Love notes

by Exley Avis

  “I wish I could believe that.”

  Marty looked sideways at her, still uneasy, but his mobile rang and he went through into his bedroom to retrieve it. Erika heard him talking to her tour manager in Los Angeles and guessed it wouldn’t be a two minute conversation. Marty started asking the caller all kinds of questions in advance of the meetings with the European promoters and Erika decided to leave him to it. She put her head in through the bedroom doorway where Marty lay on the unmade bed, phone clamped to his ear in a familiar pose. As she went to leave, she saw his laptop lying on one of the sofas, half buried by cast-off clothes. It was too good an opportunity to miss and she snatched it up before heading out of the suite. She ran down the back stairs to Aiden’s landing where she banged on his door, her heart hammering louder than her fist at the thought of facing him again so soon.

  “I have Marty’s laptop,” she said, barging her way in as soon as Aiden opened the door, and not daring to look at him. “I thought we could see what’s on it.”

  Aiden flattened himself against the wall as she swept past and slammed the door, rather than closed it, behind her.

  “Good morning. I didn’t expect to see you any time soon.” He glared. “After your little seduction yesterday, I assumed you’d have moved on to someone else by now.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, playing for time and hiding her rising embarrassment under a layer of irritation.

  “It was hardly subtle. You took what you wanted and left.”

  “Oh, get over yourself, Aiden.” Erika pretended she had neither the time nor the patience for his sudden attack of a moral conscience. “Are you telling me you’ve never used someone for sex?” She paused but knew he couldn’t deny it. “I felt horny, you have the most incredible body and I could trust you not to post the pictures on Facebook. End of.”

  His jaw tightened. “I’m swept away by the romance of it.”

  “Don’t kid yourself,” she warned, standing in front of him and measuring herself against him. “You’re twice my size. You could have stopped me at any time.”

  “I didn’t want to hurt you.”

  “Didn’t want to miss out on sex with Erika Fenn, you mean.” She stared him out, daring him to disagree.

  “Perhaps I’m not as calculating as you think.”

  This Erika couldn’t believe and walked away to the sofa, glad to have her back to Aiden for a moment so he couldn’t see how excruciatingly embarrassing she’d found the exchange – for all her bravado. “Stop complaining. I made you come so hard, your heart stopped.”

  “At least you acknowledge I have a heart. That’s progress.”

  “So what’s your problem?”

  “I don’t like being used.”

  Erika shrugged as if she couldn’t have cared less. “I doubt a tart like you will be psychologically scarred by the experience.”

  She heard Aiden repeat the word tart under his breath as she sat down and switched on Marty’s laptop. When she dared glance across at him, she saw him still standing in the hallway, hovering between irritation and what looked like amusement, not quite sure which way to fall. She wondered whether she’d gone too far but decided she didn’t have time for niceties.

  “Are you going to help me, or not?” she demanded. “I stole this laptop when Marty was on the phone. He could miss it any minute.”

  Setting aside his annoyance, Aiden sat down next to her and began searching through the documents, downloading several onto a memory stick but many were password protected.

  “How do I get into these?” he asked, tapping in the password combinations Erika gave him to try. Marty’s inbox yielded the first time but all of the financial files remained locked. Aiden swore under his breath.

  “It’s no good. I need help,” he said, standing up to fish in his pocket for his mobile.

  Erika watched him in the way she had at the poolside, her eyes drinking in every detail, and deciding his body looked almost as good dressed as it did naked.

  In fact, delicious enough to undress all over again, she thought wickedly.

  Aiden had his back to her as he dialled, standing over by the window, one hand in the pocket of the faded jeans that sat low on his hips and clung tightly around his pert bum. His white T-shirt fitted close to his torso, stretching tautly across his shoulders that flexed as he raised his hand to his hair.

  The movement sent a shock of recognition through Erika. Whenever Aiden concentrated hard he rubbed the short hair on the back of his neck and she guessed he’d be biting his bottom lip too. When he turned, she saw he was and smiled to herself.

  Erika hadn’t even realised that she’d remembered these details about him – or perhaps it went deeper than remembering.

  Recognising these little gestures – or the cleft in his chin when he struggled not to laugh, and the birthmark across his shoulder that she’d kissed so often – had been among the tiny intimacies that had bound him to her. Somehow they’d become instinctive; like the way she’d known where to touch and please him in bed, or the ability she had to make him laugh because she understood his off-beat sense of humour.

  Knowledge like that didn’t come with a passing friendship or a vague acquaintance, she realised. It happened when two people threw open their hearts and let down every defence, making themselves totally vulnerable. Only then could they love completely or, as had happened to Erika, be at risk of having their heart irreparably broken.

  A sad sigh escaped her, diverting Aiden’s attention. He came back to the sofa, the mobile still cradled between his shoulder and his ear while he followed the detailed – and probably highly illegal – instructions on the other end of the line. He tapped away on the keyboard, calling up information that lay hidden deep within the heart of the computer, and Erika moved away, figuring the less she knew, the better.

  After ten more minutes Aiden hung up and looked at Erika.

  “I’ll messenger this down to London,” he told her, holding up the memory stick he’d just unplugged. “My techno-people will get onto it straight away.”

  “Any idea what’s on it?”

  He shook his head unhappily. “It’s all encrypted. But hopefully, they’ll find something to give us more leverage.”

  “The contract?”

  “Impossible to say. In twenty-four hours we’ll know a lot more.” He handed the laptop back so she could replace it. “Have you arranged anything with Marty?”

  At least here, Erika could report success. “He’s heading for London this afternoon but leaving me here until Monday, on condition you’re moving out.”

  “OK.” Aiden looked around his suite and worked out how long it would take him to pack. “Get Marty downstairs on some pretext and I’ll check out while he’s there.”

  “Be careful. He’s suspicious. He thinks we’re seeing one another again.”

  Aiden glanced toward the open bedroom door, the implication obvious. “And are we?”

  “No!” Erika couldn’t have been more definite.

  “So what was yesterday?”

  “Yesterday was your lucky day. But don’t expect an encore.”

  “Shame. I was hoping for one.”

  Erika decided it was a good job Aiden would be moving into a different hotel that afternoon. Heaven knows what would happen if he were in touching distance for the whole weekend.

  I can hardly trust myself, let alone trust him, she thought.

  She took a few steps past Aiden but stopped before reaching the door. Even though she hadn’t worked out his motives, she understood Aiden was doing a great deal to help her, without any apparent benefit to himself, and she’d hardly thanked him. She turned to find him standing close behind her, smiling in that warm, easy way and her heart melted a little.

  “Up until now, I haven’t exactly seemed grateful,” she began, “but I really do appreciate everything you’re doing for me.”

  Aiden played it down. “It’s nothing. A few phone calls. Speaking to a couple of contacts.” />
  “It’s not nothing. You’ve shown me a way out. Until I saw you again, I hadn’t realised how much I wanted it all to end.”

  “What else do you want?”

  Erika laughed at this. “Can we start with the smaller questions and work up to the big ones?” she said, letting down her guard at last. “I’ve hardly had time to think, let alone plan out the rest of my life.”

  “So why don’t we talk it through over dinner tonight?”

  “Dinner?”

  “Yeah. You know. That meal in the evening.” His smile widened. “I know how much you like to eat.”

  “I’m not sure.” The hesitation returned as Erika wondered whether it wouldn’t be more sensible to keep her distance from Aiden. Life around him had a habit of getting so complicated.

  “Please?” A current of uncertainty flashed across his tiger’s eyes and he appeared unusually ill at ease. “I know a little place not far away…”

  “No. I can’t leave the hotel. It would be just like Marty to check up on me.”

  “Then we’ll eat here. Marty need never know you’ve left your suite.” When Erika took a long while to answer, Aiden resorted to easy-going coercion, softening it with a smile. “In any case, you owe me.”

  “How do you work that out?”

  “Because it’s polite to buy someone dinner before taking them to bed. You apparently prefer to do it the other way around.”

  Ten minutes earlier Erika would have coloured furiously and run out of the room but this softer, gentler Aiden disarmed her and she burst out laughing. “That is probably the cheesiest line I’ve ever heard. Even from you.”

  “So is that a yes?”

  “I don’t appear to have any choice.” Erika had been backed into a corner but, surprisingly, had absolutely no desire to fight her way out of it. When Aiden smiled triumphantly, she issued a warning. “We’ll keep it casual and eat in the bistro. Nothing fancy.”

  “Are you saying I’m a cheap date?”

  From a man who’d cost her dearly, this was rich. “You might be worth a better dinner if you hadn’t been so easy. Perhaps you should learn to keep your clothes on longer if you want to eat well.”

  “I promise I’ll play hard to get next time.”

  “What makes you so sure there’ll be a next time?”

  He frowned slightly, trying to work out if she were serious. “Because the sex was mind-blowing. And no matter how much we kid ourselves, it’s only a matter of time before it happens again.”

  Erika persuaded Marty to eat lunch with her before he drove back to London. She made sure they had a table overlooking the front driveway so Marty would see Aiden leave.

  She’d called Aiden from the ladies’, telling him to check out within the next hour, expecting him to simply walk out to his car but he made a point of finding them both in the restaurant. Marty tensed when Aiden approached.

  “I came to apologise for the way I acted the other day,” Aiden said, extending his hand toward Marty. “No hard feelings, I hope.”

  Marty shook his hand reluctantly, keeping one eye on Erika as he searched for confirmation that there might be something between them. “Erika said you were leaving today.”

  “I’m off to Glasgow to check on a project we have running there.”

  “The new concert venue at Pacific Quay,” Marty guessed, making it obvious he’d Googled Aiden, as Erika had suggested.

  “You’ve done your homework.”

  “I like to know who I’m dealing with.”

  “Well it seems like a lot of work for a very short acquaintance.”

  Without waiting for Marty to reply, Aiden then turned to Erika. “It’s been great seeing you again. Good luck with the new album.” Before she could stop him, he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek, his stubble grazing her skin, and it was all she could do to stop herself turning and kissing him full on the lips. He seemed to sense this and pulled away quickly. “I’ll watch out for you on MTV. Bye.”

  Aiden turned sharply and walked back out into reception. Two minutes later they saw him load his suitcase into the car boot without a backward glance. Erika realised she’d wanted him to turn round one more time and her heart fell in disappointment. She forced the feeling away and pulled her face into an expression of relief before turning back to Marty.

  “Thank heaven we’ve seen the back of him,” she said, pretending she couldn’t care less if she never saw Aiden again. “I can relax now he’s gone.”

  “I still don’t trust the guy. And I’m not convinced I should leave you here.”

  “Well you don’t have much choice. You can’t miss your meetings and, in any case, your car’s here.” She nodded toward the window where an ostentatious limousine had just pulled up looking totally incongruous amidst the Yorkshire countryside.

  The prospect of London’s buzz, and the opening of negotiations on a European tour, erased Marty’s last remaining doubts and he got up from the table. “Don’t forget you promised to stay in the hotel. And I’ll have a car here to collect you first thing Monday.”

  “I’d prefer something less obvious,” she said, nodding toward the limousine. Marty enjoyed the showy trappings of fame far more than Erika ever had and went out of his way to surround himself with them, taking no account of the expense. No wonder the paparazzi find us so easily, Erika thought. Marty makes us a sitting target. “If I’m coming to London to see a doctor about my voice, I’d rather slip in more discreetly.”

  Even Marty saw the sense in this and agreed. “OK. I’ll call you. Behave yourself.”

  Erika waited by the window until she’d actually seen him walk out of the front door, something inside her wanting to make sure he’d really left, and still not daring to believe she’d be spending the next three days without him. In the five years since they’d met, she could hardly remember three hours alone. Instead, she been shadowed everywhere by Marty, his bodyguards or half a dozen of his entourage, not to mention fans and photographers. Three days alone felt like a lifetime and she intended making the most of every second.

  Even though she’d promised not to leave the hotel, she wanted to throw on her coat and run all the way down to the village but didn’t dare take the risk. Maybe she’d feel braver in the morning but, in the meantime, she went to the hotel gift shop where she picked up a couple of paperbacks and the largest bar of chocolate they stocked. On her way back to her room, she called Aiden.

  “Are you eating again?” he asked when he heard her muffled voice, his laughter trickling down the line.

  “Chocolate,” she admitted. “And I’ve had a massive lunch too. None of my stage outfits will fit after this month.”

  “Good. I’ve always preferred curves to bones.”

  Erika didn’t want to think about Aiden’s preferences at that precise moment because she knew exactly where that conversation would lead and anyway, she’d recently had a very graphic reminder of exactly what Aiden liked. She changed the subject.

  “I’m calling to say Marty’s left for London.”

  “Do you want to go out somewhere?”

  “No, thanks. I plan to lie on the bed, watch a film and eat the rest of this chocolate.”

  “Sounds tempting.”

  “I had no idea you were a film fan.”

  “No. I meant the lying on the bed part. Do you want company?”

  She laughed again at his predictability and let herself into her suite. “No, to that too. But full marks for trying. I’ll see you here at seven.”

  Erika laughed so much she couldn’t get her breath and gripped the edge of the table. “I don’t believe a word,” she gasped, tears streaming down her face. “You’re making it up.”

  “I swear it’s true,” Aiden promised, his hand on his heart. Like everything, he gave himself over completely to the laughter and his face erupted into the broadest smile Erika had ever seen, as he clenched his ribs and struggled to speak. “You couldn’t invent something like that.”

  “You
probably could.” She wiped away the tears with her fingertips and gulped down air. “I’d forgotten how truly terrible some of your stories are. I haven’t laughed like this in…” She paused and found she couldn’t remember.

  “…in too long,” Aiden finished for her as he poured them both more wine. “It was the first thing I noticed when I saw you again. You had sad eyes.”

  “I had jet lag,” Erika corrected him, determined not to be psychoanalysed. “No one could sparkle after a whole day on planes with Marty.”

  Aiden’s expression told her he wasn’t so sure but the laughter wasn’t far away. “When I think back five years, I remember you laughing all the time. We had a lot of fun, you and I.”

  “We certainly did. I didn’t deserve to pass my degree, the amount of time we spent together.”

  “And yet you got a first.”

  “Back when I played real music.” Erika dismissed her current work carelessly but couldn’t help sounding wistful. “These days, I hardly pick up an instrument. It’s quicker to use session musicians for the albums and it’s impossible to perform Marty’s sexy stage routines sitting at a piano.”

  “So you miss it.”

  “More than I can say.” She took a sip of wine and thought back longingly to her student days. “Do you remember when I used to sing in pubs and at weddings?”

  “Some of the best nights I’ve ever had,” he told her honestly.

  “Banging out cover versions on a tuneless piano and singing into bad mics.”

  “Too much to drink and dancing on the tables. And usually there was a fight to round off the evening.”

  He pointed to a scar above his right eye where he hadn’t been quick enough to dodge a punch. Without thinking, Erika leaned across the table, took his face in her hands and kissed it better, taking them both by surprise.

  “Isn’t it ridiculous?” she said, laughing again at his expression. “I play concerts to audiences of fifty thousand, my music videos reach a worldwide audience and millions download my songs, but I still miss singing to a hundred people in a grotty pub in the middle of nowhere.”