Love of a Rockstar (22 page)

After brushing my teeth and getting rid of my raccoon eyes, I remerged in the robe the hotel provided.

“Don’t you know the rules?” Luke asked. “No clothes allowed.”

I smiled as I got back underneath the covers. “Is that so? Well, unfortunately for you, I don’t have the same body as I once did.”

Luke tugged the sash around my waist free. “Don’t be silly. You’re gorgeous,” he said.

The cold air from the open window caressed my naked skin, but all I felt was the warmth from his gaze. My heart turned over in my chest at the amount of love I felt for him.

“You’re something else, Luke McHenry Anderson,” I said.

“Nothing compared to you.” He lifted up the duvet. “Come snuggle with me. I don’t want to go back to reality quite yet.”

He wrapped his arms around me as I curled up next to him. Resting his chin on the top of my head, I pressed my cheek against his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat. Calm washed over me.

“Is your tour nine months again?” I questioned.

He stroked my hair. “Yes, it is.”

I pressed my body against him, hoping that time would stop and I wouldn’t have to let him go for a second time. “That’s awhile,” I breathed.

“It will fly by. I promise.”

We both knew that was a blatant lie. His absence would be felt heavy on my heart each night I crawled into an empty bed. Or when Nil would ask where her father was. Not to mention, I had to face the media storm I’d created when I rejected him on stage.“What are we going to do about the media?” I asked.

“Easy. We won’t say anything. They will find a new story to cover sooner rather than later,” Luke replied.

I placed my hand on his chest and hoisted myself up to stare into his deep blue eyes. “You know why I can’t marry you, right?”

Luke brushed a lock of hair out of my eyes. “Not really, no.” His mouth crinkled into a smile. “But I’ll keep asking you until you say yes.”

He pressed his lips against mine in a soft kiss that quickly deepened. When he pulled back, I whimpered in protest.

“More,” I said.

Luke cupped the back of my head and gave me what I asked. I sighed in pleasure as he kissed me long and slow, learning the curves of my mouth. He nipped my bottom lip between his teeth and sucked it inside. When we came back up for air, heat had pooled between my legs.

“It should be illegal at how good you are at that,” I said breathless.

Luke grinned. “And it should be illegal how sexy you are naked.” Getting off the bed, he came over to my side and scooped me into his arms.

“Where are we going?” I giggled.

“To take a shower. You have been a very dirty girl.”

For the next thirty minutes or so, he showed me just how dirty I had been. Over and over again.

STEPPING OUT OF the bathroom in a haze of steam, I picked my phone off the nightstand and was shocked to find four missed calls from my family plus a smattering of text messages. Either they heard about the proposal or the world was ending.

“Why aren’t you picking up your phone? I need details,”
read the first text from Camille

“You do not tell me anything,”
read the second one from who else? My mother.

The third one though caused my heart to skip in my chest.
“Call me, we need to talk. – Finn”

Luke came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I leaned into his bare chest.

“Why the long face?” he asked.

“Everybody and their cousins wants the scoop on the proposal.”

“Tell them I am a very determined man and just because you said no doesn’t mean I won’t make an honest women out of you yet.”

“You can try, but…” I hedged.

Luke swatted my behind, causing a yelp to escape my throat. “You’re hilarious,” he said. “But seriously M. I do want to marry you.”

I glanced down at the carpeted floor. “I know, but you’re on tour a lot.”

He gripped me by the shoulders and turned me around to face him. His deep blue eyes made it impossible for me to hold back my emotions. And it’s not like I could anyways. Luke always knew what I was feeling.

“And I will always return home to you,” he said.

“Yes, but…”

Luke rolled his eyes before I could continue. “No more buts. We are in this for the long haul whether you like it or not. Besides, things could change.”

My heart leaped in my throat at his cryptic last sentence. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing, just take it one day at a time.” He picked up my bra and handed it to me. “Now get dressed. I want to spend the rest of the day with you and Nil before I leave.”

I watched as he walked out into the living room toward the kitchen. Disappointment stirred inside of me. For a second there, I thought Luke was about to reveal he cancelled his tour. .

“Stupid Marlene,” I murmured to myself.

As I shimmied into my jeans, my cell phone rang. Snapping it open, I answered with a brisk hello.

“I can’t believe you rejected Luke on stage!” Camille yelled.

I pulled the cell phone away from my ear. “Hello to you too.”

“I had no idea you and Luke were even dating again.”

“We weren’t.” I snatched my shirt off the floor. “That’s why I said no.”

I heard Camille smile over the phone. “You weren’t? Does that mean you are now?”

Her question made me take pause. Were Luke and I dating? If so, then I had to tell Finn I wasn’t heading off to Paris with him. Shockingly, I was OK with the idea. More than OK. I loved Luke, always had, and starting a life with him was an exciting thought.

“Maybe,” I said.

“Come on Marlene, stop being vague.”

Camille’s tone was angry, but I knew she was hurt I didn’t call her immediately after the proposal happened. Kind of like how she didn’t inform me about the deal she and Luke brokered four years ago. A creeping headache formed behind my eyes.

“I have to go,” I said.

Camille’s voice rung out over the phone as I hung up on her. I sat down heavily on the bed with my shirt grasped in my hands. Twisting it into a knot, I sorted through the cocktail of emotions stirring inside of me. I wasn’t mad per se, but I did feel betrayed. In those first couple sleep deprived months of Nil’s life, anger the size of the Mississippi Delta hardened my heart against Luke. I didn’t want to be a single mother, and I cursed him for making me one. Who knows what would’ve happened if I saw Luke that day in the hospital room? Maybe my life would have turned out exactly the same, but I didn’t find it fair that I had no say in the matter before Camille jumped in and assumed she knew best.

Luke popped his head around the door. When he saw I was shirtless in only a bra, his lips turned up into a wolfish grin. “Do you not want to leave this hotel room?”

“Not really, no,” I said, bluntly.

The bed dipped as he sat down next to me, pulling me into his arms. “I told you this once and I am going to keep telling you until you believe me. I am. Not. Going. Anywhere,” he said slowly.

I breathed in his masculine scent of Old Spice. It was a scent I had banned in my home because it reminded me too much of Luke. A whiff of it would set me off on a crying jag.

“Well, you are physically,” I said like the smartass I am. “But I get your point.”

Luke laughed softly against my hair. I scooted out of his embrace and slipped on my t-shirt.

“Let’s go.”

He nodded grimly. “It’s about that time, isn’t it?”

We reluctantly got off the bed and stared in the direction of the front door. Both of us not ready to face what was behind it.

I slipped my hand into Luke’s, squeezing it in reassurance. “It will be OK.”

He kissed the top of my head. “I know, but I hate this part of my job.”

That was the one thing I never understood about Luke. He supposedly hated the attention to be focused on him, yet he chose a career which made that virtually impossible, then proposed in front of thousands of people. The man was a walking contradiction.

“It seems like you didn’t really think this through,” I said.

“Not really, no. I was just so happy to have you and Nil back in my life, I wanted to shout it from the rooftops.” Luke’s posture deflated. “And I did.”

I laughed at his forlorn expression. He looked like a little boy who got his Tonka Truck taken away because he didn’t know how to share.

“Unfortunately, it didn’t really go the way you planned,” I pronounced.

His looked down at me with possession in his eyes. “No, but there was never any doubt that I was yours and you were mine.”

A ball of lust uncurled in my stomach, sending warmth to radiate between my legs. This was ridiculous. We were never going to leave this hotel room if we kept stripping each other naked.

I playfully smacked his arm. “Stop, looking at me like that. We have to get home.”

“Like what?” He grabbed me by the hips and pulled me into him. “Five more minutes won’t hurt,” he murmured into my neck.

I sucked in a breath as he kissed the spot behind my ear that sent my nerves on high alert. My eyelids fluttered closed in pleasure. I felt his hands run down the length of my back to my ass, cupping it and drawing me closer to him. His erection brushed against my thigh.

“Luke, we can’t,” I said breathless.

“Says who?”

At that moment, his cell phone buzzed loudly in his pocket. My eyes snapped at open at his flurry of curse words. “Who is it?” I questioned.

Luke looked down at the call screen with frustration. “Sorry, it’s my manager.” He laid a quick kiss on my lips. “I have to answer this.”

Luke wandered off to the other side of the living room with a noticeable bulge in his pants. I giggled as I smoothed down my t-shirt and fluffed up my hair. It was going to be hard not to have sex again for nine months. Compared to my previous three year dry spell though, nine months was nothing or at least that’s what I tried to convince myself. I sauntered into the kitchen in search of something to eat. After the strenuous activity from last night, my stomach grumbled. Unfortunately the kitchen was empty of anything food related. Weird. High rollers like Luke usually put in a special order to have the fridge stocked with their favorite foods when they arrived.

“What are you looking for?”

Taken by surprise, I banged my head on an open cabinet. “Fuck,” I said as I turned around.

Luke was leaning against the doorframe with a smirk on face. “I forgot how jumpy you are.”

“I am not jumpy.”

“Yes you are.” He brushed past me and opened the freezer. Grabbing ice and a hand towel, he applied the cold compress against my head. “Nice going, spaz.”

“Thanks, I try.” I reached up and took over holding the compress. “What did Sebastian say?”

He shrugged. “Nothing important. Just that a couple media outlets want to talk to me. Oh, and a car is waiting outside.”

I threw the bag of peas back in the freezer as the throbbing ebbed. It was almost 9 am, only ten hours until Luke left. I wanted to spend those hours as a family.

“Alright, I’m ready.”

I LICKED MY lips nervously as the elevator descended to the lobby. Luke and I were sticking to the no comment rule, but I didn’t like the idea of a thousand questions being asked at once. I looked over at Luke whose face was as expressionless as stone. Maybe that’s what I should do. I relaxed my expression into a blank slate.

“What are you doing?” he questioned.

“Remaining collected.”

“Babe, you look as if you are about to murder somebody.”

Luke collapsed into a fit of laughter at my sulking. “It’s not funny,” I whined.

“It is a little bit.”

His laughter was infectious, and pretty soon I felt my lips stretch into a smile. “You suck”

Luke laid an obnoxiously loud kiss on my cheek. “But you love me.”

I did, more than I wanted to admit. The elevator doors binged open, causing my breath to hitch in my throat. It was show time. Luke and I linked hands as we entered the lobby.

“Is the car outside?” I asked.

“Yup, it will be right outside the front doors.”

My muscles relaxed a bit at the thought of an escape route if things got too hectic with the reporters. We quickly approached the revolving door. To my naked eye, it didn’t seem as if there were too many people outside. At least not the hoard I was excepting. The bright sunlight shined down upon us when we hit the sidewalk. A few young female fans swarmed Luke with pens ready. I blended into the background as he signed various objects. Looking around, I was relieved that there wasn’t a reporter in sight. Maybe the proposal wasn’t that big of deal and we blew it out of proportion.