Second Chance At The Ranch. Maxine Morrey

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      Rupert screwed up his nose and made a loud ‘oink oink’ noise, startling the group of older, clearly loaded, women sitting next to them.

      ‘Stop it!’ Hero laughed, batting her friend on the arm.

      Rupert gave one more oink for good measure before lifting his champagne glass to his lips, a devilish grin on his face. ‘That’s what happens when you tell porkies to Uncle Rupert.’

      Hero shook her head. ‘Uncle Rupert’ was seven years older than her and the only man she trusted.

      ‘You on your own?’ he asked.

      ‘No, Anya’s here … somewhere,’ she replied, looking around the now packed restaurant. ‘I think she went off to try and talk to the chef. You know what she’s like.’

      ‘I also know what the chef is like. Real penchant for blondes. You should have brought a man. It’s unlikely you’ll see Anya again for some time yet.’

      Hero shrugged.

      ‘So?’

      ‘So what?’ She frowned.

      ‘I wondered if there had been any change in the Ben Gale/Hero Scott situation.’

      Hero fixed him with a look. ‘No. And there won’t be.’

      Rupert’s face became more serious – the joker dispensed with for the moment. ‘You two seemed really happy. Is it not worth trying again?’

      ‘No. We were. Mostly. But between my career and his, it just wasn’t working out.’

      ‘But couldn’t you—’

      ‘No, Rupert. We couldn’t. Besides, he’s with someone else now, and so am I.’

      ‘If you’re referring to that sugar daddy, Jonathan Von Dries, then you already know my opinion of him, and your “relationship”.’

      ‘Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t need a sugar daddy!’

      ‘And yet you have one.’

      Hero blew out a sigh. ‘I don’t. And anyway, you’re hardly one to talk. I’m not sure there’s a lot of meeting of the minds in your current “relationship”.’ She made air quotes just as he had done, purposefully letting her gaze drift over to the peroxide blonde perched on the edge of a chair. His date was now on her fourth champagne and getting louder by the minute. Rupert followed his friend’s eye line before looking back at her, unrepentant.

      ‘That’s completely different.’

      ‘Of course it is. And how is that?’

      ‘Because neither of us are wishing there was more to it than there is.’

      ‘So, exactly the same then.’

      Rupert looked at her and Hero did her best to hold his gaze. She couldn’t.

      ‘You deserve more than that, Hero.’

      Her throat felt tight, and she looked away, out of the window at the passing foot traffic. Crowds of people hurried in all directions. A horn beeped and the wailing siren of an ambulance became louder as the blue lights flashed, competing with the huge neon signs for dominance. Sometimes she just wanted to get away. She didn’t know where exactly but somewhere that was the direct opposite of all the noise, lights, crowds – all the constant demands on her senses. Sometimes she just wanted to sit and hear nothing but silence.

      Rupert’s hand caught hers across the table. ‘You know it’s just because I care about you.’

      Hero nodded, her gaze still fixed on a point outside the window. ‘I know.’ And she did. Unlike most of the people she spent time with, she knew where she was with Rupert. He didn’t take shit from anyone, including her, and she loved him for it.

      Rupert Thorne-Smith’s relationship with the model Hero Scott had always been cause for gossip. He was wealthy, good-looking, and successful with a reputation that was best described as gentleman playboy. Rupert adored Hero, but she was closer to being a younger sister to him than anything that the papers could dream up.

      They had met at a party early on in Hero’s career when he had found her sitting outside in the garden, away from the house and the noise and the beautiful people. She was extremely shy but something about her had made Rupert persevere – a new experience for Rupert and women – and it wasn’t just her beauty. There was no doubt that the girl was stunning, but there was something else. She had looked lonely, and when he began to talk to her and ask her opinion on subjects, Rupert had never seen a person look so surprised at the interest. That night, a deep, enduring friendship was formed. Rupert took Hero to see a close friend of his, a financial whizz kid, who owned one of the top investment firms in London, and together they went over the best path for Hero to choose when it came to taking care of her earnings, which were rapidly becoming substantial. Thanks to Rupert, and Thorne-Smith Holdings, Hero’s financial future was secure. She was already a very wealthy woman.

      Rupert knew how the darker side of the glamorous career sometimes got to his friend. This was the side people didn’t want the public to see. And to a certain extent, that wish was mutual. People didn’t want to hear about the humiliation models sometimes felt, the lack of support from those who should have their backs. They didn’t want to know about the drugs, the eating disorders, the ever-present knowledge that you could be the brightest star today and completely ignored tomorrow when a new star ascended. All that most people wanted to see were the highs. The glamour and glitz. The beautiful people living their beautiful lives, wearing the beautiful clothes. On days Rupert saw Hero or Anya looking exhausted, he urged them both to think about leaving modelling. Thankfully, Anya had already been thinking the same thing and was now making plans to return to Sweden and train as a chef. Having been lucky enough to sample some of her recipes, Rupert had absolutely no doubt of her success in her second career. It was Hero that held his concern.

      He knew she was aware that, through savvy investments and careful control, she never had to work again. But whenever Rupert broached the subject, she would just smile and tell him not to worry. He knew that somewhere there was a reason she pushed on through, but neither he nor Anya had ever been able to find out what it was.

      Hero stretched her long legs out in the hushed atmosphere of the first-class cabin. She’d come to enjoy long-haul flights, delighting in the fact that she was unobtainable for those hours. Her phone stayed switched off and in her bag – something Anya, who had completely embraced the whole Insta-life thing, teased her about relentlessly. It wasn’t like Hero was stuck in the Dark Ages, although according to some of those within her circle, the fact that her phone wasn’t glued to her hand and kept under her pillow meant she might as well have been. Hero smiled at their comments, but privately thought that neither of those actions seemed the healthiest and carried on doing her own thing.

      And now, she had no one to answer to or anywhere else she needed to be except right here. Snuggling down under the duvet, she felt the stress leaving her body as she opened the new novel she’d bought at the airport and began reading.

      When her sister, Juliet, had rung her a few weeks ago to say she had become engaged to a man she’d met on her holiday in Australia, Hero wasn’t terribly surprised. Juliet had always been the most impulsive of the two sisters, and as Juliet had СКАЧАТЬ