by Harlow Layne
“We’ll figure something out. Maybe if he stops paying child support it will help your case. I can’t say.”
Her face softened. “You have no idea how much I love you. I can’t wait to be in your arms again. I don’t know if I’ll be strong enough to leave you.”
“I love you too, skön.”
Her head tilted to the side in confusion. “What does that mean?”
“Beautiful.”
An easy smile spread across her face until it reached her deep blue eyes. Alex was always beautiful even if she didn’t believe it, but when she smiled she was gorgeous.
“I love it when you call me that.” She yawned, quickly covering it up with her hand.
“Getting tired?” There was no doubt she was since she’d been drinking for who knew how long.
“A little bit. I shouldn’t have drunk so much. I’m sorry. I guess no phone sex tonight.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. You deserve to let loose. You know, I don’t call you every night for phone sex. We aren’t all about sex.”
Closing her eyes, Alex tilted her head to the side. “I do know, but it makes me feel closer to you when I pretend it’s you that’s touching me.” A tear slipped down her cheek as she bit her bottom lip.
“Baby,” I cajoled.
A smile slowly formed on her beautiful face. “Do you remember the first time I tried to give you a blowjob? Oh my God, I’m so sorry for that.”
My hand slipped down into my briefs, I squeezed my cock and let out a moan. “What I wouldn’t give to have your lips wrapped around my cock right now.”
“Your cock is beautiful. If I was there I’d blow you.”
How drunk was she?
“It’s perfect. I miss your cock.”
“He misses you, and so do I.”
“God, I miss you.” A yawn escaped, and she quickly covered it with her hand.
“Before I let you go for the night I got some good news when I left the studio tonight.”
I couldn’t believe that I’d held it in for as long as I had, but I had to tell her before we got off the phone.
“What is it?” she asked hopeful, biting her bottom lip.
“From now on Night Shadows will start filming in June. They weren’t sure if it was doable but understood how important it was for me to be with you as much as possible, plus the circumstances of why you can’t be in LA during the school year.” I watched as a smile slowly spread across her face with each word I spoke. “The bad news is that if they can get next season written by the end of filming season three then they want to start four almost right away. No one will know until close to the end of shooting.”
“Oh my God, Luke!” She jumped up and all I could see was the lower half of her pink tank top. “Really! That’s great news! I mean, I secretly hope they don’t finish writing it in time so you won’t have to film it until next summer, but it doesn’t matter. I have so much more freedom in the summer. It will be a lot of traveling for when Mason has to see his dad, but it will be worth it. I can’t believe they agreed!” I watched as she jumped up and down a few times. “I can’t tell you how happy I am.” She sat back down with her hand over her heart.
She didn’t have to because the way her face brightened, the happy tears in her eyes, and the perm-a-smile on her face told me all I needed to know. Along with all her jumping. It was as if I’d given her the moon and stars and all I’d done was given her more of myself.
Lifting her hand, Alex trailed her finger over her screen as she continued to smile.
“What are you doing?”
“Touching you. I don’t know if I can wait a week to wrap myself around you.”
A week would seem like a year until I had her in my arms, but in the end all of this would be worth it. “I promise it will pass in no time. The second I get you alone I’m going to taste every inch of you.”
“I like the sound of that.” Her face flushed with want.
“It’s a date.” I promised.
Leaning forward she pressed her pouty lips to her screen. “Until then. I love you, my sweet Luke.”
“I love you, too, my beautiful Alex. Sweet dreams.”
“Of you, always.”
13
Unlike the last time I flew into LA, Mason and I didn’t have to wait for Luke to pick us up. Instead he was waiting for us with a sign that read Alex and Mason. The moment Mason caught sight of Luke, he took off as fast as his little legs could take him and didn’t stop until he hit Luke’s arms as he picked him up for a big hug.
I couldn’t help but smile at them. Mason had missed Luke since last seeing him in January. Although they talked on the phone some, they didn’t talk nearly as much as Luke and I. Little boys don’t have a lot to say on the phone or at least not for long. It was so sweet seeing them together and how happy Mason was when around Luke.
“Buddy, I’m going to put you down, so I can say hello to your mom. I need you to do me a favor okay. Can you do that?”
“Yeah.” Mason smiled up at him.
Taking one of Mason’s fingers, Luke looped it through one of his belt loops. “It’s only for a minute while I say hi.”
Nodding Mason said, “Mama missed you, so you should say hi.”
“Thanks, buddy. I missed her too. Now hang on.” Luke insisted.
Stepping to me, Luke pulled me into his arms squeezing me tight. It felt like home and safety. It had only been a second and I never wanted to leave. His arms left me for his hands to cup my face. “Hello, beautiful.” He grinned his lop-sided smile. “Fuck FaceTime doesn’t do you justice. You look too good. I can barely keep this PG.” Giving me a kiss that was a little more than PG, he pulled back to murmur against my lips. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too, handsome. I’m counting down the hours until we can be alone.”
“It’s a promise.” Breaking away, his eyes scanned around us. “We should probably get out of here.” Turning to his right, Luke signaled what had to be the biggest man I’d ever seen. He was taller than Luke and double in width. “This is Rome and he’ll be helping us get your luggage and get out to the car. I’ll carry Mason, and when we get outside I’m going to try to explain that we don’t want any pictures of Mason taken, or at least not his face.”
“Do you think it’ll work?” Because I desperately wanted it to.
“I hope so otherwise life around LA will be much more difficult. Sarah plans to issue a statement afterward explaining that we want privacy for Mason and hopefully, because he’s a minor, they’ll respect our wishes.”
Kneeling down until he was eye level with Mason (it was quite the feat with the incredible height difference between the two), he explained. “When we leave there will be lots of people and some may have cameras trying to take our picture. I’m going to carry you out to the car and I want you to keep your face hidden against my neck. If that’s okay with you?”
“Will you and mama be okay?” Mason sweetly asked.
“Yeah, we’ll be okay. We’ve got Rome here to help us if anyone gets out of line. Now’s not the best place to talk about it, but when we get to the house I’ll try to explain all this craziness.” He made a silly face causing Mason to smile. “Sound good?”
Mason nodded and with that Luke stood with Mason in his arms. “Alex, make sure you’ve got a good hold on your purse. I want you to keep one hand at my elbow and if you can, loop a finger through my belt loop.” He looked saddened for a moment before he started to head for baggage claim.
This was the price he had to pay to be an actor and I was sure in that moment he would have given it up just to be able to walk out of the airport with ease.
We were in luck and the area wasn’t swamped with people waiting for their bags. When I spotted our bags, I only had to point, and Rome quickly grabbed each of them up and started to escort us out to the parking lot.
The moment we stepped outside, and the cameras started to swarm us, Luke lifted a hand and started to speak in an authoritati
ve voice. The crowd quieted and listened intently. “Alex and I want to ask that you please respect her son’s privacy and not take his picture especially his face. He’s only a child and doesn’t deserve to have his face splashed all over the internet. We want to make this experience positive for him so please respect our wishes. Thank you.” He waved and started to move again with Rome pushing up behind me.
Amazingly enough the paparazzi stepped back a few steps giving us room to make our way to a black SUV where only a few took pictures. Luke placed Mason in the back with a booster seat already installed and waiting just for him. Rome put our luggage in the back of the car and shook Luke’s hand before he disappeared off into the parking lot.
Once inside he picked up my hand, kissing my palm. “Are we ready?”
“Ready.” Mason called from the back seat excitedly.
“Are you hungry? I thought we could pick up some lunch at In-N-Out Burger. It’s a must have while in LA and I doubt my brother has eaten anything, so he’ll be starved by the time we get back.”
“I’m hungry! Can I get a Coke, mama?”
“We’ll see about a Coke,” I answered him. Turning to Luke, I couldn’t help but smile as I took him in. “I really missed you. You have no idea how much.” I palmed his cheek and let my thumb rub over his scruff and bottom lip.
His lips parted, eyes dilated. “I have a pretty good idea.”
I couldn’t wait for Luke to show me how much he’d missed me during our last two months a part, but that would have to wait until we were away from innocent eyes.
“Whose car is this? It looks exactly like the one you bought in Fairlane, but a different color.”
Luke looked out the windshield sheepishly before side-eying me. “It’s mine. There’s a lot of things you can’t do with a car and after buying yours—” My head whipped in his direction because the one in Missouri was not supposed to be mine. He dismissed my look with a flick of his hand. “You know what I mean. If you think about it, I wouldn’t have even been able to fit both you and Mason along with your luggage in the other car. This is more prudent, and it’s helped a great deal as I worked on the house.”
“Don’t think I’m going to forget about your little slip,” I warned.
“Never a doubt in my mind.” He quipped back with a big smile.
“Luke,” I sighed heavily. We hadn’t even been in LA an hour and I was already worried and frustrated. “You’ve lived here almost five years while you stayed with friends and only a single car in your name and now you’ve bought two houses along with two more cars all within a few months. It’s not that I don’t appreciate everything that you’ve done because I do, but I don’t like that you’ve spent all this money.”
He placed his hand on my leg and let it spread out engulfing my thigh. My words stalled as I enjoyed the warmth of his touch. “If you’re worried that I’m spending all my money there’s no need. Yes, what you said is true. I stayed with friends and only had my car because I was so busy that I saw no point in owning a house where I’d never be, but things have changed. My life has changed for the better. I have you and Mason now and I plan to be home as much as possible.” His hand squeezed my thigh to reassure me. “As for the money, I have plenty of it. Staying with friends afforded me the opportunity to save on rent or a house payment. If it will make you feel better when we get home, I’ll show you how much I have in my accounts.”
Placing my hand on top of his, I laced our fingers together. “That won’t be necessary. I trust you.”
“I think it would put your mind at ease.” He turned and smiled at me.
On our way to get lunch, Luke and Mason talked about In-N-Out Burger and what Mason had been doing at school. I loved the ease in which they talked. It was something Mason had never had with his father and it was obvious he craved a male figure that cared both about what he had to say and about him. It broke my heart that he’d lived this long without it, but if I hadn’t been married to Decker, I never would’ve had him. A tear slipped down my cheek and I hastily wiped it away. I wouldn’t think about Decker and his asshole ways while I was here with Luke.
“Hey, are you okay?” Luke asked softly with concern.
“Yeah.” I leaned over to kiss him on the cheek and whispered in his ear. “Happy to have you in our lives.”
“I feel the same, beautiful. I feel the exact same.”
14
When I imagined meeting Luke’s younger brother for the first time, it was nothing like what happened in real life. The moment the garage door started to go up, he bounded out of the house and was sweeping my door open before I could blink. Taking my hand, he pulled me out of the car and into his arms, squeezing me tight. Not quite as tall as his brother, Leo was still well over six-foot-tall with me cradled in his arms, rocking me back and forth.
Murmuring into his shirt, I spoke unsure if anyone could hear me. “I think he likes me.”
“Mama?” Mason asked hesitantly in a small voice.
Pulling away, I turned to find Mason standing beside Luke, holding his hand with worried eyes. “Hey, sweetie. It’s okay. This is Luke’s brother, Leo. He’s just excited to meet us. He’s not scary. I promise.”
Leo moved from behind me and slowly walked over to Mason where he got down on his knees, holding out his hand for Mason to shake. “I’m sorry if I scared you, buddy. Like your mom said, I was excited to finally meet you both. I’ve talked to your mom on the phone a couple of times, and every time I talk to my brother he talks about you and your mom.” Every word was spoken quietly as he tried to ease Mason’s fears.
Leo eyed Luke in what looked as if he hoped he wasn’t scaring Mason further. It was an odd situation since Mason had never had that kind of reaction to anyone before. It wouldn’t be good if he was scared of Luke’s brother for our entire trip.
Luke smiled at his brother and nodded his head. “Hey, little man. How about we let Leo bring your bags in and I’ll show you to your room. I’ve been working on it and I think you’re going to like it.”
“You have a room just for me?” Mason’s eyes were wide and eager.
“One all for you.”
Mason smiled brightly. You would have thought he had received every Christmas present he’d ever asked for in that moment. “Let’s go!”
We watched as Luke took him inside the house and a few seconds later we heard Mason exclaim. “You’ve got a pool! Awesome!”
Leo rested a hand on my shoulder. “I really am sorry about scaring him. It seemed like Luke was gone forever and I was excited.”
“Don’t worry about it. Mason’s tired and hungry and wasn’t expecting to have a huge man come bounding out of the house. It’s sweet you were so excited to meet us.”
“How could I not be? The whole family is so happy that Luke met you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked as we walked into the kitchen.
“We were all worried about him. He’s been here in the states working almost nonstop with only a few friends and then all of a sudden, he’s calling home talking about this woman he met and her little boy.” Leo stopped at the counter and leaned against it. “It was obvious from the first phone call that he was enamored with you. I’ve never seen him this way about a girl. It’s great to see him find love and settling down.”
“You need to stop or you’re going to make me cry. I’m not going to lie and say I wasn’t worried about what your family would think about me, a divorced, single mother.”
“Don’t talk like that. Luke hasn’t told us much, but it sounds like you’re better off not being married and Mason is adorable. You shouldn’t worry, my family already loves you and once they meet you you’ll be part of the family.”
Wrapping my arms around him, I hugged Leo as relief flowed through me. “Thank you.”
“Is everything okay?” Luke asked with Mason by his side. He watched, concerned, as I stepped back from Leo.
“Sweetness must run in the family. Leo almost made me cry.”
“Only telling her the truth, bro. Please tell me that you got me some burgers.” Leo eyed the bags full of food.
Luke laughed as he started to remove everyone’s lunch. “I told you he wouldn’t have eaten yet.”
We sat at a small table that was in the kitchen area eating our lunch. I took in the changes that had been made since I was here in January. Not much had been done since Luke had only just bought the house, but now I could see all the small touches he’d added. There were candles and a few knickknacks here and there. I hadn’t ventured into much of the house, but now it looked lived in. It was a home instead of just a house.
“Mama did you know that there’s a pool? Luke said I could swim in it, but only if someone is out there with me.”
Reaching over, I squeezed Luke’s arm that rested on the table. “He’s right you have to have someone out there. I bet we’ll get to swim a few times while we’re here, especially if the pools heated.”
“For you, it’s heated. I haven’t had a chance to use the pool yet, but I knew you’d want to hang outside and use the pool.”
“Hey, Leo,” Mason called animatedly. “Did you know that I have a new house where we live, and it has a pool too? We haven’t been able to go swimming because it’s too cold there.”
“A new house with a pool? That’s cool. I know all about the cold. I live in Sweden and it’s been cold and dark for months. I may never want to leave the LA sunshine.”
Mason tilted his head with furrowed brows. “Where’s Sweden? Is it close to Missouri?”
“No, it’s very far away.” Leo’s face softened. “Sweden isn’t in the United States. It’s in Europe. Do you know where that is?”
“Mmhmm, no,” Mason shook his head. “I think I’ve heard of it.”
“After lunch we’ll get on the computer and I’ll show you where it is if you want.”
“Have you seen my room yet? Mama my room is so cool! You have to see it. Can I show you after we eat?”