The Rock Star Next Door, a Modern Fairytale (14 page)

She didn’t want to hear them, the nice, complementary praise, 
you’
re a nice kid, we had fun together, but . . . 
Jessie  hated herself at that moment, hated herself for believing  this man would actually see anything in her besides a good time, the new kid in the music business, fresh,
exciting . . . and oh, so naive’
.

“Jess . . .” So it began. He raised his eyes to look at her.

In that moment, she made her decision. “I have to go.” She backed to the door.

“You wanted to know--”

“Forget it. I don’t need to know. I don’t want to hear it
.
”

“
No
.
” He moved quickly, rounding the bar and grabbing her wrist before she had a chance to make her escape. “We’re both adults, here, aren’t we?” He sneered, almost
offering that phrase in sarcasm. “And I, for on
e, would like some answers.
I flew back here, all the way across the country to find out why you led me on
when you already have a lover.
”

“Let me go.
” Jessie pulle
d her wrist. “You’re hurting me.
”

His strong fingers remained in an iron grip about her thin wrist, his eyes grew dangerous as he breathed, “What did you think, th
at I don’t have a heart? That I’m without feelings?
” His blue eyes bore into hers with intense fury as accusations tripped off his tongue with bold conviction of the truth therein. 

“I don’t have the slightest
idea what you are talking about.
” Jessie snapped back. “If you don’t let go of me this instant, you’ll be sorry
.
”

His eyes grew pale with fury as he returned in a voice of frightening calm, “Well, isn’t that what it’s all ab
out? Don’t touch the china doll or we’ll kill you, dude. L
ook
, but don’t touch
or her lover, Steve, will break your arms--”

“Lover?
”
Jessie repeated with disbelief.
“
Steve?”
 

“What was I, a publicity stunt to get further exposure
in the media? Jessica Kelly dates the legendary Lex
while the two of y
ou laugh and carry on in secret?
”  He released her so abruptly she nearly fell backward from the force
as
she’d been pulling against his imprisonment of her wrist.

She caught herself, reaching a steadying hand against the cool white wall. “I’m not the one who turned a simple date into a media sideshow by claiming to hav
e found the person of my dreams.
” 

“And I didn’t have anyone else hanging around
here
, waiting for me to come ho
me from my dates to
play house.
” Lex stood inches from her, watching her struggle to keep her balance with cool indifference, waiting for her response to his accusation. 

Jessie could only stare back at him for several seconds with outrage and incredulity. She rubbed her wrist where he ha
d hurt her.  “You thought . . .?”
She shook her head, edging away from him warily.  “Lex . . .” She bega
n. “Why would you think
Steve and I . . .” She waved her hands, unable to give voice
to the idea. It was like being accused of incest.

He moved away fr
om her, retreating
once more
behind the bar. He poured himself another shot of dark liquid.  Lifting the glass to his lips, his eyes studied her as he
finished it on one swift gulp. A sigh escaped, typic
al after such a strong libation
and he smacked his lips.  At last, he leaned forward on both elbows from
behind the counter.
“I heard you t
he other night when I came in
and was about to come up the stairs.  I heard you telling Steve that you would love him forever.”

Her jaw went slack, her mind dimmed for a brief instant. He was leaving her, running away from her, not for the usual reaso
ns
but be
cause he believed her gay best friend was her lover?
  “Oh--Christ! T
hat’s the most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard
.
”

“I heard you tell him that you loved him, that you would always
love him.” He repeated. “I came in that night through the basement door. I saw you straddl
ing his lap in an intimate pose
and heard you tell him that you would alway
s love him. I went back outside
and came
in and slammed the door, allowing
you
to
think I just arrived. After I slammed the door, the dogs came rushing down, barking like hell.”

Jessie approached the bar. She splayed her hands on the cool cobalt blue tiles
and leaned forward,
meeting his gaze
. “Why didn’t you say somethi
ng that night?
” She re
ached up to touch his face. He allowed it, but stood glaring accusation at her. “Lex, listen. You
got it
wrong. Steve isn’t my lov
er. We’re friends, just friends. Really close,
but friends, nothing more.”

He didn’t believe her.
He
stepped back, away from the counter and from her touch. He
stood wi
th arms crossed, his face stern;
a silent jury damning her for all eternity.

Jessie straightened, determined to tell him the truth whether he wanted to hear it or not. “
There is no
thing sexual between me and Steve
. There couldn’t be.” She waited, pleading silently for him to believe her. He didn’t, his e
yes were hard, cold, wary
.

She couldn’t believe this was happening.
She wanted Lex to believe her, take her at her word.
Steve trusted her, she sh
ouldn’t betray his confidence. Yet keeping his secret was costing her the man she loved. “Lex . . .” She whispered, struggling to make him understand, to make him trust her without betraying her friend. It was i
mpossible. She had to tell Lex the truth. “Steve isn’t like you
,  he
’s
different, he’s . . .”
Je
ssie pulled away, realizing
the truth would sound like the plot of a bad soap opera, or worse, a blatant lie to cover the affair he believed they were having.
“O
h--this is
absurd. I can’t do this. If you won’t trust me, then screw you!
”

“He’s
different, how
?” The voice boomed from across the ro
om as Jessie reached the
glass patio door.

“He’s
gay
.” Jessie finished, turning the latch and letting in the gentle sea breeze. “He’s afraid to
tell anyone yet
, especially the other guys in our
band. He thinks we’ll all turn on
him, kick him out of the house
and the band, and there will be this bi
g media scandal exposing him and humiliating him before he’s even had time to come to terms with it in his own head
.
So there.
That’s why
I told him I’d always love h
im, because he needed to hear that
. And if you overheard it and misinterpreted it, then shame on you.
”

“W
hy all the drama?
Do you think he’s
the fir
st guy to come out in this town
?”

She turned to face Lex
, firm in her conviction that if it was a choice between Stev
e’s ten-year friendship or t
his
bizarre three-wee
k quasi-romance
, it would be the former. “It i
s a big deal
to him,
the big tough guy from
Wisconsin.
It’s not like
we grew up here.
I was the first person he told
he was gay, not five minutes
before
you came in. I’m surprised
you didn’t catch that par
t while you were eavesdropping.”

“What was I sup
posed to thi
nk?”

“You weren’t supposed to pack up and leave town
.
You were supposed to ask me ab
out it.
I’ve been through hell
these past days, wondering why you dumped me
.”

“I had business in New York.” Lex countered defensively.

“Yeah, funny you never mentioned
New York before I told my gay friend
I would always love him
. Steve is
my c
losest friend, b
ut, you’ve c
hosen to believe he’s my lover
w
ithout asking for an explanation
. Yo
u just walk
out, leaving me behind to pick up the pieces
, not even giving me the benefit of the doubt or asking me about it
.
So, adios, it’s bee
n fun. Call me when you grow up,
okay?
I’m so over High School Drama.
”

Jess
ica Kelly turned her back on the rock icon
. She turned the latch, opened the door and stepped out onto the
dark
patio.

“I
believe you.” The sensuous
male voice followed her.
  “Jessie, wait . . .”

She ignored Lex
, wanting only to be
away from him right now,
to be alone.

She sto
mped down the short steps
to the b
each, and hurried down the darkening
shoreline. Her cell
phone
kept ringing
as she trudged hotly down the shore
. Sh
e took it out of her
pocket.
Sure enough it
was
Lex
’
s
number
.
“Asshole.” She cursed.

Winding back her arm, she to
ssed her
phone into the rolling waves.

Chapter Nine

When she returned to the beach
house, the
landline
phone was ringing
off the hook
.

Steve picked it u
p
and handed it to her.  As
expected, it was Lex.

“Back off. I need time.
”  Jessie ground out. She was
so angry
the last thing she wa
nted was to talk to
him
right now. He
abandoned her
without asking about what he overheard. He
just jumped to
conclusions and left
her
with her heart impaled on a stake.

“Jess.
I over-reacted. Can’t we start over?”

“How many times do we st
art over before we just say screw it?
”

“A
s
long as
it takes
.” The voice whi
spered in her ear
.  “I’m serious about you
.”

“
F
ooled me. Not an
swering my calls
. Leav
ing town like a pouty high school senior
.”

“I’m sorry. I did have business in New York.
I just didn’t
need to go right away
. I used the excuse to
run off. It was juvenile
. I admit it. I was an ass, a d
ouche bag. I’m sorry Jessie.
I
do
care
about you. Give us another chance.
” 

She didn’t know if she could
risk the pain.
What did that say about him i
f he flew off the han
dle
about something so simple
?
She knew about the Hollywood types who were 95 percent ego and went through relationships
like bottled water. She didn’t
thi
nk Lex was that kind. Maybe she was wrong. A person could hide the warts
in just three weeks of dating.

“Jessie . . . are you still there?”

“Yeah. G
ive me some space.”  She
forced the words out.
Her mind was working fast to shore up her weak spot.
Shields
up
,
Mr. Sulu
.
“
I don’
t want to talk
right now.
”