walked around the edge of the house toward them. Cruz forgot any laughter or cuteness on his sister’s part. “Josh.” His voice was cold and obviously a warning.
Josh stopped walking and they faced off.
Cat looked between the two of them. “Everything okay?”
“Yes,” Cruz said. “Thanks for your help, sis. Go enjoy your dinner.”
“Okay.” She didn’t seem to like it, but at least she listened, gave his arm a squeeze, and muttered, “Stetson can back you up if you need.”
“Everything’s fine,” Cruz reassured her. “Josh is one of my employees.”
“Oh, hi.” Cat clued in quickly that this was the guy who’d taken Meredith home. That meant Meredith was alone, but still Cruz needed to set this guy straight. “I’m Cruz’s sister, Cat.”
Josh lifted a hand in greeting but said nothing.
“All-righty-then.” Cat turned so only Cruz could see her and mouthed, “Friendly one.”
Cruz smiled.
Cat walked off, and Cruz stood facing Josh.
“What’s the deal, dude?” Cruz asked. He was relieved Josh wasn’t with Meredith, but he wanted the guy to know he had to stay far away from her.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I took Meredith home because she had a headache.”
“It’s exactly my business. You’re my employee, and you have no right to be spreading lies about me.”
“You don’t own me.” Josh jutted out his chin.
Cruz might’ve been impressed at his bravery if he wasn’t so ticked off. “You’re right, I don’t, and up until tonight you’ve been a decent employee.”
Josh nodded.
“But you still work for me, and this is what’s going to happen. Tomorrow is the last day of filming. We wrap up, and you go take your vacation time wherever you like. Just not here.” He gave him a significant look and hoped he wasn’t too stupid to get the point. “I’ll meet you in two weeks at Flathead Lake.” That was the plan for all of his employees anyway. Cruz would have a couple of weeks to enjoy his family and friends without employees or cameras constantly rolling, and everyone deserved a much-needed vacation. He just wanted to make sure Josh knew he wasn’t welcome to stay in the valley and pursue Meredith.
“I can stay in the valley if I want.”
“Not as my employee you can’t.” Maybe Cruz was crossing a line here, but he would deal with a disgruntled employee or even a lawsuit over allowing this playboy to pursue sweet, innocent, unassuming, far-too-attractive Meredith.
“You just want Meredith to yourself,” Josh sneered at him. “Isn’t it enough that every woman in the world falls at your feet? What do you care about one more?”
Cruz hesitated before admitting, “Meredith is the one for me. The only one I want.”
Josh’s eyebrows raised. “Hmm, isn’t that interesting.” He gave Cruz a mocking look. “Finally, the superhero has a weakness—the beautiful Meredith, who’s more than willing to sleep with me.” He arched an eyebrow.
Cruz felt a chill go through him. This guy was a creep, and this wasn’t going to end well. “Don’t you dare touch Meredith.”
Josh simply sneered at him. “You don’t have to fire me. I quit. And we’ll just see who Meredith chooses.” With that, he turned and stormed toward the driveway. Cruz heard a motor turn over and then a vehicle spin away. He wanted to chase after Josh and make sure he didn’t head back to Meredith’s.
“Cruz!” Taylee was calling to him from the backyard.
Cruz sighed and headed back to the party—his party. He knew he couldn’t control Josh, and especially knew he couldn’t control Meredith, but he did stop to say a prayer for her to be protected. He didn’t have a good feeling about any of this. As soon as he could, he was headed to Meredith’s house to make sure Josh wasn’t there.
Chapter Three
Meredith spent a long, uneasy night and woke up with a slight headache. She hadn’t been comfortable with Josh taking her home since she didn’t know him very well, but he had been her option to get out of there fast. Cat had picked her up earlier to make sure Meredith didn’t ditch the party. Thankfully Cat hadn’t seemed too upset when she called, more concerned. Josh was Cruz’s employee, so she felt she’d be safe with him. However, she hated all the stories he kept telling her about Cruz being some world-renowned ladies’ man, and it was obvious he and Cruz had some issues. When Cruz had called her “his girl,” she’d about fallen over, but from what Josh said, he had dozens of “girls,” a different