in her pocket and walked into the only grocery store in town and braced herself. She rushed through aisles but people called out her name and she was forced to stop, chit chat and then dash off. She worked in the store her senior year of high school and she knew the name of at least eighty percent of the staff still working here.

She thought she was going to make it out of the store without incident when a familiar face stepped in front of her in the produce department. For a moment she was happy to see her old friend until she saw the hostility in her eyes. Aw shit.

“Kerry.”

“Regan, what the hell do you think you’re doing with my brother?”

“Not here, Kerry,” Regan said in a low voice.

“Why don’t you want to talk about it here? Everyone heard that he was in your bedroom yesterday and that you had his SUV parked in front of your ma’s house this morning. He asked you to marry him ten years ago. You think he’s going to ask you again?”

That hit too close to home. Regan narrowed her eyes at her former best friend. They’d been close before Regan turned Brooks down. After that Kerry and Paula turned into her worst nightmare. Out of everyone she never expected Kerry to be angry after all this time.

“We’re adults now. Why don’t you let Brooks worry about himself?”

“No. I’m
telling
you to
back off
.”

Regan narrowed her eyes. She
really
didn’t like when people tried to tell her what to do. She walked around her cart and saw Kerry tense. She looked up at Brooks’ sister who was as tall as him. Damn giants.

“Heifer, don’t tell me what to do. If I want your brother I’ll have him and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Kerry’s eyes bugged. “What did you just say?”

“So you’re
old
and
deaf?”

Kerry was striking, like her whole family. She was tall and well proportioned. She knew it and used it to her advantage even when they were
fourteen and just developing. Although Kerry was now a mother she hadn’t changed and her figure was as fit as ever but Regan knew enough about her to know she probably needed regular reassurance from her husband that she was still hot.

Kerry made a sound like
a wounded buffalo and reached out to grab Regan who retreated to the piles of nearby apples for ammo. As Kerry rushed her and Regan grabbed her first missiles a cart dashed between them. They both turned to blast the newbie and Regan rolled her eyes when she saw her sister. Kerry flung the cart out of her way and it was either let go of it or be thrown too. Missy wasn’t stupid so she let go of the cart which made a loud crash as it turned on its side. Kerry and Regan blinked in surprise when Missy stepped in front of her sister.