Believe Me, It's You Read online

  “I love you, Eva,” he said.

  “You don't know me,” she said.

  “I do know you,” he said.

  “I've got to slow down. I –,” she looked for the right words.

  “Okay,” he said, taking her by the elbows and bending down close to look directly into her eyes. “It's okay. I'll go slow. We'll slow down. Please don't get mad at me right when I have to leave.”

  “Okay,” she nodded. His eyes made her want to agree to anything. “I'm not mad. Let's just go slow.”

  Dylan gave her one quick kiss on the cheek, and let go of her. He called a car to take him to the airport, and they sat at the dining room table and made small talk until the car came. He left with a simple “see you later.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  After Dylan left for L.A., Eva spent a restless night, torn between what she felt for Dylan and her fears. She worried she was going right out of the frying pan and into the fire. She had thought her attraction to Dylan was just a hobby—something she could enjoy and put away, maybe take out later to kill time. But when he left, he created a vacuum. The apartment felt empty, even with her in it. Even with the television blaring, and the heat turned up, it was cold and empty, and going to bed was awful. She tossed and turned until she got a few hours sleep, and in the morning, the first things she noticed were the spot in the kitchen where he stood making grilled cheese sandwiches, the place where he sat at her dining room table, and the empty place on the sofa where he'd leaned back and stretched out his legs. Sometimes she thought she saw an empty impression where he'd sat, but he wasn't there. L. A. would be a new reality for her with him. She'd be in his world, and that made her feel even more vulnerable, but her desire to see him again outweighed her fear.

  She called her lawyer on Monday to get an update.

  “Good news, we've got a court date!” the lawyer said, excited.

  “Really? When?” Eva was in disbelief. Paul must have filed his paperwork.

  “December 10,” she said. Her excitement sounded a little forced.

  “What? That's two months from now.” Her heart sank.

  “I know, but the courts are always backed up,” she said. “Just think of it as a Christmas present!”

  “Okay. Well thanks,”she said.

  She got on the computer and made her travel arrangements for L.A. She was leaving Tuesday evening and with the time difference, would get in by 7 that same evening. She booked a hotel with no definite check out date. She'd have to play that by ear. She chose the same hotel she'd used when she worked on Cap's book because she knew Calvin had an account with them.

  She thought about texting Dylan the itinerary, but decided she wanted to hear his voice too much.

  “Hey!” he said, answering on the second ring. “What's up?”

  “Not much, how are you? How was your flight?” she asked.

  “Uneventful. My cake made it back, no problems,” he said. “When are you coming out?”

  “Tomorrow. That's why I was calling, to give you my flight information and the hotel where I'm staying,” she said.

  “What? No, you can stay here. My house is big. I have five bedrooms. You can have one to yourself with your own bathroom,” he said.

  “Well, I don't want to get in the way,” she said.

  “What are you talking about?” he said. “I really want you to stay here. We can go to the studio together and I won't have to send a car to pick you up. It'll be easier this way. Please? Stay here.”

  “Okay, if you're sure,” she said.

  “Yeah I'm sure. I'm begging,” he said.

  “Okay,” she laughed. “Anyhow, I get in at 7.”

  “In the morning?” he said.

  “No, evening,” she said.

  “Okay,” he said. “I miss you.”

  “You just saw me less than 24 hours ago,” she laughed.

  “I'm gonna show you a fun time out here, Eva,” he said. “It'll be nice.”

  “You'll be working,” she said. “I'm sure you'll need to concentrate. I don't want to become a problem.”

  “We'll have a little bit of time,” he said. “It'll be fun, you'll see. I'm gonna take you someplace nice. By the way, did you get that lock changed?”

  “Yes,” she lied. She had forgotten to call a locksmith.

  “Good,” he said. “Don't you feel better, now?”

  “Yeah, I do,” she made a mental note to call a locksmith when she got back from L.A.

  “Well, I guess I'll see you when you get here,” he said.

  “Okay, I'll talk to you soon,” she said.

  “Bye, Eva.”

  “Bye,” she said. “Wait, Dylan?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I miss you, too.”

  “See you soon,” he said. She felt like she could hear him grin through the phone.

  When they hung up, she called Sarah. She wanted to let her know she'd be out of town for a while, and she really needed to catch her up on all that had happened.

  “Hey, girl.” Sarah answered the phone. “What's going on?”

  “Oh, pretty much everything,” she laughed.

  “Really? Tell me!” Sarah demanded.

  “Not on the phone. Have lunch with me?” she asked.

  “Okay. I can sneak away for a while, I guess,” Sarah said. “Where?”

  “Jimmy's at 1?”

  “Okay, see you at 1,” Sarah said and hung up.

  Eva was waiting for Sarah in the little pub restaurant. She saw her come in the door and quickly tried to figure out where she would start.

  “Hey, how are you doing? What's up, tell me!” she sat down and motioned for the waiter. “I've only got an hour today. Things are ridiculous, trying to get things ready to publish by Christmas.”

  “Oh wow, I didn't even think about that,” Eva said. “Dylan's book isn't coming out for Christmas. No way. Calvin will probably be mad.”

  “Why? What's going on? Still can't pry anything good out of him?” she said.

  “No, it's—well, we just don't seem to work on the book much when we're together,” she laughed. Sarah looked at her.

  “Okay, well what do you work on?” she asked, smirking.

  “He told me he loved me,” Eva couldn't help it. She had to try it out on her friend, even if she knew that wasn't where she should start.

  “He just got carried away, you know?”

  “What? Are you for real?” Sarah's mouth hung open. “What context? I mean, what the hell happened this weekend?”

  Eva decided to start at the beginning and lay it all out there, knowing Sarah didn't have much time, and she had to talk to her about it.

  “Wow,” Sarah said when she'd finished taking. “I was having trouble getting used to you working with Dylan Moore and now all this. Paul's an asshole, by the way.”

  “I know, I know,” Eva said. “I got a divorce hearing date, too. December 10.”

  “Things are going so fast now,” Sarah said. “Are you getting freaked out?”

  “Yep,” she said.

  “Well...just take things slow with Dylan. I don't know him, or what he's all about, but he seems nice, right? And you like him. It's always a crap shoot. There just aren't any guarantees. You have to hedge your bets and then go for it. If you give up now, Eva, you'll never know. This is a whole new chapter for you.”

  “You're right,” Eva said. “I mean, I can't let the chance go by. I really like him.”

  “I'm glad,” Sarah said. “You can't just stand on the sidelines of life. You're tough. You can take whatever happens, and write a book about it.”

  “You're right,” she said. “I knew I'd feel better after I talked to you.”

  “Call me when you get back,” she said, standing up and giving Eva a peck on the cheek. “Have a safe trip.”

  “'Bye,” Eva said. She left her part of the check and headed home to pack for her trip.

  Chapter Twenty

  Eva packed two weeks' worth of clothes. She le
arned with Cap how variable the right outfit could be in L. A. Some restaurants and clubs were super casual, so she took plenty of jeans and nice shirts. Some could require a dress, so she packed three dresses, including the dark blue silk dress she'd worn to Cap's book launch. She also packed four pairs of shoes and stuck in some running clothes and shoes. She packed a couple different jackets, because L. A. had warm days and cool nights, and her make-up and toiletries, some nice pajamas she'd never worn and a bathrobe. Thinking about spending so much time around Dylan both excited her and set her nerves on edge. She had fully intended to slow things down and get to work on the book, but with Dylan everything seemed to charge forward at breakneck speed no matter what she did.

  When she finished packing, she sat down and had a glass of wine. She left the television off so she could sit in the dark and think for a minute. Everything had happened so fast, she couldn't help but worry she was rushing into a situation that could potentially end badly. Between the age difference and Dylan's massive, very public career and all his obligations, and add to that the fact that she was working for him—it just didn't make sense to get involved with him. She also reminded herself of how badly her last relationship had ended, and the fact that her divorce wasn't final yet. She thought about what Sarah had said, and yes, she was right. No one knew how a relationship was going to turn out, even one that seemed to have so much potential-like her marriage to Paul. Yeah, a few of her friends and her brother hadn't really liked Paul, even before the affair, but they didn't really know him like she did. He had his moments.

  It's just that every time she thought about Dylan, she imagined his hands moving up her back and his lips on her neck. Every time she heard his voice, she imagined him whispering “I love you” against her ear, and...there's no way she could just go with it if it was only going to be a physical thing. Not him. She wasn't sure how she was going to stumble along in the dark, going on blind faith, not knowing how this would ever work out in the end.

  The ring of her phone on the coffee table woke her up at 9:00. She was startled to find the room darker than when she'd stretched out. She picked up the phone and saw an L.A. number. Two hours earlier, there.

  “Hello?” she said.

  “Hi Eva, it's Calvin,” he said. “How are you doing?”

  “I'm fine, Calvin,” she said. “What's up?”

  “Well, I just hadn't heard anything about your plans to come out. You know, I was really hoping to get a rough draft of the book by Thanksgiving. I'm hoping to get this thing published by Christmas. I know that's what the publisher's hoping, too. If Dylan was more interested in his career these days, he'd be hoping the same.”

  “Wait, I am coming out. Tomorrow. My plane gets in at 7:00pm. Didn't Dylan tell you?” she was confused. Why wouldn't he fill his manager in on her coming out to work?

  “No, he didn't,” he sighed. “But that's not a surprise. Do you need me to book you a hotel?”

  “No, Dylan invited me to stay at his house. He said he had the room, and that it'd be easier--”

  “What? Hah, this is sweet. Listen, Eva...how do I put this? Dylan is a man, I get that. But he's more than just a man. He's also a brand. The Dylan Moore brand. He has teams of marketing people. A publicity department that consists of 50 people work on the Dylan Moore brand and nothing else. I can't have this. If the press finds out he's living with a 32 year old girlfriend, my god, Eva you don't know the half of it. You're going to have sixty percent of the world's teenage girls hating you. And Dylan's going to be the subject of ridicule on every late night show and every entertainment blog. This just isn't possible. You're not playing house with just any 21 year old, Eva--”

  “Just hold on a minute, Calvin,” she was really starting to boil. “I'm not playing house with anyone. I was invited as a guest to write this book. I told him I'm out there for work. Don't you think I can manage a business relationship, Calvin? As you keep reminding me and everyone else, I'm 32 years old. I worked for a major architectural firm before I became a writer, and I delivered a really great book for Cap.” She couldn't help feeling a little hypocritical, even through her righteous anger. She was letting her work and personal life entwine—no, become a tangled mess. And the same thing had happened at the firm with Paul. She'd most likely still be there if she hadn't become involved with Paul.

  “Eva, it's not you, really,” he said, sounding tired and a little hurt. “It's Dylan. I don't know what's going on with him. First this thing with Vanessa blows up and now he's in love with his ghostwriter. I try to steer his career, give him fatherly advice and be a shoulder to cry on. And it's just too many roles for one man to fill.” She was taken aback by his candor.

  “He may have a little crush on me, but he's not in love with me. We just met. And I'm getting good material from him. I'm going to have this thing ready before Christmas, Calvin. Let me handle it, okay? You be his manager and tell everyone he's spending all his time with a writer because his biography's coming out. Use an “As told to” if you have to. No one's going to buy that America's teen idol is shacked up with a 32 year old.”

  “Alright, Eva,” he said. “It's on you, though. If it all blows up in your face, I warned you. Do you really think you can get it out by Christmas? That'd be a dream come true. It'd be great publicity for the album, too.”

  “Sure, Calvin. He's a 21 year old pop star. It's not gonna be War and Peace,” she felt bold. “We'll burn the midnight oil and I'll get a rough draft done by Thanksgiving.”

  “Okay, just remember you both have to keep a low profile while you're out here. People will take pictures and people will talk. He doesn't need any bad publicity right now.”

  When she got off the phone with Calvin, Eva's head was reeling. Out of fear and guilt, she'd promised something that was going to be extremely hard to deliver. She couldn't screw this up. And she was only half the equation.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Her plane touched down at LAX at 7:15pm. Dylan texted her that Teddy would be picking her up at baggage claim. It took her exactly 30 seconds to spot Teddy. She smiled at him and waved and he walked over to her, the crowd parting like the Red Sea for the enormous man.

  “Hey, Eva! Long time no see,” he gave her a little hug. “How was the flight?”

  “Hi, Teddy. It was fine,” she said, smiling. “It's good to see you.”

  “Dylan wanted to come, but it's just too much of a hassle for him in the airports,” he said. “We'd end up stuck here for hours.” He laughed his big belly laugh.

  “I figured that. Well, I like your company, too. Oh, there's one of my bags,” she made a grab for her large suitcase, but he reached over her and grabbed it up like it was a lunch box.

  “More?” he asked.

  “One more garment bag,” she said. Her carry-on was over her shoulder. “I think that's it.” He grabbed up the garment bag that held a few dresses and her shoes, and led her to the SUV which was parked in front. He loaded up the trunk and hung the garment bag in the car once she'd climbed in.

  “Hi,” she said to the driver.

  “Hello, Ma'am,” he said looking at her in the rear view mirror. Teddy climbed in front and they started toward Dylan's house.

  “With traffic, we should be to Malibu in about an hour,” the driver said, looking back at her.

  “Malibu? I thought Dylan lived in Topanga Canyon,” she said. Actually, she had looked it up on the internet before she left Chicago.

  “No, he moved three months ago,” Teddy said. “He's got a nice place in Malibu. You're going to like it.”

  “Oh, I'm sure,” she laughed. “I've never been to Malibu.”

  “It's a little more laid back and quiet. At least for now,” Teddy laughed. “We have good security up to and around the house. It's less isolated than the last place, and the police patrol it pretty well.”

  She couldn't help feeling a little apprehensive about paparazzi. Sure, Cap had his share, but she knew it was going to be on a whole other level with Dylan.
She thought about how he came and went unnoticed in Chicago and knew it was going to be a different scene in L.A. She was also becoming more and more apprehensive about telling Dylan about the conversation with Calvin. She felt a stab of disloyalty when she thought about editing some of the things Calvin had said. But she also didn't want to cause trouble between the two, and she felt certain Dylan would be mad at Calvin for interfering in his personal life. And she also had to tell Dylan she had promised a published book for Christmas.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by the Pacific Ocean coming into view, the last quarter of the sun setting over it's horizon.

  “Wow, that's beautiful,” she said.

  “I know, right? I see that almost every day and it's still pretty,” Teddy said. “You'll have a nice view from your room.”

  “Wow, this is so much nicer than the airport hotel,” she said, gawking out her window. Teddy laughed.

  “I hear that, Eva,” he said.

  The houses on the cliffs overlooking the ocean varied in size and style. Some looked relatively modest by Malibu standards and some were huge. Almost all of them had huge expanses of glass offering outrageous views of the ocean. The driver made a left turn away from the ocean and up a winding cliffside road. He traveled a mile or so up it, and stopped at a wrought iron gate. Teddy jumped out and pushed an intercom button. In a few seconds, the gate swung open inward, and the car proceeded up the road. She looked out the back window and watched the gate close behind them.

  “I feel like I'm being incarcerated,” she said. Teddy laughed.

  “We'll let you out if you really want to leave,” he said. “I don't think you will, though.”

  They continued up the road, passing a few other houses along the way. Finally, they came to a large contemporary house cantilevered over the cliff and facing the Pacific with huge wall to ceiling glass windows. There was a small gatehouse at the entrance to the driveway and the man inside opened the gate for the car. The driver drove into an open garage which was huge and clean, and neat enough to be someone's living room. There were two other cars parked in the garage and one motorcycle.