by L. T. Marie
“Jo!”
Jo’s chest heaved and her legs barely kept her upright as she squinted into the morning sun, barely recognizing the woman waving at her frantically from a convertible Lamborghini Murcielago.
“Patricia!” Jo waved as the lead guitarist for Total Femme ran up the front steps, swooping Jo off her feet.
Patricia Simpson was not only one of the best female guitarists in the country, but also the second most popular member of the group, next to Tory. Jo hadn’t seen Patricia since the group’s last tour had ended nearly six months ago. They tended to hang out a lot when the group was on tour, probably because Patricia had always liked Jo more than Tory. Patricia also sought out female companionship, so when touring, Jo and Patricia spent a lot of their time frequenting female clubs, most of the time just talking with each other well into the night. Patricia was a few years older than Jo and more aggressive when it came to women, but she’d always kept an eye on Jo when they were out, treating her like the little sister she’d never had.
“I’m so sorry I couldn’t get here after your accident. I was in France on holiday when Tory called to tell me. How are you, darling?” Patricia said, turning Jo’s face to get a better look at her.
“Better, but I’m getting restless. I feel trapped in this big house, and now I have my own bodyguard to keep me company at all times, thanks to Tory.”
Patricia lowered her Coach sunglasses to the end of her nose to look at Lee, who had taken up post next to the front door in an effort to afford the women privacy. The predatory look in Patricia’s eyes was hard to ignore as she did everything but wet her lips. “My, my, and just where did your sister find that hunk of a woman?” Patricia nearly purred, scanning the leather-clad figure up and down.
Jealousy surged through Jo’s body even though she should have anticipated Patricia’s reaction. Seeing Patricia eye Lee like a hungry tiger stalking a gazelle made her want to growl a friendly warning for Patricia to keep her distance. However, she held no claim on Lee and wondered what Lee thought about the striking and irresistible Total Femme guitarist.
“Would you like me to introduce you?” Jo asked as she reluctantly led Patricia toward the house.
The look in Patricia’s eye was feral. “But of course, darling. Lead on.”
Thankfully, the introductions were kept short and Jo led Patricia into Tory’s study. They all gathered around the stone fireplace, awaiting Tory’s arrival. When Tory finally appeared, she was in the process of removing a brunette wig and contacts that were part of her onstage persona. Marilyn had explained she’d just returned from taping at a popular late-night TV show and that the episode would air Monday night.
“My God, Tory, you look terrific, as always.” Patricia accepted Tory’s quick peck on the cheek. “How did the taping go? Oh, and did you see those new costumes they want us to wear for the tour? Ghastly, I tell you.”
Tory laughed. “Thanks. You look great too. The taping went fine and those costumes are horrendous. I really need to talk to Marilyn about the lace, or lack thereof.”
“Hear, hear.” Patricia obviously agreed.
“I’m glad you finally made it,” Tory said, pouring drinks at the bar. “You missed quite a party last night.”
“So I heard from Darian,” Patricia said. “Was she the only other band member who attended? I forgot to ask her on the phone this morning.”
“Yes. You know how the others are when we’re not touring.”
“That I do.” Patricia accepted the glass from Tory with a nod of thanks. “I’m also sorry I missed the press conference. Is that mess all cleared up?”
“Yes, but unfortunately there have been some other developments. I’m sure the details would only bore you, but if you want some excitement, ask Jo about last night.”
Jo bowed her head to avoid everyone’s eyes, wanting to strangle her sister with the scarf she wore around her neck. No way would she discuss this topic in front of Lee, especially since they’d almost kissed right out on the front steps less than ten minutes earlier.
“Who was she, Jo?” Patricia asked. “Anyone I know?”
“No…no one.”
“Oh, come on, Jo. What’s with all the secrecy?” Tory asked. “Charlene Avery is—”
“Tory—”
“Charlene Avery.” Patricia whistled in surprise. “My, my. I’ve been trying to get Chance’s friend into my bed for years, but that gorgeous butch wouldn’t give me the time of day. What’s your secret?”
Acting like an immature idiot helps. “Can we drop this?” She finally chanced a look at Lee, but her posture was as inflexible as a piece of steel, and her expression was so blank her face might as well have been carved of marble.
“Well, I’m sure you both had fun and you can tell me all about it later,” Patricia said. “How about we have lunch at Martidi’s and you both can catch me up on current events? Come, come, my treat.”
Jo wanted to shed her skin and crawl into a hole. Thank God Patricia was smart enough to pick up on the tension in the room. She’d always been a good friend to Jo, and, unlike Tory, she knew how to be discreet when the situation called for it. She’d have to make it a point to thank her later. “Sounds good to me.”
“Wonderful.” Patricia grabbed her purse. “Let’s go.”
The entourage climbed into Tory’s stretch limo, which was able to carry all three of them plus three bodyguards, with room to spare. They reached the familiar restaurant within the hour, the conversation sparse, with Jo not wanting to discuss anything that had happened last night with Lee in such close proximity, especially the part where Lee was planning to leave. They hadn’t had a chance to talk about it yet, and she really hoped she could come up with some way to change her mind. Funny, a few months ago, the idea of having a bodyguard pissed her off. Now she couldn’t imagine not having Lee in her life.
They managed to get a private table in the back of the popular Italian restaurant, with the bodyguards sitting behind them at their own table but within reach.
Jo tried relaxing, but every so often she glanced in Lee’s direction and saw her pushing the food around on her plate. For a brief moment their eyes met and she nearly gasped out loud at the unmistakable look of desire in Lee’s eyes.
“So, Jo,” Patricia said, pulling Jo’s attention away from Lee’s penetrating gaze. “Will you be accompanying us on tour?”
“No, not this time.”
Tory halted the fork halfway to her mouth. “Jo, I thought we’d put this issue to rest. I need you.”
“No. That’s what you want to think. I told you yesterday that I’m leaving in a month.”
“I can’t believe you’d rather go to Kauai alone instead of travel with us to Europe. I mean, who’d do that? You can be so damn stubborn sometimes! And how am I supposed to manage my schedule without you?”
“What a control freak! Other stars manage to live a celebrity life without a twin. You can too.”
“Ladies,” Patricia said, “no fighting in public.”
“Fine.” Jo threw her napkin onto the table. “I need to use the restroom.”
Jo disappeared into the bathroom and Lee moved discreetly closer to the door, glad she could still hear the conversation between the two band members from where she stood. Eavesdropping wasn’t exactly polite, but the conversation involved Jo, and she wanted to know what they were thinking. Tory mumbled some unintelligible words, swallowing them along with a few sips of white wine.
“Well, I see nothing’s changed,” Patricia said with a bit of humor.
“No, but she’ll eventually come around and see that this is best for everyone.”
“For everyone or for you?”
Exactly! Maybe Tory would finally understand that touring wasn’t in Jo’s best interest, especially while she was healing.
“You have something to say to me, Patricia?”
“Look, I don’t want to step out of line, but since you asked, it seems that even after all these years you still
don’t understand the emotional complexity of your twin.”
“How would you know?” Tory said angrily. “You haven’t seen her in months.”
“True, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what she wants. Think about it, Tory. Look at it from her perspective and what do you see?”
“I hate it when you play psychologist. All I see is someone who doesn’t appreciate the opportunities handed to her.”
“And those would be what?”
“Look around you,” Tory said dramatically, with a sweep of her hand. “We have everything. Fame. Money. She’ll never go without. What more could she possibly need?”
“I think you know the answer to that,” Patricia said. “You just don’t want to accept it.”
“Okay, enough! I’ve had enough of this psychoanalysis bullshit. Why don’t you go see what’s taking Jo so long.”
*
Lee leaned against the bathroom door, waiting anxiously for Jo to reappear. Tory had left Patricia sitting alone at the table when she had stormed out minutes earlier, mumbling something about Jo being stubborn. After ten long minutes of waiting impatiently, Lee went in. Jo had her back to the wall, her arms wrapped around herself as she cried. She pulled Jo into her arms and held her while she sobbed. “Are you all right?”
“No. I’m never going to be all right. She just doesn’t get it. Why can’t she understand that I’m not her? That I don’t want this life anymore.”
“Shh, it’s okay.”
“Is it?”
Lee kissed Jo’s forehead in reassurance before placing a few more kisses on her tear-stained cheeks and tracing her lips with the tip of her thumb. “Yes, it is.”
“Please,” Jo whispered for the second time that day. “I need you to kiss me.”
Lee trembled and groaned as what remained of her control slipped away like Jo’s silky hair through her fingertips. The first full meeting of their lips nearly took her breath away, and as she deepened the kiss, she parted Jo’s lips with her tongue, wanting to devour Jo until there was nothing left.
At first, she’d intended the kiss to calm Jo, to use her lips as a balm to soothe Jo’s aching heart. She couldn’t stand to see her suffering and she would have kept Jo in her arms forever, but the bathroom door swung open.
“Jo, are you okay—” Patricia stopped short. “Whoops.”
Lee released Jo and stepped back, feeling the fragile bond between them snap. In a surprisingly steady voice Jo said, “I’m fine. Where’s Tory?”
“Outside still, I think. Should I go tell her you’re…” Patricia glanced at Lee. “Busy?”
“No. I’ll be right out.”
Lee excused herself and pushed through the bathroom door, refusing to look at either of them. Holy fuck! She’d just gotten caught kissing her client—the woman she was being paid to protect—in a bathroom, of all places, like some stupid teenager. It was official. She’d finally lost her mind. Nothing else made sense. She’d taken advantage of Jo during an emotional moment, and she could only hope Jo could find a way to forgive her.
The silence was thick between them for the rest of the day. They had driven back home and Jo had returned to the solitude of her room. After posting Simons outside Jo’s door, Lee went in search of Tory. She hadn’t thought of anything for the past few hours except finding some way to apologize for her unprofessional behavior. But she didn’t want to apologize, and if Patricia hadn’t shown up when she did, Lee would have ripped down a barrier that would have been impossible to resurrect. If, in fact, there was any barrier left to speak of.
“Ms. West,” Lee said to Tory, who had just emerged from her study. “May I speak with you a moment?”
“Of course. Why don’t you come in and take a seat.” She motioned with her head toward her office.
“Thanks, but I’d rather stand,” she said, moving in front of Tory’s desk while waiting for her to sit.
“This seems serious.”
“I’m afraid it is, ma’am. Has Gary talked to you about my resignation?”
“Yes,” she said with a sigh. “And let me tell you, Lee, I’m not pleased. I had hoped you would change your mind. I’ve said it before. Jo trusts you and I don’t know what’s going on, but if it’s the money we can pay you more.”
Christ, if that was only the problem they wouldn’t be having this conversation. And the Jo-trusting-her comment was like taking a dagger to the heart. “No, ma’am. It’s not about money.”
“Then what is it?”
I want to sleep with your sister, and I don’t know how many times I can put on the brakes.
“Look…Lee,” Tory said, obviously exasperated. “I’m not blind. I’ve seen the way my sister looks at you and you at her. I’ve been with a soldier. I know about duty. And I know you’ll do the right thing when it comes to Jo. You’ll protect her because she needs you.”
Lee had thought of nothing but that kiss since they’d returned home. How she wanted to pull Jo back into her arms and finish what they’d started. And now, Tory was telling her she could forget all about that and find the focus to be the strength and presence that Jo needed. Could she really be that honorable? No. She wanted her too badly, and that compromised Jo’s safety.
“Even so, ma’am. Gary will find you a replacement by Monday. I’m going to check on your sister and then head home for the night. I’m sorry.”
After placing a permanent guard outside of Jo’s door and calling Gary to make sure he’d found a decent replacement, she climbed onto her bike and headed home. Forty-eight more hours and she could leave this chapter of her life behind her and forget everything that Jo had come to mean to her. It was exactly what she’d asked for, so why did it hurt so much?
Chapter Fourteen
Jo stared at her x-rays through teary eyes. Doctor Chase had determined her anklebones weren’t healing as fast as he’d hoped. Another cast wouldn’t be necessary, but she would inherit a boot and a cane for the next four weeks, with physical therapy to follow. As he wrote out her new prescription, she felt like he might as well have been signing her death warrant.
“But you said I’d be healed by now,” Jo said, finally reaching her breaking point—exhaustion and frustration had gotten the better of her. Sleep had completely eluded her the night before, Lee’s imminent departure playing in her thoughts. The only positive thing she had to look forward to was having the cast removed. But even that hope was gone and she would be dependent on help for yet another four weeks. That meant she probably couldn’t handle Kauai on her own, either.
“That’s not what I said, Jo,” he said gently. “I said the casts would come off in six to eight weeks. You have to wear this brace to protect the bones for a little while longer. Come on, it’s not so bad. In about a month you won’t even need the brace.”
She stared at the vinyl boot complete with two metal bars that ran vertical from her ankle to mid-calf. She jumped as he secured the snaps in place, a harsh reminder that she was still a prisoner of her sister’s life no matter how anyone tried to sugarcoat it.
“Is someone waiting for you in the lobby to take you home?”
“Yes, my bodyguard.”
“Tory isn’t here with you?” he asked in surprise. “Should I call her?”
“No, that’s okay. I can do things without her.” Jo hadn’t wanted to tell Tory about the appointment because she wanted to prove she was ready to figuratively and literally stand on her own two feet. After their argument at lunch yesterday, she was ready to retake control of her life and move forward. Now, between the brace and physical therapy, that would all have to wait.
Doctor Chase stood and handed her a tissue and a prescription. “You’re free to go. Give this to the nurse on the way out if you need it. Oh, and don’t forget. Make an appointment with one of my staff for four weeks from today.”
Jo accepted the wooden cane and hobbled out of the office. Lee immediately looked at the boot and the cane and rose to offer her assistance. Unable to c
ope by herself any longer, she rested her head on Lee’s shoulder and cried, the warmth from Lee’s arms wrapped around her a welcome comfort.
“Hey, hey, come on. Tell me,” Lee said tenderly, guiding Jo to one of the plastic chairs.
“Four more weeks.” She nearly choked on the lump in her throat.
“Is there something I can do?”
“No, there’s nothing anyone can do. I need to get away from all this, and since going to Kauai will have to wait now, I need to come up with an alternate plan,” she said as Lee tensed. “I don’t think I can endure staying in that house until I’m healed. I have to get away before I snap under this pressure.”
“And when did you decide to go to Kauai?”
“When I met with my friend Emily. I only just told my sister, but she blew me off as usual.”
“I see,” Lee said, staring into the distance, the familiar tightening of her jaw returning.
“Hey, are you okay?” Jo asked, squeezing Lee’s hand to get her attention.
“Yeah…sorry. Spaced for a second.”
“Not so fast.” Jo grabbed Lee’s arm to keep her from rising. “I’ve seen that look before. What were you thinking?”
Lee sighed. “I understand how you feel because I’ve been there. Living with pain is not something we choose. But I promise, it will get easier with time.”
“Are we talking physical or emotional?”
“Both,” Lee said, offering Jo her hand. “Come on. It’s been a long morning. How about breakfast? It’s still early.”
“Sure. But you will eat with me, right? Like sit across the table and converse, not stand in some corner while I choke down a piece of toast.”
“Jo,” Lee said, closing her eyes. “I don’t think—”
“No.” Jo placed her hand on Lee’s chest. “You don’t get a say this time. I only have a few more hours with you before you leave me. Please. Don’t say no. Not today.” I need you.