Loving Lily Lavender (2 page)

“Um,
Randall, this is my best friend, Lilianna.”

“Wow,
nice to meet you, Lilianna,” he replied, stunned, looking me up and down. I
instantly felt uncomfortable as his eyes did their strict inspection.

“Um,
it’s nice to meet you too. Meagan has told me a lot about you, all bad, of
course.”

Meagan
gave me a stern look, and then turned to face his friend who was still sitting
quietly at the table beside us. “So, is this your friend from L.A.?” she asked
with exaggerated excitement, which I’m sure was for my benefit.

“Oh,
I’m sorry. Yes, this is my friend, Lucas. He’s visiting from L.A. for two weeks
and just arrived yesterday.”

“It’s
nice to meet you, Lucas,” we both said in unison, then glanced at each other in
embarrassment.

“Yes,
it’s nice to meet you both.” His reply was sweet and soft as he first addressed
Meagan, and then turned his gaze to me. It seemed that his eyes held something
for that brief moment as they locked with mine, but perhaps I was mistaken. Too
soon he broke eye contact and stared down at his drink, tapping it nervously.

I
seemed fixated by this, his fingers drumming in some unheard rhythm, when
suddenly I jumped as Meagan squealed, “Oh, I love this song! Randall come dance
with me.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him away to the small dance floor.

“It
figures,” I mumbled under my breath.

“So,
Lilianna, would you care to join me? That’s a beautiful name, by the way.”

I
turned to regard Lucas and quickly recognized his bashful expression. I’ve seen
it before, although never on a face so handsome. “Oh yes, and thank you, but
you can call me Lily.” I took the seat across from him and focused on steadying
my heart beat after the realization hit me that he was speaking with a British
accent
. Ooo la la
.

He
was extremely handsome and yet rugged looking. His light brown hair was in
disarray but sexy, with slightly longer sideburns. He had thick, beautifully
shaped eyebrows that framed his face nicely. His lips were thin, and deep red,
like he’d been licking them a lot, and slightly agape. His eyes were dreamy and
light, though I couldn’t quite make out the color, and he looked like he hadn’t
shaven in a few days. He glanced at me then, breaking me from my train of
thought.

“Lily,
may I get you a drink?”

“Um,
no actually, I think I’m fine for now, thank you. So, Lucas, I can’t help but
notice your accent, where are you from if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Oh
no, I don’t mind. I’m from London, but I’m living in L.A. for a time. I miss
home though, but I’m planning a trip back soon.”

“Do
you have family there then?”

“Yes,
my parents, a beloved uncle, and two sisters.”

“Oh,
it must be nice to have sisters. I’ve always wanted to have a sister.”

He
ran his hand nervously through his hair, and I found the gesture to be slightly
distracting.

“Well,
I suppose so, but they always tortured me as a child, so I guess it would’ve
been more fun if I weren’t the only boy,” he answered, smiling, running his
hand through his hair once again. “Actually, I was born a twin, but my brother
died right after he was born. In a strange way I’ve sort of felt like something
has been missing ever since. Weird huh?” This time his smile was different, sad,
though I noted even with this smile his lips made dimples in the corners, how
charming.

“I’m
so sorry. That must be hard for you,” I replied with a returned but comforting
smile. I noticed him staring at my lips too, but then his gaze drifted quickly
down. “So,” I said, changing the subject, “I’ve always wondered, are we
Americans as interesting to you as you are to us? I mean, it seems like
American women are fascinated by a man with a British accent.”
I know I was.

“I
can’t be sure, of course, but I would say yes, we find American women to be
very fascinating for the most part. However, I have found many, in L.A. in
particular, to be shallow and self absorbed. But I guess you could say the same
for us, huh?”

“Well,
I couldn’t, because you’re the first British man I’ve ever met, but I would
have to say the experience has been pretty pleasant so far, to say the least.”

“Oh,
Lily, you give me too much credit. Wait till we talk a little longer, you’ll be
running away out of boredom,” he chuckled.

Oh
no
,
I thought instantly
. He sounds insecure. I hope not. A man that beautiful
should never doubt himself
. “Why would you say that, Lucas?”

“Well,
when it comes right down to it, I’m pretty boring.”

“I
don’t believe that. I imagine your life is very interesting. What do you do for
a living?”

At
that moment the song changed to a slow song. He ignored my question and asked
me one instead.   

“Lily,
would you like to dance with me?” His expression was questioning as if he were
expecting me to refuse.

“Yes,
of course.”

I
could feel his hand lightly on my lower back as we made our way to the crowded
dance floor. I spotted Meagan and Randall dancing, and as she saw me her eyes
grew wide in surprise and then smug.

As I
turned to face him, I noticed that he was tall, probably 6’2 or more, a nice
fit for my 5’8 frame.

He
put his hand around my back and gently pulled me into his arms. It felt
strangely nice to have him holding me so close. I couldn’t remember the last
time I’d felt the pleasure of a man’s embrace, and I didn’t realize until that
moment that I actually missed it. I leaned in closer and breathed in his scent,
a nice smell, a combination of musk and soap and I was, at once, lost in the
moment.

We
didn’t talk much through the first song, and the silence was sweet. I thought I
felt him pick up a strand of my hair and smell it, but I could’ve been mistaken.
“So,” I said finally, peering up to meet his gaze, “you didn’t answer my
question before.”

He
seemed in a dream-like state, snapping out of it at the sound of my voice. “What
question was that?”

“What
do you do for a living?”

“Oh,
that question. Well, I thought you were joking.”

“Why
would I be joking?” I asked in confusion.

He
searched my eyes, looking for dishonesty I assumed. When he found none he said,
“You don’t know who I am—do you?”

“Should
I?”

“Well,
yes actually, but I’m not sure I want to tell you if you truly don’t know. I
mean, I like what’s going on here,” he gestured between the two of us. “Everything
is on equal terms, and it feels really nice. Once you know, I’m afraid things
will change.” He sounded a little sad, though I couldn’t imagine why.

“I
promise I won’t treat you any differently no matter what you tell me.”

“Um
okay, well, I’m an actor. My name is Lucas Lavender.”

“Wow,
an actor. I’ve never met an actor before. Your name sounds familiar. Have you
been in anything I would have seen?”

He
seemed hesitant for a moment before answering. “Well, I was in a movie called
Forever
Love
, recently.”

I
brightened. “Hey, I went to see that with my girlfriends. It was a great movie.
All my friends had a huge crush on the leading man, Heath Hamilton and—oh—my—God!!
You’re Heath Hamilton!” I screeched.

“Shhh!”
he interjected, covering my mouth with his hand.

“But
you don’t look anything like him,” I mumbled through his fingers. I studied his
face and, as I noted his sculpted cheekbones and strong jaw line hidden under
days of stubble, it clicked.

As
he recognized my reaction he chuckled with amusement. “Remember, you promised,”
he reminded me, finally, but cautiously removing his hand from my mouth.

“Yes,
yes,” I replied, trying to catch my breath as I held onto him with a death grip,
my legs suddenly feeling wobbly.
Hmm, his bicep was so hard.

He
continued to chuckle as he studied my face. “Are you all right?”

“I
feel a little dizzy actually. I think I need to sit down.”

He
led me carefully back to our table, helping me into my chair. I was
thunderstruck at the idea that I’d been hanging out with a famous actor and
didn’t even know it. It took me a few minutes to regain my composure.

“I
think I’m okay now, but may I ask you something?”

“Umm,
sure.” He was hesitant but still amused.

“Well,
I was just wondering what brought you to a town like Jasper, North Carolina. I
mean, shouldn’t you be off filming a movie, or buying a sports car, or
something like that?”

“Actually,
I’m not due to start filming my next movie until sometime in August. And I
already own a sports car.” He grinned, clearly enjoying himself. “How I ended
up here? Well, I met Randall on my last movie. He was a cameraman. We became
chaps instantly when we discovered our mutual love for music. He kept talking
about how lovely North Carolina was, and how moving to Jasper was the best
decision he’d ever made. When things started to get out of hand in L.A., I
decided to call him up and see if I could visit for a couple of weeks.”

“Why
were things getting out of hand in L.A., if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I
don’t mind. Well, once the movie came out and people started to recognize me on
the street, life changed drastically for me. The paparazzi began following me
everywhere, and screaming girls were coming out of the woodwork. It seems like
everyone wants a piece of me. It’s like they’re expecting something from me,
but I don’t know what to give them. After all, I’m not Heath. I’m just Lucas,
nothing special, just plain old Lucas. I can’t be sure of people’s motives and
it makes me a little paranoid, I guess. The truth is I wasn’t really ready for
it all. I just needed to leave all the craziness behind for a while, you know,
to catch my breath. It’s a bit overwhelming.”

His
expression instantly tugged at my heartstrings. I guess it would be hard to
trust anyone, not knowing what their intentions were. He seemed so lost, and I
felt an overwhelming need to help him. A routine I often found myself falling
into when anything, human or not, needed my help.

“I
understand. I can’t imagine what that must be like. I only hope you didn’t
expect to escape everything here, because according to how that table of girls
is acting over there, I would say you’ve been noticed.”

“Yeah,
I saw that.” He lowered his head as he ran his thumb along the dampness of his
glass, catching the few droplets of dew as they tried to escape. “I figured I’d
be discovered here, but I was hoping for a much smaller scale.”

“I
hope this doesn’t sound rude, but isn’t this what you wanted? I mean, when
you’re famous this is what you get, right?”

“Yes,
but I never really expected to be famous. I never thought I had what it takes
and, to be honest, still don’t. Before my role as Heath, I had only small roles
in a few films. I was actually considering giving up acting altogether, but
when I got the part I couldn’t believe it, so I just went with it. Don’t get me
wrong, it’s been a great experience, and I’ve made some lovely friends. It’s
just much harder than I was prepared for. Truthfully, I wish I could just focus
on my music.”

“Well
then, why don’t you?” As soon as the words were out of my mouth I straightened.
“Um, like it or not, here come your table of fans,” I remarked, almost amused
and I have to admit, my curiosity was totally peeked.

“Excuse
me,” one woman said, sounding as giddy as a schoolgirl, yet she must’ve been
thirty. “Can my friends and I have your autograph and take a few pictures?”

“Yes
of course.”

Most
of them were respectful and took pictures knelt down beside him, but one woman
plopped herself down on his lap and put her hand in his unruly hair while her
friend took the picture.

“Thank
you,” they giggled as they went back to their table but continued to stare.

“Are
you okay?” I asked, feeling slightly agitated, though I wasn’t sure why.

“Yes.
Most of the time they’re pleasant, but every once in a while they’ll get bold
or want to show off in front of their friends. And for some crazy reason my
hair seems to be a draw.”

It
made perfect since to me
. “Well, you were very gracious.”

“Thank
you, but they only like me because they think I’m someone else. If they knew
the real me it would be different."

“Why
do you do that?”

He
stared at me in confusion. “Do what?”

“Undermine
yourself like that. You need to have more faith in yourself. Someone as
handsome as you should never be insecure.”

“Oh,
I don’t consider myself as insecure. I’m just a little critical of myself and
my work. I don’t even watch my own movies. And sometimes reading the tabloids
can eat at my self esteem.” Again he nervously ran his hand through his hair.

“Okay,
well I can tell you you
are
insecure. Besides what you’ve said, I can
tell by your body language.”
I hope that didn’t sound offensive
.