Summer Sky (32 page)

Dylan huffs. "Jem. She's with Jem. Everything will come out soon, and then you'll see."

"You mean Steve and her manager will fix everything?" I snap.

There's a long pause; this isn't the time for this.

"I'm tired, Dylan, and I've had a lot to drink. Call me when you get back to England."

"You do believe me?" His question comes straight back without a pause. "You mean so much to me! After fighting for you so hard, why would I fuck this up?”

"Maybe. I don't know, shit Dylan, I'm drunk. Yeah, probably I do believe you.”

The sound of Dylan exhaling comes down the phone. “When I get back, we can talk this through? I don’t want to be away from you, I need to figure out what to do.”

“To do about what?”

“The tour, everything I ran to Broadbeach from. Shit, if I could walk away and be the ordinary person you want me to be, I would.”

His logic is skewed, I wouldn’t ask him to change for me and I don’t want him to. “Be the person you want to be, Dylan,” I say softly. “That’s your problem right there. You spend too much time being the image of Dylan, rather than the reality.”

“I want to create a new reality with you, my current one sucks.”

Sometimes his whining about how bad life is as a multi-millionaire grates, but then I consider what he gave up to achieve this - himself. “Dylan, I need to go, I’m really tired.”

“But you believe me?” he repeats.

“Yes. Okay…”

"Sky, I love you so fucking much."

He pauses, waiting for my response. This is what he gets because I've had too much wine. "And I'm falling in love with you, despite concerted efforts not to."

He laughs softly. "So you’re not leaving me again over this?"

"My heart won't let me walk away,” I say, “And my heart was broken very recently, so it’s fragile, which is why I’m guarding it.”

“I’ll give you my heart to take care of, if you’ll give me yours to mend.”

“If I do, will you be careful with it?” I whisper

“Always, I promise.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Sky

The next morning, I regret telling Tara things didn't work out with Dylan, because now I don't have anyone to discuss this with. My head hurts from the stupid amount of wine I drank to drown my sorrows, and when I remember telling Dylan how I feel, I cringe. Now I'm exposed, raw and able to be hurt more.

I call into work and tell them I’m sick, I don't think this contract is going to last long. The job was only a week of data input anyway, not the kind of thing I can do today with a head thumping with hungover dehydration.

I retreat to Tara's and my coffee haunt, sit beneath The Great Gatsby pictures and ponder the Dylan situation over several cups of coffee. What holds me to Dylan and allows me to believe him when in a normal situation I’d kick his backside out of my life? Overreacting is more my style, but I allowed myself to believe him. Why? Dylan tells me I overthink things, but not overthinking is what led me to the Grant situation. Besides, when I’m in close proximity to Dylan, rational thinking isn’t something that happens a lot.

He may be famous, wealthy and have the sexual prowess of any billionaire in any book I've read; but underneath everything, he's Dylan. My Dylan from Broadbeach, who looks at me as if I fell from the stars.

How can I have spent five years with Grant and felt a fraction of what I do for Dylan after less than a month? This inexplicable desire to be with him; the sick feeling when we're apart. The teenage crush feelings we recreated by the sea have stuck - maybe they're not teenage. I sip the coffee. Dylan doesn't understand how I gave myself to someone else's life for years, and why I can't do this again. However, I know this is different. If I walked away from Dylan now, I'd spend my life asking why. I don't think Dylan will try to change me - he's too busy trying to change himself. Perhaps that’s part of what we recognise in each other, our lives have travelled in different trajectories, and now we’re pulled onto the same course. I remember Dylan’s words on the beach, how he’s sure we met at the moment we needed each other.

Deep down, I believe him about Danni-K. My experience of Jem suggests he'd do something like this, his attitude to my relationship with Dylan makes no sense, but the vitriol in his words the night of the party would match this kind of action. But I need to see the truth in Dylan's face, not just hear the words.

I'm aware a girl at a nearby table has been here as long as I have, nursing one cup of coffee the whole time. This isn't illegal, although the cafe owners might not be too happy, but she keeps staring at me. Not the odd glance where you accidentally meet someone's eyes, but full on staring. On alert for crazed fans, I study her when she's not looking. She’s around my age and has long blonde hair, which she wears loose across her shoulders, a natural Scandinavian blonde. Her piercing blue eyes are huge in her oval face and her long, slender legs are curled beneath the table.

Sometimes, I think she's about to come over and talk to me, but if I meet her eyes, she looks away. I can't figure out what she's doing. The longer this goes on, the more convinced I become that she knows who I am. My current situation has me paranoid; one run-in with the paparazzi and fans and I'm on high alert. I shake the thought from my head.

I finish my latte and pick my bag up, ready to leave.

“Are you Sky? Can I talk to you?"

I look up in surprise as the tall, blonde girl hovers around my table. Her face is paler, hands trembling slightly. I glance around. The cafe is half-full, if she is a crazed fan I'm pretty sure I'll be safe.

"Um, okay."

"Would you like another coffee?" she asks, pulling a purse from her oversized brown leather handbag.

“I’m leaving."

"I need to talk to you about something."

"What?"

"Dylan."

I drop back onto the wooden chair and sigh. "Are you a fan?"

She laughs softly. "No."

"Then what?"

"I'll order coffees.” The girl disappears to the counter and I stare at the chalkboard advertising drinks and cakes, a little dazed already.

She returns with a number attached to a metal stand, which she places on the table, then sits opposite me. I'm stunned by how pretty she is in such an understated way. Her face is clear of make-up and her plain blue summer dress matches her cornflower eyes.

The girl plays with the sugar dispenser. "I heard about you and when I found out you'd decided to have a relationship with Dylan Morgan, I knew I had to warn you about something."

I stiffen. "Heard about me from who? Nobody knows whether I'm with Dylan or not." I scan my mind; the only people who know are part of the Blue Phoenix entourage.

"It doesn't matter."

”Yes, it does; because they've obviously told you where I live!" I snap back. "Did Jem tell you?"

When she inspects her short fingernails, I get my answer. What the hell is Jem's game now? "You're in a relationship with Dylan Morgan." Her words are a statement, not a question.

"Fine. What do you have to tell me?" I ask. "I've read most of what's on the internet about him; I doubt there's much new you can add? They pretty much dug all the dirt."

"Sometimes, things can be covered up." She looks up, eyes wide. "For a price."

Whatever she's alluding to, I've no idea, but if she's the sort of person who can be paid off, I'm not sure I'll believe anything she tells me.

"A price?"

"Yes, and then there’s the impossibility of taking on Blue Phoenix's lawyers and winning."

"Who are you?" I ask.

The girl looks down at her shaking hands curled around her bag. When she looks back to me, her eyes brim with tears as she draws a shaky breath.

I know who she is.

“My name's Lily Parker and three years ago Dylan Morgan raped me." Her voice cracks and is barely a whisper.

The room lurches, her words piercing my heart. "I don't believe you, what sort of sick joke is this? Are you jealous or something?"

“I'm telling the truth. I might be carefully buried at the bottom of the internet, but I'm there. Me, Dylan, Jem and a lot of missing pieces."

I fight the tight-chested panic. No, she's a fan trying to split me up with her favourite star. "This is bullshit!"

The waitress delivering our coffees looks between us curiously as she places the china cups on our table.

"Dylan's bad news, Sky. He may have cleaned up his act, but any man who can do something so sickening to a woman will never change. Not really."

"I don't believe you," I repeat, standing on wobbling legs. "I don't want to listen to your lies."

She doesn't move, and places her shaking hands on the table. Her nails are chewed. Is she telling the truth? She can't be. No way. "I'm going! Don't you dare follow me!" I hiss.

"Ask him or Jem. One of them will tell you the truth."

In my experience, when people lie, they can't meet your eyes and Lily is staring straight into mine with eyes full of pain.

I have no more words.

I stumble out of the cafe, into the bright summer sunshine. Jem told me there was a story; a story Dylan refused to tell me. Everything Jem said, all of Dylan's reactions swim around my mind. No. Not true. Not Dylan, the man who wouldn't touch me without permission. Nausea grips my stomach, forcing bile upwards - is Lily the reason for his cautious behaviour when we met?

A few hundred metres along the road, I have to stop. I lean against the metal pole of the road sign, tears blurring my vision. What if this
is
true? I pull out my phone and call Dylan.

*****

Dylan

Sky ends the call and I stand on the balcony of my hotel room, beneath the bright sunshine, as I watch my world cave in.

My shock at her discovery takes away any words of explanation I have. I need to explain so much, but nothing will come out of my mouth except a hollow denial. Sky didn't demand answers or scream at me, but spoke in a low voice asking for honesty. When I couldn't reply, she told me that until I can tell her the truth I should stay away from her.

Nothing I could say would undo the damage because who I am is who I'll always be. My choices shaped me, carved me into the man I am. I can never walk away from the Dylan Morgan I created that night. After all this time, I have my punishment - I've lost Sky because she's discovered I'm not the man she thought she knew. How I ever thought I deserved something as good as life with Sky, I'll never know.

Jem has what he wants - he's ruined my chance with Sky, as I ruined his with Lily. His obsession with Lily ripped into our friendship; Lily's obsession with me tore us apart.

After three years, the ugly has been resurrected. I left it too late to tell Sky the facts when I had so many chances to. An insane part of me planned to ask Lily to explain to Sky what happened, in the hope Sky would understand. Lily’s actions prove she doesn't forgive me, and that her story hasn’t changed.

I don't think Sky will accept the truth, and I don't think the truth is any better than what she thinks of me now.

Falling Sky (Blue Phoenix, #2)

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More contemporary romance by Lisa Swallow available now:

The Butterfly Days series
 

Because of Lucy

Finding Evan

I’m not great at these and there are so many people who have helped me with my journey so far I’m sure I’ll miss one of you.

Firstly, my beta readers Louise, Laura, Katie, Selena and Bec - thank you for all your feedback. As always, the book would not be the same without your input.

Also, a thank you to the EWG cultists who critiqued early chapters.

Thank you to the wonderful Becky and Peggy from Hot Tree Editing for their work on polishing my story.

The amazing cover is a collaboration between Najla Qamber Designs and Lindee Robinson Photography. A big thank you goes out to them for creating something so beautiful.

Thank you to Willow’s Formatting for her professional and helpful service.

There are many bloggers and readers who’ve helped me out over the last few months in particular. Tash and Rose from Forever Me Romance have been wonderful in organising the cover reveal and blog blitz. Many other readers and bloggers have helped me pimp out Summer Sky and my other books, in particular Dzintra, Angela, Danielle, Michelle, Heather, Dawn and Karen. There are many authors I could thank too but again I’m scared of leaving people out!