When Dreams Come True (The Star Series Book 1) (6 page)

Later in the evening after everyone had a few drinks, the DJ started playing music. Unable to stop herself, Lissa moved to the music while talking with the stars milling around. There was a constant stream of them coming over to talk with Will and Royce when they were seated at the table. They were also far enough from the dance floor that they could actually hold down a conversation without shouting over the music, but near enough to appreciate the music.

No matter where they were all evening, even if he was far across the room, she always knew where Will was and when he was looking at her. She’d get the feeling and look up, and there he was, staring at her. There was something about it that was so sexy, almost as if they were having conversations from across the room. Lissa worried it was one-sided; she had such an imagination and could interpret his look differently from what it actually meant.

During a lull in the conversation, Hannah leaned over and said, “Let’s dance.”

Lissa didn’t have to be asked twice; she jumped up, gulped down some water and the two of them walked onto the dance floor. She’d always loved to dance and would allow the music to take over her movements. Feeling the groove, she moved her limbs to the beats and the melody of the song playing. For the first time that evening, she was completely lost in the moment and wasn’t thinking about the fact that she was surrounded by famous men and women.

The tempo switched by the third song to something a bit slower and more seductive. Changing her movements, she spun around and could feel him looking at her. There, coming through the crowd on the dance floor, was Will, his eyes locked with hers. The blue lights rhythmically faded in and out with the music, the dry ice machine creating an otherworldly feel as he came closer. She moved for him, her body telling him what she was unable to say.

Standing in front of her he started to move, snaking his arm around her waist and bringing her in close to him, their bodies pressed against each other and moving as one. Placing her hand on his shoulder, their eyes remained locked together, unable to stop. She could feel his solid muscles move beneath her hand as they danced, each knowing instinctively what the other was going to do and matching their moves accordingly.

Arching back, her neck was exposed and he leaned over her, sliding his lips over her skin. With his large hand spread across her upper back supporting her, he brought his other arm around lower, pulling her even closer to him. Gracefully, she raised her hands above her head and she could feel the rumble in his chest as he growled, the music dictating they needed to slow down.

Lowering her arms and placing one on each of his shoulders, she pulled him closer and they danced, their lips only an inch apart and their eyes looking into each other’s soul. And still the music slowed. Their bodies continued swaying to the beat as he moved his lips across her skin yet never touching, just out of reach but close enough for her to feel his breath. He took one of her arms and moving his lips from the palm of her hand up her arm as he lifted it back over her head.

She wanted more. She needed more. She wanted his lips on hers. She felt weighted down by longing for him, and he knew exactly what buttons to push to make her weak. She felt the music speeding up and they started to move faster and faster along with it. Finally, they were both lost in the frenzy of each other.

Suddenly, someone bumped into them and it was like a record scratching. The moment was lost as they stumbled, but he made sure she didn’t fall.

“That was intense,” she said breathlessly, looking anywhere but in his eyes.

Holding her hand, he pulled her off the dance floor and to a quiet part of the room. He sat in a chair, pulled her down on his lap and wrapped his arms around her. “Lissa, about this connection we both feel… you have to know I completely respect you. I’m very old-fashioned and I want to get to know you first, but these feelings I have and what I know is completely at odds with that. I want to… I need to take my time, but I don’t know if I’m able to.”

Lissa looked down and played with her bracelet, wondering exactly what he was getting at. She wasn’t sure if he really liked her, liked her too much, was trying to let her down easy, or was looking for a piece of ass.

He tilted her chin so she was looking at him. “I’m not explaining it well. I don’t want you to think this is something cheap. Part of me wants to be a caveman, drag you away and keep you all to myself. However, the other part wants to take a page out of history and court you, romance you and give you everything you could ever want. Look at how easily I almost lost control out there on the dance floor with you. You do this to me.”

“Well, that sounds very nice.”

He smiled. “Which part?”

“All of it.”

“How about I romance you and then drag you off to my cave?”

“I think I might be able to live with that.”

“Excellent.” His eyebrows bumped up and down quickly. “Should we seal our compromise with a kiss?”

“Well, Mr. Martinsson.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I believe you have another brilliant idea.”

“You’re making it very hard to be a gentleman.” His lips were as close as they could get to hers without touching them. “I want to ravish you so badly.”

“I so want to be ravished by you.” She played with a curl at the back of his neck which hung over the collar of his white shirt.

“Darling, we really should join the party before people come looking for us.”

As they walked back toward the table, they were stopped by more cast members. She enjoyed watching him interact with them, seeing how close they all were. Each of them made her feel welcome and one had actually read one of her books.

By the time the party was over, she was exhausted and her feet were killing her, so the four of them hurriedly climbed into the car. As they drove through the deserted streets, he pulled her over so she was curled into him. She wanted to take her shoes off, but knew if she did her feet would hurt even more. Instead, she was relaxed by his warmth and how he rubbed her back. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep nestled into him.

“Maybe we should go to the back entrance.” His voice rumbled in his chest which was under her ear. “I hate to wake her.”

“No, I’m up,” she mumbled and moved in closer to him.

“Shhh… don’t argue.”

“I don’t argue.”

His quiet chuckle filled the space between them. “Royce, see what you can do.”

“On it. We might actually have two sleeping women on our hands.”

“Just resting my eyes,” Hannah said. “I don’t need much sleep. I’m good.”

“Me, too,” Lissa whispered.

Hannah quietly laughed. “She lies. She’s a sleeper.”

The next thing she knew, a strange set of strong arms was picking her up. Before she could blink, she was out of the SUV. Blinking her eyes she looked up at the driver and then over at Will as she placed in his arms.“I’m too heavy for this.”

“Please, you’re light as a feather.”

“Just because I’m half-asleep doesn’t mean you can lie to me. I can walk, so put me down.”

“Melissa, I don’t think—”

“I can do this.”

“Sure you can.” He continued to walk to the elevator and set her down when then reached it. “Fine, then prove it. Stand up.” Slowly he lowered her legs, keeping an arm around her shoulders.

Once he set her down, the pain from her feet worked its way up and she swayed into him. The elevator dinged and before she could attempt to take a step, he lifted her back into his arms.

“I could have walked.”

“Sure you could have, but I can’t think of a better way to romance you than carrying you up to your room.”

“Unless you throw your back out carrying me around.”

“Hush, and just enjoy it. I know I am.”

“Where did Hannah and Royce go?”

“They went on ahead since we had to get Sleeping Beauty out of the vehicle.”

“Hmmm…”

She looked up at him and he was smiling, so she laid her head on his chest and enjoyed the feeling of being in his arms. Too soon they were inside the room, and he set her down and cupped her cheek with his hand. “Sweet dreams, my sweet Melissa.”

“Goodnight, William.” She covered his hand with hers. She wasn’t going to ask him when she’d see him next. For all she knew, he’d be on a plane in a couple of hours, and she couldn’t bear the thought of counting the minutes until she was able to see him again.

Leaning down, he kissed her on her cheek. “I’ll call you.”

“I’ll answer.”

He smiled as Lissa wrapped her arms around him pulling him close. When his arms circled her, she sighed in contentment.

“God, you fit so perfectly in my arms,” Will whispered in her ear. “I don’t want to let you go.”

“Then don’t.”

He pulled his head away slightly so he could look into her eyes. She could barely see the blue of his, his pupils were so large. Her breath hitched in her chest and deciding it may be the last time she’d see him, she ran her hand up and tangled her fingers in his hair, pulling him toward her.

As soon as their lips touched, she swore fireworks went off and the angels started to sing. His worked their magic across hers and she lost all track of time. When he started to pull away, she whimpered.

“So sorry, darling.” He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I need to stop while I still can.” He kissed her other cheek. “Shakespeare had it right; ‘parting is such sweet sorrow’.” He pulled her in close for one more quick hug, releasing her too soon for her liking. He held his hand up to his lips and sent her a kiss before closing the door quietly behind him.

She stood there staring at the door, wondering if and when she’d ever see him again. Her heart ached at the unanswered question.

Lissa and Hannah relaxed in the living area of the hotel room while eating fruit and pastries, discussing the night before and comparing notes on the people they’d talked to. Lissa felt guilty. She’d been so tied up in Will she hadn’t spent much time with her best friend.

“Stop,” Hannah ordered.

“What?”

“Do you not think I don’t know what you’re thinking about?”

Lissa raised her eyebrow at Hannah. “Huh? Is that the whole ‘you know that I know that you know that I know’ thing?”

“Yes, and I had the time of my life last night. Nothing could have been better. You want to know what the icing on the cake was? Seeing my best friend fall in love.”

Shooting straight up, Lissa tried to play it off as if she wanted another strawberry and leaned over to pick one up. “What? You’re crazy. I most certainly did not fall in love yesterday.” She popped it into her mouth, trying her best to seem nonchalant.

“The hell you didn’t.”

Lissa stuck her tongue out at her. “How about I give you ‘I fell in like’ with Will.”

“You keep telling yourself that.” Hannah crossed her arms over her chest.

“I will.” She leveled a narrow-eyed gaze at Hannah. “And we can drop the subject now.” Seeing Hannah’s innocent nod, she knew she wasn’t in the clear. Hannah would definitely be bringing it up again. “What time did Angelica say the car would be here?”

Hannah looked at the time. “In a little over an hour. She has the whole day planned out. We’re completely tourists today, and I can’t wait to see everything.” She pulled out her list. “This is going to be so cool.”

When Lissa’s phone rang, she caught her breath but let it out when she saw it was Christine, her publicist. “Shit, we never called Christine yesterday.”

“Shit is right. You’re in trouble.”

Lissa held the phone out to Hannah. “You answer it.”

“No, no way.” Hannah backed up. “I’m not answering it. You’re the one she’ll be pissed at. Besides, I answered last time.”

“Fine. Great assistant you are.” Lissa tapped the answer button then put it on speaker and closed her eyes tight, waiting for it. “Hello, Christine, my love.”

“Don’t you give me that ‘Hello, Christine, my love’ crap. You’ve got some explaining to do.”

“Whatever could you mean?” Lissa opened her eyes and looked at Hannah for support.

“Oh, okay. We’re going to play it that way, are we? You
do
remember the fact that I’m your publicist, right? We’ve been together forever. We started out together. Remember that first online release day party? Do you? I see that means nothing to you because if you cared even just a little bit, you’d have filled me in on what was going on. Oh, I don’t know, after your lunch with Hollywood’s hottest stars. Or how about when you went to the premier of a movie which is going to be blockbuster? Or, hey, what about while you were on your way to the after-party, dirty dancing with him or sitting on his lap? Any of this ringing a bell?”

“It all rings a bell. A very nice bell. You should have seen it.” Lissa tried not to laugh at the expression on Hannah’s face.

“Listen here, hooker, I tried to call you a thousand times yesterday—”

“Actually, only 127 times.”

“Shut up before I punch you in the stomach the next time I see you. If you see someone calls you more than, oh, I don’t know, ten times in one day, you might want to call them back.”

“Hannah, can you get me a pen and paper? I need to make a note.”