Chapter 11
Tuesday morning – Luke
Iused to be smooth. I usedto have some sort of game. But apparently all that had changed because what had happened with Ellie last night was anything but smooth. I’d moved closer to her, and I admit I was kinda contemplating kissing her. I hadn’t entirely made up my mind. But clearly the moment she got a hint of the possibility, she shot off the couch like it was burning and I was the arsonist. Damn. The girl couldn’t get away from me fast enough. Real smooth, Knightley.
I mean, I know we’d just been talking about her looking for someone hot, stable, and loyal, and I’ve been anything but stable. Though I’ve never cheated on anyone. That isn’t my style. But something about her asking me to introduce her to the single guys in the band hadn’t sat well with me. It made me downright… Jealous wasn’t exactly the word. I had no claim on her. But I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it one bit.
But damn. She’d nearly sprouted wings and flown from the room when I’d moved closer. Had I misread the situation that much?
Apparently.
Of course I knew now that she’d done me a favor. Why the hell I thought it might be a good idea to kiss her, I have no idea. Only we’d been talking and laughing, and she was gorgeous and, well, I have no excuse. I must have mistaken her friendliness for something more. But message received loud and clear. I would not make that mistake again.
Only it felt like I needed to apologize to her for even thinking about kissing her. Was that stupid? Should I acknowledge it and assure her it wouldn’t happen again? Or would that be more awkward than not acknowledging it at all?
I was sitting at the desk in my bedroom with the door open still thinking about all of this when she knocked.
Dolly immediately jumped up, tail wagging, and rushed over to greet her new favorite person. Ellie was standing there in black leggings and a black sweater, looking so good it reminded me of why I’d considered attempting to kiss her last night. She bent her knees and squatted to allow Dolly to lick her face while she petted her head. “Good girl,” she cooed. Dolly wiggled her whole body. I didn’t blame her.
“Ready?” Ellie asked after she’d finished greeting the dog. She stood up again.
I stared at her like an idiot. “Ready for what?” Apparently, she wasn’t planning to mention how fast she’d run out of the room last night. Okay. Okay. I would play along. Last night never happened.
“The dressing,” Ellie said. “It’s time.”
“Oh, yeah. Of course. Yeah, I’m ready.” I’m an idiot. But I’m ready.
Without giving me another look, she marched straight into the bathroom to wash her hands with Dolly on her heels. I got up and followed them, cursing myself for being a dumbass.
Once again, I pulled my shirt off my right arm and gently pushed it down off my left shoulder. Today Ellie was all business. She pulled the tape off the sides in two efficient swoops and had the alcohol and cotton applied in no time. I’d barely got past the sting before she was dabbing it dry and replacing the gauze.
Damn. Fast. Obviously, she couldn’t get out of here fast enough.
“Ellie, look.” I was about to say something—I wasn’t sure what—about how she didn’t have to act like she was at the Indy 500 around me. I would promise not to make her feel uncomfortable again.
“How did you find out?” she asked softly as I pulled my shirt back over my left shoulder. Apparently, she really didn’t want to have the talk about what happened last night. Okay. Fair enough.
“What?” I asked.
“The former nurse. Tiffany? How did you find out she’d sold pictures of you?”
The moment flashed back into my head like a scene from a horror movie. It was burned in my memory. I’d never forget it.
“Unless you don’t want to talk about it,” Ellie added quickly, holding up both palms. “I understand.”
“No. No. Dr. Heinselberg, my therapist, was just telling me that I need to talk about it more. I can’t pretend it didn’t happen.”
Ellie nodded and flipped her long hair over her shoulder as she rested a hip on the countertop.
I closed my eyes for a second and let my mind go back to that night. When I opened my eyes again, I stared out the window behind Ellie toward the trees behind the house as the memory came flooding back. “We’d just finished a practice session that night. In the basement studio.”
She nodded again.
“I climbed the stairs to go back to the sitting room off the kitchen and glanced down at my phone. Mark had sent a link to a tabloid article with a text that read, ‘WTF is this?’”
Ellie winced. “Ugh. What a tough way to find out.”
“I got upstairs and fell onto the couch and just started clicking the links he’d sent. Scrolling through each one of them. So many pictures. Me sleeping. Me in the shower.” I clenched my jaw at the memory of it.
“Did you immediately know it had been her?”
“Yes. I knew. No one else had been in my bedroom.” I stopped and met Ellie’s already skeptical gaze. “And before you ask, no, it wasn’t like that. She was in my bedroom like you’re in my bedroom now. Strictly business.”
She nodded. “That must have been awful.”
“Sure was. I felt like I was going to puke. Of course I went looking for her, and she’d already packed up and left. She must have been tipped off by the tabloid that the pictures were about to drop.”
“Wow. That’s crazy.”
“Yep. The next day, my manager came over and we discussed ways to mitigate the damage, but aside from suing the hell out of the website and Tiffany, which, believe me, I’m doing, there’s not much else I can do. The pictures are already out there.”
“That really sucks. I’m sorry that happened to you. As a health care provider, I can tell you that most of us take the HIPAA laws very seriously. Tiffany will be punished for what she’s done.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not much comfort after the pictures have already spread. Man. I used to think being famous would be cool. But there’s a definite downside to it. That’s for sure.”
“Sounds like it.”
I heaved a long sigh. “So, that’s it. Here I am. Kinda stuck in this house, staring at security cameras all day, in therapy, and unable to trust anyone I didn’t already know before I got famous.”
Ellie put her hand on my right shoulder. “You’re not a mess, Luke. You’re a human.”
I nodded and said nothing because my throat was tight. Other than Dr. Heinselberg, this was the first time I’d heard another person tell me it was okay to feel the way I felt. For some reason, I thought Dr. H had to say it. But Ellie didn’t.
“What is your therapist’s advice?” she asked next, drawing her hand away.
“Well, for one thing, she wants me to get out of the house.”
Ellie’s brows shot up. “Like go somewhere?”
“Yeah. She wants me to start with some outings around town.”
Ellie nodded. “You should do that.”
“I agree.” I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “Will you go with me?”
She looked as if she’d just swallowed a bug. “Me? Go with you? Around town?”
“Yeah. We could go to lunch.” I shrugged to make it seem like way less of a big deal than it was…to me.
“Surely you could go with friends or?—”
I met her gaze. “You’re my friend, Ellie. Look, I don’t know why, maybe it’s because I’ve known you for so long, but being around you feels comforting to me. Will you please go out with me?”
She bit her lip, and I could tell she was seriously thinking about saying no. Which is why I let out a pent-up breath of relief when she said, “Okay, but we have to get burgers or something. All this fancy food is too much for me.”
I smiled from ear to ear. “Deal.”