A knock on the door sounds and I know that it’s Tessa waiting for us. Our time is up. Together we ride the elevator in silence, my palm pressing against Larsen’s as our last resort for affection.
Tessa waves down a taxi and slips inside, giving myself and Larsen a moment. I wish that I could kiss her, but she knows why I can’t. Those damn photographers feeling like slimy roaches encroaching on our space.
“Don’t forget about me,” I whisper, my hands longing to stretch out and hold her.
Behind her smile, I watch as the tears build, ready to wash away the fake exterior. “How can I? You’re going to text me incessantly.”
Shrugging my shoulders, I nod.
I answer her smile with my own; wishing that we had more time, there is so much more I want to show her, to tell her.
“Hey, lover boy,” Tessa exclaims as she peeks her head back out of the open door. “She has a plane to catch.”
Regardless of the photographers and fans surrounding the hotel, I can’t leave her like this. My heart feels as if it’s about to burst within its cavity. Leaning forward, I press my lips against her right cheek, against the scar that she hates, against the mangled skin she tries to hide. The injury that I think is the most beautiful part of her.
“I could love you, Larsen,” I whisper against the skin, praying that she can hear the words over the pounding of my heart.
As I pull back, I know that she listened to every word, read every silent meaning. Her eyes and mouth hang wide in shock and she casually slips inside the car with minimal effort on my part.
My hands rest on the top of the door and hood of the car, unwilling to close off my connection to her.
“Devyn!” Tessa shouts from the bench seat and I nod.
But her exclamation must shake something free inside Larsen because she shakes her head and in a flash reaches out to hold the door open.
“Me too, Devyn. Me too.”
Unable to let her go like this, I bend my body into the car and meld our lips together once more. Her tears soak the skin of my cheeks like a melting ice cube left out in the warm sun.
“Gross,” Tessa grumbles beside us, and I pull out of the car.
“Call me when you land, okay?” I beg.
“I will. Bye, Devyn.”
“I’ll see you soon,” I promise as I close the door and tap the roof of the car.
That’s one promise I intend to keep.
“Oh, darling. You must be so sad.” Elena’s voice prickles down my spine as she approaches. She’s flanked by her two security guards, all three wearing athletic gear. I’m surprised the man usually attached at her hip isn’t close by.
“Good morning, Elena.”
She takes a step closer, tilting her cheek toward my face expecting a kiss, but with Larsen still lingering on my lips, I take a step back. I’m not tainting what little I have of Larsen with this farce.
Elena humphs and dismisses her guards, leaving the two of us alone on the sidewalk.
“Well, lover, what time will you be picking me up for the party this evening?”
“What party?” I ask as she slips her arm through mine.
“Tuinn Productions is holding a Chicago cast party as we finish up filming on this location. I’m told it is a small intimate affair.”
“Tessa must have forgotten to mention it.”
“Yes, well, what time?” she reiterates as she takes us through the doors into the hotel lobby, my daze of the morning making the movement effortless on her part.
Hurriedly her assistant rushes over and whispers something in her ear before departing just as quickly.