Eyes Wide Open (Healing Hearts #2)

by Renee Dyer

  “You have my baby.” Jensen pins me with his green eyes and he’s smiling at me. Oh holy fuck.

  “Your w-w… ba-baby?”

  “Tuck told me you have an Impala just like the one from the show. I love that car.”

  “Oh the car. Y-yes, my brother restored her for me.”

  “Maybe Tuck can hook me up with your brother’s info sometime. I’d love to see what he can do.”

  “I bet Adrian would like that.”

  “It was nice to meet you, Adriana. Need to bring the wife her drink. Have a great night. ”

  Oh my God! I just talked to Jensen Ackles. AHH! I’m having a total fangirl moment. Even if it’s only in my mind.

  “Should I be jealous?” Tucker asks, smirking at me.

  “Nope. You’re the best boyfriend ever.” I reach over, give him a quick kiss, and whisper in his ear, “I wish your house wasn’t full of people.”

  Tucker and I are up before everyone else and decide to go pick up breakfast. I’m enjoying the quiet of the morning with him. I know that by the time we get back, Jesse will be awake and excited about getting back on the jet. Tucker can’t make the flight back with us due to work obligations. It only makes these few stolen moments with him that much more special.

  In the garage, he walks straight to his Corvette. I don’t remember what year it is, but I know it’s somewhere in the sixties. I remember him and Adrian talking about it. What I do notice is the motorcycle sitting at the end of the row of vehicles. Its shiny, black, sleekness and chrome call out to me. The scene from My Unexpected Forever between Harrison and Katelyn flips through my mind and I have to clench my thighs. I want Tucker on that bike… now. I’ve had fantasies of having sex with him on a motorcycle since reading that scene and now I can make it come true. We aren’t outside and we aren’t overlooking any city lights, but Tucker on a motorcycle—at all—is making me burn up inside.

  Breakfast can wait.

  I walk over to the bike and run my fingers over it. It’s a simple act, but it feels sensual. Tucker comes up from behind me and wraps his arms around me, nipping at my neck. “You like motorcycles, sweetness?”

  “Mm-hmm. I read this book and there was this scene that has never left my mind. Ever had sex on a bike before, Tucker?”

  He steps around me and hunger burns in his eyes. He shakes his head.

  “Wanna try it?” I start pushing him toward the motorcycle as I begin undoing his jeans. Thank Christ I decided on a skirt for the plane ride home. I wanted something comfortable. It’s a little long for what I have planned, but I’ll make it work.

  “Sweetness, t—”

  I put my fingers over his lips. I need him. I don’t want him to ask me if I’m sure because my friends are in the house. I just want us to be together.

  “Straddle the bike, Tucker.” Whatever he was going to say before, he must realize he doesn’t need to say now.

  He throws his long leg over the bike and before he sits down, I pull him free of his jeans, down low enough to where they won’t pinch him. I shimmy out of my panties, knowing I’m already dripping at just the thought of having him inside of me.

  “Are you ready for me?”

  “I’m always ready, Adriana.”

  A shiver runs up my spine when he says my name. I hike my skirt up and with his help, I climb onto the bike. It takes us a second to get the balance and position right. But after that second, Tucker thrusts into me at the same time he covers my mouth with his, swallowing my cries. I take over from there so he can keep the bike balanced. Up and down, I feel him filling me, giving new meaning to taking this out for a test ride. I’d say I broke him in.

  His long, hard fingers press into my ass. They help push me up and down onto him. The friction between us increases as we both near our climaxes. I should be worried about being caught, but all I can think is I’m finally making love to the man I love. Some people wouldn’t see it that way. To them, this would be cheap sex, but my heart and soul is with this man and I treasure every minute I’m with him.

  My world breaks apart, shatters all over him as I hear him growl out my name. A feeling of contentment takes over me as he holds me to his chest. I hear his heart and I know I want to be the person who makes his heart speed up for the rest of his life.

  Soon, very soon, he’s going to know that’s how I feel.

  “I wish we weren’t going to get breakfast for everyone so we could take this for a ride,” I say, patting the seat we just vacated.

  Tucker chuckles and I look at him with a raised brow.

  “I don’t drive motorcycles. That’s Eddie’s bike.” He laughs even harder at what I can only imagine is my mouth falling to the floor.

  “What! Oh my God. Tucker, get the disinfectant. I can’t believe you let me talk you into having sex on your friend’s bike. Why is it in your garage? And why are you still laughing at me?”

  “I’m sorry, sweetness,” he says in between his laughter. “You’re cute as hell when you’re flustered. Don’t you know I’ll have sex with you anywhere you ask? And, that was a fantasy of yours, there was no way I was saying no. Aside from that, I tried to tell you it was Eddie’s bike. You stopped me from talking.”

  “Oh. Well, why is it here?” I’m grasping for something to say because I’m embarrassed. Damn Harrison and reading that scene. Me and my fucking books.

  He has the audacity to laugh at me again before he sees my face. He tries to act like he’s not still amused by me, but I can tell he’s trying not to laugh. Bastard.

  “Eddie keeps it here so he won’t ride her when he’s in the wrong frame of mind. He got in an accident once because of that. He learned from his mistakes.”

  I nod, understanding. It’s sound reasoning and I honestly have nothing to say to that.

  “We can clean it when we get back, sweetness. Let’s go get food.” He takes my hand and that one act calms the hysteria that was bubbling up in me. I don’t know how he does it, what kind of magical powers Tucker has over me, but he can always make me feel like everything will be right in my world.

  Chapter Fifty Seven

  Tucker

  I’m distracted as I sit here with Adriana. I shouldn’t be. I have her cuddled into my side, my arm wrapped around her and we’re watching A Walk to Remember. She said it’s one of her favorite movies, but I can’t remember even half of what I’ve seen. All I can think of is the visit I got from Grant before flying here.

  The knock at my door startles me. I’m not expecting anyone. Why wouldn’t the front desk call up and let me know someone is coming up? I thought I got that problem fixed. Maybe it’s Eddie with some last minute show stuff to go over. They’re used to him. I look through the peephole just in case and I’m surprised to see Grant standing there.

  I open the door and nervous eyes look back at me.

  “Can I come in?” Even his voice sounds wrong.

  “Sure, but I’m not here for long. Heading out to see Adriana.”

  He nods and walks past me. Something isn’t right. I don’t know what it is, but my gut is telling me to keep my guard up. I close the door and turn to face my brother. It still feels weird to call him that. He’s pacing my living room and all I can picture is a caged animal. I don’t know if I should approach him.

  Time is short though, and I have a plane to catch.

  “What’s going on, Grant? Did something happen between you and Mikos?” It’s the only reason I can think of for him being here.

  He stops pacing and stares at me. His expression is blank, reminding me of when I first met Adriana. It scares me. Whatever is going on with him can’t be good.

  “I did something.”

  He stops talking, stops looking at me, and starts pacing again. What does he mean he did something?

  “You have to give me more than that, Grant. What did you do?” I keep my voice as soft as I can. I want to scream at him, shake him, and make him tell me what the fuck he did.

  “I hated you so much. I thought you
were the reason I lost my father. Both of my fathers.” He doesn’t look at me. He keeps pacing and his voice is monotone. It’s like he’s lost himself.

  “I thought everyone was lying about you being a good guy. How could you be? You’re an actor. It had to be an act. I convinced myself of that. So, I told myself it was okay.”

  “What was okay? What did you do, Grant?” He’s really starting to scare me.

  “You were my enemy. Don’t you get that, Tucker? I spent years despising you, years working out a plan of how I was going to get back at you. I wanted to get back at you, make you lose everything the way I did. Then, I found out I was wrong about you, but it was too late. The damage is already done. Oh God, Cammie is never going to forgive me, Tucker. And, the irony is, she is a big reason I was able to see you for the man you really are. She was always telling me to see past my hate and open my eyes so I could see who you really are. Now that I do, I can’t undo what I did to take you down.”

  “Goddammit, Grant, what did you do?” I finally lose it and shout at him.

  He stops pacing again and looks at me. Regret is all I see. “I’m so sorry, Tucker. I wish I could take it back.”

  “Please tell me what you did?” I plead with him.

  “I’m afraid to.”

  I can’t imagine Grant afraid of anything. He’s usually cocky and in your face. I’ve never seen him anything but confident.

  “We’re brothers. We’ll figure it out.”

  “That’s just it, you won’t want to be when you know. I’m going to lose everything all over again. I can’t do this.”

  He tries to walk by me, but I put my hand to his chest to stop him. His eyes are pleading with me to let him go. I can see how badly he wants to walk away. He wants to pretend he never came here and said anything, but it’s too late for that.

  “Whatever it is, I promise you, we’ll figure it out.”

  He shakes his head. I see disbelief in his eyes. I keep my hand on his chest, afraid he’ll run if I move it.

  “Please tell me, Grant, so we can fix this.”

  He takes a deep breath, closes, and then opens his eyes. I see the moment he knows I’m not letting this go.

  “You have to understand, Tucker, I thought you were the reason I lost the man who raised me. I loved him more than anything and he died loathing me. He couldn’t even look at me. We were best friends before he found out I wasn’t his. I hated you for that. I wanted to destroy you for that.” Desperation pours off him and I feel his pain. If I weren’t such a guy, if he weren’t such a guy, I’d pull him into a hug right now. “I sold out the show.”

  Of all the things I thought he was going to say, this wasn’t it. I thought he was going to tell me he did something to hurt someone close to me. That he hacked into my accounts, something that involved only me. But, the show involves so many people. He isn’t only messing with my life, so many of these people need this show for their livelihood.

  I keep my voice as calm as I can when I ask again, “What did you do?”

  He looks at the floor, his shoulders sag, and it’s the first time I’ve ever seen him look defeated. “I gave Melanie Kingston the script to the last two episodes of Facing Extinction. And, I don’t just mean my scenes. I found the weak link in the writing team, the person who was tired of living in the shadows of Eddie ‘the fucking genius writer’ Carmichael. I did what I had to do to get him to give me those episodes. They didn’t even tell me they were going to kill me off. When I read that and that it was your character who was going to do it, I completely broke. I gave her everything.”

  Fuck! This is bad. This is epically fucking bad! The network is going to come after him. Eddie’s going to kill him. How the hell do I protect him?

  Do I want to protect him?

  I look at the broken man before me and I realize I do. Grant may have treated me like shit for a long time, but he’s my brother. And, we’ve been kept apart for a long time due to circumstances out of our control. Things may have been different between us had we known about each other our whole lives.

  “First, we’re calling Eddie and you’re coming clean. It’s going to suck, but he’s my best friend and it’s the best thing you can do for yourself. Second, we’re calling my agent. He’s a fucking shark. If there’s anyone who can swim you through these mucky waters, it’s him. Third, we’re getting my lawyers involved. You’re going to need the best legal team on your side. Then, I’m switching my flight and getting you a ticket to take you to New Hampshire with me. You don’t want to be here when the shit hits the fan. And, my girl can fucking cook. A weekend away will do you some good.”

  “Tucker, no. This isn’t your problem. I can’t ask—”

  “You didn’t ask and this is what Stavros’ do for each other. We stick together. Grams’ would skin me if I didn’t help you. She may be getting up in age, but she still scares me. Go pack a bag for the weekend and get back over here. We’ll call Eddie then. You have an hour to be back here. If you aren’t here, I will come find you and trust me when I say, you don’t want that.”

  It was a long night. I had to switch the flight making it so Grant and I didn’t arrive until ten this morning. It sucked that I missed a whole night with Adriana, but Eddie told me to stay here until he is sure no one will lynch my brother. Adriana had no problem with me bringing Grant. I thought she’d be iffy about it, but she said if he needed a place to hide out then she’d be more than happy to have him. It’s one more reason I love her.

  The rain outside seems to only heighten my down mood. I should be in a great mood being here with Adriana, but I can’t stop thinking about Grant. He hasn’t come out of his room since we showed him to it. He’s in the same room I stayed in when I first met Adriana. He said he doesn’t want to be a burden. I know he’s beating the hell out of himself for the bad choices he’s made. Adriana said he’ll come out when he’s ready. I’m trying to give him the space he needs, but I hate knowing he’s suffering up there and I can’t help.

  Thump!

  My head is forcefully smacked to the side by something cushy and I hear Adriana giggle. I look at her and she’s standing in front of me with one of her couch pillows, ready to swing again. She has a huge grin on her face and she’s more beautiful than I remember.

  “I see you’re paying attention now, Stavros.”

  I laugh and charge at her, picking her up and throwing her onto the couch. She keeps whacking me with the pillow as I tickle her incessantly. Her laughter fills the space around us, traveling into my head and heart, where I need it to be. It erases the bad mood I’ve been stuck in. Her face, with a smile on it, can make anyone forget that they ever had any bad in their life.

  The air leaves my lungs and I freeze. What the hell is that?

  Her shirt has lifted from my tickling and her jeans sit low. I see a tattoo peeking out. I pull her jeans a little lower and read the script that angles along her lower hip.

  On angel’s wings, love flew in.

  She loves me?

  Chapter Fifty Eight

  Adriana

  Oh, shit. The tattoo. No, this isn’t how he was supposed to see it. I had a way I wanted to show him, a way I wanted to tell him. He’s staring at it and I see the smile forming on his lips. I should be happy, but instead I feel a panic attack coming on.

  I need some air.

  I wiggle free from underneath Tucker and run from the room. I don’t grab shoes or a coat, just run out into the rain. It’s early May and with the rain, it’s chilly. I don’t know why I’m freaking out. I do love Tucker, but I wanted to tell him myself. I didn’t want him to find out this way. I need to calm the hell down and go talk to him like a rational human being, not like the crazy person I’m acting like.

  Still, I keep running, through my back yard, all the way out into the tall grass where I know in a few weeks the wild flowers will bloom. I drop down onto my knees and look up to the sky. “Alex, if you’re listening, please tell me to stop being stupid. Tell me to stop f
reaking out. To go back to that house and tell him how I feel. I love that man.”

  I hear Tucker calling for me from the house and I know I only have a few moments before he’ll be out here with me. I need to get my shit together.

  “Please, Alex. I need some extra strength today. I need my best friend to help me be the person I want to be. The person who says how she feels and doesn’t run away from what she wants.”

  I feel a warmth like a hug surround me and I want to cry out. I knew he’d come for me. He always did. “Thanks, Alex.” I sit there in the rain, surrounded by the feeling of my best friend, gathering my strength, and thinking of what I want to say to Tucker when I feel Alex’s warmth replaced by Tucker’s arms.

  “Adriana, what…”

  “I wasn’t running from you, Tucker. I know it looked that way and I’m sorry. It’s just… I had this whole thing planned out in my head. I have so much to say to you and I didn’t want you to see that tattoo until I did. I got flustered and needed to figure out how to say what I want you to know.”

  He pulls me tighter to his chest, but I pull away. I need to look at him when I tell him I love him. I turn because I want to see his face, his eyes, when he knows what’s in my heart. I take his hands in mine.

  “Did you figure out what you want to say?”

  “I think so, but I may have to wing it a little.” I give him a quick kiss and pull back. He looks so handsome with the rain pouring down his face.

  “You are a hard man not to care for, Tucker Stavros. Trust me, I tried. But, you broke through every wall I put up to protect my heart. You took the broken mess that I was and showed me that I didn’t have to be whole to care for someone. Those mending pieces could care just as much as one whole heart. All of the fragmented pieces of my heart fell for you. For the sweet you that planned a dinner for me when I was ready to kick you out of my life even though you didn’t deserve my anger. I fell for the honest man that you are because I need someone to tell me how it is. I may not like to hear what you have to say, but thanks to you, I’m finally healing. I fell for the sexy side of you. That side allows me to let go of my inhibitions. And, I fell for the broken you that still needs to heal like me. I’m in love with you, Tucker. I think I was from the day we met, but I was too damn stubborn to let myself believe that it was real. I was afraid because if I said it out loud, I could lose you too and I may never come back from that. I’m done being afraid. I love you, Tucker.”