Chapter 24
Luke held tight to Leona. She finally admitted what they had was more than some fun. And yeah, two weeks wasn’t long, but damn, it felt real. He was hers, she was his.
Three months had never seemed so long before. He wasn’t sure how he would make it that long without having her next to him. But if there was any chance he could keep her closer next time, it was worth it.
He wanted the world to know she was his. But she nixed that, with the promise that if he came back to her, they would make it public.
An hour passed with only one drink and lots of closeness that wasn’t close enough by a long shot.
“Need to go,” she whispered.
Standing, he pulled her to her feet. “Let me walk you to the gate.”
Nodding, she moved closer, sliding her arm around his waist. He put his over her shoulder and they headed down the corridor.
They were there too fast. Luke stopped and spun her toward him, engulfing her in a hug. Her breath hitched and his heart twisted, same with his stomach. “Already miss you.”
“Miss you too.” She pressed her cheek to his and whispered, “Next time we won’t do this.”
“Next time, I’m bringing you with me.”
Laughing, she leaned back. “Thank you for showing me romance isn’t dead.”
“Oh, we haven’t even scratched the surface of that. I can’t wait to come to you.”
They called the first class and she leaned up to kiss him. “Got to go.”
He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and kissed her slowly, memorizing her taste. “Love you,” he whispered against her lips.
“You too.” Blinking, she backed away, then hurried to the gate. She turned to wave as someone checked her ticket. The tears in her eyes nearly broke him.
He mouthed the words, I love you, one more time as she disappeared.
After a few moments, he walked to his own gate and dropped into a seat. His phone pinged and he pulled it out to find a text from Leona.
Leona - Didn’t think this would be so hard. Three months, we can do this.
A smile broke across his face.
Luke - We are doing this, he replied.
Leona - Can’t wait to see you again.
Finally, she was willing to admit it could work. He wished he were there, holding her, kissing her, reinforcing the hope she had.
Luke - Wish filming was already over. I’ll be there as soon as I can.
Leona - Love you, Luke. Got to turn off my phone. Have a safe flight.
Luke - Love you, stay safe.
Raven joined him at the gate. “How’s Leona?”
He handed over the phone, the text messages still on display. She smiled. “You two make a cute couple.”
“Thanks. Wish she realized that. She’s worried I won’t come back for her after this movie.”
“You’ll get through to her. I’ll make sure you call every day. You already said you would. And if she didn’t believe it would work, she wouldn’t have sent those messages.”
“The texts help. I was stressing pretty bad before that.”
Raven glanced down the corridor. “I saw you kiss her goodbye. I think you made every woman in the airport jealous.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not letting her forget me.”
“Doubt that’s going to be an issue.”
“You’ve left an impression on her,” Ryan stated as he plopped down beside him. “Raven and I tried to distract some of the people taking pictures of that kiss. You two were far too interesting for that to work.”
Luke looked around the terminal. “She’s going to have to get used to that.”
“She’s handling it better than I do so far,” Raven muttered.
“That could change,” Luke whispered.
Ryan groaned. “Damn, you’re going to be a bummer for the whole shoot, aren’t you?”
“Nope, just going to be on the phone with her as much as I can.”
“Thank God you have a separate room. I don’t want to hear the phone sex, and I imagine with what she writes…” He got a cocky grin. “Damn, maybe I do want to hear it.”
“Skype, use Skype,” Raven offered. “Just make sure you have a secure password and your username is anything but your name. Make it private.”
“Wait, who do you Skype?” Ryan asked.
“No one,” Raven replied.
“Who did you Skype?” Luke asked.
“Never telling a soul.”
“Someone from your mysterious past?” Luke prodded.
“Oh, hell no,” she answered. “And I’ll leave it at that.”
“Neither of us would share those details,” Luke promised. And he meant it. She guarded her past, and he always wondered why, but it would be a secret he would take to the grave if he ever learned.
“Nothing worth mentioning back there.” Raven stared out the window. “At least we’re all sitting together. I’m nervous about this movie.”
“Why?” Ryan asked.
She looked at Ryan and smirked. “I have to get mostly naked with Luke.”
“You get naked with me in the movie too,” Ryan pointed out.
“Yeah, but it’s different with you.”
Luke sat back with a laugh. “It’s not like you haven’t done those scenes before. And we only have a kiss in the movie. That’s it. Not nearly where you go with Ryan.”
She lifted a shoulder. “Just different.”
He would never understand that. Raven was gorgeous, and if her no dating a co-star rule didn’t make complete sense to him, he may have dipped his toes into that water long ago.
“How long is our flight?”
“Too long.” Raven opened the top of her backpack. “I brought books to read.”
“I plan to sleep most of it.” Ryan sat back. “Was up too late with Manny. He finally got Tara to go home with him when Da Vogue closed.”
“Your brother doesn’t know what he’s getting into.”
“Nope, and I told him she doesn’t get to hang with any of us. I know that’s the only reason she went home with him.”
“Three months before he’ll get that chance. Maybe she’ll fall in love and change for the better.” Luke shrugged a shoulder. “Either way, I don’t want to be anywhere near her.”
“Won’t have to worry about that in Italy.”
* * * *
Leona managed to compose herself as she walked down the tunnel to the plane, but the moment she took her seat she busted wide-open. Leona gripped her phone, holding onto his promise after promising herself she wouldn’t.
So much she wished she had said or done differently the last few hours. Closing her eyes, she willed the tears back and just breathed in and out.
Flying was not her favorite way to travel. She almost wished she rented a car and drove back, only if she did that, she probably would have stopped somewhere and just vegged out.
Someone sat down next to her and she ventured a peak. A young woman with glasses held on to a well-worn copy of Midnight Daughter Legacy.
Leona reached down to get her earbuds out and turned her phone to airplane before starting some music. If she could get through the flight without anyone asking a million questions, she’d be okay.
And maybe if she wrote in a notebook, instead of a computer, no one would look over her shoulder to read it. Yeah, maybe.
Then the girl squealed and bounced in her seat. “You’re Leona Shay!”
Smiling, Leona nodded. “I am.”
“Your books, your worlds, oh my God, I’m so enraptured in all of your stories.”
“Thank you.” At least she smiled, but she really wanted a paper bag to pull over her head.
Her smile evaporated. “Why do you look so sad?”
Closing her eyes, Leona shook her head.
“Oh, that cute actor…is he really a jerk?”
A laugh bubbled up. “Oh no, not at all. Filming starts tomorrow.”
“Don’t you live in New York?”
“Yeah, but I was on vacation.”
Smiling, she nodded. “Does that mean you’re with him?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t discuss my personal life.” That was a fair answer.
“Oh, sorry.” She covered her mouth, then stuck her hand out. “I’m Holly. Your biggest fan. Never thought I’d be sitting next to you.”
“It’s okay, it happens. I make it a point to keep my private life private.”
“You made front page of the SASS News. There was definitely chemistry between you two.”
Stage and Screen Stars News, the worst of the tabloids, as far as she was concerned.
Leona lifted a shoulder. “I don’t think tabloids ever get the story right.”
“I’m just talking about the picture. I don’t actually pick them up to read, but those pictures show one hot couple ready to explode.”
Blinking, Leona shook her head. “I honestly don’t know what you’re taking about.” So far, she had managed to avoid the pictures. She knew they were out there, but she hadn’t seen them.
“How have you missed it? You were here in LA this whole time, right?”
“Been busy,” she answered sheepishly.
“Oh my, you should really tell me anything so I stop imagining the two of you together.”
Laughing, Leona rubbed the back of her neck and glanced out the window.
Holly’s grin got wider. “You’re blushing. Yeah, you two have something.”
“Not discussing this.”
“Sorry, oh God, I can’t shut up, can I?”
“Why don’t you read?”
Now Holly blushed. “I’ve read it a dozen times, at least. I love this series. I hear that’s why you were in LA.”
She nodded.
“That how you met him. Luke Chance, right? Man, I never remember movie star names.”
She tipped her head side to side.
“Right, not talking about him. Should take a chance on him.” Holly nudged her.
God, this was awkward. “I’ll keep it in mind. I’m just going to put my earbuds in and write while we’re in the air.”
“Oh, what book are you working on?”
“I haven’t announced it yet. Sorry. No spoilers.”
“Did you tell him?”
Shaking her head, she settled in with her notebook and pen. “Haven’t told anyone.” Okay, she did confirm who to Luke, and she told Mona about the story, but that was it so far.
“Not ready to leave him?”
Nope, not at all. “I’m sorry. I’m not going anywhere near there, Holly. I did meet him, but that’s all I’ll say.”
Someone leaned across the aisle. “They were making out in front of the gate.”
Blushing, Leona put the earbuds in, cranked up the music, and focused on writing.
A while later, Holly shook her shoulder and shoved a phone in her face. A video played of her last kiss with Luke.
Leona lifted a shoulder and made the motion of zipping her lips.
Holly shook her again and nodded to the woman across the aisle. “She says your husband is trying to get you back.”
“Not talking anything personal, but for the record, my ex-husband left me. That’s the end of that conversation. Now really, I don’t mean to be rude, but I like to keep my private life private.”
She focused back on writing while Holly and the woman across from her argued about her personal life.
As soon as the stewardess came over, Leona looked up and ordered a bourbon on the rocks. Thank God for first class.