When Dreams Come True (The Star Series Book 1) (20 page)

“He was very worried about you. We both were. But now you have some decisions to make.”

Lissa frowned at him. “Decisions?”

“Yes, decisions.” Beau walked over to the door and opened it. A couple of women entered with racks of dresses. “You’re going to need something to wear tonight.”

“But I’m not going.” They had decided she’d stay back at the hotel while Will attended the dinner. She’d been planning on doing some work.

“That was before, this is now, and now you’re going.”

“Shouldn’t… oh, I don’t know, someone ask me?”

“Told you,” Will said as he entered the room and crossed to her, kissing her on the cheek.

Lissa swore she could hear the women sighing at him from across the room. When she looked over at them, they were giving him the dreamy eyes. “Will, I’m not sure it’s best for me to go.”

“I’m sure. There is nothing I want more than you by my side tonight.”

The women sighed again.

“Yes, but there’s going to be questions, and a lot of them.”

“And it’s nothing we can’t handle. Between your brains and beauty, you’ll glamor them all.”

That time the women sighed even louder.

“We’ll hold the line up.”

“Darling, you’re worth the wait.”

More sighs.

“The Safe Water Foundation is a wonderful cause. I’ll just distract from it.”

“On the contrary; you’ll bring more light to the cause. Just as your compassion radiates its light.”

Sighs.

“I’m not feeling very compassionate right now.”

“You will. I have every faith in you.”

Sighs.

“That’s it. Excuse us.” Lissa grabbed Will’s hand and dragged him to the bedroom, glaring at Beau who was trying not to laugh as they passed by him on the way to their room. Once inside, she closed the door and leaned against it. “Will…”

“Melissa…” He tucked a stand of hair behind her ear. “Think of how beautiful you’re going to look in one of those gowns.” His finger traced her jawline and he tilted her chin up. “You can’t hide it from me; I know you like to dress up every once in a while.”

“That’s beside the point.” She was trying not to pout.

He rested one of his hands against the door and leaned in toward her. “Tell me you weren’t just a little disappointed you weren’t going to be able to attend tonight when we first made these plans.”

“Maybe… but really, Will, it’s going to be a circus.”

“And we’ll be in the middle of it. But as the ringleaders, we can dictate which way the show will go.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Go on.”

“Beau will make sure everything moves along smoothly. Besides, I’ll be right there by your side all night long.” He flashed a smile at her.

“You know you have an unfair advantage when you use your charm on me.”

He chuckled. “Yes, but as you know…” He feathered kisses along her mouth. “I’ll make sure you are completely satisfied by the end of the night.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.” She tried to keep her breathing normal, but she knew he noticed.

“Darling, you can hold whatever you want.”

“Will…” Beau said from the other side of the door.

“Yes.”

“It’s time to go.”

“I’ll be right out.” He easily lifted her up so they were eye to eye. “Pick out a dress which makes you feel as beautiful as I know you are. Don’t argue; just do it. Everyone knows about us now, and I want them all to see how wonderful you are.”

So many emotions were going through her, and all she could do was nod. After an all-too-brief kiss, he set her back down and left the room. She knew he was strong, but to so easily lift her up like that… He already made her feel petite to begin with. She was ready to have her way with him regardless of the fact that there were people just on the other side of the door. More proof she lost all rational thought when he was around.

They hadn’t intentionally kept their relationship from the press, except for the current trip, which was their first somewhere else besides her home. You could see the pride on his face when he said he wanted everyone to know how wonderful she was.

“Lissa, we’re leaving. The dresses are still here if you’re ready to try them on,” Beau called from the other room.

“Oh, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” She took a deep breath and walked out to see the sighing, giggle twins watching Will walk out the door. “Ladies,” she called to get their attention. “Let’s pick out a dress.” She wanted to get the chore out of the way before she called and talked to Hannah and Christine.

“What?” Lissa asked since Will was staring at her.

“I don’t think I’ve told you how beautiful you are.” He kissed the back of her hand.

“Not in the past thirty seconds.”

“Well then,” he started, kissing up her arm. “Looks like I’m falling down on the job.”

“What are you going to do to make up for it?”

“I have a few ideas.” He continued trailing kisses up her arm and nuzzled her neck. “And you smell so divine.”

When the whiskers from his newly grown goatee tickled the side of her neck, she shivered. “You’re not so bad yourself, sir.”

His deep, rich voice whispered in her ear. “You and me, later tonight, darling. I’ll make you forget your own name.”

Lissa couldn’t control the moan that escaped, and her eyes swung heavily toward him. The power he had over her with a soft touch or word was such that she was left quivering, helpless in thought or action. She was proud of herself for not whimpering like a child when he pulled away from her.

“Although, darling, it appears we have arrived. We’ll have to continue this conversation later.”

“You… You… You…”

Will laughed and leaned over, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. “Oh, yes, I did. Now come; I can’t wait to show you off.” He climbed out of the car and held his hand out to help her. “That is if I haven’t left you speechless, again.”

As gracefully as she could, she gathered her skirt in one arm while using Will’s hand to help stabilize her. She stepped out of the car, all the while making sure nothing ended up exposed which shouldn’t have been. Trying her best to ignore all the flashes from the cameras and the noise, she turned to Will. “You’ll pay for that.”

“Oh, I hope so.” With a devilish grin and raised eyebrow, he tucked her hand in the crook of his arm and they started down the carpet. True to his word, Will made sure Beau knew to move them quickly down the line. Lissa was happy she’d already gone through this once with Will so she knew what to expect. She was actually able to pay closer attention this time and hoped the whole evening wouldn’t end up in a blur like their previous appearance.

“Tate, buddy, don’t tell me you flew all the way across the pond to see me,” Will exclaimed as he grasped the man’s hand.

“Anything to be close to you.” Tate smiled and turned toward Lissa, holding out a hand to her. “I’m so happy you’re okay. Now tell me, what exactly is it you see in this tall, skinny oaf? Because I just don’t get it.” Winking at her, he nudged Will with his shoulder.

“Don’t even try it, Tate; she already knows all about me.”

“Fine, what have you got for me? How about something good? A secret? How about why you didn’t let me know you were together when I saw you two in Los Angeles for the movie premier all those months ago?”

“Because that was the day we met,” Will informed him.

“No way, dude. Seriously? Wow, no wonder I couldn’t find anything. I’d been digging for dirt and had no luck, but I was sure you two were hiding the fact you already were dating. Even back then.” Tate narrowed his eyes at them.

Will looked down at her. “You could say we had a connection, from the very beginning.”

“And now…”

“And it’s still there.”

Tate groaned. “Come on, man; give me something.”

“Well, she’s quite brilliant. Have you read her stories? And as you can see, she is quite lovely.” Will turned to her and brushed her cheek with his hand. “Especially when she blushes just so.”

Lissa felt like a lovesick teenager and was sure that was how her gazing into his bright blue eyes would come across on camera. Thankfully, Beau came over to move them along. She didn’t say much and allowed Will to take the lead in answering any questions. Thankfully, most of the ones directed at her had more to do with wanting to see how she was doing after the situation from the day before and not probing about her relationship with Will. Although, after seeing the pictures, the situation they were in was pretty clear as to.

As soon as they walked through the doors, they were whisked away to their table. She felt as if everyone was staring her. Allowing Will to lead the way, she kept her mouth shut and a smile on her face, sure everyone thought she was too stupid to carry on a simple dinner conversation. Glancing around, she saw all of the stars who were in attendance to show their support for Safe Water. She decided to try to remember everyone who was there so when she met up with Hannah in London she could fill her in.

Will leaned over and whispered in her ear. “You know, darling, no one here is going to bite. Well, maybe just me later.”

Slowly, she turned her head and raised an eyebrow at him. “Promise?”

“Oh, most definitely. Here, have a bite of my cake.”

“Is that what we’re calling it?”

“You can call it whatever you like.”

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my good friends Will and Lissa. Please tell me the lovely Hannah is around here somewhere.” Royce’s voice boomed from the other side of the table. He made his way around and held out his hand for Lissa’s, kissing the back of it. “When are you going to leave this scoundrel for me? I’ll whisk you away to a tropical island where you can be queen of all you see.”

Lissa relaxed; there was finally another person she knew there. “You’re too late; Will has already made me a queen.”

“Damn you, Martinsson.” He pounded Will on the back and turned around to the table behind them. “Excuse me, is anyone using this chair? No? Excellent, so you don’t mind if I borrow it for a few? Thanks.” He slid the chair between the two of them. “Nothing like old home week. So, Lis, you okay after everything that happened yesterday?”

“Yes, I’m fine, and thanks for asking.” She took a sip of her wine.

Royce turned to Will. “So really, how is she?”

“I’m here, you know.”

Royce looked at her, “Yes, you are, and looking beautiful, too,” He turned back to Will. “Really, you lucky son of a bitch. How is she?”

Will looked deep into her eyes. “She’s doing remarkably well. She amazes me.”

“Well, wonderful, wonderful. I must say, I’m really impressed how you two were able to keep your romance completely out of the press for so long. After our outing in L.A., I figured it would be all over the place, but here we are, what, five months later, and it’s just now coming out? I think I need to take some notes.”

“Somehow I think you do fine on your own,” Lissa said to him.

Royce threw back his head and laughed. “You sure have my number. Speaking of having my number, how is the lovely Hannah? I haven’t talked to her in a couple of weeks.”

“She’s doing fine. She’ll actually be joining us in London for Will’s show.”

“Oh, yes, Shakespeare.” He tapped his mouth with his finger. “The shows aren’t until next week right?” Will nodded to him. “What you are ladies going to be doing while he’s rehearsing? And what, you’re doing about a dozen shows?” He turned back to Lissa. “You aren’t going to all of them, are you? I have some free time; maybe I’ll pop over there and make sure the ladies aren’t bored.”

Lissa tried to keep track of his changing thoughts. “You don’t have to do that. Hannah and I have plenty to keep us busy, and I’d hate to take you away for that long.” She tilted her head to the side, looking closely at him.

“Well, I can spare a few days; that’s for sure. Great, it’s settled. I’ll have Eileen contact Beau to get all the info and set me up.” Royce stood up. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think the dancing is going to start and I have some new moves. Take care.” He patted them both on the shoulder and put the chair back.

Lissa pursed her lips and watched Royce walk away to the beat of the music.

“He’s a good guy,” Will said to her.

“Yes, I can see that. I’m just wondering exactly what he’s up to and how it relates to Hannah.”

“Hannah’s a big girl. She can take care of herself.”

“Yes, she can, but I worry.” It wasn’t the time or place to go into what had happened to Hannah and why Lissa would be worried about someone showing interest in her.

“Of course you do. Now, speaking of the music.” He stood up and held out his hand to her. “Would you do me the honor of this dance?”

“That sounds lovely.” She placed her hand in his and he escorted her to the dancefloor, where he spun her around before taking her in his arms and slow-dancing with her. They glided across the dance floor, the memory of the steps coming back to her, especially as he made it easy to follow his lead. Their eyes were locked as the slow beat of the music filled the room. As when they’d first met, and when they were dancing before, it was like they were the only two in the room; everything and everyone else faded away.

After a few dances, however, the events of the past thirty-six hours caught up to her and before she knew it, they were making their exit. “I’m sorry. You could have sent me back to the hotel and stayed.”