by Roni Loren
Fucking Jared. The drummer’s intentions were usually good, but damn if he didn’t do some stupid shit sometimes. Lex rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands, thinking back to earlier in the night.
“Dude, you are so going to love me,” Jared had said, clapping him on the back as they walked down the hallway toward their rooms.
Lex frowned. “Uh-oh, what did you do?”
“I got you the best birthday present ever.”
“A Ferrari?”
Jared laughed. “That’d be awesome, but no. This is even better.”
Lex highly doubted that. Not much could top a Ferrari.
“Come on. It’s in my room,” Jared said, stopping in front of his door.
Lex had crossed his arms as Jared fished a key card from his wallet and slipped it through the electronic lock. Jared opened the door with a Vanna White flourish. Two brunettes dressed in leather and lace stood inside the room, smiling coyly.
“Happy Birthday, Lex. I got you twins!” Jared announced. “They’re big fans.”
Lex groaned, but Jared didn’t flinch. He pushed Lex toward his own hotel room and directed the women to follow. When Lex didn’t make any move to unlock the door, Jared grabbed the key from Lex’s hand and opened it for him. “Enjoy, brother. Call me when you’re done. We’ll go out and celebrate after.”
The girls put their hands on Lex immediately, not waiting for niceties. Professionals, he’d guess. He had never slept with a hooker. The whole idea of paying for it turned him off. But he’d promised himself that he would forget about Aubrey tonight, and this would probably be an effective way to do it. But his skin crawled at the thought of jumping in bed with two strange women—sisters, at that—to try and erase thoughts of the person he’d rather be with.
The girl on his right dragged her teeth against his earlobe. “What would you like first, baby?”
He jerked his head out of her reach and stepped away from them. They smiled in unison, waiting for his direction. “Ladies, you’re beautiful, but I don’t think I’m up for it tonight.”
One dropped her gaze to his crotch as if he’d meant the statement literally.
“How much was Jared going to pay you?”
The one on the left smiled. “Oh, honey, we’ve already been paid. Now we just want to have fun. We’re big fans.”
“Want to party with another one of the guys instead?” he offered.
Their faces lit up and one said, “For sure.”
He pulled his phone out his pocket and selected a number from speed-dial.
“What’s up?”
“Gunner, J got me twins for my birthday.”
“Nice.”
“I’m not into it. You interested in taking over?”
“Hell yeah, I’ll be right there.”
Gunner had taken exactly three minutes to make it to the room, and the girls had seemed more than happy to exchange a brooding band member for a more enthusiastic one.
Lex’s gambling partner tapped him on the shoulder, bringing his mind back to present. “Your turn.”
Lex stared at the pair of sevens in front of him. “Hit me.”
A queen hit the table. The dealer smiled. “Too many.”
Lex swigged the last of his drink and grabbed what few chips he had left. “I’m done. Happy birthday to me.”
He headed to his room, hoping Gunner was done. But when the elevator opened, Jared and Sean stood a few yards down the hallway, arguing. Jared wore an amused smile, but Sean was red all the way up to the roots of his bleached hair.
Lex shoved his hands in his pockets and sauntered over to them. “What’s going on?”
They both jumped at the sound of his voice and swung their heads toward him.
Sean’s forehead wrinkled. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Lex raised his eyebrows. “My room is on this floor, dumbass.”
Sean glanced over his shoulder at Lex’s closed door. “But I thought you were in there already.”
Lex laughed. “No, Gunner’s borrowing my room. Enjoying my birthday gift.”
Jared’s face fell. “Dude, that was for you.”
Sean turned back to Jared. “See, that’s what I was trying to tell you. He doesn’t need or want some hooker for a birthday present.”
Jared threw his hands up. “For the record, it was two hookers, not one. And of course it’s what he needs. Have you seen him lately? All he does is stomp around, pissed off, writing depressing songs. It’s like living with a goddamned emo teenager.”
“That doesn’t mean he needs to get laid,” Sean said. “It means the idiot’s in love.”
“What?” Lex and Jared boomed in unison.
“He’s not in love,” Jared said.
Lex could feel angry heat rush through his blood. “Of course I’m not in love. What the fuck are you talking about?”
Sean gave Lex the same look his mother used to give him when she caught him in a lie. “So you haven’t fallen for Aubrey Bordelon?”
Jared’s eyebrows knitted. “Reporter girl?”
Lex clenched his jaw. “No, I haven’t even talked to the woman since we left New Orleans. She was just a temporary thing.”
Jared nodded, but Sean kept his smug smirk. “So if I told you that she was here in the hotel right now, you wouldn’t care?”
Lex’s stomach dropped to his feet and blood roared in his ears. “Aubrey’s here?”
“She is—or was until a few minutes ago, when I brought her up to your room to let you two talk,” Sean said.
“You brought her up . . .” Lex looked to his door. “Shit.”
Sean nodded. “Yeah, girl number one answered. Aubrey took off.”
“Took off? Where?” Lex looked left and right, clenching his fists, ready to jump through a wall if necessary.
Sean rubbed the back of his neck and gave him an apologetic look. “I’m not really sure. I called her room, and she’s not there. She was dressed for dinner, but after what happened, she probably bailed. The airport, maybe?”
Lex brightened. “She hadn’t eaten yet?”
Sean shook his head.
Lex turned and jogged to the elevator.
“Where are you going?” Sean called, but the elevator doors shut before Lex replied.
***
Aubrey sat at the bar with a plate of nachos and a margarita the size of her head. She couldn’t decide who she wanted to kick more: Sean, Lex, or the groupies who had their hands all over him.
No. Of all those, she wanted to kick herself the most. Lex hadn’t hidden who he was. He’d told her, and she’d told herself a hundred times. He was a musician, a player, a fling. Yet she’d let herself have feelings for him anyway. She’d known when she agreed to Vegas that there was a possibility she would see him. She had convinced herself that she could handle it, that she was over him. But she was such a damn liar. The minute she thought he was on the other side of that door, her heart had jumped like a freaking jackrabbit.
She took a long draw from her margarita.
“Is this seat open?” someone asked.
She peered over her shoulder at a sandy-haired man in a business suit. He pointed to the stool next to her and smiled.
“Oh, um, no,” she mumbled and then shook her head. “I mean, yes, it’s open.”
His gaze flicked to her margarita. He probably thought her stumbling speech was due to drunkenness. She wished it were.
“Do you mind if I sit, then?” he asked, sliding into the seat before she could answer.
Her nose wrinkled as the scent of his cologne mingled with the smell of her nachos. “No, that’s fine. I’m not expecting anyone.”
“Great,” he said with more enthusiasm than necessary. He raised a hand to get the bartender’s attention.
She bit her lip.
Yeah, it was great that she wasn’t expecting anyone. Just super that she was alone in Vegas while the guy she couldn’t stop thinking about was screwing two groupies. Simultaneously. Fabulous. Life couldn’t be better. She gulped the rest of her drink down.
“Do you need another one?” the man asked, indicating her empty glass.
She waved him off. “It’s fine. I can get it.”
“No, it’s not a problem.” He raised two fingers to the bartender. “Make that two, please.”
“Thanks, you didn’t have to do that.”
He turned to her with an easy smile. “Think nothing of it. I’m on the company’s dime anyway. You and I are having a business meeting.”
She didn’t feel like talking, didn’t want some guy buying her drinks—even if he was good-looking—but she forced a smile. “Oh, is that right?”
He nodded. “Yes, are you in need of a financial planner?”
“Nope.”
“Terrific. Business meeting done,” he said as the bartender placed the margaritas in front of them. “Now, we can charge these to the company’s bill and move on with more interesting conversation. I’m Eric, by the way.”
“Aubrey,” she replied, taking in his tan face and friendly brown eyes. This was the kind of guy she should be dating. Cute, professional, polite. Someone who would fit right into her family and her life. The opposite of Lex. Too bad her heart didn’t care about shoulds.
“So, Aubrey, what are you doing in a bar in Vegas all by yourself?”
Licking my wounds. Kicking myself. Her finger traced the rim of her drink, wiping off the salt. “I’m here on business, too. I’m a journalist.”
He shifted his weight, turning fully toward her. “Oh, really? What are you doing a story on?”
She wiped her finger on the cocktail napkin and met his gaze. “The band Wanderlust.”
His face brightened. “Seriously? I love their music. You actually got to meet them and everything?”
She snorted. “Yep, I met them and everything.” If “everything” meant slept with one of them and fell in love.
“That’s way more interesting than my job,” he said, shaking his head. He dropped his chin into his hand and grinned. “Now how am I supposed to impress you?”
A laugh escaped her. She didn’t need a date, but she was thankful for the company. Maybe he could distract her enough to stop thinking about—
“I think you’re in my seat.” The firm voice came from behind her and brooked no argument.
Aubrey’s throat constricted, cutting off her laughter. She whipped her head in the direction of the familiar sound. Lex stood with his thumbs hooked in his pockets, his stare burning into Eric.
Eric scrunched his forehead in annoyance as he turned toward Lex and his mouth fell open in wonder. “You’re Lex Logan.”
“Yeah. I am. And that”—Lex pointed at Eric’s chair—“is my seat.”
Eric shot a nervous glance at Aubrey. “She said she wasn’t with anyone.”
Lex’s hand landed on Eric’s shoulder. “Well, she lied. She’s with me.”
Aubrey shook herself from the daze Lex’s sudden appearance had created and straightened her spine. “No, I am most definitely not with you.”
Eric’s eyes darted from Aubrey to Lex then down to Lex’s hand, which gripped his shoulder firmly.
“Uh, I didn’t mean to get in the middle of anything.” Eric stood, dug his wallet out of his pocket, and threw a few bills on the counter. “Seat’s yours.”
“Smart guy, this one,” Lex said, patting Eric’s shoulder. He shifted his eyes toward Aubrey and she noticed the dark bags beneath them.
Her lips thinned. “You look tired, Lex. Two groupies at the same time too much to keep up with?”
Eric’s mouth gaped as he stepped around Lex and made a hasty exit, not even bothering to say good-bye. Lex slid onto the stool Eric had vacated. “They weren’t groupies. They were hookers.”
Her nachos threatened to make an encore appearance. She cleared her throat. “How nice for you. Girls who won’t talk back.”
He smirked. “So quick to believe the worst about me, huh?”
Having him so close made oxygen hard to come by. The urges to punch him in the face and throw herself into his arms warred inside of her. She turned back toward the bar and focused on the golden color of her drink. “It’s not hard to believe the worst when you see it live in concert.”
He placed his forearms on the bar so that he was elbow to elbow with her and started tearing a cocktail napkin. “Why are you here, Aubrey?”
She cast a sidelong glance at him, but his focus remained on his own hands. Her jaw tightened. “I’m here for the big story. That’s what I’m always after, right? Fame and fortune.”
He tore another piece of napkin and sighed. “No. Why were you at my door?”
The Spanish music filtering through the restaurant suddenly seemed too loud. She watched condensation drip down the side of her glass, not wanting to answer. “I don’t know.”
“It wasn’t me in the room, for the record,” he said, his tone flat.
Her head snapped up, but he didn’t move.
“It was Gunner. Jared got me two girls for my birthday. I wasn’t interested. Gunner was.”
Aubrey’s heart picked up speed, but she didn’t trust herself to speak. Even though he wasn’t the one with the hookers, it didn’t change all their other issues. She stared at his profile, trying to read his expression.
“You ruined everything, you know?” He cut his gaze toward her.
She crossed her arms. Her voice iced over. “Did I now? Because Sean’s addiction was clearly my fault.”
His hand reached out and grabbed her upper arm, pulling her off her stool and against him in one swift movement. She gave a feeble struggle, but he held her to him, pressing his forehead against hers. “No, because you’ve ruined me, Aubrey Bordelon. I can’t even look at another girl without aching for you.”
She sucked in a breath as every muscle in her body tightened.
“And I’m driving the guys crazy because all I can write is sappy-ass, vastly depressing love songs.”
She pulled her forehead away from his and met his gaze, searching.
“Lex,” she whispered, unable to form a more coherent thought.
“Shh.” He brushed her hair away from her face. “You don’t have to say anything. Just listen. I’m so sorry for the things I said to you at the hospital. I was freaked out and so angry at Sean, and I took it out on you. And I know you’re probably still pissed at me. You should be. What I said . . . it was fucking horrible. I never, ever want to make you feel that way. It was an asshole move. When I’m hurt, I want to hurt everyone around me worse. It’s how my father was. And God, I don’t want to fucking be that person. I’ve been sick thinking about how it all went down.”
“Lex . . .”
“But if you think you can find a way to forgive me, I swear I will never hurt you like that again.”
She started to speak, but he didn’t take a breath to give her a chance. His words tumbled out like he was afraid he wouldn’t get them out fast enough.
“I know things are complicated. I know we live very different lives, but there has to be a way to figure it out. Maybe you can get some vacation time at your job and come visit me on the road. And we’re only touring for a year. After that, I can get a condo in New Orleans so that I can be down there more often. Long-distance can work until then, right? People do that all the time.” He nodded as if answering his own question.
“Lex—”
“And I know that Grayson can give you a lot of things I can’t. But Aubrey, he really is a dirtbag, and I can’t stand the thought of you settling for someone like that just because he lives there and I don’t and—”
“Lex!” she said raising her voice, and he s
napped his mouth shut and stared at her. “Can you stop for a second and let me talk?”
He cringed like he was expecting her to shoot down all of his ideas.
“The condo wouldn’t work.”
“But—”
She shook her head, cutting him off, and took a deep breath. “I quit my job.”
“What?”
“I’m going to travel and freelance. I won’t be in New Orleans. And Gray is a dirtbag. I haven’t spoken to him since I got out of the hospital.”
The lights behind Lex’s eyes flicked on, all tiredness disappearing. “You quit? Are you shitting me?”
“No. And you did hurt me. Yes, I should’ve said something about Sean, but you assumed the worst about me. What you said ripped me in half.”
He winced. “Baby . . .”
“But in a way, I get it. People use you. That’s what happens in your world. You just didn’t realize I wasn’t one of them.” She met his gaze. “I swear, if we give this a go, I will never, ever use you for something like that. I am strictly using you for your body.”
He blinked, the words not quite registering, and then a laugh burst out of him. His hands clasped her head. “Oh, god, Aubrey. I thought you were sending me packing again.”
She laughed, her eyes filling with happy, relieved tears. “No, not this time. I’ve been a hot mess since you’ve been gone, too. You can’t even imagine how many batches of cookies I’ve made. I’ve probably gained five pounds.”
He smiled. “You look gorgeous.”
She shoved him in the shoulder half-heartedly as the tears finally fell. “You weren’t supposed to do this to me, you idiot. You were supposed to show me a good time, not leave a goddamned hole in my chest. This wasn’t supposed to matter. You weren’t supposed to matter.”
This heartbreaking expression moved over his face. “Baby . . .”
“So here I am, Lex Logan. I’m yours if you want me.”
“Want you?” He slid off his stool and gathered her against him, his gaze tender. “I don’t just want you. I fucking love you.”
Her throat tightened, and all the air she’d been holding in disappeared.