“Nope,” she said, looking just as surprised as me.
Since I was closest, I went to the door. When I opened it, there was a pimply-faced teenager standing there with a huge bouquet of flowers.
“Wow, Jess,” I said over my shoulder. “You must’ve given Henry the ride of his life last night!”
My sister stomped over to me, blushing crimson. “I did no such thing, you dirty-minded minx!”
“Delivery for Samantha Lockhart,” the kid said.
“Um, that’s me,” I answered, signing his clipboard while Jessica took the flowers from him. After shutting the door, I turned around to see Kyle’s face set in hard stone, looking none too pleased.
I sighed. “I take it these aren’t from you?”
His usually full, beautiful lips were pressed together in a thin line, and he was white-knuckling the handle on his coffee mug. Jessica placed the vase down on the breakfast nook table and handed me the card.
I took it from her and opened it.
Samantha darling,
You being mine is inevitable. Stop playing coy and start giving in.
Derek
I could actually feel all the blood drain from my head and I must’ve staggered a bit because Kyle handed off his coffee cup to Lauren and rushed over to grab me by the waist to steady me. I refocused and locked eyes with him as I handed the note over.
“Jesus, he actually believes I’m playing some game with him. The man scares the shit out of me and he thinks I’m flirting?”
Kyle read the note and the muscles in his clenched jaw ticked and pulsed. He looked over at Jackson with a face full of fury.
“Thinking you and I may need to stop by a certain theater director’s place and teach him a lesson.”
Jackson simply nodded, but both Lauren and Jessica looked alarmed. “What’s going on?” Lauren asked. “Who’s got you so freaked?”
“They’re from the director of my upcoming show.” Then turning my attention back to Kyle. “My boss, honey, so no, you and Jax will not be visiting anyone today. I’ll handle it.”
“Really?” he spat. “Like you handled it the other day? Walked in on him practically accosting you!”
“Sam-Sam!” Jessica blurted out. “You never told me that!”
“Because there was nothing to tell. Listen, ya’ll, Derek’s a grade-A douchebag, but as long as I’m with other people, he never gets physical. I’ll just make sure I walk out with Trick or some of my other friends in the cast.”
“No, I’ll take you and pick you up from the theater every day you have rehearsal.” Kyle cradled the back of my neck with his hand. “I know things about this guy that you don’t, and he’s not just some persistent admirer. He’s twisted. Really twisted.”
His hand was so comforting and I have to admit, I liked that Kyle was protective of me. “That’s sweet, babe, but you saw how he reacted the last time you two saw each other. He was tweaked. Don’t you think you coming by all the time will just make things worse?”
His whiskey-gold eyes burned into me, making me immediately shut my mouth. “Sends a message. That you’re mine and untouchable. He hasn’t seen me around, which is probably why he sent the flowers. He thinks he’s got an ‘in’ when you’re down.”
I put my mug down and crossed my arms tightly across my chest. “And what makes you think I’ve been moping all over town while you were I weren’t seeing each other?”
“But Sam, you totally were moping!”
While still staring at Kyle, whose amusement over my sister’s big-mouth confession could barely be contained, I barked out, “Thanks, Jess. And yet another reason for Mr. Masterson here to get a big head.”
He firmed his grip on my neck and pulled me into his embrace. “Got a big enough ego already, that’s true. But hearing how much you’re into me just makes me happy, babe. So ease off Jessica.”
“Thank you, Kyle,” she smugly answered. “I’ve decided I like you after all.”
I gave big eyes to my man now. “I make you happy?”
His face grew soft. “Yeah, the kind that’s so goddamn huge it makes you wonder if you ever really knew was happy was before.”
I sucked in air, and he continued talking low and sexy in my ear.
“I’m falling just as hard for you as you are for me, Sam. So, let me be what you need and give in to what I’m asking. Help us both sleep at night. Okay?”
“Okay,” I whispered back, wondering if a person could die from their heart expanding so fast.
Chapter Eight
One month later
“That was complete and utter shit, Samantha! Do it again! From the top!”
Derek had been on a rampage these last several weeks, with me as his primary target. After he’d sent the flowers, I sent him a text thanking him but explaining that Kyle was my boyfriend and left it at that. And just as I suspected, every time Derek happened to catch sight of Kyle either dropping me off or taking me home, his presence seemed to set him off. Even without saying a word, I could tell just by the hateful glare in his eyes that Derek was blaming my man for all the misfortune he himself had created.
It totally and completely sucked.
“But Derek,” Patrick chimed in, “she was doing it the way you instructed her last time, remember?”
God bless Trick and his knight-in-shining-armor complex. I think he suffered more over Derek’s abysmal behavior than even I did. “It’s okay, sweetie,” I tried to reassure him, “I can take it.”
Derek was standing in front of us, in a wide stance with arms crossed tightly toward the top of his chest. It reminded me of a particular Augustus Rodin sculpture I had seen in Paris when I was in college on a study-abroad trip. It was of Honoré de Balzac, a renowned and arrogant prick of a writer in his time, with the pose perfectly capturing his lifetime of hubris and bad manners.
As I suspected, Patrick’s interference only aggravated the angry wasp nest already buzzing in that megalomaniacal asshat’s brain. His cheeks puffed out like a blowfish and he got all red and splotchy.
“Ms. Lockhart can speak for herself, Mr. Murphy, and I will remind you that in this theater, I am the one who determines if she gets it right. And at the rate she’s going…” Now he turned his focus back onto me. Oh goody. “I’m starting to think, Sa-man-tha, that you are completely incapable of getting anything right! I am astounded you have had the kind of career you have had, unless there’s a higher number of bubble-headed ingénue parts out there than I was aware. And if so, congratulations, Ms. Lockhart—” now he offered a slow, sarcastic clapping, “—because you are living proof that spoiled, talentless little girls’ prayers do come true!” Then he kicked one of the props across the stage and then, already completely drenched in sweat, he looked around like he suddenly realized where he was, flapped his hands in a spastic way and yelled, “Everyone, take ten!”
Everyone groaned and breathed sighs of relief, making the air even more oppressive than it was before. I had been determined to keep my head down, be professional and just get through this run, even though every fiber in my being screamed to fight back. But I was still on a bit of wobbly ground in the local theater community because of me bailing out of the production last year that was scheduled to start right after my parents had been killed. And even though plenty called or sent flowers, my agent had told me I had pissed off enough people to warrant me staying put with Schiller—and I only agreed if she promised, for the rest of my career, I would never, ever, have to work for that douchebag again, and to put in my contract that I have the right to pull out of any production if he is ever brought on.
So, with that in place, I viewed myself like a short-timer, a prisoner counting down the days and hours and minutes until I was free from his tyrannical rage. It was far from easy. But I had Trick there and the rest of the cast for support. Even my understudy, who usually couldn’
t stand me, had rallied around me during this stress fest of a time.
Meanwhile, we took a ten-minute break, then I took a deep breath, gave Schiller my fakest, brightest smile, and did the monologue again. From the top.
“You did good work today, Samantha, especially after you followed the direction I gave you.”
I closed my eyes and took in a cleansing breath. Anything to remove myself from the slime factor standing behind me. I was packing up my notepad and script in my bag for the day, waiting for Kyle to come pick me up.
Without turning around, and pretending to rearrange things in my bag in order to keep occupied, I answered him with as much false cheer as I could muster. “Thanks, Derek. I appreciate your guidance with the scene.”
Suddenly, a suffocating heat permeated the back of me. “I think you’ll find I can offer you guidance and direction in a lot of other ways, Samantha. Especially the kind to relieve all that pent-up energy you seem to have. Is Masterson not giving it to you right, sweetness? You need a round with me to show you what a real man’s like?”
Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck! I thought, my heart slamming hard into my throat. I swung around and hoisted my bag on my shoulder. “Now Derek,” I chastised, still with that ridiculous smile on. “He’s my boyfriend and I need you to respect that.” Meanwhile my gaze darted all around, desperately trying to find Kyle.
“Maybe lover boy’s not coming around for you anymore,” he drawled, his patronizing tone dripping with sarcasm. “Maybe he’s found another hot piece to fuck. Maybe he’s found another whore, one who likes it up the ass? Or double-teamed with a friend?”
I breathed deep and ignored him, starting to walk toward the front of the theater. But Derek grabbed me by the elbow. Hard.
“Or maybe something’s happened to him.” He sneered right in my face, the vein in his forehead popped out and pulsating. My mouth went bone-dry, and even if I had wanted to scream, I couldn’t because my throat had closed up. Like an animal, he could sense my fear, and an evil smile covered his face. “Mr. Masterson’s got a lot of enemies. Lots of people wouldn’t mind seeing a sleazebag like him getting what he deserves.”
Seeing him get off on scaring the shit out of me turned my fear into anger real fast. I whipped my arm out of his grasp and got right back in his face. “Are you threatening him, Derek? Because I’m sure that’s a felony. And someone with your troubles shouldn’t be asking for more.”
He busted out laughing, an awful sound that echoed in the space surrounding us. “That’s rich, you twit! You’re fucking an attorney for five minutes and now you act as if you went to law school. Typical, narcissistic actor!”
“Well, you’re the expert,” I barked back. “You know what it means to be a narcissist, with your head constantly up your own ass.”
When I turned around to walk away, I saw Kyle jogging through the front door. The minute he spotted me in the same air as Derek, his whole body went rigid.
“You okay, babe?” he called to me while stalking over, his eyes burning hellfire at Derek, whose face had gone pale.
“Yeah, I’m all right.” I met him halfway and took his hand. “Let’s just go, honey.”
He stood rod straight, not budging an inch. “We got a problem, Schiller?”
Derek’s jaw clenched, and he pursed his lips so hard they turned white. Through gritted teeth he muttered, “Nah, it’s all good.”
Kyle stared him down for what seemed like forever, then grunted and draped his arm around me. While still keeping Schiller in his sights, he asked, “Got everything you need?”
“Yeah, I’m good. Let’s get out of here.” The atmosphere between them was so Rambo’d up, I was really afraid if we stayed any longer, blows would be exchanged. I had to practically pull Kyle away by the waist in the end.
Finally, we walked out of the theater and toward his car. “You sure everything’s okay? He’s not giving you a hard time? Because I’ll take care of it.”
I gave him a sad smile, wishing like hell I could tell him how bad it was getting. There was a big part of me that wanted him to swoop in and work his magic. Make the mess go away. But even though I’d only been with Kyle a month (although he insisted it was two months, counting the first time we met at the Super Bowl party as our beginning), I knew him and the bruisers he hung around with well enough to know that their way of handling the situation could result in all of them getting into trouble. Most of those guys wouldn’t care because, except for Jax and Kyle, they all had criminal records. Of course, all the incidents were of them righting a wrong done to a woman in distress, exhibiting their own form of justice. They were never caught now, but when they were younger, an arrest had occasionally happened.
Being an attorney made Kyle an arm of the law, and if he really messed with Derek, I knew he was at the greatest risk. He was also very well known, practically a celebrity in his own right. And even though I hadn’t told him yet, I was already in love with him, and I couldn’t bear putting him through that. Derek may be an asshole, but I’d never heard of him getting violent. I figured I was a tough girl and could ride out another month of his surly behavior.
Although him indirectly threatening Kyle was a new one—and that made my gut sink like a stone. But I did my best to brush it off and reassure my man.
“It’s fine. Where to?”
He stared at me for a couple more seconds and decided to let it go. Thankfully. “Unfortunately, got to take you back to the office with me. Got a conference call in thirty minutes that I can’t miss.” We were at his car and he opened the door for me. I got in, and he jogged over to his side.
He settled inside and I adjusted the air vent so it wouldn’t blow right on me. “Why don’t you just drop me off at the train station and I’ll Metro it back home?”
He was driving now, but still able to study my expressions. “Something’s wrong.”
I sighed and chuckled to myself. “You know me too well already.”
We were now at a stoplight and he gave me a heated look. “Feel like I’ve known you all my life, Sam. Every day, it gets harder and harder to imagine what I liked about my life before you came along.”
Oh God, I loved this man. I loved him. I loved him. I loved him. Tears sprang to my eyes. “I feel the same about you.”
He hooked me by the back of my head and pulled me into him, his mouth latching onto mine with a fervor I’d never had from anyone. And that was saying something because, in the month or two we had been together, Kyle kissed me often. All of them passionate, with a variety of techniques.
But this one, it was hot and wet and greedy. He sucked on my tongue and teased my bottom lip with his teeth. He tasted and drank me in as if I were his only sustenance. As if I were his air and lungs together. It was beautiful, and it felt like a promise.
The light must have turned green because everyone started honking behind us, so we had to break away.
“After I’m done at the office, I’m taking my girl out. Grab some dinner. Head back to my place.”
I was still reeling from the kiss, which would now be called “The Kiss by Which Every Kiss to Follow Will Be Judged”, and I could only nod in reply, my fingers coming up to my mouth to touch my lips. They were swollen. I lowered the car visor and glanced at my reflection in the mirror. I looked like a woman well kissed, with my mouth all pink, my cheeks glowing.
I looked really happy. Like a woman in love.
I wasn’t prepared to fully digest this new reality, so I slapped the mirror back in place as Kyle parked and took my hand when he opened my car door. I was grateful I was dressed a tad nicer today, wearing my black wrap jersey dress with leather boots, especially since all the women in his office looked like variations of the Mad Men cast. Lots of pale skin with red lipstick, tight pencil skirts and dipping low blouses. Immediately I could spot the ones wanting a piece of him by the expression on their faces as we
walked in, hand in hand.
They were not too happy to see me.
If Kyle noticed the arctic chill that had swept through the air, he didn’t show it. If anything, he was even more demonstrative in his affection, introducing me around, tugging me close to his side. Last stop was his office, which was exactly what I always pictured a law office to look like. Lots of dark, shiny wood and gold-tacked leather seating. His degrees were prominently hung next to shelves of awards, many from child advocacy groups he had worked with through the years. There wasn’t one personal picture to be seen. Not anywhere. I knew he wasn’t close to his parents, but I still found that…odd.
“You know,” I said over my shoulder while circling around, taking it all in. “If I’d known I was going to be coming to your office today, I would’ve worn more appropriate attire.”
He was behind his desk now, filing documents he needed in his briefcase. “You look hot as hell in that dress, Sam.”
“Why, thank you, Counselor.” I batted my eyelashes, flirting with him. “But it’s nothing compared to what I had in mind.”
He cocked an eyebrow, placed his briefcase down on the floor and sat back in his chair. Elbows on the armrests. Fingertips from both hands pressed together, looking very commanding. “Really, Ms. Lockhart. You better review with me what you have in mind, so I can assess if it’s fitting for the workplace.”
I offer him a crooked smile and sashayed over. I leaned forward, giving him a direct view of my cleavage, one that got even better when I placed both my palms on his desk.
“I’ve got a killer pencil skirt with these great fuck-me heels. Precious li’l bows on the toes. That, with my black thigh-highs, the ones with the seams down the middle?” My mouth curved slowly as I cocked my head.
His chest expanded, visibly rising and falling. Then he shifted in his seat with a groan and I knew I had him.
“You see, I’m thinking if I had worn that li’l number—” I walked around the desk and stopped when I was standing between his knees, “—you’d be so turned on you wouldn’t be able to get up from your desk. The rest of your day would be totally screwed.”
Heart Breaker (Break on Through) Page 11
