The Rock Star Next Door, a Modern Fairytale (18 page)

“How do you know
?” Jessie shot back with alarm.

Kyra sighed, looked about the room, and then directly at Jessie.
“Lex drove out to the canyon last night to talk to Mike
. . . and to me.
He was really upset, Jess.
” 

Jessie gasped as understanding began
to dawn. Lex appeared in her bedroom this morning wearing the same clothin
g from last night
. “What did you tell him?”

“Not much.” Kyra’s
deli
cat
e complexion colored. “
I just--
I--I told him you’re
an
old fashioned kind of girl.” Kyra wound her hand about as she spoke, as if she were trying to gain momentum in her confession. “You like the
idea
of courtship, you like romance novels . . . men in kilts, with swords . . .” Her hands flew up
and out
at the last word. “And--and testosterone--you know? I told him about your thing for the
Highlander
dude.” She pointed at Duncan,
Jessie’s dog, who sat next to Jessie panting with agitation. Kyra
shrugged
and then looked away, guilt written on her face.

“Why?” Jessie asked, through clenched teeth. Sure, make her sound like Polly Purebred. As if she didn’t have enough reason to be embarrassed around Lex after her confession out on the beach--and now this!

“Well . . .” Kyra rolled her shoulders, “He wanted to know how to win your heart.”

“Aw, come on.
Wha
t is this?” Jack demanded. “Chick
talk, you dragged me here for
girl talk
.
I thought
you needed to talk to all of us.
”

“I do need all of you.
” Je
ssie ground out, wanting to ring Kyra’s skinny neck and rip out her golden blonde curls
.  “
What if I
do
say yes? I didn’t
yet
,
but I sort of want to. What if I say yes and
Marcie
causes tr
ouble? I don’t want to tell
him about her. He might get s
cared off
. H
e might think its genetic or something.”

“You aren’t serious?
” Darrell sat forward, his face a mask of disbelief.
“That’s crap. No one would think that about you, Jess.”

“
Yeah, I am. I’m serious and i
t’s scary
.” Jessie confessed. “He’s all
about this big wedding, our parent
s--
his parents.
The whole traditional thing tied up in a big white bow. Jack,
guys,
w
hat am I going to do?”

Jack crushed his cigarette
into the shell ashtray between his splayed legs. He pushed the s
leeves up on his leather blazer
and reached
out to take her hands
. “You
marry the guy and you
don’t invite the family
.
Simple
.
Don’t send trouble an invitation to your wedding.”

“
I can’t lie to him,
Jack . . . it’s not that simple.”

“Oh, I think it is.” He affirmed. “Next order of business?” He looked from Jessie to Steve
, gesturing for him to take the floor
. Steve remained silent, frozen as all eyes rested on him. “You said Stev
e had something important to share
, too.”

Steve lifted a hand in protest. “Nope, I’m good.”

“Are we finished
?”  Darrell intruded. “’Cause
, if we are, I have this
sweet
Babe
waiting for me.”

“
I’m scared, guys.
” Jessie confessed
, her voice shaking with emotion
. “If I
say yes,
then I have to invite our parents to the
wedding
.
It’s like letting the gorilla out of the closet
.” 

Everyone looked at Jack, as their leader, as the proverbial head of the clan.

Jack stood and
reached i
nto his jacket for another cigarette, the
sure sign of agitation in his otherwise stalwart persona.
He flipped his lighter and
bent
his head
to suck th
e flame
into the edge of his cigarette
. That do
ne, he flicked the metal cap
on the lighter
and
shoved it
into his pocket, exhalin
g in a stream
of grey
, “L
eave the family out of it, Jess.
”

Jessie crossed her arms, bringing them up tight against
her
ribs.

“So, we’ve settled it
?” Jack’s
copper
bro
ws
rose
. “You are marrying the guy
?”

“Well
?
” Jessie shrugged and
r
emembered the tenderness Lex
displayed ear
lier. “I’m considering it. T
hat’s why I asked you all here, to help me
figure this out
.”

“Do it.
” Jack insisted with a wave of his hand. “
No guy would ask a girl to marry him if
he wasn’t dead serious. I
wouldn
’t--even if I were serious.
”
He chuckled
and gazed about the room at th
e other men
. Darrell nodded his approval.

“He does love you.” Kyra echoed. “Last ni
ght, he
was really worked up.
He said he couldn’t stand the thought of
losing you.”

“Ju
st go with it.” Darrell chimed in
. “I
f it doesn’t work, sue the bastard
for everything he’s got. It’s the Hollywood way. Money soothes all hurts.”

Kyra whacked Darrell over the head
with a chintz pillow while Jessie groan
ed and Jack laughed
at their friend’s callous outlook on life.

Jack brushed his lips to hide his smirk as the girls sent him a reproving look. “Remind me not to make that fatal m
istake.”

Steve remained
in a tight retreat, missing the banter
as he struggled with his own sagging courage at trying to tell his friends his secret.

“This is
so sad.” Kyra said.
“Look at us.
We’re
all moving
in different direction
s. It’s like, we’re breaking up.
”

“Well,
sorry
.
” Jack
swept his hands out expansively. “It’s not like we planned to live together until we go into a nursing home
. We’ll always be friends, Kyra
, with or without the communal living.”

“What about the h
ouse? The lease is up in September
.
” Darrell offered as he twisted the upside down cross dangling from his ear. “If the girls aren’t here, maybe we sho
uld find something in the Hills
or Bel-Air. It’d sure
be more convenient. I, for one, d
on’t care for the long drive home
from LA late at night.” 

“Let’s
go out
.
” Kyra clasped her h
ands together. “Just
the five of
us, h
ey, like old times?” She surveyed the group, hope rising in her eyes.

Excuses were made all around. Each one of them had plans for the evening, separate plan
s with someone special. S
adness filled Jessie, mirroring the disappointment in Kyra’
s eyes. Success was changing
them
. Their tightly knit surrogate family unit
was dissolving. They were drifting apart. Everything was changing so quickly.

Jessie’s cell
phone
rang. Kyra snatched it up
from the coffee table
and
turned to Jessie as she
answered it
. “It’s Lex. He wants to know how much
longer you’re going to be here,
something about d
inner reservations at
Chianti’s
.
”

“Ooooh
.
” The guys crooned in unison, eyeing Jessie with amused smiles
.

Jessie took the phone from Kyra. “Hey.” She said shyly.

“Hey, back.” Lex intoned. “Ready to go?”

“I’ll be ready in fifteen.” She told him
and pressed the end button.

“Exp
ensive.” Darrell whistled low
. “Must be love. I wouldn’t waste that kind of money on dinner if I weren’t serious.”

“You’re never serious.
” Jack smirked.

“What can I say?” Darrell shrugged
an
d held up his hands
. “I love women. All of  ‘em. I could
never limit myself to one. Wouldn’
t be fair to the rest.
”

“Well, guys.” Ky
ra sighed, placing a hand on
Jessie
’s shoulder
as she waxed philosophical. “I guess we’ll always have Malibu.”

Chapter Eleven

Chianti’s was truly amazing. Jessie was a little uncertain as she wasn’t dressed formally, but the upbeat waiter seemed not to
care that she was wearing
jeans and a black lace shirt. Lex was
also
dressed
casual
in jeans and a black shirt, Italian loafers and his signature black leather blazer.

The waiter led them to a secluded spot near the windows. Chianti’s was on a bluff overlooking the ocean.
The sun was setting, and soft Italian music played over the speakers above their heads. The wine was expensive, Jessie not
ed, as she sized up the drink menu. Lex ordered a bottle of light Pinot G
ri
gio
.

“I have something for you.” He said in that sexy, low rumble as h
e reached into his jacket
.

Oh, crap
. Jessie thought.
Here it comes
. She cringed inside, expecting the typical little black box and then the descent into awkwardness again when they started arguing about the same old thing--getting married.
What’s wrong with me? I shou
ld be euphoric, silly with
bliss. Priscilla Presley had to have been squealing her lungs out when Elvis proposed to her.
Time warp
;
that was
over
forty years ago.

She gazed out the window at the sea, hands clasped together, a little tightly, as she tried to appear non-chalant about the whole deal even as her heart was racing and her insides twisted about.

“There we are.” Lex drew her reluctant attentions back to the glass table top between them as he plunked down his offe
ring. It wasn’t a little black box, as she expected. It was a long, rectangular velvet box. He pushed it across the expanse between them.

Yep, d
efinitely jewelry. 
Jessie gulped
, almost afraid to open it.

With shaking fingers, she slowly opened the long, hinged box. “Oh, my God
.
”

It was a string of pearls. Not just pearls, but rare and expensive black pear
l
s.

“Well, yes, they were given to a man by a god, so the legend goes.” Lex replied.

Jessie was speechless. This was no ordinary gift, this was worth a fortune. “Lex
, I--I can’t accept this.
I’d be afraid to wear them.”

“Do you know what it means when a man gives a woman black pearls?”

“No.” She mumbled, feeling hot, exhilarated and tense all at on
c
e.

“According to
legend, Oro, the Polynesian god of peace and fertility, came to earth on a rainbow to give the black pearl oyster to man. Once here, he offered the black pearl from this oyster to the beautiful princess of Bora Bora, as a sign of his love. Even now, it’s said that if you give someone a gift of black pearls, it is considered to be a symbol of eternal love.”

Jessie stared at Lex in the low candlelight, unable to speak. He held her shocked gaze, offering her a steady, patient look in return as he waited for his gesture to sink in.