TWENTY-EIGHT
“DID WE EVER find out who it was?” she asked, lost in a haze of half-sleep, fending off encroaching slumber to luxuriate in every moment alone with Struan.
Roxie hadn’t batted an eye when he joined them on the ride back from the club the previous night. She appreciated her friend not making a big deal of it, for his sake. She, on the other hand, was so excited to spend a night with Struan, she’d have crowed about it, to the highest limit of her friend’s patience, if asked.
When they weren’t making love, his heavy hand spent most of its time on her hair. She liked it there. With her head on his chest, and the shadows all around them, they were the only two people in the world.
During the day, others moved around beyond her bedroom avoiding their den of sin. No one had bothered them. Since their friends absconded to the Crimson Halloween party, the house had been blessedly silent. Struan left the bedroom for sustenance at one point before sunset, but all she needed was him. Work would steal them both in the morning, they had to make the most of these precious moments.
“Who it was?”
“Who leaked the tape?” she asked. “Magnus said he’d investigate then I never heard about it again.”
“I don’t know.”
“We should find out,” she said on a sigh, lips curling. “Send them a thank you gift.”
The rumble of his laugh warmed her cheek. “You want to thank them for putting us in this position?”
“This position isn’t so bad.”
“No, it is not, Fawn.”
His tone was enough to betray his thoughts. He may like being there with her, but, like she’d said to Roxie, it wasn’t enough. This wouldn’t last. They wouldn’t.
“Are you sorry?”
“About what?”
“This,” she said and sat up, crossing her legs, tangling them in the sheet, thus revealing a little more of his delectable body. Reaching over, she covered him again. She couldn’t be expected to have a conversation without drooling on him if he didn’t give her a break. “Are you sorry that we’re here?”
“I’m sorry this is the best I could give you. I’m not sorry we met.”
“And the tape?”
“I hate the tape,” he said. “You should never have been disrespected like—”
“Are you embarrassed?”
“No,” he said and sat up. When the sheet fell again, she closed her eyes. Guy was trying to kill her. “To be with you? No. I want to shout it from the goddamn rooftops.”
With a hand on his chest, she pressured him to lay down again and dragged the sheet across his pecs.
“The tape put us here, beau.” She linked their hands. “Here, together. We wouldn’t have got this time if it wasn’t for that tape.”
“I was going to call you.”
“You didn’t have my number.”
“With a name like yours, I’d have tracked it down.”
Maybe not in LA, a city that made its money on stage names. Anyone he asked who didn’t know her might assume he was looking for a hooker. A frequent comparison she’d lived with growing up… and into adulthood.
Could they be together? Independently of Roman? Was it possible for Struan to have a romantic relationship of his own? Even with her working on set, they barely got any excuse to be alone; always in proximity, they were teased with each other all day. It would only get worse now they were supposed to ignore each other.
Outside work, would he have time for dates and sleepovers? What if Roman needed him?
“Zairn said we could still do this. Be together.” Putting it on him wouldn’t be fair. “I understand why we can’t.”
“Fawn—”
“I would never do anything to hurt you or your brother.” Because one meant so much to the other. “And I do think about it sometimes. That night was kind of perfect on its own.”
“You wish we’d left it there?”
On a shrug, she conceded. “It depends on my mood. Sometimes I tell myself it was wonderful fate forcing us to confront this special energy between us.”
“And other times?”
“I think fate’s laughing at us. What were the chances of that room having cameras? It didn’t even occur to me, I didn’t think to check.”
“Neither did I.”
“And why were they working? The power was out—”
“I know the answer to that one because most security systems follow the same rules these days.” He waited for her to raise her brows before carrying on. “Terrorism. If someone breaches the building, they might try killing power to the security system.”
“But the owners still want to get their eyes on who is breaking in.”
“And it stands as evidence if a case gets to court. Security systems, Dysaic security systems anyway, hold backup power on an isolated system that runs off renewable sources.”
“You really do know a lot about it.”
“We’ve hung out.”
“We?” she asked. “We who?”
“Zane Dyce, his was the island we were on in the Pacific. He’s a good friend of Zairn and Roxie’s.” He paused for breath. “Oh, and my cousin.”
Now that was something to note. “Your cousin? One of the richest men in the world?”
“It’s a convoluted family thing, but, yeah.”
She laughed and bowed to snuggle against him again. “Is there anyone you don’t know?”
Again he cradled her head. “The good people of Wishbone.”
Hadn’t taken him long to come up with that response.
“Why would you care about Wishbone when you have Hollywood and Pacific islands?”
“They didn’t give me you.”
Being his was a dream that would never come true. Worrying her lip, she couldn’t decide whether to say more. They could disappear down the rabbit hole of what would never be, but it wouldn’t do either of them any good.
“That night, the night we met, would’ve been special to me, even if it was all we got.”
“Ah, don’t want me to visit home anymore?”
Slipping her hand beneath the sheet, the warmth of his skin reassured her. “Talking as if this is forever breaks my heart. I have to be honest with myself and just hope we come out of this as friends.”
“Friends? That all I get?”
“You can’t date your brother’s ex-fiancée. I know you’re not stupid, you’ve played this through just the same as I have.”
“I’m not ready to give up on this.”
And, boy, did she understand that. They were trudging to the gallows through the howling wind. Leaving the path was a choice; one neither of them would make.
“And if we get caught again?”
“We won’t be caught here. And Roman can’t get in, we’re safe here.”
“We can’t live here forever.”
“Roxie will be gone all night.”
“Roxie’s not the one asking us to cool it.”
No, that was Magnus. And Roman was the one saying no to their relationship. Except he wasn’t, and it wasn’t fair to put it on him. The man might be guilty of a lot of things, their predicament wasn’t one of them.
“Just at work,” he said. “People know us there and are more likely to know the difference between me and Roman. For one thing, they’ll know where each of us are supposed to be and—”
“And we’re here rather than in your bed because…”
Roman would cause drama. Related to them or not, Roman would storm through with his usual destructive force and waylay everyone from their own lives. Struan’s lack of an answer was expected. There was nothing he could say to better the situation. And although it was heartbreaking, she didn’t want to fight.
She changed the subject. “Sway seems nice.”
“She is.”
“Have you known her a long time?”
“Only through her relationship with Roman.”
Which was the equivalent of going to war together, or it would’ve been pre-rehab. “She’s going to New York with Roxie. She broke off her engagement to Deacon.”
This was just as bad. Her talking as though she had any right to his life. As a couple, these things mattered, and without that relationship…
“I got something for you.”
Easing her aside, he vaulted from the bed to snag his jacket from the chair by the window. Man, he was something to look at. It was almost worth losing him at four thirty in the morning when this, when he, was the result. How could someone with such a good heart, sense of humor, and integrity also be so ripped? It wasn’t fair to the rest of the population.
He fished something from the pocket and tossed it to the bed as he turned. Fumbling through the sheet for the packet, she’d just raised it up when he dropped beside her.
“Gummy bears,” she said, laughing and holding them to her chest. “I love them.”
“The liquor wouldn’t fit in my pocket.”
“There’s a bottle of Tripp’s favorite Johnnie Walker behind the bar.”
“Superb,” he said and kissed her shoulder before getting up again. “Get to work dividing them up. I’ll be quick.”
He glanced back and they shared a smile. As he disappeared, she exhaled. Recreating the night they met with a happy ending. How was she supposed to stop herself falling for him? Oh, who was she kidding, she was already sunk.