Celeb Crush (32 page)

“I have a high threshold for pain,” I say, not bothering to mention that the tattoo was done in my numb region.  Luke doesn’t need to know that.  “I was so wasted that night.  I can’t believe you let me go through with it.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t know you very well at the time.  And I wanted to see your ass.”

I roll my eyes.  “Perv.”

He laughs in agreement and reaches over to brush my hair back from my face.  “So…do you still have it?”

“What?”

“The tat.”  He lightly runs his fingers over my collar bone, leaving helpless shivers in their wake.  “Can I see it?”

“No.”

“No, you don’t have it—or no, I can’t see it?” he persists.

“Goodnight, Luke.”

I roll over onto my side, facing away from him.  I make sure that the sheet is tucked tightly around me so he doesn’t try to sneak a peek.

Luke waits a few beats.  “I’ll be seeing that tat soon.”

I snort in a very unladylike manner.  “Yeah, just keep your eyes open when you’re kissing my ass.”

“Is that an invitation?”

“Go to sleep, Luke.”

God damn, is there’s a tattoo removal place open right now?

Chapter 26

“Morning, sunshine.”

Luke is crouched down next to my side of the bed, looking like the hot and sexy movie star he is in his blue and white striped button down shirt and black slacks.  He’s going to have to wear makeup to cover up those bruises, though.  It’s okay—he’s used to it.

I push my hair out of my face and pull the covers over me.  “Where are you going?” I mutter in my just-woke-up chain smoker voice.

“I have a couple of press conferences, then panels for the rest of the day.”  He pats my leg through my blanket.  “I ordered breakfast for you.  They’ll send it up in an hour, alright?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Luke smiles at my grumpiness.  He holds something up in front of me.  My keys!  “I’m not gonna force you—but I’m really hoping you’ll be here when I get back,” he says quietly.

“Thanks,” I say again, taking the keys and clutching them in my hand.

Luke’s eyes search mine for a few seconds, the hope in his face dimming.  He smiles tightly, leaning over to give me a kiss on my forehead before straightening up and walking out of the room.  He knows me too well to think I’ll stay.

The girl who brings my breakfast appears to be horrifically disappointed when I open the door.  I let her in and she surreptitiously looks around for signs of Luke.  I’m ninety percent sure she's not wearing anything under her flimsy white dress.  Is that standard practice for room service now?  I probably shouldn't eat the food she brought, but I'm one of those people who—upon being warned to not eat something because it's possibly undercooked/contaminated/spoiled—will say it's most likely fine, and eat it anyway.   Besides, it's a bacon cheddar skillet with a side of French toast.  My favorite breakfast.  I didn’t think Luke had paid attention.

I do feel bad about leaving like this…but not enough to stick around.  I do leave a note, however, and that’s huge for me.   I make excuses about having stuff to take care of back home and blah, blah, blah.  But at the end, I hastily scribble three words:  I believe you.

I’ve analyzed the situation, and looked at it from every possible angle—and Luke is right.  Either I believe him, or I don’t.  I need to get past the jealousy and reflexive anger to the more logical part of my brain.  Luke isn’t a cheater.  It’s just not his style.  If he had a girlfriend who had witnessed what I did, I would tell her with the utmost confidence to get her shit together, and believe him.  Then I would advise Luke to dump her for doubting him.  He’s a good guy—of course I know that.

The trouble is—I never believe the best about people when it comes to situations involving me.  But I really want to believe Luke. 

That’s what scares me.

I stop off at the condo to grab Deadeye and a few other things before heading back to my apartment for the first time in weeks.  I walk in, and it suddenly hits me how sad and lonely the place is.  It’s so…empty and pathetic.  All that’s missing is a manifesto written in a composition notebook on the desk, and a secret altar in the closet.  Damn.  I should get fish.

I need to pay my rent before I forget.  I write out a check and take it down to the office where I bump into the apartment manager, Marina.  I like her because she reminds me of Ellen, but younger, and a much better cook.  About a year after I moved here, she and the maintenance guy had to come by to take a look at a suspected leak in my shower.  Ever since then, she’s made it a habit of dropping by to bring me delicious home-cooked meals.  I think she feels sorry for me after seeing my sadly furnished apartment.   I don’t mind her pity.  It’s kind of nice she cares.

I try to give her my rent, and she reminds me that I’m already paid up until my move out date.  My what?  Yeah, she got my thirty day notice along with a check by messenger, a few days ago.

I smile and nod, and make the appropriate responses as Marina gushes on about what a good tenant I’ve been, and how much she’s going to miss me.  Meanwhile, my thoughts have turned murderous.  Luke.  I’m going to kill him.

“Hey, baby,” Luke answers the phone in a resigned voice.  “What did I do this time?”

“Oh, nothing much,
baby
” I say, deceptively calm.  “So when were you planning on telling me that I was going to be homeless in a month?”

For a few seconds, all I hear is background chatter on his end.  Then he mutters, “Oh, fuck.  Hold on.”

When he comes back on, it’s noticeably quieter.  “Andi...  I was going to tell you, I swear.  Then all that shit happened and I…it slipped my mind.”

“It slipped your mind?” I repeat incredulously, my voice going high and squeaky at the end.  “You freaking put in my thirty day notice—without my consent—and you forgot to tell me?!”

“Yeah, well.” Luke chuckles nervously.  “When you put it like that it sounds so bad.”

“Luke!”

“Okay…I’m sorry.”  He sighs.  “We talked about you coming to Wellington with me for filming.  I just thought—”

“Yeah, we
talked
about it,” I cut him off.  “I never agreed to anything!  School starts up next month—and thanks to you I now have to find a new place to live!”

“You said you might take a year off.  Or you were going to look into doing some online classes.”

A stabbing pain starts up right between my eyes.  I pinch the bridge of my nose and close my eyes, taking deep breaths before I speak.  “Yeah, I was
thinking
about it, Luke.  As in I haven’t made any decisions yet!”

“Yeah, and we both know you would go on thinking about it until I’m halfway around the world, and you’re safe back at school like nothing’s changed between us,” he says bitterly.  “Admit it.  You were just stringing me along.  You never even considered coming to New Zealand with me.”

“So you fucking made my choice for me?!” I scream into my phone.  “That’s not the way it works, dickhead!”

“I know that!” Luke roars back.  I can hear him trying to control his temper.  “Look…I know it was wrong, but I need you there with me, Tiger.  We have a lot of shit we need to work out—and that’s never gonna happen with us thousands of miles apart.  We wouldn’t survive like that. 
I
wouldn’t survive.”

I flop down on my bed, suddenly feeling very tired.  “You need to fix this,” I tell him quietly.  “I never agreed to go with you, and I sure as hell never agreed to move out.  I can’t believe you—”

Someone calls his name on his end and I freeze mid-sentence.  It’s Kat.

“Can we talk about this later?” Luke asks quickly.  “I’ll call you—”

“Don’t bother.”

He sighs heavily.  “Andi…”

I end the call.  My phone rings again before I can throw it.  I turn it off and fall back onto my pillow, the beginnings of a migraine brewing up in my skull.

I knew he’d be with Kat today.  She’s his co-star so of course he’ll have to see her and make nice with her in front of everyone.  That doesn’t mean that I have to like it, though.  Ugh, I’m pissed.  Luke better fix this.  I don’t want to go apartment hunting.  I still have to go job hunting.  Which reminds me…

I found a few good prospects while searching the job listings in my area yesterday, so I write myself a reminder to set up interviews for next week.  I make faces comparing my old job with my prospective new ones.  I’ll actually have to work now.  And I’ll have to be nice.  Ugh.

I’m still in a bad mood on Monday when I answer the door.  Luke is standing there with a huge tub of cookie dough ice cream from my favorite ice cream place, and a swag bag from Comic-Con.

“Forgive me?”  He flashes smile Number Seven, holding out his gifts.

“No.”

I take the ice cream and the bag, and attempt to slam the door in his face.  Unfortunately, Luke is too quick for me.  He storms into the apartment like he owns the place, and I drop my presents when I’m suddenly slammed against his brick hard chest.  His sexy intoxicating scent immediately envelopes me, sending all my senses into overdrive.  This time, he owns me.

We’re both grinning like idiots as we frantically attack each other’s lips.  I know I must seem like a hormone-crazed fool, but I honestly can’t help my reaction to him.  I crave his touch, the way he makes me feel.  I feel so high when I’m with him, and I crash so low without him.

I manage to tear myself away from Luke to punch him in the chest.  “You’re an asshole,” I state, bending down to pick up my precious ice cream.

He just laughs at the insult.  “And you’re stuck with me.  Feeling lucky?”

“Only because you got me this stuff.”  I hold up the sparkly tub.  “This is heaven on earth.”

He flashes me a wolfish grin.  “I’ve tasted better.”

I turn away quickly to hide my glazed lust-filled expression.  I take the ice cream to the kitchen, and Luke follows closely behind me like a big sexy shadow.

“Do you want some?” I offer, rummaging through the top cabinets.  “I think I have some clean bowls somewhere.”

He comes up behind me, wrapping his arms around me, and bringing me flush against him.  “I would love some,” he murmurs, leaning down to nuzzle my neck.  “But forget about the bowls.”

I can’t help but tilt my head to give him better access.  “What did you have in mind?” I ask breathlessly.

I feel his smile against my skin.  “Got any whipped cream?”

Who knew eating ice cream could be so sexy?  After a shared shower, I spread out a blanket in my living room and we lie down, tangled up in each other’s arms.  My bed’s kind of a sticky ice cream disaster at the moment.  No, we didn’t have sex.  For once, he doesn’t have a condom on him, the dumbass.  On second thought, I’m glad he’s not carrying them around like he used to.

“Come with me to New Zealand.”

I am instantly jolted out of my post-orgasmic daze.  “Luke!” I groan in aggravation.

“Andi.”  He mimics my tone.  He turns to me, placing a warm hand on my stomach.  “Babe, we have to talk about this.  I’m leaving in a couple of weeks.  I have it all set up for us—I’ve got your plane ticket and everything.  All you have to do is say yes.”

His beautiful eyes are intense as he tries to gauge my frame of mind.  I tear my gaze away from him, and stare up at the ceiling with a sigh.  “And then what, Luke?  You want me to uproot everything for a month—what am I supposed to do after that?  Put my life on hold, and follow you around the world to your next location?”

Luke sits up suddenly, running a hand over his hair.  “Do you want me to quit?” he asks quietly.

“Of course not!”  I glare at him indignantly.  “That’s not what I’m saying.  I have school here; I still have to find a job because unlike some people, my bank roll is not unlimited.”

“Damn it, Andi—the last thing you have to worry about is money!”  Luke snaps out, looking beyond frustrated.  “Everything I have is yours—you know that.  You don’t have to put anything on hold—not college, not your life.  I’m only asking you to make room for me.  We can work around everything else.  There are options.  You just have to be willing to see them.”

“Yeah, it’s easy for you to say,” I point out.  “You’re not the one who has to make all these changes and concessions.  I’m the one who has to risk everything.”

Luke says nothing for a while, seemingly lost in thought.  “You’re right,” he admits finally.  Then he glances up at me.  “So you tell me.  Am I worth the risk?”

The look on his face is heartbreakingly vulnerable.  It makes me want to run for the hills.  Instead, I feel something inside me melt like cookie dough ice cream on a hot bare stomach.  “Yeeesss,” my answer reluctantly drags out of me.

A stunning smile immediately blooms on Luke’s face.  “Yes?  Does that mean you’re coming with me?”

“Um…I guess...”

The next thing I know, I’m being pinned to the ground, and kissed within an inch of my life.  Luke hovers above me, a fierce triumphant light shining from those incredible eyes.  “You won’t regret it, I promise you.  New Zealand has some of the most awesome caving systems in the world!”