And it was the best decision she’d ever made.
Lifting her hand, she knocked on the door and said a silent prayer that this impulsive trip would turn out even better than the last one.
She swallowed when she heard the doorknob rattle. The door opened, and her smile and greeting fell when she got a look at Owen. He was pale and shirtless. His dark hair was in complete disarray, and he had a large bandage covering the right upper part of his chest.
“Oh my God,” she whispered, her hand already reaching out to him. “What happened to you?”
Chapter 12
Owen was pretty sure he was hallucinating. That was the only explanation he could come up with for seeing Brooke at his door. Before he could say a word, she was carefully backing him into the room and closing the door.
Her hands were gently touching his head, his cheeks, before raking through his hair. It all felt so good, so right…
“Come on,” she said, “you need to be sitting down.” They walked across the room to the bed, and Owen willingly sat and rested against the stack of pillows. “What do you need?” she asked. “What can I get you?”
His head finally cleared enough to realize that he wasn’t hallucinating. She was here. She was real. “What are you doing here?”
Brooke kicked off her sandals and smiled at him before walking over to the mini-fridge and getting two bottles of water. She handed one to him. “I heard you were sick, and I was worried about you.”
Sick? How…? Who…?
“Darcy called me. She didn’t know… She hadn’t heard…” She stopped and sighed. “Don’t be upset with her. She was just concerned about you and thought I was here with you. After we talked for a little bit, I knew I couldn’t stay away. Now what’s going on? Have you seen a doctor?”
“Doctor? I’m not—”
“You look very pale,” she said, sitting on the edge of the bed beside him, feeling his forehead again. “But you don’t have a fever.” Then her eyes went to the bandage. “What happened? Did you get hurt?”
He shook his head.
“Owen, please. What’s going on?”
Sitting up a little straighter, he grimaced with pain and cursed under his breath. Why had he thought this was a good idea? He reached up, gingerly found the edges of the bandage, and slowly pulled it away from his skin.
Beside him, Brooke gasped. “Owen! What did you…?” She reached out, but he immediately stopped her.
“Don’t touch it. Not yet.”
“Why…? When…?”
The cool air on his skin actually felt good. He reached over to the nightstand, found the ointment he was supposed to use, and gently applied it. When he was done, he looked at Brooke with a lopsided grin. “I thought it would be cool.”
A shy smile played at her lips. “It’s a tattoo.”
He nodded. “I know.”
“You got a tattoo,” she said as her smile blossomed.
“I did.”
“It’s very—”
“Painful,” he interjected. “In case you were wondering, the word is painful. Tattoos hurt like hell. I was completely misinformed on this.”
She laughed, and it was the sweetest sound in the world. “Who told you that? Everyone knows tattoos hurt!”
“Riley. I’m totally going to get even with him for this. He told me it would hurt a little, but this feels like my skin is on fire!”
“Oh no! Are you sure it’s not infected?” she asked, concern lacing her voice.
Owen shook his head. “It’s normal. I just have a low threshold for pain. I talked to the artist and Riley and went online and did some research, and it’s all normal. It should start to feel better by tomorrow.”
“So what can you do in the meantime?”
“The ointment, letting it breathe, and ibuprofen are about it.” He shrugged and then winced. “I’ll live.”
“That’s good,” she said, still smiling. “I’m very glad to hear that.” One of her hands came to rest on his stomach. “I can’t believe how much I want to touch it. It’s amazing, Owen. Truly amazing. What made you decide to do it? You never mentioned anything like this before.”
“I had a lot of heart-to-heart talks in the past week, first with Riley and then with my dad. And in each of those conversations, this topic kept coming up.”
“Tattoos?”
He chuckled. “No. Not tattoos but…” He pointed to the art.
“Superman?” she asked with amusement.
He nodded and then told her the story of how Superman played an important part in his life and his perception of himself. At first, he felt a little bit foolish, but the look on her face was one of wonder and understanding.
Because she understood him.
Probably better than he understood himself.
“This is to remind me that I’m stronger than I think I am. And that I don’t need the cape,” he added with a quiet laugh.
“I don’t know about that,” Brooke said, laughing with him. “It could be a good look on you.”
“If you think it is, then I’ll gladly go and get one,” he said, his hands twitching with the need to reach out and touch her.
But he couldn’t.
Not yet.
“Careful… I may take you up on that!” They were laughing, and then they weren’t. Things grew quiet, and Brooke lowered her gaze.
“I’m sorry,” he said gruffly. “I hurt you. It was never my intention.”
She looked up at him then. “I didn’t give you any reason to think any differently. I don’t have a very good track record, and if I were you—”
He pressed a finger against her lips to stop her words. “No. I knew. Deep down, I knew I was wrong in what I was thinking. All along I kept second-guessing myself and wondering how an amazing woman like you could ever want to be with a man like me. I was looking for excuses to back up my crazy logic. It was wrong of me, and I’m so sorry, Brooke.”
Her blue eyes were glazed with unshed tears as she looked at him. “I want to hug you, but I don’t want to hurt you!”
In that moment, he cursed the placement of the tattoo. Why hadn’t he gone for the arm? Why had he listened to Riley about the chest being the best spot? But his need to touch her, to hold her, was stronger than his need to not be in pain. Wrapping his arms around her, he gently pulled her in close and claimed her lips with his.
After several minutes, they broke apart, breathless. “I missed you,” she said, their foreheads resting against each other. “I missed you so much. I know it was only five days, but—”
“I missed you too. That’s why I left and went to visit my dad. I knew if I was in Chicago I wouldn’t be able to stay away. But I was so ashamed of myself that I didn’t know what else to do.”
“This morning my phone beeped to remind me of our flight. I was so sad because I wasn’t going to be here with you. I wanted to be—even though I was mad at you, I still wanted to be here with you. And it has nothing to do with the meteor shower or your group of students, Owen. I just wanted to be with you.”
He smiled and kissed her gently one more time. “This is where I want you to be. Right beside me. In my arms. Always.”
She shifted on the bed so she was lying on the side opposite his tattoo and rested her head on his shoulder. “I like the sound of that.”
“I love you,” he said, his voice deep and confident. “I should have said it to you the other day. Hell, I should have said it weeks ago.” Owen moved so he could look in her eyes. “I love you.”
And then she smiled—the smile that had turned him upside down from the very first day. “I love you too.”
And just like that, everything was right with his world.
* * *
They talked for hours.
Owen wasn’t even sure of the time.
All he knew was Brooke was lying beside him and it was wonderful.
Across the room, her phone was beeping with what sounded like a ton of incoming texts. She finally excused herself to make sure everything was all right. When she fished her phone out of her bag and looked at it, she started laughing.
“Everything okay?”
She nodded, walked back over, and climbed onto the bed. “They’re all from Darcy. She wants to know if you’re all right and if we’re all right, and then she wants a picture of the tattoo.”
He couldn’t help but laugh. Leave it to his sister to make so many requests.
“And she said to tell you that since you got one, it totally clears the way for her to get one too.”
Owen reached over, took the phone from Brooke’s hand, and immediately texted Darcy that he wanted to be left out of that discussion. There was no way he wanted to be held responsible for his sister getting a tattoo.
He let Brooke take a picture of his Superman emblem and grinned when she looked at him and told him how sexy it was.
Best. Idea. Ever.
Sort of. If it wasn’t for the pain.
After sending a few more messages to Owen’s sister, Brooke stood up, turned off her phone, and placed it back in her bag. Then she walked over to the wall of windows and sighed happily. “Quite the view, Dr. Shaughnessy.”
“I’ll say.”
She looked over her shoulder at him and rolled her eyes even as she laughed. “I was talking about the view from the window—of Red Rock? It’s spectacular.”
Owen rose, walked over, and stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “It was either the canyon or the Strip. I opted for the canyon for obvious reasons.”
“It’s a great view—not as great as the one we had in our tent the last time, but this way we have a lot more comfort.”
He smiled and kissed the top of her head. “Air-conditioning and a king-size bed are definite perks, but I kind of enjoyed our pallet on the ground in our mesh tent. It was cozy, and it meant you had to be close to me the whole time.”
“I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about that. I find I like being close to you when we sleep.”
He hugged her, and even though it made him wince briefly as her shoulder hit his freshly inked skin, it was worth it.
“I could look at this view all night,” she said.
“Me too.” But he wasn’t looking at the canyon. He was looking at her.
As if sensing his gaze, she turned and looked at him. “Why don’t we order dinner and watch the sunset from here?”
“I like the sound of that.”
Within minutes they’d called in their order, and Brooke made sure Owen sat and rested while she unpacked. When she muttered a mild curse, Owen asked her what was wrong. “I didn’t call to check on Uncle Howard or to make sure my mom got in okay. It’s kind of late there, but—”
“Call your mom’s phone then. That way if Howard’s sleeping you won’t wake him up.”
She agreed, immediately taking out her phone and sitting on the small sofa across the room to make the call. While she did that, Owen walked over to the desk and picked up his own phone. He pulled up Darcy’s name and started a text to her.
Hey, brat
Hey, brainiac
Thank you
For what?
*eye roll* Seriously?
So you guys are good? Brooke is still there?
Yes
Good. Then my work here is done
You’re a little bit of an evil genius
I know
I had planned on going to her after the trip
Too long
I agree. This way is much better
Cool tattoo btw
Glad you approve
Does it hurt?
More than you could ever imagine. I wouldn’t wish this pain on my worst enemy
Nice try. I still want one
Talk to Dad
*eye roll*
I’m serious.
We’ll see. I don’t even know what I’d get
In trouble. You’d get in trouble
Lol! I love that you’re finally getting a sense of humor
You can thank Brooke for that
I knew she was good for you
She’s the best
Then why are you wasting time texting with me? Go and catch up on lost time!
I think I will. Night, brat
Night, brainiac
He finished the exchange with a smiley face emoticon, and Darcy replied with a smiley face sticking its tongue out.
Which was no less than what he expected.
Putting his phone away, he looked over and saw Brooke smiling as she spoke softly, and Owen felt…happy. At peace. And if it weren’t for the stinging pain on his chest, he would say everything was perfect.
Soon.
Within minutes, their dinner was delivered, and Brooke hung up her phone and put it away again.
“Everyone okay? Did your mom make it in all right?”
“She’s there and settling in and a little disappointed that I wasn’t there, but when I told her why, she was very happy. She said Uncle Howard has been singing your praises, and now she wants to meet you even more.”
That made him feel a little sick to his stomach, but it was a problem for another day. He wasn’t going to let anything ruin this night.
Together they sat next to the window and watched the sun setting as they ate and talked about their plans for while they were there. Their original plans allowed them a full day of sightseeing before the rest of the group arrived, and Brooke mentioned the possibility of going shopping the next day for art supplies.
“I know I should have planned better, but I didn’t bring anything with me again. I can make do with the same kind of stuff I purchased the last time.”
“You know,” he began, putting his utensils down, “you never showed me what you painted the last time. I was so curious, but I figured you’d show me if you wanted to.”
Then he noticed her blush. “I’m sorry… I don’t mean to pressure you. I just thought—”
“I painted you,” she admitted shyly.
“What?”
Brooke nodded. “I did. I finally had the opportunity to paint in the desert, and I painted you.”
Owen wasn’t sure what to say to that. He was…stunned. But flattered. “Really?”
She nodded again. “You were looking through the telescope, and you just looked so…intense and at peace at the same time. The canyon made for a beautiful backdrop, but the majority of the painting was you. I was so embarrassed. I didn’t want you to think I was weird or anything. That’s why I quickly put it in the Jeep.”
“I had no idea,” he replied, feeling somewhat pleased and honored by her admission. “When we go home, can I see it?”
“Sure.”
But she didn’t sound sure; she sounded hesitant.
“Brooke, really…if you’d rather not—”
“I painted another picture of you,” she blurted out.
His eyes went wide. “You did?”
“Uh-huh.”
“When?”
“Right after we met. My uncle had set up a room for me to paint in, but I hadn’t felt any inspiration. For two weeks, I felt so guilty because he went through all the trouble of setting it up and buying me supplies, and I wasn’t using them. Then the day after I met you, I went into the studio and thought I’d paint what I pictured in my mind—what we’d talked about with the desert—and I ended up painting you.”
“I…I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you don’t think I’m a weirdo,” she joked, but he sensed there was a hint of vulnerability there.
“I certainly don’t think that. I’m flattered,
Brooke. I think your work is amazing, and to know you considered me to be a worthy subject is just…well…it’s humbling.”
“You haven’t seen them. You may hate them.”
He laughed. “More than the nudes in the cages?”
She laughed out loud with him. “Please don’t ever compare my work to those! If it ever comes to that, I swear I’ll give up art forever!”
Reaching across the table, he took her hand in his. “Don’t ever do that. You have such a gift, it would be a crime to give it up and not share it with the world. Promise me you never will.”
“Owen,” she said with a sigh.
“I know. I get it… I know we’re just joking around, but I meant what I said. You have such an amazing gift, and I want to see you get the attention for it that you deserve.”
She smiled but shook her head. “I wish it was easy to make happen, but I haven’t really been trying all that hard. Maybe someday… I’m not in a rush. Not really. I’ll be teaching this summer, and I plan on making my way around all the galleries in Chicago and the surrounding areas and seeing if I can get some of my work displayed.”
Pulling his hand back, Owen took another bite of his dinner as he thought for a minute. “I know I don’t know a whole lot about art—not like you—but…is Chicago the right place for you to be doing this? Wouldn’t someplace like New York be more to your advantage?”
She shook her head again. “Too much competition there. Besides, the timing is right for me to stay in Chicago. With the way my uncle is feeling and with his prognosis, I want to be there. Maybe after…” she began and then stopped, and Owen knew exactly what she was thinking.
“I know,” he said.
Brooke looked up at him and wiped away the tears that began to fall. “I want to be close to him. It’s important. I don’t see myself staying in Chicago, but I don’t particularly see myself heading back to Long Island either. It’s weird not knowing where I belong.”
Very carefully, Owen put down his utensils. This was it. This was the exact opening he’d been hoping for.
“With me,” he said, his tone and expression serious. “You belong with me.”
A Sky Full of Stars Page 29