Secrets and Charms(56)

Nick rolled his eyes. “You both could’ve been killed if Cooper hadn’t arrived just in time. Fontaine tried to shoot him, but Cooper is a better shot.”

“Huh? So I wasn’t dreaming the shooting? She’s dead, isn’t she?”

“Uh-huh.” Nick straightened up in his chair and stretched his back. “Your idiot friend—”

“Rich.”

“He slipped away from the scene to have a little chat with Willard Keats.”

Olly’s heart leapt. “Is Rich okay?” If Willard killed Kane—

“He’s fine. Unlike Fontaine, Keats didn’t try to reenact the O.K. Corral.”

Olly’s pulse slowed down. “How is he? I mean, Keats?” He liked the old guy. Or used to. It was hard to tell now.

“Rather cheerful, looking forward to the trial, as I understand. He got himself one of those celebrity lawyers already.”

“How can he afford it?”

“How would I know? Maybe the lawyer’s doing it for the publicity. Maybe they worked out a deal on the TV and movie rights.” Nick shook his head. “Crazy Hollywood shit. Oh, that reminds me—your pretty actress friend and the redheaded idiot are here to see you.”

“Rich is here?”

Nick stood up with the expression of someone too tired to bicker. “I’m going to go home and catch a couple of hours of sleep before I have to get up and go back to work. I’ll send them in on my way out.”

Nick left, and Rich was playing with his charm, thinking he’d need to pay Mme. Layla a visit as soon as he got out of here.

Sandy and Rich didn’t look as if they’d gotten much sleep recently either, but their faces lit up as soon as they stepped into the room.

“You dummy,” Sandy cried out and squished Olly in an awkward hug.

Rich said nothing, just took Olly’s face into his hands and pressed their lips together.

Olly would’ve liked to explore this motion, but not with Sandy standing right there. So when Rich let him go, he said, “You’re here to take me home, right?”

Sandy swayed her head. “Bad news, kiddo—the men in the white coats want to keep you for a few more days for observation.”

Olly groaned. He liked hospitals as much as the average person—not at all.

“At least you have good insurance,” Rich said and sat on the chair next to the bed. He took Olly’s hand into his own.

Olly liked the physical contact very much, but he tried to hide it. “Roger will kill me.”

Rich was brushing his thumb back and forth over Olly’s knuckles. “I’m sure Fred’s Trade Post will carry on for a few days without you.”

“Now you’re just being mean,” Olly grumbled, but his lips kept twitching into a smile. Their eyes locked, and Rich leaned forward.

Sandy cleared her throat. “Ehrm, I just remembered I need to call my agent. I’ll be out in the hallway.”

The door hadn’t had a chance to fully close before Rich moved all the way in and kissed Olly again, this time with tongue.

It felt good. Too good. Olly broke the kiss. “You better stop. I’m pretty sure I have a catheter in my nether parts.”

Rich sat back. “Oops, sorry.”

“S’okay.”

“Just glad you’re all right. I was worried sick about you.”

“You were?” Olly knew he was grinning like a loon but didn’t care.

“Of course. I’ve been thinking…”

“Don’t strain yourself.” Olly was too thrilled not to make a quip.

Rich poked Olly in the ribs. “Hush, you. Sitting there at the police station, going out of my mind not knowing how you were, I came to an understanding. My sister’s right, I’ve been an idiot. Don’t tell her I said that—I’ll never hear the end of it. The heart of the matter is, I don’t want to end up like Willard, or be a miserable old bastard like my father.” Rich’s cheeks donned a rosy glow. “I really, really like you, and you, uhm, made me feel things I haven’t before.”

Olly waggled his eyebrows as lewdly as he could. “Oh yeah? Tell me more.”

“I don’t just mean in bed. Although that was nice too. So anyway, if it’s okay with you, I’d like us to spend more time together.”

“You mean dating?”

“Yeah.” Rich breathed the word. “Dating. I decided I don’t care if it makes me gay.”

“Well, you could be bi,” Olly said.

“I don’t think it would matter for someone like my father.”

“No, probably not. You’re a big old fruit either way.”

Rich laughed.

In the end, Willard Keats’s heart decided it didn’t want the limelight of the trial and gave out. Willard got his fame posthumously, and a month later, the media frenzy was just starting to lighten up. Some of the attention splashed over Kat Fontaine and her family and a few other Hollywood hotshots, thanks to revelations from Chester Kane’s blackmail files. There were investigations and even a couple of arrests.