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She cleared her throat.
“Well, then . . .” The words were a space filler. Why didn’t he speak? “I should probably—”
“Knock, knock!” a light female voice called from the front door. Sam’s head shot up and his eyes widened in horror when the door swung open to reveal . . .
Laura Prentiss? Lia blinked as her world immediately took a turn for the surreal. The woman looked exhausted and—without makeup—much younger than her twenty-eight years, but she was unmistakably Laura Prentiss.
“Brandy Snap,” she squealed when she saw Sam, who was kind of hovering between standing and sitting. He looked completely astonished to see the woman here. Laura Prentiss crossed the short distance from front door to living room to kitchen and launched herself at Sam. He managed to get upright in time to catch her, his arms instinctively closing around her slender waist.
“Did you miss me?” the woman asked, wrapping her legs around his waist as she planted kisses all over his face. She had an English accent with a slight American drawl to it and sounded vaguely exotic. “I’ve missed you. I don’t know how I managed without you. Why did you sic this unfriendly, horrible monster on me?”
She gestured toward the front door, and Lia’s dazed eyes drifted over to see a huge, hulking man in jeans and a T-shirt standing in the doorway. He was an intimidating specimen, with hair cut close to his scalp and tattoos snaking from his shirt collar up over his neck and down over his very impressive biceps. His face was harsh and unsmiling.
“Sorry, boss. She stole my fucking phone—apologies, ma’am—out of my jacket pocket while I was in the john and tossed it. It was either find a phone, call you and lose her, or follow her onto the plane.” The man, the only one of the three who had thus far taken the time to acknowledge Lia’s presence, had a southern American drawl.
Sam, who had his hands on the woman’s waist to keep her steady, glared at the man.
“We’ll discuss this later, Chambers.” His voice promised dire consequences, and Lia didn’t envy the man. Her eyes went back to Sam, who was tugging at the pop star’s arms.
“Lally, get down, for fuck’s sake! Have you forgotten that I was stabbed?” The reminder proved effective, and she unwound herself from him and slid down his body until her feet hit the floor. The woman finally noticed Lia, who was still sitting at the kitchen table.
“Oh, hey, are you Brand’s nurse? Brandy Snap, introduce us.”
“No,” he denied, his voice harsh. “She’s nobody. Lia, go home.”
His words eviscerated her, and Lia felt the blood draining from her face as she stumbled to her feet. She’d always known she was just a bit of fun for him, but to be relegated to a nobody in front of this woman, who was clearly somebody to him, was absolutely gut-wrenching. Especially after she had so stupidly lain herself bare to him just moments before.
“Sam,” she whispered, not sure what she wanted to say. Not sure if she even had anything to say—she just couldn’t believe the man she was in love with would treat her so shabbily. Not the Sam Brand she’d grown to know, to love . . .
“Lia, I’m serious. Get the fuck out of here!” His voice was taut with anger and something else, something intense and frightening. He met her eyes for a split second, and she saw absolute, burning fury in them. “Now!”
She lifted her chin and kept her eyes on his.
“Goodbye, Brand,” she said, her voice strong and emerging on a satisfying note of finality. She took one last look at him before turning around and walking away.
“Christ,” Sam swore shakily beneath his breath after the door closed behind Lia. He would fix it later, he would apologize, he would fucking grovel on his hands and knees if he had to, but at least she was gone.
She was safe.
To be sure he threw Chambers a look and tilted his chin toward the back door through which Lia had exited. The man nodded, understanding, before following Lia.
After he was sure that Lia was safe and taken care of, he focused his attention on Lally, who was blatantly snooping around the cabin. He had taken one look at the pop princess and completely lost all rationality.
Lia had just told him she was in love with him. How the fuck was she in love with him? A woman like Lia. Who could have anybody. It took some processing. She told him she was in love with him and then she fucking broke up with him.
And then Lally came waltzing in and all Sam could think about was that Hurricane Lally courted disaster wherever she went. She had stalkers and dangerous, crazed fans, and innocent people got caught up in her trail of destruction, got hurt when she was around . . .
