Imperfect Harmony (House of Archer #1)

by Raine Thomas

  He followed her down several hallways with Trey on his heels. They cut through a service area and what appeared to be business offices before reaching another area that looked more familiar. The sound of running feet had him looking over his shoulder, where he saw Keith, Xander, Sage, and Noelle hurrying up behind Trey.

  “What are you all doing?” he asked them.

  “Are you kidding me?” Keith replied. “Like we’re going to let you go all diva and quit on your own?”

  Archer felt a tug of guilt. He hadn’t considered the band before going off on Elijah. What he had just done impacted all of them. It was the first time since the band formed that he’d ever done something like this.

  “I’m sorry, guys,” he said, returning his focus to the staff person as she rounded another corner.

  “Save the apologies for Lily,” Noelle suggested.

  They reached the green room. As though sensing Archer’s urgency, Trey moved ahead and went through the door first. Archer didn’t wait for an all-clear before rushing in after the former SEAL. The tech standing in the middle of the room holding a mic jumped a foot over the abrupt entrance.

  “Where’s Lily?” Archer demanded.

  “B-bathroom,” the tech stammered, pointing at the closed door.

  Thinking of Lily’s penchant for getting sick after high emotional stress, he hurried over to the door and knocked. “Lily, it’s me. Are you okay?”

  Of course she wasn’t okay, he silently censured himself. She was devastated, heartbroken, and betrayed. The fact that he had caused those feelings, however indirectly, made him hate himself.

  When there was no response, he said, “I’m coming in.”

  He tried the handle. It didn’t budge. Anxiety to see Lily had him wanting to bust into the door like Trey had done at the restaurant, but he remembered Lily’s response to that.

  “Key?” he asked the tech instead.

  “I’ve got one,” the intern said eagerly.

  She pulled a ring of keys off the strap around her waist and hunted for the right one. Archer tried not to grab the keys from her out of impatience. The clawing need to see Lily had him ready to pound through walls to get to her.

  Finally, the intern inserted the right key and opened the door. Archer pushed past her and entered the bathroom, which was a one-seater with a single sink and toilet. One quick glance told him the room was empty.

  “Lily’s not in here,” he said, looking at the tech. “Are you sure she didn’t leave?”

  “Yeah,” the tech said, stepping forward to look into the room himself. “I watched her go in a little while ago and I haven’t left the room since. Look, there are her shoes.”

  Dread had Archer moving into the room and reaching down to pick up Lily’s boots. He stepped over to the open window and looked out.

  “She went out the window?” Xander asked in disbelief.

  “That can’t be,” Archer said, swallowing hard as he looked down at the ground. “We’re two stories up.”

  “She must have,” the tech argued. “I’m telling you she locked herself in there and now she’s gone.”

  “I thought Lily was afraid of heights,” Sage said.

  “She is,” Archer replied, backing away from the window.

  “Then she must have been pretty desperate,” the intern piped up from the green room.

  Archer exchanged glances with his band mates. He saw equal measures of dawning worry, guilt, and misery in each of them. But none of them could have been feeling a fraction of what was slamming through Archer.

  Lily had always turned to him when she needed a friend. They were each other’s support system. There hadn’t ever been something they couldn’t talk about or work through.

  And now she had run from him.

  “She’s gone,” he said hoarsely.

  “Her cell phone is turned off,” Sage said, looking up from the screen of his own phone. “I can’t track it. Sorry, Archer.”

  “Where would she have gone?”

  Everyone turned at the sound of Christopher’s voice as he marched into the room followed by a frazzled-looking production assistant. Archer didn’t know how his manager had discovered what was happening or what he was doing there and he didn’t want to waste time asking.

  “I don’t know,” Archer said. “She’s never been to this city before. She doesn’t know anyone. Maybe she called Aria or Sydney. Maybe Barney?”

  Even as he spoke, Keith, Xander, and Christopher lifted their phones.

  “Calling Barney,” Christopher said as he tapped the screen.

  “Aria,” Xander said.

  Keith didn’t have to speak for Archer to deduce he was calling Sydney. He waited for a couple of tense minutes as all three conversations finished. It was clear from everyone’s reactions to the calls that no one knew where Lily was.

  “Where would she go, Archer?” Christopher asked again when they were back at square one. “You know her best. There must be some place she would go when she’s at this point.”

  It was Christopher’s phrasing that had Archer going still with realization. When she’s at this point.

  His throat was bone dry when he asked, “Where’s the closest bridge?”

  If anyone wondered why he would ask, they kept it to themselves. He could only be grateful for that. He knew they wouldn’t want to hear the answer.

  But he knew. And with that knowledge came an unspeakable fear.

  Once again, cell phones lifted as several people requested the information. “There’s an overpass less than two miles from here,” Noelle announced.

  “I need to go there right now,” Archer said, looking at Trey and receiving his nod.

  “Are you sure about this, Archer?” Christopher asked with concern, following Archer to the door.

  Archer nodded.

  “Fine. Then that’s where we’re going.”

  * * *

  No one spoke as they piled into the two SUVs and headed in the direction Archer believed Lily had gone. He knew they were all finally realizing just what damage the trailer had done.

  There were no words to describe the emotion that gripped him. During the Slant interview he had been afraid that Lily would believe Brandon’s accusations. He had worried that she would get pissed at him, very likely want to break things off. That had seemed unbearable to him after only just having understood the depth of his feelings for her, but he told himself that he would apologize, grovel, or otherwise do whatever it took to convince her of his love and earn her forgiveness.

  Now he had another fear altogether, one that made his previous concern seem laughingly unimportant.

  He couldn’t even process the idea of losing Lily.

  “Wait,” he said as they passed a park and something caught his eye. “Stop the car.”

  Trey pulled over. Archer climbed out even as the vehicle finished rolling to a stop. Barney parked the second vehicle behind them. Archer didn’t wait for anyone else to exit the vehicles. He just headed for Lily.

  She was sitting with her back to him at the top of a children’s playset on a small platform that overlooked the park. He had noticed her because she was the only figure on the playset. A few other people sat at picnic tables in the shade off in the distance or jogged around the winding nature trail on the park’s outskirts. None of them so much as glanced at Lily.

  He approached from the side and knew the moment she was aware of his presence. She didn’t look at him, though.

  The tears on her face slashed at his heart. “Can I come up?” he asked.

  She shrugged, so he climbed up the metal rungs leading to the platform and sat beside her, sitting with his feet dangling over the edge like she was. He heard his band mates approach but was glad when no one said anything to interrupt.

  “How’d you find me?” she asked quietly when he didn’t speak.

  “I...” Just thinking about it had him pausing to clear his throat. Even then, his voice was gruff when he said, “I thought you’d g
o to the closest bridge.”

  She didn’t immediately reply. “You’ve always known me better than anyone,” she murmured at last. “These shoes weren’t meant for walking, though.”

  A dark chill ran through him. She really had been heading for a bridge.

  “I wouldn’t have done anything, you know,” she said, still not looking at him. “I’m not twelve years old anymore.”

  He still had to take a minute. Every part of him wanted to reach out and yank her against him so he could reassure himself she was okay.

  “Lily, please...please promise me that you won’t ever do this again, no matter how upset you are.”

  She turned at last and met his gaze. He saw the immediate blaze of temper and expected her to lash out at him for asking her to promise anything when he didn’t deserve it. Instead, what she saw on his face had her pursing her lips and nodding.

  “All right,” she agreed.

  A small part of the fear inside him eased at her promise. Lily always kept her promises...even when they proved detrimental to her.

  “Thank you,” he said gently. “Can we talk about what happened?”

  Her chin trembled and her eyes filled, adding to the terrible weight in his chest. He couldn’t stop himself from lifting a hand to wipe the tear that fell from her lashes. She turned her face from him, leaving him feeling bereft.

  “God, Lily,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry. I won’t hand you a bunch of excuses because none of them is reason enough to forgive hurting you like this. I made a mistake and I’ll never forgive myself for it. But I’m begging you to.”

  She wiped more tears from her eyes. “Why did you ask me to come on the tour?” she asked, getting right to the point.

  “Because I wanted you here.”

  She gave him a warning look.

  “It’s true,” he said. “I invited you because I knew you would keep me grounded around Brandon and I wanted to help you with your writing. That’s all.” Although it nearly killed him to do it, he added, “Later, though, I thought about how your being on the tour might benefit the show.”

  “What made you think of that?”

  He frowned in consideration. “Well, I guess when Elijah mentioned it.”

  The pain in her gaze eased a little at that.

  “Makes me even happier that you punched him in the face,” came Keith’s voice, prompting Archer and Lily to turn to look at him.

  Lily seemed surprised to see everyone standing there. She made another effort to dry her face. Trey handed her his pocket square.

  “Thanks,” she said with a watery smile. She looked back at Archer. “You punched Elijah in the face?”

  Archer nodded and lifted his right hand, which was starting to throb now that the adrenaline was wearing off. “Felt amazing at the time.”

  Lily grabbed his hand. “It’s swelling. You need to put ice on it before the concert.” Her eyes widened and she whipped her head around to look at the band. “Oh my God. You’re all going to miss the concert!”

  “You’re more important, Lilliputian,” Xander said in his deep voice, reaching out to pat her knee.

  “We didn’t want you to think that the trailer was accurate,” Noelle explained. “None of the things they aired were said about you.”

  Archer saw Lily blink away more tears. He couldn’t stand that she had thought for even a short while that they didn’t want her there.

  “Lily, we’re together because of you,” he told her, receiving nods from the rest of the band. “Elijah misjudged your importance to all of us.”

  “That’s why we quit,” Sage added.

  Lily looked at Archer. “You quit the show?”

  “Yep.”

  “Are you crazy?”

  Everyone exchanged looks over how indignant she sounded. She didn’t seem to notice.

  “House of Archer is your ticket to international fame. You guys can’t pass up a chance like this.”

  “But—” Archer began.

  “I’ve been sitting here drafting storylines in my head,” Lily continued, waving her hands to punctuate the statement. “Fights, love triangles, public displays of affection...all kinds of juicy stuff. I’m not going to let my writing talent go to waste here, nor am I going to have that ridiculous trailer be the only representation of my work for The Void.”

  Archer stared at her in gathering shock. He looked around at his band mates, who seemed to be coming to the same conclusion he was.

  “Does this mean I have to apologize to Elijah for punching him?” Archer asked eventually.

  “Oh, no,” Christopher replied. “Believe me, he’ll be the one issuing an apology after all of this, especially to Lily.”

  “Come on,” Lily said to Archer, jumping down from the platform. “I’m not going to be responsible for you not showing up to your own concert.”

  Archer jumped down beside her and gave everyone a look so they would move ahead of him and Lily. He stopped her before she could follow them, placing his hands on her shoulders.

  “Lily, are you sure you’re all right?” he asked. “I swear I never meant to hurt you.”

  “Well, you did,” she acknowledged. “You should have been honest with me about everything from the beginning. Maybe then I wouldn’t have been so blindsided.”

  “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I was an idiot.”

  She gave him a slow smile. “I hope you know that you’ll probably be saying that a lot throughout our relationship.”

  Relief so keen it was almost painful rushed through him. “So you’re not dumping my sorry ass?”

  “Not when there’s no camera around to capture it. Do you know how many ratings that would draw?”

  He lifted an eyebrow and gave her a wry look.

  “Of course I’m not dumping you,” she said, shaking her head at him. “I love you, Dane. We’re both bound to upset each other now and then. Our friendship has been no different. But as long as we love each other, we’ll get through it.”

  He took his first unrestricted breath since the trailer began. “I wondered if you thought my love for you had been a ploy for the show,” he admitted, reaching up to touch the side of her face.

  “Oh, Dane,” she said softly, bringing a hand up to touch his. “You’re a good actor, but you’re not that good.”

  Before he could react to that backhanded compliment, she pulled him down and kissed him. He sank into the kiss, matching the love and passion Lily infused into it. Only when they heard the SUV horn beep did they finally part.

  “Guess we’d better go,” she said breathlessly.

  “Guess so,” he agreed, reluctantly parting from her and taking her hand so they could walk to the vehicles together. “And later you can tell me all about the juicy public displays of affection you’ve got planned.”

  “Oh, you’re going to enjoy those,” she promised. “Especially the ones that involve you.”

  “What?”

  Seeing his incredulous expression, she laughed. “Oh, this is going to be so much fun.”

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  “Well that felt like clubbing a seal pup over the head,” Brandon grumbled on the drive to the concert venue after the Slant interview.

  Regina gave him a sharp look. “Lily Montgomery is no seal pup.” Or at least she wouldn’t be seen as one anymore, Regina silently added. “It had to be done. You handled it perfectly.”

  “If you want us featured more on the show, why would you want the attention on her?” Brandon asked.

  “It’s on her for now,” Regina allowed, trying not to get irritated over being questioned about the choices she was making. “But everyone who watched today’s show saw that you were right on the money. You’re establishing that you have insights into the show and characters that no one else does. Trust me, I’m getting us into an ideal position.”

  Brandon studied her in silence and eventually turned to stare out the window, not commenting further. Regina watched him with narrowed eyes. P
erhaps she needed to reassess some of her plans. Brandon didn’t seem to have the stomach for what she intended.

  Well that was just fine. She knew someone else who would be more than happy to step in if Brandon dropped the ball. As he had said in the Slant interview, no one was going to steal the show.

  No one but her.

  * * *

  “So it’s true?” the reporter asked. “You’re officially a couple?”

  Lily and Dane were sitting side by side addressing questions put to them by the many reporters in the room. Christopher had scheduled the last-minute press conference for the morning after the concert, wanting to gain some positive PR traction as soon as possible after the trailer release. He felt it would be best if Lily and Dane participated in the conference directly rather than go through the band’s media liaison, and Lily and Dane had agreed. Lily was surprised to see so many reporters there on less than a day’s notice.

  She was also pleased about it, something she would never have believed even two weeks ago. Her? Pleased to be sitting in front of a room full of reporters and talking about her private life?

  Yeah, right.

  But her time alone after the Slant interview had helped her put things into perspective. At first, of course, she had been utterly destroyed, thinking Dane and the band had taken advantage of her. She thought that her reputation had been obliterated in a one-minute television teaser. Her instincts regressed to what they were before her Uncle Ray helped her learn about cocooning her emotions. She found herself walking uphill without any real thought as to where she was headed. If there was a part of herself that returned to the moment when she was twelve and thought about heading to a bridge, it hadn’t been a conscious decision on her part.

  She was just glad Dane knew her better than she knew herself.

  After a few minutes, she had walked off her immediate shock, hurt, and anger. The stones pushing through the delicate soles of her ballet slippers also brought about a crashing dose of sanity. By the time she reached the quiet park, her usual sense began to return.

  She thought of her Uncle Ray and asked herself what she was reacting to. The answer was that she was reacting to a trailer put together by a reality show editing team. Even more important, she knew that the things portrayed about her in the trailer were skewed in a way that was far from the truth. So the odds were that she was reacting to other things in the trailer that were equally untrue.