Driving Tempo

by Raine Thomas

  Lily nodded. “I can understand how that would be confusing. Sounds like you need to have a serious conversation with him.”

  “I know,” Rosemary said with a sigh. “It’s just one of those really difficult subjects to discuss. Suppose he says he’s reconsidered things with Kaila and he wants to pursue a relationship with me. That means I’ve essentially broken them up after all these years between them. I just can’t feel okay about that. Or suppose he says he has certain feelings for me but he’s still committed to Kaila. That will mean I have to try and pretend like I’m okay with that. There really isn’t a great end scenario here. Do you know what I mean?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  Rosemary’s eyes sharpened with interest. “That sounded like a very knowing ‘Oh, yes.’”

  Lily shook her head. “You first. Do you have feelings for Sage?” She saw the response in her sister’s gaze. “Then you really need to know where things stand between you so you know how to proceed with him.”

  “I hate that you’re right.” Rosemary finished her drink and set the glass on the table. “I’ll talk to him. Now you go. What scenario are you facing where there’s no good answer? Does it have to do with the wedding?”

  “No. You need another drink.”

  “Water first. Now spill it.”

  “You’re no fun. Fine.” Lily tucked her feet under her and got more comfortable. “A few weeks ago, Christopher approached me about joining The Void’s team full-time as the Social Media Director.”

  “That’s great. Isn’t it?”

  “In some ways. It would be good money. Okay, great money. I’d be able to continue working closely with Dane and the band. I’d get to travel, which is especially exciting since I know we’re going to be able to plan an international tour within the next year or two.”

  “But?”

  Lily frowned. “But it’s not what I planned to do. I want to build a writing career outside of social media and marketing posts. I want to write hard-hitting biographical pieces that make readers look at the subject in another way. The more enmeshed I get in this world of reality TV, the less seriously people are going to take me.”

  “If you take the promotion, would you have anyone working with you?”

  “Christopher did say I could hire someone if I wanted.”

  “Could you train that person to do what you do?”

  “For some tasks, yes. But I’d still have to post regularly. I’ve gotten a lot of followers for my personal posts.”

  Rosemary smiled. “Well, sure. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have been offered the better position. But maybe you can use the time that you save with the person you hire to pursue your other writing.”

  “It’s not so much the time that concerns me,” Lily said. “Christopher already said he’s fine with me working on my other writing while in this role. It’s more that Lily Montgomery has been turned into a questionable celebrity name. It’s only going to get worse over time thanks to House of Archer. Who’s going to trust me to write a story about the most significant moments of their lives when they see me as a manipulative, scheming bitch?”

  “I see your point.”

  They lapsed into silence. Lily twirled her glass in her hands, feeling weighed down. Christopher expected an answer in the next day or two and she felt no closer to knowing what to tell him.

  “What if you use a pen name for your other writing?” Rosemary suggested.

  Lily gave her sister a thoughtful look. That was something she hadn’t considered. How would she feel if her writing career took off under a pen name? Did it really matter that it wasn’t the name everyone knew her by?

  It didn’t, she decided, because it was her doing the writing regardless of her name.

  And let’s face it, she silently mused. It’s only fitting that the name Rhonda gave me is the one getting the negative attention.

  “I’m intrigued,” she said at last. “I wonder how one goes about picking a pen name?”

  “Don’t authors who write under pen names use their middle name and their mother’s maiden name or something?”

  “I’d never give Rhonda that satisfaction.”

  “Truth. Well, what about using Archer as the surname?”

  “Hmm. Anne Archer,” Lily said, testing it out.

  “It has a solid ring to it. Maybe throw your first initial in there to make it even more professional. Anne L. Archer.”

  Something about it resonated with Lily. “Huh. I like that.”

  “I do too.” Rosemary smiled. “I’ll bet Archer will like it.”

  That was a sucker’s bet. Lily knew he would love it.

  “So did you make a decision?” Rosemary asked.

  “I’m pretty sure I did. Thanks.” Lily reached over and affectionately tugged a strand of her sister’s hair. “I’m glad Dane helped make this happen.”

  Rosemary chuckled. “I don’t know why it amuses me when you call Archer Dane, but it does. It’s so sweet.” Then her expression fell into more serious lines. “I’m glad he arranged this too, Lily. This is the first time we’ve really been alone. I...well, I’ve wanted to apologize to you for a long time.”

  “For what?”

  “For not doing anything when you still lived at home.”

  Lily’s lips parted. Her first instinct was to tell her sister it was no big deal.

  But it had been a big deal.

  Rhonda had abused Lily from the time she was old enough to understand the horrible things Rhonda said to her...when Lily was old enough to lie convincingly whenever she was brought to the hospital with an injury. Caroline and Bridgette had been too young to understand what was going on. Lily’s older siblings had known about the abuse, however. Scott and Bianca had even followed their mother’s lead once Lily got older, at least with the verbal and emotional abuse.

  Rosemary had witnessed much of the abuse firsthand. But she never said a thing. She had done her best to blend into the background, barely speaking unless she had no other choice.

  At the time, Lily hadn’t understood why Rosemary—her closest sibling—hadn’t come to her aid or spoken up for her. She had harbored resentment over it after she escaped her mother’s household. Some sessions with a therapist arranged by her uncle when she was twelve had helped give her some perspective. She could also look back on it now with a more mature understanding.

  “Rosie, you’re not even a year older than me,” Lily said carefully. “We were both kids. It wasn’t your job to protect me.”

  Emotion filled Rosemary’s eyes. “I’m still your older sister. I knew that what Rhonda was doing was wrong. I never said anything because I was afraid. I hate myself for that.”

  Lily felt sympathetic tears sting her eyes. “Don’t go getting sloppy on me or I’ll lose it.” She blinked rapidly to clear her vision. “I appreciate the apology. I really do. It means a lot that you wish you had done things differently back then. But you were a victim too. You lived in fear and uncertainty, witnessing what she did. And don’t tell me you left that house completely unscathed by her abuse. We share the same loser father that set her off in the first place.”

  Rosemary averted her gaze, once again telling Lily what she needed to know. Moving closer to her sister, Lily put her arm over her shoulders in a sideways hug.

  “We’re stronger for what we went through,” Lily said, bending her head until it touched Rosemary’s. “We don’t owe each other apologies except maybe for growing so far apart. Let’s make up for it now, okay?”

  Rosemary nodded and wiped away a tear. “I love you, Lil.”

  Lily swallowed against the burn of more tears, determined not to let Rhonda be the cause of them, even indirectly. “Love you too. Now, what do you say we have one more round and plot how to get Sage to forget all about Kaila?”

  “I’d say you’re on.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Archer headed to the hotel’s gym the following morning not long after the alarm sounded at five a.m. The band would be
hitting the road at six-thirty for a three-day stretch in Omaha. He and his band mates had agreed to fit in a gym visit before their bus’s departure.

  On his way to the elevator, he spotted Keith exiting his hotel room. “Morning,” he greeted him, waiting until Keith had eased the door closed before falling into step beside him.

  Keith issued a grunt in return. Archer grinned. His friend didn’t appear to have gotten much sleep last night. Since he didn’t look too unhappy about it, Archer figured Keith had enjoyed what prevented the sleep.

  “I take it Sydney didn’t overindulge in the booze last night?” he asked.

  One corner of Keith’s mouth lifted and he shook his head.

  “Didn’t figure she would,” Archer said.

  That ended their one-sided conversation. Knowing Keith wasn’t fond of elevators, Archer walked with him to the door leading to the stairs and started down. When they exited through the door on the gym’s floor, Archer saw Sage and Xander walking down the hall ahead of them. Sage glanced over his shoulder and spotted them.

  “Hey,” he said as Archer and Keith caught up with them.

  “Wasn’t sure you’d both be on time,” Xander rumbled. “Seems like one of you is always sneaking in morning sex and hitting the gym late these days.”

  “Jealousy is an ugly thing,” Keith intoned.

  Archer grinned. “I stayed in the room Rosemary had been using to give the ladies time to themselves. And Keith over here, well, I don’t think he ever went to sleep.”

  Keith didn’t reply but his slow smile spoke volumes.

  “I wonder if Bubbles is going to make it this morning,” Sage said as they turned the corner towards the gym. “She seemed to be enjoying herself with the rest of the girls yesterday.”

  They had their answer when they rounded the next bend. Noelle stood a few feet inside the gym’s glass door. It looked like she was just standing there staring at something. Archer exchanged glances with the guys as he used his room key to unlock the gym’s door and pulled it open.

  Noelle turned and placed a finger to her lips. Archer immediately understood why. The sound of a female singing reached his ears as they all filed into the nearly empty gym. Rosemary stood with her back to them, wiping down an elliptical machine. Judging by the line of sweat trailing down the back of her gray tank top, she had already completed her workout.

  Archer’s first thought was that this was the biggest difference he’d noted so far between Rosemary and Lily. Lily would only get up this early if the hotel was on fire, and even then he was pretty sure he’d have to carry her out. His second thought was that the sisters definitely shared one trait in common.

  Neither of them could sing worth a damn.

  He recognized “Welcome to Wonderland” and felt humor building when Rosemary got some of the lyrics wrong. Crossing his arms over his chest and schooling his expression, he stood with his band mates and waited until Rosemary tossed the used towel into a nearby bin and turned.

  She froze when she saw them. Her eyes widened. She quickly turned back around as though she could make them disappear.

  “Oh, God,” Archer heard her whisper as she reached up and pulled the earbuds from her ears.

  She ran a hand over her hair, most of which was secured in a messy bun, and then covered her face with her hands. Archer got the impression she would stand with her back to them for the rest of the day if she could. He decided to put her out of her misery.

  “You trying to put me out of a job, sis?” he asked, walking over to her and clapping a hand on her shoulder.

  “You’re not here,” she said from behind her hands. “This never happened.”

  He chuckled and started stretching as everyone else moved towards the machines and weights. “I’m glad to see you’re not miserable this morning. Wasn’t sure how much drinking there would be last night.”

  Rosemary lowered her hands and finally turned back around. Her face was pink and damp with perspiration. She didn’t quite meet his gaze.

  “We drank our fair share,” she said, using the back of her hand to catch a drip of sweat before it fell along her temple. “But we did our best to hydrate too. It helped fend off the hangover. Thanks for giving us some girl time. It meant a lot.”

  “Sure.”

  There was an awkward pause before she said, “Well I’m going to go shower and wish myself dead now. Enjoy your workout.”

  He laughed. “Don’t be like that. It wasn’t that bad.”

  She rolled her eyes at him in a way that reminded him exactly of Lily and turned towards the door. Her gaze briefly met Sage’s where he stood on a treadmill. She lifted a hand beside her face as though placing a divider between them.

  “You don’t see me,” she called out as she opened the door and rushed out.

  Archer fought another laugh as he heard her mumbling something about wearing makeup to her workouts from now on. He finished stretching and headed over to the available weight bench. He caught Sage staring at the door.

  “You didn’t even get a ‘good morning,’” Archer observed.

  Sage smiled before putting in his earbuds and starting the treadmill. “I’ll get one later.”

  Archer pondered the relationship developing between Sage and his future sister-in-law as he began his first set of reps with the weights. What had seemed like a straightforward plan to try and catch Kaila’s attention was turning into something more complicated. Unless he was mistaken, both Sage and Rosemary were more than a little interested in each other. So did that mean Sage was abandoning the idea of a future with Kaila, an idea he had clung to religiously for all these years?

  Archer was curious enough to bring up the subject with Noelle later in the workout when he was sure Sage wasn’t paying them any attention. “Did you talk about things between V and Rosemary last night?” he asked from the elliptical next to hers.

  “Sure,” she huffed as she worked the machine. “We talked about all kinds of things. Your future wives are rather chatty. But you’ll never get anything out of me. I’m a vault.”

  “Wives?” Xander repeated as he jogged on the treadmill. “Who the hell else is getting married?”

  “I was talking about Lily and Sydney.”

  “You get yourself engaged without telling us, Con Man?” Xander asked.

  “Nope,” Keith said from the ab bench.

  Xander nodded. “Didn’t think so.”

  “Elle’s not wrong though,” Keith continued matter-of-factly, surprising all of them. “Sydney’s it for me.”

  “I knew it,” Noelle said with a victorious smile.

  “Shit,” Xander said with a shake of his head. “All of y’all are falling like flies.”

  “Just more groupies for you,” Noelle pointed out.

  That perked him right up. “Good point.”

  Archer steered things back to his initial topic. “Anyway, Bubbles, I just want to make sure Rosemary isn’t going to get hurt. Do you think I have anything to worry about?”

  “Not if I have anything to say about it,” she replied. “And that’s all I’m saying.”

  He supposed that would have to do. He’d keep an eye on things and get Lily’s take on it. He didn’t know Rosemary all that well, but she was going to be related to him soon. He didn’t want her to get hurt while essentially doing a favor for him and Lily by stepping in to handle their wedding planning.

  Nor could he afford to have Sage distracted. The past few days since the release of “Not Mine” had produced all kinds of new media interest in the band and Eternal Muse. The single had already gone gold and would likely be certified platinum within the week, much faster than any of their other releases had reached that milestone. Christopher had the band booked solid with PR engagements through the last two weeks of the tour, including appearances on some of the most highly-rated talk shows in the world. The Void’s manager had also begun talks with Tyson Wilde about an international tour. From what Archer had gleaned from Christopher’s hints, the t
our was all but a done deal.

  Things were on a rapid uphill climb. They all needed to be on their A game.

  Easy to say about Sage, he thought as he headed back to his hotel room to shower. Not so easy in my own reality.

  His sleep last night had been fitful at best. He hadn’t realized how much he had gotten used to having Lily with him every night where he could hold her close and assure himself she was okay. Even though she was with her sister and had security outside of her suite all night long, his dreams had been filled with images of her at the hands of one of her stalkers. Even now, he rushed through his shower so he could get down the hall to see her. He wanted to be able to take one free, unhindered breath that day.

  He wasn’t a fool though. He had Trey run down to the lobby café to get a chai latte and a sticky bun while he was showering so he went in armed to wake up Lily.

  “Good morning,” Ryan greeted him when he approached the door to Lily’s suite. The security specialist turned to unlock the door without Archer having to ask.

  “Hey. You weren’t out here all night, were you?”

  “Caldwell and I took shifts,” he explained, pushing the door open and stepping into the room first. “The night passed uneventfully. I was told the laughter stopped around one.”

  “Huh. Earlier than I figured.”

  “She’ll still be a bear.”

  “Unquestionably.”

  Archer followed Ryan into the room and watched him conduct a sweep of the kitchenette and living area with his eyes, his body on alert until he confirmed there was no threat. The specialist’s heightened attention was reassuring, though why there would be a threat inside Lily’s room was beyond Archer.

  He hadn’t been enthused about Red’s choice of Ryan for Lily’s Ordinem security specialist. He still wasn’t entirely sure why the pairing was made. He only knew that Red was completely certain that Ryan was the best guy for the job. Archer had eventually accepted it since Lily seemed happy with the pairing, but he couldn’t help but wish that the specialist was at least a little less attractive. He spent a hell of a lot of time with Lily, sometimes in rather private circumstances. Though Archer trusted Lily and knew she wouldn’t ever betray him, he didn’t know Ryan well at all.