They need water, Lex signed.
Megan nodded and rose from the bench. Let’s go home.
Keith didn’t usually speak with his mother. For some reason, though, he found himself saying, “Sydney was over yesterday?”
A flash of surprise crossed Megan’s features. Her tone was casual as she responded, “Yes. I invited her to dinner to thank her for all she’s done for Lex.”
Keith stopped short of asking how Sydney seemed to be holding up. It was a line of conversation he didn’t have any desire to open up with Megan. He didn’t actually care anyway, he tried to convince himself.
“She’s a sweet young woman,” Megan said as they continued walking. “I was sorry to hear that she decided not to continue on The Void’s tour.”
“Why?” The question was out before he thought about it.
Megan shrugged. “She’s led such a sheltered life. I just think she deserves to have a little fun and adventure before she embarks on her career.”
He didn’t ask how she knew Sydney’s life had been sheltered. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out once you spent more than ten minutes with Sydney.
Slanting him a sideways look, Megan said, “I assume you saw the news about Archer’s confrontation with Lily’s ex-fiancé last night, right?”
He smiled coolly. “Oh, yeah.”
Archer had called him and the rest of the band the night before to fill them in on what had happened, figuring they might get contacted by the press for follow-up. Keith couldn’t remember when he’d ever been so proud of his front man. Archer had looked like a complete badass taking Wingerson down like that. Sure, it was the kind of shit that tended to induce costly lawsuits, but Keith imagined Archer would agree it had been worth every penny.
He couldn’t wait to find out what Archer had said to the bastard while he’d had him on the ground.
“Lily got in a nice hit, too,” Megan said with a grin. “I’d have decked the guy if he said something like that to me.”
“Lily isn’t really the decking kind,” he said, thinking of his delicate but feisty friend. “But she left her own mark.”
They arrived at the apartment and Keith walked up with them. Lex ran inside and immediately pulled a chair over to the cabinet housing the Mason jar vase. Keith helped her get the jar down and fill it with water. Lex then placed the already wilting flowers in it one at a time until she created a bouquet to her specifications. Maybe the bouquet was a little lopsided, but Keith figured that just made it more charming.
Let me know if Angel likes the flowers, Lex signed to him when she was done.
He blinked as she lifted the jar of flowers towards him. Angel won’t be at the concert tonight, he signed.
Her smile fell and her big brown eyes looked so sad that it hit him right where it hurt. God, he couldn’t deny her anything.
What if I see if she can get together with me, Archer, and Lily and you can give her the flowers yourself?
Her delighted smile was answer enough. He decided not to worry about how he was going to manage to get Sydney there when he had to be at the top of her shit list. He’d worry about that later.
Lex stood straighter as though just remembering something. Wait here, she signed before turning and running to her room.
He smiled over her enthusiasm. She returned a couple of seconds later. When she got close enough, he saw the photo in her hand. She stopped in front of him and handed it to him with a smile.
Thank you, he signed before taking it. He had a photo album full of pictures she’d taken.
His gaze moved down to it. He was unprepared to see the image of him sitting with Sydney at the zoo. The sight of Sydney’s sunny smile struck him just as hard as Lex’s crestfallen look had a few minutes ago. It immediately brought to mind the memory of Sydney’s devastated expression after he told her to leave that day.
Knowing Lex was watching him, he put the photo in his pocket and signed, It’s great.
She beamed at him. I love you, K, she signed before moving in to give him a hug. When they parted, she added, You’ll ask Angel to visit?
Yes, he confirmed...wondering how the hell he was going to be able to swallow his pride enough to manage it.
* * *
“I swear I lost three pairs of underwear on that leg of the tour,” Lily called out from her bedroom.
“Is that all?” Archer replied as he flipped through the limited channels on the pathetically small television Lily and her roommates had in their apartment’s living area. “We’ll have to step it up a notch on the next leg.”
“Ha ha.”
They had stopped at her place so she could re-pack for the remaining seven weeks of the tour. It was the first time he’d been to her Long Beach apartment. She had moved into it with Aria and Sydney when Sydney started her Master’s program.
Considering Aria’s taste in fashion, Archer had pictured her insisting on something far more upscale than the small three-bedroom apartment with sparse, mismatched secondhand furniture and practically bare refrigerator. He supposed the lack of food could be explained by the three roommates planning on traveling all summer, but the otherwise shabby state of the place took him by surprise. He knew Lily didn’t make much and Sydney had been a poor college student up until a couple of months ago, so he got that. But Aria had to make decent money as a model at her level. He could only assume she spent her money on clothes.
“I’m starting a load of laundry,” Lily said, walking out of her bedroom with her arms full of clothes.
“I told you to let Barbara take care of that.”
She rolled her eyes before turning and walking to a closet in the hallway housing the stacked washer and dryer. “Your housekeeper doesn’t work for me. I’m perfectly capable of washing my own clothes.”
He frowned. Barbara would be perfectly happy laundering any clothes he asked her to. He didn’t understand why Lily wouldn’t accept even that offer of help from him.
He was distracted when he came across a news story about the night before showing him bringing Wingerson to his knees. He paused only long enough to smile with satisfaction over the look on the asshole’s face before moving onto the next channel. He’d already seen plenty of the footage since that morning.
The first call he’d made when he and Lily were finally in the car with Trey was to Christopher. The second had been to his agent. The third had been to his lawyer, and the rest had been to his band. Lily had worried he’d be cast in a negative light over the physical nature of his response to Wingerson’s insults, but he’d told her not to worry. When he’d gone to bed, he’d slept the sleep of the justified.
By that morning, he’d become something of a national symbol of chivalry for standing up for Lily. He’d had more requests for interviews in the past half-day than he could recall in years. During the chemistry reads he had done after breakfast, the casting director herself had attended and asked him if he’d consider reading for a role in an upcoming big-budget action flick. His agent had called him no less than three times that day with similar requests from other casting directors as well as contacts from a few musical artists who wanted him to collaborate with them on their albums, which would be great cross-promotion for the band. Christopher also reported yet another bump in downloads of The Void’s hits, indicating that the previous night’s events had drawn the attention of new fans.
Perhaps more surprising, though, was the number of offers coming in for Lily. One of the most impressive had come from the jewelry store where he’d bought her gifts. Their orders of the necklace and earrings she had worn the night before had skyrocketed, causing the jeweler to sell out and take an astonishing number of back-orders. Considering he knew exactly how much people were spending on the jewelry, he figured the jeweler must be salivating. They were overnighting Lily a contract that Archer intended to have his agent review for her. If the contract was of interest to Lily and the terms were agreeable, she would be featured in at least one upcoming ad for th
e jeweler. Archer had no doubt the financial offer would be more than anything Lily had ever made in a year.
What he also knew was that by Lily generating such interest in a high-end jeweler in one rather minor public appearance, she was about to get bombarded by requests for her to wear the latest fashions from every jeweler and fashion designer in the world. He had considered broaching the idea of her working with his agent as an official client, but decided not to just yet. She had enough on her mind.
So what could have been a disaster seemed to be working in their favor. Oh, he wasn’t an idiot. He figured Wingerson would likely file some kind of suit against him, but his attorney told him she was on top of it. He knew she was in the process of collecting every possible piece of audio and video evidence from the confrontation to prep her countersuit.
What she and the rest of the world would never hear was the whispered threat he issued to Wingerson while he’d had him down: “If you ever so much as think about Lily again, I’m going to make sure that your slowly tortured body is never found. Trust me, I can do it. Do you believe me?”
He’d meant every damn word. He still wasn’t sure where the threat had come from. He’d never felt so much rage directed at one person before. He would never forget the stricken look on Lily’s face caused by the bastard’s bitter accusations. It had cut him to the bone.
As though sensing where his thoughts had led him, Lily walked into the room and sat down in his lap, putting her arms around him and laying her head against his chest. They sat like that for a while as he flipped through the few channels on the television. There wasn’t a single thing on that he wanted to watch.
“When will Aria and Sydney be back?” he asked.
“Later this evening unless Sydney decides to come home earlier. I’m a little worried about her. There’s something going on.”
He dropped the remote and put his arms around her. “Why do you think that?”
“She’s being evasive with me. Aria says when they’ve crossed paths here in the apartment that Sydney is holing up in her room.”
“And that’s unusual?” he assumed.
“Yeah. She planned on hitting the beach every day while we’re here, but as far as Aria knows, she’s only gone once. And the whole dropping off the tour thing was weird. She had been so excited about some of the cities we’re visiting.”
He absently ran his fingers through her hair. “When did she start acting strangely?”
She paused as though thinking about it. “I guess it was just after she went to the zoo with Keith and Lex.” Her head came up and she met his gaze. “Sydney stayed the night at Keith’s the night before that. You don’t think they...?”
“God, no,” Archer said, snorting over the absurdity of the idea. “Sydney’s as far from Keith’s type as you can get.”
Lily made a face and plopped back down to lay against him. “I guess. Well, that seals it. I’m going to stay here tonight.”
His disappointment was instant. “Why?”
“I need to talk to Sydney. I’m going to ply her with ice cream until I can get her to crack.”
Even with Barney keeping an eye on things, Archer didn’t like the thought of Lily staying in the unsecured apartment. It didn’t matter that Sydney and Aria would be there. There was no gate or security system of any kind. The paparazzi apparently hadn’t caught onto this place or had chosen to ignore it with Lily staying at his house in L.A., but he knew there were always some eager beavers stalking places like this in hopes their prey would show up. Then there were the rabid fans like the guy who had kissed her. Those had probably only multiplied after the previous night’s events.
Plus, he really wanted her with him.
“You could invite her to stay at my place,” he suggested. “I’ll make myself scarce so you can talk.”
“Don’t be silly. I’ll be here for at least a couple more hours finishing laundry and packing anyway. And Sydney will feel more comfortable here.”
“Then why don’t I stay here tonight?”
“Sorry. No guys allowed.”
“Why not? I don’t have to be involved in your conversation. Hell, if Sydney’s problem happens to be guy-related, you might want my opinion.”
“Sydney won’t talk with you here. Besides, I told you earlier that there will be no more sexcapades for the next five or so days.”
“Are you telling me you’re only with me for the sex?”
“Of course. And your money. Don’t forget about that.”
“Of course.”
He continued playing with her hair for a minute while some game show he’d never heard of played on the tiny television. His fingers brushed against the clasp of the necklace he had given her the night before. She had yet to take it off.
“Will you move in with me?” he asked.
She lifted her head. “What?”
“When the tour is over, will you move in with me?”
“Oh. Dane, I...I don’t know.”
It was far from the answer he wanted or expected. “What don’t you know?”
“Well, we’ve only officially been a couple for a few weeks.”
“But we’ve loved each other for years.”
She hesitated. “Okay, I’ll grant you that. But Sydney and Aria rely on my contributions to the monthly rent.”
For this dump? he thought. But he kept that elitist opinion to himself.
“I don’t want to leave them high and dry,” she added.
“That’s not an obstacle to us living together,” he argued. “I’ll pay your portion of the rent until they can find a new roommate. Hell, I’ll buy this building and let them live here rent-free. Take that out of the equation.”
She gave him a look that said she thought his offer was preposterous. “Dane, nearly everyone in the world already thinks I’m after you for your money. What do you think they’ll say if you do either of those things?”
“I don’t give a shit. And it’s none of their business anyway.”
“You don’t give a shit because you’re used to getting your way,” she pointed out, clearly not swayed.
Frustrated that his offers of money weren’t working, he reached up with both hands and framed her face. “Lily, I want to live with you because I love you. You make me happier than anything else in the world. I don’t care if you want to have sex or you’re PMSing or any of that. I don’t care if you’re broke or rolling around in money. I don’t care if you’re wearing Versace or Tweety Bird boxer shorts you bought from some discount store. I don’t care if you want us to live in my house or here with your two roommates. You’re my best friend and I want to be with you. That’s all.”
He didn’t expect the tears that appeared in her eyes. Had he pushed her too hard?
“Good Lord,” she said tremulously. “If you say anything like that in your vows, I’m going to be a disaster in our wedding photos.”
He smiled slowly, sensing victory. “Liked that, huh?”
“Oh, yeah,” she said, running her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. “Although, you should probably leave out the sex talk in the wedding vows. Most people tend to frown on that kind of thing.”
It pleased him to know she was on the same page as he was regarding their future together. “I’ll keep that in mind. So does this mean we’ll figure out you moving in with me?”
“Of course we will.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
The Void hit the recording studio again the next day. They had managed to get down every song for the album during their time in L.A. except for “Miracle Worker.” Keith was beginning to wonder if they should just abandon the song and shoot for another one. It just wasn’t coming together like the other songs on the album.
Despite his reservations, he sat in the recording booth with the rest of the band and gave it a couple of run-throughs. They tried different variations but couldn’t come up with anything to make it click.
“Lily mentioned last time that she has some
thoughts on this one,” Archer said. “Do you guys want to hear what she has to say?”
“Hell, yes,” Xander said as everyone else nodded. “Bring it.”
“Come on,” Archer told them, putting down his guitar and heading to the recording room’s door. “Let’s go hash this out for a couple of minutes.”
Keith followed the others out of the booth, just as interested in hearing Lily’s feedback as everyone else. She had steered them true several other times since the band’s formation. They could use whatever help they could get.
When he stepped into the lounge and saw Sydney sitting beside Lily on the couch, however, he was no longer thinking about music.
His reaction to seeing her again was instantaneous. His heart actually raced in his chest. He felt the pulse of it all the way in his throat. The response was something he never thought he would experience over a woman.
Sydney didn’t look at him. He could hardly blame her for that. It just allowed him to stare at her without it being overly sleazy.
Her arms and defined shoulders were bare. She was wearing an aqua halter-style dress that ended at her knees in the front and dipped down in the back, far more contemporary than most of her outfits. Her blonde hair was pulled back at the temples in a trio of small braids gathered at the crown of her head. The rest trailed down to the middle of her back. She looked calm and collected.
Obviously he hadn’t needed to worry about her.
“All right, Lilliputian,” Xander said to Lily. “Tell us what’s wrong.”
“It’s not what’s wrong,” Lily responded. “It’s what’s missing.”
“And what’s missing?” Sage asked.
“Soul,” Sydney answered.
Everyone looked at her. Of course, Keith couldn’t seem to look anywhere else.
“You don’t think Archer is singing with enough soul?” Xander asked, sounding perplexed.
“No, I don’t,” Sydney said simply. “Archer is an amazing artist. He sings with passion, grit, and energy. But this song needs an infusion of soul.”
Keith figured she was referencing the country and Christian music she enjoyed. He wanted to issue a scornful remark but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it after the last words he spoke to her.