With Me in Seattle Bundle One (10 page)

“Oh yes!” I cry and convulse around him.

Minutes later, after our breathing and bodies have calmed, he raises his head and kisses me gently. He eases out of me, and I find I’m a bit sore, but I don’t mind.

“I’ll be back.”  He gets up and goes into the restroom.

I sit up and stretch lazily.  Oh, yes, I’m sore.  Clearly, these muscles haven’t been used in a while.  I hug myself, then get up and throw on a T-shirt and yoga pants.

“You got dressed.”  I laugh at Luke’s pouty face as he comes out of the bathroom.  He wraps me in his arms and hugs me tight, and I sigh.  Wow, is this just too good to be true?

“I’m going to go make some coffee.  Meet me downstairs?”  I stroke his cheek with my hand.

“Sure, I’ll be right behind you.”

Chapter Nine

“Well, good morning, sunshine!”  I greet Jules as I saunter into the kitchen.  She’s just back from a run, her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, dressed like me in a white T-shirt and black yoga pants.  She puts the coffee grounds back in the freezer and smiles over at me.

“Good morning, yourself.  Did he leave?”

“No, he’ll be down in a minute.  We’re having coffee.” 

“You invited him over.”  It’s not a question.

“Yes.”

“And let him stay.”

“Yes.”

Her blue eyes are sharp. “A little against your usual M.O.”

“I know.”  I sigh and take three mugs out of the cabinet.  “He’s different, Jules.  I don’t know where this is going, but I want to find out.”

She pats me on the shoulder and smiles. “I’m happy for you, sweetie.”

I hear Luke walk in behind me, and Jules’ eyes bulge.  I know, he’s hot!

I turn and smile at him.

“Luke, this is my best friend, Jules.  Jules, this is…”

“Luke Williams!” Her voice is shrill, and now she’s smiling, her hands in fists. She’s practically jumping up and down.

“Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Ohmygod!  Luke Williams is in our kitchen!”  She shoves my shoulder and does a little circle happy dance.

What the fuck?

I look back at Luke, and he’s gone perfectly still.  He’s completely pale.  He swallows hard and looks at me but doesn’t touch me.

Jules has stopped her happy dance.  “You didn’t tell me you were all gooey over Luke Freaking Williams!”

“I take it you know him?” I ask, my voice a whisper.

What am I missing?

Jules stops, her jaw drops, and her eyes widen.

“Of course I know
of
him.  Nat, that’s Luke Williams.”

“I’m aware,” I reply, but my face is flushed, and I’m starting to feel like everyone is in on some big joke and I’m the butt of it.

“No, Nat…”

Luke finds his voice.  “Natalie, I can explain.”

He reaches for me, but I move out of his grasp and round the breakfast bar to put space between us.

“Explain what?”

“Natalie.” Jules swallows and looks at him, gets an irritatingly swoony smile on her face, then looks back at me.  “This Luke Williams is famous.”

“What?”  I narrow my eyes and look at him again, and it suddenly all makes sense.

Don’t fucking take my picture.

Why won’t you all just leave me alone?

I don’t like crowds.

“From the
Nightwalker
movies, Nat,” Jules whispers.

Luke hasn’t said anything, and he’s no longer looking at me.  His hands are on his hips, and he’s hanging his head.

“You lied to me.”  I hate how broken my voice sounds.

His head whips up, and he pins me with those beautiful blue eyes.  “No, I didn’t.”

“I asked you, more than once, what you do for a living, and you kept brushing me off.”  Oh, this hurts.

“I just…” He runs his hands through his hair.  “Natalie, what I feel for you…”

“Stop.”  I hold my hand up.  “You said yesterday in the car, no surprises.”

He swallows.

“God, I feel so stupid.” I close my eyes and want to lay my head on the bar and cry.

“No, baby…” He starts to move toward me, but I back away again, making him stop.

“No, you listen,
baby
.” The rage is kicking in, and I’m starting to shake with it.  “I trusted you with things that I’ve never trusted with anyone else.  And the whole time you were lying to me.”

“It’s not like that…”

“Natalie…” Jules steps forward, but I pin her in her place with a glare.

“So, I was a joke.  ‘Let’s see how far I can get with this girl before she figures out who I am’?  Well, you fucked her, Luke.  Good for you.”

“No!”  He comes around the bar, ignoring my warnings of staying back and grasps my shoulders in his hands.  His eyes are glacial, his face taut, as if he’s in pain.

“No, Natalie.  Nothing about us is a joke.  And I did not fuck you, I made love to you.”

I’m just so embarrassed. “Everyone in the country knows who you are, Luke.”

“Not everyone,” he replies.

“You’re right. Apparently, I’m the only one who isn’t bright enough to recognize you.” I pull out of his grasp and back away.  He drops his arms to his sides.

“Natalie,” Jules tries again. “Why would you know who he is?  You never saw his movies.”

“His face is on millions of T-shirts, Jules!  There are action figures in his likeness.”

Luke grimaces and turns away.

“Girls of all ages squeal just the way you did five minutes ago and lose their fucking minds! It’s my fucking job to know faces! God, I’m an idiot.”  I’m so embarrassed, I just want to run.  I want him gone.  I want him to hold me and tell me it’s not true.

What the fuck would he ever want with me?  He can have anyone in the world.  Literally.

“Nat…” Luke reaches out for me, but I pull away, ignoring the pain in his voice.

“Just go.”

“No, I don’t want to leave.” His beautiful face is in agony, mirroring mine. 

I fold my arms around myself to keep from reaching out to him. “I don’t want you here.  I can’t be with someone who lies to me.”  Oh, just go.

“I didn’t lie!  Natalie, that’s not my life anymore.  Let’s talk about this.”

I’ve heard enough, and I just need to get away from him. “I have a session in an hour, I need a shower, and I want you gone by the time I come out.”

“You’re overreacting!”  His voice is manic, his eyes pleading with me. 

“Get the fuck out of my house!” I scream at him, hot tears falling down my face.

“Natalie, don’t do this…”

I turn and run up the stairs, through my room and into the bathroom, locking myself inside.  I lean against the door and slide to the floor, my body convulsing as huge sobs rack my body.

“Natalie, open the door.”

Fuck, he followed me.

“Just go away.”  There’s no strength left in my voice.  I just want him to go.

“I’m not going away, goddammit!  Open the fucking door!”

“No!”  I stand and lean my forehead on the door, my hands in fists and braced on the cool white wood.

“Natalie, so help me God, if you don’t open this door, I’ll break it down.  Come out here and look at me.”  His voice sounds ragged and close to mine.  And he’s really pissed.  But so am I!  I don’t respond, and suddenly Luke hits the wall to the left of the door.

“OPEN THE MOTHERFUCKING DOOR!”

I still don’t respond. Hot tears are rolling down my face.

“Fine, Nat, if you want to act like a child, fine.  I don’t need this.”  I hear him stomp out of my room and down the stairs.

How did I get myself in this mess?  How did I not recognize him?  His hair is longer, and it’s been a good five years since the last movie came out, so his body has filled out more, and he’s older, but how could I not recognize that beautiful face?

Suddenly, I’m reminded of our talk when we had drinks at the pub.
 If I see a trailer for one more stupid vampire movie, I’m going to kill myself.

Oh God.  Could this be any more humiliating?

Luke starred in three vampire movies that not only did well, but became such a huge sensation that you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing news about the stars or merchandise of all kinds.

And I’ve just spent the past forty-eight hours falling in love with a man who is not only completely out of my league, but I don’t even play the same sport.

Why didn’t he tell me?  Why did he let me tell him all of my secrets, while he didn’t tell me any of his?

I sulk over to the tub and turn on the water.  I have to pull myself together for my session.  I cringe.  Today’s client is a couple, and I’m going to have to take intimate photos of them, encourage them to love each other, be romantic.

Shit.

I shower quickly, but let the water spray on my face for a few extra seconds.  I’m going to look horrible with red, puffy eyes.

After I’m dry and dressed, I blow my hair dry and secure it back in a bun.  I examine my face.  Yep, red, puffy eyes.  I don’t bother with makeup and pray that my eyes calm down in the next thirty minutes.  I just have to get through this session, then I can ball up in my bed and cry for days if I want to.  Just two hours to get through and not think of Luke.

I poke my head out of the bathroom, but the bedroom is empty.  Thank goodness.  The wall next to the door where Luke hit it is unscarred.  He didn’t hit it that hard. I go into the spare bedroom and peek out the front-facing window.  Luke’s car is gone from the driveway.

He left.

Downstairs, Jules is still in the kitchen, a coffee mug in hand, tears in her eyes.

“Natalie, I’m so sorry.”

I hold my hands up in surrender.  “It’s not your fault.  I can’t talk about this right now, Jules.  I have a session in a few minutes.”

“He’s a wreck, Nat.”

“Just stop.”

“You have to talk to him.”

“Stop!  Jules, I can’t talk about this.”  My voice catches, and I take a deep breath, willing the tears to stay at bay.

“Okay, we’ll talk after the session then.”

“Don’t you have work?” I ask.

“I called out.  I’m going to be here with you.”  She gives me a small smile.

“I love you, Jules.”  I turn to leave, but a thought occurs to me.  “Do me a favor?”

“Of course. What is it, sweetie?”

“Strip my bed and wash all the bedding?”  I couldn’t stand to have to smell him later when I’m wallowing in self-pity.

“Sure.”

***

It was the worst session of my life.  I was scattered, sad, and edgy.  The couple were great. They were very much in love, sexy, and I know that I got some great shots, but I feel badly that it wasn’t the fun session I usually provide, so I’ll refund the session fee.  It’s the least I can do.

I change into khaki shorts and a blue tank top, thanking the Lord above for my best friend when I see my bed has been stripped, washed and remade.  My muscles have been reminding me all morning of last night’s activities, and with every turn and stretch, my heart breaks just a little more.

Downstairs, I grab my iPhone to check messages and return calls, snag a tall glass of sweet tea from the fridge and join Jules on the back patio.

“How did it go?” she asks.

“It sucked.” I shrug and sink into a red plushy chaise lounge.

“Sorry.”   

“I’ll refund their money, but I think they’ll still be happy with the photos.”  I turn my phone on and take a deep breath.

“Are you sure you want to check that?” Jules asks from the chaise beside me.  Her eyes are closed, and she’s drinking in the sunshine.

“I have to see if any clients called.  I’ll ignore him.” I refuse to say his name out loud.

I have seven missed calls, five voice mails and three texts waiting for me.

There is absolutely nothing waiting for me from Luke, and I can’t help but be disappointed.  He said he didn’t need this, so does that mean that we’re over, just like that?  Most likely, yes. Luke Williams can have anyone. Why would he want me?

I turn the phone off, slam it on the table beside my drink and pull my knees up to my chin, rest my forehead, and let the tears come full force.

“Oh, honey, don’t cry.” Jules climbs on my chaise with me and wraps her arms around me.

“I just feel so foolish,” I mutter into her shoulder.

“You really didn’t know who he is?”

“No.  He looks a little different now,” I reply defensively.

“Yeah, he does.  He’s aged well.”  Her smile is in her voice, and I can’t help but agree.

“He has.”  I sigh.  “Of course, now I see it.  I should have known as soon as he mugged me at the beach.”

“Maybe you were just too surprised.”

“I guess, but what excuse do I have after that?  I spent almost two solid days with the man, Jules.”

“Hey, stop beating yourself up.  You have been enjoying a sweet, sexy man for two days.  There’s no crime in that.”

“I told him so much.  I told him about Mom and Dad, the rape, everything.  I even showed him my studio.”

Jules looks down at me with wide eyes.  “And you had sex in your own bed.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“How did he react to all of it?”

I sit up and take a sip of tea.  “He seemed sad for me that Mom and Dad are gone.  The rape infuriated him, and he wants to kill that slimeball.  He was really cool about the studio and said that it was sexy and I’m talented.”

“Well, that all sounds encouraging.”

“And last night was just…” How do I describe it?  “Amazing and wonderful.  He loves my curves, and when he touches me, just…wow.” I can’t stop the smile on my lips, and Jules smiles back.

“You made it with Luke Williams.” 

And my smile is gone.

“I’m sorry, but give me five minutes to gush.  Is he as hot naked in real life as he is in the movies?”

“He was naked in the movie?” I squeak.

“From behind, yeah.  It’s my favorite part.”

Oh, I definitely don’t like it that all of America has seen Luke’s ass. “I think his ass is better in person,” I reply.

“Oh, you’re killing me!” Jules sounds fifteen, and I giggle.  “You know, he hasn’t had a new movie since the last
Nightwalker
five years ago.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”  Jules shrugs and climbs back onto her chaise, taking a sip of my tea.  “Rumor had it that some crazed fan broke into his house and hurt herself.”