Lucy flicked through the Netflix screens like a pro, no doubt looking for the latest episode of their favorite show that had become their night-off tradition. She didn’t even bother glancing over at Indya as she continued her search, “Yeah, Noah has decided to stay with us for a while.”
He would be here?
“Erm Lucy,” she said, “you said it would only be us here tonight.” Her heart raced faster at the thought of him staying under the same roof as her. “You said he was only staying a few nights last we spoke. Which. Was. Just. Yesterday.”
Lucy had found the show and her finger hovered over the ‘play’ button as she turned towards her with furrowed eyebrows, “What’s wrong? Noah asked Adam yesterday if he could stay for a while as his plans had changed. Do you have an issue with Noah I don’t know about?” The remote was now discarded as Lucy’s full attention was now fully on her. “Indya? You got something you want to tell me?”
“I..” What could she say? There was nothing to say. Nothing had happened between them. Well, nothing other than he’d asked her out but then he’d of made conversation with whoever was at the bar and she happened to be there. At the bar. With Lucy.
“Oh my god! You like him,” she said in a sing-song voice. “We could be sisters,” she added with a grin a mile wide.
“What?” Indya screeched, “No! It’s not like that.” Except it was very much like that. She’d fallen for Noah Harrington from the moment he’d introduced himself at the bar a week ago in his deep husky voice and looked at her with his dark chocolate eyes. It definitely wasn’t from the first time he’d heard him sing on the radio six years ago and she’d spent her babysitting money on his album and spent all her time holed up in her bedroom, listening to it, learning the lyrics and falling deeper in lo-. No, it wasn’t then. It wasn’t even the time she’d sneaked out at night to go see him when he played a local bar and she’d used her sisters fake id to get in.
He had been her secret crush. She’d not told Lucy about it as she’d been dating Mateo and it seemed disrespectful to him, although he knew about it and had made fun of her, so she’d not mentioned it again. She snorted, yeah as if it was worse than what he’d done to her. When they’d split up, she’d found out that Adam was Noah’s brother and she knew it would have to stay a secret. Last week when he’d spoken to her she’d brushed him off. Acted as if she couldn’t care less when her heart was about to pop out of her chest by breathing the same air as him. No, it would be too embarrassing to admit what a creeper she was when it came to Noah Harrington. She was relieved she’d taken down all the posters she’d had of him and boxed them up in her parent’s attic when she’d moved in with the Franklins. Now that would have been embarrassing. It was embarrassing enough that Mateo had seen them.
“Why are you going red then?” Lucy quipped. “He’s down-to-earth and easy to talk to when you get to know him, not like you’d expect a rock star to be.” She wasn’t so sure that Lucy would be so dismissive if she knew how bad her crush on Noah Harrington had been. “Act like you do around Adam, you’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, will do,” she mumbled, lying back on the couch and putting her arm over her eyes. “Let’s watch this,” she said, to get the attention away from her.
The credits were just playing when she heard the front door opening and two male voices chatting away. “Yay, you’re back,” shouted Lucy as she moved to a sitting position and patted the space beside her with a warm smile. “Did you have a good night?”
“Yeah, it was fine. Met up with Finn at Woody’s and had a couple of beers,” said Adam as he sat beside Lucy and placed his arm over her leg. He gestured over towards Noah with his thumb. “Light-weight over here wanted to call it a night, so we came back early.”
Her eyes automatically went towards Noah and found he was staring at her. When their eyes met, he glanced away. “Hey, less of the light-weight,” he said, turning his attention to his brother. “After eight months, you’d be over it too. The bar was getting too busy, anyway. It’s not like I had to twist your arm too much to leave,” he smirked with a head nod towards Lucy.
Indya sat up and made up a big deal of standing and stretching. “I’m beat,” she said forcing out a yawn, “I think I’ll just head to bed. Thanks for letting me crash here.” Before anyone could argue, she slipped down the hall to the guest bedroom she was staying in. Luckily they had two. She could feel eyes burning into her back until she got into the safety of the room. Indya took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. The last thing she was was a coward, and she needed to get over her crush and not make things anymore awkward. Lucy was her best friend and if Noah would be staying with them for a while, she’d need to learn how to be in the same room as him.
Her crush had to go.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Was it something I said?” joked Noah as his eyes involuntarily followed Indya’s back down the hall. He inwardly groaned at the mess he’d made with her at the bar the previous week. She’d totally shut him down, and he guessed things had changed little since then. He’d only met her that once so wasn’t sure why she acted that way towards him, although Adam had said she’d had her heart broken by an ex so maybe she was protecting herself over that. He slumped down on the sofa she’d just vacated, feeling the remnants of heat from where she’d sat.
“I think she’s star struck,” Adam laughed as Lucy slapped her hand across his chest.
“She’s just tired,” said Lucy. “It’s hard work looking after the twins. I don’t know how she does it. I thought Tristan and Olivia were a lot of work until I met them. They’re adorable but they are on the go all the time. She’ll be fine by tomorrow.” She stood up and motioned for Adam to stay where he was, “I’ve got an early class in the morning so I’m going to bed too. You two stay up. There’s plenty of food left in the kitchen, the desserts are in the refrigerator.”
Lucy headed off to bed and Adam walked over to the kitchen, “Want anything to eat?” he asked as he stuck his head in the refrigerator.
“Surprise me,” he said as he kicked off his shoes and put his feet up on the couch. Thinking better of it, he got up and joined Adam in the kitchen. “Want me to make the drinks?”
“Yeah, here take these two beers through,” he said as he handed them to Noah. “I’ll bring the snacks. No idea how the girls would eat their way through all this, there’s enough to feed a small army,” he chuckled.
They got settled on the couches, the food spread out on the coffee table in front of them. “So what was Indya’s deal tonight?” he asked, unable to keep the question to himself.
“No idea. It might just be what Lucy said, she’s not sure how to act around you being a big star an’ all,” he snickered then pulled his expression into a serious one. “She’s also still getting over her breakup, although I’m not sure that’s it because she’s been fine for the past couple of months. She’s well shot of him if you ask me.”
“She gave me the brush off in the bar last week,” Noah admitted shaking his head, “I wasn’t really trying to pick her up, I just wanted to talk to her but she wasn’t having any of it.”
Adam smirked at him, “Shot down huh?” Noticing his brothers obvious discomfort, he turned serious, “Look, I don’t know why she did that. If you want I can ask Lucy? Or you could ask her yourself in the morning?”
“Yeah, I might do that,” he sighed as he picked up a couple of chips and threw them in his mouth. It was hard to talk with his mouth full.
“Why are you taking this so hard?” Adam asked, “Normally you’d just brush it off and go on to the next one or have you not had anyone brush you off in a while and that’s why you’re feeling like this?”
Once he’d finished chewing he contemplated putting more in his mouth to stop from having to answer, instead he decided to open up with his brother. He needed someone to talk to and perhaps Adam could help. He hung his head, “Yeah, I don’t get brushed off anymore, not that I ever did mind you. I get women coming up to me a
ll the time, it’s just part of being in a rock band. They think they know me because I’m this huge star now but they don’t. I guess I can understand why Marcus got so upset when he was voted ‘Most Eligible Bachelor’ and was hounded by gold diggers before he met Carly,” he chuckled.
“Ha, I remember that. He wanted to be taken seriously as CEO of Harrington Enterprises and not because he wanted every gold digger from the entire coast coming on to him. I’m so glad I never had to go through anything like that before I met Lucy. I value my anonymity or at least as much as I can being a Harrington. So Indya…”
“Yeah, Indya,” he sighed. “I’m not sure why but I feel drawn to her, and that has never happened to me before.” He leaned forward to grab more chips and looked his brother, “It may be that she brushed me off but I don’t think it is, there’s something more about her. I can’t stop thinking about her.” He popped the chips in his mouth before he could say anything more.
Adam quirked his eyebrow at him, “Wow, I didn’t expect that from you. Don’t get me wrong, Indya is awesome. She was like a total mama bear when I first started dating Lucy and always has her back so in my book she’s one of the good ones.” He let out a laugh whilst shaking his head, “She will definitely keep you on your toes and make you work for it. You sure you want to go through that? Her job is here and you’re away touring or promoting for most of the year, how are you going to work around that? The last thing she needs is to be hurt again and hey,” he put his hands up in a pacifying gesture, “I know you won’t purposely hurt her, but think about things before you do anything more.”
“Yeah, I will and thanks.” He had more than enough to think about after that conversation so decided to call it a night and hopefully things would be clearer in the morning. Deep down he knew his feelings for Indya wouldn’t change, but he needed to figure out how things could ever work between them because out of everything Adam had said, he knew he did travel a lot and didn’t know how that would work if he got into a serious relationship with her. He had a lot to think about over and above the added pressure of needing to record a new album in the next nine weeks.
CHAPTER SIX
Indya stretched out her tired limbs then reached over to the nightstand to check the time on her phone, wondering if it was too early to get up. She knew Lucy had an early class today and had mentioned Adam would meet her after her class and go for lunch. They’d given her a key to the apartment so she could lock up when she left. She groaned at the screen that said it was a little after eleven. Eleven! How did she sleep so late? She never slept that late. It must have been all the tossing and turning she’d done last night, instead of sleeping.
Ever since she’d ended things with Mateo, she hadn’t realized how lonely she was. She had Lucy, and Adam, but during the three years she was in a relationship with Mateo, she’d let her other friends slip away. It wasn’t easy keeping up friendships when she spent her time either looking after the twins or with Mateo. Lucy having the same job was a godsend even if she hadn’t realized it. She winced as she acknowledged she’d canceled on her a few times when Mateo had said he was free and they should do something together. One thing she was determined about, she’d never put a man before her friends again. She’d learned her lesson, and it wasn’t one she would repeat.
When Adam had whisked Lucy away for two weeks before she started her college course that was when it hit home to her that her life was empty. Her parents had worried about her as she’d spent her entire vacation, when the Franklins had taken the twins to Europe for the same two weeks as Lucy was away, in her old bedroom, only coming out at meal times. Luckily she’d snapped out of that fast, but what it had taught her was that she needed to make changes in her life. She loved the twins but her job, not so much. She’d always wanted to travel but the last four times she’d done that, she’d had two little boys to look after.
Indya brought up the Instagram feed on her phone to pass the time before jumping in the shower and leaving to go back to her room at the Franklins. Her feed was full of exotic photos by an old school friend who’d studied child care with her and was now working on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. Jealousy coursed through her veins and she was ashamed of her feelings. If she really wanted to she could send her friend a message and ask how she would apply.
Something needed to change. She would miss Lucy terribly but she knew she was settled with Adam and she’d recently started talking about the new friends she was making at college. Yes, it was time to get her life back on track. With a newly found spring in her step, she threw back the covers to go for her shower and be more proactive with her life.
As she left the bedroom, the fragrance of freshly cooked bacon hit her nostrils. Her mouth watered and her stomach rumbled as she let her nose lead her to the source of the smell. Noah was there, standing with a grin on his face. “Wondered what it would take to get you out of bed,” he smirked. “Bacon, works every time.”
She could feel the color rising on her cheeks as her nerves kicked in. She hadn’t been this tongue-tied, well ever, and she didn’t plan on starting now. Just a normal guy. Like Adam, she recited to herself. “Got any spare?” she asked as she perched on a stool beside him.
“Of course. We’ve got bacon,” he said as he lifted the pan and then nodded at the two plates at the side of the stove, “and eggs and pancakes.” He split the bacon on to each of the plates and pushed one towards her, along with a knife and fork. “Eat up.”
She couldn’t help but smile at him. This was not what she imagined the million times she’d day dreamed about a moment like this. “Thank you. This looks amazing.” And she meant it. Maybe she could ignore she had a massive crush on him.
“It’s nice to get a homemade meal, being on the road means eating junk food so I’m appreciating the benefits of being home for a while,” he winced, “I have a confession. Adam taught me how to make pancakes the other day, so I hope they pass the taste test.”
She bit into a pancake and screwed up her face, “Yeah, maybe a bit more practice.” Luckily the eggs and bacon tasted so much better.
CHAPTER SEVEN
After she’d left, he washed up their dishes and cleaned the kitchen. He sat down on the brown leather couch with his arms stretched along the back and sighed. It had been a long time since he’d last had any time off and now he had it; he wasn’t sure what to do with it. Three weeks until he was expected back in the studio. All his brothers had jobs and other responsibilities and here he was, the last bachelor, with time on his hands and nothing to fill it with.
He picked up the TV remote and flicked through the channels, nothing caught his eye. Was this really how he would spend the first time he’d had off in forever, and probably for a long time? He took his cell from his pocket as messaged Lucy with a mischievous grin. It wasn’t long before there was a ping with her reply and as he read it, his grin got wider. He knew exactly how he would spend his time off.
His thumbs flew over his cell as he sent off a message with a grin and laid it on his thigh, waiting not so patiently on a reply. After five minutes his grin had slipped, and he was tapping his foot on the floor which caused his cell to fall on the floor. He’d been so sure she’d reply. With a sigh, he bent to pick up his phone then stood to go make himself a coffee, throwing his phone behind him on the sofa, watching it bounce a few times. He’d just poured creamer in his mug when he heard his phone ping with a reply message. In his rush to get to his phone he almost burnt himself with the coffee that splashed over the edge of the mug.
Indya: Sure, what were you thinking?
He hadn’t thought that far ahead. If he was honest, he wasn’t entirely sure she’d agree, especially not when it had taken her a while to reply.
Noah: What do you normally do on your day off?
Indya: I thought you were going to impress me? You need to up your game rather than rely on me for ideas.
He grinned at the exchange. Impress her? He mentally went over the places he could take her
and then ruled out anywhere he knew they’d not get any privacy, then an idea hit him.
Noah: You up for a hike?
It had been a long time since he’d hiked on the hills outside the city. He used to go with his family and loved being out in the fresh air and the views of the city from the top were breathtaking. He’d been couped up for long enough and he needed the illusion of freedom the hike would give him.
Indya: Never expected that but sure, sounds fun. When and where?
Noah: Text me your address and I’ll pick you up in an hour.
Almost at once she replied with an address about fifteen minutes away. He ordered an Uber and went to get ready with a grin on his face. He wasn’t sure the last time he looked forward to something as much as he was right now. She’d agreed, so phase one accomplished. Now for phase two of ‘Operation Get Indya to Fall For Me’.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The hike up the hills outside the city had her with her hands on her hips, sucking in deep breaths. This was not how she wanted to impress Noah. His forehead had a slight sheen to it, but at least he was breathing normally. When had she got this unfit? She thought after running after the twins all day, every day she had been fit. This proved otherwise, and the groan she’d just let out caused her companion to smirk.
“Too much for you to handle, huh?” he asked as he offered her his bottle of water. In this heat she kicked herself for forgetting to bring some, too caught up on going on a date with him. No, not a date, she reminded herself, it was just a day out, between friends.
She sighed in defeat as a family of six dashed past them on their way to the top. The kids were running ahead and then racing back to their parents making her feel more unfit than she already did. “Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve been up here. Forgot what a killer these hills are. Guess I need to take the stairs rather than the elevator at home to build up my fitness again.” If she’d been with Lucy or anybody else, she’d have admitted defeat a while ago. Why she continued with the pretense she was enjoying herself was beyond even her comprehension.
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