Bad Case of Loving You

by Deborah Cooke

  “Like a photograph.”

  “Exactly like one! Every little detail has to be perfect.”

  “But even photographers compose their work to show a deeper meaning.”

  “I like to document how things are.”

  “Why not comment upon how things are?”

  Lyssa frowned “Why can’t an image just be beautiful for itself?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe because it offers more if it gives some insight.”

  “Like those Dutch still-lives of gorgeous flowers and food, infested with bugs and decay to show that physical pleasures are fleeting.” Lyssa shook her head. “I think that’s creepy and a little bit tedious. Doesn’t everyone get enough of someone telling them what they should think or do? I just want to make pictures.”

  “That’s all?”

  “Well, and sell them for enough money that I can continue to paint pictures instead of doing anything else.” Lyssa longed to be financially independent and she spoke with heat, then wondered if the truth had shown.

  “But maybe it’s the paintings that offer insight that fetch a better price.”

  “That’s why my mentor recommended this course, but I am officially resistant. I want to paint exactly what I see, in painstaking detail, and document what’s right in front of me. If I can’t see it, I can’t paint it.”

  He considered her for a long moment and she wondered what he saw. “Would you show me your work?”

  The question sent a thrill through her. “You’d really like to see it?”

  “I would.”

  Lyssa smiled and wagged a finger at him. “I’ll make you a deal.”

  “Why does that sound dangerous?” he murmured and gave her a teasing glance that sent a sizzle right to her toes.

  “I’ll show you if you don’t drop the course.”

  “I won’t drop the course if you don’t drop it.”

  “Deal!” Lyssa said and Theo offered his hand. She slid her hand into his, liking that it was large enough to make her feel delicate and feminine. His skin was warm and his grip was firm. It was strange to think that her dad would have approved of Theo’s handshake, because he sure wouldn’t have approved of Lyssa talking to a black guy.

  “Now, tell me why you were seduced by poetry,” she invited. “A business guy should be all about the numbers, I think.”

  Theo thought about that for a minute. “I don’t agree. Poetry and art should prompt you to see the world differently. To look for more than what’s obvious. I think that’s important for anyone, no matter what they do.”

  “There you go, sounding like my mentor again.”

  “Is that such a bad thing?”

  “No. I just like it better when you say it.”

  “You’re making me wish I didn’t have an accent.”

  “No! You shouldn’t wish to be different at all.” She smiled at him and their gazes held for a long, hot moment. “Why does it matter?”

  “Mmm, because you can’t really tell much of anything by looking at the surface, whether it’s people, or real estate, or financial results. The truth is always hidden a bit deeper.”

  “So, art that provokes you to look deeper is good practice.”

  He laughed, a rich sound that made her smile, too. “Maybe.”

  “Read it again,” she urged. “I’ll pay attention to the words this time.”

  “Maybe it’ll help if you can read them.” Theo moved to sit beside her, which was just about perfect, opening the book and reading the poem aloud. Lyssa noticed how he gave emphasis to some words and paused in other places to let words sink in. It was like a performance and she admired how smoothly he did it. Because she could read along, it was easier to pay attention to the words. Because Theo’s thigh was so close to hers, it was harder to make sense of them.

  She wanted to take him back to her apartment immediately and seduce him.

  When he finished, she frowned in concentration, not wanting to disappoint him. “So, the author wants to live forever, like a star does,” she said. “Even though technically, stars don’t last forever.”

  “It’s not about logic,” Theo argued. “Stars exist a lot longer than we do, and Keats might not have known about the life cycle of stars. He did know that he was sick when he wrote this, though.”

  “Sick?”

  “He died young.”

  “And he wanted to live forever instead of dying,” Lyssa guessed. “That makes sense.”

  “Not just to survive his illness,” Theo said. “He wanted to live forever to be with the woman he loved forever. He didn’t want to lose her or that love.”

  Lyssa nodded. “Because love only matters when you’re with the object of your affection. Once they die or leave, it’s over. I get it.”

  “No, you don’t.” Theo shook his head again. “This is about feelings and yearnings. He wants to be immortal, not just to survive longer but to spend more time with his beloved. He wants to be with her forever.”

  “Even though that’s impossible.”

  Theo closed the book. “Haven’t you ever had a moment so perfect that you wanted it to go on and on?”

  She dared to look up and meet his gaze. “I’m liking this one.”

  He smiled slightly. “Me, too.”

  Lyssa dropped her voice to a whisper. “I think you’re hot, Theo Tremblay.”

  He was visibly startled that she’d made that confession, but looked pleased, too. “I think you’re hot, Lyssa Monroe,” he replied after a moment’s hesitation.

  “Then it seems lame that we shook hands on our deal.”

  “It does.” The weight of his arm slid across the back of the bench and around her shoulders. He moved slowly but deliberately, watching her, giving her time to move away if she didn’t want him to touch her.

  Oh, but Lyssa did. She wanted Theo to touch her more than would be decent in a coffee shop. She would have lunged right in—she was impulsive like that—but his leisure was more exciting. He made them both wait, which meant their kiss would be a thousand times better. Lyssa felt her impatience rise, her mouth go dry and her heart thump.

  Theo studied her for half of an eternity, then bent and touched his lips to hers. It was a sweet kiss, a first kiss, an exploratory kiss, but Lyssa wanted more.

  She touched her tongue to his bottom lip and flicked it, and heard him catch his breath in surprise. He tensed, as if poised on the threshold of something, and Lyssa was thrilled. She could get used to surprising Theo Tremblay, very very easily. He angled his mouth over hers and kissed her more deeply, feeding her determination to do just that.

  As often as possible.

  Six

  Crickets.

  Theo couldn’t believe it.

  He’d been sure that Lyssa would call about the book, if only to thank him. Maybe to say that she remembered that day, too. Maybe to admit that she wanted to start over again, just the way he did.

  But nothing. Theo’s phone remained silent.

  He tried not to see that as portentous.

  He also tried to keep from worrying about who this Logan was.

  On Christmas morning, he swam laps, went to church—because his mum would want to know—then called Aidan’s mum to wish her well. It was a sad call, as usual, but he knew she was glad to hear from him. They reminisced a little about Aidan and he thought his mum sounded a little happier at the end of their call. She also admitted that there was a new man in her life, and Theo wished her well.

  Theo then called his parents. Everyone was there for Christmas dinner and it was a long call, filled with laughter, as everyone took a chance to wish him a happy holiday and complain about his absence. He was teased about his newfound fame online, because Naomi’s husband had played the F5 videos for his parents earlier in the day. Auntie Tess, predictably, demanded the inside story on his love life and he had a hard time convincing her that he was too busy for one.

  After that call, Theo stood for a few minutes and stared at the painting hung in his apartme
nt, the one that he could look at forever. He still didn’t understand it. He wondered if he ever would. It tempted him to make connections and to see more than was actually right in front of his eyes, but he never found an interpretation that entirely satisfied him.

  Not only was it filled with detail, it revealed more of itself the longer Theo looked at it. It also filled his thoughts with bittersweet memories. Was Lyssa still painting? He really thought this was her best work and he was honored to have it, but not by the way he’d received it. He’d been so sure she was ready to believe in herself, and not just money.

  But he’d been wrong.

  And she’d slipped the painting beneath his door to prove it.

  Was she going to do the same thing all over again? As much as Theo dreaded that outcome, he couldn’t turn away. He’d give her that hour on New Year’s Eve.

  He shook his head at himself and headed to the day’s pop-up.

  The F5 team danced to Whitney Houston’s I Want to Dance with Somebody at Grand Central Terminal, and many of the travelers, en route to their holiday celebrations, joined in. Theo noticed that there were more people filming the pop-ups on their cellphones each day and the rivalry between the two clubs was growing, especially online. They’d been pretty even so far, with New York edging ahead one day, then San Francisco the next.

  And the new memberships were adding up like crazy.

  Theo went home to spend a bit of time with Tristan and knew he shouldn’t have been surprised that the raven had managed to pry open the tin on the counter. The cufflinks were back in Tristan’s stash. Theo locked them away more securely, aware that the raven was watching, put on another movie, then went to Damon and Haley’s place.

  He took a bottle of wine and supplies for a cheese tray as requested by Haley. The cab let him off at the end of their long driveway and he walked to the house in the snow, smiling at the sound of Christmas music. There were a lot of cars parked at the house, which surprised him, and when Damon opened the door at his knock, Theo saw a lot of guests.

  Damon must have noticed his expression. “Haley wanted to have a kind of open house and potluck,” he explained. “She said a lot of people at the hospital have to work the holidays and don’t have time to travel if their families are far away.”

  “So, they’ve come here,” Theo guessed.

  “Yes.” Damon smiled. Theo watched his friend and partner’s gaze sliding over the crowd to land on Haley then his smile broadened.

  “All the lost souls,” Theo teased and Damon laughed.

  “Don’t say that when you’re one of them.”

  “I think it’s great. I was too wiped out to do much last night, but Tristan isn’t much of a conversation starter. It’s great to have a festive dinner.”

  “Then come on in.” Damon urged Theo inside. The house had a big kitchen connected to a great room that opened into the garden and a large patio. Even though the doors were closed, it felt like an enormous space. There was a Christmas tree twinkling in one corner and Theo saw their cat hunkered beneath it, tail swishing. They had put fairy lights in the trees around the patio, and there were fat candles burning in the house. Everyone was dressed casually and chatting as Christmas music played in the background.

  He met the other guests, a few of whom he knew from the club. A pair of paramedics came in after him, still suited up and looking tired. They obviously knew Haley and each gave her a hug before joining Theo at the buffet. Haley had commandeered his contribution and another woman was arranging the cheeses on a tray, while Theo had a glass of wine. One of the paramedics recognized him from the pop-ups and they were talking about them when Theo’s phone rang.

  To his disappointment, it was Cassie. “Did you see what he did?” she demanded, her tone filled with excitement.

  “Not yet.” Theo had no doubt who she meant.

  “I just posted. I can’t believe it. I. Can. Not. Believe. It. I know you can’t have planned this. He looks too full of himself.”

  “What’s up?” Damon asked.

  “Apparently, Kyle has raised the bar.”

  Damon pulled up the F5 YouTube station on the big screen television and they watched the video that had just posted. The camera shot panned out to show San Francisco Bay, then zeroed in on a rocky island.

  “That’s Alcatraz,” one of the paramedics said. There was a knock at the door and Haley went to open it.

  “He didn’t,” Damon whispered.

  “He did,” said Blaine as he stepped into the house. He shook fresh snow out of his hair and gave Haley a box from a cheesecake bakery. “I wasn’t allowed to tell.”

  The music started as the camera swooped into the jail, following someone in black boots down a metal hall. The music started and everyone groaned simultaneously.

  “Jailhouse Rock,” Theo said, shaking his head in amazement. Kyle was clearly having the time of his life. He and the F5W crew were dressed all in black, and the group of visitors whose tour was interrupted by the pop-up were all filming them.

  “How the hell did he manage that?” Damon asked.

  “Charm?” Haley suggested.

  “Persistence,” Theo speculated.

  “Money,” Cassie said flatly and Theo remembered that she was on the phone.

  Theo exchanged a glance with Damon, whose phone was ringing. Damon glanced at the call display then shook his head. “That’s Ty. Three guesses what he has to say.”

  “And the first two don’t count,” Theo and Cassie said together.

  In the meantime, the official video ended with a focus on Kyle, who pointed his fingers at the camera. “Right back at you, Flatiron Five New York,” he said with a wickedly triumphant grin. “Merry Christmas, too. Top this, Theo.”

  Everyone turned to look at him and Theo almost said it out loud. If Lyssa kept her word, her appearance would top this, but he kept quiet. The best surprises were good ones, in his opinion.

  “Holy shit,” Cassie said. “The numbers for F5W are going through the roof.”

  “We can’t lose!” one of the F5 staff said.

  “We haven’t lost yet,” Theo said. He ended the call with Cassie and checked, but he hadn’t missed a call from Lyssa.

  He really hoped she hadn’t disappeared on him again.

  If she had, he’d bet that it was because of this Logan.

  Whoever he was.

  On the afternoon of December 26, Lyssa watched the F5 team at Rockefeller Plaza, dancing to Uptown Funk on the ice again. Theo had more verve this time, as if his confidence was growing, although she couldn’t figure out why he’d had any doubts. He was awesome. The dragon slipped and fell, tumbling like a row of dominos, but the others covered it so well that Lyssa halfway thought the stunt had been planned. She cast her vote for the New York team without even watching Kyle’s pop-up.

  The one he’d done at Alcatraz had gone viral online but she was going to do everything possible to help Theo and the New York team make up the difference. She’d spent all day scheduling posts on her social media, teases and hints about her appearance at F5. The first post at noon invited fans to guess where in the world Angel would be at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve. Fans had engaged immediately, and some of their guesses had made her laugh out loud. The next post had given a hint with the time zone and the third had said she’d be dancing with the fittest and hottest guys in town. Some of the guesses were getting close to the truth.

  At four, the announcement would drop.

  She sat and watched her phone, impatiently waiting. In a way, she’d wished that she’d had Mercedes to help, because she’d had to figure out a lot herself, but once Lyssa had gotten the hang of it all, she’d been glad to do it alone. She had to get used to that, after all.

  She’d also been planning her appearance at the club, having decided to base it on a Madonna video. She made a couple of calls to borrow the dress and had booked her hair stylist to come to the hotel after Logan went to Simon’s for their movie night. The limo was sched
uled and the bodyguards, although Lyssa planned to ditch them once she got to F5. After she’d kept her promise to Theo, she had to tell him the truth. Right on the heels of success, he’d be at his most receptive.

  The announcement dropped.

  The response was immediate. Fans commented and shared the post, and a number of bloggers shared it. It exploded on Twitter and the first of the requests for interviews hit her email inbox. Lyssa sat back and took a deep breath.

  It was going to work out just fine.

  Then Justin called, probably to challenge her. Lyssa let his call go to voice mail and took Logan out for dinner. She was having too good of a day to listen to Justin’s accusations, and really, she wouldn’t have to listen to him much longer.

  That was a good thing.

  “You did it!” Hunter shouted at Theo as he crossed the lobby of the club.

  Theo was carrying the big registration sign for Sonja, who had what was left of the box of coupons. They were both flushed and still hot, the rest of the team trailing behind them. The pop-up at Rockefeller Plaza had gone well, so well that they’d been swarmed by people afterward. Theo had been interviewed by a local radio station, who had just happened to be on the spot, and he was scheduled for a morning radio appearance the next day. They were way behind F5W in the votes, but it was hard to be annoyed with the exposure Kyle had gotten for the club with his Alcatraz pop-up.

  Hunter had obviously already arrived for their Wednesday night meeting.

  “Shit,” Sonja whispered. “We’re late.”

  “I think we’ll be forgiven,” Theo murmured to her and they exchanged a smile.

  Hunter was waving his phone from behind the front desk, and their video was playing on the big screen overhead. “You totally did it!” He crossed the floor to meet them and gave Theo a high-five. “Check it out!” He watched whatever it was on his phone again with Sonja looking over his shoulder.

  “Should I know what you mean?” Theo asked as he stowed the sign. Three women came to get his autograph and one gave him a surprise kiss. Another took a picture of that, and they laughed together.