Page 214

“What are you talking about, Charlie? I’ve told you everything Alexa and I have planned for the red carpet. I’m not keeping shit from you.”

I was tired of her riding my ass. I’d been transparent with her since the DC fuckup. Alexa and I had brought her in on everything so that she could use the awards show as a launching point for our relationship story.

The only thing I hadn’t brought up was the possible pregnancy, but that wasn’t any of her damn business. Alexa was stressed out about it enough. Her schedule wasn’t regular. She didn’t keep track of it and her birth control was all over the place. The only way we were going to know was when she took that test together.

“Then you don’t know about Mandy Brown?”

“Who the hell is Mandy Brown?”

Charlie exhaled. “We have a problem, Luke.”

“Spit it out.” I was on the verge of calling her the same names I used on the field for some of the guys. I was close.

“Mandy Brown is Lexi Wilde. Before she was a country star apparently she was an escort in Nashville.”

I almost missed the turn for the ranch. I thought I heard what Charlie said, but it didn’t register.

“Luke?”

“Yeah. What did you say?”

“Lexi used to work for an escort service as Mandy Brown. I don’t have all the details, but I’m going to have to advise you right now that we have no choice but to call off the red carpet appearance. You can’t be seen with a former hooker.”

“Hooker? Escort?” She wasn’t talking about my Alexa. “Some loser is probably trying to extort money from her. This has happened to me.”

I was angry enough to split the steering wheel in half. The rage pumped through me in jolts of adrenaline. Someone was going to pay for this. Ruining my reputation was one thing. Someone trying to take Alexa down was something else.

I pulled into the garage. I needed to get Alexa on the phone.

Charlie kept rambling. She was in def-con five mode. “I’m not prepared to reorganize our plan until I see how the optics fall out. It would help if I could talk to Alexa. For now, please don’t leave Austin, Luke.”

I ignored her. There was no way she could keep me here if Alexa needed me in Nashville.

“I’ve got to go, Charlie. Tell Linc I’ll call him later.” I hung up before she had a chance to shove another recommendation down my throat.

I dialed Alexa’s number.

“Baby, you ok?”

She choked out a sob. “Luke.”

“Hey, what the hell is going on? Are you ok? Talk to me.”

We were all in on this thing. She knew she could trust me with her life. I always had her back. I’d do whatever it took to take care of her, especially with fucking vultures coming after her like this.

Her life had been anything but easy. She had gone through hell with her parents. She had survived so much on her won. They weren’t here for her now, but I could be. I could be that man in her life. I was strong enough for both of us if she needed me to be. I’d fight like hell for this woman. Nothing could stop me. My emotions ran deep and wide.

And it hit me like a fucking brick to the back of the head. I loved her.

I loved Alexa Wilde. It was fierce and overpowering. The kind of love that was brutal. I had held her closer and tighter than any woman. I had memorized every delicious morsel of her body. I missed her when she wasn’t near me. I listened to her damn music in my truck. I knew the words to her songs. I knew the songs she hadn’t recorded yet. I wore the damn sunglasses she had shipped to me. I kept pictures of her on my phone. I was fucking in love with her. Damn it.

I heard her suck in a breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know if you’d call. I didn’t think you’d want to talk to me.”

“I can handle this. Shit, Alexa. I’ve been accused of worse.” If she hadn’t met me at a charity event I wondered if she would have taken the chance she did. Did that one sliver of good she saw in me lead us here? This was my territory. I knew how to roll with the punches of bad press. I could get her through this fuckup.

“It’s mostly true.”

It was as if someone had jammed a blade between my ribs. What did she say? No. It wasn’t true. No fucking way was it true.