In Your Honor (41 page)

At that moment, Blake's eyes locked with
hers across the room. He frowned slightly, asking her a question
from dozens of people away. She couldn't break free. All she could
see was Ashton James' long legs and perfect hair and perfect lips,
lips that were now pressed into the shell of Blake's ear.

Maybe it was the feelings that she'd been
trying to stuff down inside instead of acknowledging them. Maybe it
was the fact that Blake held a special place in her heart that she
couldn't seem to forget or get over. Or maybe it was those three
ill-conceived tequila shots she'd done earlier with a very
persuasive and blinged-out rap artist. Lucy didn't know. But
something propelled her across the floor and made her insert
herself into their conversation just as Ashton was handing a hotel
room key to Blake.

“
What the hell?” Lucy
heard her own voice. It was vaguely reminiscent of a much younger,
more explosive version of herself. She was shaking and angry and
almost immediately embarrassed, but she was too committed to back
out now.

“
Lucy? Where's Shane?”
Blake was frowning, his face hard. The lack of understanding he was
showing cut her to the core and her eyes began to burn. This is who
he had become, wasn't it? She just hadn't seen it until
now.

“
Who's this?” Ashton's
smile was syrupy and she leaned heavily against Blake, clearly
intoxicated.

“
This is Lucy Newton, one
of my good friends.” Blake slipped an arm around Ashton's waist,
pulling her tight to his side as he looked around the room, waving
someone over.

Lucy wanted to throw up but she couldn't.
She was disappointed beyond words and her body started to tremble
violently.

“
I really like your
dress,” Ashton oozed. “You're really hot. You wanna come back to my
room with us?” She leaned towards Lucy with a sensual
smile.

Then a familiar arm encircled her shoulders
and Shane started pulling her in the opposite direction. But Lucy
refused to move. Her eyes locked on Blake's. Those green eyes that
she thought she knew so well were looking at her with cold
detachment.

“
You could do better than
her, Blake,” she clipped forcefully. “You're too good for
her!”

The look on Ashton's face was bored
amusement and Lucy wanted to scratch her eyes out, but Shane had
gotten more aggressive with his attempts to get her to leave the
situation.

He stopped moving when they were a good
distance away and he grabbed her by both shoulders, looking her in
the eye. He didn't say anything as he examined her carefully.
Setting his mouth in a tight line, he escorted her out of the
party.

They were halfway back to the hotel before
the silence became unbearable. “I'm sorry,” she stammered, “about
that. I didn't mean to embarrass you.”

He reached over and held her hand but
continued to stare out the window mutely.

Even after they had reached her room, he
remained tight-lipped. He shucked his suit jacket and removed his
tie as he paced by the window for a few minutes. She sank down on
the edge of her bed, slowly removing her impossible shoes. The
longer he went without saying anything, the worse she felt.

“
I have to leave for New
York in a few hours,” he said suddenly, his deep voice breaking the
quiet. Lucy watched him struggle with something internally before
finally sitting on the bed next to her. His expression was guarded
as he searched her eyes the same way he had at the
party.

“
I'm not a fool. I've had
my fair share of jealous outbursts and I know that's exactly what
happened in there.” He spoke slowly and rested a hand on top of
both her clasped ones in her lap.

Lucy's throat constricted and she opened her
mouth to suck in air. “That's not—” She shook her head to
disagree.

“
Yeah, it was,” Shane
stopped her. He looked down at their hands, his face slack. After a
minute of silence he spoke again. Softly. Carefully. “Maybe it's
something as simple as old habits dying hard, but I can't begin to
tell you how it felt to have you get so worked up over another guy.
It doesn't matter that you two have been over for years or
whatever.” He brought his eyes up to hers, the amber color darker
and almost bronze. “I've lost my heart to you. And it physically
hurts to think that your heart still belongs to someone
else.”

Lucy felt large tears drop onto her cheeks.
She never thought that her actions might hurt this beautiful,
perfect man. She hadn't thought at all. She'd just reacted. Like
she always did with Blake.

“
I'm so sorry, Shane,” she
whispered. “I didn't mean for any of that to happen. I overreacted
and I have no idea why. I haven't been myself since we got to
L.A...”

Shane heaved out another sigh and looked at
the floor. “I'm falling in love with you, Lucy. And it scares me
that you have that much power over me.”

Her breath caught at his words and she
grabbed his face in both hands, trying to get him to look at her
again. Did he really say what she thought he said?

“
Look at me, Shane,” she
directed, and his eyes finally swept up to hers. She stood and
pushed between his knees, cradling his face in her hands. His hands
came up and rested lightly on her hips. “I'm falling in love with
you, too.”

His fingers tightened on her as he watched
her closely with an expression of guarded hopefulness. She dipped
her head, capturing his lips with hers. It was so easy with Shane.
He loved her. It was that simple. And loving him in return was
uncomplicated and painless. Loving him was safe and in that moment,
that's all she wanted to feel. Safe and protected.

He kissed her back, his fervor growing.
Hands that clenched her hips now pulled her forward and pressed
into her back. She could feel the desperation in his kiss, in his
touch. And she wanted to. She wanted him to overwhelm whatever
remnant of Blake remained inside of her.

He stood, picking her up with him, then lay
her down on the bed. His mouth never lost contact with hers.
Fingers slipped in between the straps on her dress and pulled them
gently over her shoulders. She let out a sigh when his hand
traveled down to the hem of her short dress and grazed her bare
thigh.

Shane pulled away from her and took a deep
breath, his eyes searching hers. Asking a very important question.
She ran her hands over his chest, telling him the answer without
saying the words. His eyes closed and he groaned as she undid the
buttons on his dress shirt and slipped her hands in to caress his
rock-hard chest.

Suddenly, he grabbed both of her hands in
one of his and pushed her away. “Not like this.” Her eyes flew up
to his in confusion. His eyes were closed tightly, frustration
contorting his features.

“
I want this... more than
you know. But not like this. Not when I'll be afraid that you're
still hung up on another guy. The timing is all wrong.”

Lucy nodded her assent, suddenly feeling
foolish. She wanted to argue his point, but too much of it was
true. Shame clawed at her insides. She turned her face away,
preparing to slip quietly to the bathroom to hide until her
embarrassment subsided.

“
Hey,” Shane eased down on
the bed next to her, wrapping one strong arm around her middle and
pulling her against him. “Please let me hold you for a little
while.”

“
You still want to be with
me?” she whispered, turning in his arms to face him. Tears clung to
the back of her throat, afraid of his answer.

His finger ran down her cheek and under her
jaw as he gazed at her adoringly. “You have no idea how hard it is
for me to say no to you when you look the way you do, saying the
things you say. But I don't want our first time to be like this.
Not under these circumstances. When it's time, I want it to just be
about me and you.”

Her eyes closed in sweet relief. She truly
didn't deserve how good he was to her.

“
Will you stay until you
have to leave, at least?”

“
Absolutely.”

***

Blake watched Shane lead Lucy out of the
building. His heart was heavy with what had transpired moments
before. He really hadn't been expecting that.

He had struggled all night with keeping his
eyes in his own head. When that elevator door opened and she
stepped out in that glittery gold thing, he thought his heart had
actually climbed out of his chest and jumped into that tiny clutch
purse she was carrying around. The dress was impossibly short,
leaving very little to the imagination, and those heels added extra
oomph in all the right places. He had to stop himself from taking
off his suit jacket and covering her up with it. Her dark eyes were
magnetic and drew him in every time he so much as glanced in her
direction. Her hair had been pulled up, showing off the curve of
her neck and the slope of her collar bone. She was breathtaking.
Literally. He had no breath.

All night he kept her in his line of sight
just for his own torture. She was so happy and comfortable next to
Shane. The towering athlete was a perfect gentleman all night too,
because Blake was paying careful attention to that as well. He was
both impressed and irritated.

But having Lucy confront him with Ashton
crushed him.

He knew that he had hardened himself towards
her when she approached. He had recognized the look of betrayal in
her eyes, but she wasn't his to comfort and reassure. Thankfully,
Shane had swooped in and taken over before he cracked under the
pressure and pulled her into his arms. That could've been bad.

Ashton's soft body leaned into him and he
focused on the more immediate issue. He steered her through the
crowd and to her waiting limo. Climbing into the backseat with her,
he ignored the flashing cameras and the questions hurled at them
from the nearby paparazzi. But the rumors of their hook-up would no
doubt be all over the internet within minutes.

Ashton was practically in his lap the entire
drive across town. She ran her hands all over his chest and tangled
one of her incredibly smooth legs around his.

“
How come you and I never
hooked up before?” she purred in his ear. “All that time on the
road together and we never even thought about it.”

“
I'd be lying if I said
I
never
thought
about it,” Blake answered darkly.

The limo came to a stop and Blake helped the
inebriated singer to her penthouse suite. They crossed the lobby
swiftly as she giggled while he tried to hold on to her. Nearby
onlookers gaped and some took pictures with their cellphones. As he
struggled with helping her keep her balance while at the same time
keeping her dress from flashing all of her goods, he had a
new-found appreciation for all the times he'd needed people to help
him to his room. Drunks were sloppy walkers. Add in a pair of
six-inch heels, and it was one of the more extreme sports he'd had
the privilege of participating in.

They made it to her room safely, not
counting the numerous photos that were no doubt being broadcast all
over the world wide web at the moment. Blake sat her in a chair
near the door and called down to room service for breakfast to be
delivered right away in the morning. She was going to need it.

He hung up the phone and took a minute to
look at his surroundings. It was posh and suited Ashton well. The
overly ornate decorations just covered over the simple beauty of
the classic architecture. It wasn't Blake's style.

“
Can you believe I didn't
even get nominated?” Blake turned back to the raven-haired beauty.
She had gotten her heels off and was pouting as she slowly crossed
the room towards him in her bare feet. He'd seen that look on a
woman's face before, it was predatory, and he knew exactly what she
was coming for.

“
You'll get it next year,”
he offered, taking a step to the side so he could swing wide to
pass her on the way to the door.

She slipped the straps of her dress off her
shoulders and let the black fabric pool at her feet. Blake looked
away from her naked form, focusing on the carpet. Ashton James was
hot to be sure, but again, she wasn't Blake's style.

“
Why won't you look at
me?” He heard her coming closer. “Don't you want your reward for
getting me home safely?”

“
Ashton,” Blake sighed as
temptation threatened to rear its ugly head. “I did a lady a favor.
Nothing more.” He started for the door, wanting to get out of there
before he changed his mind. It had been an exhausting day for his
self-control and Blake just wanted to get to a place where he
didn't have to feel like crap. This whole being respectable thing
definitely had its draw-backs. A few more steps and he'd be
free.

“
Your little friend was
wrong.”

Her words cut him in true Ashton form and
caused him to turn towards her. She'd scooped up her dress and was
now trying to cover the important parts, her brazenness suddenly
gone.

“
You can't do better than
me. You and I are the same. We're no good for anybody.” She was
trying so hard to hold on to her bite, her growl. The thing that
made her feared and respected all at once. But it was lost. Her
voice came out broken and choppy and she looked down.

Blake had never seen a vulnerable side to
Ashton and he was at a loss for words. Glancing around, he pulled a
cashmere throw off of the sofa. He wrapped it around her bare
shoulders and looked into her enormous blue eyes.

“
No, Ashton, we can both
do better than this. We have to keep trying.”