Center Stage (7 page)

He pushed open the door to his apartment and set the groceries on his kitchen table. The door which led to her kitchen was open. That alone was invitation enough, wasn’t it?

Maybe he needed his nightly beer to put things into perspective. His routine was just disrupted. He needed one regular moment to make it all fall into place.

John opened the door to the refrigerator and was more than surprised to find it stocked with beer.

Out of sheer curiosity, he opened the freezer and his meals had been replaced, too.

The thought that he should be happy seemed to be clouded by the thought that maybe she was replacing what she felt she owed him. He’d fed her and supplied the beer. He was really going to be pissed if she bought him a new can of coffee.

When he opened that cupboard only his can remained.

It was silly, right? He’d bought her flowers and dinner. Why should he think she didn’t want him after the weekend they’d shared?

He knew why, because after years of marriage, his own wife hadn’t wanted him. Arianna was thirteen years his junior. At some point, she was going to want a man who wasn’t gray or watching his cholesterol.

The unmistakable sound of Arianna walking down the stairs filled his ears. Then the sound of her walking through the kitchen had his heart beat ramping up.

It was time to face the music. Worst case scenario, he’d order a pay-per-view movie and drink his beer.

John gathered his groceries, two of the beers, and the bouquet of flowers and headed up the stairs. As he reached the top, her cell phone rang. He slowed.

She answered the call and repeated “Hello” over and over before grunting.

John turned the corner and Arianna jumped, obviously startled by his presence.

“You scared the hell out of me. I guess we need a bell for your neck.”

This was going to be rather interesting, he decided. A new woman—a new bad mood to learn.

“I’m sorry. I thought I’d cook you dinner.”

Her shoulders dropped and her eyes softened. “Thank you. I’d really appreciate that.”

“I bought you some flowers too, although they are stuck in my hand. Can you grab them?”

He laughed easily and she loved that—liked that. His mind was scrambled.

She took the bag of groceries from around his fingers and the flowers from his hand.

“This was extremely thoughtful of you.”

He swallowed hard. “I thought you’d enjoy them.”

“You were right.”

She set them on the table with the groceries and turned back to him. She took the beers from his hands and set them on the table, too.

Arianna moved back to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Before you start getting all domestic on me, I want to kiss you.”

“You definitely made my purchase worthwhile.”

Her lips were warm as they pressed against his. His hands came to her hips, and he pulled her closer to him. The way her body molded right to his made him wonder, if two people seemed so right for each other, why had it taken so damn long for them to find one another?

As Arianna pulled back, she let out a deep long sigh and then opened her eyes.

“I’ve waited all day for that.”

John was glad to hear that. Why had he even worried? “So who called?”

“What?”

“When I was walking up the stairs. Actually…” He began to realize it wasn’t his business at all. “You don’t have to tell me.”

“No, that’s fine. I don’t know who it was.” She picked up her phone from the table. “It’s a blocked number, and it has called me nearly ten times in the last two weeks.”

“And no one is there?”

“No.”

“And you don’t know who it is?”

Her lips turned down. He didn’t like that.

Arianna shook her head. “No. I don’t know who it is.”

But he didn’t buy that.

He’d have to not worry about it. She was allowed her secrets. He sure had his.

Chapter Eight

Arianna set the table, but her hands shook. She’d silenced her phone and stuck it in her pocket. It had rung three more times since John had gone out on the porch to grill steaks.

She could only imagine who it was and that made anger pump through her veins.

That stupid son of a bitch was playing mind games, but why? What could he gain by messing with her?

Regan certainly wouldn’t leave her family for him, nor would Arianna ever tell him what she knew about their baby’s whereabouts. Regan had never even looked at her baby when she’d had her. She’d forced Curtis to take her away. Besides, that had been four years ago. Why cause problems now?

Arianna looked out the window. She could see John standing on the porch in his heavy coat. His breath carried on the cold. Would he protect her?

Of course he would. He personally knew Alexander Hamilton, and he knew what kind of monster the man was. If he cared for her at all, he’d never let the monster near her or her family.

But that was a lot to ask of the man you were sleeping with.

Then again, she needed to admit. It was more than that.

It wasn’t just sex when she had to run and tell her sister about it. It wasn’t just physical when the very thought of his smile made her warm. This went deeper.

The flowers he’d brought her were now in a vase on the kitchen table. She couldn’t remember the last time a man brought her flowers. Obviously it hadn’t mattered. These flowers mattered.

She heard the lid of the grill close, and a moment later, the back door opened and John walked through with cold air blowing in behind him.

“I must have wanted steak really bad. I’m sure my blood is frozen in my veins.”

“We could have gone out for steak.”

John shook his head as he set the platter down on the table. “No way. I’ve learned something about you. You spare no expense on things you’ll personally use. Your grill is no exception.”

She laughed. “Carlos bought the grill when he lived here.”

“Okay, so your family has good taste.”

She thought about her siblings and their significant others. Yes, her family had good taste, and she must have it, too. John Forrester was a catch, and not one of her family members would disagree.

They ate dinner in silence. It seemed to be the way the man worked. It wasn’t until she’d pushed her plate away that John looked up at her to speak.

“You wouldn’t want to take a drive, would you?”

Arianna shrugged her shoulders. “If you’d like to.”

“I have something I want to show you.”

“It’s almost eight. You want to show me something in the dark?”

His lips pursed. “Yes.”

John wasn’t sure she’d take him up on his offer, but he simply couldn’t hold out any longer. He drove through Nashville with Arianna seated right next to him. If ever there was a reason to keep a truck with an old bench seat, this was one of them.

George Strait was on the iPod, and the hum of the heater filled any void where silence might become awkward. He knew he was in his own kind of heaven.

Arianna watched the sights of the city, in full swing, from the window. She rested her head on his shoulder. “Are we just going to pass each of these bars or go in one? I mean, at least we’re in a city where there is ample entertainment.”

“We’re almost there.”

He saw the building in the distance. Without any of the lights on, it made the entire neighborhood dark. The sight was eerie and unsettling.

John pulled the truck up in front and parked.

Arianna looked around. “This is where you wanted to go?”

“What do you think?”

She looked around and then back at him. “Of what?”

“The building. It’s the old Rockwell Theater.”

She narrowed her eyebrows as if she were trying to remember something. “The last show they did here was a community version of Phantom, right?”

He chuckled. “I have no idea. I have to admit, theater isn’t my thing—usually.”

Arianna let out a grunt and then turned her attention back to the building. “So, why are we here?”

“They have the building slated for demolition unless someone buys it and renovates it.”

He watched her process the information. “So, it’s for sale?”

“Yes.”

He couldn’t quite read her and that bothered him.

“You’d mentioned that you’d like to do community theater and teach.”

“I did.” Her words were drawn out slowly.

John turned in his seat to face her. “I have a business proposition for you.”

“I’m listening.” Again, her words stretched out.

“I’ve worked for Benson, Benson, and Hart since I was twenty. I learned a trade under Zach’s grandfather and was promoted under Zach’s father. I took Zach to work with me for years, teaching him a trade. They’ve always taken care of me.” He was rambling. “Point is, other than my TV, my recliner, and my import beer, I’ve never needed for anything—until now.”

He heard her suck in a breath. “What does that mean?”

“It means I would like to buy this theater, with some matched investment capital from Benson, Benson, and Hart.”

She nodded. “And what are you going to do with that?”

“That’s my business offer for you. I want to help you renovate it and open your theater.”

“You want to buy me a theater?”

“Well, no. Yes. What I mean is it’s an investment. I know you can do this, and I want to help.”

This time she crossed her arms, and he knew that wasn’t a good sign. She contemplated for a moment longer.“I don’t know what I want to do.”

“You told me…”

“I know what I told you. I didn’t think you were listening.”

If she’d only known what he’d been hearing for the past year. “If this isn’t what you want…”

“I don’t want to owe anyone.”

“It wouldn’t be like that.”

“It would be exactly like that. I’d owe you and Zach.”

“But you’d have this.” He raised his hands as if to present the theater.

She sat there silent for a moment longer. “I’m cold. I think I’d like to go home.”

John let out a deep breath and headed back home. He’d really taken a chance on her needs, and he’d failed miserably. That was it. He was bad with women, and this one was no different. He’d thought he’d known what his wife had wanted too, but obviously he hadn’t delivered.

He was surprised she wasn’t allergic to the flowers he’d brought her. That would have been the frosting on the cake.

Just as they pulled up behind her house, her phone rang. She pulled it from her pocket and silenced it.

“Same caller?” he asked.

“I’d assume so.”

He turned off the engine and turned to look at her. “Is there something I should know?”

“Such as?”

“Why did you move home?”

“My family is here.”

“Why now?”

“I missed everyone. Isn’t that enough? And with Spencer and Avery now, I think this is where I belong.”

He didn’t doubt that was some of the truth. “But you were on Broadway, and amazing I might add.”

She chuckled. “You are one loyal employee to have come to New York with Zach and Regan to see me perform.”

John let out a grunt and climbed out of the truck. By the time he’d skirted the hood, she was out of the truck and slamming her door.

“Is that why you think I went to New York? Because Zach asked me to?”

Her eyes opened wide as his voice rose.

“Did it ever occur to you that I came because I was interested? I wanted to see you?”

Now her mouth had opened, but she seemed to have a lack of words, so he continued.

“I want that theater for you because I thought you wanted it—to write and teach and perform, not because I need a pet project and not because Zach needs another investment.” He stepped up closer to her, and his breath carried in the cold air. “This is a commitment, or at least as close as I can get to one. Don’t you see that? The reason I went to Carlos’s weddings with you was because, when you showed up to help with Tyler Benson’s funeral four years ago, you turned my head. I went to New York because you interested me. I was your date because you fascinated me. Now I have the honor of holding you at night, and I’m beside myself. Hiding and holding back isn’t helping the situation. You’re keeping secrets from me and that makes me leery of my feelings for you. If you can’t tell me who the caller is, how can I trust that you’ll keep your promise to me to be exclusively mine?”

She gasped at that.

John wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her, but he was mad. “Don’t be so strong-willed that you won’t let the man who loves you take care of you or do something for you. You never know when they will grow tired of trying.”

And with that he walked away because he’d said more than he’d meant to.

Cold air closed in around Arianna as she watched John walk down the outside steps to his apartment. When the door slammed, she knew she’d acted childish.

But how was she supposed to react? It was dark, and he was showing her buildings with grand plans for her to make something big of it. That scared the hell out of her, but not nearly as much as him saying something about loving her.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket again. She pulled it out, but this time it was a text message.
You’ll fail!

As she read it, a picture came through as well. It was her and John in his truck outside the Rockwell Theater.

Arianna swallowed hard. He was following her.

She looked around the alley and her yard. He could be anywhere. She wasn’t safe standing in her own backyard with John only feet away. And if she wasn’t safe, neither was Regan.

It was time to come clean. She had to tell John about Alexander Hamilton. Something had to be done.

Arianna ran to the house and up the back stairs. She shook as she pushed her key into the lock and turned it. But when she heard the inside door to John’s apartment close and the deadbolt from his side lock, she knew he wasn’t going to listen now.

She bolted the back door, ran up to her bedroom, and locked the door. Tomorrow she would tell Carlos. She didn’t want to worry Regan or Curtis with it yet. Maybe they could head him off.