Could This Be Love? (13 page)

“Anything is better than sober in situations like these,” Pia said, standing to help gather their libations. Together, they dumped all of the miniature bottles from the fridge onto the bed and climbed on.

Grabbing two bottles and tossing one to Pia, Avery twisted off the top, then raised the bottle in the air and said, “Tomorrow cannot come soon enough. I am way past ready to leave this town. To tomorrow and a fresh start.” Avery chugged down the mini bottle of really young Chablis, then tossed the bottle over her shoulder.

Pia paused with the bottle raised to her mouth, then drank it down and tossed her bottle to the side. She wiped her mouth delicately before saying, “Yeah, Av, about that. We’re stuck here a few more days. Remember, we’re in the middle of filming Petey’s commercials and then yesterday we agreed to take head shots of our new applicants in the area.”

“Oh, darn it. I totally forgot about the head shots.” Avery reached for the next bottle quickly. “Aren’t I the efficient planner? Cheers.”

Pia drank too. “Hey, if we work twelve hours tomorrow and Petey cooperates, we could wrap this up in two days. Totally doable. Especially since we don’t have to worry about the paparazzi. They rushed out late last night when that young actress was found unconscious in her bathtub.”

“Oh, God, I didn’t hear about that. That’s so sad. Way sadder than my crap, which helps put things in perspective, doesn’t it?” Avery rubbed her hand on her chest, trying to ease the tightness. “Hollywood can be a dangerous place for young actors.”

“Sadly true.” Pia’s gaze met hers, a frown creasing her face.

“It’s okay, Pia. I didn’t end up like that poor girl because I had you to help me.”

Pia sucked in a breath and nodded. “Hey, we can change hotels too, to lessen your chances of running into the movie star.”

“Did you see his face? The last thing he wants to do is run into me.” Her face wobbled on the last word.

“I’m sorry, Av. This one’s partly my fault.” Pia grabbed a mini bottle and chugged. “I encouraged you because, like an idiot, I thought he’d be good for you.”

Avery peered at the drink selection. “Do I like Hennessy?” She opened it and took a swig, then shuddered. “I do
not
like Hennessy. The man was fan-friggin’-tastic in bed. It was when we finally got out that he was a jerk.” She chugged down the rest of the cognac. “But, this one’s on me, Pia. I knew I shouldn’t trust him. I told myself to keep it just about sex, but I let my guard down. No, it’s worse than that. I got greedy. I ignored every bad thing I’d already learned about men. And of all the people to decide to trust, how completely idiotic that I let myself get hurt—again—by some Hollywood star. Did we forget to eat dinner tonight?”

“Well, I ate dinner after you and what’s-his-name left. So, you did not eat dinner. Why?”

“Why? Well, I’m suddenly realizing we worked through and didn’t eat lunch either. And I am happily tipsy already.” Avery lay back on the bed. She turned toward Pia and asked softly, “Pia, what’s wrong with me that no one can love me?”

Pia lay down beside her face-to-face. “I love you, Av.”

“Except you. I don’t mean to take that for granted, I don’t. I don’t know what I’d have done without you all these years. But I meant a man. What’s wrong with me that no man can love me? I have a pathetic confession.” Avery slipped her hands, palms together, between her cheek and the mattress.

“You can tell me anything, Av.”

“For a few minutes tonight, I thought, ‘Why can’t this be love?’ Or at least the beginning of it, you know? And I decided that maybe it was time to open up to someone again. Maybe it would be okay to trust a man again.”

Exhausted from the stress and alcohol, and two nearly perfect nights spent making love to the Sexiest Yet Most Paranoid and Accusatory Man Alive, Avery’s muscles relaxed into the mattress. Keeping her eyelids open required too much effort, so she drifted to sleep listening to Pia vow, “I’m going to kill him.”

***

It was the pounding that woke Avery up. It took a minute to realize the painful pulse wasn’t only inside her head, which it was, but it was also someone pounding on the hotel room door. Ten guesses who it was. She wasn’t sure what she’d say to Tansy, but she had to stop the pounding somehow, so she went and opened the door.

Tansy pushed into the room, stopping only when she saw Pia waking up in the bed and the collection of mostly empty mini bottles of alcohol strewn around it. “You had a party without me?”

“We sure did, Tansy.” Avery sat back down on the bed. “You couldn’t have partied with us anyway.”

“Well, why not?” Tansy’s lips turned pouty.

“Pregnant women shouldn’t drink alcohol.”

“Oh.” Tansy sat down on the nearest piece of furniture, which just happened to be the coffee table. Her butt sat right on the photo of Sijan and Avery. How symbolic.

“Tansy, why don’t you tell me what’s going on.” Avery crossed her arms over her chest. “Do you have aplastic anemia? Yes or no?”

“No,” Tansy sputtered and sniffed.

A wave of relief swept through Avery leaving her light-headed. “Thank God.”

“I’m pregnant. It turns out after two false negative tests, the third one was positive. The doctor called while you and Pia were working yesterday with the results. What I have is hyperemesis gravidarum.”

Pia picked up her phone for a quick search. “That’s acute morning sickness. And explains the flu-like symptoms.”

The way Tansy’s gaze kept avoiding her hinted there was more. “No more lies, Tansy. Is that everything?”

“I didn’t lie exactly. It’s just that I didn’t tell you the whole truth.” Tansy shook her head, her eyes glistening with fresh tears. “The truth is I had a gut feeling all along that I was pregnant.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve helped you with that too. You don’t have to have a life-threatening disease for my help. You know that.”

“Gunther had just broken my heart by breaking up with me. And Rory was only my rebound guy, so I’ve been miserable thinking I was pregnant but not knowing who the father is.” Tansy glanced at Avery before darting her eyes away. “When the first two pregnancy tests were negative, and the doctor diagnosed aplastic anemia, I was relieved at first. Until I learned how bad it was, and then I was scared.”

Avery could feel herself wavering. She knew what it was like to be scared. But honestly, after the way last night had unfolded, her heart having been crammed through a meat grinder, she was too scraped and raw to help anyone.

“If you already knew you were pregnant, what’s with the pregnancy test kit in the bathroom?” Pia wasn’t wavering at all.

“I didn’t want to believe it. And the first two tests were negative, so maybe it was the positive one that was wrong, right? I had to see it for myself.”

“Why did you pretend not to know where Michelle and Bob were?” Avery sat waiting, even though it felt like her heart was exploding like a cantaloupe hitting concrete. “For two years? You knew I was looking for them.”

“I didn’t tell you where Michelle and Bob were because I didn’t want to share you. You love me and baby me in a way Mom never has.” She sniffed, staring down at her hands before looking back up. “And I needed that. Av, I need your help.”

Hearing that helped Avery stand firm. “I’m pretty upset with you right now. In fact, I’d like you to move out of our apartment in Greensboro while Pia and I wrap up here. You should head to Michelle and Bob’s and let them help you.”

“Wh . . . what? Avery, you’ve never, not once, ever said no before.” Tansy’s back stiffened, and her tears stopped as easily as turning off a faucet.

“That may be where I went wrong,” Avery said, moving over to the closet to grab some work clothes and then heading for the bathroom. “Tansy, Pia and I are going to work. You need to go. If your parents won’t help you, maybe you should try the baby’s father. I’ll call you in a week, okay? I’m busy screwing up my own life right now.”

Chapter Twelve

“S
ijan, why the hell did you even show up on my job site this morning?” Tynan walked over and grabbed the hammer out of Sijan’s hand. “Dude, you just beat that two-by-four to death.”

He looked up surprised to find his brothers Tynan and Quinn and Quinn’s fiancée, Delaney, standing staring at him. “When did y’all get here?”

“About mid-murder I’d say.” Delaney stared at the former piece of wood now lying in splinters all around Sijan. “Movie business a little slow, Sijan? You decided to make toothpicks instead?”

“Why didn’t you go to the gym and take it out on the punching bag?” Quinn asked. “You know we named it the 24/7 so people would know it’s open twenty-four hours a day.”

“Too many people in the gym.” Sijan paced over to the sawhorses and back, then started looking for another tool to hit something with. “Where’s your nail gun?”

“Whoa, bro. I don’t think so. Not until you calm down.” Tynan unplugged the nail gun from its power supply just to be sure. “I’m sensing trouble in paradise. What did the hot blonde do?”

Quinn’s eyebrow rose. “You hooked up with my hot blonde?”

Delaney elbowed Quinn, which made him grin. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a kiss, tugging lightly on her honey-blond ponytail. “Kidding. You’ve been my hot blonde since high school. It just took me ten years to convince you.”

“Quinn, cut that out. Sijan apparently has a problem and I can’t afford him taking it out on my building supplies all day. Back away from Delaney and help out.” Tynan walked over to Quinn’s truck and lowered the tailgate. He sat on it, making himself comfortable. “Okay, Si, tell Dr. Tynan everything.”

Sijan expelled his breath, not even sure what was pissing him off the most. Was he more pissed about what Avery had done or about how damn disappointed he had been when he’d found out? “You know, I’m not sure I even want to talk about it. It’s done anyway. You were right, Ty. I didn’t know enough about Avery to get that involved that fast. It just came back to bite me on the ass, is all.”

“Hello, Betty. Let me get this straight. You just met Avery three days ago, started a relationship, and now something happened that has you making toothpicks out of a two-by-four?” Delaney shook her head. “I may be the least knowledgeable person alive about relationships, but even I know that means it’s not done.”

“Yeah, if it was just great sex, you wouldn’t be this upset,” Quinn said.

“Speak for yourself,” Tynan said. “I’ve cried over the end of great sex.”

“I’m not talking about sex.” Sijan glanced around for his hammer again since talking it out wasn’t helping, but it looked like Tynan had moved all the tools out of the danger zone. He sighed and turned back to the conversation. “She was trying to get pregnant.”

Tynan pointed at him. “I told you. I knew she was up to something. I told you to slow down, that you didn’t know enough about her. Man, people envy you your fame, until this kind of thing happens. Famous people can afford big child-support checks.”

“Wait a minute. You’ve only known each other, what, three days? How do you know she was trying to get pregnant? Did she ask you not to wear a condom?” Quinn leaned against the tailgate next to Tynan.

Sijan ran his hand over his head. “No, I used protection every time.”

“Did she try to talk you out of it?” Delaney asked.

“No.”

“Was she reading a copy of
What to Expect When You’re Expecting
between rounds?” Delaney had her hands on her hips and blossoming doubt on her face.

Quinn lightly spanked Delaney. “Laney, can’t you see the guy is driving himself crazy here? Have pity.”

“All right. How do you know she was trying to get pregnant with your baby?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“The pregnancy test kit I found in her bathroom was kind of a giveaway. Used, by the way. I’m not a complete idiot.”

Everyone was quiet, letting that sink in. Quinn ran his hand across his mouth while Delaney stood staring at him as if he were standing on his head. Tynan’s lopsided grin made him feel like he was missing the joke. And that’s when it hit him.

“Goddamn it, it wasn’t her test kit.” Sijan groaned. “She wouldn’t be checking to see if she was pregnant within twenty-four hours of us being together. I
am
an idiot.”

Delaney snorted. “Yep. Even if your boys are Olympic swimmers, I think it takes more than a few days until a test can detect pregnancy.”

“Aw, hell. I know that.” Sijan looked at Delaney with a sinking feeling. “Why the hell couldn’t I remember that last night?”

“Could be that whole idiot thing you mentioned,” Delaney said.

“Hey, it was a knee-jerk reaction because it’s happened to you twice before.” Quinn played good cop to Delaney’s bad cop. “She might understand. Maybe.”

The look of shock and pain on Avery’s face last night suggested otherwise.
You aren’t even going to listen to what I have to say?
“Damn it. I saw the box and just reacted without thinking. Overreacted is more accurate.”

Sijan stalked over to his truck, but turned and pointed at Quinn and Delaney. “I’m blaming part of this on you two. If you weren’t so damn happy in love, the rest of us could stay happily single. But no. You made me want more, damn it.”

“I’m still happily single,” Tynan boasted, swinging his feet carelessly before jumping off the tailgate and slamming it closed.

“Right. Keep telling yourself that, Ty.” Sijan opened the door to his truck. “I’m an idiot for listening to you. You tried to make me think she was just another starlet trying to hitch a ride on my fame. And it’s looking like she’s a beautiful woman who maybe, just maybe, likes me for me.”

Sijan slammed the door on his pick-up, started the engine, and sped off to find Avery. Okay, so he was an idiot. He had taken his frustrations with his life in Hollywood and superimposed them onto Avery. Stupid. Could he be a bigger ass? Avery had nothing to do with Hollywood, and she certainly wasn’t impressed with his stardom. Just because other women were out to use his fame didn’t mean this woman was. Sure, she was lying her ass off about something, but it wasn’t about trying to get pregnant. He knew that in his gut. Now. And, if he was being honest with himself, he had known it then. He had seen it in her face when Pia had escorted him out the door. Only he hadn’t trusted her enough to believe her.