The Callback

by Brandy L Rivers

  He shook his head. “I wanted to be there for you.”

  “Aren’t you messed up about what she did?”

  “More concerned with what you think of it than what happened.”

  “You’re going to have to deal with it sooner or later.”

  He blinked and another tear fell. “I can if you’re with me. If you don’t hate me.”

  “I don’t. I can’t. I wish—”

  He kissed her. Slow, sweet. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  “Forgive me?” she whispered.

  “I can’t blame you. If I saw the same thing, the way it was cut…shit, only it could be so much worse for you…fuck…I think I would die inside, thinking you did that. And after finding out the truth, shit.” He rubbed at his head and winced.

  She caught his hands. “She did that to you. She tried to violate you. Your heart stopped. God, I could have lost you and never known what really happened.”

  He took her face. “We both need to let it go.”

  “I’m not sure I can. Not with what she did.”

  “No, I mean, we need to move past this stage. We need to get through it, together. Please tell me we’re still together.”

  “Always,” she breathed. “The last few days were hell.”

  He covered her mouth with his, kissing her deep, taking away the pain with their connection. She curled her leg over his hip and ran a hand under his shirt.

  She leaned back, her eyes wide. “Wait, your head. How bad?”

  He sighed. “Hurts on and off. I can’t go crazy, but I need you, I need to know we’re still one. That you’re mine. I need you, Leona. The only thing on my mind the last few days was how you would feel about all of this, how hurt you would be until you knew the truth, and something told me that if you knew the truth you would have been right there with me.”

  “I would have.” She ran one hand up his chest, wrapping it around the back of his neck. “I fell apart. Some part of me thought I must not have meant anything to you if you could randomly fuck another woman.”

  He shook his head. “I couldn’t even make myself dance with another person. I just needed you. No one else. And you weren’t available. Ryan asked me to stay.”

  “It’s not his fault either,” she whispered.

  “No, it’s not. It’s Tara’s. I can’t believe she drugged me.”

  Leona let out a bitter laugh. “I can’t believe she thought that might actually win you over.”

  “Yeah, that too.” He kissed her neck. “Don’t want to think about her right now. I just want to hold you.

  “I’m sorry I let you suffer alone,” she whispered.

  “Now that I’m here, with you, I don’t care about that. I love you.”

  “Love you too.” She held on tighter.

  Chapter 47

  For the first time in days, Luke finally felt as if his world had settled back into a normal place. He hated the guilt she felt, but he had his own share, which was stupid. Neither of them were at fault. Logically, he knew it. His heart hadn’t grasped it.

  Seeing her broken hurt him, but she bounced back as reality and the truth settled into her.

  He couldn’t sleep. He was too thankful to have her back. He held her for hours, watching her sleep peacefully.

  Finally, she cracked an eye open and one corner of her full mouth tipped up. “Wasn’t a dream, was it?”

  “Nope. I wish it were. You suffered.”

  She placed a hand over his heart. “You did, too. Whether or not you want to admit it, you went through hell.”

  “Where’s your phone?”

  She let out a huff. “Bottom of my backpack. Probably dead as can be, but I know I won’t have signal out here.” Then her head tipped. “By the way, how did you find me?”

  He relayed the story and how he made it there as fast as he could. Then he laughed. “I thought Bea was going to kill me when I asked about you. I had to tell her everything that happened that sent you here. She finally had pity on me, and brought me back to your bungalow.”

  Tears shimmered in her beautiful dark eyes. “She’s pretty fierce when she wants to be. She’s a romantic at heart though.”

  “Yeah, well as long as you’re happy, she’ll forgive me.”

  She leaned in for a kiss.

  He ran his fingers up her side. “Why don’t we go into town? You can call them there. I had signal before I started down the old beach road.”

  “If you wouldn’t mind. I know they’re worried, but I couldn’t deal. The way cameras followed me, I could just imagine the horrible questions. I couldn’t have badmouthed you, even thinking you didn’t care about me.”

  “I wouldn’t have been mad. I would have understood. And I could have found you faster, set the record straight.”

  She shook her head. “Didn’t want to get in the way of your career. I was ready to slip away long enough for the media to forget about me, then go back to life. Maybe. God, I felt so broken the last few days.”

  “I know the feeling. Only I thought I pushed you away with that video. I feared you wouldn’t be able to get past the damned thing and everything you must have thought of me.”

  “You startled me awake. I thought you being here was a nightmare.”

  “Not a nightmare. I want to make your dreams come true. The good ones.”

  “Then I need you to make love to me.”

  Smiling, he slid his hand up her belly to cup her breast and ran his thumb over her sensitive tip. Her eyes closed as her hand skated down, opening the jeans he still wore.

  “Kept waking up wishing you were here, making love to me.”

  “Kept wishing I had you beside me, in my arms.” He kissed her, stopping the quiet words, stealing her breath.

  She sat up shortly after, pulling the shirt over her head, then shimmied out of the leggings she wore.

  He hurried to get rid of his jeans and T-shirt while she settled under the blanket beside him. “You’re gorgeous, you know that?” he whispered.

  “My hair has to be a mess.”

  “A sexy one. I really do like it.”

  She blew out a breath. “Thought maybe it would be harder to recognize me this way.”

  “For all the asshole camera people? Yeah, maybe. Shit, the asshole who filmed that didn’t even stop Tara. He just kept rolling the video. They arrested him, but he’s out on bail already.”

  “One more person to kill horribly in a book,” she hissed.

  The fury on her face was sexy, but he wanted her writhing in passion and rolled on top of her, pinning her down as he slid into her. Then he froze. “Damn it, I didn’t bring anything.”

  “I don’t care. I’m covered. I need you.”

  “Never gone without.”

  “Shut up and make love to me, Luke.” The demand sent a thrill through him.

  * * * *

  Luke fused Leona together. Her heart mended. And as much as she ached for what that bitch did to him, she wanted to make up for not believing in him.

  He pushed into her, and she moaned in relief. Forever had seemed to pass since the last time they had been together. Her world had imploded, but he gave her hope back.

  Every touch was a promise. Every kiss mended her a little more. She caressed his sides, his arms, relishing the way he kissed. And for a little while, she wanted to stay in that moment and forget the world.

  “Luke,” she murmured.

  “No more apologies. Just love me.”

  “I do.”

  His hips rocked, his length filled her. And she carefully caught his face and brought him back for a kiss. The last few days were nothing but emptiness and pain.

  After everything he’d been through, he was there, for her. Injured, hurting as bad as she was, knowing she thought the worst.

  “Love you, love you, love you,” she chanted as his speed increased.

  One hand pressed the mattress down beside her as his other tangled in her hair. His deep dark eyes latched onto hers as she they cam
e together. He held her there, pinning her down.

  More tears flooded her eyes. “I should have come to you.”

  He shook his head. “Don’t.”

  “I love you, I should have known better.”

  “Shh.” He collapsed beside her, pulling her tight. “Move in with me. Let me move in with you. Wherever that happens to be. I don’t give a damn. Just be with me.”

  “Anywhere,” she whispered. “And if I don’t need to be somewhere, I’ll come with you to locations. I’ll travel. I just want to be with you.”

  “And when I’m not working, I’ll come with you for signings. Whatever. I just need you, Leona. It killed me to think this was over, all for something I didn’t do.”

  “Not over,” she whispered.

  He didn’t want apologies, didn’t want guilt, just wanted her. “Never over. I hope.”

  “Never.”

  “We should contact your family, and Mona. She wanted to come out. I told her no. I needed to do this on my own.”

  “I’m glad. I was a mess.”

  “Nah, could have been worse. We should get you to where you have service.”

  “Need to charge my phone first.” She slipped from the bed and dug out her phone, plugging it in.

  When she came back she sat down next to Luke and ran fingers through his currently short cropped hair and over the stitches. “I hope she’s locked up for a long time.”

  “Me too. I can worry about that later. Right now, I don’t want to think about her. You’re all I need.”

  She bit her lip. “How’s your head, Luke? Honest. How bad?”

  He shrugged. “Sore. I’m fine. If it hurts worse, I’ll let you know.”

  Then her head tipped. “I hope this mess didn’t ruin your chances of getting the part.”

  He captured her hand. “Not worried about that.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut. “Still don’t want to mess with your career.”

  “You are amazing, Leona. Selfless. I’m a lucky man.”

  “Stop. And hey. Do we need to go back?”

  He smiled. “We could stay another day. I want you all to myself.”

  “A little time to work past this mess.” She leaned closer.

  Chapter 48

  Back in LA, they were bombarded with tabloids and reporters. Luke kept his arm around Leona, trying to keep her calm, but some of the questions even irked him, and he’d been ignoring the asshole questions for years.

  Frank Slant asked, “Leona, how do you feel about a man who was stupid enough to let himself be drugged and nearly raped?”

  Before Luke could open his mouth, Leona took a step forward, shaking him off as she glared at the slimeball. “Luke was a victim. Oftentimes when anyone is drugged in a club, a party, a bar, or anywhere else, there are no signs until it’s too late. And you’re sitting here calling him stupid? Sure, it may happen more often to women, but it can happen to anyone. He’s lucky he had friends nearby. He could have died. So, I’ll stand by him, support him, and love him like I would anyone who suffered the same thing.”

  “Yet you left, hid from him and everyone else.”

  “Yeah, because some asshole, like you, videotaped the whole thing and never offered help when he was dying on the floor thanks to an allergy to the drug. And I’m not saying all reporters are the scum of the earth, but there certainly are those of you who care more about a story than the truth. You make me sick.”

  The reporter, the same man who videotaped what happened in the bathroom, stood there, slack-jawed as he watched her walk away.

  Luke shook his head. “Actually, you’re the asshole who would have let me die, so you could make me look like a cheating bastard. I’m sure you’ll serve your time.” He followed Leona to Carrie’s Mercedes.

  His sister glared over the hood at the reporters and shook her head. “They just can’t leave you alone, can they?”

  “Yeah, well the asshole who pissed off Leona is the same bastard who put me in this situation.”

  Leona tried to duck past him, but he hauled her closer. “Don’t. It’s not worth it. He’s an accessory to sexual assault. My lawyers are confident he’ll do time.”

  “Oh, I want to beat the hell out of him.”

  “Yeah, but that would only land you in jail.”

  “How do you deal with them constantly?”

  “Usually, what Raven does. Ignore most of it. But thank you for standing up for me.”

  “I’m still the bitch who walked away because I watched a few seconds of video.”

  “No, you were the woman who saw what they wanted you to see and left because you didn’t want to hurt me even if I had hurt you.”

  “Yeah, well, all of it is his fault. Okay, most of it. Without that video, I wouldn’t have left.”

  “Mentioned I love you, right?”

  “Mmm, and I love you, Luke.”

  Carrie laughed. “Get in the car. Let’s get you two home.”

  * * * *

  After dropping her backpack in Luke’s room, she pulled her buzzing phone out and frowned at the number. “Let me take this.” She walked back to the room with all the comics and sat down in the chair. “Hey?”

  “This is Mathew Rodgers. I’ve been trying to contact you. Is this a good time?”

  “You’re the producer, for the movie, right?”

  “Yes. Have you learned the truth about what happened to Luke? Are you two good?”

  She let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, he found me, told me everything. We’re very good now. Do you want to cast him?”

  “As Zack, yes. If it’s not going to cause a problem with you two.”

  “No problem. Do I let you, or one of your people tell him?”

  “Is he there with you now?”

  “We just got back to his place. I went to another room.”

  “Why don’t you let me talk to him? Maybe put it on speaker?”

  “Sure. Hang on.” She hurried back to the bedroom, doing as Mathew suggested. “Luke, someone wants to talk to you.”

  “Who?” he asked.

  “Mathew Rodgers. Hope you don’t mind I called Leona first. Last thing I want to do is make her hesitant about the movie.”

  His shoulders slumped and he looked away. “That’s okay, I understand.”

  Mathew laughed. “Clearly, you don’t. This is your callback. You got the part of Zack. Filming starts in six months. Should give you time for the thriller you start filming next month. You still want the part, right?”

  Luke crossed the distance, watching Leona. “You’re sure about this, dreamer?”

  “Very. I think you should take it.”

  “Yes, I’m in, Mathew. Thank you.”

  “Just make sure the public knows you two have worked things out.”

  “Oh, I think Leona did that earlier. Shouldn’t be long before someone posts it. And if she’s up for it, we have a fundraiser to go to tomorrow.”

  Smiling, she nodded.

  “Then I should go. I’ll send you the contract in the morning,” Mathew promised.

  “Thanks. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  “I’m glad you two are back together.” Mathew clicked the phone off.

  Luke lifted Leona off her feet. “You want me to have the part? Honestly?”

  “Yes, definitely.” Her mouth crashed over his.

  Epilogue

  Almost a year later, Leona sat in the back of the limo attempting to calm her nerves.

  Luke took her hand. “Why so nervous, dreamer?”

  “Still freaking out that I’m about to see my book on the big screen, and I don’t know what to expect.”

  He squeezed her hand. “You saw the script. You know some things were left out, but it stayed true to the story. You have nothing to worry about.”

  She let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, I hear you. It’s not going to be the same as how it plays in my head. I’m trying to let that go.”

  “Now’s probably not a good time to remind you that report
ers are going to want to interview you. And yeah, some may ask about me, but they’re going to be asking you about your books and everything else.”

  Leona flexed her trembling hands. “Yeah, you told me. I’ll deal.” She’d managed to deal with them the last year. The questions were less about Luke and more about her books, though he was generally brought up at least once each time. They stopped bothering her, for the most part.

  Especially once they sentenced Frank Slant to two years in prison for accessory to sexual assault. Tara Punce was serving four years for sexual assault and another two for possession of a date rape drug. It wasn’t enough in her opinion, but at least the trials hadn’t taken long. Luckily, the media storm died down shortly after. Probably because filming for Midnight Daughter started a week after.

  And Leona had traveled with Luke, as promised. And when she had to leave for a signing, he came with her for two days.

  The limo pulled up to the red carpet and Luke grinned. “Ready?”

  “No.” She scooted toward him.

  He caressed her face. “You’re beautiful, and you’ll do wonderfully.”

  “And you’re gorgeous. I’m just going to cling to you and hope I don’t fall on my face.”

  He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Relax.”

  The door opened. He stepped out and took her hand.

  She would never get used to the camera flashes, but she smiled as Luke took her arm.

  A million questions later, they made their way to Raven, who was tucked under Ryan’s arm. And as she spent time with them during filming, she became used to the easy way they were around each other. They were more like brother and sister than lovers, but the public wanted to believe they were a couple.

  Leona hugged Raven, then Ryan, before Luke pulled her back into the circle of his arms.

  “How much longer?” she whispered.

  Raven took a quick look around. “Anytime now.”

  She was ready to sit back and relax. As long as she didn’t sit through the movie, watching between her fingers.

  Ryan nudged Luke.