Dinner is mercifully short. Aunt Susan is tired, though she hasn’t stopped smiling once. She’s eaten very little of the pot roast, but then no one but Connie seems to have had much of an appetite tonight. The food was good, though. I’m about to compliment Uncle Charlie on the meal, when he casually mentions that Bran did all the cooking. I snap my mouth shut.
“Come for breakfast tomorrow,” my aunt tells me. Her breathing is a little labored, but her eyes are still shining with happiness. “We have so much planning to do, and only three weeks to do it!”
Instead of looking daunted at the task ahead, she looks thrilled. Uncle Charlie throws her an anxious, loving look before turning to speak with Megan. I force a smile to my face. “I’ll be here,” I tell my aunt.
I mumble out a goodbye in everyone’s general direction. Talon seems to be in a better mood; he’s playing some bloody zombie game, so he barely looks up when I tell him I’m leaving. Ingrate. I make a mental note to find out what’s been bugging him.
Bran is lurking by the door when I leave. He seems sad—or maybe wistful is a better word. He smiles tentatively at me. “Bye, Andi. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yup.” I open the door and am halfway out when his soft voice stops me.
“I still care about you, you know.”
I immediately stiffen, all my muscles clenching in the wake of a tidal wave of anger. How dare he say that to me now, when I’m weak from the emotional turmoil of repressing my true colors at dinner?! Stupid skater boy.
With my head and my heart pounding, I escape to my car. For just a few seconds, my hands clutch the steering wheel in a death grip while I take shallow breaths through my mouth. Anger and guilt churn in my guilt. I don’t know what to make of the guilt; it’s a rare emotion for me. I’ve never had a wide spectrum of them. Emotions, that is. Usually, I’m either angry, or…not angry. Where is the guilt coming from?
I drive back to Ellen’s. She’s still not home, and I can’t help but be relieved. I grab a blanket and pillow from my room and take it to the deck outside. I settle into the chaise lounge, cocooning myself in the blanket. When the sun is out, it’s nice and warm, but at night it can get pretty chilly. I stare out at the turbulent sea and congratulate myself on surviving dinner, and Bran. And Megan. And Ellen’s brownie.
Things will be better in the morning. I’ll be more in control. I’ll be a rock, a pillar of support—and I’ll do it all with the brightest fake smile you can imagine. I can do it. You’ll see. Everything will be better tomorrow.
Sometime during the night, it must have rained. I wake up with the dawn, wet and disoriented. Keeping my damp blanket around me, I stumble down to the kitchen for…? I don’t know. I actually wanted to go to the bathroom.
I’m heading back up when a knock at the front door stops me in my tracks. Who the hell? If it’s Bran this early in the morning, I’m going to knock him on his ass. I don’t even care about his stupid leg.
Gathering my blanket around me more securely, I tramp over to the door. Somebody better be selling something I can eat. I yank open the door with my early morning scowl in place.
My scowl falls off and somewhere onto the floor. I gape at the tall figure on the doorstep. Shock and horror have me glued to the spot. The blanket falls from my weak grasp and pools at my feet.
“Hey, there, Tiger.”
Chapter 6
Luke flashes me Number Seven—the Endearing Boyish Grin—from his personal arsenal of lethal smiles. “I know you think this is some hot fantasy, but I’m really here,” he says from under the brim of his Yankees ball cap (his lame idea of going incognito—and yet strangely, it works).
“I—what the hell are you doing here?!” I finally manage to squeak at him.
“You weren’t answering any of your texts.” His smile transforms into an accusing frown, and he leans an elbow against the door jamb. “So I came to see what’s up. So, what’s up? You gonna invite me in, or not?”
My hand grips the doorknob. For a split second, I contemplate just shutting the door in his face, and going back upstairs. I sigh. “Come in,” I relent, gesturing with a quick movement of my hand.
He slides past me with a triumphant grin. I take a quick peek outside to make sure no one’s witnessed his arrival. Aside from a lone singing bird, and a couple of crackhead squirrels twitching around on the lawn, there are no signs of life in front of the house. I vaguely register the presence of a big black truck parked next to my little silver Scion.
I close the door and turn to Luke, who is looking around Ellen’s place with undisguised interest. “Nice place,” he says, poking around in the kitchen.
“Yeah. What happened to your eye?” I point to the fading bruises around his right eye.
“Ah.” He shakes his head slightly, chuckling. “You know those sharks we were talking about? Turns out one of them has a pretty mean right cross.”
I just roll my eyes. Luke is always covered in scrapes and bruises. I’ve learned not to worry unless something’s broken or concussed. “Seriously, though,” I begin. “What are you doing here?”
He stops his restless prowling and comes to stand in front of me, leaning against the back of the couch with his arms crossed. He gives a little shrug, studying my face. “You’re stuck in a shitty situation right now. I thought you could us the support. After all, you’re always there for me.”
“That’s because you pay me to be,” I reply bluntly.
“Well, then consider yourself lucky because I’m all yours—free of charge.” He holds his arms out in a “take in my glory, bitches” gesture.
I stare at him, appalled. “For how long?”
“However long it takes. I’m in no hurry. Besides, I think I’m going to like it here.”
I feel faint. “Oh, no.”
It’s not that I don’t appreciate the sentiment—because deep, deep down I do—but Luke being here is straight up disastrous. Besides the fact that everyone here thinks we’re together, I—ugh, it’s just weird! I’m one of those people who keep different facets of their lives into separate and distinct compartments. I don’t like for those parts to intersect. L.A. Andi and Oregon Andi are two completely different animals. My work life and family life should never mix. It’s like seeing your teacher at a strip club weird. I won’t know which me to be. The world will tilt off its axis and implode. I’ll turn spastic and feral.
All these panicked thoughts are running through my head at breakneck speed when something terrible happens: Ellen suddenly appears.
She’s stifling a yawn and looking at Luke with polite curiosity. Then she blinks, and recognition crosses her features. Her eyes widen. “Holy balls,” she gasps. “You’re Lucas Greyson!”
Luke straightens, immediately going into his celebrity meet and greet mode. He flashes his most charming smile. “Hi, there. You must be Ellen. I’m sorry to drop in on you like this.”
Ellen actually giggles, self-consciously wrapping her raggedy robe more securely around herself. “Not at all. Any boyfriend of Andi’s is welcome in my house anytime.”
Damn.
Luke’s eyebrows go way up at that. “Boy—?”
I cut in with a nervous laugh. “Actually, Luke was just leaving. He just stopped by to say hi on his way back to L.A. Wasn’t that nice of him? But he really has to go now.” I glare at him warningly.
“Oh, shoot,” Ellen pouts, obviously disappointed. “I have so many questions to ask you. I think it’s my duty to pump you for information because this one—” Here, she points to me. “—is like a closed book on the subject. I would love to hear all about how you two fell in love.”
“Yeah?” Luke is now looking at me, and I don’t like the grin that’s beginning to form on his perfect face, or the dangerous glint in his gold-y green eyes. “It’s a hell of a story. Care to tell it, Andi?”
I laugh again. “Not even if you shoved a flaming hot poker up my ass.”
“Andi!” Ellen scolds, but she’s laughing to
o, already heading over to the kitchen—no doubt to start her morning pot of coffee.
While her back is turned, I try to communicate silently to Luke with frantic expressions and threatening hand gestures. He looks completely amused now, understanding beginning to dawn on his face. Sharp, that one is, despite all the knocks to the head he’s received over the years.
Ignoring me, he follows after Ellen, no doubt on a fact-finding mission. I am so annoyed and flustered that I can’t follow what they’re saying at all. I think Ellen’s complimenting him on his very first role that launched him into superstardom, but I can’t comprehend much of it due to my current panic attack. I can’t even remember how to breathe right now!
“So, um, Lucas,” Ellen begins, shyly using his first name after he insists. “What exactly are your intentions towards my granddaughter, here?”
Luke flicks a glance at me, smiling evilly. “Well, I’m glad you asked that, Ellen,” he drawls.
I jump into action. I grab a brownie from a tray on the counter and practically smash a whole square into Luke’s mouth. “Try these. They’re delicious.”
While Luke is choking on that piece of food poisoning, I turn to Ellen with a calm smile. “Hey, Ellen? Do you mind if I show Luke the rest of the house before he has to go? He’d really love to see it. Right, Luke?”
Luke coughs hoarsely, thumping his chest with a fist as if trying to dislodge something. “Yeah, definitely,” he mumbles.
Ellen takes a small sip of her coffee. “You two go on,” she says with a wave of her hand. “I’m still trying to wake up all the way.”
I grab Luke’s hand and swiftly lead him to the stairs. He lets me drag him along, complaining under his breath.
“What the hell did you just shove in my mouth?” he growls. “It tastes like dirt.”
“It was just a brownie,” I hiss back at him over my shoulder. When we get to my room, I push him in and shut the door behind us.
Luke takes in my room with a quick glance, and then makes himself comfortable on my bed. “So, we’re in love now?” he prompts me.
I let my head fall back to smack against the wall behind me. “Obviously, I lied to some people about us being in a relationship,” I say through gritted teeth. “I was trying to save face, okay? End of story. Sorry about that. I’ll make sure they keep their mouths shut. Good bye.”
I paste on my most diplomatic smile, but Luke isn’t buying it. He shakes his head at me. “Oh, you’re not getting off that easy. Talk to me, Andi. You’re the most brutally honest and straightforward person I know. Why would you feel like you had to save face?”
I cross my arms and glare at him mutinously. Maybe he’ll take the hint, and just leave.
Yeah, right.
I watch with trepidation as a sly gleam brightens his eyes. “So you’re grandma probably thinks we’re in here having a quickie,” he says casually. “Is your room right above the kitchen, do you think?”
To my horror, he starts bouncing up and down on my bed, making the springs in my mattress squeak rhythmically, and the bed frame loudly slides around on the floor. It totally sounds like we’re having sex up in here.
“Alright!” I shout when Luke starts with the sexy groaning and the “oh, yeahs!” He stops mid-bounce, and looks at me expectantly.
I scowl back at him. “My ex-boyfriend is marrying my pregnant cousin—and I haven’t even been on a date in two years. Why do you think I lied? If they knew the truth, they’d think I still want him, or something.”
Luke’s eyes seem to search mine. “And do you? Still want him?”
“No! I want to him. All the time.”
That earns me an approving look. “That’s my girl,” he murmurs, satisfaction evident in his voice. “So…I have an idea.”
“So do I.” I stomp over to him, and try to pull him off my bed. “You go back to Lemage and pretend like this never happened.”
“Or…” Luke laughs at my pathetic attempts to move him. “I could stay, and back up your story.”
“That’s a terrible idea. Hideous. Please go.”
“Come on—it’s brilliant! You show up with me on your arm, and you’ll upstage your cousin and your dick of an ex at their own wedding.” Luke looks so pleased with himself that I want to smash another dirt brownie in his face. “What’s not to like about this plan, huh? You earn a million bragging points…and you get to spend more time with me.”
Oh, joy. I try another tactic with a smile. “I can’t ask you to miss out on your vacation getaway. You’ve been working so hard lately. You deserve a break.”
Luke snorts. “Are you kidding me? I was having a shitty time. Eyan and Rob don’t wanna do anything but sit on their drunk asses on the beach; Nate’s chasing after some reality show princess. I was so fucking bored.” He gives me the puppy dog eyes. “Please don’t make me go back there.”
My shoulders slump as I retreat back to my wall. “You’re supposed to be relaxing and keeping a low profile. Ivan said—”
“I can do that here,” he interrupts me. “Think about it—who’s gonna think to look for me in Sea Horse, Oregon?”
“Sea Wind.”
“Isn’t that what I said?”
“But you’ll be so bored here,” I argue, pushing a lock of damp hair behind my ear. “There’s nothing to do, no risks to take. It’s safe—really safe. I’m talking zero thrills. Oh, and did I mention this is, like, a retirement community? You won’t be finding any nubile young co-eds to bed.”
Now Luke is annoyed. He yanks off his cap, and runs a hand through his hat head hair. “I don’t want to bed anyone. I wanna flirt with your grandma, eat homemade meals—and beat the shit out of your douche-y ex if he so much as twitches in your direction,” he says earnestly, his eyes widening. “I want you to make me pie. The kind with the lattice top. You know what I’m talking about.”
I stare at him like he’s grown a second head. “You’re saying you want to waste your vacation time playing the role of boyfriend and average citizen of Sea Horse, Oregon?”
“Sea Wind,” he corrects me with a sudden blinding grin.
I nod slowly, contemplating my predicament. Luke has that stubborn look on his face. When he gets like that, you can’t talk him out of anything, no matter how stupid or dangerous the idea. Plus, he’ll eventually remember that he’s the boss and he can pretty much do whatever the hell he wants. So he stays here for a few days—how bad could it be? I’ll introduce him to the others; then I’ll lock him in the bathroom for a couple of days. He’ll be climbing the walls by the time I let him out—and he’ll leave this town so fast there will be jet trails in his wake.
It’s a solid plan. It just might work. I look at Luke. “Fine,” I say finally. “You can stay. But you need to try to stay out of sight as much as possible. And don’t do anything crazy. This is a small town, and you’ll stick out like a sore thumb.”
“Please.” Luke snorts. “I’m an actor. I know how to play this part.”
“Okay, well…whatever. Oh, and the whole thing about us being together—”
“Andi.” He holds his hand up to stop me. “I got this. And I have a couple of conditions of my own. Number one.”
He clears his throat and looks me up and down. I frown down at myself. “What?” I say.
“You have got to do something about the way you dress. No girlfriend of mine would be seen in some of the outfits you’ve sported,” he tells me bluntly. “I don’t think I’ve seen you in any color other than gray or brown since we met. I can have an awesome stylist be here in a couple of hours to…you know…help you out.”
I know he’s joking—Luke is the last person to care about clothes. But I sense a glint of curiosity behind the teasing, so I decide to explain myself. “Jessica told me on the first day we met that if I don’t want to be gossiped about, or caught in any of the pictures when I’m with you—that I should never walk right next to you, and I should always look like a slob. So far, her advice has worked. I’ve checked. M
aybe there’ll be part of my elbow or something in a picture once in a while—but so far, so good. Once, they even Photoshopped me completely out of the scene.”
Luke looks amazed at my revelation. He sits in silence for a few moments. “Is that why you never wear a swimsuit?” he asks, like he’s wondered about this a lot.
“Yeah.” I give him a dark look.
“Why?” he asks, cocking his head to the side in puzzlement. “I bet you have a great body hidden under…that.” He gestures vaguely to my limp gray sweats.
“Thanks,” I say sarcastically. “And I know how to dress myself. It’s just so much easier this way.”
Luke holds up both hands as if in surrender. “Just making sure it’s not some kind of serious low self-esteem issue. You know you’re incredibly beautiful, right?”
My jaw drops at his out of the blue compliment. “Um…riiight,” I mumble, glaring suspiciously at him. “Anyway. What’s condition number two?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. You follow my lead. I’m the award-winning actor here, so—just—just go with it.” He points at me. “I think I can really sell us as a couple.”
I frown thunderously at him. “Really, there’s no need. Just nod and smile, and hang out next to me. Everyone knows I’m not the PDA type.”
Luke gives an exaggerated sigh. “Oh, Andi,” he says sadly. “You really have no imagination.”
“Oh, don’t you worry about it,” I growl. “Is that all?”
“Also, you owe me a favor. But we’ll talk about that another day.” He sits up straight, and smirks playfully. “So, Anderson Kelly, do you agree to these conditions?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Awesome,” Luke says, and nods his head like I said yes. He claps his hands together excitedly. “Alright! Let’s do this.”
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