Star Crossed (Stargazer #1)(35)
Author: Jennifer Echols

“Hold on.” He crossed the room, found her painkillers in the bathroom, and brought her a glass of water.

“Thank you,” she said blearily. She eased upright long enough to swallow the pills and down the water, then sank into the sheets again. She didn’t move.

Daniel settled back down with his computer and tried not to think about her. And failed. The shock of finding her on the floor last night played over and over like a tape in his head.

After another quarter hour, she rolled off the bed, stood unsteadily, and disappeared into the bathroom. He expected she would take a long time in there. But seconds later, she emerged in sweatpants and flip-flops, dragging her suitcase behind her. “Daniel, I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me, and I—”

“Whoa.” The sharpness of his tone surprised him, but she looked like she felt terrible. “Can you drop the professional courtesy, just until you feel better?”

She shook her head carefully. “Stargazer expects a bill for my room. I can’t tell them I’ve been sleeping with the enemy, like Lorelei thinks. Even though, I mean, you know what I mean. That we’re not really doing that. There would be no way to explain what’s actually going on without also admitting to them that I’ve complicated matters by acquiring a hair-stealing stalker.”

“Keep the room,” he said. “Stay with me anyway.”

She set her suitcase upright on its wheeled bottom and crossed her arms over her T-shirt, which pushed her br**sts up against the fabric. “Oh, suddenly you’re not asking me. You’re telling me. Are you genuinely worried for my safety? Or are you simply trying to keep your friends close and your enemies closer?”

His reasons for wanting her in his room had everything to do with her safety and nothing to do with strategy. And unexpectedly, her suggestion that he was still manipulating her smarted like a kick in the gut.

“Wait.” She unfolded her arms. “Was that a hurt look I saw cross your face just now?”

“Indignation, maybe,” he muttered.

“No, I’m sure it was. Daniel, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I didn’t think you had any.” She rolled her eyes. “That didn’t come out right, either.”

Watching her squirm made him feel a little better.

“I’m really sorry,” she gushed. “I have no idea what to do now that you’re sitting there looking hurt. I didn’t think that was possible. I’m in shock.”

“Stop talking,” he said.

“Okay,” she said sheepishly.

“You look ill.”

“I do?” She sighed.

“Come sit down. I’ve already ordered breakfast.”

She pulled her own laptop from her bag, kicked off her flip-flops, and sat on the sofa. Still feeling insulted, he tried to ignore her and concentrate on his computer screen. She did a better job of this than he did. Surfing bright pink tabloid sites, she didn’t even seem to notice when room service knocked and wheeled in a steaming cart. She only blinked at Daniel when he handed her a slice of orange and told her to eat it.

After that, she set aside her computer. They ate together in companionable silence, only asking each other in low tones to pass the salt and the butter. He felt a lot better with something in his stomach. She looked less pale, too. He thought the meal had broken the ice between them, until his bare foot accidentally touched hers and she flinched.

When his phone buzzed with the ringtone for his father, he figured he’d better take it, since he’d been avoiding these calls for almost forty-eight hours. He clicked the phone on. “Hello?” he said as if he wasn’t sure who was calling, just to make his father angrier.

His father immediately started yelling so loudly that Daniel was afraid Wendy a few feet away would overhear and be horrified. He watched her out of the corner of his eye, but she didn’t look at him. He used the calmest tones he could muster while getting an earful of abuse.

Finally it was over. He clicked the phone off and placed it far away on the coffee table in distaste, then pulled his computer back onto his knees. He surfed to another of his regular sites and tried to concentrate on the news of a couple of bills making their way through the state legislature in Albany. The longer the silence stretched, the worse he felt, culminating in his realization that he wanted to explain the call to Wendy.

He popped a knuckle. “My dad makes me feel like killing someone.”

“My dad made me feel that way.”

He recalled that college girl again, standing in the dean’s office receiving the news about the death of her father, eyes hollow. She’d been back in class the following Monday, he’d noted at the time. This was what she’d made of herself, out of nothing. The same thing he’d made of himself, when he’d had every possible advantage.

“Your British accent kicks in when you talk to him,” she said.

He shrugged. “I’ve tried to get rid of it. I guess . . . ” He rubbed the bruise under his eye, which had begun to throb. “ . . . I sound like him when I’m stressed.”

“What’s he mad about?” she asked gently. “The picture of Colton in the tabloids with strawberry daiquiri on his face?”

“That, and the rumor he badgered Lorelei so badly at the unveiling of her deceased mother’s wax likeness that she mooned him. I can’t wait to hear what my dad says when the picture of Lorelei surfaces.”

“Maybe that won’t happen.”

“You keep saying that.”

She looked surprised. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. My dad used to tell me that when I worried about him working in the coal mine. Of course, he died in the mine, so . . . ” Daniel could tell she was struggling to find a way to end this comment with a joke, but the punch line escaped her completely. She mumbled something inaudible. Then she started over, gesturing to her computer. “Have you actually seen the headline or the photo of Colton?”

“I don’t have to. Why?”

“Just curious,” she said. “I’ve been surfing every gossip site for stories on Lorelei and Colton, like I would every morning for any star I was representing. I’m looking for events we could use to promote Lorelei in the future, or contacts I might find helpful. I’m examining the bylines on pictures in the tabloids to see who’s buying, and which paparazzi are getting the shots and how. While I’ve been watching you, you’ve looked at the political news. That’s it.”