Red Carpet Romance (24 page)

Coming home tomorrow.
No questions.

A bit worried about Quinn, Susanna
peeked into his room. She couldn’t tell from the doorway if he was breathing,
so she walked to the bed. He rolled over, reaching up, latching his arm around
her waist, pulling her down next to him.

“Susie…Q…” he muttered, eyes still
closed.

He spooned her, holding her tight
against his chest. He planted a kiss on her neck before his fingers closed
around her breast and his breathing became even again. She stared at the wall.
One more night. I need it.
She cuddled
into his embrace and shut her eyes. The touch of his hands melted the pain in
her heart enough so that sleep came.

Awakened by morning sunlight,
Susanna glanced at the clock. Eight o’clock. Quinn’s breathing was even and
deep. He had rolled away from her during the night, so she gently eased herself
off the bed, trying not to disturb him. At the doorway, she turned her head for
one last glimpse of the man she loved. The hurt from the night before came
back, and she could hardly breathe.
Go
quickly before he wakes up.

She dressed quietly, grabbed a cup
of coffee, and headed for the elevator. With a heavy sigh, she pressed the
button, fighting the sadness in her heart.
So
many happy memories here.

“Leavin’, Miss?” Crash asked, his
gaze settling for a moment on her suitcase. He cocked an eyebrow at her.

Too choked up to speak, she nodded.

“Does Mr. Quinn know?”

She shook her head.

“Uh oh. He’s not going to like
that.”

Susanna found her voice. “It’s okay.
He wants me to go.”

“I’m so sorry, Miss. It’s been a pleasure,”
he said and tipped his hat to her as he opened the big door. “Need a cab?”

“Thank you.” Crash had no problem
flagging down a taxi for her, and he loaded the suitcase in the trunk. After
the door closed, she opened the window all the way, hoping the fresh air would
dispel the choking feeling in her chest. She watched as Crash and the building
disappeared behind her. Tears flooded her eyes. She hid her face with her hands
and sobbed.

* * * *

Quinn awoke about noon, disoriented
and extremely hung over. He dragged himself out of bed to splash water on his
face. Grabbing ibuprofen, he staggered into the kitchen and reheated a mug of
coffee. Slurping down the medicine with a big gulp, he rubbed his eyes and
looked around.

“Susanna?” But all he received was
silence. He walked from room to room, searching for her, but the apartment was
empty. He yanked open the closet door and the dresser drawers in her room, but
only the things he bought her remained. Looking up, he saw the suitcase was
gone from the shelf. The basketball he gave her sat on the bed. He touched the
outside, and then palmed the ball.
Must
have hurt more to leave this basketball than all the fancy dresses put
together.

The cleaning service knocked on his
door, forcing him out on the terrace while they went over the apartment. He sat
on a chair, propping his legs up on the coffee table, and sipped his coffee.
The fuzzy events from the night before slowly became clearer.

While he ran his hands over his
stubbly face, the fact that Susanna was gone finally sank in.
Good riddance, traitor.
He wondered why
that thought didn’t make him feel better. The self-righteousness of the night
before slowly seeped out of his heart. He was alone, without hope for the book
or Susanna to console him and help him move on. Something lingered.

A slight chill rocketed through his
body. It wasn’t due to the air, which was hot and muggy. His foggy brain
couldn’t get a handle on what had happened because he swore he had spent the
night with her.

As the cleaning crew finished up,
someone knocked on the terrace door. When he opened it, the man in charge
handed him a small book. “Thought you might want this. Didn’t want to see it go
missing.” Quinn took Susanna’s small sketchbook from his hand. The man left
quietly, closing the door behind him.

Hope grew in Quinn’s heart as he ran
his thumb over the book.
She has to come
back for this.
But his smile faded as he recalled their earlier
conversation about the book.
She must
have left it on purpose. Prove to me she wasn’t double dealing. She could have
taken it and sold it to
Celebs R Us
.

While her gesture to show her
loyalty warmed a small portion of his heart, he realized it meant she wasn’t
coming back. His good mood faded to foul.
I
need her. Where is she?
He dialed her number but it went straight to
voicemail.

In desperation, he dialed Annie. A
cool, female voice answered the phone.

“Annie?”

“What do you want?”

“I want to talk to Susanna.” He
began to pace.

“She’s not in. And…she doesn’t want
to talk to you.”

“Wait! Don’t hang up. Wait. I said
some harsh things last night…”

“I heard.”

“I should have been more…more
rational.”

“Look, Quinn. Susie knows how you
feel. She doesn’t disagree. She gets it. You want her gone. It’s over. Move
on.”

She hung up the phone before he
could say, “no, it’s not over.” It wasn’t over for him. His heart was breaking.
Pain seared his chest.
You ass. What did
you do last night?
He sat there wracking his brain, trying to remember what
he said to her, but he could only recall snatches of their conversation.

Did
I dump her? Asshole! Now it’s too late. But she broke my trust. She’s
responsible for me losing the book. How can I still love her?
He was
confused. Every inch of him hurt. He shut his blinds and crawled back in bed.
Sleep was his refuge until he could pull himself together and formulate a plan.

He awoke at five o’clock. Now his
stomach was nagging at him along with his heart. He turned on the shower,
hoping the hot water would revive him.
Chaz!
Chaz can help me. Wish Susie was in here with me.
He finished his lonely
shower, threw on his terry robe, and picked up his phone to call Chaz Duncan,
his best friend and fellow movie star.

“Chaz. I need you buddy. Can you
stop by?”

“What’s up?”

“Woman trouble.”

“I’m on my way.”

The two men sat in the living room,
cooled by air conditioning. Chaz brought Quinn up-to-date on his new marriage
and honeymoon, or at least as much as he could discuss before Quinn hit him
with the problem.

“Let me get this straight. You’re in
love with this wonderful girl who sold you out?”

“Sort of.” Quinn popped the top off
two bottles of beer and handed one to Chaz.

“Kick her to the curb, man. Come on.
If we don’t have trust, we have nothing.” Chaz took a swig of his beer.

“But it was an honest mistake. She
didn’t know the guy was a producer.”

“If she’d kept her mouth shut, this
wouldn’t have happened. You and I have to have people close to us who shut the
fuck up.”

“I know that. She didn’t spill
anything else.” Quinn raised the bottle to his lips.

“What’s so great about this chick,
besides her bra size?”

“Looks? On a scale of one to ten
she’s an eleven.”

“Okay, okay, I get it. What else?”
Chaz sat back and took another swig.

“She can cook. Takes care of people.
Hell, she took great care of Annemarie’s baby. Never complained, whined, or
tried to get me to buy her stuff. In fact, the only stuff she demanded was for
the kid. She even left the clothes I got for her when she took off.”

Chaz raised his eyebrows. “Truly
amazing! Did you clone Meg?” Quinn smiled.

“Guess Meg’s not the only amazing
woman in New York.” He gazed out the window. “Susie would make a great mom.”

“So now you want a mother?” Chaz’s
eyes grew wide.

“For my kids. Hell, I want to have
kids someday, don’t you?”

“Yeah. Meg’ll be a great mom.” Chaz
looked down at his hands. “You’re looking to get married?” He took a drink.

“I didn’t think so, but I’ve had
enough dating to last a lifetime. She walked in the door and…I don’t know.”

“You went nuts?”

“Yeah. Bout sums it up.” Quinn took
a long draught of his beer.

“Go get her. I don’t see the problem
here.”

“I said some things last night…”
Quinn ran his hand through his hair.

“Like what?” Chaz’s eyes narrowed.

“Two words come to mind…Jezebel and
traitor.” Quinn winced.

“Shit, man! That’s harsh…really
harsh.” Chaz frowned.

“She’s not talking to me…not taking
my calls.” Quinn hung his head.

“No wonder.”

“I was drunk.” Quinn shrugged.

“That explains everything…drunk and
insulting. How could she resist?” He cocked an eyebrow at his friend.

“Don’t rub it in.” He scratched his
chin.

“You want her back?” Chaz put down
his bottle of beer.

“I want to talk to her. It’s hard
without her. I…I was hasty. Didn’t think it through.”

“Hard to be rational when you’re
blasted.” Chaz nodded.

“I need to…apologize. I’ve lost the
book and now her.” Quinn pushed to his feet.

“Grovel might be the word you’re
looking for. Or maybe beg?”

Quinn punched his friend in the arm
and smiled. “Leave it to you to cheer me up.”

“Hey, I didn’t get you into this
mess.” Chaz raised his palms to Quinn.

“I know. I need help.” He started
pacing.

“You need a fuckin’ miracle, my
friend.” Chaz downed the last of his beer.

Quinn’s phone rang. He grabbed it
and started talking.

“Quinn Roberts?” It was a strange,
male voice on the other end.

“Yes?” Silence. “You son of a
bitch.” Quinn said in a low growl.

* * * *

Susanna left her suitcase at Annie’s
house then headed to Riverside Park. She missed the basketball as she needed a
workout, but Quinn gave it to her, so she had left it behind. The sadness in
her heart changed to anger as she strode down the path to the courts. Her eyes
scanned the benches and sure enough, there he was. Max Webster, sitting alone
and sipping iced tea. Her hands balled into fists.
Can I hit him? Maybe not. Don’t want to go to jail.

Words came together in her head.
The same words Quinn used…almost. Traitor,
betrayer.
Her body stiffened as she approached him, her fists clenching and
releasing as her mouth set in a grim line. He turned his head just as she
arrived.

“Susanna! I was just talking about
you!”

“You two-timing, two-faced,
double-dealing traitor. Betrayer!”

“What are you talking about?”

“You stole that book out from under
Quinn. You took my words, my words told to you in confidence! And…and betrayed
me. You bought that book before he could, knowing he wanted it. He’s upset,
angry…no, furious with me. Our relationship is over. And it’s your fault! I
trusted you…” tears clouded her eyes.
No,
dammit, don’t cry!

“I trusted you…” she continued, “and
you stabbed me in the back. Judas! Deceiver!” She shouted at him. “You’re
rotten to the core. I regret the day I met you. You’re nothing but a thief…and
you’ve destroyed my life. Killed the love I had with Quinn! I love him, and he
hates me. Our love is gone. My heart is broken, and it’s all your fault!”

Susanna sensed her control was
slipping but was powerless to stop the words cascading from her mouth. Emotion
rose inside her like a giant tidal wave, building her anger until it threatened
to go over the top more with each epithet, each accusation.

Max stood up during her diatribe,
stuttering, trying to get her attention, until she lost it completely and
slapped him hard across the face. The loud crack hung heavy in the humid air.
Susanna gasped, drawing her hand to her mouth, horrified at what she had done.
Tears, no longer held back, flooded down her face in torrents. Max covered his
red cheek with his hand, anger flashed in his eyes.

“It’s business. You’ve overreacted,”
he said in a quiet, but heated voice before he turned and walked away.

Susanna stood, sobbing into a
handkerchief for a minute or two before she regained her composure and returned
to her sister’s house. Annie was home, getting ready to pick up the children
from school. Susanna fell into her sister’s arms, on the verge of hysteria.
Annie held her and soothed her, laying her down on her bed. When it was time
for her to hit the sack with her husband, Jonathan, her sister moved back to
the sofa.

* * * *

Susanna was jumped on by Felix,
Annie’s youngest child, at six in the morning, followed by Emmie and Jordan.
The loving aunt wrapped the children in her arms and gave them hugs.

“Mommy said you’re sad, and I should
hug you,” Felix said.

“Mommy’s right.” Susanna tried to
smile.

After helping Annie send the kids
off to school, Susanna checked her phone. There was a text from her lawyer. She
opened it.

Estate is finished.
Wired $750 thousand into your account. Hope this will give you

some security and a
chance to fulfill a few dreams. That was your dad’s wish.

She was shocked!
Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars?
Slowly,
the realization that she didn’t have to look for a job right away lifted her
spirits.
I can do what I want
. She
smiled.
Thanks, Pop.

Maybe a small trip would be good.
Susanna needed time.
Time away, time away
from Quinn
. Time to figure out what she wanted to do with her life.
Maybe art school. École nationale supériere
des beaux-arts in Paris?