“That’s crazy. Does that always happen?” asked Jessica.
“Yeah, pretty much. It’s usually worse. If you don’t mind, could everybody buckle up? Things can get really cracked around me. After that, I thought we could all go back to my hotel and talk. Otherwise, we’ll be mobbed anywhere we go.” Will paused. “But it’s up to the Birthday Girl.” He handed the marker back to Sam.
They all looked at Sarah.
“That sounds great,” she said, even though all she really wanted was to be alone with Will. She wondered if she was dreaming. She couldn’t believe this man she knew so well was really a famous actor. She just never expected him to be the person they had been talking about when they first met. Celebrities didn’t go on those sites. She fell silent for a second as she pondered the situation and then snapped back to reality. “Oh, where are my manners?” She introduced her friends and brother. When she was done, she turned to Will and whispered in his ear. “You lied to me.”
“I’m sorry. I tried to be truthful.” He continued to apologize with his eyes. “I just had to be sure I could trust you.”
His expression changed to reverent, forcing her to ask, “What?”
“I knew you would call me on lying. It’s who you are.”
“Is that a good thing?”
He nodded and held his gaze.
Her resolve melted. She thought about all he had told her. She knew he really hadn’t lied outright. She glared at him for just a second to make her point. “Never again.” Then she smirked to tell him all was forgiven.
Sam spoke up. “Jon, when we arrive at the hotel, we’ll be coming in through the garage entrance. I need you all to stay in the vehicle until I’ve checked everything out. I’ll come back to get you when it’s all clear.”
The girls all looked at each other. “Wow, that sounds serious,” said Alli.
Will sighed. “You don’t know the half of it. There’s a lot of crazies out there! I think we got away just in time tonight, but with such a public appearance, there will be hell to pay tomorrow. It’s going to be a lot harder for us to get around the rest of the week.”
Sarah bit her lip nervously and looked at him questioningly. “So I’ll get to see you all week?” she asked with excitement. He had never really said how long he would be staying, so this was good news to her.
He tilted his head and stared at her, puzzled. “Well, I didn’t come here to do the concert.”
“So who did you come here to do, Will?” Megan asked, laughing.
Laughter broke out throughout the SUV. Sarah rolled her eyes.
“Not this again,” complained Jeff.
“Again?” asked Will.
“Oh, it was nothing—just joking around with the band,” Sarah answered quickly, not wanting to go into detail.
“Your friends are pretty witty,” noted Will.
“Yeah, I know,” Sarah said as she shot Megan the evil eye, saying wordlessly that she was going to pay for that comment.
They arrived at the hotel garage and made it up to the suite without any issues. The suite was large with beautifully polished granite floors and tall granite pillars that rose to the twelve-foot coffered ceiling. To the right of the door was a small kitchen area with a refrigerator, a microwave, and a fully stocked bar with a sink. A rectangular stone dining table, which could seat six in its black leather straight-backed chairs, divided the kitchen from the living area. The table was adorned with a huge bouquet of bright-pink peonies that rose three feet in height off the tabletop and was at least two feet in diameter. The flowers’ sugary scent filled the air, and Sarah smiled, wondering if their presence was a coincidence. She had mentioned to Will that they were her favorite flower—but only once. In the living area, there was a long L-shaped beige couch and two oversized chairs arranged around a large black leather padded ottoman table. The girls all removed their heels, and everyone got comfortable on the furniture as they gawked at their surroundings.
“This is a really beautiful place,” Sarah stated.
“Yeah,” Will said, looking around. “My assistant always does a great job booking. She doesn’t usually go to this extreme, but I think she was trying to impress you.” He ordered some pizza and drinks from room service, and Sam left to get Jeff’s car.
Will finally seemed to relax, and he started acting a bit silly, as he always had on the phone with Sarah. They chatted about the concert and the band for a while, and Megan admitted, again, that she thought Nick was hot. Will and Sarah shared the detailed story of how they had met online, and locked eyes, ice to emeralds, often as they spoke. Several times, they finished each other’s sentences like an old married couple who had been together forever.
The girls shared with Will the story of how they had all met. Jessica and Sarah met the first day of seventh grade, in biology class. They sat at the same lunch table that day and had been friends ever since. In high school, Jessica got a job at the movie theater in Oakdale, and that was where she met Alli and Megan. Alli went to an expensive private school, but lived only a couple of blocks from Jessica. Megan, on the other hand, lived fifteen minutes east of the rest of the girls in a totally different school district.
Alli, Megan, and Jessica had worked behind the candy counter at the theater, filling buckets of popcorn doused with buttery topping and selling overpriced candy. Sarah spent most of her free time at the theater watching movies, waiting for her friends to get off work. All four of the girls ended up going to the University of Minnesota and were able to get into the same dorm freshman year. Last year, they all rented a house off campus, and their friendships had survived the trials of living together, so they figured they’d be friends forever.
The food came, and they ate as Sarah shared the story of how she had found out Jessica was dating her brother. Will sat down on the arm of the couch next to Sarah and watched her as she spoke. When their eyes met, they both broke into huge smiles.
Sarah explained how Jeff and Jessica had been trying to keep their relationship a secret, because Jessica didn’t know how Sarah would react to the two dating. If it didn’t work out, they didn’t want her to know at all. Jessica had been attracted to Jeff since she was fifteen, but he was kind of aloof in his own world of friends. He had seen Jessica grow up in front of his eyes. She was always at the house, always at the lake cabin, and her mom had even become good friends with Sarah’s parents.
Then Jeff went to the University of Wisconsin in Madison and was gone for most of four years, except one summer. Last year, when he graduated with his engineering degree, he got a job at Meditec in the Twin Cities. Jeff moved back home because he was debating going back for his master’s degree and didn’t want to commit to a house or a lease before he figured out his life. Sarah, not having seen her brother in a while, invited Jeff and a couple of his friends to a gathering at the rental house to celebrate the start of the school year. Two weeks later, Jessica started giving excuses why she couldn’t go out with the girls.
“‘I’ve got a paper due on Monday.’ ‘I don’t feel good.’ ‘I’m not in the mood to go out tonight, and I’d just drag you guys down,’” Sarah mocked in her best Jessica voice. “We all knew she was dating someone. She did it all the time, didn’t admit anything, and we would find out later that it was a guy. Well, several weeks later, Jessica was still putting on the charade, so we went out without her as usual. I ended up catching a ride home early from a friend, because I wasn’t feeling well, and found my brother and best friend making out on the front steps. I threw up on the sidewalk when I saw them,” Sarah admitted, “but it may have been because I was sick.”
Everyone laughed.
“We saw the kind of skanks that Jeff used to date in high school, and Jessica is definitely an upgrade. We were stunned that she would go out with him,” said Megan.
“Hey, that was a long time ago,” boomed Jeff.
“Anyone up for some music? Jeff, I hear you play guitar. Does your band have a name?”
“No, it’
s not so much a band as a group of guys who like to hang out and jam,” replied Jeff.
“That’s what it’s all about, right? Nick, Hayden, and Chris Hanson, from Invasion, and I used to play in Nick’s pool house when we were fifteen. It was a blast, and now look at them,” Will said as he squeezed in on the couch cushion next to Sarah. He held his hand out on his lap with his palm up and looked at Sarah as if asking permission to hold her hand. She smiled and pressed her hand into his.
Alli spoke up. “So why Will and not Jon?”
“My friends call me Will because my last name is Williams. When I met most of those guys, I was trying to distance myself from my acting career. I had just gotten the reviews back from The Forgotten Year.”
Sarah sighed, thinking about finally getting to hold hands with the man she’d been dreaming about for months.
He playfully bumped shoulders with her. “It was a movie I had done with my brother, Jack. Well, Jack got these great reviews on the movie, and mine…kind of sucked. I just wanted to forget that year, and I vowed not to act again. I didn’t want to be known as Jack’s talentless brother, as they printed in the press, so I got heavily involved in my music. My buddies and I started a band. We did some gigs, and my friends introduced me as Will so I wouldn’t have to explain my acting career. It stuck—with my good friends, anyway.”
“So what made you go back into acting?” questioned Jessica.
“Well, when I was eighteen, my dad said, ‘You either get a job that actually pays money’”—Will raised both eyebrows, and everyone laughed—“‘or you’re going to college.’ I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do with my life at that time, and he offered me the lead in an indie movie he had just signed on to called Uproar. It was a pretty good fit for me, and I liked the script, so I agreed. Uproar got great reviews. John Cranston saw it and asked me to read for The Demigod. That was my big break.”
“So, Will,” Megan said with a smile, “is your brother acting still?”
“Ah, no,” Will stammered. “I killed him.” His expression fell flat and distant. The group looked around at each other, unsure of what to say. After a very pregnant pause, Will continued. “You didn’t know? I thought everybody in the world knew. It was all over the media. It happened four years ago.” He looked into Sarah’s face apprehensively. As he spoke, he slowly brushed his thumb nervously back and forth over the top of her joined hand.
“Jack and I were at a club with his girlfriend, Camille. We were arrogantly showing off going to that particular club. It was stupid, but it was the place to be seen, and at the time, that was important to us. The paparazzi were all over Jack as we left. He had just signed a huge contract for the lead in The Houston Chronicles. When we left the club, one of the paparazzi from the sidewalk chased our car on his motorcycle. He just had to have one more picture. But instead of getting the shot, he spilled his bike right in front of us. I swerved so I wouldn’t kill him, and crossed into oncoming traffic. An SUV T-boned us on the side Jack was sitting, so…He was in a coma for three days before he died.” Will swallowed hard and whispered, “Three days.” After another long pause, he looked into Sarah’s eyes. “Camille broke some bones and had a bad concussion. I bruised my ribs and fractured my wrist, but survived.”
Sarah squeezed his hand and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Wow, that must have been awful, but it wasn’t your fault,” she whispered, shaking her head against him.
Air escaped his throat, making a guttural balking noise, and he curtly said, “Yeah.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize your brother was that Jack Williams,” admitted Megan.
Tears pricked in Sarah’s eyes as she tilted her head and spied Will’s vacant gaze. She remembered hearing about Jack’s death in the news. Girls had cried in the hallway of her high school after it happened, as if he was their boyfriend. At the time, she thought they were crazy. It was tragic, but they didn’t even know him. Now, she wanted to cry—not for Jack, but for his brother’s loss.
Just then, Sam returned with Jeff’s keys. He came in using his own key, and Will looked up out of his daydream, nodding in acknowledgment. “Sorry, I’m not usually such a downer.” He got up, got another beer, and opened it. “Sam, there’s some pizza if you’re hungry. Anyone want another drink?” He looked around for any takers. When no one showed interest, he said, “So how about we play some music? Jeff?”
The guys messed around on the guitar for a bit as the girls sat back and hashed the concert. After about forty minutes, Sam spoke up.
“I’m going to head off to bed if you don’t need me. It’s after three, and I can’t pull all-nighters anymore. I value my sleep since I’ve had kids.”
“Sure, we can reconnect about ten. No, make it noon—after we get some rest.”
“Sounds good,” Sam said, then explained to Jeff where to find his car and headed off to his hotel room next door.
Jeff looked around the room and announced, “We should probably get going too, or we’re going to have to sleep here.”
Jessica was sleeping, curled in the large chair, and Sarah could tell Jeff wanted to get her home.
“What are you, thirty?” Megan asked. “Do you see who is sitting in this hotel room with us? I’m not going anywhere.”
“I have to work at the hospital in five hours. I would like some sleep—at your house, OK?” Alli added, ignoring Megan’s comment. Sarah assumed Alli would be staying at her house. She always had, ever since high school, if they were out past midnight. Alli’s parents didn’t approve of her having a social life.
“You’ve got to be kidding! Can’t you call in sick?” Megan glared at Alli.
“Some of us worked a full day before the concert. Do you even have a job, Megan?” Jeff asked in a condescending tone.
“I’ll be here all week,” Will added with a chuckle.
Megan met Sarah’s eyes and settled. “Fine.”
Sitting down on the arm of the chair next to Jessica, Jeff ran his fingers tenderly through her hair. “Come on, we’re heading home.”
Sarah watched her brother intently. Love had undeniably changed him. She remembered the girls he used to date before Jessica. She wouldn’t call them girlfriends, because they were never around long. They were never his equal intellectually and rarely had any common interests with him. With Jessica, he was different—grown up, responsible, and half of an equal team. Sarah adored watching him take care of her best friend.
Jessica slowly opened her eyes and smiled up at him. “’K,” she said, still half asleep.
Will spoke up, talking to the group. “Could you all do me a favor? Don’t tweet about tonight or tell anyone what you did. Especially don’t share where I’m staying. It’s a safety thing, so please?”
Everyone agreed. The girls grabbed their purses and shoes, everyone except Sarah. Her eyes met Will’s with a questioning look. He ghosted a smile and looked down.
“Aren’t you coming, Sarah?” asked Jeff as he headed toward the door.
“No, I think,” she said shyly, looking at her feet, “I’m going to stay.” Then, barely moving her head, she glanced at Will out of the corner of her eye to make sure that she had read his body language right. She felt relieved when the dimple appeared on his right cheek.
Sarah’s friends gasped in surprise. It was out of character for her to stay. She was always very cautious and conservative when it came to guys. She nodded to reassure them that she knew what she was doing.
“I’ll be fine.”
“If you need a ride, just let me know. I’ll come back,” Jeff assured her.
“Thanks.” She smiled at her big brother. He was two years older than her and had always been a bit protective—in a good way, though, she thought.
Jeff and the girls said their good-byes and funneled out into the hallway. Will closed the door behind them and clicked the dead bolt as he turned to face Sarah.
Alone together at last, Will slowly crossed the room, his eyes locked on Sarah. Seeing him
advancing toward her, her heart began to jump out of her chest. It wasn’t because he was even more gorgeous in person than in the movies. It wasn’t because he smelled so good, fresh even without cologne, or that his ice-blue eyes were incredibly hypnotizing. It was because he was Will, the guy she connected with on so many levels intellectually, and she knew him so well.
As he reached her, he brought his hand to her face, and with the lightest touch, he tenderly brushed a strand of hair off her cheek, tucking it behind her ear. She involuntarily shuddered as his endless eyes poured into hers. He cupped her face in his hands, his grasp gentle. Bending to meet her, he brushed his lips against hers, barely touching, and again. A small moan escaped her throat. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her flush against his chest to deepen the kiss. Their lips parted, and Sarah pushed up on her tiptoes, weaving her fingers through his silken hair. They stood kissing, forgetting that anything existed in the world but each other.
As their tongues slow danced, his hands leisurely skimmed down her sides, over her ribs, and stilled at her waist. Several minutes passed, or it might have been a week, before Will pulled back with a sigh, saying, “Hmm, I’ve wanted to do that all night.” He combed his fingers through his hair as he caught his breath.
Sarah swallowed, feeling the butterflies in her stomach flutter back down out of her chest, and whispered, “Wow.”
Then she smiled, and he leaned in again, meshing with her lips.
He led her to the couch, still kissing, and when he broke the kiss, he said, “You sit. I’ll be right back.”
“I’m not a dog,” Sarah mumbled, pouting her lower lip.
Will smirked a barely there smile at her comment and disappeared into the bedroom. A minute later, he returned holding a rectangular package wrapped in silver paper with a shimmering blue satin bow.
“I have something for you—for your birthday.”
“It’s not my birthday anymore,” she reminded him. Midnight was hours ago. “Besides, you’ve already given me everything I could have ever dreamed of.” She smiled, looking up at him from under her eyelashes. She couldn’t seem to get the smile off her face.
Between the Raindrops Page 5