Page 105 of Lies and Lullabies
Jonas slung his duffel onto his shoulder and strode through the apartment. I nabbed my keys and followed him out the door.
In the stairwell, Jonas held my hand. “I told Vivi she could call me anytime. My shows mostly start after she’s asleep, anyway.”
“Okay,” I said, opening the exterior door. “Text me if you have downtime, and we’ll call.” I was watching Jonas’s face, because he was so easy on the eyes, when his expression suddenly morphed into anger.
I turned to see a big camera just a few feet from my face.
“Jonas!” the stranger behind the camera called. “What’s the pretty girl’s name?”
Jonas grabbed my hand. I expected him to pull me back into the building, but he led me to the black car waiting at the curb. He yanked open the door and then pointed, allowing me to duck inside first. Then he slid in after me and slammed the door.
The driver pulled away from the curb. I watched over my shoulder as the photographer snapped a few extra pictures as we drove away. Then he gave up, turning away, heading down the street.
“Turn here,” Jonas instructed the driver. His jaw was tight. “And turn again, then pull over.”
The car came to a stop, and Jonas scrubbed his face with his hands. “I’m sorry about that.”
I truly didn’t know what to say. “Is that going to happen a lot?”
“God, I hope not,” he said, studying me now. “Ethan told me about a new law that stops them from taking pictures of kids. So that’s a good trend. Tonight I’ll call my publicist and ask her to work on a strategy.”
“Okay,” I said quietly.
Jonas threw his head back against the headrest. “Look, I know it sucks. You don’t want that in your life. But I hope you wantmein your life. And I intend to be worth the trouble.”
I reached out to take his strong hand in mine—the same one that fingered the chords for all the songs he’d written. The one that caught Vivi when she jumped off the dock in Maine. The one that had washed the batter bowl in my kitchen an hour ago. “I know you’re worth the trouble.”
A smile began at his lips and spread slowly until it warmed his eyes. “I want to be, Kira. I mean to be worth it.” He took my face in both hands, giving me a single kiss.
“Now, now,” I said. “No more of that. You have to get to the airport, and I have to get Adam home.”
But he gave me one more, still smiling. “I’ll call you tonight.”
“I know you will. Unless you can’t. And then we’ll talk tomorrow.”
“Okay. One more just for saying that.” He kissed me again, and I laughed.
Then I made myself open the door and get out of the car.
He waved at me through the back window as the car pulled away.
Twenty-Seven
Jonas
I sat in the car on the tarmac, watching them fuel up the charter flight I’d booked. I pulled out my phone and called Nixon.
“Hey! Did you get some time with your girls?” my friend asked.
“I sure did. I’m so glad I came up here. Where are you now?”
“On the bus, dude. So I got no idea where the fuck we are.”
“What do you see out the window?” I asked, just to give Nixon a hard time.
“The curtain,” he answered, and I laughed.
“Thanks for making the effort to figure that out.”
