"Don't worry, Sunshine, I'm not going anywhere far." He inched his way up her body, then stood and shucked off his pants and boxers.
When he joined her on the bed, she rolled them over until she straddled him. "My turn."
The scrape of her nails down his torso resulted in an intake of breath and muscles drawing tight. Teases of her fingertips along his arms and legs caused him to shift and moan. Kisses placed anywhere made him sigh. She worked her way down his stomach and sat between his legs. His erection jutted before her. She wrapped her hands around him, and stroked in the firm grasp he preferred. She loved the hiss he'd make when she twisted her hand at the top of her stroke, and the way his hips jerked off the bed when she closed her mouth over him and swallowed him down.
His hands tangled in her hair, fisted, tightened, and his movements grew restless. He pulled her off of him, rolled her over, and thrust inside.
"Audrey." Her name trembled out mixed with a groan. He linked their hands together by her head and nipped at her lips.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, increasing the pace of his snapping hips, and felt his racing heart beat in time with hers.
Faster and faster, she chased pleasure until Luke's body tightened and he ground his pelvis into hers. The pressure triggered and extended her release and as she came around him, he thrust hard twice more and then grunted his own.
She drifted her hands along his damp back as his breathing slowed.
"I'll move as soon as I have energy, I promise." He kissed her temple and then heaved himself off of her. He rolled onto his back and took her with him.
Audrey snuggled into his side, sleepy and sated. If only it could always be this way... "I'm not ready to go back to New York yet."
"You like it out here?" His hand stroked along her side.
She stretched and sighed. "I love being in your beach house. It'll be hard going back to my tiny little box of an apartment."
"Would you ever consider moving? You could just as easily work from here as you can in New York."
Was he asking her to move in with him? Was she ready for that? "I haven't thought that far ahead. My leases for both the apartment and the design studio are coming up for renewal soon. Once I receive the paperwork, if I'm not renewing, I'll have thirty days to tell them."
"So I have two weeks to convince you Cali is best before we return to New York. Mission accepted."
She grinned. It definitely sounded like he wanted her close by. "You don't have to come back with me if you'd rather stay in Cali."
"I'd rather stay with you, wherever that is. You're not getting rid of me that easily."
"I don't want to. In case you haven't noticed, I like having you around." Even though they'd slept together almost every night while in New York, he'd still kept the hotel room. But things had changed between them and she didn't see the need for it any longer. Did he? She took a deep breath and lowered her focus to the sheets. "When we get back, you don't need to get a hotel room. Unless you want it. And it's fine if you want it. I just thought that since we've been—"
He raised up on one elbow and pinched her chin gingerly between his index finger and thumb. Her breath caught at his serious, intense, blazing blue stare. "You're letting me stay with you?"
"I'll give you a key, too. That way you're not stuck inside or locked out if I'm not home."
"Sounds like a good deal to me." A grin spread across his features, as bright as the lights of The Strip. He wrapped his arms around her and his hand resumed the slow stroke along her side.
She settled against him in the cocoon of soft sheets. No one except Renee had a key to her apartment. And that was just for emergencies like locking herself out. She'd never given Dante a key. Or Rob. But she'd offered one to Luke without hesitation.
Maybe it was just a key to her apartment.
But maybe it was more.
***
After a night of bliss, Luke sang while he packed his things for the return trip to L.A. Audrey had joined Jayne for breakfast in Zander and Jayne's suite.
His phone lit up with Irisa's number. "Hey."
"Donnie's article was just released. It's not good. He shared it on your page, too. I wanted you to see it before I deleted it. Renee must have removed it from Audrey's page because it's not there."
"That bad, huh?" Frowning, he opened his laptop.
"I'm handling it, so don't overreact. Call me when you and Audrey have seen it."
He tossed his phone aside. Donnie Snell's article on their launch party had made his magazine's front page news story. One photo showed Luke standing head to head with Owen. They looked like they were about to come to blows. Headline: Ready to Rumble. The article went on to list choice sound bites that painted both men as blood-thirsty fighters. Not great, but not awful. Plus, anyone in attendance at the party could attest that no fight had broken out.
Another photo showed Audrey and Rob standing close together in the alcove. Rob's lips were on her cheek. Headline: Secret Rendezvous? The article talked about a clandestine moment for the couple while their significant others were otherwise occupied. The picture alone was enough to send fire through his blood. The hint of Audrey cheating on him and planning on leaving him for Rob sent the savage beast deep within beating his wings against his cage. But he knew Audrey would never hurt him like that.
Audrey sauntered into the room. She glanced at his face and hers immediately creased in concern. "What's wrong?"
That emotion couldn't be faked, right? Her invitation to basically live with her in New York had actually happened, right? Calm the fuck down, Thompson. Reminding himself that Donnie always twisted words and situations, and that he again knew Audrey would never betray him, he motioned her over. "There's something you need to see."
She dropped down beside him on the bed, reading the article over his shoulder. Little hisses and squeaks sounded, and then she shifted and gripped his forearm hard, her eyes wide and earnest. "I swear nothing happened. He gave me a quick peck hello on the cheek. More of an air kiss, really. That's it. I had no idea he was even at the party until I saw him. I don't want him back and he doesn't want me. I only want you."
Her words quieted his heart. Luke lifted his arm until she'd detached her grip, and then wrapped it around her waist. He dropped a kiss on her bare shoulder. "I trust you. Donnie does this kind of thing all the time."
"Then why did you guys agree to talk to him at all?"
"Saying no only makes things worse. He was probably ticked off that I called him out on what he was doing. This is his way of retaliating. He got me too." He pulled up the article with Owen and him. "See?"
"He rearranged things that were said. You held yourself in control the whole time. He's making up seventy-five percent of this story."
He nodded. "Irisa is already on it. I'm sure she sent it to our legal team, just in case. Not everyone realizes Donnie's true M.O., so when the fans read the article, they might not react well."
"Might not react well is an understatement." Audrey lifted her gaze from the screen. "I'm not sure if I want to see the comments."
He didn't want anything to further dull the sparkle in her eyes. "I'll look. Why don't you make sure you have everything packed?"
She kissed him then, long and deep, and wrapped herself around him. When his head was completely mixed up, she pulled away. "Thank you."
He scrolled to the comments when she left the room.
They weren't good. Harsh and unnecessary were more like it, and the ones on his page were even worse.
Fury_Fan_4ever: BUSTED! Ha Ha! Good luck explaining this one to him, whore. Who else are you going to scam into helping you next?
01_Fury_Fan: She's cheating on Luke. Rob's cheating on his girl. Both of them deserve each other. Ew.
Mikala_Mason: See??? She is a USER! Luke will be crushed. I hope that SLUT falls over and DIES! BITCH!
The forcefulness of the hate disturbed and saddened him, but Mikala's comment pushed anger to the forefront.
Goddamn it, why couldn't they leave her alone? He took a screen shot of the comments and sent it to Irisa. Then, he deleted the post and changed the settings so no one but him could post or share anything.
But that didn't seem like enough. He wanted to throttle each and every person who'd hurt her.
He needed to hit something. But more than that, he needed to hold her.
He closed the computer and went in search of her.
Two weeks to go until Jett's show. Hopefully things would calm down by the time they landed in New York. Until then, he intended to make their time in California the best two weeks of Audrey's life.
In between working with Hugh and overseeing Wild Intentions practice sessions, Luke did his best to convince Audrey that life in California was better than life in New York, packing their days with wine tasting at vineyards, hiking, shopping, an undersea boat tour, lots of time on the beach, and lots of time in his bed.
She kept remarking about all the extra space in his house, the size of the rooms, the amount of natural light. And he kept picturing different scenarios where she'd want to stay permanently.
She fit perfectly in his life, whether they were working on the set design for Wild Intention's performance on Jett's show, or she was accompanying him to practice sessions at Zander's house, or they were spending time with his band mates. Jayne and Irisa remarked on how much they liked having her there, too. And Luke knew he'd never tire of seeing her in his bed or sharing morning coffee or glasses of wine in the evening on the bedroom balcony.
Pride had shot through him when he'd accompanied her to meet with the regional director of the anti-bullying program. He'd held her hand while she told her story and asked the director how she could help others. They'd left the meeting with a commitment for Audrey and Luke to sign on as celebrity ambassadors, and a promise from Audrey to donate proceeds of special, anti-bullying designs to the program.
He knew he was sunk when he brought her to see the community center where he and the other guys would be spending the next few months volunteering their time teaching music to kids. She charmed the kids there, and he could see her getting involved there, too.
The last morning of their stay in L.A., he found her in the lower level of his home, sketchbook in hand, staring out the patio window. "You okay?"
"Sure." She set her sketchbook aside and rose to wrap her arms around his waist. "I'm just working on design ideas for the anti-bullying campaign."
He kissed the top of her head. "You know, this space down here would make a good studio for you."
She tilted her head and gazed around the room and then smiled. "It is a great space."
Her answer was more noncommittal that he wanted to hear, but he didn't want to push her too hard.
She still had some time left on her lease. He'd use their time in New York to continue convincing her that L.A.—and with him—was where she needed to be.
Chapter Thirteen
On Tuesday morning, her first full day back in the city, Audrey sat with Luke on the couch in her apartment, finishing up her second cup of coffee. They had two days to themselves until the rest of The Fury and Wild Intention would arrive to select clothes for their performance on Jett's show that Friday.
Her cell phone rang and the studio property manager's number lit across her screen. Her lease renewal would be coming up soon. Maybe he wanted to talk about it. She set her cup aside and engaged the call. "Hi, Mauro."
"The front of your studio has been vandalized, with graffiti all over the windows. I have the police here. They'd like to talk to you. Can you come in now? I called Renee, she's on her way."
Dread weighted her stomach and she clutched the phone tight. "What the hell? Are you serious? I'll be there in ten minutes."
"What's wrong?" Luke asked from behind her.
Focused, she didn't answer, just tossed her phone in her purse and dashed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She'd been a fool. What made her think that not checking the internet meant the fans had given up?
"What's going on?" Luke grabbed her toothbrush wrist.
She spit into the sink and wiped her mouth with the back of her other hand. The words gushed out on a half sob. "Graffiti on the studio. The police," she swallowed hard. "The police are there and want to talk to me."
A dark expression covered his face. "I'm coming with you."
Minutes later, the cab screeched to a stop behind the police car.
Audrey looked out the window and her breakfast threatened to make a reappearance.
Ugly words, sprayed across the windows, in huge bright red letters. The giant words would be visible from a block away. Her surroundings began to spin. She squeezed her eyes shut to block out the words, but they were just as big and bright behind her eyelids.
Slut. User. Whore. Die Bitch!
Tears stung her eyes and rolled down her hot cheeks. How much more could she take? They'd threatened her life for chrissake.
Luke gripped her hand and guided her out of the cab toward Mauro, Renee, and the police officer. She was only too glad when the cop suggested they go inside.
The officer introduced herself, but Audrey missed the name thanks to the buzzing in her ears. She made herself focus while the woman kept talking.
"Ma'am, do you have any idea who could have done this?"
Her thoughts ran to Mikala. Luke's super fan was local and hated her. But in reality, Luke had millions of fans. She told her about Mikala and the nasty internet postings on her site and finished up with the truth. "It could be anyone."
With an expression promising murder, Luke rattled off his own brief summary of the cyberattacks.
The officer nodded, jotted down notes, and asked Mauro a few questions more before leaving. "I'll be in touch."
Mauro scrubbed his hands over his face. "I'll get someone out here to scrape the paint off the window. It may take a few days, but hopefully not more than that. And I'll have it covered up with cardboard while it's being worked on. I'll call you as soon as it's set up. Cardboard will go up today."
Audrey held herself together. When Mauro left, she went to her office in the back room. Who would do this? The letters were shaky, not straight, but that gave them more of a horror movie vibe. Had that been deliberate?
Luke pushed open the door. His eyes burned with anger. "Come on, let's get out of here."
"No. I need to work. I was going to come in to do the books today and that's what I'm going to do. Business as usual." Her fingers shook. She folded her arms across her chest to hide her trembling hands.
"Fine. I'm grabbing coffee from the shop down the street, I have a phone call to make and then I have an errand to run. I'll meet you back here." He pressed a kiss to her forehead and strode away.
She watched him go until he disappeared into the coffee shop. "He's in a dark mood."
"Well, I can understand why." Renee held the door for her.
Audrey's fingers continued to shake while she did the books, and while Renee and she prepared for their conference call with Frozen Blur's manager. The new all-woman rock band had apparently loved her designs from the show.
When the band's manager came through on video chat, she had the entire band with her. "We want everything from the runway show."
"Excuse me?" Audrey spanned the six women in the screen.
"The metallic pieces, the leather, the spandex, the chains. All of it. Except the menswear, of course."
The woman sitting to the manager's right, with pale pink hair and a diamond nose piercing gave her a wave. "Your name is all over the place right now. People love to hate you, and we love stirring up trouble, so of course, we need your designs."
The love to hate you line bothered her. "Um, thank you?"
"But mainly we love the designs anyway and want to book you for our album photo shoot next month."
"I would love that. I'm very excited to work with you." Audrey kept her voice professional but couldn't control the huge smile spreading across her face. After such a s
hitty, scary morning, and all the petty online bullshit, she really needed some good news.
As she pulled up her calendar and talked with the manager about available dates, Renee gave her a big grin off camera. After the call ended, Audrey glanced at her own hands. Apparently, an ounce of kindness and a huge sale were a good cure for trembling.
Luke arrived a while later. "Here you are, iced coffee and a whistle to add to your keyring." He set them on her desk, then turned and gave Renee the same.
"What's with the whistle?" She tried it out and the shrill sound blasted Audrey's ears so much she jumped. Then Renee giggled, "Never mind, I figured out what it's for."
He stayed in the background while she finished the books. Close, but not in the way. After that, the stress of the morning caught up with her and her concentration was fried. She sent Renee home and closed up early.
Luke convinced her to see a movie. They sat in the last row of a darkened, nearly empty theater, with a bucket of popcorn between them, watching a comedy that didn't require heavy concentration. Laughing helped ease the hollow feeling in her soul.
They picked up dinner from the sushi place close to her apartment. And then finally, they were home.
Luke set the food on plates and she opened a bottle of white wine. They hadn't talked about it, and she needed to. Someone coming after her in one of her personal spaces scared her. "Who do you think did it?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. The obvious choice would be Mikala. I spent a long time today looking through the most frequent commenter profiles for clues. No luck. That's when I picked up the whistles. It's not much of anything, but it made me feel better."
"I appreciate all the support you gave me today." She rose onto her toes, until she could reach his lips, and kissed him.
He drew her into the living room and nudged her until she sat on the edge of the couch. He sat behind her, legs splayed on either side of hers, and massaged the tension from her shoulders. Over and over, he worked the muscles in her back, shoulders, neck, and head, varying pressure and speed. She sipped wine and everything mellowed.
Love Song (Rocked by Love #2) Page 12
