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Seduce the Playboy 29
The men Jeb had sent for supplies were coming in as I left the room and by the time I returned with ice packs, Amber had been hooked up to an IV and fluid was dripping down the line into the vein at her wrist. Her eyes were closed. She was either asleep or almost there so I didn’t disturb her. Instead, I handed Jeb the compresses, then sat on the love seat near the bed and watched, helpless.I was actually grateful for that helplessness. Of the myriad complex emotions that were weighing on me at the moment, helplessness was the easiest to carry. It was the one I knew.Brent returned with the oxygen tank as well as a heart rate monitor. Reeve came along with him, taking a perch on the opposite arm. Together we watched as Jeb and Brent hooked Amber up to the machines. We didn’t speak or look at each other. Tension buzzed between us like a fly caught in a closed room. I was desperate to know what he was thinking and feeling. Was he as focused on her as he appeared to be? Or was his mind
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Well, that burst the bubble of affection swelling in my chest. How the fuck was he able to brush me off without giving me even a crumb? With barely an acknowledgment, after everything we’d shared? How could he sleep when the woman he’d cared so much about was broken and beat-up in the next room? And how could he not want to question me about the secrets I’d withheld as much as I wanted to question him?He knew.It was the only thing that made sense. Somehow, he knew. That I wasn’t simply Emily Wayborn, actress and professional girlfriend. That I was Emily Wayborn, formerly Emily Barnes, Amber’s best friend. Emily Wayborn, liar. He knew and I was caught and I could barely see straight, could barely get air inside my lungs.“You knew,” I whispered. I’d lied, and he knew, and I needed to hear from him what that meant for us.He stood to step out of his jeans then pulled back the bedcovers. “I said we’ll talk about this in the morning.”I couldn’t wait even another minute, not when our en
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“Look.” I sighed, trying to lessen the blow. “I don’t know why you think that’s an impossible conclusion to jump to. You’ve done everything in your power to keep me frightened of the things you were capable of.”He laughed, a dark ha that held very little humor. “You wanted me like that, Emily. You wanted me to be the man who would frighten you, and don’t you try to say for a moment that you didn’t.”“Just because it’s what I wanted doesn’t mean that’s not who you really are.”“No. I guess it doesn’t.” His eyes met mine, and again I saw all the emotion he’d shown me downstairs, his pupils like a dark and turbulent storm. He held me in that gaze for several long seconds.Then he took another step toward me. “I told you what happened. I told you she left here, alive. You didn’t believe me? I thought you trusted me. You acted like you trusted me.”It was an opening – a chance for me to fix everything, and I knew it. I’d told him once that, for me, trust equaled love. He’d wanted me to tr
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Joe leaned back in his chair and crossed his ankle over his opposite knee. “Nah. That guy’s a people doctor. He might do animal medicine, but he knows what he’s doing with her. Leads you to wonder why a ranch would have a full-time doctor on staff posing as a vet. What kind of regular injuries go on around here that they’d need that?”I looked up, surprised at the implication. Then, as always when it came to anything to do with Reeve, defensive. “There could be any number of reasons.”“Guess that’s just part of the Sallis mystery, isn’t it?”He was prodding me, trying to get me worked up, but I didn’t have the strength. I pulled my feet up underneath me and studied his profile, his strong jawline, the tattoos that snaked out under the sleeve of his T-shirt, the same one he wore yesterday. He was scruffier than usual, his buzz haircut grown out and his face hidden behind a week-old beard. He was sexy, I noted, in a bad boy kind of way. Which should have done it for me.Except Joe was o
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Joe saved me from having to stretch my three sentences into more substantial material. “Hey, I hate to intrude on your reunion, but do you mind if I ask you some questions now that you’re back in the land of the living?”In other words, Joe wanted to get intel before Reeve showed up. As much as it irked me that Joe was always on his case, there were things I wanted to hear as well.She pulled her blood-matted hair to one side, and I silently made a note to help her bathe later. “I guess I owe you at least that much. After you rescued me and all. He’s a hero, you know,” she said, winking at me. “You should be proud of him.”“He knows I appreciate him.” I narrowed my eyes in Joe’s direction, wondering exactly what he’d told Amber about our relationship on their drive together from Chicago. Maybe she’d made her own assumptions. Whichever, I didn’t correct her. That could easily lead to having to admit my relationship with Reeve, and I wasn’t ready to do that. Yet.If ever.Joe ignored my
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I’d asked Reeve once if he was still close to his former lovers. He’d dodged the question. Now I saw the answer firsthand, and whether he was like this with all of them or just Amber didn’t matter. That he was like this with her was bad enough. In fact, it was the worst.“Before you get ahead on your revenge scheming, Sallis, let’s get the girl well.” Jeb’s arrival was like a token sent from heaven. It broke the trance that Reeve and Amber had me in.I stepped backward, into the shadows, barely aware of the conversation that continued.“Please tell me it’s time for more painkillers,” Amber said, almost begging.“We’ll talk about that.” Jeb scanned his audience. “Can we maybe have the room cleared so the patient and I can have some privacy?”Thank God. Because I couldn’t be there a moment longer.Unfortunately, Reeve was escorted out with us, and in the hallway he stopped me before I could escape into my own room. “Jeb got ahold of some methadone. He’s going to start a treatment plan t
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Joe surprised me with his next words. “Where I need to go for that is nowhere.” He paused at the gate, not saying anything while the guard was at the window clearing us for entrance.When we were in, I turned to him. “You don’t think Reeve is still connected to that slave ring, do you?”“I don’t have a strong reason to believe he is, no. Especially not if that’s why he thinks you need protection. But he and Amber know more about Vilanakis than anyone else I’ve come in contact with. I don’t think I can get a better lead than through them.”I chewed another finger as he parked the car, trying to decide if I wanted to share what I knew with Joe, and if so, how much. I didn’t want to betray Reeve but Joe had rescued Amber. I owed him, didn’t I?Grabbing his arm, I stopped him before he got out of the car. “I’ll tell you this, Joe – there are cameras in every room of that ranch. So be careful what you say or do.”“I’ve seen them. But thanks for the heads-up.”“Also” – I took a deep breath,
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Even the reminder of the cruel way he’d treated me after I’d been with Chris didn’t cause him to flinch. “You’d like that too much. Answer the question.”“No.” I raised my chin defiantly. “I won’t give you anything else until you give me something.”He let out a patronizing chuckle. “That’s not how this works, Emily.”“Maybe it’s not how it worked before, but it’s how it’s working now.” Somewhat stunned by my own bravado, I barreled on before I had a chance to second-guess myself. “How long did you know that I knew Amber?”He ticked his head dismissively. “It doesn’t matter. Did you fuck Joe Cook?”Exasperated, I dropped my hands to my side. “It doesn’t matter to you, but it matters a whole hell of a lot to me. And, frankly, my question is much more relevant than whether or not I’ve gotten naked with Joe.”“It’s relevant if I say it’s relevant.”I rolled my eyes and started to stand, but Reeve sprang forward and stopped me. His hands gripped on both arms of the chair, he caged me in.
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