Authors: Heidi Hutchinson
Her
face was flushed and her hair was soaked, she was only wearing a
sports bra and tiny running shorts. Her perfect skin ran with rivers
of sweat, twisting and bending over her lean muscles. She would have
looked completely gorgeous if she wasn’t staring daggers at
him. Luke tried to overlook Shane taking a protective stance behind
Lenny.
What
the hell is he doing here?
“
I’m
here to see you.” Was all Luke could think of to say. Somehow
professing his idiocy and undying love seemed inappropriate in the
midst of her obvious ire.
Lenny’s eyes
flicked over to the receptionist and then back to Luke. She was
trying to decide if this was, in fact, where she wanted to have the
fight that was coming. She decided against it, turned abruptly on
her heel and stormed to the elevators.
Luke grabbed his
room key off the desk and picked up his bag, hurrying after her.
“
Can
we talk?” he asked her when they got to the lift. He ignored
Shane’s warning looks.
Lenny’s eyes
were severe when she looked at him. She didn’t answer as she
stepped inside the lift, Luke and Shane following.
The ride to her
floor was silent and Luke wasn’t sure what to do next. When
the doors opened and she charged to her room, he had no choice but to
pursue her.
She unlocked her
door and let herself in, slamming it in Luke’s face. He sighed
and knocked.
“
Lenny…please
can we talk?” He asked through the thick wood.
After a few moments
without an answer, Shane touched Luke’s shoulder.
“
Maybe
give her a few minutes. She’s pretty pissed at you right now.”
Luke
frowned at him.
When
did I switch places with Shane? Doesn’t Lenny hate this guy?
Luke
swallowed the words that wanted to lash out at Shane and took his key
card from his pocket. He walked down the hall a few paces to his
room that happened to be right next to Lenny’s, he noticed
wryly. He dumped his bags and his coat and went back to Lenny’s
door.
Shane was still
standing outside of it like some sort of bodyguard and Luke felt his
anger at the situation growing. This was not part of the plan. He
needed to talk to Lenny and having this gargoyle watching his every
move wasn’t helping.
He knocked on the
door again.
“
Lenny,
please.” Luke tried to reduce the frustration in his voice.
“Can we talk?”
Some doors down the
hall opened and the rest of Lenny and Shane’s group peaked
their heads out in curiosity. Luke was positive they had all heard
the rumors about their wild love affair during his last tour. Most
of them had probably been filled in on the tabloid pictures and the
recent song release. And they had all, more than likely, formed
their own conclusions. Luke wasn’t the good guy in any of
them. They knew Lenny, of course they would be on her side. But that
didn’t mean they couldn’t gawk at the rock star.
Luke looked
uncomfortably at the small audience that was gathering twenty or so
paces down the hall. He knocked on the door again.
“
C’mon,
Lenny.” He tried to plead again. “Can we please talk?”
The door suddenly
flew open. Lenny backed Luke up into the hallway. Her jaw clenched
and her mouth formed in a hard line.
“
Sure.
Let’s talk.” Lenny crossed her arms over her chest. “Who
is she?”
“
What?”
Luke’s eyebrows pulled together.
“
The
tart checking the depth of your throat with her tongue!” Lenny
took a step towards him and he backed up again.
“
She’s
not…I…uh…” Luke had never been on the
receiving end of Lenny’s fury. He was at a loss for what to
do.
“
Wow.”
Realization hit Lenny. “You don’t even know her name, do
you?” The onlookers let out a collective gasp.
“
Did
you hear your song?” Luke was flailing and he grabbed at his
only defense.
“
Oh,
the song you
said
you wrote for me but then
sold?”
Lenny
stretched her hands out to the sides and let them fall, slapping
against her thighs.
“
You
run out of ideas? Is that why you’re here? You need me to help
you find that next hit?” She took on an aggressive stance and
put her hands on her hips. “What, hard up for cash after the
tour? Being a philanderer must get expensive fast!” Her voice
dripped with sarcasm.
“
Hey!”
Luke had about had enough. He pointed to his chest with both hands.
“How do you think I felt when you left?! I was lonely and I
missed you and I’m sorry about the girl, it just happened!”
“
Really?
You were minding your own business and she tripped and fell and you
caught her with your tongue?” Lenny yelled.
“
You
LEFT!” Luke shouted, taking a step forward and leveling a
finger at her face. He knew he wasn’t helping the situation but
he couldn’t stop himself. He was still angry with her for
walking away. “Besides, how do you think I feel when I get
here and you’re with
him
?”
Luke pointed at Shane. “Is he helping keep your bed warm in
Alaska?”
Luke knew he had
crossed a line. He regretted it the moment he said it. The hurt and
anger in Lenny’s eyes tore through him. Before Luke could take
it back, Lenny’s hand flew to his face making a loud ‘smack’
that was followed by silence.
He stared at her in
shock. Luke had never been slapped before. His cheek stung with the
heat from her hand. Lenny’s eyes glossed over with tears and
Luke instinctively reached for her but Shane, misreading Luke’s
intentions, stepped in between them. Lenny spun and retreated,
slamming the door to her room.
Shane’s eyes
bored holes into Luke’s. Luke tried to step past him but Shane
stood firm, his powerful body rigid.
***
“
Alright,
everyone.” Serge’s calming voice cut through the
tension. “The show is over, it is time to get downstairs for
dinner.” He herded the wide-eyed onlookers towards the
elevators. Luke and Shane stood toe to toe, neither one of them
moving.
Serge and Nick sent
the elevator on its way and approached the testosterone fueled
standoff.
“
This
is needless,” Serge reproved them. “Shane, you should
come downstairs with me.”
“
I’m
not leaving him alone with her,” Shane seethed.
“
I
would never hurt her,” Luke responded in kind.
“
You
already have,” Shane took a step forward.
“
So
have you,” Luke reminded, closing the gap between them.
“
This
isn’t a pissing contest!” Nick snapped, pushing the two
men apart. He narrowed his eyes at Luke. “You need to give her
some time. Why don’t you cool off and get something to eat
with us?”
“
No,
thank you,” Luke growled. He backed up and sat down with his
back against the wall, facing Lenny’s door.
Nick sighed and
grabbed Shane by the arm.
“
Let’s
go.” He pulled Shane toward the elevator but not before Shane
gave Luke one final, threatening scowl.
***
A heavy silence
descended over Luke as he waited in the hallway. He rested his arms
on his bent knees and leaned his head against the wall. This was the
last thing he had expected. He had thought that she might be a
little mad, maybe hurt. Mostly he was hoping she would be happy to
see him. He’d come so far just to have the door slammed in his
face. Twice. And why was Shane being all possessive? Were they back
together?
Luke rubbed the hot
skin on his face where she had slapped him. He knew better than
that. Lenny wasn’t sleeping with Shane. It wasn’t in
her character. Of course, she probably had believed the same thing
about him and look how he had treated that belief.
The only thing that
had been on his mind on his entire journey here was telling her he
loved her. Instead, he had yelled at her and pushed her even further
away.
***
After Lenny had
slammed the door she retreated to the bathroom. Her hand stung from
where she had struck Luke’s face. She looked at herself in the
mirror and noticed the tears that were spilling down her cheeks. She
wiped them away angrily and turned the shower on.
The hot water poured
down her back and Lenny gave way to heaving sobs. She leaned against
the wall of the shower and cried. How could he be here? Why? What
purpose did it serve for him to torture her up close? Couldn’t
he let her suffer from a distance? Everything about this was wrong.
Completely and totally wrong. On one hand, she wanted to push him
down a flight of stairs, along with the tramp from the photos. And on
the other…all she wanted was to have him fold his perfect arms
around her and believe that they could start over and none of that
other stuff mattered.
Lenny slammed her
fists against the shower wall in frustration. She was still going to
have to deal with this. Slapping his face and slamming the door were
only minor interruptions in the fight they were in the middle of. It
would take a lot more than that for this to get solved. But Lenny
didn’t want to. She wanted to go back to a few days ago, when
the powder was perfect and Shelby Lynn had called her Snow Goddess.
When she was so busy with living her life that her heart had, albeit
briefly, stopped aching for a minute. How could the presence of one
person completely turn her world upside down?
She somehow managed
to wash her hair and scrub herself clean. The tears abated for the
moment and Lenny wrapped a towel around herself. She stealthily
crept to the door and looked out the peep hole.
Predictably, Luke
was sitting just outside, facing her door. Lenny dug through the
pile of clothes she had dumped out on the floor earlier for some
sweats and a shirt. Nothing was particularly clean or attractive and
she decided on a pair of gray, lumpy sweats and an old college
sweatshirt that she had ‘borrowed’ from Scott years ago.
She slowly combed
out her long, wet hair and thought about what to do next. She could
let Luke in and the fight would probably start again. Maybe even
causing them to get kicked out. Or she could go to bed and hope that
he’d get the hint and fly back to wherever he had come from.
The last thought scared her more than the first. She didn’t
want him there but the idea of him leaving the way things were made
her want to panic.
She should go out
there and talk to him. She knew it inside but it was difficult to
figure out what to say. She had said everything she needed to when
she had left the airport. Why did it feel like they were still
connected? Shouldn’t it be over? But no, she could feel him
from the other side of the door, waiting for her.
The rigorous workout
that Lenny had subjected her body to hours before was catching up
with her. So was the emotional stress of Luke’s presence.
Lenny curled into a ball on her bed and tried to focus on her
breathing. The fatigue took over and she fell into a dreamless
sleep.
***
The others came back
from dinner and a hush fell over the group as they stepped over
Luke’s rumpled form in the hallway. He didn’t even look
up at them. Nick ushered them to their rooms and told them to turn
in early. They didn’t need convincing.
Shane waited in his
room long enough for the others to think he’d gone to bed and
then he stepped into the hallway. He paused, waiting to see if Luke
would notice his presence. If he did, it wasn’t obvious. Luke
was more exhausted then Shane had first noticed. His clothes were
wrinkled and unwashed. His eyes were sunk in and dark from days,
possibly weeks, without sleep. He hadn’t shaved either. Shane
wondered when he had eaten last.