Bad Case of Loving You

by Deborah Cooke

  “Everything just fell into place, like it was meant to be.”

  “After you disappeared.” He couldn’t keep himself from adding that. It still burned.

  “And there was the money.”

  “Oh yes, I remember your concern with money. Money was the only thing that mattered. Not relationships, not love, not even your art.”

  Her eyes flashed. “You don’t know what it’s like. People without money often feel its lack enough to want to change things.”

  “This isn’t about growing up with money or not. You said a lot of things that day. You didn’t just close the door between us—you locked it. So, I don’t understand why you’re back or what you want, but you really can’t blame me for not giving a shit.” It felt good to say what he really thought. He’d been more circumspect that last time, and it had bothered him ever since. He bent and picked up the box. “Take care, Lyssa. Have a great life.” His tone was dismissive, but Theo didn’t care. The last thing he needed this week was Lyssa complicating his life all over again.

  She must want something from him.

  “No second chances?” she asked, confirming his suspicions. She would have walked away otherwise. This wasn’t about saying hello. “That’s harder than I expected you to be, Theo.”

  “Really?” He faced her again, knowing his irritation showed. “Then maybe you should tell me the truth instead of a bunch of lies.”

  “I’m not lying to you.”

  “I’m hard to find?” he echoed, his voice rising. “What a lot of crap. Maybe you should have just taken my call instead of letting your publicist blow me off. Or returned one of my calls. It’s not that fucking complicated, Lyssa.”

  She blinked. “You called me?”

  Her surprise seemed genuine and that set Theo back. He might be an idiot, but he would give her a chance to explain.

  He didn’t have to make it easy, though.

  Theo put down the box and folded his arms across his chest. “I’ve phoned and emailed your publicist repeatedly since September, to invite you to make an appearance at F5 on New Year’s Eve as our special guest.”

  “You mean Mercedes?”

  “I mean Mercedes. First she ducked me, then she finally said that you weren’t interested in making any appearances over the holidays. It wasn’t really great that she only managed to give me a final reply at the beginning of December to completely screw up our holiday promotion plans.”

  Lyssa shook her head, and she looked confused. Adorably so. Theo told himself not to soften. “But she never told me. I would have come, Theo. I would have done that.”

  He wished he hadn’t been inclined to believe her. That just proved he hadn’t learned a thing. “Well, what might have happened is immaterial at this point. We’ve made other plans, as you can see.” He picked up the box again. “Maybe we’ll see each other in another decade.”

  But Lyssa grabbed his sleeve. “But I’ll make this right. I promise.” She smiled and Theo felt his resolve weakening. She’d always had the power to charm him into agreeing with her and he didn’t have to like that she hadn’t lost her touch.

  “Mercedes declined.” He knew his tone was hard, but he really didn’t have time to be jerked around by Lyssa. “She’s your official publicist so I took her at her word. We made other plans.”

  “But more is more when it comes to media attention. I know that. And I’ll do that. I’ll make you a deal.”

  Theo shook his head. “Does everything have to be a negotiation?”

  She ignored that question. “I’ll come to F5 on New Year’s Eve in exchange for your undivided attention. One hour for one hour.”

  That was unexpected. “What do you really want, Lyssa?”

  “I want to talk to you.” Lyssa swallowed and looked uncertain. Theo felt that old wave of protectiveness sweep through him again. There had been a time when he would have fought dragons to make her smile. “I need to talk to you.”

  “Why?”

  She smiled but there was hesitation in her smile, too. He didn’t like the sight of that change. He ran a hand over his head, knowing she was playing him like a cheap guitar.

  “Let’s just say I want your advice,” she said.

  “After all this time?”

  “Yes. This discussion is long overdue.” Lyssa looked up at him, her expression so hopeful that Theo felt his heart squeeze tightly. “Deal?”

  What could she want his advice about? Theo studied her, more tempted than he knew he should be—because he was tempted just to hear Lyssa out, not for the sake of F5’s publicity. Was she sincere?

  Once she’d been the most honest and forthright person he’d ever known. It had been at the end that she’d been evasive. Theo’s gut told him that she was telling him the truth.

  Which meant he couldn’t turn her down.

  “Deal,” he said against his better judgment. He offered his hand, but Lyssa, being Lyssa, surprised him one more time.

  “Thank you, Theo! I’ll make sure you don’t regret it!” She flung her arms around his neck, colliding with his chest like a small hurricane, then pulled his head down and kissed him on the mouth.

  For a split second, Theo thought of breaking the kiss, of stepping away and letting her go. Then she made that little flick with her tongue against his bottom lip, the one that had always driven him insane, and he smelled the warm scent of her skin, and he couldn’t have stopped kissing her to save his life.

  Why did this woman have to be the one who tasted and felt so very, very good? Theo didn’t know, but when she kissed him like this, he couldn’t argue the details. His arms locked around her waist apparently with a will of their own. He tugged Lyssa to her toes, slanted his mouth over hers and deepened his kiss.

  If she wanted to seal their deal with a kiss, he’d make it one to remember.

  Two

  Kyle was hanging the star on the Christmas tree in the lobby of F5 West in San Francisco. “Too many managers,” he complained when he had directions to move both left and right. He jumped down from the ladder when his phone rang.

  “See if you can all agree while I take this call,” he said to general laughter, then walked toward the large window framing a view of the bay. The reception was better there.

  It was Cassie. He’d been ready for this call. “Kyle here. No need to be shy, Cassie. Go ahead and worship at the altar of my brilliance.”

  “I’m not calling about that,” Cassie said with impatience. “Although the challenge is a great idea.”

  “A great idea? Wait, wait, wait. It’s the most incredible idea ever! You can’t just breeze past it like it’s no big deal.”

  “I’m not. But this is more important.”

  Kyle folded his arms across his chest. “What could be more important than appreciating me?”

  Cassie half-laughed, then dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I think you were right.”

  “About what exactly?” Kyle leaned against the glass, watching Rachel, who had climbed the ladder in his place. “I’m right so often that you’ll need to narrow it down to a list of compelling possibilities.”

  “And so modest,” she replied with a laugh.

  “The moment of triumph is not the time for humility.”

  “You haven’t triumphed yet.”

  “I’m heading out in five to do Born This Way in the rain. With color-coded umbrellas. We will rock it.”

  “Different song.”

  “True. All true. Also a candidate, incidentally. To the right!” He called to Rachel. “No, more to the left!” She mimed throwing the star at him and he grinned, then lowered his voice. “What am I right about?”

  “Her. She’s talking to him.” She paused. “And now she’s kissing him. Or he’s kissing her. It’s hard to be sure.”

  Kyle straightened at this juicy news. “She? She who?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never seen her before. She’s petite and pretty. Slim. Wearing a stupid hat that hides her face. Even so, s
he looks to be roughly our age. I’m wondering if it’s that model, and he does know her, just like you said.”

  “Lyssa Monroe,” Kyle whispered.

  “Kind of amazing that she would be here, when he picked this place for the first pop-up.”

  “I thought it was an unconventional choice of venue.”

  “Maybe they were supposed to meet before, like that movie, what was it called...”

  “Before Sunrise,” Kyle supplied.

  “That one. But they never did manage to meet until now. Wouldn’t that be romantic?” Cassie murmured something before Kyle could reply, then spoke clearly again. “Here, Reid’s sending you a picture.”

  “You two are such sneaks,” Kyle teased as his phone beeped that the picture had come through. “The next time I need spying done, I’m calling you.”

  “Learned from the best,” Cassie said. “What do you think?”

  The picture was taken at a distance, even though he guessed the Reid had used a zoom. While other skaters went around them, Theo was talking to a woman in the middle of the rink. She was tiny and slim, just as Cassie said, and looked to be in her early thirties. She was dressed casually, with a fur hat pulled down low over her eyes.

  Kyle’s first thought was that she was in disguise.

  His second was that she was about the same size as Lyssa had been, compared to Theo.

  He zoomed in on her face and nodded. “I’m pretty sure that’s Lyssa.”

  “So, Theo lied at the meeting in the fall,” Cassie said. “How uncharacteristic.”

  “Maybe not exactly,” Kyle said. “They split up in a hurry, as I recall, and he’d fallen hard. She must have done it. No guy likes to talk about being dumped.”

  “But why would she? Theo is awesome.”

  “Maybe she had this model thing lined up. Maybe he didn’t like the idea. If you want suggestions, I’ll make a list.”

  “Maybe she didn’t want any ties,” Cassie mused. “Maybe she changed her mind.”

  “It’s not really a lie if Theo hasn’t talked to her since then,” Kyle reasoned. “I mean, he wouldn’t know her as Angel, would he?”

  “He never plays word games like that. That’s your territory.”

  “Excuse me, I always tell you guys the truth.”

  “Except when you don’t quite.” Cassie hesitated a moment before she continued. “He told me at your wedding that the woman he loved had married someone else. He said she was the one, like losing her meant that he might be alone forever.”

  Kyle was outraged that he’d missed out on this dish. “You never told me that!”

  “I was afraid you’d use it against him.”

  “I wouldn’t!”

  “But you’d tease him.”

  Kyle had to admit the truth of that. “Okay. Maybe. A little.”

  “Definitely. And it wouldn’t be right. He told me in confidence.”

  “But you’re telling me now.”

  “I need to know what you remember. Did you meet her at college?”

  “Once. We all went for a beer. Mostly I remember thinking that Theo was a goner.”

  “Huh.” Cassie cleared her throat and spoke more briskly. “Okay, they’re splitting up. I have to go, but don’t say anything to him. We’re going to pretend we didn’t even notice, so I need you to just shut up.”

  “Not my best trick,” Kyle had to confess.

  “I know. But try. I didn’t even talk to you just now, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  She snorted. “And don’t do some dumb-ass thing like asking Theo about Angel and New Year’s Eve. Don’t put your foot right square in it.”

  “Me?”

  “You. Let’s give Theo his space.”

  “If he wants sympathy or help, he should tell us about it.”

  “Maybe he will, but he won’t if you razz him about it.”

  Kyle knew she was right but wanted to give her a hard time anyway. “I guess,” he said, sighing as if it was a big concession. “But you’re taking all the fun out of it.”

  “I think you have enough fun in your life. How’s Lauren?”

  “Great.”

  “Bambino?”

  “All good and on track. We went to the doctor yesterday. I’m sworn to secrecy on the gender reveal in the ultrasound.”

  “It’ll be good practice for you to try to keep a secret.”

  “That’s what Lauren said!” It was incredible that Kyle should be surrounded by women with so little confidence in his discretion.

  “Okay, we’re heading to Montrose River later today, so I’ll talk to you when I’m back at F5 next Thursday. I still have to talk to you about not letting me in on this plan.”

  “Come on. Tell me it’s brilliant.”

  Cassie sighed. “It’s so amazing that I wish I’d thought of it myself. The only consolation is that I get to take lead on one when I come back.”

  “Hey, we roll through January 3. Theo will probably be glad to share the load.”

  “Good. Hey, help me think of a slogan for his billboard.”

  “No way. He agreed?”

  “There’s a price to surprising me. I’m still plotting my revenge on you.”

  “I consider myself warned. Safe flights,” Kyle said.

  “Merry Christmas,” Cassie replied, then she broke the connection.

  Kyle went back to the photograph, studying the woman closely again. Was it Lyssa? That beer had been a long time ago.

  He hoped it was her, and that Theo worked it all out.

  Kyle wondered if there was some way he could help, even though he’d just promised to keep his mouth shut.

  Wasn’t Theo the one who always said actions were louder than words?

  “Hey Boss Man!” Rachel shouted and Kyle jumped. “Is this star right yet?”

  Then his phone chimed and he realized they had to move to get to the site for their first pop-up.

  Lyssa was going to lose her hat.

  More importantly, she was losing her mind. How could she have forgotten Theo’s awesome, soul-destroying kisses? She felt as if she’d been living in a desert and had just stumbled into an oasis. He felt so good. He tasted so good. He kissed so brilliantly. How did he make it both hot and hungry, and slowly luxuriant? She wanted this kiss to go on for the rest of her life.

  Maybe even longer than that.

  Maybe she should take lessons from him.

  Theo had always been taller than her, but the skates gave him another couple of inches of height. He’d scooped Lyssa up and held her against his chest, and she felt like she was floating in a cloud of pleasure.

  How had she ever walked away from him? She was drowning in memories of long afternoons in her attic apartment, exploring each other at leisure, finding each other’s favorite pleasures. She was sure she remembered every one.

  She wanted to drag him back to her hotel room and check.

  Theo seemed determined to make this one kiss count, and Lyssa had no objections. She closed her eyes and surrendered completely, not caring who might see them. Theo was warm, radiating a little heat the way he always had after a work-out. His body was harder, though, and he’d filled out in all the best places. There was a resolve and an impatience in him that was new, too. He was more decisive than he’d been once, and Lyssa loved the change.

  Never mind dancing in public like this. The reserved and private Theo she’d known would never have put himself at the center of such a spectacle. She wanted to know everything that had changed and everything that was the same.

  Was it so very bad to think about seducing him before she confessed the truth?

  Even the idea made her feel guilty and Lyssa broke their kiss with reluctance. She knew Theo had different expectations than she did and that sex—no matter how much and how good it was—was never enough for him. He wanted commitment. Permanence. Marriage. All those words that gave Lyssa hives. She heard him inhale sharply and looked up to find his gaze simmering as he stared down at her.
>
  Lyssa quivered deep down inside and held his gaze, letting him see her desire.

  A little bit late she remembered that Logan would be waiting.

  She took a step back and it nearly killed her. “New Year’s Eve then,” she said brightly, hiding her doubts and fears. “An appearance and then an hour alone.”

  Theo’s lips tightened to a thin line and he folded his arms across his chest, a move that made him look like a superhero. His doubts were front and center. “You’re running again.”

  “No, not exactly.” Her protest sounded thin even to herself.

  “What are you playing at, Lyssa? What’s going to take an hour?”

  “I need to talk to you. Like I said, to, um, ask your advice.”

  “Not true,” he said and she blushed.

  “I just want to talk to you.”

  His eyes narrowed and she knew he’d guessed it wouldn’t be good news. “You could talk to me now.”

  “No, I can’t, actually. I have to meet someone.” She made a show of looking at her watch. She was so late!

  Theo shook his head and made a little growl of impatience. “Of course, you do. What am I thinking? You’re married! Lyssa, how could you kiss me like that?”

  “No, I’m not married actually. Not anymore.”

  His gaze locked on her once more and she shivered to be the focus of his attention. “That’s what it says online.” His tone was cautious.

  Lyssa was ridiculously pleased by his confession. “You checked on me?”

  “When I was trying to figure out an alternative way to invite you to F5.”

  F5 again. It seemed that the club was the focus of his life. “We decided to leave it listed that way to deter the stalkers. Justin still works for me.”

  Theo raised a brow. “So, you divorced him, but hired him?”

  “It’s a long story, and not really an important one. I was married. I’m not married. I’ll never marry again.”

  “It’s important if he broke your heart,” he said quietly. “We’d have something in common then.”

  It was tempting to have that common ground, but Lyssa had to be honest. “I don’t have a broken heart,” she said. “I married Justin because I didn’t love him. It didn’t matter, Theo, but it seemed expedient.”