Chapter 43 Take My Breath Away
Case arrived at Andrea’s apartment and knocked on the door. She’d sounded upset when she called. He hoped everything went all right on the talk show she’d gone on earlier that day, but the way her voice was shaking while they spoke briefly on the phone, he had a feeling it hadn’t.
She opened the door looking as lovely as other, though her face was pale. She was wearing white linen pants and a T-shirt. Even in that, she was so beautiful, he just wanted to take her in his arms and kiss away all of her trouble. But she’d made it clear she wanted to take things slow, and after the mess he’d gotten himself into with Sarah by doing the exact opposite, that was fine with him. As long as his hands behaved themselves.
“Hi.” She stepped aside so he could come in but didn’t reach for him or even touch him at all, which Case found odd.
Andrea gestured to the couch in the middle of the large living space, and he came in. “Hi. What’s wrong, Andrea? You look upset. Did everything go okay on the talk show?”
“No.” She shrugged and sat down a good two feet from him on the couch. “But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Case arched an eyebrow. “What is it?” Outside, the rain picked up a little, and he saw her eyes wander over to the window, a flicker of fear in them she couldn’t hide. Case remembered what her grandfather had said about storms. He’d assumed that was metaphorical, but now, Case wasn’t so sure.
Letting out a deep breath, Andrea said, “I need to know why you broke up with Sarah.”
“What?” He had not been expecting that at all. “Where’s this coming from?”
“I’m sorry. Maybe you think it’s none of my business, but… I’ve heard somethings, and I’m a little worried. I’d rather hear it from you than from people who probably don’t know everything.”
“But why do you need to know it at all?” Case countered. “Heard things from who? Andrea, it isn’t anyone’s business why I broke up with Sarah except for hers and mine.”
“People talk, Case. You know that. Hell, thousands of people make a living from reporting on what you and I eat for breakfast every day. Of course people are going to gossip in LA. I just need to know that it wasn’t something awful, like I’ve heard it might’ve been.”
“What have you hear it might’ve been?”
“Nothing specific. Just that whatever it was, anyone should be leery of going out with you, that’s all.” She said it like it wasn’t a big deal, but Case was starting to feel his face turn red, and it wasn’t from embarrassment.
He ran a hand along the back of his neck. “Look, Andrea, I promised Sarah I wouldn’t discuss what happened between us with anyone else. I’m sure you can respect that since you and Sarah have some sort of secret of your own. I don’t know what these unnamed people think happened between her and I, but I guarantee it’s not something that should make you ‘leery’ of dating me.”
“How am I supposed to know that if you won’t tell me what it was?” He could tell she was starting to get angry, too. Outside, a roll of thunder rippled through the atmosphere. Andrea jumped, her hands fisting and then releasing as she took deep breaths.
“Are you okay?” He looked over his shoulder to see the storm was just about on top of them now. Lightning brightened the gray, sending streaks of yellow and blue across the horizon. Turning back, he could see she was visibly shaken. “I don’t think now’s the time to talk about this, Andrea. You’re clearly upset by the storm.”
“I’m fine. I’m not afraid of storms.”
Clearly, she was lying. Even an actress with the talent of Andrea Sparks couldn’t hide the terror in her eyes. He slid closer to her, put his hand on her knee. “Andrea, what do you normally do during a storm?”
“I told you, I’m fine!” she yelled, pushing his hand away. “I just want you to answer my question!”
“Calm down. Take some deep breaths!”
“I don’t need to calm down.” But she did. The air she was sucking in wasn’t getting into her lungs. She was hyperventilating.
“Is everything okay?”
Kelsey, Andrea’s assistant, appeared from the hall that led to her bedroom. Case wasn’t sure what to think about the woman, and he had his suspicions that she had something to do with Andrea’s insistence on knowing what happened between himself and Sarah. “She’s hyperventilating. Do you have a brown paper bag?”
“A paper bag?” Kelsey looked around the room like there might be one lying around and then rushed off to the kitchen.
“Andrea… you’re going to have to slow your breathing. Close your eyes, and concentrate on taking deep breaths.” A boom of thunder outside did not help his cause. Andrea began to wheeze. He put his arm around her shoulders, trying to calm her, but it wasn’t doing much good.
Kelsey came back in with a paper bag. “It’s from the bakery. Will it do?”
“It’ll have to.” Case shook it upside down to make sure there were no crumbs in it and then wadded the top closed and handed it to Andrea. “Breath into this.”
She did as she was told, and slowly her breathing began to regulate, but she was still shaking. “What does she usually do during a storm, Kelsey?”
“Uh… she usually goes into her room and turns on her white noise machine. She turns the lights on and lowers the shades so she can block the lightning. I don’t know why, though. Is she going to be okay?”
“I think so.” Case stood and scooped Andrea into his arms. He carried her to her room and gently put her down on the bed. He saw the white noise machine by her bed and turned that on, turning the volume up to try and drown out the thunder. Then, he pulled the shades and turned the lights on.
Andrea had her eyes closed, her face scrunched up behind the bag. “Sleep mask,” she managed to get out, gesturing toward her night stand.
Case opened it and found the mask she was referring to and put it on her. Why she wanted the lights on and her mask to block it out he didn’t quite understand, but he wasn’t about to argue at a time like this.
He took his shoes off so he wouldn’t get her bedding dirty and then climbed in bed beside her, wrapping her in his arms and gently rubbing her back. Her breathing returned to normal and she hid her face in his side. “You’re okay, Andrea. I’m here. I won’t let anything happen to her.” Case kissed the top of her head. He had no idea what had made her react that way, but he wasn’t going anywhere until he was sure she was all right. If that meant sleeping over, so be it.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
