Authors: Kate Evangelista
with the truth.”
“A couple of weeks.”
I shifted to witness the seriousness of his response for myself. “A couple of weeks?”
A sheepish blush spread across his cheeks as he fiddled with the edge of the comforter
covering our bodies. “I realized I sleep better when you’re beside me.”
“What happens after I leave?” I meant it as a joke, but my stomach fell when I caught the
glint of worry in his eyes.
“I was hoping you’d make up your mind and accept my offer.”
Flopping onto my back, I resumed my ceiling staring contest. He’d been sleeping in my
bed for two weeks and I hadn’t noticed until now. If I accepted the offer, who knew where
this whole sleeping in my bed would go? No. I couldn’t allow myself to daydream of the
possibilities. The most dangerous thing I’d ever do would be to give my heart to the rock star beside me. I lived so far away from the reality I knew now that it scared me. How could I
return to my version of normal?
“Let’s face it, there’s nothing you can do about where I choose to sleep.” Luka reeled me
back in. He was right about that, but I’d rather die than agree with him. “So? What’s with the serious face?”
“I’m thinking of the right location for the shoot.”
A rustle of sheets and a sigh. “The manor is a complete mess.”
“The main atrium might be a good place.”
“No.” Luka took my other hand and kissed the center of its palm. That brought a tingle I
welcomed. “If I know Gregory, that’s also off limits.”
Tingle forgotten, I frowned. “I’m fresh out of ideas. The only place not exploding with
stressed servants is my room. It’s not what I imagined for your shoot.”
Luka’s kisses continued up my arm. “Why not the attic?”
The image of a room with slanted roofing and a ton of crap made me grimace. “Wouldn’t it
be filled with clutter and cobwebs?”
“What makes you think the manor’s attic is cluttered and full of cobwebs?” He chuckled
before licking the inside of my elbow. Goose bumps rose along my arms. My heart sputtered.
Still I focused on the ceiling. If I let him distract me, I’d get nothing done.
“It’s an attic. By my definition, it’s the place where people store stuff they don’t need. Plus, I’m concerned about the lighting. It might not be the right place.”
When his lips reached the part of my arm covered by my T-shirt, Luka balanced his weight
on an elbow. His face replaced the ceiling—an infinitely better image to stare at than blank
plaster. My twirling fingers moved from my flat hair to his curls. He leaned into the touch as he ran his fingertips over the creases on my forehead, smoothing them out.
“Why don’t you let me show you first before you make up your mind,” he whispered,
bringing his lips close to mine without exactly touching. My breath hitched, my heart
anticipating what was to come. “If you don’t like it then we can go and find someplace else.”
“Alright,” I said then grinned. “Kiss me already.”
For the next few hours, I thought of nothing else but the feel of Luka’s lips on mine.
***
After a late lunch, he led the way to a set of stairs I’d never seen during my exploration of the manor. The steps hugged the walls and curled up like in towers. I ran my fingers along the
wall to keep from stumbling. Luka climbed in front of me. Not once did he check if I followed.
I didn’t mind since if I did stumble, I didn’t want him witnessing it.
At the top of the stairs stood a wooden door with a doorknocker in the shape of a hound’s
head. The actual knocker lay between the snarling dog’s teeth. Luka lifted the brass ring and
knocked three times. I took a picture of him this way. The image reminded me of the prince
entering Sleeping Beauty’s room. A metal clank followed then the door swung open. Luka
pushed it further in.
Before entering, he looked down at me and smiled. “It’s been a while since someone else
has seen this place, but I’m happy that it’s you.” He took my hand and I laced my fingers
through his. My heart thrummed like guitar strings.
One. Two. Three steps later, I entered what any child would consider a dream playroom. A
giant panda sat in the corner by the door. White carpeting covered the floor. Bright sunlight
rained down from a sunroof. A miniature carousel dominated one end of the room by a round
stained glass window. Someone pushed up against one wall an exact replica of a castle cut in
half to show the inside. Tiny guards patrolled the wall. Two princes played with wooden
swords in one room while a princess held a tea party for all her dolls in another.
“Is that a king holding court?” I leaned down and squinted to see better inside.
“And these are his loyal subjects.” Luka picked up a figurine of a man holding a chicken.
“For the favor of the king, subjects usually bring an offering of sorts.” He chuckled as he
returned the peasant where he stood with the rest of the crowd.
I straightened and finished scanning the room. Wooden swords leaned up against the
castle. A small table with six equally proportioned chairs with dolls sitting on them
surrounded it. A tea set in front of them. One of the chairs stayed empty. If I didn’t know any better, I would think the tea party happening in the palace actually happened once in this
room.
“This is your attic?”
“Don’t sound so surprised.” Luka breathed in the surprisingly fresh air. Not a speck of dust
on any of the toys. Someone kept the room clean despite the lack of kids running around in
the manor. “My mother repurposed this attic too keep us occupied when we visited Lunar
Manor for the summer when we were kids.”
Turning in a tight circle, my gaze returned to the empty space under the sunroof. “Can you
stand over there?”
Luka padded to where I’d pointed. “Here?”
“A little to the left.” I formed a rectangle with my thumbs and forefingers. Luka stood still
with his hands at his sides, comfortable in his skin. Not a muscle twitch from the guy. “Yeah, right there.”
I picked up my camera and took a couple test shots then cued up the pictures on the digi
screen. Luka came to my side and stared with me. The way the sun hit him bleached his curls,
and the rays seemed like beams shining down on an angel. I could see what I wanted now.
“I’m assuming you wouldn’t want to lose the light?” Luka asked, placing his hands on his
hips.
I shifted closer to him unconsciously. “You’re not dress and you still need to be in
makeup.”
“I can get Calixta here in five minutes.”
“Tell her to bring down pillows.”
He leaned back, the bolt hitching up a notch. “Feathers?”
I nodded. “And ask Deidra to bring the mask I’d left in my room here. Where are you
going?” I asked when Luka jogged to the playroom’s door.
His hand rested on the wood. “To do what you asked. There’s no intercom here.”
Giving the room a quick scan showed me the lack of a phone. When my gaze returned to
the door, Luka was gone. The way he anticipated my needs awakened delicious shivers in my
belly. I imagined mini versions of Luka, Yana, Dray, and Demitri spending hours in here.
A part of me felt out of place. No matter how welcoming the band had been, and no matter
how much I’d enjoyed my stay at Lunar Manor, the whole experience felt like a dream I’d
soon wake up from.
I shook my head to clear it. I still had today and tomorrow to decide. I didn’t need to be
making life altering choices this instant.
Right now, I had pictures to take.
***
according to my specifications. Since Christmas day, she’d bitched less when in my presence.
She must have appreciated my gift more than I’d anticipated. When Luka said he’d get her to
the playroom in five minutes, I should have clocked it. Sure seemed that way. He’d changed
into a white turtleneck sweater and those wicked leather pants he’d worn the day I signed the
contract. The inside of my mouth dried up the second he waltzed in. I pushed away all
thought of our remaining hours together.
Deidra stood with me, opening up the stitching to the pillows she’d brought with her. The
mask sat on Luka’s lap. I hadn’t told him what it was for, but Luka was smart. He’d get it.
“Thank you for rescuing me from downstairs,” Deidra said as she ripped open the pillow
and set it aside to pick up another one. “I don’t know how long I could have lasted. Yana’s
being a total…” She cleared her throat, her gazing slanting toward Luka.
“It’s alright for you to say ‘bitch’ in this instance,” he said from the chair. “She really is.
She wants this party to be the biggest we’ve ever thrown.”
“Luka!” Calixta screeched. “Shut up or you’ll have a mess of black lipstick all over you and
we’ll have to start from scratch.” She muttered something under her breath. I caught the
mention of my name, but I thanked my lucky stars I didn’t hear the rest. A couple of weeks
ago Calixta wouldn’t have muttered.
I rolled my eye and chuckled. “It’s really bad down there, huh?”
“Don’t get me started.” Deidra grimaced when the stitching of one pillow refused to
cooperate. She put a little too much effort into the pull and it rained down and feathers all
around us. I sputtered, waving away the fluff. Deidra whimpered. “Sorry!”
“It’s fine.” I laughed, accidentally inhaling the down which resulted in a coughing fit.
Deidra patted me on the back. “Just…” I stepped away from all the down and feathers into
fresher air and squeaked out, “Just make sure to gather the feathers. I don’t want to waste
them.”
When the coughs dissipated and I straightened, Luka stood in front of me in full makeup.
The heavy eyeliner emphasized the color of his eyes and the intensity within the deep pools.
Then my gaze landed on his lips, and I swallowed. Holy hell. He made black lipstick look
damn sexy. From the way his mouth quirked, he’d caught where my mind was going. Straight
into the gutter! For a heartbeat I wanted to run my tongue over the teardrop painted at the
corner of his eye.
“Where do you want me?” he asked as a way of breaking the spell.
I blinked several times, trying my best to reconstruct my professional photographer mask.
“Like last time,” I said then closed my eye and huffed. I sounded like a complete idiot. “I
mean right below the sunroof like last time.”
“What do you want me to do with this?”
I opened my eye to him waving the mask in my face. “Play with it.” I rubbed my forehead
when his grin turned wicked. “This is harder than I thought. You look way too good. It’s
messing with my concentration.”
“You think I look good?” His voice dropped an octave, uncaring that Calixta and Deidra
were in the room with us.
“Duh.” I rolled my eye at him. “Now will you go stand below the sunroof. I don’t want to
lose the light.”
Thank God for his obedience, but the glimmer of lust in his eyes told me we weren’t
finished discussing what I’d unwittingly started. With wobbly legs, I positioned myself
behind my camera. Deidra had brought my tripod along, much to my eternal gratitude. I’d
totally forgotten to ask Luka for it.
Taking a deep breath, I leaned down so my eye leveled with the viewfinder. Only then did I
exhale slowly. My finger on the shutter release connected me to the camera. I tapped into the
sense of peace that came with looking through the lens. From behind a camera, I drew my
power. It allowed me to believe I could do anything.
“Think of the mask as an extension of yourself,” I said. “Pose whichever way you feel
comfortable without leaving the light provided by the sunroof.”
Luka nodded once without looking at where I bent down behind my camera. He cradled
the mask with both hands and brought it to face him. I clicked the shutter release.
I licked my bottom lip. “Good. Keep going.”
He held the mask away from him with one hand like an actor holding the skull in Hamlet.
Another picture. Then he faced me and covered his face with the mask.
“Okay, freeze.” I zoomed in on his eyes peering through the slits of the mask. Just as my
finger squeezed the shutter release, Luka tilted the mask to the side, revealing the part of his face with the painted tear. I sucked in a breath and held it. The way his eyes looked right at me—beautiful. Like when the heavens part after a rainstorm and spears of gold cast away the
gray.
Heat washed over my face.
In one shot, Luka showed me his strength and his vulnerability. I recognized the face
behind the mask, yet a complete stranger stared back. For the first time in my life I finally
understood what “a picture is worth a thousand words” meant.
Chapter Forty
Party
Like an addict in need of the next fix, I knew what I wanted. Capturing that one photo with
Luka made my decision for me. We didn’t even need to use the feathers—much to Deidra’s
annoyance. She had to stitch up all the pillows again. I profusely apologized. She pursed her
lips at me and raised an eyebrow. Hopefully, with the party going on, she’d find it in her heart to forgive me.
When she sauntered into my room to let me know the guests had started to arrive, the
smile on her face said I was out of the woods. She asked if I needed help getting dressed, but from what I’d heard, Yana needed all hands on deck. So I waved her off and told her I’d see