Knock, knock, knock.
Chapter 14
Both Amber and Levi paled at the realization of who was at the door.
Levi moved his hands from Amber’s shoulders, sliding them down to her wrists and then to her waist before returning them to her face. “Shit,” he whispered, like a teen caught in the act by a parent. He kept switching his attention from the door to Amber.
“Hello! Levi. We’re here. A little late but better late than never!” Rachel sang between laughter. Amused voices chattered softly behind her own. Levi recognized one as Fiona’s, her British accent vanishing in her slurring words.
“Coming!” Levi held Amber by the elbows, staring deep into her eyes. “I got to, uh… You should…” He faced the living room, staring at the doors to the balcony.
“Levi!” Amber demanded that he look at her. “There isnoway I’m climbing out there,” she whispered so as to not cause suspicion.Whoever’s outside sounds pretty hammered though.She guessed even agents deserved to take things easy from time to time.
“I-I never said you should. I’d never want that for you.” Levi slipped his hand in hers and pulled her to the back of the couch. “Come on.” He ran hurried over to a white door with a silver knob. “Here.” He let go of her to open up. “Quick.”
Amber frowned, peering inside. “Is this your storage room?” All the pain returned tenfold. She jutted her bottom lip like apleading child, staring at Levi with widened eyes. “What a way to treat someone you love.” She shook her head, gesturing to the surprisingly spacious closet. His mops, brooms, and cleaning supplies were stacked on shelves that lined all three walls. Left, right, and back packed with a year’s worth of bleach, detergents, vacuums—the works. It was about the size of Amber’s childhood bedroom.
“I know it sucks but if Rachel sees you, she’s going to get…mad,” Levi breathed out, staring at his feet.
Amber opened her mouth right when Rachel knocked harder, cooing for Levi. “Are you not a grown man?”
Levi recoiled as if she had slapped him. “Well yeah, but agents can be uh…a little um…”
Those once gentle knocks turned to pounding, Rachel demanding to be let in. “We don’t have all night!” she shouted.
Levi hoped she didn’t wake the neighbors. “Get in quick before she sees you and everything gets ruined,” he begged, his guilt threatening to swallow him and force him into a curled ball on the carpeted floor.
“I’m practically in. And does it even matter how quickly I move? It’s not like she can let herself inside. She doesn’t have a key.” Amber was rarely difficult but being stuffed in a storage closet after hearing “I love you” just didn’t feel right.A lot of this doesn’t.Except when they kissed and touched and looked into each other’s eyes…
Levi had started to refute when he heard his door swing open and the voices grow clearer. He gasped.
Amber slipped right in and shut the door, her reaction surprising even herself. She took in long breaths with a pounding heart then rested her ear against the door.Damn it.Was she scared of Levi’s weird agent too or had his fear simply rubbed off on her?I hate this.But she did care about Levi’s feelings. He’d known this Rachel lady his whole life. Amber hadheard of her too. She was abeast.That woman could book anyone a gig. Her clients were the best of the best no matter what they did.Heard she got a Vegas show for a tap-dancing clown.For that, Amber respected her.And I guess someone’s got to be a little crazy to be that good.What would she do if their secret relationship got out?
Outside, Levi held his arms open to welcome Rachel, Fiona, and her agent. “Guys.” He walked with them, keeping an eye on the storage closet.Went from metaphorically to literally hiding her in a closet way too quickly.He was officially the worst. “You all came…” He looked at his phone. “At nearly three a.m. when we should all be sleeping.” He stepped up to Fiona after rounding his couch.
Fiona hugged him and kissed both his cheeks. “No time’s better than after dark, I always say.” He detected a British inflection in her American accent. She looked at his couch. “Oh, you were cozy while waiting, huh? I’m loving the comforter.” She laughed and hiccupped as her agent—Stacy Gray—and Rachel took seats.
“Of course, of course.” Rachel was wearing a suit despite claiming to have been at a nightclub earlier. Fiona was dressed pretty casually in a blouse and jeans while Stacy was clad in a fitted pantsuit similar to Rachel’s, causing Levi to question the reasoning behind this outing.
Couldn’t have been planned, he thought. “So, how’d you get in exactly?” he asked, listening for signs of life in the storage closet.. He needed to make it up to Amber for this.She’s way too good for me.He put his hands in his back pockets.
Rachel jingled a small key hanging from her finger. “It’s Agent 101 to keep a key to your clients’ abodes. Just in case of emergencies.” She crossed her legs while eying the snacks on the center table. “Such as breakups that keep them from work.”
“Mmm. The worst,” said Stacy, sitting with clasped hands on her knee.
Rachel noted some roses on the center of the kitchen table. “Hangovers…” she said skeptically.
Stacy snapped her fingers. “I forgot how bad those were.” She put both arms over the backrest of Levi’s couch, holding her head back. She was at least a decade Rachel’s senior with high arching eyebrows and wide gray eyes. Not very approachable in Levi’s opinion. The intensity of her eyes paired with her pointy nose and her clipped way of expressing herself just made her…scary. But somehow not as terrifying as Rachel. Rachel seemed to be inspecting his penthouse a little too closely.
“Overdoses. Worst case scenarios,” Fiona supplied, since Rachel seemed hesitant to list more. She shifted her eyes to Levi. “Ms. Gray here hasloadsof horror stories.” He detected a bit of Russian in there now. Was this Fiona’s drunken form? A mix of accents?
“Ah…yeah, I’d imagine that. Anyway!” Levi clapped his hands before Rachel could point out the pricey wine on his dining room table.I put everything else away except that? I thought it set the mood for romance but now I feel like an idiot for leaving evidence behind.“You want to take some homey pictures? Let’s do that in my room.” He held Fiona by her wrist to lead her to the bedroom beyond the kitchen. “Let’s go, go, go…”
Stacy got up reluctantly and followed on wobbling legs. “Wait for me. We’ve got to do this right.” Her high heels tapped against Levi’s floors as she followed them into the kitchen, leaving the carpeted living room.
Rachel was surprised by his rushing. “Well, someone’s eager to work for once.” She scooted to the edge of the couch then stood up and narrowed her eyes at the rumpled comforter she left behind.Hmm.Fiona and Stacy both seemed to chat upLevi on the walk to his room. She watched them disappear then squished a portion of the blanket.
Bringing it to her nose, Rachel took a sniff, closing her eyes.Rosemary.She tossed it back down and then whipped her head to the roses on the table.
