Chapter Nineteen
Hooking his hand behind his head, Spencer leaned back on the black velvet couch and watched people dance as blue and green lights streaked across the dance floor.
The women swayed their hips, their hair bouncing to the loud music blasting through the club. He pushed a corner of his lips up in a half-hearted smile as another woman sauntered past their table, sending him a come-get-me smile.
He closed his eyes and groaned.
“You’re supposed to be here partying,” Nick said as he got back with the drinks.
Lucas McGowan, one of Spencer’s clubbing buddies, slammed onto the couch and pushed his brown hair back. “And forgetting about Kristen.”
Spencer had been great friends with Lucas since working on their first film together. They both liked to have fun, on and off set. And since Lucas was part of the same school of thought about relationships, it was great to be each other’s wingman.
“Yet all I can think about is if she’s safe, if she’s asleep.” Spencer squinted and scanned the dark room, looking at the cameramen scattered all around. They didn’t seem to care that he wasn’t playing his part. They had enough eye candy for the cameras at the moment.
There were so many women here, many clearly interested, but he wasn’t. His thumb rubbed at where his wedding ring was supposed to be.
“Wow. Are you for real?” Lucas asked. “I thought it was all for the show.”
If anyone had told Spencer that he would feel this way about one woman, he would’ve laughed. “I love her.”
Lucas’s jaw dropped, and he stared back at him like he’d gone crazy.
This was the first time Spencer had said that aloud to anyone else. Though millions of people had heard him tell Kristen that he loved her, it was the first time he’d admitted it to anyone else. “I love her.” He rolled his head back. “Which is why it’s so frustrating she won’t say yes to my proposal.”
“You proposed?” Nick asked.
Lucas leaned forward and turned to Nick. “In the Maldives, when they were on their honeymoon.”
Spencer arched his brow. “You watched the show?”
“I thought I was seeing the best performance my clubbing buddy ever gave.” Lucas shook his head. “Of course she wouldn’t say yes. She probably thought you were doing it for the show. I sure thought so.”
“She knows I’m not.”
“Are you sure?” Nick took a swig of liquor from his glass. “She seems to be in love with you, too.”
“I know she is.” But she had still rejected him twice. Actually, both times she’d laughed, thinking he was doing it because he wanted to have sex with her. “Maybe she doesn’t think I really mean it.”
Lucas downed his shot. “So make it big. Do the whole hearts and flowers thing.”
Make it big? Hearts and flowers? “How did you propose to Kerri?” he asked Nick.
Nick laughed. “She turned me down the first time, too.”
“Kristen turned me down twice.”
“Ouch.”
Lucas grinned at a woman eyeing him on the dance floor. “I can’t believe I’m here, shouting over the music to discuss proposal plans. I thought I was here to party.”
Spencer glanced over. “Go. Have fun.”
Lucas shot him a glare.
“You’re a good friend.”
Lucas sighed and nodded. “That I am.” He pulled out his phone and Googled ‘Romantic ways to propose,’ then handed the phone to Spencer.
“What?”
“You know I’m not an expert in the hearts and flowers area, so I’m referring you to one.”
Spencer laughed and shook his head, then threw the phone back to Lucas.
“What matters to Kristen?” Nick asked.
“Her family.”
“Then do it in front of them.”
That was a good idea, except for one thing. “What if she says no to me in front of them?”
“Then you can throw another party with an open bar.” Lucas downed his third shot. “And I’ll make sure I don’t come up and talk to you.”
Spencer sighed aloud and checked the time.
“Here.” Lucas tapped on his phone. “Go grab the woman there and dance with her.”
“Why?”
“I’ll take photos, then we’ll post them on Twitter and Instagram later. It’ll look as if you were here all the way while you go and throw stones at Kristen’s window.”
“Good idea,” Nick said. “The photos part. You should get the cameramen over as well.”
Spencer checked the time again. If he got Kurt to buy the plane ticket now, he could probably be in Pennsylvania with Kristen before sunrise.
“Yeah, I can see you just realized what a genius I am. Let’s take a few shots here first.” Lucas snapped a couple of selfies with Spencer and Nick with different drinks, then Nick squeezed through the crowd and got one of the cameramen to stop filming the women.
After Spencer texted Kurt to get him a cab and a plane ticket, Lucas and Spencer moved on to find a few other guys to snap photos with, then finally took some of Spencer dancing with different women. The cameraman tagged along, more than happy to get the filming over and done with so that he could enjoy the party.
Spencer smiled as best as he could, then moved away when Lucas gave him the thumbs up.
Most of the women simply frowned at his strange behavior. A few tried to get him to stay, but Lucas always stepped in to help him get away.
“I think we have more than enough photos,” Lucas said and turned to the cameraman.
The cameraman gave him a thumbs-up and disappeared into the crowd.
Spencer headed out the back door with Lucas next to him.
Lucas snapped a few more photos as Spencer jogged over to the cab waiting for him. “And if Kristen suspects you left with one of the women, I have proof for her that you didn’t.”
Spencer shook his head and opened the car door. “Thanks, Lucas. When you need to plan your proposal, I’ll be there to help.”
Lucas laughed. “Yeah sure. Like that’ll be anytime soon. Good luck with your proposal.” Lucas went back into the club while Spencer got in the cab and headed for the airport.
Kristen closed her eyes, enjoying the soft breeze on her parents’ porch. Her arms cradled the guitar as she listened to the melody in her head. She strummed the guitar once, and her fingers shifted to change the chord as her mind played with the lyrics.
She pulled her lower lip between her teeth and turned to her iPad sitting on the glass top of the white rattan table, scrawling across the screen to write down the lyrics.
She paused when she realized she was chewing on her lower lip and got distracted by memories of the times Spencer would run his thumb along the edge of her lips. Kristen grinned and wrote down the lyrics that came to her mind.
Her pen almost slipped from her hand when a loud snore cut through the melody in her head.
In the chair next to her, Mark’s head hung back, his mouth open.
Kristen checked the time on the iPad and pursed her lips. She hadn’t realized it was already four in the morning. Mark had been the only one with her all night since Eric had suddenly come down with stomach flu.
She reached over, intending to wake him up so he could go back to sleep in the guest room, but she doubted he’d leave her alone out here and Kristen wasn’t quite ready to head to bed.
Her mind was on full alert, firing lyrics for the songs she’d been writing, and she was enjoying her time on the porch. She was only able to sit out in the open like this whenever she was back at her parents’ place. Back home, she would start spotting paparazzi behind, or even in, nearby trees.
Pulling her hand back, Kristen grabbed her white stylus and scribbled down the new lyrics that just came into her head. She ran through the melody in her head with the new lyrics and smiled. Perfect.
She looked up when she heard the sound of a car pulling up in front of her parents’ place. She almost woke Mark up, but that was when Ana stepped out of the car.
Ana? Kristen set her guitar aside and got up. She grabbed her phone and stuffed it into her back pocket before hurrying toward Ana. “Is everything all right? Is Spence all right?”
Ana pursed her lips and shook her head. “I need to show you something.” She turned and got back into the car before Kristen could ask her what was wrong.
Kristen ran over to the passenger side and got into the car. “What is it?”
Ana frowned at Mark. “Is he sleeping?”
“Yeah. He—”
“Good.”
“Ana—” Kristen gasped as Ana reached over and slammed her head against the dashboard. Her head swirled and swam with so much confusion she couldn’t react. That was when she felt the second impact, and darkness blanketed her.