Starcrossed Hearts

by Star Crossed Hearts (lit)

  "Were you surprised about them?"

  "What, that Dane’s hitting on my sister? No. Nothing Dane does ever surprises me. Not anymore." Mac said.

  "I often wonder if he’ll ever be happy, you know?" Jessica said. "He didn’t really love Jackie."

  "No. Dane’s a complex person. He makes life hard for himself. He won’t be happy until he makes some changes."

  "Like what, you think?"

  Mac shrugged. If she didn’t know, he wasn’t going to tell her.

  Jessica frowned at him. "Charlene’s about as far from Jackie as you can get."

  "She’s no China doll, that’s for sure. Dane’s in for one hell of a surprise if he thinks he’ll uncover any frailties there. She’ll nail him in a minute if he tries anything she’s not into."

  "Oh come on, Mac. She’s not that bad."

  "Oh yeah? At this very moment she has a switchblade strapped to her leg."

  "What?" Jessica demanded, her eyes wide.

  Mac’s nod was serious and foreboding. "And a grenade or two in her bag."

  "She was right! You are a brat."

  "No more so than you, ma petite. By the way, you still interested in that Acura NSX?"

  Epilogue

  "Got everything? It’s a long way to come back for your toothbrush." Mac slammed the trunk on the Lexus as Charlene nodded in an exaggerated fashion.

  "I have never seen anyone fuss more than you do, Cory."

  "I just don’t want you back too soon."

  "Thanks, I appreciate your sentiment. Don’t worry, Dane and I plan to enjoy this trip. We can both use the change in scenery. I still say L.A.’s a pit."

  "Los Angeles may look like a garden spot after you’ve seen Singapore," Jessica advised, joining them in the MacKendall driveway with Dane behind her, holding seven-month-old Devon in his arms.

  "Ah, come on. It’s not so bad. You were just looking at it through the harsh glare of hospital lights. It’s actually quite exciting," Dane mused.

  "How you can find it exciting after what happened to you…" Jessica shook her head, smiling as Dane handed the baby over to Mac.

  "Charo here is going to take good care of me, aren’t you, sugar?"

  "Don’t ‘sugar’ me, Dane. And don’t expect me to sit by while you get your ya-yas out with some Malaysian honey. I’ll be the first to put you back in that hospital."

  Dane grinned. "Isn’t she something? Jess, did you know Charlene carries a switchblade?"

  "I should have had one the day I met you."

  "Ooh, low." Dane feigned devastation, then his expression changed to one of discomfort. "Think I could get a couple of aspirin from you?"

  "What, the mere mention of the hospital puts you in pain?" Mac teased.

  Jessica gave Dane a level stare before turning toward the house. She’d clearly seen him slip his prescription bottle into his pocket after breakfast; his knee still bothered him.

  "I think I have something that might help," she murmured. "Come on."

  Dane followed Jessica into the house and to the guest bathroom where she retrieved a bottle of Tylenol and struggled with the child-safe cap. Glancing into the mirror, she was somehow struck by the image awaiting her; Dane stood close behind her, his chin nearly level with the top of her head. He rested his hands on her shoulders and peered solemnly into the reflection of her eyes. Quietly she studied his features, suddenly taken by subtle but significant changes she hadn’t noticed before.

  Mesmerized by the moment, Jessica searched Dane’s face for traces of the man she’d met nearly two years ago. She felt she’d known him forever. What was different?

  "Take a good look," he said softly, gently squeezing her shoulders. "Don’t forget me."

  Jessica didn’t respond. The warmth of Dane’s hands, his chest against her back was comforting; the sincerity in his eyes embraced her. The hunger was gone. The heated lust that had shrouded his love had been put to rest; and in its place, Dane reflected a peace that had eluded him for so long.

  Jessica’s vision began to blur and she turned abruptly to face him, throwing her arms around his neck, the unopened bottle clenched in her fist.

  "Oh Dane, please be careful," she whispered huskily. "I hate to see you go."

  "Why the hell would I want to be careful? I wouldn’t have any fun," he said with a chuckle, but the fierceness of his embrace belied his comic words.

  "I mean it," she sniffed, "don’t screw around. Please!"

  "I don’t need more screwing at this point…Charlene keeps me well sated. She’s the first woman I’ve met that knows more about sexual gratification than I do." Dane’s eyes teased hers with merriment, then softened with his smile. Sighing, he pressed his cheek against hers. Nervously Jessica glanced toward the hall, but she continued to hold Dane tightly about the neck.

  "Don’t worry. If he starts toward the house she’ll put him in a headlock," Dane assured her. Jessica gave him a look of surprise, and he took the opportunity to run his fingers through her hair. "Besides, he needs time to say good-bye to his sister, too."

  The words touched her deeply and the tears returned.

  "I’m your sister now? That’s a new one," she said, trying to keep her tone light but failing. She brushed a tear from her cheek.

  "Okay. You’re right. You’re no more my sister than Scarlett was to Rhett."

  "You do love her, don’t you Dane?"

  It was now a sad smile that played upon his lips as he shook his head ever so slightly. "Ah, Jess," he began, again stroking back her hair. "Guys like me don’t fall in love. That stuff’s for real heroes. Like Mac."

  "You’re breaking my heart," she whispered.

  "Hey, it’s what I do best," he mused. "Anyway, all I ever wanted was for you to throw your panties at me."

  She stared at him for an endless moment.

  God, I could just about fall into those deep green eyes of his…Had someone said those words to her once, long ago?

  They were standing outside the door to Studio B. They were facing the wind together on the leeward deck of the Pacifica. He was grasping her arm from a bed in a Malaysian hospital, his eyes bright with agonizing pain; she was digging her nails into his wrist as they fearfully awaited the birth of her child. They were lying together on a blanket under Caribbean stars.

  Dane’s lips pressed firmly against her forehead and his hands caressed her back lovingly. "You have the number where I’ll be most of the time. Call me if, you know, you need anything."

  "Of course," she managed hoarsely. "And you do the same."

  "The last thing you want is another call from Singapore."

  "Don’t be silly. You call me, you hear? Even if it’s only to say hello. You can afford it," she teased, sniffing again.

  "I don’t know, the way Charo is spending my money."

  After a lingering, affectionate gaze, Dane sighed and moved his hands to rest against her cheeks. "We’d better go. She’s probably running out of endearments for dear old Mac. Although I would never run out of them for you, sweetie."

  Miserable, but somehow content, Jessica hugged him once more before stepping quickly from the bathroom, only to stop and once again face Dane.

  "I guess you didn’t really need these," she said softly, extending the small bottle.

  "As a matter of fact I do. This other shit puts me to sleep, which tends to rather piss off my bed partner." He grinned at her and they walked companionably, arm in arm, back to where Charlene and Mac leaned over a map spread across the trunk of the car. Devon dozed on the backseat.

  Charlene smiled a gracious welcome to Dane’s wink of gratitude.

  "Dane, I’ve decided we should go to Hawaii instead."

  "Right, Sugar. Just as soon as I finish the film in Singapore."

  "But Dane--" Charlene’s protests were cut off by Dane’s hand, pinching her lips into a pucker and kissing them briskly.

  Mac secured Jessica in his arms and looked into her face, the pink nose and somber, swollen eyes evident.
"Dammit Dane, I wish you’d quit making Jessie cry," he quipped.

  Dane approached Mac and squeezed his shoulder. "The day I quit making women cry, I’ll have to retire. Let’s hit the road, shall we?"

  Meet Anne Carter

  "Everyone needs a little romance in their lives," Anne Carter will assure you. "Some need more than others." She should know. A storyteller since 7th grade, Anne and her younger sister would dream up a new chapter to a romantic saga each night before going to bed. Soon, writing became an obsession. Raised in Southern California where she, her husband and three children make their home, Anne interrupts her passion occasionally to run her bookkeeping business and possibly put dinner on the table.

  Although STARCROSSED HEARTS centers on the lives of those stellar gods and goddesses of the silver screen, Anne is quick to point out that this book isn't about Hollywood glitz. "I've always been a teenybopper, and proud of it," she confesses. "But my stories reach to the human side, the deep, heart-wrenching emotions unleashed by the forces of true love."

  STARCROSSED HEARTS is Anne Carter's third published novel. Visit her website at www.beaconstreetpubs.com.

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