Chapter 2 #2
The actress – Nina Keller, he remembered – returned the smile politely but she didn’t reply, only angled her face away, hiding the bruises once again.
It was her friend, or boyfriend, maybe, who leaned forward and took the phone he held.
‘And you are?’ he practically purred, batting his eyelashes exaggeratedly.
Okay, not her boyfriend, Mav deduced. ‘Maverick.’ He stood and stepped back, out of her space.
And because he had already moved to help the Morgans, he didn’t change course.
‘Welcome to Hunt Ranch, folks. I hope you enjoy your stay. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to flag down any one of our staff. ’
He caught up with the Morgans outside, began his tour with: ‘We have over one hundred horses here …’ But as he talked, gave the tour he’d given countless times before, his mind kept wandering back to Nina Keller.
He didn’t know why he’d been expecting some vivacious blonde who would need to be pampered.
But he had been. So, the quiet, Bohemian woman with the sad eyes had surprised him.
Intrigued him. But even as he thought of her, he remembered what she had been through and he reminded himself to keep his distance.
He’d check in with Sierra, maybe have Riley or another one of their female staff check Nina Keller in for her stay.
He waited for the Morgans to get sidetracked by the horses, and as they stood at the fencing oohing and aahing, he pulled out his phone, shot a text to his sister.
Actress arrived early. I was already checking in the Morgans, but I’ll send Riley up to check her in instead. Make sure she has female staff when possible. She’s spooked.
It wasn’t exactly poetry, but he knew Sierra agreed with him when she replied only moments later with:
Will do.
‘You did that on purpose,’ Nina accused Markus the moment the cowboy walked out the front door.
‘Damn right I did.’ Markus raised one hand dramatically to his heart. ‘And this is the thanks I get?’ He leaned close, stage-whispered, ‘Did you at least benefit from my efforts?’
Nina only tipped her head, but she wouldn’t deny that she’d noticed the cowboy. Anyone would have.
She’d seen him the moment he’d walked in, his long-legged stride determined, his dark brown hair sticking out beneath an old LA Dodgers baseball cap, his blue eyes a little harried.
She’d been helpless but to watch as he’d greeted the family.
She’d even smiled when she’d overheard his conversation with the little girl, who had declared to the entire lobby that her name was June Morgan.
And Markus was right about one thing: the man – Maverick – certainly filled out a pair of old blue jeans. Still, she knew better than to encourage Markus, and so replied, ‘He has lovely eyes.’
‘I didn’t notice,’ Markus quipped, making her smile. ‘Did you see the stretch in those blue jeans though?’
Nina had. But, on principle, denied it. ‘No.’
‘They must have been a polyester, Lycra, denim blend. Hmmm.’
Nina knew that exact look. ‘Let me guess. A spring photoshoot. Cowboys. Denim. Horses.’ She swiped her hand across the space in front of them as if painting the picture. ‘A lone cowboy carries his saddle across a golden field in search of his trusty steed.’
‘Hell yeah. I can see it now, Neens.’ He pushed to his feet, all sense of playfulness gone. ‘I can convince one of the big brands to bite on this. Maybe Levi’s. Or Wrangler.’
Nina was half convinced he wanted to do it. Markus was one of the most sought-after photographers in LA, so he could pick and choose his clients. The other half of her knew: ‘And then you can get paid to check up on me.’
Markus patted her on the head. ‘Small perks, honey.’
On a mission now, he flagged down a passing staff member. ‘Excuse me!’
Nina groaned as the girl, whose name tag identified her as ‘Debbie’, stopped. She shot Nina an anxious glance, murmured, ‘Hello. Welcome to Hunt Ranch.’
Markus didn’t notice, and even if he had, he wouldn’t have cared. His philosophy in life was to go after every opportunity with both hands and then hold on to it in a vice-like grip until he’d sufficiently conquered it. ‘Who’s in charge here?’ he asked now.
The girl looked around uncertainly. ‘The Hunts – Maverick and Sierra. If you have a complaint, I’d be happy to find one of them for you.’
‘Oh no! No complaints!’ But Markus raised one eyebrow. ‘Maverick, you said?’ At six feet, Markus might have been only one or two inches shorter than Maverick, but he held one hand a foot above his head, said, ‘About yea high? Rugged? Handsome? Dodgers fan?’
Debbie laughed, immediately relaxing. ‘Yes. That’s Maverick.’
‘Thanks, girl.’ He winked at her. ‘I know where to find him.’
Markus took Nina’s hands and gently helped her to her feet. ‘Come on, baby. Let’s go.’
‘Markus, they asked us to wait a few minutes.’
‘This can’t wait.’ He started walking. Nina followed. ‘These things are always easier in person, and if I can sort it before I leave later, we’ll have the ball well and truly rolling by the time I need to pitch it. I could be back with you in under a week.’
‘Markus—’
‘How did I not know this was right here?’ he asked, deliberately steamrolling her. ‘Cowboys! Only three hours away!’
Nina struggled to keep up with his big strides. Her attacker had cracked her eighth and ninth ribs when he’d kicked her, and too much movement was excruciating. ‘Markus, I don’t want you to put your life on hold for me.’
Markus heard the pinch of pain in her voice and slowed his pace. He jammed his hands in his pockets, but only because she had started snapping at him every time he fussed. ‘Why not?’
‘Because you have a life,’ she responded immediately. ‘A job you love. A boyfriend who has already been entirely too accommodating of me. I’m here now. I’m safe. You need to go home.’ And even though she didn’t actually want him to go, Nina added, ‘I’ll be fine.’
Because she had to be. If she was ever going to get back to the woman she had been, the woman who had clawed her way up in the world using nothing but her brain and a God-given stubborn streak, she needed to start working on it.
Markus closed his eyes and mumbled something incoherent.
‘What are you doing?’ she asked.
‘Praying for patience.’
‘Markus—’
He held up one finger. ‘Almost done.’
And damn him because she truly laughed for the first time in over a week. And it hurt.
Markus opened his eyes, but he didn’t smile.
He said, ‘We’re going to tackle that horseshit chronologically.
One—’ he held up his index finger again ‘—you are one of the most important people in my life. Two—’ his middle finger joined his index one ‘—my boyfriend loves you, and if he doesn’t understand why you are my priority right now, then he’s not the man I thought he was and he’s certainly not the man for me.
Three, you are here now, and you are safe but I’m not going home until you’re settled in, and I am one hundred per cent certain you’re okay to be left alone.
And four—’ his pinkie joined the rest ‘—I genuinely love this concept, I’m in demand enough as a photographer that I think I could arrange it, and then I could worry less because I could be closer to you. It’s a win-win.’
Nina’s tears welled before she could bank them. ‘I just want to move on. And I feel like I won’t be able to do that if I get used to leaning on you too much.’
After her three-day hospital stay, she had moved in with Markus. She had slept in his bed with him while Juan took the couch because she kept having nightmares about the attack. She had started waking up in full fight mode, her arms and legs thrashing.
She hadn’t been out alone since the attack, even with her customary baseball-hat-and-sunglasses disguise.
The one time she’d tried to go to the grocery store, only a few days prior, she’d driven all the way there and then descended into full-blown panic.
She’d sat in her car and cried for an hour before finally calming down enough to drive back to Markus’s.
‘It’s just a bump in the road that’s slowed you down for a while,’ Markus insisted.
‘Neens … You suffered something horrific, and it’s not just going to go away because you want to move on.
’ He held out both arms, and she walked into his hug.
He sighed and added, ‘It’s going to go away because I carried you for a bit while you rested and recharged.
And it’s going to disappear forever when I find the bastard who hurt you and show him that this queen has balls. ’
Overwhelmed by guilt and shame and love and gratitude, Nina choked on a laugh-sob. But she took a moment to rest against him, drawing from his strength. She whispered, ‘I love you.’
And she smiled when he only sniffled and replied, ‘Don’t make me cry. I didn’t bring my makeup.’