Chapter 2
I ignored the ringing until I’d poured myself a healthy dose of scotch, then sat on my leather couch and pressed the glass to my forehead. When the phone started ringing for the third time, I leaned back with a sigh and took a sip, savoring the smooth, smoky flavor before relishing the slight burn as it went down. Then I swiped my finger across the screen and lifted the phone to my ear.
“What in the ever-living hell have you done?” Lou roared before I even had a chance to offer a greeting.
Another sip, and I closed my eyes as I swallowed before answering. “I punched Spencer Johns in the face.”
Lou growled like some kind of big cat, before heaving out a very put-upon sigh. “It’s already all over the web. Headlines about your redheaded temper.”
I let the redhead thing go. Despite the fact that it was more dark auburn than red, having a temper wasn’t actually one of my problems. Usually.
I addressed the rest of his concern. “I figured as much. Since you’re calling and all.”
“Don’t be flip!” Lou was back to being mad. That was okay. I liked him better when he was a little pissed off. “Do you have any idea how much fucking damage control I’m going to have to do because of this? It was a stupid-ass thing to do! All the news sites have it, and so do the rags. The consensus is clear, Lockhart. You attacked him unprovoked. You’ll be lucky if he doesn’t press charges!”
Sitting there on the couch, the good scotch in my hand and Lou raging in my ear, everything suddenly felt normal. And as the liquor warmed my stomach, my ability to care diminished. I should be worried about him reporting the attack and the police issuing a warrant for my arrest. I should be anxious about what that would do to my image. Instead I actually felt a little vindicated because I knew that fucking liar had gotten what he deserved. I’d just have to take the consequences as they came.
So I told Lou as much…and then had to listen to him screaming and ranting for close to ten minutes before he’d calmed down enough to formulate a plan.
“Okay, let me see if I can find out whether he’s reported the assault. If I can’t, you’ll probably have to make a call to Bob.” He sighed heavily at mentioning my lawyer’s name. The two men didn’t get along all that well. They often had conflicting opinions about what was in my best interest. “In the meantime, how do you want me to handle the punch? Go with the bad-reaction-to-prescription-meds excuse? Too much drinking coupled with exhaustion?”
“No.”
There was a beat of silence. Then Lou asked impatiently, “No to which one?”
“No to both.” I quickly continued before he could start yelling again. “I don’t want to blame this on a lie. Just…no comment, okay?”
“That’s not gonna fly well, Alex,” he warned.
“Yeah, I know.” I took a deep breath. “But I don’t want to make this worse. Let it be. Story will die down in a few days. Somebody will do something stupider.”
Lou gave a humorless laugh. “Well, you’re right about that. And if we’re lucky, they’ll do it sooner rather than later. But you have to lie low for a while. Don’t go out unless you absolutely have to, at least for a few days. Don’t answer the door unless you know the person on the other side. Don’t answer your phone unless you know who’s calling. Don’t—”
“I know the drill, Lou. I promise I’ll be good. I’m not trying to make your job harder.”
“Could have fooled me,” he grumbled. “All right. Let me get to work. But before I do, I gotta ask, is this because of the movie?”
“No,” I answered honestly. I really didn’t care that he’d been cast in a role I’d wanted.
Okay, I cared. But not for the reasons Lou thought. Or at least, not only because of those.
And then, of course, I couldn’t have stopped the assault of images from a week ago if I tried: Spencer in my bed, on me, in me, the two of us together; the long talk afterward as we cuddled, our limbs tangled until we fell asleep with the sun creeping over the horizon; the sweet way he kissed me before he left…and the crushing hurt and disappointment when this morning I’d gotten the call with the news from Lou.
“I didn’t think you were that guy,” Lou muttered. Then he let out another one of his big sighs. When I was in a good mood, I teased him that he should be saving all that breath for his birthday candles.