Beyond The Checkered Flag (5 page)

“I don’t know what my future holds.” He swallowed hard. “But
I do know I wanna hold you, sugar. In my heart. In my soul. And in my arms. Can
you give me that much?” he quietly asked, his love for her shining in the
bright blue depths of his eyes.

The lonely only-child who’d tumbled all over West Virginia,
Pennsylvania, and Ohio with parents who tolerated each other at best had
finally found her place. Had finally found where she belonged. “I think I can
do that.”  

“Well, okay then.” A lazy smile spread across his face,
lighting his beautiful eyes. Eyes she wanted to look into every day for the
rest of her life. “I think we should celebrate.”

“Oh, do you now?” Lauren playfully replied, cocking her hips
to tease against his morning erection.

“Oh yeah,” Bobby Wayne told her, tempting her mouth with a
sweetly, sexy kiss. “Definitely celebrate,” he added, before sinking deeply
into her. “Maybe until dinner time.”

Lauren woke to incessant pounding on their front door. She
slid out of the bed. Slipped into his shirt and after buttoning it, quickly headed
down the stairs. She opened the front door. Her breath backed up in her throat.
“
Jeremy?
”

She couldn’t believe her business manager was standing here!
And looking none too happy for his effort. “What are you doin’ here?” She
tugged the collar of Bobby Wayne’s shirt closer, mindful of the fact she was
naked underneath it.

“Yeah, yeah, big surprise, babe. What the hell are
you
doin’ here?” he demanded. “I left you a hundred messages on your phone. And you
didn’t call me back once.”

“I told you. I had to go home.”

“Some humble home, babe,” he sneered, as he looked over her
shoulder into the grand entry and beyond. He snorted. “So much for your
humble
roots. Your
rambling
childhood going from one double-wide to another.”

She lifted her chin. “You knew Bobby Wayne and I owned this
house.”

“Oh, yeah. You and the
infamous
Bobby Wayne Forsythe.”
 

“You had no right to come here.” He wanted to be pissy? Well,
she could be pissy, too. “And you have
no
right to talk about my
relationship with him!”

“Oh, I have every right,” he fired back, pushing his face
close to hers.

“Lauren? Who’s down there?”

“Nobody,” she called over her shoulder.  

“Oh, nice one, babe.” Fury burned in Jeremy’s eyes as he
grabbed her chin. “So now I’m
nobody
to you?”

She jerked her head from his grasp. “That’s not what I
meant.” Bobby Wayne was walking around upstairs. He’d be pulling on his jeans
and then a tee shirt. She had to get rid of Jeremy. They would have a final
confrontation, but it wouldn’t be here.

And it wouldn’t be in front of Bobby Wayne.

“That’s not what you were sayin’ a month ago when you were
screamin’ out my name.”

“I
never
screamed out your name!” she hissed,
embarrassed and outraged he’d stoop to such lowness. And such lies!

“Look,” she pressed her palm to his chest. She had every
intention of pushing him right back out the front door he’d barged in. “We’ll
talk, okay? Just not here.”

He didn’t budge.

“You think you can just roll me over?” His ruddy face contorted
with anger. “Use me and lead me on?” His voice rising.

“Jeremy,
please
,” she begged. She shot a worried
glance over her shoulder. Bobby Wayne had never liked Jeremy. Had always
thought him an opportunistic leech who’d never had her best interests at heart
– and now she wondered if he might have been right.

“Oh, we’ll talk, babe.
Right now.”
 

“No! We won’t.”

“We’ll talk about your picture all over the fuckin’ internet!”

“My picture is always out there somewhere.” She didn’t have
to turn around to know Bobby Wayne was near. She could smell him. Could hear
his boots hitting the treads as he jogged down the stairs. And there was the
determined fire in Jeremy’s eyes confirming it, the glint that warned he was
itching for a confrontation – and not just with her.

“Oh, yeah?” He swung his head toward her. “Is it always out
there with you
in bed with him
?”

“
What?
” she gasped.

“What the hell are you doin’ here?” Bobby Wayne demanded,
dropping a possessive arm over her shoulder.

“I might ask you the same thing,” Jeremy sneered.

“You don’t have the right,” Bobby Wayne fired back and the
pissing contest was underway.

“What pictures in bed?” Lauren demanded, but Jeremy ignored
her.

“Oh, that’s rich for a good ol’ boy who can only make left
turns.”

“Hey!” Lauren hissed. “You have no right to diss on Bobby’s
career.”

“Get the hell outta my house,” Bobby Wayne growled, pushing
by her. “Or I’ll show you a right that’ll have you seein’ stars.
If
you’re lucky.”

“Stop this now!” She pushed her way between them. “
What
pictures?
” she nearly shouted. What if someone had a telephoto lens trained
on one of the windows in the house? She and Bobby Wayne hadn’t been very discreet,
mainly because Harrington House sat in the middle of a lot of private property
–
their
private property — but property that could have easily been
trespassed upon to get intimate pictures of the two of them.

“These ones.” Jeremy gleefully flipped open his notebook. His
finger shooting picture after picture across the screen. Pictures of her and
Bobby Wayne when they’d been out on their shopping day. Pictures of them
laughing… kissing… holding onto each other like two people in love. Someone had
recognized them even behind sunglasses and hats. And she’d foolishly thought
their disguises ingenious.

God! She was such a fool.

“Who the hell took these pictures?” Bobby Wayne demanded.
“I’ll sue ’em for invasion of privacy.”

“I don’t understand.” Someone had breached their privacy.

“They’re pretty self-explanatory, babe.”

Lauren’s head snapped up.

“All the guys who’d come onto you while we were on the road
and you never jumped on one of their invites.” He shook his head slowly side to
side. “All the time you led
me
on—”

“I never led you on, Jeremy.”

“What the hell’s he talkin’ about?” Bobby Wayne demanded.

“Oh, hell, yeah, you did, babe. And I was actually crazy
enough about you to be worried sick. And here you are,” he sneered as his arm
swung wide, his finger sliding across the notepad’s screen to show more pictures.
“Putting out for him, the asshole who broke your heart.”

“Hey!” Bobby Wayne shouldered by her, but Lauren pushed him
back. She grabbed the notepad from Jeremy’s hand. She stared at the slideshow
of pictures of her and Bobby Wayne when they’d gone to purchase his bed.
Pictures of him on top of her. Her slipping off his cowboy hat like a woman slowly
unwrapping a treasured gift. Pictures of her lying underneath him with her
fingers sliding into his hair, looking up into his face with all her love for
him pooling in her eyes. And him looking down at her with the same love in his
eyes. And his, sexy possessive smile as his fingers slipped into her hair. The
whole world reduced to just him… and her… and the love they felt for each
other.

“Oh my god,” she whispered, as she stared at the photo and
reality sunk in. They were pictures taken from all angles, each one an erotic
work of art from a gifted photographer, not just a fluke fan picture  taken
from a phone and posted on one of their rabid fan websites.  But more than the
talent and quality of the camera and the photographer who took them was the
look in Bobby Wayne’s eyes. And hers.

Looks filled with love and desire and genuine caring.

“Do you know how many fuckin’ phone calls I fielded in the
last three days?” Jeremy snarled. “How many newspapers and reporters called me
wanting to know about your
big
reconciliation here?”

“That’s none of your fuckin’ business.” Bobby Wayne pushed against
Lauren’s shoulder.

“Bobby Wayne!” She could handle this herself.

And still he pushed against her. “Get the hell outta here.”

“Jeremy, please, just go,” she begged, as her heart pounded
in her chest.

But he didn’t. He stood toe to toe with her. “You were
supposed to be tellin’ this asshole goodbye, remember?”

Bobby Wayne stopped pushing against her and Lauren was
helpless to stop the train wreck about to happen.

“You said you were over him.”

“I never said that!”

Bobby Wayne stood stiff behind her.

“Yes, you did.”

“No, I didn’t!” And Lauren’s heart was thundering around in
her chest, pinging off her rib cage, plummeting through her stomach. This
wasn’t supposed to be happening! She wanted more time with Bobby Wayne. And private
time with Jeremy to tell him things were over.  “Just go,
please
!”

“We’re supposed to be out on the road. You and me, babe.
Together.”

“Is that true, Lauren?” Bobby Wayne tersely demanded.

“No!” She told Bobby Wayne. “I never said that, Jeremy. I
told you I wanted out. I left the tour.” How much more did she have to do to
make her point any clearer?  

“You and me, babe. We were goin’ places.”

“Is that true?” Bobby Wayne demanded. His voice was a gruff
growl near her ear.

Lauren turned to Bobby Wayne. “Please,” she begged as tears
filled her eyes. “I can explain.”

“What’s to explain? I’m the asshole you wanted rid of.” And
she saw the hurt in his eyes.

“That’s not true, Bobby Wayne.” Lauren’s heart was twisted
into a pain-filled knot in her chest.

“Is that why you came back?” Gone was the soft glow of love
in his eyes, replaced with fury. “Is that why you came back here? To be rid of
me?”  

“Why else?” Jeremy taunted. “It isn’t like you cared about
her. It isn’t like you came after her. You didn’t want her and I do. And she’s
with me now. In
every
way.”

“Jeremy!” Lauren spun around. “Go! Now!” She pushed at his
chest.

“Is that true?” Bobby Wayne grabbed her arm. Spun her around.
He glared down at her.  “Were you fuckin’ him and then fuckin’ me?”

Her head snapped back at his crude description of their love.
“Bobby Wayne, please.”

“All that talk upstairs, that was just bullshit?”

“No.
No!
” Tears sprang into her eyes. “I love—”

“That’s right, asshole,” Jeremy talked over her. “She’s back
on the road as soon as she unloads you and this little humble abode—”

“Jeremy!
Go!
” she pointed a finger toward the door.

“Hey! I’m just sayin’ what he needs to hear. What
you
should have been tellin’ him instead of fu—”

“
Go!
” she yelled, giving him one hard push. The
tinniest bit of weight lifted from her chest when he marched out the front
door.

It was short lived.

Bobby Wayne spun her around. “You’re goin’ back out on the
road?” he demanded as soon as the door slammed shut.

“No.”

“You’re with him?” His questions were rapid fire. “He’s your
man?”

“No.
No!
”

“You were though, weren’t you?” And she heard the accusation
his voice.

Lauren fought the tears. “Yes,” she fired back, needing to
hurt him like he was hurting her.  “Yes, I slept with Jeremy, but I didn’t
marry him. Not like you did with Barbara Jean. And I surely didn’t bring him to
our
house and sleep with him in
our
bedroom!” God! That still
hurt.

“But you did sleep with him.”

The air crackled with accusation. And hurt. And dreams being
crushed, being ground to dust at their feet.

“Well?” his voice rose. “Did you? Did you?” he yelled.

“Yes!” And she was never more embarrassed and ashamed in her
life. And hurt. Devastated.

His face turned to stone.

“We were divorced,” she rushed on. “You were remarried and I—
I—” The words jammed up into her throat. She had been lonely. Broken-hearted,
hurt beyond anything she could have ever imagined. The man she loved had moved
on without a thought or care about her… and she’d tried to do the same.

His lips pressed into a thin, hard line and Lauren fought the
fear she’d pushed beyond what she should have. Said more than she should have.
And was going to lose more than she could bear.

“Bobby Wayne, please.”

“I’m outta here.” He pushed by her.

“Bobby Wayne!” She grabbed his arm, but he shrugged her off.
With quick strides he walked through the house to gather his keys. The click of
his boot heels on the stone floor sounded a death knell for their future.

“Bobby Wayne,” she cried out, running after him as he quickly
gathered what he needed and headed toward the front door. “Let me explain. It’s
not like Jeremy said. I—”

“I don’t care,” he shouted. He spun around. His face was a
mask of fury. “I refuse to accept second-place
anywhere
. Especially here.
You want out? You got it.”

“I don’t want out!” she cried. She wanted Bobby Wayne and
what they had here. This second chance at love.

“Don’t do this!
Please.
”  Her heart was breaking.
Tears were flooding her eyes. The darkness of despair was encroaching on her
vision, threatening to smother her.

“Do whatever you want with the place. I no longer care,” he
told her before walking out the front door, slamming it in his wake.

“Bobby Wayne, please!” Lauren cried out as she opened the
door, running after him. “
Please!
” she cried out.