Instantly, he replied. Gun handy?
Yes.
Let me know who’s there. I can be at your location in ten.
Thanks.
He was a very good friend to Pierce.
She darkened her phone and shoved it in the hidden pocket of her yoga pants. Then she made her way to the door and set the Beretta sat on the hall table, just beyond her fingertips, accessible if necessary, before she peered out the peephole.
A woman stood under the circle of the porch light, wearing a blue peacoat, head-to-toe black, and high-heeled boots. She looked familiar but… No. It couldn’t be. Yet the longer Brea looked, the more she was convinced that she was right.
Gaping, she pulled open the door and stared.
“Brea?” the stunning blonde asked.
“Mercy me. Shealyn West?”
The woman nodded sheepishly. “Hi. Is, um…Cutter here?”
Wow, the famous actress was really standing on his porch. But this wasn’t the time to be star struck. The woman had broken his heart. True…but she had also traveled here from Los Angeles, found Cutter’s apartment, and knocked on his door late on a Saturday night for a reason. Brea intended to find out why. If the blonde had ventured here simply to stamp all over his heart again, she’d stop Shealyn cold.
“No. I expect him soon, though. Come on in.” She stepped back, inviting the woman inside.
“That’s all right. I can come back when he’s available.”
“No, really. Come in. I think you and I should talk first. He hasn’t said a lot about what happened in California.” Just enough to make me madder than a wet hen at you. “I know what the press said, of course.”
“Half of that isn’t true.” Shealyn took a tentative step inside and looked around.
It probably wasn’t anything like her fancy digs in California, but it was homey and comfortable, and the woman better not have come here to judge. Thankfully, nothing on her face indicated she was.
Brea shut and locked the door. “I figured the rumor that you and Tower Trent had never had a relationship was hogwash.”
Shealyn clutched her purse nervously. “Actually, that’s true. It was good PR for the show, and we were friends. I meant the bit about the secret lesbian fling Jessica and I supposedly had that led to her jealous rage.”
“I didn’t even give that tripe the time of day. But I know whatever happened between you and Cutter changed him.” Let her stew on that… “Coffee? Iced tea?”
“Tea, please. Sweet?”
“Is there any other kind?”
“Not in my book.”
Darn it all, despite Shealyn being a star and a heartbreaker, there was something down-to-earth about her. She was likable. Seemingly sweet. Girl-next-door, like her image. Could she really be the sort of woman who took pleasure in ripping out a good man’s heart?
“So you really are a Southern girl… Please, sit.” Brea waved her to a little round table adjacent to the kitchen as she headed for the refrigerator. “Since I just made a pitcher for Cutter before lunch, the tea is fresh.”
As Shealyn slid into a chair, Brea sent Matt a clandestine text that all was well, then turned back to the starlet, who was biting her lip, looking both uncomfortable and uncertain.
Wondering what was on the woman’s mind, Brea poured the glass of tea and set it with a coaster in front of her.
“Thank you,” Shealyn murmured, stare lingering on her hand.
Looking for an engagement ring? Brea frowned as she slid into the opposite chair, tucking one foot under her thigh. “You’re welcome. I wish I could have some. But too much caffeine and sugar isn’t good for the baby.”
Shealyn’s smile faltered into a wince of pain. “Congratulations. You and Cutter must be very excited. I’m happy for you two.”
The actress said the right words, but her talent in front of a camera was failing her miserably in real life. Shealyn looked anything but thrilled.
Suddenly, the puzzle pieces fell into place.
Brea scowled. “He didn’t tell you, did he?”
“Tell me what?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Of course he didn’t. That stubborn, stubborn man. Ugh! You don’t know why he and I are planning this wedding, do you?”
“I presumed it was because you loved each other and were excited about your coming child.”
It was all Brea could do not to shake her head in frustration and call Cutter screaming. “Would a man madly in love with a woman and looking forward to starting a family with her give his heart to someone else? Scratch that. Some men might. Would Cutter do that?”
“The man I thought I knew? I’ve been trying to reconcile that in my head.”
“He would never do that. Ever since he stood next to my daddy the day I was born, he’s been the big brother I never had. It’s a long story, but when I got pregnant, Cutter blamed himself because I got close to my baby’s father while trying to help him escape a hostage situation.”
Shealyn blinked, looking utterly stunned. “You mean…the baby isn’t Cutter’s?”
“Heavens, no. We’ve never…” Brea shook her head. “Ever. He really is like my brother. Anyway, I worked up the nerve to see a doctor right before Cutter went to California to protect you. When we found out for sure I was pregnant, he proposed so I wouldn’t have to face my daddy—he’s the local preacher—and admit my sin as a fallen woman. I’m sure that sounds silly in this day and age.”
“No. I’m from a small town, too.”
“So you understand why that thought terrified me. Heck, at the time I was more than a little afraid of the man who got me pregnant, too. Pierce is…overwhelming. Cutter kept threatening to kill him, but it was my fault. I knew I needed to be honest, face him and my father—”
“You’re saying Cutter offered to sacrifice his future for you?”
“Exactly.”
“My question sounded rude. I-I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s the truth. And I was such a coward that I agreed to let him.” That was an oversimplified version
