Let's Stay Together (42 page)

65

P
atrick might not be my only audience for long,
Lauren thought.
On the flight back I had a sudden craving for Alaskan salmon sprinkled with broken Zagnut bars. I tolerate salmon, but I cannot stand Zagnut bars because they get stuck in my teeth. I have to get to a drugstore to make sure. I should go now, but I’m not as impatient as I once was. Tomorrow. We’ll have plenty of tomorrows. Tomorrow we’ll find out if I’m going to be someone’s mama.

She stood and shimmied out of the gown then posed in front of him in only panties and a bra.

“Bravo!” Patrick cried. “Encore! More leg! I wish I had flowers to throw on the stage!”

Patrick’s phone rang from inside his jacket.

“Are they kidding?” Lauren moaned. “We just got back!”

Patrick pulled the phone from a jacket pocket. “It might be Papa.” He flipped the phone open. “Hello?” He squinted. “It’s Todd.” He handed the phone to Lauren.

“How’d you get this number, Todd?” Lauren asked.

“When my favorite actress won’t answer her own phone,” Todd said, “I have to find other ways.”

“But you’re interrupting my show,” Lauren said.

“What show?” Todd asked.

“The one I’m giving my husband.” She pulled a bra strap off her shoulder. “He’s about to throw flowers onto the stage.”

Patrick removed his pants and tossed them at her feet.

“He’s just thrown a thousand-dollar pair of pants at me, so talk fast,” Lauren said.

“Lauren,” Todd said, “
Saturday Night Live
wants you!”

What?
“Really? Why?”

“Erika James imploded after the last show and cursed everyone out,” Todd said.

“Why?” Lauren asked.

“I don’t know if you’ve been watching this season or not, but she flubs a lot of lines, even though they’re written on the cards,” Todd said. “They confronted her about this, and she went off. She trashed her dressing room and quit. They tried to get her back, but she vanished into thin air. I know that’s redundant, as skinny as she is, but isn’t that wonderful? Erika James is gone, and they want
you!
”

“They need you
this
weekend, Lauren,” Todd said. “Isn’t that great? You’re going to be a star again!”

This is happening too fast!
“
This
weekend?” She watched Patrick remove his socks and shirt.

“You’ll get to play ‘the Loneliest Woman in the World’!” Todd cried. “You’ll get to do live comedy. Isn’t that fantastic? And when Chazz cohosts next month, wow! The ratings are going to go through the roof!”

She smiled as Patrick removed his T-shirt.
But I’m no longer lonely. I don’t want to play that lonely role again, and if I’m carrying another little person in me, I won’t have time to be lonely.

“And the amount of money they’re offering is almost as much as what you made on your first two movies
combined,
” Todd said. “This is your lucky day!”

I’ve already had my lucky day, and I’m looking at him. I love him because he’s not part of that false Hollywood world. He’s from the real world. Why would I ever go back to unreality? This little apartment, this man—
She stifled a burp.
Wow. Now I want strawberry Pop-Tarts with mustard and chili sauce on them. I have to be pregnant. This place, this man, this baby, with her strange food cravings—these make up my world now. I like that word. Now. I need to let now happen more often and not worry so much about then.

“Lauren? Are you still there?”

“Yes, Todd.”
Barely.

“You haven’t missed any rehearsals, and they’ve got big plans for you, huge plans,” Todd said. “You’ll need to show up Tuesday morning and—”

“Tell them . . . ,” Lauren interrupted. “Tell them that I’m flattered they would consider me, but I am officially retired now. Forever.”

“You have to be joking!” Todd cried. “This is what you’ve always wanted!”

“I thought I did, but I don’t.” She took Patrick’s hand and pulled him off the couch.

“Lauren, this is your last shot!” Todd cried. “If you turn this down, no one will ever want you again!”

I only need one person to want me from now on. Oh, and a child or two to need me.
She led Patrick into the bedroom. “I know that, but I have to do this.”

“What am I going to do with you?” Todd asked.

She pointed at the bed. “Nothing, Todd.”

Patrick slid under the covers. A moment later he threw his boxers toward the closet.

“I won’t need your services anymore,” Lauren said. “Thank you for all you’ve done for me, but—”

“Lauren, listen to reason for the first time in your life!” Todd interrupted.

She removed her bra and panties, and as Patrick held up the covers, she slid in beside him. “I
am
listening to reason. What I have is golden. I won’t give that up.”

“But, Lauren!” Todd cried.

“Good-bye, Todd,” Lauren said. “Please don’t call me again.” She snapped the phone closed and set it on the nightstand.

“Everything okay?” Patrick asked, his hot right hand moving down her back.

“I have never been better,” Lauren said.

“What did Todd want?” Patrick asked.

“He told me that
Saturday Night Live
has an opening,” Lauren said.

Patrick’s hand stopped moving. “And you just turned it down? I thought that’s what you’ve always wanted.”

Lauren rubbed her nose on his chest. “This is all I want. This is all I need.”
And what I think is growing inside me is more than I’ll ever need, and she won’t stare into mirrors. She’ll stare into her daddy’s eyes, and she’ll watch her daddy’s hands. She’s going with us while we work, and that child will know how to repair anything and everything. And if she just happens to want to be in the class play, I’ll let her perform—but only once. Just to see. As tall as Patrick is, I hope she’s tall and plays the tree.

She let her hand wander around his stomach. “Do you mind if I spend the rest of my life earning your love?”

“Earning
my
love?” Patrick said. “We’ll earn each other’s love.”

“That’s going to be so much fun.” She kissed his neck. “I have to know something, though. Why did you
really
pick St. Louis for our first date?”

Patrick sighed. “I thought it was halfway between here and LA, but I was off by about five hundred miles.”

She moved on top of him, her knees tight against his hips. “Don’t know much about geography, huh?”

“No,” Patrick said. “I do know about biology, though.” He lifted her booty slightly until he was inside her.

“Yes, you do.”
Do I tell him now? No. I can wait. I’m finally learning patience. This “now” with only my husband is too special.
She started a slow grind. “Five hundred miles off. I thought you were good at measuring things.”

Patrick massaged her breasts. “Well, you were rushing me on the phone—”

Lauren grabbed his hands tightly. “Me? Rush you? Never!” She laughed as she kissed his hands. “I think you picked St. Louis on purpose.”

“It was a random moment,” Patrick said. “Omaha just didn’t sound as romantic as St. Louis did.”

She dropped his hands and braced herself on his chest. “It wasn’t a random moment, Patrick. You don’t do random. You were trying to meet me halfway, weren’t you?”

“I was trying,” Patrick said. “I just wasn’t succeeding.”

Lauren sat up straighter and arched her back. “But meeting someone halfway defines true love, doesn’t it?”

“It does,” Patrick said.

“We met each other halfway.”
We shared each other’s worlds, and his world “won.”
“Do you care to meet me halfway in this bed for the rest of the day?”

He sat up and wrapped his arms around her. “I’ll need lots of rehearsal time. I’m not much of an actor.”

“You’re too honest to be an actor,” Lauren said.

“That’s a good thing, right?” He nibbled on her neck.

“It’s a very good thing,” Lauren said. “Do you think you could take a lifetime of directions from me?”

“I could,” Patrick said, “but I might do some directing myself, too. I have plenty of ideas.”

“Codirectors,” Lauren said, resuming her grind. “That’s usually a problem.”

“Not when you’re raising children,” Patrick said.

Lauren bit her lip.
And we might be raising a child very soon. We’ll have to get more Pop-Tarts soon. I know we have mustard and ketchup. Oh, salmon and Zagnut bars, too.
“Give me some directions.”

“Put your hot body on mine,” Patrick said, smiling. “Let me . . .
feel the love.
”

Lauren laughed. “Oh,
I got this.
I think I’m going to love this movie. Is there lots of sex?”

“Yes,” Patrick said. “But mostly, there will be a lot of love.”

“I think I can live with that,” Lauren said.

KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

 

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Copyright © 2015 by J.J. Murray

 

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ISBN: 978-1-6177-3480-9

ISBN-10: 1-61773-480-2
First Kensington Mass Market Edition: May 2015

 

eISBN-13: 978-1-61773-481-6
eISBN-10: 1-61773-481-0
Kensington Electronic Edition: May 2015