Heartthrob (42 page)

“I promise you,” she said, “that I won’t get caught.”

He looked at her, long and steady. “That wasn’t what I asked.”

“But it
was
my answer.”

Another long look. “Go with God.”

“You, too.”

He turned to leave, but then turned back, subtle emotions playing across his face. “When I come back, you’ll be a little bit older.”

The look in his eyes loaded his words with meaning. Jane nodded, the look in
her
eyes telling him that she fully understood. “I will be.”

“Wait for me,” he said quietly.

“I will.”

He smiled then. “Good.” And he turned around to walk
away. The camera moved up close behind Susie, as she watched him head down the dusty road.

“Laramie!”

He turned, and she ran toward him, the camera following. He dropped his bag, and she threw herself into his arms. Damn, it was powerful. And if Jamaal didn’t know both Susie and Jericho so well, he’d be feeling a whole lot more than these little weird twinges of jealousy, that was for sure.

The camera moved in tight on their embrace, and Susie—Jane—gazed up at Laramie. “Some people’s second best can be better than most people’s first choice,” she whispered.

In the video monitor, Jamaal could see that Jericho had tears in his eyes. Damn, he was good. Slowly, he closed his eyes and gently brushed his lips against Susie’s.
Jane’s
, he told himself. Those were Jane’s lips he was kissing. But, damn, that was some sweet, purely romantic kiss. And it was obvious that for Laramie, Jane was
not
his second choice.

Jane touched Laramie’s face, searched his eyes. “Please hurry home.”

Laramie smiled. “I will.”

He set her down, picked up his bag, and continued on his way.

“And … cut!”

Jamaal had tears in his own eyes, and he quickly wiped them away as Susie came toward him.

“Hi.”

“Man,” he said. “That really rocked.”

“Will you sit with me at the premiere?” she asked.

“Will you
go
with me to the premiere?” he countered. “As my date?”

Her eyes were actually shining. “Yes.”

“That’s not going to be for a while,” he said.

“Will you call me after you meet with this director?” she asked.

Annie appeared alongside them. “Jamaal, if you don’t leave soon, you’re going to miss your flight.”

He looked into Susie’s eyes. “Yes, I’ll call you.” He took her hand, leading her to where the car was waiting. “I’ll call you all the time. Every day, if you want.”

“I want.”

The driver started the engine.
Shit.
He had four million things to say to her … “I love you.”

There were tears in her eyes. “I love you, too.”

He pulled her close, and she clung to him. “Your father is going to try to tell you that this wasn’t real—that it was just a crush.” He pulled her chin up so that she had to look at him. “Don’t believe him, okay? Because this
is
real.”

Jamaal kissed her. He knew the Pit Bull was watching, but he didn’t give a damn. She tasted like magic and hope and the power of love.

“It’s real,” he whispered again. “Don’t forget that.”

“I won’t.” She smiled. “I promise.”

There was a state police cruiser outside of Jed’s trailer, along with the county sheriff’s marked car.

His first thought was that Russell McCoy had done something stupid again. His second thought was this had nothing to do with McCoy—these cars were parked in front of
his
trailer.

“Where’s Kate?” he asked one of the gaffers who was standing in the crowd, looking on. “Is Kate all right?”

“I think she’s on her way over.”

Jed pushed his way through to the front, where Ethan and Nate were standing with the sheriff and a state trooper who was wearing mirrored aviator sunglasses. “What’s going on?”

“You’re in deep trouble, that’s what’s going on.” The sheriff clearly wasn’t here to sign up for Jed’s fan club.

Nate stepped forward looking apologetic. “I’m sorry, Jericho. We were told to call in the police.”

“Why?”

“Please step forward and place your hands against the side of the trailer, Mr. Beaumont,” the sunglasses said to him.

“Why? Are you arresting me? Nate, what the hell is this about?”

“Cocaine, Jericho.”

Ethan chipped in. “A
lot
of it.”

“We found it in your trailer. Just out on the table.”

“Half used—lines still on a mirror.”

“Mr. Beaumont, please step forward and—”

“It’s not mine. If it
was
mine, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave it out. Didn’t you call Kate?” Jed asked the security guards. They were supposed to call Kate first, before calling in the authorities.

“We did,” Nate told him.

Jed’s heart sank. They’d called Kate, and she’d told them to call the police.

The sunglasses was getting peeved. “Mr. Beaumont, I’m going to ask you for a second time to step toward the trailer and place your hands—”

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary.” Kate made her entrance like European royalty. Or like a fresh breeze sweeping across a stagnant swamp. She took in Jed, the trooper, the sheriff, and Nate and Ethan with a single glance, settling on Nate. “Why wasn’t I called
before
the police?”

“We couldn’t get in touch with you and—”

Kate turned briskly to the sheriff. “Tom. This is all a mistake.”

“Ma’am.” He touched his hat. “A substantial amount of cocaine was found in Jericho’s trailer this afternoon. I’m afraid it’s too much to simply let him off with a warning. We’ve got to bring him in.”

“The drugs aren’t his,” she said.

Jed’s knees felt weak. He hadn’t even opened his
mouth to deny anything in her presence, and already she believed he was innocent.

“Jericho’s been clean for this entire shoot,” Kate said. “I have records of tests we ran for drug and alcohol use that you can use to verify that. And—just for your information—he’s been clean for more than five years.”

The sheriff shifted his weight. “However, the cocaine
was
found in his trailer.”

“Tom, come on. Someone else put it there. Jericho told me he never used cocaine, not even during the height of his substance abuse.”

The sheriff was skeptical. “You’re going on something Beaumont told you?”

“Yes.” Kate turned to Jed. “Are the drugs yours?”

“No.” Jed had to smile at her. Even if the sheriff and the trooper didn’t believe him, even if they wound up dragging him to the police station and holding him on possession charges, it didn’t matter, because
Kate
believed him.

She turned to the sheriff. “The drugs aren’t his.”

He crossed his arms. “And someone just put that much cocaine in his trailer?”

“It happens often enough on movie sets, unfortunately,” Kate told him. “Overexuberant fans imagine that they’re leaving gifts. And don’t forget what happened with that gofer and the LSD.” She took a deep breath and smiled. “I’d appreciate it if you could properly dispose of the cocaine. And thank you for coming out here so promptly.”

Neither the sheriff nor trooper-man were about to let themselves be so easily dismissed. “I still think we better—”

Jed interrupted him. “Tom, Nate and Ethan said the stuff was out on the table—some of it was used. How about I take another drug test? You can take it over to the lab. That’ll tell you whether or not I was the one who used that cocaine.”

The sheriff glanced at the trooper. “Well … I guess that
would
show …”

The trooper nodded. “That works for me. But you better not plan on going anywhere until the test results are in.”

Jed nodded. “That’s fair.

“There’re kits inside.” Kate’s smile was tight. “You want to come make sure Jericho doesn’t cheat?”

“Absolutely.” The trooper followed them into the trailer.

Kate’s movements were almost jerky as she took the test kit down from the kitchen cabinet. She was mad, Jed realized as she placed it in his hand. She was PO’d that he had to do this.

But it was over then, and the sheriff and trooper pulled away, finally leaving him alone in the trailer with Kate.

“If you were anyone else, you wouldn’t have had to prove that those drugs weren’t yours,” she said tightly. “God, it’s so unfair—it makes me so
angry
!”

“It’s okay to be angry.” He pulled her into his arms. “But it’s also okay that they don’t trust me.”

There were tears in her eyes. “I’m so sorry about this. If I hadn’t forced you to sign that contract addendum …”

Jed kissed her. “I love that contract addendum,” he told her. “Signing that was the smartest thing I’ve ever done.” He kissed her again, marveling at how soft her mouth was, marveling that she had actually agreed to marry him.
She
was marrying
him.
He was definitely getting away with something here.

“It’s so unfair,” she said again.

It was, but it was entirely in his favor.

“I love you,” he said. “When you stood up for me like that, I was … I was honored.” He felt like crying, and for once he didn’t fight it. He just let his eyes fill with tears, let her see how moved he was.

Kate touched his face, her own eyes looking decidedly
moist. She kissed him, and he pulled her closer and kissed her yet again, unable, as always, to get enough of her.

It didn’t even help knowing that she was his forever.

T
he room was packed.

Kate recognized nearly all the faces in the crowd. The complete production staff from
The Promise
was there, as well as the postproduction staff. She saw Victor, his arm around some new young flavor of the month. Susie and Jamaal were sitting in the front row, holding hands, grinning at each other. Jamaal had come all the way from New York, taking time off from his latest movie. Even Alison Stern had flown out for the occasion, her brand-new baby in a front pack, seven-year-old Kenny beside her.

Kate looked at Jed and smiled as he moved toward the podium. He was nervous. Not that he looked it. But she knew because he’d admitted it to her in the car on the way over.

This wasn’t the Academy Awards. It wasn’t even
The Promise
’s premiere. They were all going to have to get together again in two weeks to kick off the release of her movie.
Their
movie. Thanks to brilliant performances by Jed and Susie and Jamaal, and a postproduction team that worked eighteen-hour days to get the film ready to go, the movie was set to open in every major market, right before
Christmas. It was going to be big. And Kate was betting it was going to sweep the Oscar nominations.

She was going to enjoy watching her husband’s acceptance speech for the Best Actor award, but even that wouldn’t top the achievement award he was receiving tonight.

He tapped once on the microphone, to see if it was on. The audience quieted, and he spoke.

“My name is Jed Beaumont, and I’m an alcoholic. It’s been exactly six years since I’ve had a drink …”

He met her eyes then, and smiled as applause thundered though the church basement.

Yeah, the Oscars were going to be fun, but they weren’t going to be any better than this.

I love you, Kate mouthed to him, and his smile got even wider. He nodded. He knew. The same way she knew he loved her, too. 24/7.

by Suzanne Brockmann

After a near-fatal head injury, Navy SEAL Lieutenant Tom Paoletti catches a terrifying glimpse of an international terrorist in his New England hometown. When he calls for help, the Navy dismisses the danger as injury-induced imaginings. In a desperate last-ditch effort to prevent disaster, Tom creates his own makeshift counterterrorist team, assembling his most loyal officers, two elderly war veterans, a couple of misfit teenagers, and Dr. Kelly Ashton—the sweet “girl next door” who has grown into a remarkable woman. The town’s infamous bad boy, Tom has always longed for Kelly. Now he has one final chance for happiness, one last chance to win her heart, and one desperate chance to save the day.…

Published by Ballantine Books.
Available in bookstores everywhere.

by Suzanne Brockmann

“The United States refuses to negotiate with terrorists.” Meg Moore remembered the warning from her job as a translator in a European embassy. Those same words will spell out a death sentence for her daughter and grandmother who have been kidnapped by a lethal group called the Extremists. Meg will do anything to meet their unspeakable demands; anything—even kill—to save her child.