California Dream (11 page)

What made her different, though, was the way she said yes. She wanted him because he was Roddy O’Neill the man, not Roddy O’Neill the rock star. She responded to his kiss and his touch because of
him
, not for his image, money, or fame. He knew she had nothing to gain from their encounter, and had only slept with him to please herself, even though she expected their relationship to last no more than a couple of hours. She asked him for nothing, and wouldn’t even tell him her name. She was a rare find indeed.

So, now she was there, sleeping in Roddy’s bed. He already knew he wanted her to stay. In that moment, he realized the two-week vacation was a ploy he had concocted to fool himself.

He wondered if she realized it, and suddenly worried he would not be able to convince her to stay. He knew she would not want to be kept by him; she was independent and proud. He supposed he could suggest she find a job, but knew it wasn’t a viable solution. He certainly wasn’t going to take money from her for rent and bills, and the moment the paparazzi got wind of her, they would hound her until she got fired or quit. The two of them could figure something out, he was sure, but in the interim, he had to make her see things his way. It came as somewhat of a surprise, but he realized he wanted to take care of her.

Roddy lit a cigarette and stared up at the sky. He could no longer lie to himself, but it might not be so easy to bring Lee around to his way of thinking.

Chapter eleven

Lee awakened the next morning with California sun straining to get past the curtains in Roddy’s bedroom. Roddy lay stretched out on the bed beside her, one leg proprietarily thrown over hers, and his fingers were tangled in her hair. As this was the first time she had seen him sleeping, she took the opportunity to study him.

Like most people, he looked innocent in sleep. All worries were erased from his features. His mouth looked soft and sensual, and she remembered the feel of it on her skin. After taking the time to admire his face, she let her eyes travel downward, first stopping at his tattoos. They seemed to take on a life of their own on the sleeping man, and she wondered what had prompted him to acquire them. She knew at least one of them had been there since his not-so-innocent youth, and she smiled and let her eyes move on. They followed his sinewy arms, skimmed over his smooth chest, and paused again to admire his legs. They were muscular, but not big, attached to lean hips that moved in all the right ways. Lee was certain she would never tire of him.

Unfortunately, in all likelihood, he would soon tire of her. Lee had followed his escapades in magazine articles for years, and knew he was not a one-woman man. She didn’t expect him to change his ways just for her, as well as she knew she wouldn’t settle for less than a whole relationship with any man. Eventually, Roddy would crave variety, and that would mean the end.

She gave herself a mental shake. There was no point in letting her mind go there. She was in Beverly Hills for a two-week vacation, and once she flew home, that would really be the end of things between her and Roddy O’Neill. It was pointless to think about anything beyond those two weeks.

Of its own accord, her right hand reached out to very gently stroke his thigh, the moves almost involuntary. She had to smile when Roddy’s body immediately responded to her touch, and she nuzzled into his shoulder and simply stared at him.

Lee didn’t realize he was awake until, with his eyes still closed, his lips sought hers while his arms curled around her. She enjoyed the feel of just kissing him for awhile, until he covered her body with his and finally plunged into her. They moved together, stoking the fire between them to a fever pitch. Lee felt herself taken higher and higher, closer and closer to the precipice, when Roddy suddenly stopped.

Her body strained and writhed beneath him, and her eyes flew open to gaze hungrily into his. What she saw there nearly pushed her over the edge on its own.

Roddy rested on his elbows above her, still locked inside her, and brought his face to within inches of hers. “We need to talk,” he said evenly, as if they were sitting across the dinner table from one another. Only the look in his eyes betrayed him.

He laughed a little, which seemed almost painful. “I mean, I don’t want you to go home. I want this to be more than a vacation. I want you to stay with me.”

Lee was afraid for a moment she would faint. She blinked a couple of times to make sure she wasn’t dreaming, and then caught his gaze again. “Why are you asking me this now?”

He smiled and shifted his hips just a bit. “Because if you say yes, I’m in the perfect position to celebrate. But if you say no, I can try to coerce you into saying yes.”

Her legs tightened around him. “You fight dirty.”

His eyes darkened. “Just give me an answer, Lee. I want you to stay. I don’t want you to worry about money and who pays for what. And I don’t want to hear about kept women. I just want you to be with me, and right now the only way it’s going to work is if you let me take care of you.”

She was stunned, but he obviously wasn’t giving her a chance to think it over, which she supposed was the point. He just poised above her, waiting for her answer.

Lee had a short argument with herself. It took less than a second for it to sink in that Roddy wanted her to stay. While that made her giddy, she did not want to be anyone’s kept woman. It would seem a little odd to go out and get a lousy job with a paltry paycheck, which was all she was qualified for, while living in Roddy’s palatial mansion, though. And how would she get there? On the bus? She doubted if they even allowed buses on Roddy’s street. If she wanted to be honest with herself, she enjoyed independence, but did not really love her job. It was what she did to keep a roof over her head, but it did not really fulfill her. She did not envision working in the library until retirement. On the other hand, being with Roddy made her feel truly alive for the first time in her life. It was easy to picture waking up beside him every morning and falling asleep in his arms every night.

He buried his face in the soft cloud of her hair and wrapped his arms tightly around her. “I don’t want anyone else, Lee. I haven’t even looked at another woman since the night we met, and I certainly haven’t touched anyone. It’s only been you since then, I swear it.”

He was so serious, she let go of her doubts and smiled at last.

“Okay,” she agreed, throwing her pride and independence to the winds. It was worth it if she could follow her heart’s desire, and she felt unbelievably happy and free as she did so.

Roddy simply stared at her for several seconds, and then he kissed her to the point of distraction. His hips began moving again, rebuilding the fires and sealing the pact that made her his. Lee gave herself up with total abandon, carrying him along on her tidal wave of passion, and they crashed together in ecstasy.

Lee smiled to herself as he held her afterwards, and hoped they could have all their serious discussions in a similar manner.



They were barely out of bed when Roddy urged Lee to call Mr. Eggers with the news. Her boss expressed disappointment, but told her he knew something was afoot from the day she came back to work after the concert. Lee knew he noticed she had changed after that night, and understood he wasn’t very thrilled about it. Even though he wished her happiness, he would have been more enthusiastic if she hadn’t run off with the likes of Roddy O’Neill.

Debbie, of course, was excited enough for three people. She immediately offered to dispose of Lee’s apartment and everything in it, between breathless congratulations.

“Congratulations aren’t really necessary,” Lee said mildly. “I’m not getting married. And I’ve got enough in my savings to keep my rent paid for awhile. I think I’ll hold onto the apartment for now.”

“Oh.” Debbie sounded bewildered. “Why?”

“Just in case,” was Lee’s vague response. She didn’t really want to put her worst fears into words. “Please take my plants, though. There aren’t many.”

“Sure.” Debbie sounded a bit distracted, no doubt wondering why Lee would want to keep a tiny apartment in Minneapolis when she now lived in the lap of luxury in Beverly Hills. “I hope you won’t forget about me.”

“Of course I won’t!” Lee said firmly. “You’re my best friend.”

Despite the small bit of doubt that prompted her to keep her apartment for awhile, she felt incredibly good about the world at large. The months of loneliness and pining for Roddy were over. They were together now because he wanted her to stay.



Roddy was thrilled Lee had so easily agreed to move in. Somehow over the past few months of her absence, she had become incredibly important. Now that he had her, he did not want to lose her until he was damn good and ready.

He didn’t believe his current euphoric state of mind would last, but there was no reason to let Lee in on that. He would see to it she was well provided for when the time came for her to move on. Since she had given up her job and her home to be with him, he could do nothing less.

Roddy didn’t understand why he already felt sort of guilty about it. There was no reason for that. He hadn’t made Lee any lasting promises, and she hadn’t asked him to. She knew the score, and the rules of the game. Hadn’t she been playing it like an expert since the night they met? If she stayed true to form, he wouldn’t have anything to worry about. Just because she was moving in didn’t mean she would start making all sorts of demands. Lee would keep things in perspective because she was too smart to actually fall in love with a womanizing jerk like him, wasn’t she?

Roddy decided he didn’t really want to think about that sort of thing right then. He was far too happy. There was a beautiful woman sharing his bed who wasn’t a model, actress, or singer, and she wasn’t even aspiring to be one. She was simply warm, giving, and passionate. Every man on earth wanted what Roddy O’Neill now had, and he wasn’t going to spoil his good fortune by worrying about where it was going in the future.

They spent their first few days together doing almost nothing. They lay by the pool and made love for hours on end, and got to know each other a little more. Roddy was thrilled that she settled into his home so easily, and knew with more certainty each day that asking her to stay had been the right decision.

He wasn’t used to such inactivity, though, and after a couple of days of it, he felt restless. It was time to get back to work. Despite their attempts to make light of his situation, the band was impatient to get back to business. Roddy had to admit he was beginning to feel that way himself. Eddie had been absolutely right about Lee being able to cure what ailed him, but now that she had done so, he was itching to get back into the thick of things.

Without knowing why it was so important, since he certainly wasn’t in love, Roddy worried about Lee’s reaction when he broke the news. She would be left alone for several hours a day when he returned to work, and he didn’t know how she would feel about it. Roddy had angered many women with his careless behavior in the past, but when they didn’t like what he did, his reaction had always been to smile and tell them to find another man. He knew he would never say anything of the sort to Lee, probably because she would simply leave without a backward glance.

Roddy chose a quiet moment to broach the subject of work. They were relaxing together on a chaise after taking an afternoon swim, and the radio played softly in the background when he turned to her with a rather grave expression.

Always sensitive to his moods, Lee frowned and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I hope,” he told her with a smile. “It’s just that you might not like what I have to say.”

Lee’s frown deepened, and he could already see her mind starting to sort through unpleasant possibilities. “Spit it out,” she ordered on a sigh.

Roddy gulped and feared the worst. “The last few days have been great, but I…uh…I have to go back to work.”

“And?”

“I won’t be able to spend so much time with you anymore.” Roddy let out a long, shaky breath. “I want to show you the studio and stuff, of course, but if I’m going to really work, I won’t be able to have you there every day.”

“And you’re afraid I’ll have a problem with that?”

“Well…yeah.”

Roddy was flatly surprised at her incredulous look. He had frankly expected some sort of tantrum. He thought he would hear something along the lines of:
Why can’t you take me with you?
I won’t be in the way. I promise. I’ll just sit in the background and watch, and you won’t even know I’m there.

Instead, Lee simply said, “Roddy,” and covered his hand with hers. “It’s so sweet that you’re concerned about me being here alone, but I know you have to work. I know your career is demanding, and that sometimes you’ll even have to leave town without me. Believe it or not, I took that into consideration when I agreed to stay here. I was actually surprised that you’ve spent so much time with me over the past few days.”

A slow, pleased smile spread over Roddy’s features. “You’re not afraid you’ll get bored? I know you don’t know anyone out here.”

“Roddy, this is LA. Hollywood. Beverly Hills. Rodeo Drive. How could I be bored here? I’m from Minneapolis, remember?”

“Minneapolis isn’t that bad.”

“It’s a great city, if it’s not winter,” she agreed. “But the whole LA scene is new to me, so I’m actually kind of excited to go out and explore it.”

Lee looked doubtful now. “I’m not so sure about that. Why would anyone want to take my picture? I’m just a library clerk from Minneapolis. I don’t want to be in the limelight.”