Let Me Be the One (24 page)

“You make the earth move for me, too.” He shifted off her.

“Don’t go,” she pleaded.

“I’m staying right here.”

Suzi curled against him. “I want to wake up where you are. I love you.”

Brian leaned down, kissing her so he could taste the words on her lips. His whole body trembled, and so did hers. She tangled her leg through his, cinching herself to him. Her soft curves fitting to him. “I love you, too,” he told her.

She drew in a jerky breath. “You’re so good to me. The way you make me feel. The way you hold me.” She nestled into him. “I want to wake up in your arms for the rest of my life.”

Brian tightened his hold on her and closed his eyes, trying to get use to the feeling. Curling against her in the night. Waking up with her. He ran his fingers through her hair. “Go to sleep, my sweet. I’ll be here in the morning.”

* * * *

Cassie’s father parked the van in the garage. The first blush of dawn was already creeping over the mountain. Logan climbed out with his bag and collected his guitar from the back. “I’m gonna go get some sleep.” He gave Jason a salute. “See you around lunch.”

“You’ll have to make the bed,” Cassie said, unbuckling Sonya. Andi already clung to her leg, rubbing her eyes.

“She’s obsessed with bed-making,” Jason muttered. He pressed a key ring into Logan’s palm. “Take the keys in case it’s locked up.”

Logan hoisted his bag over his shoulder and crossed the front lawn. Beside the pond, he kicked something. Squinting in the half-light, he found a glass jar lying in the grass. What the hell was Brian doing with a glass jar outside? Maybe he’d been trying to catch fireflies. Suzi liked to do that when she was here. Jason said he’d been talking to her. Maybe it was making him nostalgic, too. Logan shuffled down the steps and into the cabin. The door was unlocked. Brian must have opened it up for him. Of the three bedroom doors opening off the common room, one was closed. Not the one he and Suzi used when they were here. Maybe Brian had decided not to stay in the big house. With two little kids in there, it wouldn’t be a picnic. Logan dumped his bag on the floor. He’d intended to grab the blanket and curl up in the middle of the naked mattress, but staring at the bed where he’d slept, and not slept, so many nights with Suzi left him wired. He went to the bathroom.

On the counter lay a green, plastic wide-tooth comb with long brown hairs trailing from it. Logan picked it up and laid the hair across his palm. Definitely brown. Odd since Brian was blond. Had he picked up a girl? That would explain why he wasn’t in the house. On the other side of the sink lay a familiar barrette.

The cheap metal had started out gold, but had turned coppery pretty quick. It was a butterfly with purple and blue cloisonné on the wings. He’d bought it for Suzi in…Japan maybe, while he was on tour from one of those street vendors when he’d been missing her. He picked it up. It had a long brown hair caught in it, too. Could there be another woman on Earth with brown hair and that exact barrette staying in Jason and Cassie’s guest cabin? Maybe it wasn’t Brian down here. What if he’d convinced Suzi to come? She could have been the one catching fireflies. She might not have been able to sleep in their regular room, either.

She could be in the cabin right now.

In the room beside the bathroom, the room with the door closed.

Logan pressed his ear to the door. Inside, he could hear the high, sweet sound of a woman’s voice. Suzi sometimes read aloud to herself when she was trying to figure out if a conversation worked, and she didn’t sleep well when she was stressed. If she knew he was coming in tonight, this morning, she might be up writing, trying to distract herself. She might be waiting for him. If he just opened the door and walked in, she might be happy to see him. The whole reconciliation could be over before the sun rose over the mountain. All except for the fun part. He planned on that taking a very long time.

He could also get a dictionary thrown at his head if he walked in on her unexpected. For some reason, she always seemed to have a big, hardcover dictionary with her.

He could knock. That would work. But what if she was just talking in her sleep? Then she’d be mad that he woke her up.

So he could wait until morning. Just sit on the couch and wait for her to get up so they could talk, and he could tell her all the stuff he’d been rehearsing with Dr. Kennedy. Then she’d cry and climb into his arms and tell him she was coming home. And it would all be fixed again. This time he was going to put a ring on her. Make it all permanent. His hands itched to touch her again. The heat in his groin was unbearable. He needed to be wrapped in her arms, making love to her again.

No way could he wait. If she was here, he needed to see her.

Of course, he could have been right the first time, and it was Brian with some girl who happened to have long brown hair and a barrette just like the one Suzi had. Brian had been in Japan a couple of months ago. He could have bought the same barrette for his little friend. The whole divorce anniversary thing could have been a smoke screen so he could meet his chicklet here.

Logan glanced around the room. He’d stayed in this cabin at least a dozen times. With the band and with Suzi. This room had a window that opened onto the porch. If the curtains weren’t closed all the way, he could just peek in and see.

He left the bathroom and went out to the porch. It was starting to get warm with the sun shining in. The curtains hung most of the way open, allowing a shaft of sunrise across the room to bounce off the mirror on the dresser. The mirror then threw a spotlight onto the bed.

And Suzi.

Suzi knelt in the middle of the bed, straddled across a figure. The undulation of her hips was unmistakable. Strong male hands clasped her, guiding her. She clutched his wrists, throwing her head back. Her long hair bounced in time with her motion.

Logan stood, frozen, watching his Suzi make love to another man. She was gorgeous. Her perfect curves and animal grace.

Stumbling backward, he found a chair. He dropped into it, unable to breathe. That bitch. How could she flaunt her affair in his face? Bring another man here just to rub his nose in it? Did Jason and Cassie even know?

Wait.

Logan dragged himself into his own room. Jason and Cassie didn’t know she was here. Brian said he’d talked to her, not that he’d convinced her to come. Had she arrived with the new guy in tow? With Cherney? Had Cherney been the man in that bed? Or was it another man? Logan frowned. He’d been consumed with the sight of Suzi making love, but he must have seen who she was making love to. The man’s lean arms were wrapped around her body. His long fingers pressed into her flesh. Blond hair on the pillow.

Brian Ellis.

Suzi was fucking Brian.

Logan went back into the common room. He turned a chair toward the closed bedroom door. Then he grabbed his acoustic guitar and sat down to wait.

* * * *

Suzi lay down on Brian’s chest, listening to his heart pound.

“I love the way you wake me up.” Brian kissed the top of her head.

“Things like that happen when I’m too excited to sleep.” She rubbed her cheek on his chest.

“Too excited to sleep. I like the way that sounds, too.”

“I’m liking the way it feels.”

“Me too. Want to try again?”

“I thought you weren’t twenty-two anymore.”

“I’m inspired.”

“You’re insane.”

“I’m that, too.”

“As much fun as this is, I have to use the loo.” Suzi started to sit up, but Brian dragged her down for a deep kiss. She indulged him for a minute before pulling away. “I have to go to the bathroom.”

“I’ll let you go, but you have to promise to come back.”

Suzi smiled. He was wrapping her up in him again. Cocooning her in passion and safety. “I’ll come back. I promise.” She drew herself out of his arms. “Chilly in here,” she commented, grabbing his shirt off the floor and pulling it on. She glanced back at Brian with her hand on the doorknob. He was propped up on his elbow watching her. Winking, she opened the door.

Then she screamed.

Logan set aside his guitar and stood up. Raw fury etched his eyes with acid. “Trading up?” he asked.

Brian grabbed her from behind.

“What do you mean?” Suzi demanded.

“It looks like you went fishing for a bigger rock star.”

“How dare you!” Suzi sobbed.

“Logan,” Brian growled. His arms tightened around her.

“Did she have you fooled, too?” Logan stalked toward her.

Suzi shrank back. “What are you talking about?” What was Logan doing here? Was this a nightmare?

Logan glared over her shoulder at Brian. “Did she make you think she’s not just the run-of-the-mill, gold-digging groupie?”

“You bastard.” Brian lunged forward. The jolt of his wrath coursed through her. Suzi turned, wrapping her arms around his waist, holding him back. He was shaking.

“Please, please don’t fight,” she begged. “Please, Brian.” She dug her fingers into his skin, reminding him she was there. It had to be a nightmare. Logan was in New York. They were alone on the mountain. In a second, Brian would wake her and tell her she’d been whimpering, and then he’d hold her until she fell back to sleep. It was not real.

Pounding erupted at the cabin door. “What’s going on in there?” Jason roared.

“Logan get out,” Suzi ordered.

The door burst open and Jason stumbled in. His gaze swept the room, and he cursed. “What is going on? Brian, you said she wasn’t here.”

“I said I’d talked to her,” Brian shouted. “I never said where I talked to her.”

“It looks like you’ve been doing a lot more than talking,” Jason shouted back.

Logan stalked forward and leaned into her face. “Are you happy now? Or do you need to move further up the fame chain?”

Suzi slapped him, snapping his head around.

Cass and her father crowded through the door. Cassie put her hands over her mouth. “Oh, my God. This can’t be happening with my kids here.” She turned around and grabbed her father, pulling him out behind her.

“Is this what you want, Suzi?” Logan’s breath hitched. “Are you really going to be any happier with him than you were with me?”

Suzi wrapped her arms around her stomach. It was trying to eat its way out of her body. Jason and Brian were shouting at one another. Logan stood in front of her as if he was either going to grab her and kiss her or humiliate her some more. The print of her hand stood out on his face. She closed her eyes, letting tears slide down her cheeks.

“Suzi? Sugar?” Logan reached for her. “Please don’t cry.”

Suzi sank into Logan’s embrace. The simple familiarity took the gnawing edge off her panic. But it was Logan. Logan who she couldn’t trust. And she was wearing Brian’s shirt. She jerked backward, tearing away from Logan and blundering into Brian.

“Poor kitten.” Jason grabbed her arm and pulled her out from between them. “You both get out. Look what you’ve done to Suzi.”

“What I’ve done to Suzi?” Brian shouted. “I didn’t ambush her with her ex-boyfriend.”

“We called, we emailed, we texted. We practically sent smoke signals. Cassie’s mom was going to drive up here yesterday but couldn’t get away.” Jason snapped. “It is my house.”

Suzi twisted, escaping Jason’s arms. “Please stop fighting. I—” She looked around at their expectant faces. “I have to go to the bathroom.” She fled to the bathroom and locked herself inside.

She did have to go, a fact she had forgotten when she opened the door and saw Logan sitting in the other room. After she washed her hands, she splashed water on her face and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Shock radiated from her eyes. Through the door, she could hear them still fighting. They weren’t shouting, but their voices were harsh and loud. She needed to escape this situation. Her heart slammed around in her chest like a wild bird beating at the bars of its cage. If she could slip out of the house for a run, it would help clear her head. Her running bra was still hanging where she’d rinsed it out this morning—yesterday morning—and she could run barefoot if need be, but she couldn’t run in just Brian’s shirt. The bathroom window was too small to climb though, too. She would have to face them to get out of here.

She stomped out of the bathroom and headed for her room with her head down. They fell silent as she passed between them. In the bedroom, she found underwear and a pair of shorts.

“What are you doing?” Brian asked.

“I’m going for a run.” Suzi jammed her foot through the leg of her shorts.

“For a run?” Jason asked. “It’s the crack of dawn.”

“She’s either going to run or she’s going to cook something,” Logan said. “Aren’t you, Suzi?”

Brian stepped in front of her, shielding her from the door. He’d managed to pull on his jeans, but she was still wearing his shirt. “Are you sure you want to do this? It’s dark and cold.” He smoothed her hair off her face with gentle hands.

“I have to get out of here or I’m going to explode,” Suzi whispered. “I can’t be here now.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“No. I need to be alone.”

He nodded, not even offering a fake “I understand.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. Suzi wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her check to his chest to listen to his heartbeat. It was steady and strong, like his arms around her. Brian had always cared for her. He knew she couldn’t take much craziness. Pulling away, she sat down to pull on her shoes.

“You can’t be letting her go,” Jason snapped.

“Yes, I can. Just leave her alone. All of this would have been a lot easier if you could have just left her alone.”

Suzi closed the cabin door behind her. If only she could run away into the mountains and disappear like the woman from
Follow the River
. But at the moment, she wouldn’t want to follow it back home.

“This was a bad idea,” Cassie said, wringing her hands. She’d returned after putting the girls back in the van and sending them down the mountain with her father.

“It was a fucking brilliant idea until this moron got in the way.” Jason gestured at Brian.