Читать книгу Ultimate Romance Collection - Rebecca Winters, Amalie Berlin - Страница 38

Four

Laramie managed to grab her before she passed out on the floor, sweeping her into his arms. People were staring, some had begun moving in their direction, no doubt wondering what the hell was going on.

“Put her down!”

He recognized Culpepper’s voice. Laramie turned to see Culpepper flanked by several security guards and the owner of the gallery. Then suddenly a woman pushed through the crowd. “What happened?”

Laramie thought it was obvious but answered anyway. “She fainted.”

“Fainted? How? Why?” She then narrowed her gaze at him. “Who are you?”

“Laramie Cooper.”

“Laramie Cooper?” The woman gasped.

He wondered why hearing his name had such an effect on the woman. “Yes, Laramie Cooper. I need to take Bristol somewhere to lie down. And I need someone to get a wet cloth.”

“Wait a damn minute,” Culpepper was saying. “He has no right to be here. Who is he supposed to be?”

He heard the woman whisper something to the bastard that sounded like “He’s her husband.”

Laramie wondered why the woman would make such an outlandish claim. He wasn’t anyone’s husband. Then he recalled what Culpepper had told him earlier. Bristol’s last name was Cooper. Now he was more confused than ever and confusion was something he didn’t deal with very well.

Suddenly, the older gentleman Bristol had been talking to said, “Will someone do as this man asks and get a wet cloth? Jazlyn, where is your office?”

“Right this way, Mr. Kusac.”

“Kusac?”

Laramie ignored the flutter of whispered voices repeating the man’s name as if it meant something. Even the woman who was moving ahead of them stopped to look at the man in awe. Who was this guy Kusac? Was he a celebrity or something?

Laramie moved quickly toward the back of the gallery while carrying Bristol in his arms. He recalled the last time he’d carried her, from her kitchen to her bed.

Entering the gallery owner’s office, Laramie laid Bristol on the sofa. The man who’d been identified as Kusac closed the office door, only admitting the three of them along with the woman. Laramie couldn’t determine who she was studying more, him or Kusac. There was a knock on the door and Kusac opened it. Wet cloths were handed to him and he passed them over to Laramie.

“Is she all right?” the woman asked nervously.

“Yes” was Laramie’s response as he began wiping Bristol’s face with a cloth.

“By the way, Mr. Kusac, I’m Margie Townsend, Bristol’s manager. I appreciate you coming out tonight and giving your support. You and Bristol seem to know each other.”

“We do. I was a close friend of her father’s.”

“Oh.” And then out the corner of his eye, Laramie noted the woman moving closer to him. “And are you really Laramie Cooper?” she asked.

He didn’t take his gaze off Bristol as he continued to wipe her face. She was even more beautiful than he’d remembered. Her chocolate brown skin was smooth and soft. He’d always liked the shape of her lips. They had the perfect bow. He recalled kissing them. How he’d licked them with his tongue.

Bristol was three years older now. Twenty-five. But you couldn’t tell it by her features. It was as if she hadn’t aged at all.

She still was the most beautiful woman he had yet to meet.

He switched his gaze to the woman who’d introduced herself as Bristol’s manager and who’d asked him a strange question. “Yes, I’m Laramie Cooper.”

“B-but you’re supposed to be dead.”

Laramie frowned. Bristol must have told her that. But then, how had Bristol known?

Deciding he would get all the answers he wanted from Bristol when she came to, he said, “Yes, I’d been captured, and they presumed I was dead.”

“And you decided to show up after all this time?” the woman snapped. “Fine husband you are!”

Before he could ask her what in the hell was she talking about, Bristol made a sound. She whispered his name just moments before her eyes fluttered open.

And then she stared up at him. Tentatively, she reached up and touched his face, as if to make certain he was flesh and blood. Tears fell from her eyes when she whispered, “You’re alive.”

He nodded. “Yes, I’m alive.”

“But they told me you were dead.”

He nodded. “They thought so for a while, before I was rescued.”

“Rescued?”

“Yes. Almost a year later.”

From the look in her eyes, he saw something was bothering her. Maybe it was the fact that she was using his last name and claiming they were married.

“We need to talk privately, Laramie,” she said, barely above a whisper.

She was right. They needed to talk. He nodded and then glanced at the other two people in the room. Before he could say anything, Kusac said, “We heard.” He opened the door. When Margie Townsend hesitated, Kusac said, “They need time alone.”

Margie nodded. “Yes, of course.” She then said to Bristol, “If you need me I’ll be right outside the door.”

When the door closed behind them, Laramie helped Bristol sit up. She drew in a deep breath and stared at him. “I can’t believe you are alive.”

Laramie didn’t say anything. He was trying to make sense of what he’d learned and was failing miserably. He needed answers to help him understand. “How did you know I was supposedly dead?” he asked, sitting beside her on the sofa.

She nervously licked her lips. “I tried to find you. I sent you a letter, through the navy, and it was returned. A friend of mine knew someone who worked in the State Department. They checked into it and that’s what I was told.”

“When was this?”

“A few months after I last saw you.”

He nodded. “I was presumed dead, so the person was right. I was rescued just days before Christmas the following year.”

“That was a long time.”

“Yes, it was.” Only his close friends knew about the nightmares he’d had for months following his rescue. Nightmares he still had at times. His enemies had tried to break him and he’d refused to be broken. But their attempts had become lasting scars.

“Why were you trying to reach me, Bristol?”

* * *

Bristol drew in a deep breath, not believing that Laramie was alive, not believing that he’d shown up here tonight. How had he known where she was? Had he been looking for her? If he had, that would make what she was about to tell him easier. But what if he hadn’t been looking for her? What if he had forgotten all about her and moved on? For all she knew he could be married, although there was no ring on his finger.

She studied his features. He was even more handsome than she remembered. He looked slightly older and there was a hardness in the lines of his face that hadn’t been there before. Instead of taking away from his striking features, the hardness defined them even more. And the look in his eyes reflected experiences she couldn’t come close to imagining.

Even if those experiences had changed him, it didn’t matter. He still had a right to know about her son. His son. Their son.

He could accept it or question whether Laramie was truly his, but he had a right to know. How he handled the news was up to him.

Drawing in another deep breath, she met his gaze and said, “The reason I tried reaching you was because I wanted to let you know I was pregnant.”