The Romance of Nick and Layla (Parts 1-3) (7 page)

"Please," I begged.

"No. You promised to love me until death do us part. I’m not letting you break that promise."

Please stop. No more. Please Nick stop loving me. That’s all I could think of as he kissed me with such intensity it bruised my lips. Until I felt that same feeling swelling in me like a balloon. Hunger. A hunger for this man so powerful it took control over my whole body. I crawled on top of him and devoured his mouth, wanting him so bad, so much. I ran my fingers under his shirt and clawed at his skin, digging deep into him.

His lips found my neck and I closed my eyes, completely savoring his touch. I clasped my hands over his shoulders, desperately trying to pull him closer. Wanting so bad to feel all of him as close to me as possible. Stop. Please, I’m begging you to stop.

I couldn’t control the moan that escaped my mouth as he peeled my shirt off my body and over my head, throwing it wherever into the room. I was still crying when he pinned me to the ground, his touch, his kiss, growing more and more intense. And the whole time all I could think about was how much I wanted him. And how badly I wanted him to stop. But he didn’t stop. And neither did I.

Chapter Eight

You know that feeling you get some mornings, right when you first wake up? When the sun is peeking onto your skin and your eyes feel droopy with relaxation. When your whole body feels both heavy and completely relaxed all at the same time. And yet despite all that you still had that extra morsel of energy to smile? That’s exactly what I am feeling right at this very moment. All I could think about was how lovely it would be to keep my head rested on my soft, warm pillow for the rest of the day.

“You’re smiling.”

I kept my eyes closed but dimmed my smile a bit.

“Oh come on. It looked good on you,” he whined playfully. Normally this would have sent me into analytical overload, as everything he said and did to me, but not today. Not this morning. I felt Nick lean in closer and I could practically feel his skin colliding closer and closer into mine.

“Don’t even think about kissing me until I’ve brushed my teeth,” I murmured softly, snuggling closer to his warm, soft skin.

“I’m one step ahead of you.”

The sudden smell of mint forced me to open my eyes. And there, balancing gracefully between Nick’s thumb and index finger was my orange toothbrush, loaded with paste. “Nick, sometimes you’re too much.”

“Brush up.”

I peeked an eye open at Nick. I could hardly believe he was so playful this early in the morning. “Nick you know I’m not awake until I’ve had my coffee. Then I brush my teeth. Then maybe I’ll kiss you.” Nick pointed to my left. I looked in the direction he was pointing and saw my favorite coffee mug brimming with steaming hot coffee next to the lamp. “You did all of this?”

“I am a grown man, Layla. I know how to do things.” I took in a sigh, closed my eyes and arched an eyebrow. Oh yes, he definitely knew how to do things.

“You’re smiling again.”

“All right! Okay! I’m smiling. Big deal. If you want your kiss then come and get it now before I change my mind.” I thought for sure he was going to say something silly but he didn’t. Instead he leaned down into me, put a hand on the side of my face, and took my lips in his, gently, softly and very sweetly.

I swear to God sometimes I had no idea what the hell was wrong with Nick. And other times, rare times like the one we just shared, I could only think of how much I loved him.

“Blush is a good color on you.”

“What are you doing?” I asked, faux-annoyance on my face. He started singing to me, an older song about love when songs about love meant something meaningful. When hooks were memorable because of the music and not the silly repetition.

I loved the sound of Nick’s voice more than any other sound in the world. If I could, I’d listen to him singing for the rest of my natural life. I wouldn’t care. The soft tenor he could whisper, down to the deep baritone that flowed out of his mouth like velvet. I could get lost in the sound of his voice.

“Nick,” I whispered, looking up at him tenderly.

“Say you love me Layla.”

“I love you like an elephant loves peanuts.”

Nick burst out laughing and buried his head in my shoulder. He scooped an arm under my body and rolled me on top of him, but I remained limp like a lazy cat, just splaying across him like I was paralyzed.

“You mean you can’t get enough of me?”

I lifted my head, planting my chin on his chest. I wanted to remain like we were. Happy. As long as we stayed like this, lazy in our bed, acting silly and childish, then nothing would ever complicate our marriage ever again.

I rested my chin on my elbows and looked down at Nick. “Why do you think that person from that gossip blog has such an interest in us?”

“It’s her job to be nosy.”

“She’s a bit too nosy, Nick. She completely made up that story about me being pregnant. Do you know how many calls I’ve gotten from various magazines all wanting an exclusive? I just hang up on everyone.”

Nick frowned at me. “That’s not very good PR, Layla.”

“I’m not famous Nick. I don’t care about PR.”

“What about my PR?”

“That’s what you have lawyers and managers and agents for. To handle this crap for you while you lean back and relax. I don’t want to be the one they interview, Nick. That’s your occupation. I’m just there to look pretty and to smile at the cameras.”

“Is that what you think they think of you?” The pensive look on his face surprised me. It sounded silly in my head, but I didn’t think Nick could be pensive.

“Isn’t it? ‘Oh, there’s Nick Hudson and his long-time girlfriend Layla-what’s-her-name. When are you guys getting married? Layla who made your dress? Layla can you move to the left so we can see Nick more?’” I let out an exasperated breath and let my fingers play at Nick’s bottom lip, smoothing over the pink skin with the pads of my fingers. “I’m not an accessory. I’m a person. I’m more than the dress I wear.”

“So what do you want to do about it? You can stop appearing with me if you want?”

“No Nick, I don’t think that’ll make things any better. Then they’ll put out pictures of you and some random girl just to start gossip.” I looked down and was surprised to see Nick smiling at me. “What?” I asked defensively.

“Do you realize that that’s the first time you made a comment about me and another girl and referred to it simply as gossip and not, ‘why the hell are you fucking around on me!’?” I did?

I looked away and put my head on his chest, my ear above his heart. “You said you wouldn’t do that anymore. I’m going to believe you.”

“Can it always be like this?” he asked.

“If afterwards we’re like this, then yes.”

“I don’t mean the sex.”

“Then what?” I asked.

“Normal.”

“Normal?”

“Normal Layla. Normal Nick. Normal married couple. Having moments.”

“Since when are we normal?”

“Since you broke free of your Annie Lennox phase. Walking on broken glass,” he sang.

“You’re used to people making up stories about you. I’m not. It was a perfectly normal reaction.”

“You could barely walk for three days.”

“Yes, so who carried me around the house? You did.”

“See. We’re getting there kid.” Nick held my hands on his chest and kept his eyes locked on mine. My mind wandered back to the photo, the blog post, and that pseudo journalist Missy Page. “Layla, you’re over thinking again.”

Shit. I was. “How can you tell?”

“Your eyes. Sometimes it’s like you forget who you’re with. It’s me, Nick. Your husband.”

“I guess it’s sometimes difficult for me to comprehend that you and I have been together for so long that you might have learned a thing or two about me along the way.” Especially with the separation and...” And all that other stuff. But I couldn’t say that out loud. Not when my heart was finally starting to give. Maybe this could work for us after all.

“I think I have an idea,” he stated. I waited for him to share. “Might solve our Missy Page problems and your accessory issues at the same time. Maybe we should just tell the truth.”

I laughed. I really laughed. “Sure! We’ll release a statement announcing that we’ve been secretly married for the last year. And shit, we’ll not only be telling every fan in the world, we’ll also be announcing it to our parents. Yes, let’s do that!” I roared on his chest. Good Lord I think I might pee in my pants.

I felt my skin sting as he pinched me. “I’m being serious Layla.”

“Me too, Nick,” I laughed. Right. There’d be no coming back from that fiasco, and it would almost certainly guarantee whatever shred of privacy we had would be gone for good.

“I thought this is what you wanted? To finally show people that we’re married.”

“Yes, but we can’t just come out and say it, Nick.”

“The longer we wait the worse it’ll sound.”

He had a point. Shit. I finally crawled off of Nick and sat Indian-style next to him on the bed. It was time to break out of my sleepy haze and dive back into reality. “Nick. I like our anonymity. I like the fact that people haven’t figured us out. Besides....” Don’t say it Layla, it’ll only ruin things. Don’t say it. Don’t say it! “If they were to catch you with another girl they could just say, ‘Poor Layla, guess Nick’s moved on’. But if we’re announced as husband and wife, then it’s ‘Marital Woes for Pop Star and Wife.’ It’s worse that way.”

His expression dropped quicker than anything I’d seen before. “I thought you were going to believe me Layla? Please don’t tell me we’re back at square one again.”

“We’re not at one. But Nick I want you to really think about this before you make any decisions. Because it doesn’t affect me one bit. But you have a career to think about. And a lot of people depend on you. So maybe you should weigh the consequences before deciding.”

He shook his head. “I don’t care about all that. Not the fans, not the career. I’ve had a great career. It’s not like I’ll die wondering what it would have been like to make it big. I know what that’s like. Now I want to know what it’s like to be a husband. A real husband to you, Layla.”

My heart flipped. God I was such a bitch to him. A whole year. And I was missing out on this. “Nick you’re lying to yourself. I’m not asking you to give up anything for me. So don’t. Stay exactly who you are. You love your job and you’re good at it.”

Nick took my hand in his. “Let’s get away. Just you and me. Get away from all the bullshit. And we’ll make the decision together.”

“You mean like go on vacation?”

“Well yeah, since we technically never had a honeymoon.”

Technically, no. We didn’t leave the country and travel somewhere far and exotic for a couple weeks to celebrate being married. Instead we never left the bed. Who needed far and exotic when we had close and erotic?

“I think it’ll help calm us down. We’ve never actually lived together this long before.”

Maybe he was right. All signs indicated he was making an effort, and after all the bitching I’d done wasn’t it about time I gave him an ounce of the respect I was asking of him, and a bit of trust? I nodded my head. “Okay. When do you want to leave?”

Chapter Nine

My blood was boiling underneath the cover of my skin. I was swelling with hatred. Hatred for Nick. Hatred for myself. Hatred for that bitch Missy Page. And hatred for the woman I didn’t know that had now embedded herself right in the middle of me and my husband. I knew this would happen. I even told him it would happen. Fucking bastard.

“What are you reading?” Nick asked me as he set his luggage down in the foyer.

“A blog.” I looked at him gravely. You bastard.

“What’s Missy Page doing to rattle your cage this time?” Yeah, joke and laugh it off now.

“Take a look.” I turned the laptop around and watched his eyes narrow. His eyebrows caved in. His lips tightened into a thin line.

“Somehow I don’t think she’s lying this time. So let me guess. The blonde I caught you in bed with? Or is it another girl whose name you can’t remember?”

“This is impossible.” He looked about as outraged as I felt.

“Actually Nick, it’s not. I told you this would happen. I told you that you should be more concerned with knocking up one of your one-night-stand tramps than knocking up me. And look! Layla’s hit the mark again.”

Nick looked up at me with that same expression. “This has got to be bullshit.”

“Read it again Nick!”

“Well she lied about you being pregnant. She could be lying about this, too.”

“Don’t you dare try and blame this on that bitch. This is your fault. Yours alone, baby. So how does it feel?”

“How the hell does what feel?” He was so angry. Good.

“According to the Internet you’ve got two buns in two ovens. Of course we already know that one of them is a fabricated lie.”

“I’m going to call my lawyer.”

“And what? What are you going to say Nick?” I dropped the rest of my bags on the ground and looked at them scornfully. “We’re supposed to be going on vacation today.” I scoffed and shook my head at him. “I cannot believe we are at this point. I’m just... astounded. Yet at the same time I’m hardly surprised.”

“Layla,” he started to protest.

“Shut up Nick. Now it’s all out in the open. I guess this marriage was doomed to fail from the start.”

“Don’t say that! We don’t even know if this is legitimate.”

“Why would she do that? She’s already been with the great and all-powerful Nick Hudson. I think that would mean more to some girl than a check made out to her with your autograph on it.”

“I really wish you would save your bitching until after we find out the truth.”

“No. There is no ‘we’ Nick. You’re the one with the constantly unzipped pants. You made your bed. Now lie in it. You, your one-night-stand and your bastard child.”

“Pack the bags in the car. We’re changing our plans.”

“Excuse me?” Who the hell does he think he’s talking to?

“We’re going to straighten this thing out once and for all.”

“No. I am not going anywhere with you.”

“You have to settle this thing with me. This affects you too!”