Torn (20 page)
Authors: Christina Brunkhorst
“Sorry for what?” he asked, not following. Then he remembered her strange greeting,
I slept with him,
and the ember of jealousy flared anew. He swallowed it down.
“You slept with Jake.” His voice was flat, and Chelsea looked positively tragic.
“Yes. I took a flying leap into a wrong conclusion with you and Jennifer, and ran home and had sex with my husband.” Her tone matched his. For a long moment she held his stare, brown to blue, then she looked away, toward the window. What an impossible situation.
“I do, Tyler. I love
you
. I am so in love with you, it hurts.”
At her statement, he smiled at her, his heart feeling considerably lighter than it had just a few moments ago. “I know. Because I feel the same way about you, but I also know you’re still married, whereas I’m divorcing Jennifer.”
Chelsea’s eyes widened in amazement. “You are?”
“Um-hm.”
For a time they just stood there, Tyler stroking Chelsea’s jaw line, silence embracing the moment. Then he remembered something. “I went shopping the other day,” Tyler said, his tone conversational as he stepped away from Chelsea and rummaged through the top drawer of the hotel armoire.
A furrow creased Chelsea's brow and she tipped her head. She watched Tyler take out a CD and put it in the portable stereo on the hotel dresser. He bent over as he listened, then pushed the fast-forward button until he found the track he wanted, set the loop button for indefinite repeat. He raised the volume and turned around.
Chelsea laughed, shook her head. Tyler held out his hand, his eyes staring into hers. “Dance with me?”
Slowly, she unzipped her coat, tossed it onto a chair, kicked off her shoes. Her hand slipped into his and he grasped it, pulled her close, the soft, oddly hip-hop tones complementing Willie Nelson’s voice as it filled the room.
“You’re supposed to know that I love you,”
he sang softly in her ear, his lips whispering against petal-soft lobe.
“Tyler…”
His other hand, the one not holding onto hers, slid down her back, pressed her against him. Chelsea relaxed, closed her eyes. His six-foot plus frame curved around her, enveloped her within. “I missed you, Chels. God, I’ve missed you.”
His breath escaped in a whoosh, and it was only then that he realized he’d even been holding it. His body heated, tightened, as he stared at the woman in his arms. Her pupils dilated when his thumbs brushed her cheekbones in a gentle caress. All he could see in those black depths was hunger… for him. He lowered his head.
“Give me your ––”
“It’s already yours,” she whispered.
T
he brisk knock on her door made Julie Bishop look up from Chelsea’s first complete draft of the movie’s website. The other woman had sent the link to its as yet unknown location via an email so the director could look it over. “Come in!”
The door opened and with quick steps, Ty stepped inside and shut the door quietly behind him. Lowering her head, Julie peered at Tyler over the rims of her purple-lensed, Lennon-esque reading glasses. Her right eyebrow and the left side of her mouth both curved up. “You look… jubilant.”
That famous, white, dimpled grin beamed at her, sparing no wattage. “Julie,” Tyler began as he crossed the posh hotel room over to his boss and friend. When he reached her, he held out an unusually wrapped flat package.
As Julie took the gift, she couldn’t help but laugh at his tribute to their Broke Days. Brown paper bag and silver duct tape wrapping. “A present for me? What’s the occasion?”
“Good answer.” She chuckled as she tore through the paper and yanked off the duct tape, revealing an enormous bar of Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate. “Oh, Ty, my favorite! Thank you.”
The gorgeous blonde man winced as she took a healthy bite, directly from the bar, without breaking a dainty piece off first. “I don’t know how you can eat that stuff straight like that,” he muttered, sitting down beside her on the bed. “I mean, I can see doing it in chip form, with cookie dough wrapped around it… But plain? Like that?” He shook his head. “I prefer mine milky.”
“Speaking of milk chocolate,” Julie mused, taking a last bite before setting the bar on the nightstand to be consumed later, “I take it this gift means that Chelsea called you.”
This time she rolled her eyes and uncrossed her legs. “What woman doesn’t? Hell, even
I
love you, and I’m gay.”
Tyler shook his head. “No, Jules. She loves
me
. Tyler. Not Ty Benson, movie star. But
me
. A guy who likes to drink beer, kick back and relax, fart in bed ––“
Hooting with laughter, Julie interrupted. “You broke wind in bed with her?”
His grin was sheepish, and he tugged on his ear. “I didn’t mean to. I mean, I did that once with Jen and she acted like I’d tried to set her on fire. So I started to apologize… “ His laugh was soft and low, “…and Chels just says, ‘Chill out, Benson. It’s just a fart for heaven’s sake’, and goes back to sleep. Meanwhile Jen still brings it up in fights like it’s her fucking trump card.”
“So, you love her, and she loves you,” Julie stated. “And because I’m twisted anyway, I am happy for you. I am. The only thing is, while love is blind? I don’t see any seeing-eye dogs around her husband, do you?”
“Well, hallefreakinglujah and about freaking time for that, but what about Chelsea? Unlike you, she has children to think about. Children bind a family together. And Chelsea loves her girls. They’re everything to her. She’d never leave them for you.”
Tyler’s brows lowered. “I wouldn’t want her to.”
“So, you what? Expect Jake Morgan to roll over and say, Sure bud. Take my wife, please?”
“Of course not. I actually don’t have any expectations at this point, but I’m
happy
, Jules. Jesus. I can’t remember the last time I felt this good.”
Julie nodded, satisfied. She took Tyler’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Just be careful, Ty. This situation… it isn’t an easy one. Someone is going to wind up with his or her heart broken. I’m just afraid that this time? It’s gonna be yours.”
Tyler licked his bottom lip, bit it as he nodded. “I’ll be fine, Jules. You know that expression,
It’s better to have loved and lost
––“
“Oh,
bite
me,” Julie grumbled, yanking her hand away. “Your pocket’s vibrating.”
“What? Oh… Just a sec.” Tyler pulled a thin, tiny, silver phone from his pocket and opened it. “Benson.”
He listened for a while, and Julie watched as his expression went from listening to surprised. He frowned. “Already?” he asked whoever was on the other end of the line.
“And the start date for my next movie was pushed up. I have to be in Alaska, ready to film, in two weeks. Will you be done with me by then?”
Julie nodded. “Your scenes should be all wrapped up by the end of this week. That’ll give you a week to get ready.” She shook her head in amazement. “Alaska?”
“It’s beautiful country up there. I’ve always wanted to visit. Now, I’ll get to go and get paid for it. Life is good.” Tyler checked his watch. “I’d better split. I have a few more calls to make, now that the date’s been bumped up. Catch you later?”
“You know where to find me.”
“Cool.” He leaned down and gave her a swift kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Julie. I love you.”
“And I love you too, Slick. Now shoo. Some of us actually have to work today,” she said, and shut the door gently in his smirking face.
O
ne week later…
Chelsea Morgan was a focused person. When something caught her attention, it became a focal point until somehow that energy was released back into the cosmos. At the moment, her attention was solely on the doctor’s appointment she just left. More specifically, the results of the pregnancy test. And now that she was home, she burned that energy by pacing a track into her oak flooring.
Counting back the days using the obstetrician’s gestation wheel, it brought conception to a love scene immortalized on film. Basically, what that meant was that the child she carried shared DNA with a film star… and not her husband.
The thought braked her and Chelsea closed her eyes, her face in her hands. Now what? Sighing, she ran her fingers through the dark curls of her hair. There would be no hiding this from Jake. Pregnancy was a
big
thing in and of itself. Combined with the baby being someone else’s child? It was
huge
.
Of course, she could always keep this to herself… she and Jake had made love after all. Perhaps she could just tweak the baby’s due date? It’s not as though her husband ever went with her to her prenatal care visits anyway…
She lowered her brows, disgusted with herself. No. The lies had caught up with her, and she was just going to have to face the music. Cheating on him was bad enough, but trying to pass another child as his? That would be despicable. No. She was going to have to tell Tyler… and Jake. Chelsea raised her gaze to look, unseeing, out the window. But then what?
~ *~
Tyler stared out the first class window, unseeing, as the flight attendant set down a can of ginger ale on his tray. “Thank you,” he murmured, and the older woman beamed.
“You’re welcome, Mr. Benson. And may I say it’s a pleasure having you aboard. I’ve flown with Alaska Airlines for fifteen years, and this is the first time a celebrity has been on my flight.”
His sarcasm was lost on his soon-to-be-ex-wife, who glared at him over her champagne cocktail. “I can’t believe you didn’t pull out of this movie.”
Tyler threw her a cold look. “You
know
how much I’ve always wanted to visit Alaska. I can’t believe
you
didn’t pull out. You hate leaving
‘civilization’
.”
Jennifer flounced back in the wide, plaid, first-class seat. “I
tried
. Believe it or not. Not for
you
, of course, but because no one in their right mind would willingly go to that godforsaken state. But my lawyers couldn’t find an out in my contract. We’d signed on together two years ago as a happily married couple, remember?” She made a gagging sound and Tyler rolled his eyes.
How could he have forgotten that detail? This low-budget film was riding on the fact that it showcased a superstar couple. Because Tyler had been so excited about the script, and about seeing that untouched country, he’d agreed to work the film for millions less than his usual twenty per picture plus royalties salary. He’d been so psyched he’d even asked Jennifer to sign on to the project with him, since it called for a husband and wife. How perfect.
How perfectly
insane
,
he thought now, his countenance dark with annoyance. He flicked a glance at his wife. Jennifer was downing her second mimosa and flirting with the older man seated across from her. Christ. This sucked. This sucked
out loud
.
And he missed Chelsea. He hadn’t even had the chance to see her or her girls before leaving Montana. He’d seen her at the one grocery store in town, but she’d been with Jake and their girls, and he hadn’t felt right about visiting.
He
liked
Jake. Respected him. Which was why he wouldn’t visit their home, look Jake in the eye. Oh, he
could
, he was damn good at his job, but he wouldn’t. Not after having made love to the other man’s wife. And there was Chelsea to consider. Jesus, he missed that woman. He had to call her.
His cell phone vibrated in his pocket and Tyler pulled it out to answer it.
…
Please turn off all radios, computers, wireless phones, and other devices that may interfere with the navigational components of this aircraft during take-off…
Tyler closed his eyes and shut the phone off even as he tucked it away.
~ *~
