One #3
Within minutes she was locking up and heading out to her car.
Looking at her townhouse, she sighed. It wasn’t going to be a hardship to leave this place behind.
Aaron’s property included a fabulous guesthouse that Vivienne had been renovating in a French country decor to make it her own.
She was moving in next week while Aaron was away.
If she were a more suspicious person, she’d say he’d planned it that way.
But it didn’t matter. The house was amazing, and it was finished exactly as she wanted it.
It took less than ten minutes to reach Panda Gardens, and because she and Aaron were regulars and it was a Tuesday night, their order was waiting when she walked in.
The drive to Aaron’s took only another fifteen minutes, and when she pulled into the driveway, Vivienne looked around to see if anything was out of place.
Aaron had mentioned dinner for three, but there were no other cars in front of the house.
“No time like the present to find out,” she murmured as she grabbed the bag and climbed from the car. The weather was perfect, she observed as she walked to the front door. Coastal Carolina in the spring was—as far as Vivienne was concerned—the best. Maybe she could convince Aaron to eat outside.
At the door, she didn’t bother knocking—she never did—but when she went to open it, she found it locked.
“Okay, this better be huge.” With her hands full of Chinese takeout, Vivienne had no choice but to ring the doorbell with her elbow.
Aaron didn’t take long to answer, an apologetic look on his face.
“I know, I know,” he said immediately. “I forgot to leave it unlocked.”
Without a word, Vivienne stepped around him and walked into the house.
“Viv! Wait!”
She glared at him over her shoulder but kept on walking.
Aaron caught up and stepped in front of Vivienne to stop her. “I don’t want you to be upset with me. I want to celebrate your new job, and it’s kind of hard to do that if you’re all mad at me.” He gave her a smile that usually guaranteed she’d forgive him anything. “Please.”
Rolling her eyes, Vivienne could only laugh.
“Okay, fine. I’m not mad at you. But I am hungry, and there’s a lot of food here.
It feels like we’re feeding a small army.
So what’s going on? Who’s here?” As she walked into the kitchen, she looked around for signs of who was visiting.
Vivienne put the food down and immediately went to work getting out plates and silverware while Aaron got drinks for them.
“Can we eat out back on the porch?” she asked. “It’s so beautiful out tonight.”
“Sure,” Aaron agreed.
Together they set the food up outside, and when there was nothing left to do, Vivienne looked at him expectantly. “Well?”
“Well, what?”
“Aaron,” she groaned with exasperation. “Enough now. I picked up the food, came over, and we’re ready to eat. Can you please just tell me who’s here?”
Behind her, someone cleared their throat.
A male someone.
Vivienne turned around and froze.
Matt Reed was standing in the open doorway.
How? Why? A million questions began to race through her mind, but there was no way she could get her voice to work.
There he stood, in all his sexy-rock-star glory, and she had to force herself not to react like a groupie, flinging herself at him or asking him to sign her bra.
He looked just as good as he always did—six-feet- plus of lean muscle, his sandy-brown hair in sexy disarray, and mossy-green eyes she could stare into all day long.
Another quick glance at him and she noticed the dark circles under those eyes and how exhausted he looked.
And yet Matt somehow still managed to look better than any man she had ever seen.
Dammit.
How was it possible that ripped, faded denim and a T-shirt looked better on him than a suit on a GQ model?
“Viv?” Aaron asked, concern lacing his tone. “Are you okay? You look a little…”
Sick? Horrified? Vivienne could only imagine.
It had been two years since she had seen and kissed Matt, and she had secretly hoped she’d never have to see him again.
After security had escorted her from the arena that fateful night, she had stood in the parking lot and asked herself just what in the world she had done.
Going to see Matt on a whim was one thing.
Kissing him as if her life depended on it was quite another.
And now he was here.
Standing five feet away and looking at her like… What the hell is that expression on his face? She wondered. It wasn’t a smile; it wasn’t a scowl. It was more like he was trying to figure out who she was.
Son of a bitch! Was it possible he didn’t even remember her? Kissing her? Seriously?
Forget about feeling sick or horrified. Now she was just mad! “Hey, Matt,” she said coolly. “Nice to see you.” Not.
Matt nodded and walked down the two steps onto the porch. “You too, Viv. How’ve you been?”
She hated mindless chitchat. “Good. I’m good,” she said and then turned back to her brother.
“Shall we eat?” Without waiting for either man, she walked around the table and took her seat.
When she was ready to start serving, she looked up at both of them, surprised that neither had sat down. “Well?”
Aaron stammered an apology and took a seat to her left while Matt took the chair to her right. They each took turns helping themselves to the variety of dishes, and it wasn’t until they had taken a few bites that Aaron asked, “Aren’t you curious why Matt’s here?”
Vivienne looked at him as if he were crazy. “To visit?”
Rolling his eyes, Aaron grunted. “Seriously? Have you been living under a rock? When was the last time Matt came back home for a visit?”
Twelve years, three months, and six days.
But who’s counting?
She shrugged and glanced at Matt before answering. “No idea.”
Her brother and Matt exchanged looks before Matt spoke. “So I’m sure you heard about my Broadway disaster,” he began.
“Yes. Contrary to my brother’s earlier question, I haven’t been living under a rock,” Vivienne replied.
Matt nodded. “Yeah, well…things were getting a little out of hand, and I needed to leave the city and find someplace to go for a while to…you know…lie low.”
She couldn’t help the snort that came out, and she immediately put her hand over her mouth. “Sorry,” she mumbled and then straightened. “But come on…seriously? Lie low? Isn’t that just a bit dramatic?”
“The press has been relentless,” Matt continued. “I couldn’t leave my apartment without being harassed. Then the rumors started flying about how the band was a bunch of frauds too. So while my PR team is doing damage control, everyone thought it would be best for me to be out of sight.”
“For how long?” Vivienne asked.
“About a month.”
She looked over at Aaron. “But…you’re leaving for London in a few days.”
He nodded. “I know. Matt’s going to stay here. It’s private, and no one would think to look for him here in North Carolina. It’s been well documented that he never comes back to his hometown.”
“This is crazy,” she said. “Why would you wait to bring him here when you’re going to be gone? What is he supposed to do with himself if you’re not here?”
Matt cleared his throat, and both Forresters turned to look at him.
“I believe I can answer that for myself,” he said with a grin.
“Aaron’s made sure the house is stocked, so I shouldn’t need to go into town or leave the property for anything.
While I’m here, I’m going to work on writing some new music and just… relax.”
“Don’t you have houses all over the world?” she asked. “Wouldn’t it have been more convenient to go to one of them?”
“Viv…” Aaron warned.
“It’s okay,” Matt said, his eyes never leaving Vivienne’s. “In fact, I don’t have houses all over the world. Whenever we toured, I stayed in hotels. And, as your brother pointed out, this is more private than anyplace else. No one knows I’m here.”
“How can you be so sure? You mentioned how relentless the press was being. How can you be sure no one saw you fly in here?”
“He didn’t fly,” Aaron responded. “I flew up to New York, rented a car, and we left in the middle of the night. No one saw us leave.”
“Right,” she said sarcastically. “Because no one’s awake in the middle of the night in the city that never sleeps. Even you can’t be that gullible.”
“I left my place during the day and went to my agent’s office. He sent a decoy back to my apartment, and I stayed at the office until Aaron showed up. We went out the delivery exit and drove through the night.”
She looked between the two of them in disbelief. “All of this over a failed Broadway show?”
“I know it seems extreme—”
“Ya think?” she cried and then turned to her brother. “So while you’re over in London, I’m supposed to move in here and deal with paparazzi climbing the trees to get a glimpse of Matty Reed? No, thank you!”
“It’s not going to be like that if—”
“If what?” she demanded. “If I move all of my furniture by myself? You know I’ve got movers coming onto the property, Aaron! If this is supposed to be so hush-hush, what am I supposed to do while I’m moving in?”
“Wait,” Matt said. “You’re moving in here?”
Vivienne glared at him. “Into the guesthouse. I just finished the renovations and I’m moving in next week.”
“I still don’t see a problem, Viv,” Aaron said. “No one’s going to go near the house—this house—only yours. Matt will make sure he stays out of sight, and as soon as the movers are gone, you set the security system up again. No big deal.”
She supposed he had a point and forced herself to relax. After all, the movers wouldn’t have any reason to be in Aaron’s house, and once she was moved in, it would…
Her stomach gave a funny little kick. After she moved in, it would just be her and Matt on the property. “Maybe I’ll wait to move in until you get back. I’d feel better about the whole thing if you were here too,” she told Aaron, her gaze never leaving her plate.