Escape Magic (7 page)

“I’m not going anywhere.” She leaned against
him. “Let me go.” Her voice came out sounding more breathless than
authoritative.

He laughed against her hair. “You are a
study in contradiction, you know that? And anyway, can’t you get
loose? Isn’t that your area of expertise?”

“Mmm.” She wound one arm around his neck,
tilting her head to accept his lips. After a moment, she broke off
the kiss and smiled at him. “I can get loose. Just not without
hurting you. And I had much too much fun with you to want to end
the night that way.”

He grinned. “You might actually mean that.
It warms the cockles of my heart. And I’ll let you go, but only if
you really
want
me to.”

She ran her tongue over her lips, her mouth
curving in a teasing way. “That depends. Are you going to keep
talking?”

“You have a problem with talking?” He didn’t
move as she caressed his chest with the palm of her hand, enjoying
the silky feel of the hair, the warmth of his skin.

“Only when there are better things to do.
And let’s face it, we’re both here to do better things.” She cast a
look at him from under the fringe of her bangs. “Aren’t we?”

Instead of answering, he tightened his grip
on her, burying his face in her neck. “God, you smell so good.”

She laughed. “I think you’re getting the
idea.”

“You’re talking too much,” he growled and
rolled them over so he propped himself above her.

When he entered her, she knew she’d escaped
yet again, and this time he didn’t even know she’d done it.

My own damn fault, anyway
. Tony
stared at the ceiling and cursed himself.
Of course she’s gone.
She was skittish as a kitten, anyway.

Somewhere in the middle of making love to
her a second time, he’d come to the realization that he didn’t want
to let her go, and that frightened him. He’d fallen asleep with his
arms wrapped around a woman whose beauty and talent combined with a
stubborn power of will to challenge him at every turn. And woken
with nothing but memories.

Don’t act like this was more than it was,
Tony.

But what was it? He still couldn’t put his
finger on what it was about her that made him willing to give in to
addiction for the first time in more than two years.

A knock on his door startled him, and he sat
up, looking at the clock. Ten o’clock. Damn. He was supposed to
meet Andre for coffee before his brother took off on his honeymoon.
He reached for clothes as he started for the door, grabbing a pair
of sweats and a t-shirt and pulling them on just as he reached the
door.

Andre gave him a dubious look. “Getting a
late start this morning?”

“Yeah, well, you throw a hell of a party,
Andy.” Tony used his mother’s old nickname without thinking about
it, then grinned. “Like old times, huh?”

“Old times.” Andre slapped Tony on the back.
“Mom wants to see you before she goes home, by the way. She’s
pretty pissed that you took off last night without saying
good-bye.” He frowned, his eyes noting his brother’s tousled
appearance. “Where
did
you go, anyway?”

Tony sighed. Of course, Andre would be
suspicious of his disappearance on finding him disheveled after a
night of unknown revelry. Hell, he was a little suspicious himself.
If Lydia wasn’t a drug, she certainly acted on his system like one.
Already, he could feel the longing for her taste and smell and the
silky feel of her skin. He closed his eyes, remembering.

“Tony.” Andre’s voice broke in, a stern but
almost panicked tone. “What’s going on, man? You didn’t—”

“I didn’t.” Tony waved away the weakness of
drugs and alcohol. What did they matter now? “Not a drop. Never
even wanted a drink.” He sighed. “I think this one’s worse.”

“What do you mean?”

Tony sank into one of the chairs at the full
size dinner table. Why the hell had he bothered with such an
enormous suite, anyway? When was he going to
use
a full size
dinner table in Vegas? He looked up as Andre sat across from him
and took a deep breath. “Lydia.”

“
Lydia
?” Andre looked dumbfounded.
Then he nodded. “Well, yeah. Okay. Lydia. I guess I saw that
coming. You left with her last night?”

“Yeah.” The relief of sharing some of this
burden allowed Tony to straighten his shoulders. “It was amazing,
Andre. The most incredible night of my life. I felt—” He shook his
head, unable to come up with a word for what he’d felt. “But I
wasn’t counting on that, you know? I thought I’d just…that it would
be like the others.” He gave his brother a helpless look. “But it
wasn’t…
she
wasn’t. I feel like I used to when I was jonesing
for another new drug.” At the shameful confession, he dropped his
gaze for a second, then looked back at his brother.

Andre folded his arms across his chest and
gave his brother a severe look. “Are you saying what you’re
addicted to this time is a woman?” Before Tony could react, his
face broke into a grin. “Relax, little brother. Lydia’s a
catch.”

“I wouldn’t say I’ve caught her.” Tony
shifted uncomfortably. “But she’s sure as hell hooked
me
.”

“Well, I don’t think there’s a cure for this
one, bro.” Andre relaxed and reached behind him onto the minibar
for two bottles of water. He passed one to Tony and uncapped his,
taking a deep swig.

“You’re telling me this is how you feel
about Stacey?”

“I can’t tell you that.” Andre shook his
head. “All I can say is that love is an addiction, but if it’s with
the right person, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“And if it’s not? What then?”

“Why would you think Lydia isn’t the right
person?” Andre raised his eyebrows.

“Well, for one thing, she seemed pretty
intent on keeping it casual. Which was fine, at first. But then she
had this nightmare and practically jumped out of bed. I asked her
about it, and she…” He paused, thoughtful.

“She what?”

Tony returned his attention to his brother.
“Escaped. How the hell am I ever going to manage a woman who knows
every escape trick in the book, Andre?”

Andre shrugged. “Good question. But I don’t
think I’m wrong in thinking you know a few of those tricks
yourself. Could be you’re the only one who ever could deal with
her.”

“Yeah.” Tony considered his brother’s words
for several minutes. Even after Andre clapped him on the back,
wished him luck and left to catch his plane to the Caribbean,
Tony’s brain was still working. Only after a long while did he feel
the pieces slide into place like the workings of a lock.

He had the skills. He could beat her at her
own game. But he couldn’t fool himself into thinking he could do it
if she didn’t want him to.

And that was just a chance he needed to
take.

****

Lydia stood outside the theater door for a
moment, gathering herself. She still felt hungover from her night
with Tony.
Why
after taking a thirty-minute shower did she
still smell him on her skin? Why had she turned at the sound of a
certain timbre of male voice as she walked through the lobby?

Why the hell couldn’t she shake this
man?

Maybe it’s magic.
She brushed the
thought away impatiently and entered the theater. What she really
needed was to work, and she was already late for rehearsal.

Bess was seated in the center of the stage,
legs crossed, reading a newspaper. She looked up with a dry smile
on her too-red lips and swept her blonde hair over her shoulders.
“Well, look who decided to show up.” She batted her eyelashes at
Lydia and folded her newspaper. “What’s the news, sweetpea?”

Lydia looked around in befuddlement. There
should be at least a handful of crew drinking coffee and waiting
more or less patiently for the star of the show. “Where is
everybody?”

“I told
them
to come at
ten-thirty.”

“You told
me
nine-thirty.” Lydia
looked at her watch. “And it’s a quarter to ten now.”

Bess shrugged. “I was a little off. But I’m
still the best manager in the business, right?” At Lydia’s puzzled
look, Bess added, “I heard you didn’t spend the night here, and you
left the party with Tony Hawkins. I figured you’d want to sleep in
some and I didn’t want you to start the show off on the wrong foot
with the crew, so I sort of…built in some cushion time.” She sat
back and waved her hand in the air as if with a magic wand. “And
presto! You’re not late, you’re early.”

Lydia laughed. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.
Pretty sneaky, Bess.”

“And that’s a secret between you and me.”
Bess nodded firmly. “But pull up a chair and tell me about it. What
gives? I didn’t think you and Tony were even on speaking terms,
really.”

Lydia took her time finding a chair and
pulling it over to center stage with Bess. And even then she found
she didn’t want to sit in it. Instead she stood behind it, her
hands clutching the back of the chair with a firm grip, as if it
might take off into the air if she didn’t hold it to the ground.
She mulled the events of the evening over in her mind, trying to
come up with anything she wouldn’t mind sharing with Bess.

Her best friend produced a thermos and two
Styrofoam cups, filling both with hot coffee and passing one to
Lydia. “Well, if you won’t sit, at least drink with me. We’ve got
forty-five minutes to discuss the night you spent with one of the
sexiest men in magic, but you seem strangely reticent to share.
What gives, girlfriend?”

“I just—” Lydia thought back over the events
of the night before. When had she last known a man who could make
her passion flare out of control like that?

You I could get addicted to. And I’m pretty
sure I shouldn’t.

Why was he so sure? In fact, she was pretty
sure they’d be good together. So why had she left this morning
before he got up? Why had she snuck away?

“Lydia.” Bess’s voice caught her attention
and she looked up, but her friend was looking at the theater
entrance. Tony stood there.

Lydia straightened. “Hey.”

He raised his eyebrows and strode in. “Hey.
Am I interrupting?”

“Actually, rehearsal doesn’t start for
another half hour.” Bess stood. “And I’ve got a few errands to take
care of before that. Coffee?” She held out the thermos.

Tony waved it away, his eyes turning back to
Lydia. He remained silent until Bess had disappeared backstage. “So
I’ve made a decision. You want to know what?”

“What?” She took a sip of her coffee, cool
and casual as if her heart weren’t skipping alternate beats.

“Next time we’re using your place.” He
stepped onto the stage and leaned over to kiss her. He drew away, a
little smile playing on his lips. “You want to know why?”

“Why?” She could still feel the warm
pressure of his lips on hers.

“Because at least you’ll have to wake me up
to throw me out.”

“You said next time.”

“I did.” He met her gaze.

“What makes you think there’s going to
be
a next time?”

He smiled, bringing her fingers to his lips.
“This.” He dropped her hands and pulled her into his arms, lowering
his mouth to hers.

Only after he’d released her did she realize
she hadn’t thought to escape from him. Why wasn’t she running? Her
heart was pounding, but she didn’t want to run away anymore. She
didn’t want to escape from what he made her feel. She wanted to
lean into his embrace, enjoy his caress.

He stroked her hair away from her face.
“Tell me why you ran away.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think thirty
minutes is enough for that.”

He laughed. “Fine.” He caught hold of her
chin and looked in her eyes for a second. “Tell me about your
dream, then.”

She drew in a deep breath and let it out.
“Okay.” It felt good to let even that small part of her reserve go.
She nodded. “Okay, then.”

He sat in Bess’s chair but she didn’t join
him. Instead she paced to the edge of the stage and turned. “When I
was little, I played hide-and-seek all the time with my brothers. I
had two older brothers and they teased me and I wanted to keep up
with them. So I got really inventive with the hiding places.” She
paused, caught up for a minute in the past, almost as if she could
see those children running past her in a golden flow of time. She
shook it off. “I got really good. I was little and could squeeze
into some pretty damn unexpected places. Like a box in the attic or
a tiny space in a packed closet. I beat my brothers most of the
time. They had to shout ‘olly olly oxen free’ just about every
time.”

Tony’s expression hadn’t changed. His eyes
and attention were fixed on her. She gave him a little half-smile
and continued. “My dad had an old toolbox downstairs in the
basement. Nobody ever thought I could fit in that.”

“But you did.”

“I did. But I couldn’t get out and nobody
thought to look for me in there. At least not after they’d already
been in the basement twice looking for me and then when they yelled
olly olly I couldn’t get out. I panicked and yelled but nobody
heard me, and by the time my brothers told my parents they couldn’t
find me, I’d already passed out. I still don’t know why my mother
opened that toolbox. She said she thought I was dead at first.” She
shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. “I only remember bits
of it. The dark and cold and the helpless feeling that I
couldn’t
get out and I never would be able to.” She
shrugged. “I guess it makes sense that I got into escapology after
that, huh?”

“Yeah.” He stood and walked toward her,
taking her hand. “The addiction’s kind of like that. Like a dark,
cold place that wants me to come back to it. Only it’s inside me.
Hard to escape from.” He played with her hand, not looking at her.
“Last night I was afraid I could fall back into that place.” He
looked up, catching her gaze. “At first.”