CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Dani
Dreaming of Lincoln was so not what I needed. But dream I did. I dreamt of his kiss, I dreamt of his lips, and when I woke up in a cold sweat, my body ached with something I'd never really recognized before, almost like he'd awakened some sort of untapped passion or desire. Great, just great. Not only was I unable to speak, but now I was a sexually frustrated mute.
I glanced at the clock. Two a.m. Pris would kill me if I woke her up, especially since she had a really intense few scenes tomorrow with Jaymeson, another reason Lincoln had the next day and a half off.
It was Tuesday, and he didn't need to report back until Wednesday at noon.
I lay back against the headboard, slamming my skull softly against the fabric.
Just as I reached for my phone, it went off.
Lincoln: Can't sleep.
Dani: You have a pig. Stop texting me.
I dropped my phone onto the table and forced my eyes to close.
Sleep lasted until five when my annoying, chipper alarm woke me up. Lincoln had left me a text saying he'd meet me at my house, which was good since I was already dragging my feet. I quickly showered, pulled my hair into a low, messy bun, and threw on a vintage T-shirt with a pair of ripped jeans and my Converse. I looked seventeen.
A sharp pain sliced through my chest.
It wasn't as if I hadn't known Lincoln thought that way about me, but it still sucked hearing him say it out loud.
A girl.
I may as well be in overalls and pigtails.
Ugh.
The door to my sister and Jay's room was open, lights off, I vaguely remembered them saying they had a call time of five a.m. Sucked to be them.
With a grumble, I walked into the kitchen and yawned as I poured myself a cup of readymade coffee.
"Please, help yourself," a smooth male voice said from behind me.
I dropped the hot coffee all over my hand, and let out a little cry as a burn sizzled down the back of my right hand.
"Oh, shit." The unknown man made his way around the island in the kitchen and gently grabbed my hand, flipping the cold water on and shoving it underneath. "Typically, I make a better first impression than that."
I glanced up.
Zane Andrews.
The Zane Andrews was holding my hand under the faucet. If I wasn't shaking before, I sure was now.
I tried to jerk back, too embarrassed to even exist. I couldn't talk to him. I couldn't do anything. All I could do was stare at my angry, red hand and pray that he'd get amnesia.
Zane Andrews was…
Zane Andrews. If you said his name fast enough, it sounded like St. Andrews, which is how he got the nickname Saint from all his many Twitter followers.
He was the hottest thing to hit the music scene since Ashton Hyde, or, as I knew him, Gabe, had come out of hiding and started recording again.
And that had been huge news.
As in, it had been a year, and people were still talking about him.
But Zane Andrews? He was the equivalent of…
If Madonna and Lenny Kravitz decided to procreate…
… a sexy baby rock star would be born…
… and his name would be Zane.
With pitch-black hair and eerie golden brown eyes, he was seriously every woman's fantasy come to life.
At twenty-five, he'd already won over fifteen Grammys, and was said to be vacationing with friends while he took a much needed — oh crap — break.
Was Jay the friend?
I vaguely remembered him saying a friend might stop by for a few weeks.
But it had been months ago that we'd had that conversation.
Crap.
"Hey, you okay?" Zane's smile was kind, zapping any kind of embarrassment I'd once had.
With a quick nod, I jerked my hand free and stumbled backward, nearly colliding with the fridge.
"Whoa." He held up his hands in surrender. "I promise I don't bite."
I'd have expected him to say something whorish like. "I promise not to bite… much."
He didn't.
I also expected him to hit on me. Rumor had it; he even hit on eighty-year-old women — because he could.
Instead, he seemed, almost… shy.
With a gulp, he made his way toward me, holding out his hand. "I'm Saint, but my friends just call me Zane."
I took his hand then quickly held up my finger and grabbed the notepad I stashed in the kitchen just in case I needed to leave a note for Pris or Jay.
With shaky hands, I scribbled out a message.
Sorry. I don't know if Jay told you, but I don't exactly talk. As in, I can't. I'm mute, but it's nice to meet you, and I'm sorry I stole your coffee.
Zane moved to look over my shoulder, his eyes taking time to read every word before he glanced back at me and winked. "It's cool. I still can't sleep without a nightlight, so we all have our issues, now don't we?"
I let out a little laugh and nodded.
"Besides…" He was still extremely close to me, so close I could feel a wave of heat emitting from his large six-foot-four frame. "… sometimes, I think messages would be so much clearer without words getting in the way."
It was the perfect thing to say.
Maybe he was a saint.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
"So," Zane moved around the island and poured another cup of coffee then brought it over to me. "… I hear you're Lincoln's new assistant. I hope he's not being an ass."
I held up my hand and flip-flopped it from side to side, indicating so-so.
Zane's laugh was soft. He gripped his ceramic mug tightly, the muscles in his tattooed forearms flexing.
Meanwhile, my phone kept buzzing.
"Yeah, well…" Zane lifted the cup to his mouth and drank then set it back down. "I'm sure you're more of a handful than you let on."
I smiled at that.
An angry knock pounded against the door, and then it nearly burst free from the hinges as Lincoln exploded through as if he was ready to tear someone apart.
"What the hell!" he roared. "Dani, I thought you'd been kidnapped or something. I texted. I called three times. I had to look for the damn hide-a-key. It freaked me out! Don't ever—" He stopped yelling and glanced at Zane then without a word stalked toward him.
"Saint?" He said it like a growl, his fists clenched tightly.
Zane looked up over his coffee cup and smirked. "Mother."
The next thing I knew, the coffee cup shattered against the counter as Lincoln punched Zane in the face. Twice.
I scrambled toward them, not sure what I could do to actually stop the two massive beasts and their caveman ways, but I worried about blood getting on the carpet.
The minute I reached them, Lincoln got up, dusted his jeans off then held his hand out for Zane.
"Thanks, man." Zane grinned.
"Yeah, well…" Linc ran his hands through his thick hair. "… you knew you had it coming."
"True." Zane winced as he dabbed his lip with his finger. "But could you have at least taken your ring off first?"
Lincoln nodded seriously. "Next time."
"Awesome." Zane groaned then stole my coffee and took a slow sip.
My jaw went slack. Were they friends? Enemies? Frenemies?
"You ready, Dani?" Lincoln popped his knuckles.
I frowned then threw my hands up into the air. What the heck!
"Don't worry about it, coffee girl." Zane winked. "Just old business that needed settling. Isn't that right, Linc?"
"Yup." Lincoln reached for my purse and a jacket then grabbed a cap.
"Wow, never thought I'd see the day," Zane said under his breath.
"What was that?" Linc snapped.
"It's going to be a beautiful day." Zane smiled in my direction. Then, when Linc turned back around to open the door, he winked.
A white limo waited out front, back passenger door open and attended by an elderly man in a black suit and white gloves.
&
nbsp; "Hope you don't mind," Linc said at my side. "But since you've never ridden in one, I thought, why not try and see if your car-riding experience gets better."
Happy that he'd done something so thoughtful, I had to hold back a squeal of delight as we piled into the plus-stretch limo.
The minute my butt hit those soft leather seats, I wanted to sigh and then take a really long nap. For some reason, maybe because the shape was different, but riding in the limo didn't affect me the way riding in a car did. My anxiety hadn't shot through the roof, and I wasn't ready to scream.
Wordlessly, Lincoln handed me a bottled water. I took a hit and watched as he clenched and unclenched his fist then shook it in the air.
I typed out a text then nudged him with my foot.
He glanced at his phone and smiled.
Dani: WTH was that?
"That? That was life."
And what? In life you were allowed to punch people at six in the morning?
Dani: Are you guys friends?
Lincoln snorted and took a long sip of coffee, his eyes piercing as he stared me down. "We're… amicable."
Big word.
It sucked that he had to miss out on all my lovely sarcasm just because I couldn't say it out loud, though I was sure the eye rolling and scowling was helpful.
"My sister… you may have heard of her, Angelica Greene? She's been after him for months, finally cornered him, and he may have turned her down…"
I frowned. So? Normal people got turned down all the time.
"In front of the media, and let's just say his words weren't kind, no matter how true. Shortly after that, according to my sources, she nearly relapsed, though she's good now. He's apologized, but I told him that I still had to defend her honor, so he said I could punch him next time I saw him."
Dani: Guys are stupid.
He burst out laughing. "Yeah well, nobody really defends Angelica… probably because nobody really likes her, and she's a bit crazy. But I'm her brother. It's my job to be protective. So the punches? He deserved them, even if he was right to turn her down."
I frowned.
"What?" Linc leaned forward. "What's on that pretty mind of yours?"
I would not react to his words.
My body didn't listen as a shiver ran down my spine while I typed out another message.
Dani: He doesn't seem to be the type to turn anyone or anything down.
A knowing look crossed over Linc's face as his eyes met mine. "I don't know, looks can be very deceiving. Especially in our business. I think you'd be surprised."
Hmm.
"Hey." Linc snapped his fingers in front of my face. "No. I know that look. Don't go there. He asks you out, you say 'hell, no' and run in the other direction."
I giggled and shook my head as if to say "Yeah right."
"I'm serious." Lincoln set down his coffee and popped his knuckles. "Don't give me another reason to kick his ass."
I huffed.
"I mean, you're seventeen." Did he know any other numbers? Seriously? "He wouldn't dream of it, but still…"
The words stole the breath from my lungs.
He wouldn't dream of it because why? Because of my age? Or because I was mute? Or was I really just being that oversensitive?
"I mean…" Lincoln crossed his ankles, uncrossed them, fidgeted in his seat then looked at his phone. "… it's illegal and… shit."
Dani: You're making me uncomfortable.
"Yeah, well that makes two of us," he said under his breath. "I didn't get much sleep last night. I think I'm going to lay down for a few, alright?"
I nodded.
And tried not to watch him as he slowly lay down and put his baseball cap over his face, covering up his sinful mouth.
Was he really going to sleep?
I was tired, but not so tired that I was able to sleep or be that comfortable in his presence. Instead, I was left feeling a bit sick to my stomach.
I always tried to put on a brave face. And I'd like to think I'd done a really good job with it. The car swerved a bit. I gripped the leather with both hands and tried to ignore the sting of tears.
He hadn't made me uncomfortable.
He'd hurt me, and he didn't even realize it. Every time he said seventeen, it was like he was throwing my age back into my face. Most people live their entire lives without going through what I'd gone through, not that I was feeling sorry for myself, but he treated me like a kid.
When really? Sometimes I felt like I was an eighty-year-old woman, hiding out in her house, waiting for the rest of the world to pass by.
Waiting to die.
My stomach sank even more. Because really, that was how I felt sometimes, and the guilt at feeling that was more than I could bear. I needed to be happy for Pris, for Jay, for the new little baby on the way.
My feelings felt selfish because they were.
And it was stupid of me to think I could suddenly just be okay, but sometimes I felt like I was only going through the motions. I brushed my teeth because I had to. I ate because I had to, which my therapist had said meant I actually wanted to live.
I left out the part that I'd started eating again because of the look of panic on Jays' face and the hurt in Pris's eyes.
I ate for them, not me.
I got out of bed for them, not for me.
I lived because my parents didn't, yet sometimes at night, when I couldn't sleep, I had to wonder if God had messed it up.
Gah. I let my head fall back against the leather a few times, bouncing up and down as I stewed. I hated self-pity. I drank more coffee and tried to focus on the positive. I was in a limo with a hot guy.
A famous hot guy who thought I was a child.
But at least I was still in the limo, and he'd ordered me coffee, and for once in my life I got to experience a kiss, that for a few brief moments had made me feel alive again.
My phone buzzed.
Jay: Zane said he freaked you out this morning, and you burnt your hand. You okay?
I glanced down at my hand. It was still red, but honestly, being with Linc had made me forget all about it.
Dani: I'm good. Hand's fine. How long is Zane staying?
Jay: Not sure, at least a month. We'll see how long he wants to take off. He needed an escape.
Dani: Great.
Jay: He's a good friend, didn't want him in a hotel, plus he'd get mobbed in a minute, and he hates staying alone.
Dani: Staying alone?
Jay: Forget I said that please? He'd be pissed. Have fun at the aquarium. Don't kill my star.
Dani: Damn, probably shouldn't have added arsenic to his eggs this morning. Oh well, we'll always have that one kiss.
Jay: Ha ha. And if he kisses you again, you bite his lip, love.
Dani: As in a love bite?
Jay: As in bite it off, spit it out, run like hell, and let me finish him off.
Dani: Thanks, Dad.
I gasped as I realized through blurry eyes what I'd just typed.
Jay's text back was immediate.
Jay: You know I'm going to be the hottest father in the history of the universe.
I laughed softly as he sent me an emoji that said Number One Dad. He always knew what to say to make me feel better.
Dani: So very true.
Jay: Love you.
I sent him a pink heart.
Dani: You too.