Love After War

by Cheris Hodges

  “Are we going to ruin our last night in LA talking about this?”

  “No. Because the Adrian I love is going to do the right thing. I know this.”

  “What was that call with Ian about?” Adrian asked.

  “He’s having some issues and thought I could help him.”

  “Saving everybody, huh?” he said. “Do you need to go see him?”

  Dana raised her right eyebrow at him. “Seriously ?”

  He nodded. “Of course, I’d go with you. But if your friend needs you . . .”

  She took his face in her hands and kissed him softly. “And this is why I know you’re going to do the right thing when it comes to your family.”

  He kissed her forehead, thinking that she had more faith in him than he probably deserved. “Let me get these tacos. If you need to go, let me know.”

  Dana’s phone rang again; she hoped it wasn’t bad news. But she had a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach as she looked at the unrecognized number. Had Ian been caught by a TMZ photographer stumbling around drunk in the streets or, worse, harmed himself?

  “Hello?”

  “Dana, it’s Lois. I just got a rambling call from Ian. He wouldn’t tell me where he was but said you could tell us how to reach him. What in the hell is going on?”

  “He called me from The Standard and he’s been drinking.”

  “Damn it. This is the last thing we need right now. Between Heather and her feuds with Imani and now Solomon Crawford, the movie is getting buzz for all of the wrong reasons.”

  “I’m sorry but Ian is in trouble and you’re talking to me about publicity surrounding a movie?”

  “Sorry, but that is my job. Damn it, I have to send a car to get him, but obviously he can’t come out the front door on the Sunset Strip. Thanks for telling me where he is.”

  “Lois, will you let me know if he’s all right when you find him?”

  “Sure, sure. I’m going to call the hotel and see if they can tell me what room he’s in—unless you know.”

  “I don’t.”

  “All right, let me make some calls.”

  Dana ended the call and groaned. “I’m so glad I’m behind the camera and not in front of it.”

  “What are you going to do about Ian?” Adrian asked.

  She shrugged. “Lois is worried about the movie buzz and not what Ian’s going through.”

  He stroked her arm. “Do you want to go check on him?”

  She was about to say yes when her phone rang again. Looking at the screen, she saw it was Lois calling back.

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m on my way to get him,” she said. “I just talked to Ian and he sounds a lot less incoherent. He’s willing to let me drive him to the center and he told me to tell you he’s going to be fine.”

  “That’s great,” Dana replied.

  “And I trust that I don’t have to ask for your discretion in this matter,” Lois said.

  Dana rolled her eyes and sighed. “Lois, I . . . No, you don’t.” Dana ended the call and turned to Adrian. “I can’t wait to get back to the city.”

  He drew her into his arms and kissed her forehead again. “Come on, babe, let’s go relax.”

  Chapter 16

  Adrian watched Dana dip under the water and marveled at the way her bathing suit clung to her lithe body. Sitting in the lounge chair next to the pool’s edge, he struggled to hide his erection. “Damn,” he muttered as she emerged from the pool, putting every Bond girl in the world to shame.

  “What was that?” she asked as she twisted her hair to drain the water from her locks.

  “You sure you want to go to New York? I know it’s going to be hard to find a pool and I won’t get to see this anytime soon.”

  She plopped down in the chair next to his. “You’re wrong. My building has a rooftop pool that no one ever uses. And it gets hot at night, so I might even engage you in some skinny-dipping.”

  “Then let’s get going,” he quipped.

  “As soon as I get the final word on Ian, we’re New York bound.”

  Adrian attempted to muster up some excitement, but in the back of his mind all he could think about was the empire his mother helped to build but never saw realized. He didn’t want his issues to cast a deep shadow over his trip with Dana, because this was all about her.

  “You’re not going to be traveling around New York on the motorcycle, are you?”

  She frowned. “Well, Imani, I’m a grown woman and if I don’t want to take the subway or sit in the back of a smelly cab, then yes.”

  “I can’t believe Imani and I actually agree on something.”

  “Yeah, but she still thinks you’re a jackass.”

  Adrian laughed. “There’s a long list of people who would agree with her. But all that matters is what you think of me.”

  “I think you have the right touch of asshole,” she said, then kissed him on the cheek. “I do love you, Adrian.”

  “I know. And I’m going to show you that your heart is safe with me.”

  Dana stared into his eyes and wanted to tell him the truth, that she wasn’t sure her heart was safe with him because she’d seen his dark side and she didn’t know when and where it stopped.

  “What?” he asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re the only woman I know who says more with silence than a room full of talking people.”

  “My mind is just on a few other things.”

  “Hollywo—Ian?”

  She nodded, unable to be totally honest with him right then.

  “Were you two together long?”

  “We were never together at all. But Ian is a nice guy with demons. Just like somebody else I know.”

  “Ouch,” Adrian said.

  “I’m starting to see a pattern here,” Dana replied.

  He shook his head. “Nah, because the buck stops here.” Adrian pulled her onto his lap. Dana stared into his eyes, searching for something but not quite sure if she knew what she was looking for. He misread her silence, thinking that her mind was on Ian as he leaned in and toyed with a lock resting against her forehead.

  “Adrian,” she whispered.

  “I’m not jealous that you’re sitting in my arms thinking about another man,” he said.

  “Honestly,” she began, “I was thinking about you.”

  “Is that so?”

  “How are you going to work through this anger and aggression you feel toward your father?”

  He cleared his throat and closed his eyes. “I don’t know. Can’t say that I want to. And I know you want to see the best in everyone. You think there’s always a silver lining.”

  “Because there is . . .”

  “But this man doesn’t deserve my forgiveness and I can’t be sure that I want to give it to him. I don’t expect you to understand it, but you have to let me work through this on my own.”

  She nodded.

  Adrian smirked. “I don’t think you’re going to do that,” he said.

  “All I can do is try, babe.”

  He kissed her chin softly and pushed her hair back. “So, are we going to go for another swim?”

  “I think we should probably get packed. New York awaits.”

  Adrian wished he could be excited. But an uneasiness settled in the pit of his stomach the closer the trip to New York came. He smiled and tapped Dana’s thigh. “Let’s go inside,” he said. Dana rose from his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck when he stood up.

  “You’re going to love New York. I promise.”

  He rested his hands on her bottom, gently squeezing her cheeks. “As long as I’m with you, I’m sure I will.”

  Dana brushed her lips against his. “I have to meet the shipper in an hour so that I can get my bike packed and shipped to the city.”

  “If I distract you, then you won’t be able to send that motorcycle back to the city with you.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him as he slipped his hand between her thi
ghs. “That is not fair.”

  He slowly stroked her inner thigh until her legs felt like melting rubber. “I don’t always play fair and when I do cheat, I cheat to win.”

  Dana moaned as his finger entered her suit. Leaning into her, he whispered, “Don’t move.”

  “Then stop touching me right . . . there.” Her voice left her and Dana could only moan and whimper as Adrian’s finger twirled around inside her. Then he found that one spot that made her weak. She fell forward into his arms.

  “My goodness,” she said. “You win.”

  “Win what?” he said with a smirk.

  “Anything you want. Other than me leaving my motorcycle here.”

  Adrian frowned. “Then I didn’t win. We’re going to have to work on that.”

  Dana winked at him and thrust her hips forward. “Let’s go. We have to get to the airport,” she said as he dropped his hands.

  “And I need to go home and pack. So get your bike loaded up and we’ll meet at the airport.”

  Part of her wondered if Adrian would show up if they didn’t ride together. She decided to trust that he wasn’t going to break her heart again. Shortly after she returned to the hotel room, showered, packed, and dressed, the shippers called her to tell her they were ready to pack the Fat Bob for shipment.

  “I’ll meet you in the garage,” she told the man. “I have two helmets that need to be packed as well.”

  “Yes, ma’am. This is a nice machine, I have to say. I don’t know why I was expecting a Vespa.”

  Dana laughed and ended the call. She thought about calling Adrian to see if he was on his way to the airport. Glancing at her watch, she saw that both of them needed to get a move on. New York was going to change everything. But would it be a good change?

  Adrian’s bags were packed. He’d printed his flight itinerary and tucked his boarding pass in his jeans pocket. So why was he standing at the door as if he had a five-minute drive to the airport?

  “Damn it,” he gritted as he opened the door and headed for his car. “This trip isn’t about that man and I don’t give a shit if he is sick. He has his sons to look after him. I never existed to him before, so we can continue that.”

  Adrian tossed his bags on the passenger seat, then crossed over to the driver’s side and got into the car. Of course, as soon as he got onto the highway, there was gridlock. Banging his hand against the steering wheel, he swore under his breath. “This is what I get for wasting time thinking about a family that doesn’t give a damn about me.”

  The clock on the car radio seemed to tease him as the minutes ticked away and traffic didn’t move. Cursing again, he couldn’t pull his cell phone out and call Dana because he’d left his Bluetooth and there was a CHP in the lane beside him.

  “Damn it,” he groaned as he inched forward in the traffic jam. Just as he reached for his phone, he saw another highway patrol in his rearview mirror. Deciding that a traffic stop would only delay him further, he just stewed and crept along the highway.

  Dana rushed through the airport to make it to her gate. Luckily she’d made it through the TSA pat-down without a problem, but when she realized that she was on the other side of the airport from where her gate was, she had to skip the Starbucks and make a run for it. When she arrived at the gate, sweaty and out of breath, she expected to see Adrian standing there looking all calm, cool, and collected. But he wasn’t there at all. “I’ll be damned,” she muttered, then glanced at her watch. Their flight was scheduled to leave in two hours.

  “I know he didn’t do this to me,” she said as she took an empty seat and pulled out her cell phone. She dialed his number and waited for him to answer. Five rings and then voice mail. She was tempted to toss her phone, but why cause a scene in the airport when in the back of her mind she’d known this was going to happen? Now she was going to be subjected to choruses of I told you so from Imani. She pulled out the same paperback she’d been carrying around since her first flight to Los Angeles. Maybe this time she’d finish the mystery novel. It would be a lot easier to get into the story this time; she would simply make Adrian the bad guy or the dead guy on every page. Gritting her teeth, she tried to focus on the pages and lose herself in the story. That worked for about ten minutes. She closed the book and picked up her cell phone. When she was about to dial Adrian’s number again, she received an incoming call from Imani.

  Deciding that she wasn’t ready to tell her friend about her latest drama with Adrian, she hit the IGNORE button and tossed her phone in her purse. When she looked up, she saw Adrian barreling her way. Dana’s smile lit her face like a candle.

  “Traffic,” he said as he approached her and drew her into his arms.

  She gently slapped his chest. “And it didn’t cross your mind to call?”

  “It did, but I left my Bluetooth at home and I was surrounded by the man. I’m sure you had a lot of nasty thoughts running through that pretty little mind of yours.”

  “Were they unfounded?” she asked, then immediately regretted it. “You know what, you’re here and they haven’t started boarding yet.”

  Adrian shook his head and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t cross my mind to skip this trip.”

  Dana’s smile faded. She knew he had qualms about going to the city, and while she knew it had nothing to do with her, it still stung.

  “You were going to do it again?”

  “Yes. For a moment, I was going to be a coward. Just like before. But I know I’d be the biggest fool ever to allow a second chance with you slip through my fingers.”

  Dana clutched his hand just as the boarding call began. “Thank you for being honest about this,” she whispered.

  Adrian smiled and leaned closer to her and saucily asked, “Do we get to join the mile-high club between here and New York?”

  She jabbed him in his side with her elbow. “Incorrigible.”

  “But that’s not an answer,” he replied with a wink.

  “Well, I’m not saying no.”

  Adrian tapped her bottom. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

  Once their line began moving and they were seated on the plane, Dana was able to expel a relieved sigh. Clicking her seat belt, Dana rested her head on Adrian’s broad shoulder. Before the plane reached its cruising altitude, they were both sleeping.

  A jolt of turbulence woke Adrian, who was shocked to see that Dana was editing pictures on her MacBook Pro. After a month in LA, she had taken a lot of pictures. “So, you were just going to let me sleep all the way to New York?” he asked.

  “Nope. I just wanted to get some work done before we started on our other adventure.” She winked at him, then returned to the picture she’d been editing. Adrian looked at the picture and saw that it was Kandace Crawford holding a shoe with a broken heel.

  “You two are friends?”

  “No, she was just walking into Starbucks and I thought this would be a cool shot for my book.” Dana sucked her bottom lip in, realizing that she was looking at his sister-in-law. “Seems like there’s no escaping your family, huh?”

  “Yeah,” he said, looking away from the computer screen. A quick beat later, Dana had closed her laptop and tucked it away underneath her seat.

  “Come here,” she whispered.

  Adrian lifted the armrest and eased closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Here I am, baby,” he sang off-key.

  She brushed her lips against his, then locked eyes with him. “I’m glad you really decided to be brave. And,” she said as she took his hand and placed it between her thighs, “I’m going to reward your good decision.”

  “Is that so?” he asked as he stroked her crotch, happy to see that she wasn’t wearing panties underneath her cotton leggings.

  “Mmm-huh,” she said with her eyes closed as he slipped his hand inside the waistband of her leggings. The brush of his fingers against her bare skin made Dana shiver. Ripples of anticipation flowed through her body. Adrian s
miled, nodding toward the bathroom as he removed his hand.

  “Meet me in two minutes,” he said as he got out of his seat. Dana’s anticipation would have to wait longer than two minutes because seconds later, Adrian was returning to his seat and an announcement came through the intercom for all passengers to return to their seats and fasten their seat belts.

  “Damn,” Adrian muttered as he took his seat and buckled up. “I guess this gives us something to look forward to on the return trip.”

  “Oh yes,” she purred, then leaned her head on his shoulder.

  They bumped along for another two hours before the plane entered stable air. Dana felt sick and when she rushed to the restroom, she wasn’t thinking about joining the mile-high club.

  “Are you all right?” Adrian asked when Dana returned to her seat. He took note of how pale she looked.

  “I guess the turbulence got to me,” she replied as he wrapped his arms around her.

  “We only have an hour to go, so why don’t you rest.” He stroked her hair as she snuggled against him.

  “That’s the plan.”

  The next time Dana opened her eyes, the announcement of the plane’s final descent into JFK was coming through the speakers. Adrian, who was still concerned about how Dana was feeling, buckled her seat belt and adjusted her seat. Since his mother’s death, Adrian hated seeing anyone he cared about in distress. His mind would go to the worst-case scenario. Looking at Dana as she wiped her forehead with a napkin, he forced the negative thoughts away. It was turbulence. He even talked himself into believing that he was a bit queasy himself.

  The plane landed and right away Dana’s face brightened. “Let’s hear it for New York!” she said as she rose to her feet.

  “Feeling better, huh?” he replied with a smile.

  “Yes, and thank goodness because I have a date with Gray’s.”

  “What’s that?” he asked as he unloaded their bags from the overhead compartment.

  “Gray’s Papaya, the best place to experience a hot dog in the world. No offense to Pink’s, but I want a real hot dog without the trappings of Hollywood.”