by Cross,Lexi
The people standing in line started shouting for my attention. They simply wanted to be acknowledged. They wanted me to get them in. They wanted autographs. But I was only with one person, and that was Kendra.
Then, the people standing on the other side of the door started shouting and taking pictures. They wanted to ask us questions. They wanted us to stop and pose to let them catch us together, again. That was really the plan, but I had to pretend I was trying to get her away from them. They weren’t really interested in straightforward pictures. They didn’t really want to get the scoop on what we were doing.
The reporters and photographers who would hang out to get pictures at the club didn’t make any money off of perfectly posed and timed photographs or legitimate interviews. They made money from candid shots. People wanted to see the candid photos of celebrities trying to avoid the camera because they were trying to enjoy their personal lives. People ate that shit up. So, instead of taking a moment to let them get a couple of good clear shots, I made sure they got the panicked, frenzied shots they wanted.
Unfortunately, the panic and frenzy had an unexpected consequence. Kendra clammed back up once we were inside, away from the initial wave of reporters. I nudged her to try to break through the glaze that had settled over her face.
“Hey, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” I asked her, laughing.
“Um, no, I guess not. Does it get worse?” she asked in a distracted tone.
“It can,” I said. I led her over to a booth to try to isolate her from the crowd. She looked shell shocked. I ordered us a couple of drinks to try to get her mind off of everything.
A camera flash went off as the waitress walked off.
“Come on, man, can’t you see we’re trying to have a few drinks here?” I snapped at him, giving him the show he wanted. He got another quick shot while I was shouting at him, and then he was gone.
“Is this why you wanted me to dress up tonight? So these guys could get pictures of us together?” Kendra snapped.
“Hey, I thought we agreed that was part of the deal,” I pleaded.
“Not like this. I can’t handle this.” She wasn’t just angry. She was shaken by the attention. She shook her head and stood up to leave.
“Hey, it’ll calm down. Just sit down, relax, have a couple of drinks, let these parasites take a few pictures, and once they get used to us being here, it’ll stop,” I told her in my best calming voice.
“No, Lucky. You don’t understand. I’ve got to get out of here.” Her hands and her voice were shaky. Her eyes were wide open while she spoke to me. She wasn’t doing well.
“Okay, let’s go. This was a bad idea. Let’s find somewhere quiet, okay,” I said, gently taking her arm as I got up to lead her back outside.
“Just…just, um, just take me home, Lucky,” she stammered.
“No, I promised you a date, and now I feel like I owe you one, so we’ll go somewhere to calm down, just the two of us,” I told her.
“Okay, can you do that?” she asked, making a feeble attempt to chuckle.
“No problem.” I looked up and saw the flashing lights of the cameras at the front door as someone else entered.
I quickly turned her around and steered her away from the door.
“Where are we going?” she asked. “I thought we were leaving.”
“Back door,” I said. “Fewer paparazzi out the back.”
“Okay.” She nodded and put her hands on top of mine as I guided her through the crowd to the back door of the club.
I pushed the back door open to reveal the empty back parking lot behind the building. There were a couple of dumpsters for the club sitting near the building. We could smell the garbage from them right away. The only other thing in the back lot was the lamp post shining blue-white light on the vacant asphalt.
We hurried around the side of the building. I put my coat over her head so she wouldn’t see the paparazzi trying to get pictures of us as we walked past them. I heard someone shout, “Hey, it’s them,” behind us as we were getting into my car. I closed Kendra’s door and hurried around to the driver side as reporters and photographers tried to catch up with us.
“Are we good?” she asked, peeking out of the jacket that was still over her head.
“Yeah,” I laughed, “we’re fine.
“Okay.” She pulled the coat down off her head and tossed it into the backseat of my Jaguar.
Headlights in my rearview caught my attention as they pulled away from the curb behind us. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. There was nothing about our story that warranted chasing us down like that.
“Hold on. I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet, but I can probably lose them. Buckle up.” I gunned the engine and took a few quick turns down side streets. They followed us for a couple of turns, but they slowed down before I did, giving me the opportunity to pull into a parking garage and cut the lights. I watched behind us, waiting to see them pass, but they took their time coming by.
“Can we go?” Kendra asked nervously. Her voice shook.
“Soon. Just give me a second to make sure we lost them.” I kept watching. I just knew they would be riding by behind us sooner or later. After a few minutes, I saw what had to be the same car creeping by behind us on the street. The car was in neutral. My foot wasn’t on the brake, so there were no brake lights to give us away.
They passed by at a crawl, obviously looking for any sign of my Jag. I waited until they were out of sight before I put the car in gear and started letting it creep forward. I didn’t want to tip them off with any sudden movement. Once I was sure their tail lights were gone, I cut on my headlights and rushed out of the garage to avoid them.
I could hear Kendra taking deep, measured breaths in the passenger seat.
“Is it really that bad?” I asked. I wasn’t trying to pick on her, but I felt it came across that way.
“Yeah, it’s, um, it’s bad. Can we…can we go somewhere, please?” She was breathless.
I placed a hand on her thin leg through her gown. “Don’t worry. I know a place where we can go and we won’t get bothered. No one will find us there. I stumbled upon it by accident when I first moved in. It’s a great, quiet place,” I told her. I rubbed her leg to try to comfort and calm her.
I felt bad for putting her in a situation that caused so much stress, but I was also glad we’d taken care of the pictures I needed the press to get. Now, I needed to take care of her, not as a business partner or as my fake girlfriend. I needed to take care of Kendra as a person. She wasn’t doing too well, and since it was my fault, I needed to help bring her down.
Chapter Five
Kendra
We pulled up to a quiet little hole in the wall. We parked around the corner, and Lucky opened the door to let me out of the car. He put an arm around my shoulders and held me close while we walked, keeping me protectively under his arm as we rounded the corner and walked to the door of the diner.
The front of the diner was narrow. There was the glass door and a window on each side of it looking into the place. I could see a row of booths along one wall with a counter dividing the kitchen and register from the dining room along the other, leaving just enough room so that people standing at the counter wouldn’t be standing right on top of the people eating in the booths behind them.
In the back, the dining room opened up. Booths still lined the wall, but small round tables with stools fixed in place around them filled the center of the room. For someone with Lucky’s reputation, I was really impressed with his knowledge of less than upscale places to eat around town. He certainly knew how to escape the limelight when he needed to.
I relaxed as soon as we walked in. There wasn’t a crowd. The place was nearly empty. There weren’t any photographers or reporters waiting to hound us. And the staff was really polite.
“Go ahead and have a seat. I’ll be by to take your order in just a moment,” the lady behind the counter told us as we entered.
“I thin
k around in the back will be best. What do you think?” Lucky asked me.
“Yeah, not a bad idea.” I didn’t want to risk being followed or spotted. We sat in a booth along the wall adjacent to the kitchen, as far out of sight as possible.
“Usually when we’re not busy we let our guests seat themselves before we take their orders,” the lady from the counter said as she approached the table.
“We certainly appreciate it tonight,” Lucky said gratefully.
“Well, do you know what you want, or do you need a menu?” she asked.
“Menus would be nice,” I told her. “Sorry, it’s my first time here.”
“No problem, dear. What can I get you two to drink first?”
“Just water for me,” I said.
“Same,” Lucky added.
“Now, if I get you a menu, you’re going to order something, right?” our waitress asked as she reached over the counter to grab a couple of menus for us.
“Definitely. I just need some water,” I told her, fighting back the urge to stutter as my anxiety tried to build up again.
“We’re both pretty hungry. We missed out on dinner tonight,” Lucky chimed in, grabbing my hands across the table and smiling at me.
“Okay, you’ve got me. Here are your menus, and my name is Julie. If you need anything, just call for me. Don’t worry about being rude.” She smiled and walked off, leaving the menus on the table.
“So, what was that all about back there?” Lucky asked.
“It’s a long, long story,” I told him, sighing.
“I’ve got all night,” he said, encouraging me to talk. “I mean, you knew what you were getting into, right?”
“More than you realize, Lucky. My parents are famous musicians. Growing up, I had to deal with that all the time. Well, to varying degrees depending on who they were playing for at the time,” I explained.
He furrowed his brow. “I don’t remember any famous musicians named Boles when I was younger,” he said.
“That’s because that wasn’t their name. Boles is my mother’s maiden name. You probably wouldn’t recognize their names anyway. They weren’t members of a famous band or anything like that. They were very successful touring and studio musicians. The only time they really got a taste of the fame was when they played for someone like Sting or a member of the Jackson family,” I explained. I was careful not to give him my real last name. I didn’t want him connecting any dots. That part of my life was behind me. I was doing everything on my own now, without them.
“So, what kept you from following in their footsteps?” he asked me, ignoring the issue of their names.
“I just wanted to do my own thing. I didn’t like all the attention they got. It was horrifying and stressful,” I explained quickly. I was thankful that he was interested in listening to me, but that didn’t mean I wanted to talk about it.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” he apologized.
“It’s fine. I agreed to do this with you without thinking about exactly how much you have to deal with all of that. I wasn’t prepared. I thought I was, but I wasn’t. I’m the one who should be apologizing, not you.”
“Hey, at least we’re talking about it, right? That’s good, isn’t it?” he asked suddenly, a big smile playing across his face.
“Yeah, I guess so. Communication is good, or that’s what they say,” I agreed.
“That is definitely what they say. But seriously, anytime something like this is bothering you, feel free to tell me. We’re a team, even if we’re not really dating, okay?” He leaned across the table and cocked an eyebrow to make sure I was paying attention.
“Got it. Now, can we order?”
“Yeah, definitely.” He raised a hand and beckoned for Julie to come back over.
“Now, don’t forget, we serve breakfast all day,” she said when we told her we were ready to order.
“Oh, hold the phone,” I cried out. “This changes my order. You go ahead. I’ll figure it out while you’re ordering,” I told Lucky.
He ordered cube steak with gravy and mashed potatoes. I was surprised they were able to prepare that in the little bitty kitchen they had, but if they said they could, I’d believe it.
“Okay, I’d like two eggs over easy with toast and sausage, please,” I told her.
“Is that all for you, dear?” she asked.
“That’ll be all. I mean, it’s breakfast for dinner. Who doesn’t love that?”
“Right you are. I’m glad I brought it up.” She took our menus and turned the order over to the cook, who started working on our dishes right away.
So far, no one had brought up who Lucky was, or that we were together. We were just two people eating together at a diner late at night after a failed attempt at going out somewhere else first. It was quiet, reserved, and inexpensive.
“You seem to be feeling better now,” Lucky observed.
“I am. I’m sorry I ruined the date you planned for us,” I told him.
“Don’t be. This is fine. Sitting at a quiet table, enjoying good food, and talking—who could ask for more?” He took my hand in his. His strong fingers gripped mine and squeezed gently. I wanted more than breakfast for dinner. I wanted Lucky, but I knew we couldn’t do it. We were together on business only, and it needed to stay that way.
“So, tell me about what happened to get you here,” I said, realizing he knew more about me than I did about him at that moment. I wasn’t sure why I had told him about my parents without trying to get anything else out of him.
“Someone I knew got in trouble, and I was somehow connected to it. The team didn’t want to be associated with that, so they traded me,” he answered. I was impressed with how open he was with me. He didn’t have any trouble telling me what I wanted to know about him.
“Were you involved in what they got in trouble over?” I asked him.
“No way. They were just always trying to cause trouble for me. That’s all.” He dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand.
I was having a hard time putting the man in front of me together with the reputation he had. He seemed so nice and mild-mannered. It was hard to see him as a playboy, leaving a trail of heartbroken women behind as he went from city to city during football season. Maybe that was part of his charm, though. He was disarming, and that was dangerous. Still, it felt genuine, and he was being completely honest with me about it. It seemed to me that he wouldn’t have been so honest about it all if he wanted me to be one of those women. That could’ve been a problem, too. He probably wasn’t attracted to me, allowing him to be completely honest with me because he wasn’t trying to get me in bed.
“So, I have to ask, why Older Brothers?” Lucky asked, bringing me out of my head and back to the moment.
“This isn’t my first charity,” I told him. “I grew up privileged. My parents made a lot of money. Of course, that also meant moving around a lot, which brought its own problems, but I never felt disadvantaged or anything. I finished school with no problems, graduated college without going into debt. I had it easy, but I know a lot of people out there don’t. So, instead of continuing to ride my parents’ coat tails, I broke away and started trying to help people who don’t have it as easy as I did,” I explained, realizing I was opening up to him again.
“That comes with a certain amount of recognition, doesn’t it?” he asked.
“Not as much as you’d think. I get to fly below the radar a lot of times. I’m good at PR. I’m a project manager at heart, so handling operations for charity organizations came naturally for me. Older Brothers in particular is a pretty big challenge.” Again, I was just laying it all out onto the table for him.
“How so?” He didn’t seem to mind that I was telling him my life’s story. He leaned forward and listened intently.
“Well, you heard about the scandal, right?”
He shook his head. “I don’t really follow charities. I just occasionally donate to them.” He shrugged like it was no big deal. And it really w
asn’t a big deal. A lot of athletes and other celebrities didn’t really follow charities other than their favorites, at most.
“After most of the money they had raised went missing, the previous director was taken out of the office in handcuffs and brought up on charges. I saw that the position was open, saw that there was a lot of work to do to bring this particular organization back up to snuff, and I decided to go for it. If anyone can do it, I can, right?” I asked him.
“I guess so,” Lucky said, nodding. He definitely seemed impressed by me, and I liked that.
I also liked the way my body responded to him while we talked. His deep, calm voice just rubbed my flesh all over while I listened to him. I enjoyed the way our little pretend date felt almost real. That was very nice indeed.
