He couldn’t give her everything she deserved overnight, but he’d been putting money aside. He could buy his own spread in another year or two. The breeding was already coming along, thanks to his partnership with Grady. They were already on their way to having some of the best stock in Wyoming. Until all the pieces fell into place, he could go on working for Grady. Lauren could, too, if that’s what she wanted. Or she could hire out to other ranchers, consult with them on horses that needed someone to take a little extra time, use a little extra ingenuity in their training.
Or she could just stay at home and have their babies. The thought brought an unexpected swell of feeling up from deep inside him. Wade had never imagined wanting a family so much, never thought about being a husband, much less a father. But seeing the tenderness between Karen and Grady now that she was carrying his child had made him want that for himself. He’d wanted to watch Lauren grow big with his baby inside her.
Because he wanted all of it so badly, he should have known it was destined to blow up in his face. That was the way things went in his life. Nothing was ever as perfect as it seemed. Nothing lasted.
As he stood in a Laramie drugstore, frozen in place, his gaze locked on the front page of a tabloid, his entire world came crashing down just when he was beginning to think it was perfect.
There was no mistaking that incredible face, no mistaking the dazzling smile, though the rest—the glamorous hairdo, the jewels, the designer gown—were as unfamiliar to him as pricey champagne.
Why Is This Superstar Hiding Out? the headline asked.
Wade stared at the picture, dumbfounded. For a second, he dared to hope that it was her twin, but there was her name beneath the picture, the full name she had deliberately kept from him for months, the name she had been so reluctant to share even when he’d pushed.
In a daze, he picked up the paper and carried it out to his truck. He sat in the front seat, the paper resting on the steering wheel, the damning words swimming in front of eyes that were blurry with unshed tears.
Again and again, his gaze was drawn back to the expensive beaded gown that must have cost more than his annual salary. Lauren’s hair, which fell over him in a shower of fire when they made love, was done up on top of her head with glittering jewels tucked among the curls. Diamonds, no doubt. His stomach clenched at the sight.
All these months and he hadn’t known—hadn’t even guessed—that she had this other life. All these months she had been lying to him, making a fool of him. She was everything he hated—wealthy, powerful, duplicitous, conniving. How could he not have known that about her? How could he have let himself be deceived the same way his mother had been? Only this was worse, because Lauren had known how he felt about all the things she apparently was. She had known and played with his emotions anyway.
And what about Grady? Why hadn’t he said something? He knew Wade was falling for Lauren. He’d even encouraged it. All of them had. But Grady was his friend, or so he’d thought. Why hadn’t he warned Wade off, told him she was out of his league?
He balled up the paper and tossed it on the seat beside him. Filled with gut-churning outrage and betrayal, he drove back to the ranch, packed his things, tossed them haphazardly into the back of his truck, and went to look for Grady.
“I just wanted you to know I’m taking off,” he said tightly when he found Grady. “I figured I owed you that courtesy, which is a helluva lot more than I got from you.”
Grady regarded him with a shocked expression. “What’s that supposed to mean? What’s gotten into you?”
“You and your wife and your superstar friend must have been having a great time laughing behind my back,” Wade said, tossing the crumpled newspaper down in front of Grady. He gestured toward the picture of Lauren. “What was I? Some brief interlude with the hired help that Lauren could brag about when she went back to her fancy digs in California?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Grady insisted.
Wade regarded his boss incredulously. “You didn’t know that Lauren is a big-time Hollywood actress?”
“Of course I knew that.” Grady’s jaw dropped. “Didn’t you?”
“How would I know?”
“The whole town knows who Lauren is. I figured you’d heard about her. And since you’ve gotten closer, what you didn’t hear I figured she’d tell you herself. I know she’s been hoping to maintain a low profile now that she’s back, but of all people I thought she’d want you to know.”
Wade regarded him with a wry look. “Yeah, you would think that, wouldn’t you? Well, she didn’t.”
“Wade, don’t leave,” Grady pleaded. “Think about this. There has to be some sort of misunderstanding. I know how she feels about you. She loves you. She’ll be back any time now. She called Karen from the airport in Los Angeles just as she was taking off.”
A part of Wade wanted to believe Grady, wanted to believe that his own instincts hadn’t failed him completely, but the truth was staring him square in the face. Lauren Winters had lied to him, just like every other person with money he’d ever known, starting with the rich daddy who hadn’t seen fit to claim a bastard son.
This hurt worse, though, because he’d never expected anything from his father, not even acknowledgment. But he’d started to expect a lot from Lauren. He’d started to count on a future.
When he thought of the ring he’d almost bought, with its tiny, glittering diamond that would have been a joke compared to the ones she’d worn in her hair in that picture, he wanted to break things.
But
