Authors: Tessa Dayne
“And like you don’t have filthy habits,” Jonas laughed.
“Aye, I do. But you, my friend, live like a slob.”
“Well, luckily, Paige hasn’t seen me at my worst.”
“God help you when she does. I will have the couch prepared for you,” John chuckled.
“Very funny,” Jonas growled. Sometimes he never knew if John was being serious or not. “And what about you? How many bad habits do you have that are overlooked?”
“Enough of them. But then again so does he. We seem to be able to deal with the good and the bad as it comes.”
“You’re lucky to have found that. Then again, with the two of you working, you are not home together often enough to have the bad habits get on each other’s nerves.”
“That’s true enough. And have you found the elusive peace you’ve been looking for all these years with Paige?”
Jonas smiled at John. “Yes. I’ve finally found that. I thought I would never find it again after Marilyn. We were two peas in a pod. But with Paige, it’s as if we’ve known each other forever. We just click.”
“Well, you look happy when you talk about her. That’s good. We’ve been worried about you.”
“I’m fine. Just worried about Paige’s progress or lack thereof.”
“She’ll get better and pull through.”
Jonas nodded. He had to believe that or he would go crazy.
~*~
Darren waited in the stairwell for the nurse to leave her station. Once she moved from behind the desk, he slid from his hiding spot and slipped down the hall to Paige’s room. Sneaking into the room, he reached for the blinds on the window and closed them to prying eyes.
“Paige? I really need you to wake up. I need to know about that baby.”
He was getting desperate. Natalie wasn’t taking his calls anymore and he was at a loss on how to get to Barnett. There had to be something, somewhere, that they had overlooked. Their story had to have a flaw in it. And he would find it. He had to.
“C’mon, Paige. Wake up and talk to me.”
Darren reached out and pushed her hair from her face, remembering all the goo
d times they had had together. Their relationship had been good at first, maybe the first six months. Then he had met Lorraine and a few months after he had ended the affair with her, he had met Mallory. Natalie was just another woman on a long list of women he had met since becoming involved with Paige.
He had loved Paige; at least he had tried to love her. She was always so busy with work. She worked long hours at the office, brought the paperwork home on the weekends, spent late nights at Darcy’s working. They never spent time together. Was it any wonder he had looked for companionship elsewhere?
If she had been too busy to spend time with him, where had she found the time to hook up with Jonas Barnett and get herself knocked up? No, not only did she not have the time, it wasn’t in her nature to sneak around when she was in an honest relationship. Besides, had she been seeing Barnett, she wouldn’t have been so upset when she had found him and Natalie at the apartment.
No, the only thing Paige Harper was guilty of was lying through her teeth about her affair with Barnett.
Suddenly, a series of blips sounded, startling him from his musings. Darren stared at the monitor and watched the numbers soar. Something was happening and he had to get out of there.
Hurriedly standing, he knocked over the water jug. Without a second glance at it, he moved to the door and peered out into the hall. Luckily, the nurse wasn’t at her station. Quickly, he stepped out and rushed down the hall. Just as he slipped into the stairwell, a commotion behind him ensued with nurses and a doctor rushing into Paige’s room.
Leaning against the wall, Darren wondered what had set off the monitors. Could this be the start of Paige’s comeback? Was she waking up? Would she remember his visits and tell Barnett? They say people in comas could hear things around them. Had he risked everything by seeing her?
Swearing under his breath, Darren headed down the steps. He would have to try to sneak in another day to see what had happened. To see what she would tell the police about the accident. This was far from over.
~*~
The plane landed at Heathrow and Jonas and John disembarked. It was late, but it wouldn’t matter, as the flat where John lived wasn’t far away. It would take just under an hour to get there. He knew that there would be a warm meal and a soft bed waiting for them both.
“You’re sure I won’t be intruding?” Jonas asked yet again.
“Why would he send me to come get you if we thought you would be intruding?” John asked, slinging his overnight bag across his shoulder.
“I don’t know. I should’ve gone to Chicago to see Paige.”
“You needed to recharge your batteries. Coming to London is just the thing you need.”
“I’ve been rechargi
ng my batteries while in Madrid,” Jonas argued.
“Bullocks! You’ve buried yourself in the role, but I doubt you have recharged anything, let alone your batteries. You have a tendency to throw yourself into your roles and forget everything around you, including your friends and family. You need to reconnect with the world JD. And the first step to doing that is coming here and relaxing, even if it’s only for a few days.”
“I know you’re right, but I just wanted to forget about everything for a while. I figured the best way to do that was to immerse myself into being Francisco.”
“And if I know you, it works for just a while then you replay the things that torment you over and over.”
“You know me too well,” Jonas said, sliding into the passenger side of John’s truck. They had slipped unhindered through the airport and with some luck, they would be at the flat soon.
“We did get to know each other well while filming
Rising
. The few days here will do you good. Then when you’re off again you can go see your Sleeping Beauty. Who knows, maybe by then she’ll be awake.”
“I hope so, John. I truly do.”
~*~
Chapter Fourteen
~*~
He stood staring out the window, the distant streetlights casting a soft glow on the street. The lights in front of their flat had gone out, creating a pool of darkness below. He could see cars driving by, the headlights breaking the inky blackness outside the window. And yet, the one car he was searching for had yet to appear. Where were they? Their plane had landed close to an hour ago. Surely fans hadn’t accosted them this late at night. He had warned John about not going with any protection from the fans. Or God forbid the paparazzi.
In the distance, he heard a faint, almost familiar rumbling. As the sound drew closer, a smile flitted across his lips. Finally. He turned and the curtain fluttered from his fingers. As he headed toward the front door, he heard two doors slam and then the muffled voices of two men.
Throwing open the front door, he took in the sight of his lover and their best friend.
“It’s about time!” he exclaimed, hurling himself into his lover’s arms.
“Were you getting’ worried?” John asked.
“You know I was. What happened?”
Jonas stood in the shadows, watching the exchange. It was so good to see the two of them together, dark head against light, blues eyes to brown. They had fought their feelings for so long, not seeing what everyone else had. When John had left Scotland, the rest of the cast had to deal with a very unhappy and lost lad.
“We stopped for this…” John said, producing a bottle of scotch.
“Like we don’t have enough of that here?”
“We wanted the good stuff.”
Pulling out of
John’s arms, he glanced behind him to see Jonas hovering just outside on the porch. “Hey, JD. It’s good to see you.”
“Ollie…”
“Let’s go inside, before the paparazzi catch wind you’re here.”
Jonas stepped inside and looked around, finding that not much had changed since his last visit. The walls were the same soft cream and the hard wood floors were covered with scattered throw rugs. A beat up armchair graced the corner of the room, a well-used afghan gracing the back of it. The worn, chocolate brown leather couch was arranged in front of the fireplace, a low-lying walnut coffee table just within leg distance for tired feet.
The painting that he had given them as a housewarming gift was still over the fireplace. A fire, nearly burned out, glowed in the grate, throwing a soft glow into the room.
“It hasn’t changed a bit,” JD said, feeling all the tension ease out of him. Maybe John had been right. Maybe this is what he had needed.
Settling into the armchair, Jonas propped his feet up on the corner of the coffee table. When a hand holding a glass of ice and amber colored liquid slipped in front of his face, he looked up to find John smiling down at him.
“Here, I think you could use this. Hungry? We can whip up a little something.”
“It’s late. Don’t go to any trouble for me.”
“It’s no trouble,”
Ollie said, heading for the kitchen. “How about omelets? I can whip them up real quick.”
“And it’s about the only thing he can cook,” John laughed.
“Wanker!” Ollie said, sticking out his tongue at John before disappearing into the fridge.
Jonas hid a smile. It was good to see them like this. It reminded him of what he had with Paige. That quiet comfort that you couldn’t fake. Either you had it or you didn’t. John and Ollie had it and he thought Paige and he had it too.
“You love me,” John said, with a grin as he joined Ollie in the kitchen.
Oliver leaned up into the older man’s personal space and placed a quick kiss on his lips. “Don’t press your luck,” he warned.
John pressed his hips into Ollie’s and grinned evilly. “Should I press this instead?” he asked.
A low moan slipped from between Ollie’s lips. “As much as I would like to take you up on that offer, we do have a guest,” Ollie whispered, looking over the bar into the living room where Jonas sat staring into the fire.
“You’re right. He looks like he needs to talk. How about you finish those omelets while I refill his drink?”
“You sure he needs another drink? I think he might just need some rest.”
“Trust me, love. He has a lot on his mind. It would be good to get it all out. Then he can rest and you can baby him a bit.”
Oliver smiled softly. Jonas was one of his very best friends and it hurt that he hadn’t confided in him about Paige and their relationship. Now that he was here, Ollie was going to make sure that JD was okay. He looked like hell, haggard and thin as a rail. He had four days to get inside his head and pull out all the crap so JD could recharge.
Watching John grab the bottle of scotch, Ollie set about making the omelets. Maybe John was right. A little liquor would loosen JD’s inhibitions and allow him to pour out his tortured soul. As he whipped the eggs and milk, John headed into the living room.
“Here JD, let me top that drink off for you,” John said, pouring more of the amber liquor into JD’s glass before getting an answer.
Jonas stared up at him and held in a groan. He knew what John was doing; get him drunk and he would spill his guts about the troubles in his life. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea. The getting drunk, that is. He was sure he could keep his thoughts to himself. After all, he did have some self-control.