Celeb Crush (23 page)

The sky is just starting to darken.  Luke hastily excuses us from the group surrounding us, grabbing my hand, and towing me away.  He presses me up against one of the thick full trees in the backyard. 

“Stop,” he pleads, leaning into me with a groan.  “You’re killing me, Tiger.”

“What if I don’t want to…stop?”  I look up at him, widening my eyes innocently.

Luke glances around quickly to ensure that we’re in a relatively private area, cloaked in shadows.  He turns back to me, and his eyes are a burning glowing gold.  “Then I’m going to lose control in front of all your relatives,” he says in a voice full of strain.

“Did you lose control with Kat?” I ask sweetly.  “Were you thinking about me when you were fucking her?”

His expression immediately becomes closed off, pulling back.  “Kat’s my friend,” he says carefully.  “I can’t talk about what happened with her to you.  I’m already an asshole for using her that night.”

“I’m your friend, too,” I point out.  “Do you wanna fuck all your friends, Luke?”

He exhales raggedly, briefly closing his eyes.  “I get it.  You’re drunk and pissed at me.  I deserve it.”  His straight white teeth flash brightly in the dark.  “So do your worst, baby.  And we’ll see who breaks first.”

His challenge has my pulse racing excitedly.  I’m getting addicted to the adrenaline rushes I get whenever I’m around Luke, or just thinking about him.  I love the way he makes me feel both weak and powerful.  Weak because he can steal the bones from my body with just a smile.  Powerful because I know I affect him just as strongly.  I can see his reaction to me in the darkening gold of his eyes, the tensing of his jaw—and another impossible-to-miss male biological function.  It’s a big clue.  I mean, big.  I’ve managed to ignore it in the past by knowing it’s not for me—but now that I know how he feels, it’s getting harder and harder to pretend it’s not happening.

I might be the first one to break after all.  I quickly slip out from under him, hoping that it’s dark enough that he can’t see my quickened breath and flushed cheeks.  I back into the shadows, forcing a smile to my face.

“Keep thinking about taxes, Luke,” I call tauntingly.  “And try not to embarrass yourself.”

I hear his quiet laughter as I turn around and walk away.  I’m probably going to get it for that.  I hope so, at least.

I had plans to step up my seduction techniques, but something’s wrong.  I must be drunker than I thought.  My head is spinning, and I start to feel like I’m in a cheesy music video with pretty lights and glitter, and rain.  I swear I hear music every time our gazes meet and lock.  Then we both start to smile, as if daring the other one to look away first.  I secretly watch him interact with my family and friends.  His ease and laidback charm has everyone captivated and eating out of his hand.  It’s so effortless for him.  How can he not realize that it’s not his fame that people fall in love with—it’s him?

I have to shake these sentimental thoughts from my head.  I can actually feel my eyes sparkling.  So weird.  I walk next to Luke and every time our hands accidentally touch, my insides light up like Christmas.

We’ve moved the party over to the beach to watch the fireworks scheduled to go off tonight.  I sense several of Megan’s teenage cousins trailing behind us so they can set up next to us. I really want to growl at them, but I refrain.

It’s hard to find a good spot since it’s so crowded.  Looks like everyone in town turned out to see the show.  Luke and I decide on a spot close to the water.  He spreads out the blanket I brought and we sit down.  I try to ignore the giggling girls settling in just a few feet from us.  I swear if I see a flash coming from that direction, I will bury them in the sand up to their skinny little necks.

We sit in loaded silence as the fireworks begin.  Whistling rockets pierce the night sky, erupting into dazzling colors and shapes that hang in the air over the water, and then slowly fade, only to be replaced my more and more brilliant explosions of light and sound.  I stare at the sky, entranced.

Warm fingers on my cheek turn my head so I’m looking into Luke’s color-lit eyes.  He intently searches my face.  “Just how drunk are you?” he murmurs.

I frown at him.  “What?  Why?”

He shakes his head once.  “I wasn’t going to do this—but, god damn, you are just too fucking beautiful, I can’t help myself.”

“Wha—?”

Luke kisses me.  He is kissing me.  His mouth is moving against mine in a sensual rhythm that I instinctively follow, opening and deepening until there is nothing but him and me, and what’s happening between us.  This kiss…it flows into my blood and pours liquid heat into every inch of my body.  I can feel him everywhere.  Pulsating waves of warmth and light surge into me; I am the fireworks.  I have been waiting for this my whole life, and I never knew it.

Luke hooks an arm around my waist, pulling me up and against him so that I'm up on my knees facing him.  My arms go around his neck, and my fingers restlessly tangle into his feather soft hair. 

“Open your mouth for me, Andi.”

His voice is rough with need, and I obey blindly.  When his tongue touches mine, I let out an involuntarily whimper, and pull him impossibly closer.  I have yet to breathe; if this kiss is the death of me, I will go blissfully.

How long does it last for?  A few seconds?  Minutes?  We finally pull apart, both of us panting and gasping for air.  Dimly, I realize there are mini explosions around us, flashes of color, and cheering sounds.  Surely not for us.

Luke and I are inches apart, staring at each other as if lost in trance.  I don’t know what he sees on my face, but he suddenly shifts forward and cups my cheek in the palm of his hand.

“Don’t shut me out,” he says fiercely.  “I won’t let you.”

Dazed, I turn my head, touching my fingers to my tingling lips.  His kiss is still burning through me, and I feel…I don’t know how I feel.  My gaze drifts to the side and lands on Megan’s cousins.  All four girls are staring at us in open-mouthed, wide-eyed wonder.  I can practically see the OMG! text bubbles floating above their heads.  It’s probably the most X-rated kiss they’ve ever seen in their young innocent lives.  At least, it felt X-rated to me, despite the fact that there was no inappropriate groping.

Now that it’s over, I feel strangely shy and vulnerable.  That kiss touched a part of me that I never knew existed.  I don’t even know what you’d call it.  That deep dark place where you keep all you’re fears and insecurities and psychological bullshit.  I swear there was an emotional connection.

I bring my knees up to chest and wrap my arms around them, putting my head down.  A heavy ache seems to be growing in my chest, like I’m slowly being squeezed to death.

“That didn’t mean anything,” I finally say.  “And it’s not going to happen again.”

Luke lets out a short laugh.  “Keep telling yourself that, Tiger.  Not only will it will happen again—next time, you’re going to be naked and under me.”

“In your dreams, Luke,” I say, glaring at him.

He grins back.  “Those have a way of coming true.”

Fucker.

Chapter 19

Luke and I are fighting.  No, not about that night—or the kiss.  He seems to think I’ll starve without his stupid money, though I’ve repeatedly assured him that I have more than enough in the bank to live comfortably until I find another job.  He’s just pissed that I quit, and he has no control over what I do from now on.  Not that he ever did, but I guess he likes the illusion.

We’re at Susan’s house right now, so aside from a couple of surreptitious gut punches and forehead flicks, we’ve been behaving ourselves.  Mostly.

I rub my throbbing forehead and slam my foot down on Luke’s shoe.  He flinches as he turns to say something to Aunt Susan.  I smirk to myself and pop a piece of bacon in my mouth.

I almost choke on it when Megan comes bursting into the kitchen.

“The wedding is ruined!” she announces dramatically, and promptly dissolves into tears.

Chaos ensues.  Megan cries inconsolably until Aunt Susan finally manages to coax the story out of her.

“I just got off the phone with P-pastor Dan.  The—the church is infested with b-bats!”

Bats in the belfry, ha.  I start to cackle, but someone elbows me in my side.  I immediately cut myself off and pretend to sneeze.  Why, I don’t know.

“—until they can get an extermination team in there.”  Megan drops into an empty chair at the table.  She puts her face in her hands, her voice coming out muffled.  “We have to call the wedding off!  There’s no way we can find another place on such short notice.”

“What about having the wedding here?” Uncle Charlie suggests, rubbing her back soothingly.  “I’m sure we can pull together something that would work.”

“The house isn’t big enough to accommodate everyone,” Aunt Susan points out.  She shakes her head, looking about to cry herself.  “The backyard’s too small, too.  Maybe we could call Olivia.  She has that huge lot.  If we…oh, darn, I forgot she’s in the middle of a renovation.”

Megan just keeps shaking her head like she’s given up.  She takes out her phone and stares down at. “Bran’s not answering.  They must be taking the cast off right now.”

Everyone has their thinking caps on right now.  Well, except for me.  I’m eating all the bacon.  That’s why I’m startled when Luke stands up, and suddenly hauls me to my feet.

“Don’t do anything until you hear from us,” Luke tells Megan.  “Come on, Andi.”

“My bacon.”

I’m just as confused as my relatives as he drags me away from my breakfast and out to his truck.

“I don’t know what you think we can do,” I tell Luke as he backs out of the driveway.  “There is no way we’re going to get another venue on such short notice.”

“Have faith, Tiger,” Luke replies with the utmost confidence.  “Where’s the best place to have a wedding here?”

“How should I—oh, wait.  Sunset Lane,” I say, pointing a finger at him.  “Megan always dreamed of getting married there.”

“Okay, then.  Tell me where I’m going.”

“Hold on; I’m looking it up right now.”  I spare a quick glance at him.  “But you know there’s no way—”

“Don’t worry about it,” he cuts me off.  “Let’s see what we can do when we get there, okay?”

“Okay,” I agree with a shrug.  It couldn’t hurt to try.  Also, I’ve seen what fame and money can do.  Luke might just be able to pull a miracle out of that amazing ass of his.

Sunset Lane is the exact kind of place Megan would have gotten married at under different circumstances.  I’d never been there before, but I remember hearing that it has a beautiful wedding chapel, huge banquet rooms, and a fabulous botanical garden.  I also remember Megan saying that if she ever wanted to get married there she would have to book the place almost a year in advance.  That’s just crazy to me when the beach is right there.  What’s wrong with getting married on the beach?

I let Luke take the lead as I slink after him into the imposing Colonial style building.  We walk into an elegant arctic cold reception area, and I hang back by the refreshment table while Luke approaches the young woman behind a huge marble desk.  She glances up with a professional smile—then she does a comical double-take, her mouth falling open in amazement.

Look at this setup—it’s so pretty.  They have fancy cookies galore, and foil-wrapped imported chocolates.  Is this a help yourself kind of deal?  I glance around to see if there are any security cameras in the area.  Of course there are.  I take the chocolates back out of my pockets.

Luke is in full sexy movie star mode, leaning against the desk and bestowing smile after stunning smile on the overwhelmed receptionist.  I can see her shaking her head regretfully, but then she holds up a finger and gets on her phone.  A few seconds later, an impeccably dressed woman appears from a back office.  Cue the giggling and squealing.

“I can’t give out that information,” the impeccably dressed woman is saying to Luke, while surreptitiously nodding her head toward the tablet in her hand which she has tilted toward him.  “But if you were to find out on your own somehow, I can’t stop you from contacting her directly.”

Luke grins.  He whips out his phone and taps something into it while looking at her tablet.  “You’re awesome, Amy.  I’ll be right back.”

He puts his phone to his ear, and with a wink at both ladies, he strides back out the doors.  The women look at each other and giggle like giddy teenagers.  I just sink into a linen chair in the corner, and hope they don’t notice me.  I have bacon grease on my shirt, I just realized.  Why does Luke take me anywhere?

Minutes later, he’s back.  I can tell by the twinkle in his brilliant gold green eyes that he’s scored big time.  Sure enough, he walks over to me and leans over my chair.

“Call your cousin and let her know we have a venue,” he murmurs in my ear.  Then he kisses my cheek.  “I told you to have faith, Tiger.”

He pulls back, and I stare at him suspiciously.  “What just happened?”

“I called the bride who had a wedding booked for this Saturday, and convinced her to give us her reservation.”

I stare at him in shock.  “How the hell did you manage to pull that off?!”