Hideaway Heart: Chapter 27

DESPITE HOLDING me a little too close on the red carpet, Duke generally behaved as promised.

“Just friends,” he’d shout out when reporters or photographers asked if we were back together. But I could hear the insincerity in his voice, like his answer was a joke that everyone was in on.

We did a live television interview right before we entered the Milton. The reporter asked the usual questions about who we were wearing and what made this night so special. Duke kept that arm around me, and I tried not to squirm uncomfortably in his grasp.

“So, of course, I have to ask, are the rumors true?” The reporter smiled at us with big red lips and shiny white teeth. “Are you two back together?”

“You shouldn’t listen to rumors, Carrie,” Duke teased. “Pixie and I are just good friends.”

“Is this true?” Carrie asked, putting the microphone in my face.

Angry that he’d called me Pixie when I’d specifically asked him to refer to me as Kelly today, I managed a smile. “It’s true. We’re just friends. I’m actually dating someone else.”

Carrie’s eyes about popped from their sockets. “Who is he?”

“Keeping it secret for now,” I said, sensing Duke going stiff with fury beside me.

“Ooooh, a mystery man!” Carrie laughed and spoke to the camera. “You heard it here first. Back to you, James.”

Duke marched me into the Milton and pulled me aside. “What was that all about?”

“What?” I said innocently. Marius was standing nearby, so I wasn’t scared.

“You’re dating someone? Who?”

“None of your business.”

He pressed his lips together and exhaled through his nose. “I don’t appreciate being ambushed, Pixie.”

“It’s Kelly,” I said. “My name is Kelly Jo Sullivan. Remember that, please.”

“Duke?” His publicist tapped his shoulder. “We need to get backstage.” She glanced around. “And this is very public.”

“Give us a minute,” he snapped. He held up his palms. “Look, I’m sorry. Tension is running high today. We can talk later. Let’s just give them all a good show.”

“Fine,” I said, although I had no desire to talk with him later.

I missed Xander already. I was sorry I’d told him to go.

Backstage, Duke went one way, and I was ushered in the other.

In the dressing room, the hair and makeup crew touched me up, and I was happy when Jess walked in. “Hey! Could I see my phone real quick?”

“Sure,” she said, taking it from her bag.

But there was no service. “Shoot. I can’t even send a text.”

“This place is the worst,” the hair stylist said. “It’s like a Dark Ages dungeon in here.”

Sighing, I dropped my phone back into Jess’s bag. “I guess I’ll have to wait until later.”

When I was ready, Marius walked with me to the stage door, where someone dressed in black wearing a lanyard and holding a clipboard told him he could wait for me there in the hall. I’d exit the wings through this same door.

Marius looked at me. “You want me to come back there with you?”

“That’s not allowed,” said the skinny guy with the clipboard.

My bodyguard looked at him like he was a bug. “I didn’t ask you.”

“I’m fine, Marius.” I touched his forearm. “You can wait for me here.”

He wasn’t thrilled with my answer, but he nodded. “Okay.”

Clipboard guy brought me backstage, and my stomach began to jump.

Duke opened the show with a little patter, delivered with his signature Southern drawl and playboy charm. To be honest, I was shocked when he introduced me as Kelly Jo Sullivan. For some reason, I’d been convinced he wasn’t going to do it.

“We’re here tonight to celebrate our city, our history, our musicians, our songs, and relationships that inspire them,” he said. “And now I’d like to bring out someone very special to me. You might know her by a different name, but she’s still country music’s sweetheart. Please help me welcome Miss Kelly Jo Sullivan.”

My heart hammered in my chest as I joined him on stage, and as the band behind us played the opening bars, I tapped my chest three times, just in case Xander was watching. Then I let the music fill my soul, the energy in the room lift me up, and the lyrics tell the story. I played the role of a woman longing to go back in time, to forgive and forget, to fall in love again. To deliver the most compelling performance I could, I thought about Xander, about our days in the cabin, about the way he made my pulse race and my skin warm and my heart open. I might have been looking at Duke, but every note I sang, every word I uttered, was for another man.

But it was also for myself. I knew that this performance was the start of something big for me. I felt it in my bones. I gave that song my all, and when it was over, the entire auditorium echoed with thunderous applause.

Duke took my hand and squeezed it hard. When I looked up at him, he smiled, and I smiled back. A glimmer of goodwill flared in me. Of affection for this community. Maybe he and I could be friends. Maybe I could find it in me to forgive him for the way he’d treated me, and we could just move forward. I didn’t want Duke Pruitt as an enemy. Perhaps this fence could be mended.

So when he kept my hand in his, leading me to exit stage right instead of stage left as planned, I went along. When we reached the wings, he turned to me. “Got a minute?”

“Don’t we have to get to our seats?”

“I’d really like to talk to you. Please. It’s important. And it will only take a minute.”

I hesitated, then gave in. “Okay.”

He took my hand. “Come upstairs with me. I keep an office here. We can talk there.”

“I should let my security know,” I protested as he opened a door and pulled me into a dark, narrow stairwell.

“No need. You’re with me.” He began going up the steps. “You’re perfectly safe.”

An alarm bell went off in my head. “Where are we going?”

“I told you. My office.”

“Slow down, Duke. I’m in heels. And this dress isn’t easy to move in.”

“Sorry, darling.” He moved a little slower. “You were amazing out there. Never sounded better. Our voices blend perfectly, don’t you think?” He opened a door into a well-lit hallway after only one flight of stairs, and I breathed easier.

“Thank you. Yes, I thought it went well.”

“Well?” He laughed as he led me down the hall and opened the last door on the left. “We brought down the house. Didn’t you hear the applause?”

“I heard it.” I entered the room and looked around. Corner office. Desk. Chairs. Couch. Window overlooking the city. Framed records on the wall. “This is nice.”

“Can I get you anything?” he asked, closing the door behind him. “Are you thirsty?”

“No, thank you.” Aware I was alone with him and no one knew where I was, I started to get nervous. What if I had to run back down the hall? Scramble down those stairs? I slipped my heels off. “You know what? My feet are a little sore. Maybe I’ll just take these shoes off for a minute.”

He smiled as he came toward me. “Yes. Get comfortable. Take the whole outfit off. Or I can do it for you.”

I backed up until my butt hit the desk. “That’s not funny.”

“It wasn’t a joke.” He moved closer and braced his hands on either side of my hips. “Why do you think I brought you up here?”

“You said it was to talk. You’re too close, Duke.” I pushed against his chest, but he didn’t budge.

“Stop fighting this.” His hands moved to my hips. “We belong together, sweetheart. And the sooner you admit it, the sooner we can stop all this cat and mouse bullshit.”

“What cat and mouse bullshit?”

“These games. Trying to hurt each other. I know that’s why you went away with someone else. Why you’re dating someone else.”

“I’ve never done anything to hurt you.”

He gripped my hips harder. “The guy in the photographs Hoop took. Is that your new boyfriend?”

Icy cold fear slithered through my veins. “How do you know Hoop took photographs of us?”

“God, you’re so naive. That’s why you need me. You’ll be eaten alive without me to protect you.” His smile was patronizing and sinister. “I knew he took the photos because I sent him up there to do it.”

“How did you know where I was? Did my dad tell you?”

“Your dad?” He looked surprised I’d asked. “No. Your dad did not prove as useful as I’d hoped where you’re concerned. But I didn’t need him to tell me where you were. I almost always know where you are, darling.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. “Because you left your email open on my laptop, and you never changed your password. See? Naive and careless.”

“Fuck you!” I tried to knee him in the balls like Xander taught me, but because of my dress and my short stature, I was only able to get him in the thigh.

But it was enough to stun him, and he loosened his grip on me enough that I could make a run for the door. Unfortunately, without my heels on, the damn dress was too long, and my toes got stuck in the hem, sending me tumbling to the floor.

He was on me in an instant.