THIRTY-ONE
EITHER ROXANNA KYST was a practicing Wiccan, or she’d made a deal with the devil somewhere along the way. Less than an hour after they’d hung up, someone approached the bar. Wasn’t unusual, except this time, the guy pointed to the small wall-mounted TV in the corner.
“Are they here?” Glancing up, she wasn’t surprised to see Roxie in front of a camera, Zairn at her side, holding her against him. “Can you turn it up?”
“…I know nothing about that,” Roxie said, smile broad, every inch the glittering starlet.
The woman may not be an official actress, but she’d never met a role she couldn’t fill. Zairn, on the other hand, was almost the trophy husband. He fished his phone from his pocket and scrolled, all the while keeping hold of his treasure.
“It’s your wedding! Come on,” the reporter asked, “give us something. Tease us. You decided not to let the cameras in, why—”
“We decided not to let your cameras in.”
“Oh, now, hey, that’s something. You got an exclusive deal?”
On a laugh, Roxie curled closer to her guy to splay a hand on his chest. He just kept on typing. “Marriage means exclusive. It’ll be tough for him, but a deal’s a deal.”
“Who ever thought Zairn Lomond would settle down!” The reporter relished the interaction. “You confident he’ll give up the babes—”
“For the ultimate babe,” Zairn muttered, still doing something on his phone.
“What was that?”
Zairn tucked the phone away. “Guys don’t catch women like Roxanna Kyst,” he said. “Most guys. She takes a special kind of care, one I work on every day. Rox is the sun which my world revolves around.”
And this time, the reporter laughed. “You’ve used that line before.”
“Yes, we have,” Roxie said and moved away. “You take it easy now.”
The reporter, and others, called after them. Zairn went with Roxie without letting an inch of space grow between them. Either they’d been practicing or they were used to this schtick. Was it possible two people could share instinct like that? Did they anticipate each other like it required thought, or was it all intuition? Whichever it was, they proved love existed.
The bartender turned the volume down when the picture switched back to their on-site guy.
“You did this,” Roman hissed, materializing at her side. “You brought them here.”
“I didn’t bring anyone here.” Should she be facetious and tell him the couple were dying to see the movie? “Roxie just happened to call. Be happy it wasn’t your brother.”
“What does that mean?”
She wasn’t really sure. Just that after spending time alone with Struan, her need for him had only deepened. Throughout their time locked up together at Roxie’s, any time “they” came up, she might’ve told him she understood his loyalty, but he hadn’t said it himself.
“You know how Struan feels when you hurt me.”
“What the fuck did I do to hurt you?” Okay, yeah, she had to give him that. Ignoring her was more of a blessing than a slight. He got the concession right up until he signaled the bartender. “Give me two doubles—”
“The lady’s drinking—”
“Did I ask what the lady was drinking?”
The guy was nice enough to look at her, though he didn’t say anything else.
“Good plan, Roman.” She raised her wineglass. “Get sloshed, that’ll make Roxie like you.”
“I don’t want that bitch anywhere near—”
“Should my ears be burning?”
Roxie’s sweet voice brought her around with such joy, the blonde lived up to her online handle: “Lomond’s Delight.”
“Roxie…” She threw both arms around the woman to hold her tight. “You’re here.”
“See this is why real people are better than showbiz people,” Roxie said, smoothing Bambi’s hair when she pulled back. “That was a genuine welcome, not one of your Hollywood mwah-mwah things.”
When Zairn stooped, she raised her chin to accept his cheek kiss. “You look beautiful, Bambi.”
“Thank you.”
That was more attention than her date gave her.
“Try to put your arms around me, Kyst—”
“Oh no, Roman, let me contain my disappointment,” Roxie said, deadpan.
Zairn wasn’t in the mood to play around. “You’re lucky you’re this close, Lowe.”
Did Roman know what playing around was? Or that doing it with fire never ended well?
Best probably to leave the men’s beef be.
“I’m surprised you haven’t been mobbed,” she said. “Even up here.”
“See that guy standing with his back to Zairn?” Roxie asked as her fiancé helped her onto a stool. “Yeah, he does a growly thing that keeps people at bay. What are we drinking?”
She pointed at her glass. “This is just the house white.”
In front of Roman were two empty glasses. She hadn’t seen the bartender bring the doubles, but those definitely hadn’t been there before. No mystery where the liquid ended up.
“And that’s the downside of small-towns,” Roxie said, accepting Zairn’s jacket over her shoulders after he removed it.
“The downside of…” Her head went almost all the way around, then snapped back to follow Zairn’s progress behind the bar. “Is he going to—”
“He’s good at it. And if we force him to stay close to Roman for too long, it’ll get ugly.”
“Yeah,” the actor griped, “for him.”
Roxie slapped both hands to the edge of the bar; the beauty looked at her then him. “Let’s open a discourse,” the blonde announced. “We have to fix this.”
“Fix it?”
“This attitude Roman has with everyone. What is your problem?”
“You.”
“Okay, that’s a start.”
The blonde wasn’t accusatory, in fact, her tone was conciliatory. Even when he was offered a break, Roman still chose obstinance.
“Roxie’s a good person, Roman. If you gave her a chance—”
“She took Sway from me and gave her to that—”
“Contrary to your apparent assumption, I am not a pimp. Sway is a human being,” Roxie said, leaning in, lowering her voice. “Women are people too, Mr. Lowe. We make our own choices.”
“We’re meant to be together.”
“My friend Jane went out with a guy like you.”
“Oh my God,” Bambi said. “Is she okay?” The smirk on Roxie’s lips wasn’t matched by Roman’s scowl. “No, I just meant—”
“No, he was a crazy stalker. Definitely dangerous.”
“Maybe he loved her.”
“Love isn’t a prison, it’s freedom.” Zairn put two drinks down, one in front of each woman. “Sway isn’t your future, Roman. Let it be.”
If only it was that easy…
“If I could talk to her—”
“Move on,” Roxie said. “That’s why you’re so angry. Why you’re drinking and hitting people on set—”
“He deserved it.”
“Okay,” Roxie said, nice enough to nod. “Maybe he did. Though you deserved it on the island and my guy dialed back for me.”
“I don’t need anyone fucking protecting me.”
She sighed, maybe louder than intended, because everyone fixed on her. Her eyes darted from one gaze to the next.
“Nothing I was just—I have nothing to add.”
“No, speak. This is open discourse, honey.” Roxie put the drink in her hand and picked up her own. “What were you going to say?”
Arguing would get her nowhere. “Everyone is protecting him. And that’s okay, family’s supposed to—”
“Struan again?”
Roxie waved at Roman. “Let her finish.”
“Yes, Struan, Magnus, I’m protecting you, Roxie, even Zairn.”
“Mm hmm,” Roxie agreed, urging the drink higher. “Try it. Bambi’s right, and Sway’s protecting you too.”
“How the fuck is Sway—”
“Oh my God,” she said after sipping her drink. “That’s amazing. What is that?”
“Gin and It,” Roxie said, glowing with pride. “Told you he was good.” Now her friend slanted her way. “Imagine what else he can do with those hands.”
“How is Sway protecting me?” Roman wasn’t about to be quieted. “I’d do anything for her. Anything to protect—”
“Except temper yourself.” Roxie’s eyes were slow in their roll around to the actor. “Calling her all the time, the messages, do you think she likes that?”
“She needs to know I’m serious.”
“You want her to know you’re serious, get your shit together. There’s nothing more attractive than a man who can fold his own laundry.” With a raised hand, Roxie curled her fingers in a flourish against her palm. “Current company excluded.” She beamed at her guy. “Love you.”
Bambi offered, “She doesn’t mean literally.”
“I know that,” Zairn said as Roxie spoke too.
“He knows that. Besides, my guy can, he just doesn’t. Time’s a commodity.” To her surprise, Roxie laid a hand over Roman’s. “Now, back to you, get out there. Start over. If you and Sway are meant to be, it’ll happen. If you’re in a better place, you can both appreciate each other more. You don’t want to be co-dependent, do you? A relationship needs two whole people to function—”
“Who the fuck are you to lecture—”
“It’s advice, not a lecture,” Roxie said and presented her ring close to Roman’s face. “My guy got me and I take his calls. And I’ve got a lot of girlfriends in loving relationships who take their partners’ calls. Spending all this time obsessing about Sway is blinding you to what else could be out there. What if your true love is right in front of you, and you miss her because you’re too busy calling Sway?” Roman’s eyes flitted to Bambi. Before she could even open her mouth, Roxie did the honors. “Not her.”
“She’s got Stru all tied up.”
“And that’s their mess to deal with.” Roxie’s grin was genuine. “Think of the adventure. Finding new love, whoever she is, learning about her, being with her for the first time. Falling in love is a gift. It doesn’t have to come from the past. It can come from the future.”
Whoa, this woman was good at this. Bambi just busied herself with her drink and let Roxie—Zairn’s smile was subtle, but he was transfixed. Even as Roxie talked, when she wasn’t looking his way, he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Roman wasn’t arguing, not in his usual snappy way. Could he be considering what Roxie was saying? For real considering it? If he could let go of Sway… she was one to talk. Struan couldn’t be more wrong for her, not in her life, but in his. If she cared for him at all, she’d bow out and slip off the stage quietly. Doing that would save him the guilt of thinking he was breaking her heart. He was, but she didn’t want him to feel bad about it.
She felt bad enough for both of them.
“You’re saying this because Sway’s with him. Breckenridge has—”
“Where is Tripp tonight?”
“Not here,” Roxie declared, flashing her pearly whites. “I thought bringing one man who wanted to punch Roman was enough, two would’ve been overkill.”
“Ballard would take a swing at him.”
Roxie tsked at her fiancé. “Is that productive? We’re trying to help him see that there’s a new someone somewhere out there on the horizon. If he gives her a chance, he can find love all over again.”
“Sway’s never said she doesn’t love me.”
“Do you want her to say that?” Roxie cringed. “That’s not a nice thing to say out loud to someone.”
“Especially when they don’t mean it.”
God, it was like talking to a brick wall.
“Okay, then moving on,” Roxie said, switching focus to Bambi. “How are things with you and Stru?”
“I…” Eyes going left to right, she tried to appeal to Zairn for help. “Don’t think we should talk about that here.”
“No, probably not a good idea, but I did want to ask Roman something…”
“I need another drink.”
Zairn turned, she assumed to fulfill Roman’s request.
Roxie threaded her arms into Zairn’s sleeves, then drummed her nails on the bar. “Talk me through the timeline of this.”
“Timeline of what?”
“You and Struan met at the Lighting Darkness event,” Roxie said. “Tape gets leaked, and how did you end up at Struan’s?”
“Magnus came to get me, from my apartment, the press mobbed us outside.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought…” Narrowing her eyes again, Roxie peered. “I’ve seen the tape, it’s not the best quality… how did they find you so fast?”
Zairn put a glass in front of Roman who immediately drank. Except he pulled the drink away fast to scowl at the liquid.
“What shit is this?”
“Club soda,” Zairn said. “Get used to it, it’s all you’ll get from this bar for the rest of the night.”