In Tune

by JN Welsh

  Leona thought back to their very first meeting at Wallace Entertainment when she’d wanted to wring Luke’s neck. Now she couldn’t be more proud of him and how far they’d come.

  Soon Luke was being ushered off to do post-show press. On the way out, Luke passed Leona and touched her arm.

  “Did you like the song?”

  Leona nodded, trying to catch her breath. All he did was touch her and she unraveled. “Yes. I loved it.”

  Luke’s chest inflated and a smiled teased the corners of his mouth. He squeezed her hand before he continued to the press area.

  Abe trailed behind her. “That went well. Two objectives met and one to go to fulfill the addendum. Oh, and Ruiz scheduled your press conference for tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Yeah. She sent me a calendar notification.” Leona sighed. It didn’t take long for reality to squeeze its way in and remind her that her biggest hurdle was only hours away.

  “I’ll be there to support you, darlin’, but I wish you would have told me about all this back at the beginning.”

  “Says the man who told me the company was in trouble at the eleventh hour.”

  Abe grunted. “I guess we both had our reasons.”

  She nudged him with her arm. “Thanks for supporting me.”

  Abe grinned. “I’m not even going to ask about the song.”

  “Good. Don’t.” Leona feigned a professional demeanor but gave him a tiny smile.

  “Well, I’m going to put this old man to bed. Saturday should be groundbreaking.” Abe hugged her.

  She frowned at him. “Way to put the pressure on.”

  “Which you work so well under. Great job as usual.” He kissed her cheek then departed.

  Leona glided over to where they were doing press and stifled a yawn as she watched Luke answer questions.

  As the women circled and hovered, Diesel made sure to keep people at a reasonable distance from Luke. Luke targeted a wink her way. The simple gesture was sweet but the effect his smoldering eyes had on her, as they lingered, rattled her lid like boiling water.

  Just like most nights, this was another late one. She networked on Luke’s behalf and introduced him to people of interest. At one point she hung by the bar in the packed venue. Everyone wanted to congratulate Luke or just be near him. She wanted to be near him, too, but the song had already set off a buzz among the attendees. With her press conference tomorrow, she needed to keep the positive vibes around Luke’s tour going as long as possible.

  Luke made his way toward her, tempting her with each stride.

  “Ready to get out of here?”

  Leona stifled yet another yawn. “Yes, please.”

  She spoke into her walkie-talkie to inform the team of their departure and called for the car. Sara and Sebastian hitched a ride with them back to the hotel. As they all separated to their respective hotel rooms, Leona had a harder time justifying not being in his arms.

  Chapter Thirty

  Leona jolted out of a restless sleep. Between her longing for Luke and her pending press conference, she’d been up several times during the few morning hours. She dialed room service with repetitive emphasis on coffee. She showered and dressed, her fingers charged with nerves. Her breakfast arrived as she fastened the last button on her coral blouse. Summer in New York was miserable but the city gave them a few spring weather days, allowing Leona to wear close-fitting slacks that stopped at the ankles and strappy gold sandals. She searched for her phone and found it in her clutch while she munched on a piece of toast and sipped lukewarm coffee. Her phone’s battery was almost dead, but she saw she had received several calls and quite a few text messages. As she brushed her teeth, she checked the first message from Izzy.

  You’re on TV.

  Leona tilted her head. “Huh?” She checked another one from Tracy.

  Where are you? We need to connect.

  Another message from Sebastian popped on her screen. The Paul situation is trending. I need you.

  “What the hell is going on?” She listened to the first message, which was from Tracy.

  “Leona. Paul is on the rampage. We had to move your press conference to noon. We have to give the press something ASAP to counter Paul’s tirade and keep this to a tidal wave instead of tsunami.”

  “Uh-oh.” Leona went to check the next message but her phone died. She plugged it in to charge it but thought maybe it was a good thing that she couldn’t continue to read the messages because she was legit about to freak the fuck out.

  She pinched her fingers together in a mediation pose and breathed. “Today is going to be a day from hell, so whoosah into it.” She readied a larger bag with what she needed for the day.

  There was a knock on her hotel room door. She opened it and Luke and his handsome ass strolled inside. “Good morning, beautiful.”

  “It’s a mad house out there! Paul’s been yapping, the team is up in arms, and my phone is dead. I have my press conference at noon now, and...and...” She hadn’t intended to greet him with the flurry of chaos. She gulped in one wallop of a breath and exhaled. She ambled over to him, lifted to her toes and kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry. Good morning.”

  “You look pretty.” He touched her cheek. “Ready to go to your press conference? Emmett is downstairs.”

  “Yes?” She massaged her earlobe.

  Luke stroked her shoulder caps. “Remember. Every time you hide, they have something to surprise you with. Tell the truth and take the charge out of it. Take your power back.”

  Luke’s pep talk did little to deflate her tension but she was past the point of no return. “Okay. Let’s do it.” She grabbed her purse and phone and they left together.

  * * *

  The camera lights were blinding and all she could hear was the sound of cameras snapping off shots as fast as her racing pulse. She breathed, centered, anchored and did whatever she could do to not flee. Her stomach gurgled and she was sure beads of sweat glistened on her face. At the podium she was alone.

  Leona spotted Luke and her team. No, I’m not alone.

  She cleared her throat. “A few weeks ago I made a legal claim against Paul Reese. The claim was for writing credits and back royalties for six hit songs that Paul produced within the last three years. However, the songs were written and produced by me. I have evidence to support my claim which my legal team will be presenting on my behalf.”

  “That’ll never happen, Leona. You want to take credit for my work, now?” Paul’s voice boomed and he made his way toward her. Security stopped him.

  “Hey, check this out,” Sebastian said and showed his phone to one of the press guys. After a while there was a murmur across the room and multiple people were watching something on their phones. Her eyes landed on Luke and his grin reached his brows.

  “What’s happening?” she asked.

  Luke came over to her and showed her his phone, and the exclusive video she’d leaked to Ramelda Manikas played on the screen. The video showed Leona and Paul in his studio. Leona produced a song, writing and editing lyrics while Paul watched on.

  “Oh my gosh.” Don’t freak out. This particular varietal of shit was supposed to hit the fan. Thank you, Ramelda. Do not freak out.

  Tracy took over. “Thank you, everyone. You all have the press release. For any additional information or interviews, please contact Wallace Entertainment.”

  “Let’s get you out of here,” Luke said, but as they walked toward the side entrance, Paul blocked their path.

  Luke seemed to have every intention of plowing through, so she pulled his arm to keep him from colliding with Paul.

  “You’ll never see a dime,” Paul hollered at her around Luke.

  Leona felt the charge in Luke’s body. She would have loved to see Luke drop Paul but the last thing she needed was for them to fight in front of the cameras. She tucked L
uke behind her and addressed Paul.

  “It’s over. You don’t get to dictate what happens or control the conversation anymore. I’m at the table now.”

  “I have a legal team, too, Leo.” Paul reached for her and she swatted his hands away while simultaneously pushing back on Luke, who she knew was itching to get to Paul.

  “Trust me. You don’t want to do this.” She motioned to all the cameras snapping photos of them. A security guard finally reached them and pulled Paul away. Paul hesitated for a moment but then embarrassment came over his angry visage. The rapid sound of lens shutters capturing every emotion.

  “This isn’t over,” Paul mumbled but Leona knew him well enough to know that he didn’t believe his own words.

  Luke ushered her out quickly and she was glad that was finally over.

  * * *

  “You should have let me deck him,” Luke said once they were on their way to the hotel. He rubbed his knuckles as if they were still thirsty to connect with Paul’s face.

  “That’s the last thing I should have let you do.” She faced him. Luke plucked two miniature bottles from his pocket. One whisky and the other was vodka. “Pick your poison.”

  “Vodka.” She’d never welcomed a shot of alcohol more than this moment.

  He handed her the drink.

  Luke shivered as if a chill ran down his spine. “Has Paul ever touched you in anger, Leona? Have you ever been afraid of him hurting you?” He swallowed the shot of whisky.

  “No.” She gave him a sheepish smile before she shot the vodka. Her face wrinkled as the potency slid down her throat. “He lost a lot today. So, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that he wouldn’t have tried to physically hurt me.”

  Luke blew out a shitload of air and fisted his hands so tight they cracked. “Let’s pray I never cross paths with him ever again.” He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him.

  “We have to meet up with the team for your interviews, and we have the vendor dinner tonight, and there’s the big concert—”

  “We have to work on your workaholic ways. You just did something big. Give yourself some credit and relax. We’ll get to all the rest, eventually.”

  She eased out of his embrace to face him. “My workaholic ways helped sell out most of your tour, execute a brilliant ramp up—”

  “Brilliant?” he asked.

  “Yes, brilliant. And what about your Xcelsior—”

  “I’m not complaining too hard. I just want you to take a minute to recognize how much you’ve overcome to give that press conference.”

  “I do in my own way, I guess,” she said. Luke was right but there was still a large milestone ahead of them.

  He arched a brow at her.

  “Okay, I’ll work on it.” She leaned her shoulder against the backseat. “I’m glad you were there with me today.”

  He kissed her temple. “I got you, baby. I always will.”

  Since their split in Las Vegas, Luke had respected her decisions even though it had caused them both pain. Yet he was there for her while she overcame her biggest challenge. “I know.”

  “I fucked up, Leona.”

  His declaration had her sitting more erect in the moving vehicle. “What?”

  Luke twisted his soul patch. “I should have told you that I didn’t blame you for Paul. I’ve never blamed you. Paul was the one who pawned your work off as his own. I assumed you’d know I could never blame you.”

  “I should have spoken out a long time ago. I was sure you’d hate me when you found out.” Her pulse hit like typewriter keys against her skin and the stronghold around her emotions slacked. “If you did, my brain would get it but my heart couldn’t take that.”

  “I could never hate you. I love you, Leona.” He held her gaze. “You have to know that I love you.”

  A shaky breath rippled through her like the water rings around a skipping rock. She reached for his hand. “I love you, too, Luke. I have ever since you got me motion sickness meds.”

  “That long, huh?” He chuckled. “I’ll do you one better. That first day you threw me a box of animal crackers.”

  “This whole time I just kept thinking about one thing. Like an anchor of focus.”

  He intertwined his fingers with hers. “And what’s that? That you were thinking about?”

  “You.” She peered up at him, her eyes moved from his sparkling green-gray eyes to his mesmeric lips.

  Luke captured her mouth with his. Her mouth opened to receive his ravenous tongue. Damn, she missed his taste. She placed her hand on his chest and his heart as it thudded against her palm.

  “Fuck, Leona. You can’t say things like that to me.” He squeezed her breast and fondled the imprint of the nipple that protruded from her blouse. Her hand moved to caress the taut muscles in his arm. His finger curved into the opening of her top, gripping the material, ready to rip. “I’ve been lost without you...starving for you.”

  “Not as much as I have.” She was breathless and eager for more.

  “Miss Sable, Mr. Anderson. We’ve arrived.” The sound of Emmett’s voice through the backseat intercom barely broke through the sound barrier of their love cocoon.

  Luke cursed, his eyes shadowed with the same longing that robbed her of good sense. Her legs stuck slightly to the leather seats through the thin, close-fitting material of her pants. They separated and Luke grabbed her hand, and dashed with her into the hotel.

  * * *

  Don’t rip her clothes off in this fucking elevator. His mantra did nothing to dull the pain of his aching dick against his jeans. Leona melded her body to his and the way her hands ventured to places below his waist didn’t help. He did his best to shield her from the elevator security camera as he consumed her. The make out session that commenced lasted the three minutes it took for them to ride up to his suite. His hands shook as he worked his card in the door. He wanted her more than he could withstand.

  Inside his suite Leona pulled him to a love seat. He kissed her and left in search for a condom, which was no small feat since he’d only been fucking himself and he didn’t need a condom for that.

  “Where you goin’?” Her breathless plea nearly ended his search as she shadowed him.

  “Condoms,” he growled.

  “Get over here.” Her laugh carried notes of frustration. “I’m on something, remember?”

  He hadn’t, and was back to her faster than he knew he could move. Her phone buzzed and Leona reached for it in her pocket.

  “Oh no you don’t.”

  “You have press. They need you.”

  “I need you.” He plopped into the love seat.

  His hand shot to her waist and he drew her to his sitting figure. She stood between his legs and regarded him as he lifted her blouse up to reveal her belly. He ran his tongue over her navel and kissed the exposed skin. She trembled at his touch.

  “It’s been too long since I’ve tasted you, Leona.” His hands slid to unfasten the button on her pants. He tugged the material down to discover that she was panty-less, revealing the mound of her center. His temperature skyrocketed and he wanted out of his clothes.

  Leona’s fingers combed his hair and tilted his head up. “Luke. We have to go.” Her voice was heavy with desire.

  He peeled her pants over the bump of her rear and she swayed with each tug before the material passed her knees. He slipped one hand between her legs as he continued to kiss her belly, while the other caressed the flesh of her ass. With her pressed against him and inhaling her scent, she was his again. He had returned home.

  “Luke,” she whimpered. Constrained by her clothes, she bent her knees outward to accommodate his hand. He felt the weakness in her and supported her every move.

  “I’ve missed you, Leona,” he moaned from deep in his chest. He slid his fingers inside her moist center and hi
s mouth descended on her.

  Leona let out a cry that pierced his soul. She slumped against him. He grabbed a hold of her waist to keep her from falling and pulled her down. Leona was tangled in her pants and made an awkward fall backward onto the floor. She couldn’t help but laugh and neither could he. He tugged off her shoes and pants.

  “I want you so much, baby.” His mouth continued to assault her clit and her hips bridged upward for more. He came to eye level with her and positioned the tip of his hard cock at her center.

  The clanking of his belt garnered her full attention. Leona huffed, stroking his head. “We have to...we should—”

  He filled her and her delectable insides surrounded him, drowning him. Her high-pitched squeals of pleasure grew louder, as his slow and hard thrusts pleased her over and over. He needed to consummate their love. He desired her more than food, air, or water. Loving her like this was all that mattered.

  “Do we have time now?” he teased against her lips, pumping into her.

  “Uh-huh.” Her tongue played in his mouth and she devoured him.

  Luke slipped one hand between her legs and she melted further into the floor.

  “I’ve been so empty without you inside me. I’ve missed loving you like this.” Leona spoke against his lips and the thought of her tasting her own essence with him brought him closer to the edge.

  He increased his speed and her nails dug into his shoulders as her body shook with each of his full-bodied lunges into her.

  “Fuck, baby,” he hissed against her lips. “I won’t last with you saying shit like that to me.”

  He flipped her on top of him. Her legs straddled him and he gripped her waist to minimize her movements while he jackhammered into her, sending delicious delights through her. Her body jiggled as her pleasure mounted.

  “Yes, Luke,” she called, as her passion rocked through her and into him. She stiffened and squealed, and her pelvis bucked against him.

  His arms circled around her waist and he squeezed her tightly. He catapulted up and shouted his potent and virile orgasm into her chest. She loved hearing him come.

  “I love you so much,” she heaved. She held his head and they both shivered from the aftershock of their wild and thirsty lovemaking.