“I have a lot of emails to send,” she said. “Work, my team, the Stronger Than Scars Foundation. I'll hang out in the living room for a while, if that's okay. I can come back in here in about an hour and clean up.”
“You don't have to clean up.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
And Wendy left the room.
Colin slumped back in his chair.
Why did he have such a bee in his bonnet about Wendy? Why couldn't he chill and let a nice moment happen? Wendy wasn't the bad guy.
He was pretty sure that Wendy wasn't the bad guy.
* * * * *
Wendy turned over and opened her eyes. 2:10 a.m. She wanted to snuggle into her soft sheets and drift back to sleep, but she had to pee. Great. Five glasses of Colin's sweet tea, and now she had to crawl all commando-style to the bathroom in the pitch black of the shuttered-in night. Yay.
Wendy sighed, slid off the covers, then lowered herself over the side of the bed to the floor.
“Aaah!”
“Ooof!”
“Aaaaah!”
“Wendy, it's me! Colin.”
Wendy was scrambling to get off him, even as he banded his arms around her waist and held her there.
“Wendy,” he said again. “Calm down. Stay still. It's okay.”
Wendy's knees slid off and to each side of Colin so she lay straddling him, levered up off him a few inches. “What are you doing here?”
Underneath her, she could feel him shrug. “I just wanted to sleep in here. With you.”
“On the floor?”
“On the floor.” He turned to the side and tipped her off him. He bent his elbow and propped up his head on one hand and so did she.
“What are you doing?” he asked. “Did you just fall out of bed?”
“I'm on my way to the bathroom.”
“Sorry. I didn't even think of that when I came in here.” He rolled out of her way and sat with his back propped up against the side of the bed.
“Thanks.” And Wendy crawled to the bathroom.
Once she got inside and turned on the light, she looked at herself in the mirror. What the fandango was she doing? She was living in Colin's house for three weeks. She was dying to have Colin just absolutely plaster himself all over her. He was sleeping in her room. What was the matter with her? Wendy couldn't think.
She remembered the night in the hotel. She hadn't thought on that night, either. She'd touched Colin and she'd wanted him. And that was all she could remember thinking. She'd wanted him so much. She had to have him, had to give in to that heat.
But then there was the night in Lola's office. She'd wanted him so much that night, too, but it had been different. She'd known what she was doing then. And so had he. And he'd decided against it.
Wendy went to the bathroom but before she went back to her room, she turned out the bathroom light and stood in the dark for a few minutes, letting her eyes adjust to the blackness. When she inched back into her room, Colin was still sitting with his back up against the side of the bed. She saw the gleam of his teeth when he smiled at her.
That made her heart speed up, and she smiled back without meaning to. She crawled up to where he sat, and holy hot tamales, she could just curl right into his lap.
But she didn't. She sat next to him, her back against the bed.
“You know,” he said, “we were trending on Twitter earlier.”
“Really?” Wendy felt momentarily shocked, as if she'd forgotten to put on pants before going to school. She'd been trending on Twitter and she hadn't even bothered to check tonight? When she'd been on the computer for over an hour? Maybe she had been knocked in the head when she'd crash landed on the twenty yard line. “My highlights-worthy football catch?”
“Yep. Sorry.”
“No,” she said. “It's okay. That's exactly the kind of thing we want everyone to see. Me doing my darnedest to become a part of your life.”
“I should have kissed you.”
Wendy gasped, then tried to turn it into a cough. “Uh … what?”
“I watched the streaming video of the whole thing. It would have looked better if I'd kissed you at the end. After you called me a wuss.”
“Why didn't you?”
Colin gave a short huff of laughter. “I wanted to. But we were on the field. During practice. We were surrounded by the players and coaches. I won't even let the cheerleaders practice on the same field because they're a distraction. So I didn't think I should kiss you.”
Wendy smiled into the dark. “You wanted to?”
“Wendy, I always want to kiss you. Since you got here, except for the few times I've kissed you, I'm always actively thinking about NOT kissing you.”
Wendy moved away from him. “I'm not trying to torture you, Colin.”
“Hey, I'm the one who comes to sleep in your room. I'm the one who agreed to this. I'm the one who snagged you into staying three weeks. I'd say I made my own bed.”
“Is that why you did it? Got me to stay for three weeks? Were you hoping it could be like—”
“No. No, Wendy. I told you, this is not some scheme of mine to get you to do anything you don't want to do. I need you here to help me fix things.”
Wendy sighed. “I'm getting back into bed now. By myself. I'm really looking forward to our run in the morning. So maybe you should go back to your room so you can get a good night's sleep.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Good-night, Wendy.”
“Good-night, Colin.”
Chapter 25
ARLEN
As soon as I see the kid launch the ball into the air, I know it's going way too fast and hard for Wendy to catch it. I can see that her bread bunny is going to be knocked senseless the second the ball socks into her.
But I have to say, I'm impressed. Wendy's workout regimen leaves mine in the dustiest dust bowl of 1939. I mean, I'm pulling her into my arms all the time on the show. Like, all the time. One scene where my character tries to kiss hers is three to fourteen takes depending on the director. And every time, putting my hands on her body makes me flinch because it feels all hard and bony compared to Lola. And so wrong. And that involuntary flinch always works in favor of the tension of the scene.
But Wendy's not hard just because she's so skinny and bony. She's ripped with ripcord muscle. My God, that football hit her right in the gut and bounced off. It sent her flying, sure, but it didn't slice right through to her spine.
But as amazing as that whole sequence is, that's not why I keep re-watching it. It's the next part.
The part with Colin.
The look in his eyes when he comes running up to her. The way he touches her when he kneels down next to her. He isn't flinching whenever he touches her. He's treating her like the softest, most precious dandelion fuzz, the kind that will blow away into oblivion with the slightest breeze.
And you could say that maybe he's worried about having responsibility for this million-dollar commodity or having responsibility for the linchpin in his sister's career. Or having responsibility for the woman who engineered the existence and happiness of his sister's family.
But that's not it.
You can see that it's not it by the way he looks at her when she calls him out for his wussy football throws.
Good God, Colin is in love with Wendy.
She's got him, hook, line, and great big fishing net, and he seems totally clueless about how truly tangled up he is.
And her? I don't know. I just don't know. Wendy is my best friend in the world but I can't read a thing about her and how she feels. I don't have the answers.
Lola is going to freak and I don't have any answers that could possibly calm her down. This is not good. But at least there's a lot of food in the house. And a brand new bottle of chocolate syrup in the fridge next to the milk.
And luckily Katie took Matteo and Ella to the movies and Pam is at the jazz club. But then again, I'm pretty sure they get a kick out of Lola when she spazzes out. I think they make bets on
how I'm going to calm her down and how long it'll take.
“Whatcha watchin'?”
“Whoa!” And I jump, like, three feet out of my chair.
“Arlen?” Lola laughs. “What? Did I catch you watching porn? Is it good porn, at least? Stuff we could maybe try while everyone's out?”
She leans over me and peers at the screen. She's been in a writing fog for the past twenty-four hours, working on the story bible for Season 2, so she hasn't seen this yet.
“What's this? Wendy? And Colin? God, have I missed a lot in the past day and a half?”
She pulls a chair close to me so we sit shoulder to shoulder at the kitchen table as she hits the play arrow.
Pretty quickly, she starts laughing and cooing as Colin throws passes out to Wendy, doing his best to hit her in the bread bunny.
But then when Thomas throws the ball, Lola works up to a scream. “Ohhhhhhhhhhh. Ahh!”
Then she leans in with her face right in front of the screen as Colin comes running into frame. She looks at me. “Uh-oh.”
“Uh-oh?”
“Yeah, uh-oh.”
“That's it?” I ask. “Just uh-oh?”
Lola shrugs. “Our leading lady is head over heels in love. And Colin has no idea what she's made of.”
“Wendy's in love? Lola, Colin is the one who's in love.”
“I know. Him, too. But Colin is also the one who's going to screw this up. At least he will if he doesn't get a clue.”
“And you're okay with that? Suddenly, you're okay with all this? I mean, I think it's good to be okay with it, but I thought you'd go ballistic.”
“Well, maybe I would if I weren't so heavily sedated.”
I tickle her.
“Ah!”
“Right, David St. Hubbins. I'm serious.”
“So am I. Okay, I'm not sedated, but I'm serious about not freaking out. I think all the writing I've been doing lately has given me some clarity, or something. Colin … he's always been there for me. ME. Not who he thought I should be. ME. He's always had my back, let me do my thing. Always. So I have to let him do his thing. And I'm here for him if he needs me.”
I chuckle. “When he needs you, I think you mean. If Wendy's really fallen for him, at some point, he is going to come running to you. I guarantee it.”
Lola turns to face me. “I hope I can be what he needs. Arlen, the things he's done for me ...”
I run a hand into her messy hair, push a wayward wave behind her ear. “You saved my life in so many ways, Lola. I know you'll be there for him, whatever he needs.”
Lola smiles. “Of course I saved you. I wanted you all for myself. In good condition.”
I lean in and kiss her. “What was that you were saying about something you wanted to try since we're the only ones home?”
Chapter 26
THE STORY OF WENDY AND COLIN
“Colin?”
“Yeah?”
Colin was there, again, on her floor. Like he had been every night since she'd gotten to his house. But almost as soon as Wendy sighed with relief, her heart kicked up a few paces. She had to talk to him. And in the dark, not looking at him, would be best. She was sure of it.
Wendy didn't move to the side of the bed or lean over. This would be easier if she stared straight up. “Colin … when the paparazzi ambushed me outside the restaurant and I threw them your name ...”
Colin's voice was quiet, level. “Yeah?”
“I'd actually been thinking about you earlier that day.”
His voice was still so quiet. “Really? Why?”
The sound of his almost-whispers in the dark sent such skittery tingles all across Wendy's skin that she clutched at the mattress with her fingers and toes to stay in place. She was in serious danger of launching herself off the bed and right on top of Colin.
“You've heard of Midnight Rose, right?” She made her voice as high-pitched and chirpy as she could manage.
“Midnight Rose?” he said.
“They're a band. An all-girl band from—”
Colin laughed. Still quietly enough to give Wendy chills. “I know who Midnight Rose is, Wendy.”
“Right,” she said briskly. “Probably from all those phones you steal from unsuspecting high school kids.”
He laughed again. “What about them?”
Wendy cleared her throat. “Earlier that day, the day of the dinner, I'd been touching base with Midnight Rose's manager. I arranged for them to do a charity concert for Stronger Than Scars.”
“And this made you think of me?” Colin sounded like he was not happy.
“No!” Wendy rushed to say. “I mean, yes. It made me think of you. But only because the concert is in Houston. And I thought about how when I went to the concert, I'd only be about an hour's flight away from you.”
“Oh.”
For a few seconds, neither of them said anything.
“Would you have called?” he asked. “When you were in Houston?”
Wendy's pulse jumped. “No,” she said, barely a whisper. “I've never called. Any of the times I've been in Memphis at St. Jude. But I always know I'm close.”
“So, you arranged a concert in Houston and thought, 'Let me see? What do I know about Houston? Ground control for Apollo 13, it's kind of near The Alamo, and kind of near Colin.'”
“And home of the Houston Oilers,” Wendy pitched in.
“What?” Colin barked out a laugh. “The Houston Oilers?”
“Yes!” Wendy moved to the edge of the bed. “The Houston football team.”
Colin just kept laughing.
“What? You don't have to laugh so hard. I told you, I know some things about football.”
“Wendy, there is no more Houston Oilers. Not since 1996.”
“There's not? What happened to them?”
“They became the Tennessee Oilers, and now the Tennessee Titans.”
“So no more Houston football team?”
“They've got the Houston Texans now.”
“The Houston Texans? That's a terrible name.”
“No kidding,” Colin agreed. “But just out of curiosity, how did you hear of the Houston Oilers?”
“My Dad.”
“He was an Oilers fan? He talked to you about the Oilers?”
Wendy snorted. “Right. No, he had a poster in his den. It had all the NFL helmets on it and it listed all the teams.”
“That was an old poster.”
“I guess,” she sighed. “A vestige of a happier time in his life, I imagine.”
“Yeah?” Colin asked softly. “Was it—”
“Anyway,” Wendy said, cutting him off, deciding to get back on track. “The concert is tomorrow.”
“What?”
“And I have to go. I'm going.”
“Wait. What?” Colin was sitting up, looking at her from the edge of the bed.
“I've chartered a small jet—”
“You chartered a jet?”
“Yes, Colin. I was thinking of you.”
“Thinking of me?”
“Yes! This way I can be there and back within the evening. An hour there, the concert and a little hobnobbing, and an hour back.”
“You're going to Houston tomorrow night?”
“I'm trying to ask you if you want to come with me. I think you should. I think it would look really good for our story.”
Colin was quiet for a few seconds. “So, you made plans to skip town?”
“No! I made these plans before any of this happened. Colin, it's for Stronger Than Scars. I have to be there. I want to be there with you.”
Colin lay back down. “So you're asking me out on a date? To a concert in Houston tomorrow night?”
Wendy considered. “Yeah. I guess I am.”
“Okay.”
“You'll come with me?”
“Yep. Like you said, it's good for our story.”
“Right.”
“What do I wear?” he asked.
“Wear?” She laughed. “A
re you asking me for fashion advice? Do I get to do your hair, too?”
“No. You don't get to touch my hair. I mean, is it a formal tuxedo thing because it's your deal? Or a regular concert?”
“Mmmm … regular concert, mostly. Jeans and a white T can't miss.”
“Jacket?”
“In Houston? In the summer? I wouldn't be that cruel. Ever been to a concert before?”
“No. There's no music under the rock where I've lived all my life.”
“Hardy-har-har.”
“Wendy, you are such a dork.”
* * * * *
Colin cut across second, knowing the lights ran in better succession on Maple. He was in a hurry to get to practice. Sleeping on the floor in Wendy's room, running in the morning with Wendy, eating breakfast with her before he left the house—it was all throwing a ripple into his schedule, making him late. Because when Wendy was in his house, he didn't want to leave.
He just wanted her so much.
And he knew she wanted more from him. And he wanted to give it to her. He did. He really did. But he was always stopping himself from totally succumbing to her. Ever since she showed up, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was on the verge of losing everything.
Colin turned down Lindley and got such a shock he almost slammed on the brakes. But as if the biggest game of the season were on the line, he kept calm under the pressure to shout and curse. When he spotted a place to park, he pulled into the diagonal lines on the pavement in front of the vacuum store. Score. It was where he came every few months to buy vacuum bags. And he always parked in the back, because there was a customer's back entrance.
Colin got out of his car and went in the front door.
Ray Collier wasn't going to disappear this time. He had seen him in the stands. And again blending in to the paparazzi crowd in front of his house.
And now sitting in Millie's Breakfast Cafe.
He'd barely caught sight of him out of the corner of his eye as he drove past, but it was Ray, all right.
Colin walked through the vacuum store, let himself out the back, and walked along the alley.
Catch a Falling Star (In Love in the Limelight Book 3) Page 13
