All the Right Things (Love in LA) (5 page)

“Ah, that’s cool.” Annie smiled and nodded at an elderly couple who was walking past them. Nate also nodded at the couple, pleasantly wishing them a good morning, and she again found herself impressed with his good manners. If only he had been able to maintain those good manners on the night of their date at the karaoke bar.

When they reached the trailhead, Annie veered to the left and started off on their hike. The next few minutes were silent as they started to make their way up the steep incline. When they came to the end of one of the zigzagged trails, she stepped off to the side to allow other hikers to pass while she took a moment to catch her breath and take a drink of water. Nate hadn’t brought any water with him, so she offered her bottle to him and he took a quick swig.

“This is a good spot for hiking. Glad you told me about it,” he said, handing the bottle back to her.

“Yeah, I love it. The view is pretty spectacular,” she said, motioning towards the ocean and the surrounding hills.

“Indeed, it is.”

“You ready to keep going?”

“Yup,” he said with a nod and they resumed their climb. When they came to a portion of the trail where the bushes had grown together in a sort of tunnel, Annie paused for a moment and stood to the side.

“I love this part. It reminds me of some kind of children’s fairytale… like you’re walking down some mystical pathway that’s going to lead to a castle or a witch’s hut.”

“I can see that. It’s pretty cool.”

Annie stepped back and pulled her phone out to take a picture, waiting for a group of hikers to pass before she could take her shot. “Awesome… I love how the light comes through the cracks and makes this design of sunlight streaks on the ground.”

They continued on up the path, but Annie slowed when she saw a small group of people up the pathway doing what looked like a photo shoot of a man and woman. As they slowly came closer, she realized that the man and woman being photographed were wearing practically nothing. There were some leaves fashioned in a covering over the man’s groin, and the woman had leaves over her breasts and groin area as well.

Embarrassed and averting her eyes, Annie mumbled an “excuse me” as she swiftly walked past the photo shoot. Nate was close behind her and let out a chuckle once they were out of hearing.

“Only in L.A.”

Annie laughed at his comment. “Right?”

“What was that anyway?”

“I think they were supposed to be Adam and Eve.”

“Ah, got it.” Nate chuckled again.

When they finally reached one of the lookout points, the sun was high in the sky. Annie wiped the sweat off her brow with one arm and took another drink of water before again offering him the bottle. After taking a few swigs of water, he pulled up on the bottom of his shirt to wipe his mouth. Annie’s breath caught audibly as she got a glimpse of his very nicely toned abs. Nate looked at her for a moment, his eyes darkening as he dropped his t-shirt, letting it fall back into place.

Taking a step forward, he grabbed Annie around the back of her neck and pulled her forward into a kiss. Caught off guard, it took her a moment to react, but then she gently pushed him away, breaking the kiss. Giving him a sad look, she turned and walked away, coming to stop several feet away from the edge. She closed her eyes for a moment, inhaling deeply of the ocean scent that carried to them with the wind. When she opened them again and glanced to her right, she saw that Nate had joined her and was staring out at the ocean.

“So, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” Annie said.

His gaze swung to her, his eyes searching her face. “Okay… and?”

Looking away, she stared back out at the ocean and took a deep breath, hesitant to continue, knowing that he was going to be hurt by her decision. “Look, Nate… here’s the thing. As much as I want to give you another chance, my head tells me that it’s probably a bad idea. I just don’t trust you enough to believe that you won’t do something like that to me again.”

Nate was quiet, making her glance sideways at him. His eyes were downcast as he studied the ground, but he nodded. She could see his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard.

“I understand,” he said softly.

Sighing, Annie took his hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Look, Nate, I think you’re an amazing guy, but you obviously still have some issues to work out, and it doesn’t really sound like being around me is the best influence on you.”

He didn’t say anything back to that, but only nodded again. Trying to lighten his somber mood, Annie bumped her shoulder gently against his. He finally glanced sideways and gave her a sad half smile before returning to stare out at the ocean.

“I get it, Annie, and you’re right. I know I’m a work in progress, and you deserve much better than that. Of course I’m disappointed, but I understand your decision.”

“I’d still like us to be friends, though,” she said, giving a hopeful smile, but Nate barely looked at her.

Annie tried to think of something she could say that would wipe that miserable look from his face. Before she could come up with anything, he turned and gave her another weak smile, then nodded his head in the direction of the trail. “Wanna keep going?”

“It’s okay… we don’t have to,” Annie said as she moved towards the path to start walking back.

“Suit yourself,” Nate said as he followed her, not saying another word as they walked back the way they had come, passing the photo shoot which was still in full swing.

Nate insisted on walking Annie all the way back to her car and then gave her a warm hug. Before she pulled away from the curb, he leaned in through her passenger window and gave her another sad smile.

“Thanks for spending some time with me today. And please don’t worry about me—I’ve gotten over worse situations before. You have to do what’s best for you. Oh, and speaking of that, I heard that there’s a new talent competition that’s holding auditions next weekend. You should audition. Knock ‘em dead with your vocal skills.”

Annie raised an eyebrow and hummed thoughtfully. “Oh yeah? What’s it called?”

“
The Next American Superstar
. Google it. They have all the audition information online if you’re interested.”

“Thanks for looking out,” she said with a smile. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

Nate nodded and backed out of the window, waving as she drove off down the street. Glancing at her rearview mirror, she saw that he remained standing where he was, still watching her until she finally disappeared from his view.

When she got home, Annie immediately jumped in the shower. She was still rinsing her hair when she heard the phone ring. Quickly, she finished her shower and checked the missed call, pleased to see it was from Casey. Moving into the bedroom, she toweled her hair dry and sat on the bed before pressing the button to return his call. The phone rang twice before he picked up.

“Hey beautiful, I was afraid I missed you.”

Grinning, Annie laid back on her bed as she savored the sound of his voice. “Nope, I was just in the shower. I just got back from hiking.”

“Oh nice, did you have fun?”

“Yeah, you know, good exercise, and you can’t beat the view.”

“Where’d you go?”

“Temescal Canyon.”

“Ah nice, that’s one of my favorite spots. We’ll have to go together sometime when I get back.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely a favorite of mine as well. Do you have a show tonight?”

“Yep, just on my dinner break before I have to start getting ready. But listen, there’s a reason I called.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I have a little proposition for you.”

“Hmm, sounds interesting. Tell me more.”

“Well, we have a show in San Francisco in a couple of weeks…”

He paused and cleared his throat, making Annie smile into the phone at his hesitation.

“So yeah if maybe you haven’t already made plans for that weekend… I was kind of wondering if you might, you know… like, might be interested in coming.”

Annie was silent for a moment, unsure if she’d heard him correctly. Casey continued to ramble on nervously.

“Yeah, I was thinking that you could fly up after you get off work on Friday and check in at my hotel. I can upgrade my room to a suite using some of my AMEX reward points, so there would be a couch I can sleep on if you would prefer, or you can cuddle with me. I swear I’ll be a perfect gentleman and won’t try anything. We can grab a late night dinner and drinks after the show, and then spend the day together on Saturday until my call time. I’ll have a backstage pass for you for Saturday night’s performance, and then you can fly back on Sunday a little after lunch time. What do you think?”

“Um, wow, I uh… hmm… well, that sounds like it could be fun.”

“Look, I know you don’t know me that well, and I feel bad that I had to leave town just as we were starting to get acquainted. I’d love to see you as soon as possible, but it’s going to be a while before I’m back in L.A.”

“I understand… I just wasn’t really expecting this.”

“I’ll pay for the ticket and if you feel uncomfortable at any time, I’m happy to fly you back home right away, no questions asked.”

“No, it’s not that.” Annie bit her lip and stared at the ceiling. “I just don’t know if I should.” The last thing she wanted was a repeat of the Phoenix trip when she had let herself be romanced and duped into thinking everything was perfect and wonderful, just to have her world come crashing down around her when she returned home and found out that Gabe had gotten his ex-girlfriend pregnant and that they were going to give their relationship another go.

“Please? I promise—it’ll be totally innocent. I might want to cuddle with you a little bit, but I swear we’ll keep our clothes on.”

Laughing, Annie felt a warm feeling grow in her belly as she let herself think about cuddling with Casey… without clothes. “Um, it is a very tempting offer, sir, and I’d love to see you dance, and well, I
guess
it wouldn’t be so bad to hang out with you.”

“Hey now.”

“I’m kidding. It’d be great to spend some time with you, but let me sleep on it, okay? Can I let you know in the morning?”

“Yeah, of course. You won’t regret it,” he promised, sounding sincere.

“Hmm, I would hope not. I’ll give it serious consideration.”

“That’s all I can ask for. Well, it’s almost call time so I gotta get going. I’ll wait to hear from you tomorrow.”

“I promise I’ll call you first thing.”

“Cool. Talk to you then.”

After they said their good-byes and hung up, Annie remained lying on the bed. She texted Alex to update him on Casey’s invitation.

Annie:
Casey just invited me to join him for a romantic weekend in San Francisco.

Alex:
Phoenix, Part Two?

Annie:
Ugh, I know, but I sure hope not! He swears he won’t try anything… just wants to spend some time with me.

Alex:
Oh honey, that’s what they ALL say, but go with your gut and do what you gotta do.

Annie:
Do you think I’m stupid for wanting to go?

Alex:
Of course not! Like I said, go with your gut, but just be careful!

Annie:
I will. When am I not careful??

Annie:
On second thought, don’t answer that. :p

Alex:
Heh, I was gonna say…

Annie:
Alright, well I told him I’d sleep on it, but I think I’m probably going to say yes.

Alex:
Cool, I’m sure you’ll have a good time. :)

Annie:
I think I will, too. I’m a little paranoid… but I have a good feeling around him.

Alex:
Totally understandable for you to feel paranoid right now, but try to let your guard down and relax and enjoy yourself.

Annie:
Okay, I’ll try.

Alex:
o.O

Annie giggled at the emoticon he sent her—the one that told her he had one eyebrow raised and would be looking at her pointedly if he was physically in front of her.

Annie:
Lol, okay I WILL.

Alex:
Make me proud, honey.

Annie:
Oh I almost forgot… I went hiking with Nate today and told him I couldn’t see him right now.

Alex:
How’d he take it?

Annie:
Okay, I guess. He wasn’t too happy about it, but he wasn’t angry or anything, other than at himself maybe.

Alex:
Well, I liked him, but it’s probably for the better.

Annie:
Yeah… anyway, he also told me about this new talent competition that is holding auditions next weekend.

Alex:
Oh yeah? Are you going to give it a shot?

Annie:
Thinkin’ about it…

Alex:
You should totally do it! I’ll even come with you and stand in line for hours and hours. We can sing our favorite songs and everyone in line can join in with us. It’ll be like our own episode of Glee.

Annie:
Lol, okay, if I decide to go, I will definitely take you up on that offer. I could use the moral support.

Alex:
You got it, just let me know.

Annie:
Okay, I will. Thank you for being supportive.

Alex:
Like you wouldn’t do the same for me.

Annie:
True, but I probably don’t tell you enuf. Thanks for being a great friend.

Alex:
Likewise, sweetie! Loves!

Annie:
:) I’ll see you at dinner.