Only One (Ward Sisters Book 2) (21 page)

As they climaxed together, she said, “Oh, Liam. I love you so much.”

It was the last thing she said to him for seven months.

Chapter 15

Jenna knew they hadn't planned to be at the party late. Emily was in L.A. so she and Rob could have time alone, and so Rob could give Jenna and Liam some time together, to make up for the fiasco that had been their Globes plans. Last night had been more than she ever could have imagined it would be. She knew Liam had looked forward to tonight, so why hadn't he called?

Her worry increased. Had something happened, or was Liam blowing her off? Two hours beyond when she expected to hear from him, Jenna knew something was wrong.

A run of her algorithms shocked her when she saw the first hit:
Deac Roberts' girlfriend seen leaving a Hollywood Hills party without him and in tears
.

Jenna dialed Rob's number – no answer. He could be having sex with Emily and didn't want to answer. Her instincts said that wasn't the case – she felt sick like when Lola had dumped him.

She dialed again. Still no answer. Damn. Rob was prone to depression – she'd helped him through some rough patches over the years she'd known him. If that item was correct, something bad had happened.

Jenna wasn't taking any chances. Grabbing the bag she'd packed to stay with Liam, she shoved her laptop it its case, locked her apartment, hopped in the car and headed to Malibu with a bad sense of déjà vu.

The plan had been to stay at Rob's house anyway, so it wasn't like it should be a big deal. If she was interrupting Rob and Emily having sex again, then oh, well. But if not, Rob needed her. Brian would be with him, but that wasn't the same as having your best friend around. If Emily was gone for any reason, Liam was gone, too, and Rob was already down one best friend.

It felt like the trip to Malibu took forever. Thank God there wasn't much traffic due to the hour. When she finally pulled into the driveway, her worry increased. It was past midnight and the lights were off. They could be sleeping. Liam could be blowing her off. Maybe he'd found a new hot thing to occupy his time.

But Jenna doubted that.

She used her phone app to unlock the house and braced herself. Within moments, Brian walked into the foyer wearing sweats.

“Jenna. What are you doing here? Liam left with Emily.”

“I figured as much. It's already online, but I'll deal with that later. Where is he?”

“In his room. He won't come out. I tried. He's been crying since she left. I called Rick.”

“Good. Is he coming tomorrow?”

“Yeah. I've got the list of emergency contacts.” Meaning Rob's therapist. “Rick said to call in the morning. He wanted me to stay with Rob, but boss won't let me in the room.”

“I'll take care of him, Brian. Go back to bed. Your job is about to get a lot harder. Get some rest while you can.” Brian nodded and went back to his room.

Jenna carried her stuff to Rob's room, since he shouldn't be alone. There was no point in going to her and Liam's room. She knocked. Rob didn't answer.

“Rob, it's Jen. Let me in or I'll bust down the door.” He didn't respond. “Rob, you know I'll do it. Brian might be afraid to piss off the boss but I'm not. I'm your friend first. Let me in.”

A few seconds passed and she heard some shuffling. Then the door lock rotated and he opened the door. He looked like hell, still wearing the suit from the party – tie twisted, shirt half tucked – and his hair was all over the place. Puffy eyes and a runny nose said he'd been crying for a long, long time.

Jenna walked into the room with her bags, set them on the floor, shut the door and locked it. She'd been here before and had this handled. It would be messy, not to mention require her to do things that she didn't want to explain to Brian. From experience, she knew it would require her to go above and beyond normal boundaries of friendship and employment.

“Come here,” she said, walking him over to the chaise. They lay together and he curled into her arms, head on her chest, and resumed sobbing. It promised to be a long night.

This was far worse than when Lola broke up with him. She knew that Rob truly loved Emily, that he believed she was The One. Lola had been a big, stupid mistake. What was required then was probably the least he needed now. Then, he'd barely been able to function at first.

His tears continued, but the sobbing calmed. “Honey, I'm not going to ask you what happened yet. I know you're not ready to talk. But we need to get you out of these clothes. Remember what we did after Lola?”

Rob nodded.

“Good. I'm going to help you again. Is that okay?” Rob nodded and she helped him to sit. She removed his clothes little by little. When it was time to take off his bottoms, she had him stand. He looked at her with such sadness, it broke her heart.

It was hard to really appreciate how beautiful he still was, even when he was in shambles, but it was a testament to his genes that he could still look like a god when he was at his lowest. It was one of the things which made him a great leading man, that he could still be attractive even when he was a mess.

Jenna had him stripped bare, and she couldn't have explained to anyone but Rob how she could do this and be objective about it. Removing her own clothes, she then put his hand in hers and led him to the bathroom. He stood there, stunned and still crying, big rivers of tears rolling down his cheeks. Once the water was hot, she nudged him into the shower and placed him under one of the rain heads.

She had to be close to him because he was so much taller than her, which was why she had to be naked. Sure, she could have worn a swimsuit, but swimming in January hadn't been part of her plans. This time around, she and Liam were together, and Rob was still in love with Emily, so it would have been very difficult to explain to anyone why she was naked in the shower with him.

Jenna washed his hair and used the cleanser Reggie gave him on his face. Then she soaped his skin and washed him, every inch. Anyone walking in the room would see it as sexual. She touched him in places that were inappropriate for your friends or your boss unless you were their lover.

Everything seemed to be going as expected when Rob backed her into the shower wall, kissed her passionately and caressed her breast. For a moment, she forgot herself. Then she realized where she was and what was happening. She pushed him away gently.

“Rob, stop. You don't want this. I don't want this. I love Liam, remember? We're just friends. We don't do this kind of thing anymore. I know you're hurting and maybe you're a little confused right now. I'm Jenna. I'm not Emily.”

He began to cry in earnest again and he put his arms around her as he sobbed on her shoulder. “She's gone, Jen. She's gone.”

“Shhh. I know, honey. I know. We can talk about it later. Let's get out of the shower and get you to bed. Come on,” she said as she shut off the water and grabbed a towel.

Towels hung, she took his hand and led him to the bedroom. She put on one of Rob's t-shirts and a pair of his boxers because she didn't have any pajamas with her, as she'd always slept naked with Liam. Then she put boxers on him and sat him on the bed so she could brush his hair. She turned out the lights and got him to climb under the covers. Then she crawled in beside him and put his head to her breast.

“I'm going to stay with you all night, okay?”

“Okay,” he croaked. “Will Liam be mad?”

“Don't worry about Liam, honey. It's just you and me here. I'll take care of you.”

“Thank you, Jen. I love you.”

“I know, honey. I love you, too.” He cried softly for a little longer and then he finally drifted off to sleep, exhausted.

**********

Sometime in the middle of the night, Rob had curled around her. Jenna woke up in his arms at dawn and his hand was on her breast. She tried to forget the last time she'd been in this position, else the flood of memories might overwhelm her.

Exhausted and asleep, Rob must think she felt like Emily – they had similar bust sizes and frames. Rob sighed and snaked his hand between her thighs, whispering, “I had an awful dream.”

Before things got out of hand and her body decided she liked him touching her again, Jenna faced him, kissed him sweetly.

“Rob,” she said quietly.

His eyes popped open. “Jen? Am I dreaming?” he croaked.

“Do you have dreams about waking up in bed with me?”

“Not since you and Liam have been together. Why am I in bed with you? Where is Emily?”

She touched his cheek. “Honey, did you take your anxiety meds with alcohol last night?”

“I don't remember.”

“Rob, Emily is gone. I don't know what happened. I didn't want to make you talk about it last night. You were too upset. Do you remember anything?”

“Not really. Things are fuzzy right now. I'm not dreaming?”

“No, honey. You're not. Why don't we go back to sleep for a little while and we can talk when we wake up, okay?”

“Okay.”

She pulled him to her chest and held him as he drifted back to sleep. Once she knew he was asleep, she extracted herself and brought her phone down the hall to Rob's office. She shut the door quietly, took a deep breath, and dialed.

“Jenna?” Amy said. “Are you with Robbie?”

“Yeah. It's bad, Amy. It's Lola times ten. I had to shower and sleep with him again. He thought I was Emily when he woke up a few minutes ago and seemed disoriented. I asked him if he took his meds with booze, and he said he couldn't remember, which means he did.”

“Can you stay with him for a little while? Even when Rick arrives, he'll need help at first. You know he won't let his brother shower or sleep with him any more than he would last time.”

“I know. I figured as much. I'll pack up the stuff I need at my apartment and move into the house for a while.”

“Okay. Meanwhile, I'm sure there will be a lot to deal with this morning. He won't make a formal statement. You'll have your work cut out for you.”

Jenna sighed. “I know. It's a good thing I love him.”

Amy huffed a small laugh. “Can you explain to me why you two didn't end up together?”

“You know why. No matter how much we love each other, or how great the sex is, we'd never have fallen in love. There isn't a romantic spark between us. He found that with her.”

“I know.”

“Do you think we can fix this, get them back together? I'm not sure he'll get over this one if we don't.”

“Jesus, I hope so. She's stubborn. It won't happen overnight.”

“I'm sure it won't. Did you hear what actually happened?”

“Liam talked to Rick late last night. Robbie asked him to follow Emily to Maine. It was Rachel.”

“Oh, shit. Emily said that Rachel had been trying to get in her head. I warned her to watch her back. What did Rachel do?”

“Liam said Rachel kissed Rob and Emily saw it. You and I both know he wasn't kissing her back.”

“No. He'd never go back to that bitch.”

“Exactly. But Emily doesn't know that. Robbie didn't tell her what Rachel did to him and Liam.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. Liam said he didn't see how telling her would help if Robbie hadn't already told her.”

“Of course it would've helped! Maybe she'd have heard him out! So, she thinks what? That he wanted Rachel back?”

“Worse. She thinks it was all a big, manipulative PR ploy, with Robbie the worst offender.”

“What? Why the hell would she think that? To what end?”

“Apparently so he could win the Oscar this time.”

“Oh, my God. You can't be serious.”

“Unfortunately, yes. Do what you can to help him through it.”

“And the rest?”

“We have to hope she comes to her senses or that he'll make it through this either way.”

“I'll do whatever I can.”

“Is this going to screw up things with Liam? He wasn't in the picture last time.”

“I hope not. He loves Rob almost as much as I do. But I have to come clean about it all at some point.”

“He doesn't know?”

“That Rob and I had an affair? No. We agreed to keep it to ourselves. Honestly, if Lola hadn't happened, if I didn't have to explain things to you and Rick, I'd never have said anything to anyone. He's one of my very best friends and I'd do anything for him. Sometimes, that means things like this. I'll call you later.”

**********

This time around, things were far worse than they had been with Lola. Jenna understood Rob's need to touch and be touched, to connect with someone, but she couldn't be that person for him anymore. She had to find another way to help him through it. This time, making love to him for three weeks straight wasn't going to cut it, even if she was inclined to do that. And as much as she'd always loved sex with Rob, her heart belonged to Liam now.

The first few days after Emily left were torture. His therapist suggested Rob skip the meds because he needed to function for awards season and there was no indication that they would truly help. He was depressed, not stressed or anxious. Keeping loved ones nearby and talking through it were the best options. Meds would be a last resort because Rob hated to feel medicated.