Chapter Eighteen
LUCY
‘Mom?’
Lucy’s eyes struggled to open. The blazing desert sunlight was firing like laser beams through the window and her eyelashes were glued together.
Must have forgotten to wash my face last night , she thought lazily.
It was then that Lucy realized other parts of her were equally sticky, and the whole situation struck her as both odd and disconcerting. She rolled to her side sleepily contemplating all the variously gluey and aching aspects of her person.
Chloe’s voice filtered through the bedroom door again. ‘Mom! Where are you? You’re not answering your phone. Mom!’
Lucy managed to pry one eye open and spotted a swath of brightly decorated skin beside her. Nicky Broome, face down, with his back roasting in the sun.
The previous night whooshed back into her consciousness so quickly that it made her stomach lurch.
Shit. Shitshitshitshitshit.
‘Nicky!’ Lucy whisper-yelled while shoving his shoulder. He only groaned and rolled away.
Shitshitshitshitshit.
‘Mom!’
‘Nicky!’ Lucy tried again, with a shake.
‘Huh?’ he asked blearily, shielding his eyes with an arm.
‘My daughter! She’s here!’ Lucy hissed.
Lucy scrambled off the bed and almost face-planted when her right hamstring refused to cooperate.
She grabbed the closest item of clothing and dove into it, realizing only after that she’d slipped into Nicky’s tee from the night before. It smelled like him. She resisted the urge to sniff it and went about grabbing clothes from the floor.
When she looked back, Nicky was up watching her with pure amusement on his face.
She slipped into her terribly unclean panties from the floor.
‘Come on!’ Lucy urged. ‘Get …’ She looked around. ‘Get in the closet.’
Nicky laughed.
‘Quiet!’
‘Why—?’
Lucy cut him off by thrusting a pile of his things into his arms.
‘The closet!’ Lucy implored.
‘Okay, okay,’ he said through a chuckle.
Nicky hauled himself off the mattress with a groan – completely naked except for about a million tattoos.
Lucy opened the door to the closet and flipped on the light switch. It was a walk-in so she didn’t feel too guilty about it when she hurried him in with a single poke to his perfect ass.
He laughed as he stumbled in and Lucy closed the door behind him.
‘Mom?’ Chloe said, as the door to the bedroom opened.
‘Hi,’ Lucy replied.
Act. Casual.
She tugged at the shirt to try to cover more front … and back bits.
‘Uh, hi?’ Chloe said, looking her mother over with blatant curiosity.
Chloe was dressed and ready for the day in a pale pink romper. Her silky brown hair was curled; makeup perfect.
‘You look nice,’ Lucy said. ‘Going somewhere special? Did you, um, stay here last night?’
‘Not going anywhere,’ Chloe answered. ‘It’s just eleven-thirty so … dressed . I stayed with Chandler last night.’ She was talking to Lucy, but she was not looking at her.
Lucy tried to scuttle into her field of view.
Nope. No dice.
Chloe’s eyes were focused on the things scattered around on the bedroom floor.
‘Mom?’ Chloe asked, a grin slowly spreading across her face like the damn Joker. ‘Is there a man in here?’
‘ Whaaaat? ’ Lucy spluttered. ‘No!’
Chloe stepped further into the room and picked up a single black Vans sneaker by the laces. It dangled from her fingers as a single eyebrow arched. ‘When did you start wearing size twelve Vans?’
‘ Busted ,’ came a deep voice from the closet.
Chloe’s jaw dropped, her eyes glistening with a ridiculous combination of smugness and delight. The shoe clunked to the floor and Chloe crossed to the closet, yanking the door open.
‘Ho-ly shit!’ Chloe laughed, in that impish everyday-is-Christmas-morning way that was her signature.
Chloe stepped back and bam . There was Nicky Broome wearing a single white sock and a pair of tight black boxer briefs that left absolutely nothing to the imagination.
Nicky smiled that irritating smile of his, oozing charm and sex appeal (and just plain sex) all over the place.
‘Hi,’ he said and gave a sheepish wave.
Chloe looked from Nicky to Lucy and back again, her mouth absolutely agape. Obviously stunned and amused in equal measure.
‘It’s not what it looks like,’ Lucy blurted.
‘Mom? Did you get it on with a rock star in your Las Vegas hotel room?’
So, maybe it’s exactly what it looks like.
‘Oh, I like her,’ Nicky said cheerily to Lucy. He turned to Chloe, extending a hand. ‘I’m Nick Broome. Good to finally meet you.’
Chloe absentmindedly slipped her hand in Nicky’s and shook it. All the while she stared at Lucy with something like admiration.
‘Chloe,’ her daughter said to Nicky. ‘Nice to meet you.’
Nicky leaned against the closet doorframe, and had the temerity to cross his socked foot over his un-socked foot like this was just a casual social gathering. In the closet. In his underwear.
‘Is she always so uptight in situations like this?’ he asked.
Chloe leaned a shoulder casually against the wall like she was settling in for a good long chin-wag. ‘Yeah, pretty much. Though there was this one time with my high school boyfriend—’
‘Oh my God,’ Lucy grumbled. ‘Nicky, can you put some … pants on or something?’
Without another word, Nicky winked at Chloe and closed himself back in the closet.
‘I’m sorry, Clo.’ Lucy grimaced and buried her gritty eyes in the heels of her hands.
‘Are you kidding me? This is epic, Mom. Completely badass. Good for you. Are you bringing him to the wedding?’
Lucy shook her head vigorously. ‘It’s not … it’s not like that. Nicky and I knew each other a long time ago. You remember I told you he was in my graduating class? Ages ago?’
Lucy did. She remembered it perfectly because Chloe had dug out Lucy’s old yearbook and upon finding Nicky’s picture had said, ‘I’d hit that.’ Oh, those cherished mother-daughter memories.
Lucy blabbered on, ‘We just ran into each other randomly … by accident actually, and—’
Chloe chuckled. ‘You accidentally ran into his dick?’
Deep masculine laughter drifted out from behind the closet door.
‘Chloe!’
‘Mom, chill. I’m glad you’re having fun. You didn’t, like, traumatize me or anything. I’ve seen you in your undies before. And seeing Nick Broome in his didn’t exactly scar me for life.’ She mumbled quietly, ‘Yikes, he’s a smokeshow.’
‘Thank you,’ came Nicky’s voice again.
‘You’re welcome,’ Chloe replied to the door. Turning back to Lucy she said, ‘You should bring him to the wedding. Bring him to all the wedding stuff.’
Lucy’s pulse ticked up. ‘Nope. No. Nonononono.’
‘I’d love to,’ said Nicky through the door.
‘Good!’ Chloe exclaimed.
Chloe made for the bedroom door just as the closet opened again. Nicky stepped out in his jeans and that one stupid sock.
‘Don’t forget, tonight is the bachelorette.’ She turned to Nicky. ‘Sorry, that’s ladies only.’
‘Understood,’ Nicky replied.
Chloe went on, ‘But tomorrow is brunch with the dads.’ She turned to Nicky and asked, ‘You’ll be her plus-one?’
‘I’d be honored,’ Nicky replied.
Lucy protested, ‘But Kim—’
‘Kim will come, too,’ Chloe declared. Her smile brightened. ‘Don’t you worry, I’ll make all the arrangements. See you later, Nick.’
‘Can’t wait, Chloe,’ Nicky replied.
Chloe, who never could resist a parting shot, called out over her shoulder as she closed the door, ‘Make good choices, you two!’
Lucy could hear her daughter’s triumphant cackle as it drifted deeper into the suite.
‘What the fuck was that?’ Lucy mumbled.
‘I finally got to meet your daughter,’ Nicky replied. ‘She’s great. She looks like you. In the eyes.’
Lucy stared at Nicky, all those tattoos and abs just fucking everywhere. She found it hard to clear her head and focus with all of his everything in her face.
‘You really don’t have to go anywhere or do anything. Chloe is …’
‘She’s pretty amazing, from what I can tell.’
‘Definitely amazing,’ Lucy said, ‘But also enthusiastic about her social life. About everyone ’s social life. You probably have things to do and it will be … a lot. Too much.’
‘I promise I’ll tell you if it’s too much,’ Nicky said stepping toward her.
It’s insane. ‘It’s insane,’ she told Nicky’s California bear tattoo as it closed in on her.
‘It’s not insane,’ he said, threading his fingers through hers. ‘Also, if there’s one thing I’ve learned after getting married a billion and a half times it’s that the bride always gets what she wants.’
Nicky slipped his free hand under the T-shirt Lucy was wearing. His fingers drifted up, grazing against the skin of her stomach. Along the curve under her breast.
‘What are you doing?’ Lucy grunted, holding back a mewl.
‘Getting my shirt back,’ he huffed into her neck.
‘I really need a shower.’
‘Me too,’ he said before pressing his lips against hers. ‘Let’s go do that.’
He pulled her by the hand into the adjoining bathroom.
‘What are we doing? Are we just going to—?’
Nicky turned to her and squeezed her hip with his hand. ‘Right now, we’re going to take a shower.’
‘The wedding is on Saturday,’ Lucy tried. ‘I’m flying out on Sunday night.’
‘Perfect, I’m leaving for the tour on Monday.’
‘Tour?’
‘Europe.’
Of course. Of course, he is. He’s a big-time fucking rock star, Lucy. You dolt.
‘So, until then?’ she asked, as he twisted the hot water on in the cavernous shower.
‘Until then,’ he said with finality. He pulled the T-shirt over her head and trailed kisses across her collarbone.
Lucy took a deep breath. She should be grateful. She was grateful. At least she could see the end coming this time. She could brace herself and prepare for it. She wouldn’t get all twisted up. It would be casual. Easy. No big deal.
Nicky turned around and put his hand under the water.
It was then that Lucy caught a glimpse of a tattoo she hadn’t noticed before.
Under his right shoulder blade was a cassette tape, slightly smaller than life-sized.
It was done in fine black lines that had drifted a little, smudged as though from age.
The fact that he had a cassette tape tattoo wasn’t odd, it made sense, really.
What was odd, though, was the strip on the tape where the album title should be.
There were only four letters there – L-U-C-Y.
She wanted to ask about it. Figure it out. Understand. But before Lucy could form a sentence, Nicky dropped his jeans and boxers.
The words never came.
(Oh, but she did.)