Fade to Black (14 page)

“I’m not sure I want this, or even where
Devlin and I are heading. Besides the fact I have an eight-year-old son.
Relationships aren’t something I’ve done since his father and I split.”

“Let’s start with the most important thing,
your son. I’ve seen Dev around kids for a while now, and he’s amazing with
them. He’d never do anything to hurt any child. In fact, both he and Noah
donate to a lot of the same children’s charities. But other than that, make the
most of it. Keep your head up and your mouth shut. I learned that the hard way.
If you don’t say anything good, bad, or indifferent, they can’t hold it against
you and blow it out of proportion. I’m not the famous one, but anything I do
affects him, not the other way around.” Lexi shrugged. “And learn to ignore
everything but what’s important.
Him.”

“How can you keep your mouth shut? There
has to be things you want to say.”

“Oh, there is –
all
the time. But this is the entertainment business, nothing else
matters for long. You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Since this
is Noah’s business, I am more than happy to stand back and let him take the
lead. Now that doesn’t mean when we’re in private I don’t let him know
exactly
what I think.” She smiled.

“It’s all so new. I’m not even sure where
this is going.”

“Does it really matter where it’s going?
Relax, have fun. You might want to think about the fact that it would be good
for your son to see what it’s like when the center of his world, his mother, is
in a loving relationship. It might be good for him.”

“Hmm… you might be right. I hadn’t thought
of that before. I’ll have to think about it.”

“First, I’m always right, and second,
you’re going to have to think fast.” Lexi nodded toward the men. “Dev isn’t one
to beat around the bush. While he’ll be the first to tell you he’s never
getting married, I can also tell you he wants to be married. It’s Hollywood;
marriages hardly last, and he doesn’t want a divorce. When the right one comes
along, he’s going to race faster than anyone else toward her.”

Lily watched Dev play with the baby while
talking to Noah. She couldn’t deny he was a good man, but between his track
record and hers, she wasn’t sure if there was anything but a fling in their
future, regardless of what her heart felt.

~^~

Since the four of them landed in L.A.
together, there was a frenzy of paparazzi around to take their pictures. Lily’s
face flamed red when she tripped because the flashes from the camera blinded
her. Lucky for her, Devlin caught her and made sure she didn’t face plant. She
could only imagine how that would be plastered all over the Internet and TV.

Once she was settled into the car and it
moved away from the airport, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She
felt sick to her stomach she was so nervous. This was one of the times she
really wanted to call Dory. Once again grief started overwhelming her. Before
she could fall into its depths, she was wrapped in warm arms.

“It’s okay; you know you can enjoy
yourself.”

Lily shook her head. “It’s not that. I’m
not in my element here. This isn’t me. And all I want is to call Dory and get
some advice from her, but I won’t be able to.”

“I know, I’m so sorry.”

They sat in silence for the rest of the
trip. Lily blinked when the SUV stopped in front of a gate. Once again her
stomach sank. Glimpsing up the driveway and through the trees, she saw a huge
house.
Something out of a movie.
She stopped a giggle
before it escaped. She’s with a movie star, going to his house, which looks
like it should be in a movie.

As soon as the vehicle stopped, a man came
out of the house and opened the door for them. She tried not to stare open-mouthed
at the Tuscan-style mansion. With Devlin’s hand at the small of her back there
was nowhere for her to go but forward into the house, the huge house, the
nicest house she’d ever been in.

~^~

Devlin wanted everything to be perfect. He
wanted Lily to be comfortable here and want to spend time here. Everything
would be taken care of, for every wish and every
command,
there’d be someone there to take care of her. For once, someone was going to be
taking care of her, instead of her taking care of everyone else.

He was going to have someone come in and
give her a nice spa treatment. They’d go to all the best restaurants, or if she
didn’t want to go out, his cook was ready to prepare every one of her favorite
meals. Since she loved classic movies, he’d lined up a tour of old Hollywood
and some of the back lots. His whole goal was to make sure she had whatever she
needed before she even thought of it.

They fit and worked so well together at her
home, he wanted to show her they could in his. Glancing at his watch, he knew
they’d have enough time for a tour of his home before ending up at his surprise
for her.

“Are you okay?” he asked after he felt her
shiver.

“Yes, just trying to remember how to get
around. I’ve never been in such a large home.” She gave him a small smile. “I
might need a map.”

“You’ll be fine, you’re a woman. You never
forget anything.” He smirked at her; he knew he’d get a rise out of her and
wasn’t disappointed.

She stopped walking. “Oh, no you didn’t.”

“Oh, yes I did.” He pulled her into him,
wrapping his arms around her. “What are you going to do about it?”

Squinting
her eyes at him, she tried to wiggle out of his arms.
“In
your dreams, buddy.”

“What? You make it sound like I was
thinking of something dirty. I’m not that kind of guy.”

“Oh please.” She rolled her eyes.

Leaning down so they were nose to nose, he
said, “Ms. Walker, are you mocking me?”

Lily batted eyelashes at him. “Why, Mr.
Cross, I’d never dream of mocking you.”

He snaked an arm around her waist. “You
know what happens when you mock me.”

“Oh, please, Mr. Cross. I mock.
I mock
.”

His laugh rumbled through his chest. “Right
now why don’t I finish showing you the house, then I’ll dish out my punishment
later.”

“Promises, promises.”

“You’re not going to make me change my
mind.”

“Fine, but you can at least spend a lot of
time showing me your bedroom.”

“Oh, honey, you’ll be seeing a lot of it,
you can count on that.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

He smiled at her, wondering why she was
shaking. She’d been doing it on and off since they walked into the house. “Come
on, I have one more place to show you.” Devlin grabbed her hand and pulled her
up the stairs.

“You’re showing me the attic? Is this what
you normally do on your dates? Because I have to tell you – showing women your
attic is kind of creepy, although not as creepy as a basement.
Now that, that would be creepy.”

Devlin stopped on the stairs and turned to
look at her while she was talking. “Creepy?” He shook his head. “No, I don’t
typically show women my attic.” He looked at her again before starting back up
the stairs. “But this is something special, just for you.”

“Isn’t that what they all say right before
they cut you into little pieces?”

He stopped again and looked at her. “Where
is this coming from?”

With a furrowed brow, she tilted her head
and looked at him. “Where’s what coming from?”

“All this creepy talk.”
He waved his hand.

“Sorry.” She looked down. “I’m really
nervous.”

“You have no reason to be nervous. You
weren’t this nervous when we were spending time together in Maine.”

“No, but that was my home. I was
comfortable there.”

“So, you’re not comfortable here.” He
looked at her intently.

“No, well, yes, but it’s more because it’s
all so new to me. I don’t like to look stupid, and I’m afraid of saying or
doing the wrong thing.”

Devlin sighed and gathered her up in his
arms. “Oh, baby, I don’t think you could do anything wrong.”

“Ha! I’ve done plenty of things wrong.
Besides, we’re still in the whole honeymoon stage. You still think I’m cute.”

“I’ll always think you’re cute.”

“I’m going to remind you of that one grumpy
morning when I’m sick and my hair is a big ol’ rat’s nest.”

He lifted a lock of her hair. “Isn’t it
always a rat’s nest?” He laughed until she pinched his side. “What was that
for?”

“You know exactly what that was for.
Men.”
She tried to pull away from him.

“Oh, come on, don’t be like that.”

“Don’t be like that?” Her voice raised an
octave. And he knew he was in trouble.

“You know I love your hair, it was just my
lame attempt at a joke.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and didn’t say
anything.

He pulled her tightly into him and started
kissing her all over her face.

“Stop,” she barely got the words out over
her laughing and he knew he was home free. Moving down her neck, he knew when
he hit the ticklish spot on the side of her neck and she squirmed against him,
making his cock rock hard.

“Forgive me,” he demanded against her neck.

“Sir, yes, sir.”

His head whipped up and he narrowed his
eyes at her. “You’re still mocking me, aren’t you?”

“Totally.”

“I’ll remember that. Now, I want you to see
the surprise I have for you.”

“I can’t wait.”

~^~

“Oh my!”
Lily said as she walked through the door and onto the roof of Devlin’s home.
“This is amazing.” She couldn’t figure out what to look at first. The view was
specular, and as the sun was setting and lights began to come on, the rooftop
looked like a romantic movie set. There were twinkling lights and dark romantic
places to sit and relax, converse, or as she hoped, make out. She walked over
to the table, which was laid out with finger foods and flowers. When Devlin
came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, she leaned back into him. They
swayed together to the soft music playing. She couldn’t be further away from
her home and Leo, yet somehow, up on his roof with him, she also felt like she
was coming home.

He reached around her and picked up a sprig
of wisteria and gently ran it up her arm, across her breast, and below her
nose. With her nose buried in it, she breathed in deeply, loving the scent of
the flowers.

“The scent of this flower reminds me of
your soap.”

“It smells so heavenly. How did you know my
soap was wisteria scented?” She took the flowers from him and felt the softness
of the small petals.

He cleared his throat. “I might have looked
in your linen closet.”

She closed her eyes and brought them back
up to her nose. “They do have a beautiful scent.”

“I never paid much attention to them, even
though I have them in my gardens. But now I search them out, knowing the scent
will remind me of you.”

Turning in his arms, she captured his lips
with hers. He danced her around and back to a low double chaise lounge. Gently
he laid her back; she opened her eyes and gazed into his, seeing his feelings
in them. “I love you,” she stated.

Cupping a hand against her face, he
replied, “I love you, too.”

Just as easy and simple as that, they
declared their feelings for each other. Slowly they showed each other what it
meant to be loved by the other. As their surroundings faded around them, they
were completely focused on each other.

Chapter
Eighteen

Lily
was surprised she was able to sleep so well. Usually in a strange bed, like when
she traveled, she’d spend the first night or two tossing and turning. Smiling
to
herself
, she remembered their night together and it
must have had something to do with the epic sex they’d had on the roof of his
house. She’d thought of nothing else since she’d woken up. Sitting in the
sunroom, she’d been trying to distract herself from the thought that she was
alone in the house. Well, as alone as she could be with servants around, while
Devlin was gone. He said he had a quick errand to run.

Setting down the book she’d been trying to
read, she looked out over the back of the couch and out the window. He really
did have a spectacular view, if you could get around all the people. So far
she’d been dodging the staff he had. The house was huge so it made sense to
have so many people around to take care of it. But you never really were
alone
. How could anyone relax? She
wondered if it was something people became used to.

“Well, I never knew the staff to take
advantage of Devlin before; really it’s so hard to get good help nowadays. If
you plan on keeping this job, I’d suggest you get off your ass and find him for
me. And you might want to dress better.” The strange woman gestured with her
hand up and down at Lily. “This whole casual look is a bit too much, even for
California.”