In Your Honor (15 page)

“
Your eyes were open,” Shane chuckled
at her, “but your head was obviously somewhere else.”

Lucy sighed dramatically and shrugged as
Shane laughed again. She was getting really good at being a
complete idiot in front of this guy.

“
Luke is back around there.” She
pointed to where the guys were gathered a short distance
away.

“
I came to see you, actually.” Shane
visibly swallowed and looked down shyly. Lucy did a
double-take.

“
You what now?” She blinked at him,
not understanding.

“
I wanted to tell you that you were
great.” He let out a nervous laugh. “I guess that was
it.”

Seriously?

Ball.

Court.

All Lucy's.

Well, a conversation couldn't hurt.
Right?

“
I was just going to change...” She
paused, not sure if she was reading this situation correctly. “You
wanna come?” She gestured with her head towards the door leading
out to the buses. His eyes lit up at her suggestion and he fell in
step next to her.

Kendra appeared from out of the shadows with
a cross look on her face. Lucy almost didn't recognize her.
Normally, Kendra was soft-spoken and almost apologetic about her
very existence.

“
You can't take him to the bus with
you.” Her face was pinched like an old schoolmarm and Lucy thought
she was joking.

“
C'mon, Kendra, what's the big deal?”
Lucy forced a confused chuckle, but Kendra didn't budge.

“
I'm sorry, Lucy, but you know the
rule. No babes on the bus.” Her face stayed flat, but Lucy sensed
the underlying edge in the girl's voice.

Shane smiled slyly and muttered to Lucy, “I
didn't realize I was such a dangerous babe.”

Lucy snickered in response, which only
caused Kendra's face to harden into ice. “You can wait for Miss
Newton in the green room.”

Miss Newton?
Lucy wanted to laugh. But she didn't. Instead she rolled her
eyes sheepishly at Shane. “Wait for me?”

“
As long as it takes.” He smiled
winningly and Lucy felt her stomach do a back flip. Kendra cleared
her throat loudly and Lucy felt her eyes widen in exasperation.
What was this chick's deal? Shane saw her expression and he
grinned. Kendra grabbed his elbow and turned him around, his
amusement growing.

Lucy watched with fascination as Kendra's
tiny dancer's body manhandled Shane's much larger frame back down
the wide hallway.

“
I'll be right back,” Lucy called over
her shoulder as she jogged out to the bus.

Truthfully, she was a tiny bit thankful that
Kendra had made Shane stay behind, if only for the fact that it
gave her a couple of minutes to put her head on straight and
collect her thoughts. She was flattered and confused as to why
Shane wanted to talk to her. She hadn't made the best impression
earlier that day. Or maybe he had a thing for discombobulated
chicks.

Lucy paused as she tugged her sweaty
shirt over her head. Maybe he didn't have a “thing” for her at all.
Maybe he was just being friendly and she was reading too much into
it. She kicked her pants into her bunk, calming down significantly.
Yes, that made more sense. He was a nice guy, he was classy, he had
manners.
What the hell am I going to talk
to him about?

Deciding she didn't need to dress to
impress, she settled on a charcoal tee and her jeans with the
mustard stain on the butt. She twisted her damp hair into a
haphazard knot at the top of her head and slipped on a pair of
Chad's way-too-big-for-her tennis shoes.

She shuffled back into the venue and saw
Kendra standing guard outside the green room door. Kendra gave her
a chilly look as Lucy reached past her and opened it.

Lucy paused before entering, leaning over so
only Kendra could hear her. “Chad thinks you're hot.” She took
great pleasure in seeing Kendra blush a deep maroon before she
pulled the door closed behind her. She didn't know what weird game
Kendra was playing, but she felt better with that small
exchange.

Shane was lounging on a couch, his legs
draped over the arm rest, reading a magazine. He rolled his head to
the side and looked her up and down quickly. She felt herself blush
even though there was nothing lascivious in his expression.

He sat up and tossed the magazine aside. “I
don't know how to tell you this, Newton.” His face was serious.
“But your feet are enormous.”

Lucy grinned and shuffled towards him. “Are
you always so rude, Brookings?”

“
Mostly, yes.” He smiled
and made room for her on the couch. “Our chaperone still out
front?”

“
Ha! Sorry, I guess Kendra
takes her job more seriously than I thought.” Lucy shook her head
in exasperation and settled on the far end of the couch.

“
Don't apologize. I'm
flattered that I got identified as the groupie that I am.” He
winked at her and Lucy's earlobes started to burn.
Please don't turn bright red. Please don't turn
bright red.

“
Newton,” Shane said with
slight concern, “your ears are getting very red... should I be
worried?”

Sonofabitch!
Lucy closed her eyes and decided to own it. “It's
what happens when I get embarrassed.”

“
You mean, if I flirt with
you, I'll know it's working because I have my own blush meter to
look at?” He bit down on his lower lip in amusement as Lucy's ears
caught fire. “I'm not very good at flirting and I want to make sure
I do it right.”

“
You're enjoying this,
aren't you?” Lucy glared at him as she crossed her arms over her
chest and sank into the deep couch. He let out a deep laugh and she
tried to look angry but it was too hard.

“
Okay, okay, I'll stop. No
more flirting,” he promised, arching an eyebrow at her, “unless you
want me to.”

She shook her head and sighed, she had no
reply and he seemed more entertained than ever.

“
I'm sorry, I'll make it
better. Let me see those giant clod hoppers of yours.” He was still
chuckling as he picked her feet up and placed them gingerly in his
lap. He easily removed Chad's big shoes, dropped them to the floor
and let out a gasp.

“
I feel lied to, Newton,”
he said with disgust as he frowned down at her feet.

“
I never lied,” Lucy
corrected him. “You assumed. All I did was point out how rude you
were being.”

“
That's right.” Shane
nodded in recollection. “My apologies... again.” He grinned at her
and then sank his fingers into the pads of her feet. “Your feet are
stiff!” he declared loudly. “When was the last time you had a good
foot rub?”

“
Um, I think never.” Lucy
relaxed her head on the armrest and closed her eyes. How did Shane
do that? One minute her head was spinning with jitters, and the
next she felt like she was with someone she'd known for years. The
guy was in control of way more than himself, she
realized.

“
That's a damn shame,” he
tsked. “Especially for Triny Newton's daughter, she should be
getting pedicures fairly regularly, in my opinion.”

Lucy's head came up and she frowned at him.
He kept kneading away with a playful smile on his lips.

“
Yes, I Googled you after
you left. I'm not too proud to admit it.” His eyes flicked up to
hers and her face started to heat up again.

“
Why?” she asked, a warm
sensation spreading through her abdomen.

“
I was curious,” he
shrugged, and pretended to focus on what he was doing.

“
So, I guess you know
everything there is to know about me then.” Lucy had never looked
herself up online so she really didn't know what information was
out there. She would probably have to check on that
soon.

“
Hardly.” He spoke
earnestly, the playfulness gone. “The internet usually only has
dates and times correct. It can't tell you who a person really
is.”

“
What else could
you
possibly
want
to know about me?” Lucy rolled her eyes as she tried to fight her
smile. He looked back at her feet studiously and she wanted the
quiet to dissipate quickly, she enjoyed the lighthearted banter.
She reached down and slapped his hands. “Okay, seriously, you can
ask anything you want. I have no secrets.”

“
That can't be true,
everyone has secrets.” The gold in his eyes brightened his face, or
was that just his smile again?

“
No, really,” Lucy
giggled. “I can't keep secrets, especially my own. I have nothing
to hide.”

He took a deep breath and leaned his head
back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. “Hmm, where to
start...” He paused for far too long and she kicked him lightly. He
laughed and looked back at her. “Sorry, I was just remembering how
great you were on stage tonight.”

***

She rolled her eyes again and he impulsively
pinched her leg behind her knee. “Lenny wasn't kidding. You really
are fantastic. I can see why they think you could have a solo
career. You're captivating on stage.”

She chewed on her lower lip and looked at
her hands in her lap.

“
So, why doesn't that
excite you?” He had picked up on her unease with this subject at
the office. He hadn't planned on asking her about it now, but he
couldn't help it. Something about her made him want to push all the
limits. Flirt too much, ask too many questions, be too
familiar.

“
That's not why I'm here,”
she said simply. Her brown eyes reflected her deep honesty and he
was, again, turned on his head by the obvious emotion that shone
forth.

“
Why are you here,
Newton?” he asked softly.

“
A friend asked me for a
favor. I'm not gonna turn my back on my promise.” She smiled and
twisted her fingers in her bracelets, a nervous habit he had also
picked up on earlier that day.

“
Even if it's what you've
always wanted?” he risked asking. He didn't know her that well, but
he
felt
like he
knew her and he was risking a lot with that assumption.

Her lips twisted up slightly and she looked
towards the ceiling. “You're good, Brookings.”

“
If you're so honest, and
you have no secrets...” He paused when she narrowed her eyes at
him. “Then how come you didn't say anything to Lenny this afternoon
about
not
wanting
that?”

She blew a stray hair out of her face as her
eyes wandered around the room before settling on Shane. “My
grandmother always used to tell me that it was a bad idea to burn
bridges when it was foggy.” She swallowed and looked down into her
lap.

“
That leaves you in a
weird place, doesn't it?” He rested a hand on her knee and stroked
the top of it with his thumb.

“
It can't stay foggy
forever, right?” She looked to him for confirmation, openly
vulnerable, and all he wanted was to pull her into his life and
help make all her dreams come true.

“
I have a feeling you're
going to do amazing things,” he said instead. He could tell she
needed him to change the subject, so he touched the stack of
bracelets all along her wrist. “Do these have a story?”

She smiled slowly, gratefully, before
answering. “Yes, I made one for every time I sang a song that I had
written in public.”

“
There's not very many
here.” Shane frowned at the colorful array, counting maybe twelve
in total.

“
I haven't done it very
often,” she said with a touch of regret.

She held her arm out and he took it in his
hand as she explained each one, one at a time. The name of each
song, the date and place it was sung. Some of the bracelets were
gifts from her dad or friends, but they were all handmade.

“
When are you adding
another one?” he asked, letting her arm slip back into her
lap.

“
I don't know.” She
wrinkled her nose and made a face that made him laugh. “I haven't
written anything in a really long time.”

He reached over and tapped her nose. “You
better get on that, Newton. When I come back from New Zealand you
had better be wearing a new bracelet.”

“
That's right!” Her eyes
went wide. “You fly out tomorrow, yeah?”

He nodded an affirmation.

“
What are you doing
there?” she asked, her interest piqued.

“
Meeting up with a couple
of friends to shred some lines and generally have an all-around
blast.” He shifted a bit on the couch, sitting closer to her but
keeping her legs draped across his lap. “Have you ever been
snowboarding out of the country?”

“
I've never been
snowboarding at all.” She shook her head, the messy knot on top
bobbing a bit.

“
That's practically a
crime,” Shane deadpanned. “What about surfing?”

“
Nope.” She shook her head
again. “I can rope calves, though.”

“
Hmm,” Shane rubbed his
chin thoughtfully. “How about, if you let me teach you how to
snowboard and in exchange, you can teach me how to play guitar. And
then I'll teach you how to surf and you can teach me how to ride a
horse.” He took special delight in seeing her ears go cherry
red.

“
Why should I learn these
things? What do you love about it?” she asked, leaning forward a
little and resting her elbows on her knees, her face animated. Her
movement brought her face closer, and therefore her lips. Shane
found himself distracted by them.