Mistaken Identity (4 page)

 
“What the hell, Aiden!”
 
He sat up and curled his lip up, and threw
his hands in the air.
 

His best friend and co-worker covered his
eyes. “I didn’t see anything.” He gestured wide with his hand and backed toward
the door. “All I’m saying
is
we need to be at the
panel in twenty-minutes.”

“All right, just, get out of here!”

“
Yeap
, going,
sorry, Ma’am.”
 
He stumbled back out the
way he came, and Jett flopped onto his back.

“FUCK!”
 

“Jay.”
 
Her voice quavered.

He turned to his right. Kansas’s head
popped up over the side of the bed.
“Yeah.”

“Am I dreaming, or did Aiden Archer just
walk in here and see me naked?”

He stuck his tongue into the side of his
cheek. “If I lied and said no, would it make you feel any better?”

“You son of a bitch!
Cosplayer
my
ass!”
She took to her feet, placed her hands on her hips, and delivered
a glare that would curdle milk.

“You’re gorgeous when you’re angry.”

She grabbed the pillow closest to him and
pegged him in the face. “I trusted you! I thought what we had a special thing
going!”

He tossed the pillow away. “It was! I’m
still the same man you talked to last night.”

“No.” She shook her head. The hurt
visible in her eyes made him ache. “You’re not. You’re a liar.”

“No, I’m not. My friends call me Jay.”
It was true even if he was grasping at
threads.

“You looked me in the face and lied. How
can I believe anything else that comes out of your mouth? For all I know you do
this every con.”

“I would never do that, Kansas!”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because it’s the
truth!”
Exasperated he moved from the bed and approached her with caution. His eyes
scanned the area for any other weapons available for tossing. “I’m sorry I
didn’t tell you. I was going to, but then that nosey bartender came over and
interrupted me.” He shook his head, lowered himself to his knees in front of
her, grabbed her hands and squeezed. “Last night was real. Everything I said,
the way I felt, were all true. I swear to you. I want nothing more than to talk
to you about this right now, but I have to go. Please tell me you’ll wait.”

“
Ja
—
Jett … what do I even call you?”

“Whatever you want,
Sas
.”

She shook her head. A knock sounded.

“Fifteen minutes. No pressure … sorry,”
Aiden called.

“You should start getting dressed.” She
looked down at their hands.

“Will you be here when I get back, Kansas?”

“I-I don’t know.”
 

His heart dropped. Time was running down,
and she was noncommittal. “Kansas.”

“I’m not the lying type, Jett. Best I can
give you is a promise to think it through completely.” She slipped her hands
free.

He ran a hand through his hair. “Okay …
fair enough.”

She sighed. “Go get in the shower. I’m
not going anywhere.”

“Thank you!” He sprang up from the floor,
did a mad dash to the bathroom, slid across the smooth floor, started up the
shower and jumped in. The freezing cold water took care of his morning wood. A
quick soap down later he toweled off his wet body, and ran into the room. The
sight of a fresh pair of jeans, mid-sleeved green shirt, boxer, socks, and
shoes lined up at the end of the bed gave him hope.

“You are amazing!”

“Yeah, I know.” She managed a shaky
smile. Still wrapped in the bed sheets she looked uncertain and shy. He’d
damaged the instant connection they had, but he
knew
it could be fixed. Dressed in two minutes flat, he pilfered a
kiss, taking her by surprise. Her eyes went wide, but she responded with the same
passion from the night before.

“To help you decide.”
 
He ran for the door, pulling on his shoes,
and allowed himself one glance back before he walked out the door.
 
Aiden waited, leaned against the opposite wall.

“Dude, what the hell?”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“Forget about the oversleeping.” Aiden
waved toward the door with his massive hand. At six foot five, Aiden towered
over everyone who wasn’t a professional athlete. “What was that? Slumming at a
con? How is that going to help your situation any? If the press got a hold of
it—”

“Hey!”

Aiden’s hazel eyes went wide.

“That was not slumming.”

“So you knew someone in town and just
never bothered to mention it?”

 
“No, we meet last night, but there was … a
bond.” He waved his hands wildly in the air. “This spark ignited, and things
happened. I mean I talked to her all last night, and we just hit it off. She’s
amazing.
Funny, intelligent … southern.”
He tilted his
head as he spoke the last word, and Aiden rolled his eyes.

“We both know how girls can appear to be
what they think we want. Fans are crazy.”

“No, she didn’t know who I was, thought I
was a
Cosplayer
.”

“No wonder she looked horrified and
shocked.”

“Yeah, that’s putting it nicely.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. I’m hoping she’ll be there
when we get back.”

“And if she isn’t?”

“I’ll give her time to cool off and track
her down. It’s a small town.”

“You’re that into her?”

“Aiden.”
 
He paused to take a deep breath. “That woman
is my future.”

They reached the end of the hallway where
security waited.

“You guys ready?” the stocky, blond
haired man dressed from head to toe in black asked.

“
Yeap
.”
Aiden
nodded, and Jett gritted his teeth.
 
Hell no, but I don’t have a choice.

They were escorted through the hotel
without incident and taken to the ballroom where they waited to walk out onto
the onto the stage set up for Q& A.

“Try not to look like your dog just got run
over.” Aiden whispered.

“Yeah, I’m on it.” Jett forced a smile as
they walked up the stairs and onto the platform. Screams rang out, cameras
flashed, and hands waved in the air. The deafening roar always shocked
him.
 
All these people were here for the
two of them. The room was packed from wall to wall with people of all ages,
races, and sexes. Too bad the one woman he really wanted was in his room
deciding if he was worth sticking around for. The irony didn’t escape him.

They were halfway through the panel when
he saw her seated in the far back next to a petite, dark haired woman with café
latte skin and a peasant dress. This had to be
Mya
.
He nudged Aiden.

“Look man, far right in the very back.”
He mouthed.

Aiden followed his line of sight and
grinned.

The announcer held the microphone up to
his mouth. “Now for the moment you’ve been waiting for, questions for the boys.”

“Aid, pick her please,” Jett whispered.

The panicked look on his best friend’s
face made him laugh.

“She’s not mad at you.”

“Actually, she probably is.”

“No, embarrassed maybe.”

“Well I’m sure picking her out in a crowd
will remedy that.”

“She stood up, so she must want to ask
something.”

“You owe me, Walker.”

“Name it, and it’s yours.”
 
Jett turned on his microphone. “Aiden wants
to kick things off today.”

“I do.” Aiden smiled. “How about we start
off with the young lady in the blue plaid shirt?”

The MC handed the
mic
over.

“What’s your name?” Aiden asked.

“Kansas.”

“Hi, Kansas, nice name.”

“Thanks, Aiden.” The smirk on Aiden’s
face made Jett wonder if he was picturing Kansas naked. The thought
rankled
him. “This is a two part question. Do you believe in
soul mates? And if so, what would you do if they lied to you?”

He held his breath as he waited for
Aiden’s response.

“Absolutely.”
Cheers rang out
in the room, and Aiden chuckled.” As for the second part … it’d depend on what
the lie was and why. If this person was truly the only one in the universe
whose heart sings the same song as my own, there’d be nothing that could keep us
apart permanently.”

“Good answer, Mr. Archer, I might like
you after all.”

“
Oooh
, sounds
like you might’ve converted a Jett fan,” The M.C. said as he took the
mic
from Kansas.

Over my dead body.

A mixture of good hearted boos and cheers
filled the room. For a moment his gaze caught hers, and she smiled. It was like
the sun coming out from behind the clouds, an indication that things could be
salvaged.

He held the
mic
up to his mouth. “I guess that means it’s my turn.”
 
Back in his role he answered questions and
mingled with the people who’d put him where he was.
 
As their session closed his excitement rose.
Would she be waiting for him at his room? His palms tingled with anticipation.
They stepped off stage, and security was waiting.

“Are you gentleman ready?” the stocky
blond man from before asked.

“Yeah, I think we’re ready, Jett?” Aiden
asked.

“Ready.”

Whispers rose around them, but no one
approached.
Must be my
lucky day.
 
His pocket
vibrated.
Con guys.
 
It stopped, and then it began again. He
frowned.
Something’s wrong.
 
When they reached the elevator, he pulled the
slim phone free, looked at the screen, and froze. It was
Lis’s
parents. He quickly hit the green button that returned the call. Aiden flashed
him a worried look, and he shook his head.

“Jett, thank God. We need you to come
right away.
Lis
is in the hospital. She won’t listen
to any of us. But I know she’ll listen to you.”
 
The words filled him with dread.

“I wouldn’t be so sure, Greg.”
 
He sighed. “What happened?”

“I know things didn’t work out between
the two of you, and I’m sorry to call you in the middle of a con. But she’s
refusing to eat or receive treatment. She’s been in the hospital for a week.
The IVs and food pump are keeping her alive, but she’s starting to fade.”

“Jesus, Greg! Why didn’t you call me
before now?”
 
He closed his eyes and
pressed his fingers into his eyelids.
Wasn’t
the whole point of ending things to make her better?

“She begged us not to. I agreed, I
thought seeing you would make things worse.”

“What changed?”
 
His mouth felt stiff as he spoke.

“Fact is, you’re the only one who was
never afraid to give her a swift kick in the ass when she needed it, and this
is about your unresolved issues.”

“I wasn’t the one—”

“I know that son, but she needs to hear
it’s okay to let go, and see
she
 
didn’t
ruin you so bad you can’t be
fixed.”

“Does she think that?” He held the back of
his neck.

“We try to keep the tabloids from her,
but she has the internet. They’re blaming the break-up on you, and that kills
her.”

“It’s all a part of the limelight.”

“I know.”

“Listen, I’ll make arrangements and let
you know when I’ll be in.”

“Thank you, Jett.”

“Yeah.”
 
He hung up the phone.

“What was that about?” Aiden furrowed his
brow

“
Lis
is in the
hospital. It’s bad this time.”

Aiden’s eye clouded with concern. “I’m
sorry, you flying out?”

“Yeah.
I need to
call Kim, tell her I have a family emergency, and get out of here.”

“What about Kansas?”

“Fuck.”

They reached their floor, and security
walked them to Aiden’s room.

“We’re good from here, thanks.”
 
Aiden said.