Page 35 of Taking Chances in Cedarwood

Cain’s blood chilled. He’d forgotten about the van. A whole group of fans had arrived to watch him and demand Cain’s attention. His ire rose. “Sorry,” he muttered to Andrew. He turned to his parents. “You told them.”

His father shrugged, and Dixon glared. “You knew they’d find you,” Marcia said. “You knew you couldn’t hide. I told you this wouldn’t work, but you had to run. You had to do things your way.”

“I guess you did tell me.”

She’d lied. He wasn’t that special. He was just lucky enough to be on television and in the movies. He’d perpetuated the myth that he was important. Now, he had to live with the damage.

“I’ll get this sorted out,” Cain said. He directed Andrew away from the others. “I’ll fix this. I will.”

Andrew nodded and toyed with the front of Cain’s shirt. “Sure.”

The caress reminded Cain of a lover’s touch—the last vestiges of a love withering.

Fuck.He’d never been in this position before. Then again, he’d never been in a real relationship before. When he looked into Andrew’s eyes, the pain rent his heart in two.

“You’d better go.” Andrew raked his nails over Cain’s chest. “Will the van follow?”

“It will. You might get a few more visitors, but it’ll taper off once they know I’m not here.” Cain rested his forehead against Andrew’s and whimpered. “I can’t expect it, but wait for me.”

Andrew threaded his arm around Cain. “Don’t take forever.”

“You’ll wait?” God, he had nothing else but hope that Andrew might love him, even a tiny bit as much as he loved Andrew.

“I have a job to do here, and animals who depend on me. You have your role.” Andrew shook his head once. “We’ll figure something out.”

A tiny blossom of hope grew in Cain’s chest. His celebrity had destroyed so much, and he worried it’d cost him his relationship with Andrew, too.Maybe not.

“Go before your mother bores holes in my skull,” Andrew said. “If you decide to visit or escape and come here, tell me so I know to look for you. I want you here. I want you with me, but I know I’m not what they want for you.”

“Fuck them.” He wanted Andrew. Cain breathed in the scent of Andrew once more. His heart stayed with the farmer. He’d found the man who made him whole and he wasn’t about to walk away without a fight.

Chapter Thirteen

Cain left Andrew at the farm and allowed his family to bring him to a gigantic house in the Cedarwood city limits. The home reeked of money, plush carpets, expensive sculptures, pricy furnishings, servants everywhere—all the same old trappings from his life in Beverly Hills. His knees buckled as he stood in the middle of the walled-in gardens comprising the back yard, and he whimpered. He’d been captured.

He wasn’t the same man, though. He’d morphed and found his place in the world. There was a theater group in Cedarwood, and the movie was going to be made in town. Why couldn’t he stay in Ohio with Andrew? He’d come to love the farm and wanted to keep trying to learn the ins and outs of tending to the land.

“Change. Those clothes are awful,” Marcia said. “I’ve set up an interview with the tabloids for you tonight. You need to be cleaned up and camera-ready by five. Oh, and you’ll be posing for better photos for your social media feed. I’ve called Cape to get that story killed, so don’t try to contact him. Larkin’s destroying those pictures from earlier. If those get out, your reputation will be ruined. I won’t have that.”

He raked his fingers through his hair. “Mother, I was fine. You didn’t need to rescue me.” Or run his life or determine that he hadn’t lived according to her rules. He knew what he’d done.

“No?” Ed glared at him. “We made you and you owe us. If it weren’t for us, you’d be no better than that farmer.”

“His name is Andrew,” Cain snapped.And I love him.Shit.He hadn’t thought of their relationship in such definite terms, but it was true. He loved Andrew.

“Forget his name. You won’t be going there any longer and will never associate with him again,” Marcia said. She snapped her fingers. “Where is my martini?”

“Excuse me?”Oh hell no.Cain shook his head. “You can’t do that.”

“You will not see him again. You’re going to be engaged to a girl and show the world you’re not gay. You’re not going to embarrass me this way.” She pointed to him. “You’re going to marry a starlet, make children and like it.”

“I’m playing a gay man in the movie with Liam,” Cain said. “You wanted me to do it.”

“It’s an art film and will get you nominated for an award,” Marcia thundered. “You need to think of your career.”

He was. “I don’t want children and I don’t want to marry a girl.” He seethed and tried to keep his anger tempered. “Why don’t you like the idea of me being gay? What’s wrong with gay men?”

“What’s wrong is that you’re not gay.” She glared at him and snapped her fingers. “Where in the fuck is my drink?”

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