The Rock Star Next Door, a Modern Fairytale (13 page)

So why did it feel
like
an iron spike
had pierced her
heart.

Lex hated the rain. It was Southern California--it wa
sn’t supposed to rain.

He wanted sunshine, lots of it, to thaw out the iceberg in his soul. His pl
ane landed smoothly on the LAX
tarmac, leaving a spray of water behind the wheels as the runway turned into one long puddle. 

He didn’t know why he was coming back. He hadn’t planned to, but something within him yearned for one last g
limpse of Jessie to cherish in his memories
.

He fled
to New Y
ork on the premise of business. It was
an impulse, a hasty excuse of escape after that horrible night he’d found Jessie cozy in Steve’s arms,
straddling his lap
like a pole dancer, for Chris-
sake
! His heart burned at the bitter memory of hearing her tell Steve she would always love him. Of Jessie making light comments about Lex not minding sharing her with Steve after he arrived on the scene. 
Why did he even go out with her that
night? He should have just left. Instead, he played the part of the well-mannered stooge and
endured
the evening instead of making a hasty retreat
.
 

When Dave Winters called later that night
to inform Lex his book
had been accepted by a major publishing house, he’d jumped at
the chance to flee Malibu
.

Lex
planned to gracefully retire from the music business while he was still popular, not cling to the star-machine long aft
er his popularity waned
, as was the hab
it of many an aging rock star
. He’d worked hard to cultivate a new life for himself after Crystal’s betrayal.
He was riding the wave of
a new life,
a new career and he was
miserable.

Because of a wom
an.

Because of Jessie.

Rain drizzled off h
is Fedora as he walked across the tarmac of the airstrip
to the waiting limousine. His trench coat was soaked by the time he’d sett
led within. He smiled at the driver
, a weak, disappointed smile. It was scene straight
from a Sam Spade novel
. All that was missing was the c
igarette butt between his teeth and a
sassy dame to exchange taunts with.

Jessie.

Vivid color replaced the black and white
image
in his mind’s eye at the very thought of her. Rich, voluminous copper waves caressing alabaster shoulders
. Deep, expressive emerald pools. L
ush pink
lips.
Jessie brought color to his life, and so much more.

He wanted her m
ore than any woman he’d known
. He wanted her so badly he could taste her sweet skin beneat
h his lips. And
yet, he held back, keeping his passion in check a
s he patiently wooed her. He sensed it would offend her if he was too eager
too soon, it would make her pull back, away from him.

He
wanted her
to
trust him, to want him as badly as he wanted her. 

He’d been able to read between the lines that someo
ne had hurt her
.

Lex scrunched down in the seat, hiding his face from
the dauntless predators
of the
glamorous City of Angels. From p
hotographers
who were
hungry for scandal, for
heartache and despair. They lurked in shadows, waiting to
capture the tortured images of the rich and famous,
hoping to pay
next
month’s
rent with another’s pain.

Why was he doing this?

He could remain
in
New York.
He coul
d live in the penthouse and conduct his business from there, like a recluse, another Howard Hughes.
He
could
just
bury himself in his work
and forget her.

But the dreams wouldn’t go away.
Lex was miserable without her.
He had to see Jes
sie one last time, talk to her
and expla
in why he’d walked out
. He should be honorable abou
t the whole thing. Just explain as Bogart would
that regardless of the fact that they were living in a new century, he wasn’t the kind of guy who could share a woman. 

The confrontation came
sooner than he expected.
When
Lex
entered the beach house
Inez told him the lovely lady next door h
ad called and left
several
messages.

“I’m so
rry, sir. I did
not know
you were coming back so soon.
” The Mexican woman ap
ologized in her choppy English
as he stepped around the living room furniture blocking the foyer. The carpet in the
living room had been shampooed. He imagined
the rest of the house w
ould be in similar disarray. The housekeeper
always took advantage of his absences to do the carpets.

“I just caught a pla
ne on a whim. I’ll stay out of
your way.”

He glanced over to the landline phone the housekeeper had gestured to. The light was blinking. There
were messages---
from her
.  Lex rubbed
the stubble covering his cheeks
and roun
ded the bar. He poured
two fingers of brandy
and took a sip. His spirits bolstered by the action, he pressed the button.  The sweet voic
e changed from lighthearted
as she invited him over for dinner in the first messag
e to worry
and finally
hurt
as she asked in the last message
why he left
Malibu
without saying good-bye.

He removed his soggy hat and placed
it
carefully on the tiled counter. H
e leaned his
head down on his arms and stretched
. He fel
t like a cad, a jerk, a cruel
bastard.

W
hy should
he
feel this way? She was the one who played him false, a s
ecret lover under the same roof while she cavorted with Lex
about tinsel town.
He couldn
’t live through another scandal. He couldn’t endure hiding as
the news rags eviscerated h
im slowly and thoroughly by sharing
every de
tail regarding
the crushing of his heart.

He picked up the phone, buoyed up by the kno
wledge that he was in the right and dialed her cell number. He had the damn thing memorized.
Pathetic
. You’re su
pposed to be the wicked seducer
and
yet
you’
re calling the woman to demand she explain why there’s a dagger in your heart
.
The sound of Jessie’s voice melted
his resolve about demanding anything. He just closed his eyes and savored the sweet tones, drinking it in as starved earth
absorbs the first rain following
a
long
drought.

“Hello . . .
w
ho is this? . . . O
kay,
Perv
. I’m not alone
and our hou
se is surrounded by attack dogs.
” She threatened
.
Obviously she didn’t check the display before she answered her phone.

“
Duncan’s weapons are useless.
I’m wearing a trench-coat.
”

“
Lex
.”  Jessie exclaimed in a breathless voice of relief
. “
Where are you?  Your housekeeper said you were gone, ind
efinitely.
Why did you leave without
telling me?
”

“I had business in New York.” He answered in a cool tone. “We need to talk.”

“Yeah, sure.” She agreed. “I’
ll be right over.”

“No--wait--the h
ouse is--” It was too late. She
hung up. He swallowed the rest of his drink in one gulp, squaring himself for the nasty business that was to come.

Jessie almost ran across the lawn. Almost. She caught her reflection in the
dark
glass sliding door as she was leaving the living room. Her hair was in a pony-tail, she st
ill wore her pajamas
and the pasty taste of chocolate cookie dough had gone sour in her mouth, not exact
ly the way to confront a
lover.

She raced
up the spiral staircase to change her clothes and brush her teeth, reminding herse
lf that they were hardly lovers
after
three weeks of mostly
chaste kisses w
orthy of a
G r
ating. She left the ponytail in
out of defia
nce and refused to put on makeup
. Let him thin
k what he wanted. He dumped her, dropped her off a bridge like she was a stone. S
he wasn’t about to go over there and beg him to come back.

When she entered his living room, half
an
hour later, Lex stood behind the bar, looking completely out of character in his long
black
trench coat with his flowing raven mane. The dampened Fedora sat on the counter beside him.

“If you’re trying to look like Bogart, it won’t work. Not with that hair. Although, the scraggly beard is a nice t
ouch.” Jessie commented in an emotionless tone
.

“What can I get you?” His ebony brows raised, yet his eyes remained stoic, distant, as if he were merely the ba
rtender in some seedy nightclub
.

“Answers.” Jessie shot back
. “Why did you just leave, without a word?” 

She folded her arms across her chest, planted her feet squarely, ready to face the dragon. She deserved at least an explanation for his odd behavior. He’d blabbed to the news
media about how he intended
to marry her, called her every morning for almo
st a
month, planning excursions
and quiet
dinners for t
wo
and
then suddenly just disappeared? Thinking about it made Jessie so angry she wanted to bring Duncan and Ozzy over to shit on his
f
reshly cleaned carpet--
just to piss him off.

“Like I said, I had business in New York.”

“
W
hy didn’t you tell me
the other night at
the restaurant? You never mentioned it. What was I, some silly fling to while
away
a coupl
e of weeks before you left town?
Nice, Lex, real smooth
.
Using me to snag
a little publicity for your
upcoming
CD, get back in the limelight after a year of seclusion.
I thought we were--” She stopped, foolishness coloring her face as she real
ized how naive
she must sound to him.

“
Lovers
?
” He finished, holding her gaze with an intensity that was frightening and compelling at the same time. It never occurred to her that he might have somet
hing to be angry with her about. Yet,
it was
there
in his eyes, cold, hard, anger.

“Something close to that.
” Jessi
e mumbled, looking away
. “I thought--” she took a step closer to the bar. “I thought . . . we were headed that way. Maybe I was mistaken. Maybe I just had stars in my eyes. I kept asking myself, what
the
famous Lex would
see in
someone like me. .
.
?
”

Lex studied her, his blue eyes
unfathomable;
his features guarded as he peeled off the trench coat
.  He folded it and placed
it neatly on the counter next to his hat. He leaned
on the bar, clothed in the trademark
black, a turtleneck this time due to the cold, rainy weather
and midnight
black
jeans. He seemed to be trying to put words
together
in his mind. T
he right words.
T
he right let down
.