what if, and just maybe. Words that dared her to hope and all but promised heartbreak.
The phone beside her bed flashed bright with a text alert and her belly did a little flip, her body coming alive as all the doubts and worries weighing on her evaporated into thin air. “You awake?”
She dialed him back. “It’s two in the morning. Of course I’m awake.”
A gruff laugh answered, then, “Hmm, so not sleeping … but tell me you’re already in bed.”
“I am,” she murmured, adjusting the pillow behind her head. “Where are you?”
“In my car. I was on my way home and thought I’d swing by if you were up.”
This time it was Elise laughing. “On your way home? Considering the only thing between your club and apartment is a layer of concrete and some insulation, I’m wondering how you found yourself in the car.”
“Call it a driving urge … but enough about that. What are you wearing?”
Her thighs shifted together in a sensual rub that was all about anticipation and the low, gravel-rough sound of Levi’s voice. “Why do you want to know?”
“Because I’ve got about five minutes until I get there and I’m about to give you some very detailed, very specific instructions. Timing is everything.”
Elise smiled, her eyes drifting closed. “In that case, I’m not wearing anything at all.”
Hours later Levi woke alone in Elise’s bed, that sleepy contentment he always felt waking there crumbling at the sound of a muffled voice down the hall. Following it, he stopped at the front room.
Elise stood with her back to him, phone at her ear. Spine rigid beneath her thin robe. The tension radiating off her hit him before her words. “How long?” Then, “No, I’m not ready. Give me ten minutes … I’ll call you back.”
“Everything okay?” he asked when she’d disconnected the call and begun pulling on her jeans without her underwear. He was a dog for noticing when something was clearly wrong, but he was also a guy. And guys didn’t miss that kind of thing.
Unwilling to look at him, she nodded once. “That was Ally. There’s a … situation. I’ve got to take off. I’m sorry, but you should probably go home. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“There’s a situation. At four in the morning. And you think I should just take off?” Crossing to her, he caught her chin in his palm, forced her to face him and saw the shadows in her eyes. Shadows he’d only glimpsed in her most unguarded moments. The ones he’d wondered about, but were gone so quickly, he’d always just let pass. But not tonight. “There’s no way I’m leaving without finding out what’s going on.”
And short of some husband she’d forgotten to mention being on his way home, he wasn’t leaving then. Okay, chances were good he wouldn’t leave regardless.
Her chin took on a stubborn set and he wondered if she’d refuse him flat. Tell him to take a leap. Only beneath that stubborn jut broke the barest tremor. A crack in the façade she was trying to maintain.
Pulling her into his chest, he ran a hand over the tumble of curls that framed her face against his pillow like a wild halo. He’d half expected her to pull away, but her hands crept up between them and her forehead pressed against the center of his chest.
Whatever this was, it was bad. He didn’t know what was wrong. He just knew that in that moment she needed him.
Drawing a shaky breath, she took a step back, quickly arranging the features of her face to disguise the pull of fear and sorrow it was too late to hide. “It’s my dad. He’s … missing.”
Everything inside Levi came to a grinding halt. Missing.
Immediately Levi started flipping through the details he knew about her father … found his scowl deepening as he came up blank. Which didn’t seem possible. The way he knew Elise—the way she talked to him for hours at a stretch about her dreams for the studio, about books and movies, about local politics and pop culture, about her sister’s family …
But not her parents.
Parents, family and home life were subjects Levi was a master of avoiding. But until that very minute, he hadn’t realized how easy Elise had made it. Because she’d been avoiding them too.
Sure, there’d been a handful of stories from her youth. All white-picket perfection. A few more from high school. But nothing current. And yet he hadn’t even noticed.
Which took skill. The kind gained through practice.
Suddenly the ground beneath him felt loose and ready to give.
What was she trying to hide?
As he stared into the troubled eyes of a woman he cared too much about, ugly scenarios he didn’t want to consider rose to the surface of his consciousness.
“Heaven help us, Elise, tell me what’s going on.”
Elise swallowed, nervously checking the phone still clutched in her palm. “My father was diagnosed six years ago with Alzheimer’s. He doesn’t work, and my mother takes care of him at home.” After a breath, she turned to him, her eyes brimming with helpless tears. “Tonight she woke up and he was gone. The car and keys are still there, and so are his shoes. My mom’s got to stay at the house in case he comes back. She’s the only one who might be able to calm him down. They’ve already called the police and David’s driving around, but Ally’s home with Dex, and he needs another set of eyes.”
Levi nodded, the well of relief within him nearly enough to bring him to his knees. Alzheimer’s was a tragedy. And he pitied Elise’s entire family for the toll it had taken on their lives. But the scenarios he’d begun to imagine … had been much, much worse. What was wrong with Elise wasn’t about some seedy secret. It wasn’t a trip down a bottle-littered memory lane. And it wasn’t anything he could fix. But a missing parent was something he understood all too well.
“Okay, sweetheart. Call Ally back. Here’s what we’re going to do …”
An hour later, they were working their way through the grid of neighborhoods surrounding Elise’s parents’ home. Levi driving as Elise scanned the alleyways, sidewalks and gaps between parked cars. Ally riding with David, while one of Levi’s HeadRush managers, who happened to have six younger siblings, stayed with Dexter.
Elise stared out the window, eyes searching. “I didn’t mean to lie to you.”
Levi shot her a questioning glance.
“About my family being so great. You said they sounded perfect, and I told you they were because that’s how it used to be. And sometimes, maybe, I’d just rather pretend it still was.”
Levi watched the road. Taking in her admission and turning it around in his head. Knowing this was the opportunity to come clean himself. Ease her conscience by telling her about his own past.
Instead, he said, “You don’t need to apologize, Elise. You don’t owe me anything you aren’t comfortable sharing. But for the record, if you want to talk about it, I’ll listen.”
