A Slow Burning Fire Read online

  “No, I don't think so either. When my parents talk about how California has changed me…” She shook her head.

  “Ah, that conversation.” Bryce averted his eyes, gazing down to the hoofs of the cow, as if something down there was awfully interesting to see. There wasn't, only trampled grass, but he didn't want her to see how sad he was.

  Even though he had grown up in California and had never moved away from the state, his brother said the same things to him as Arial's parents said to her. It wasn't the location that changed her; it was the job. And every time he heard those words fly from his brother's mouth: “You're just like the rest of those selfish snobs,” Bryce's heart broke a little more. What made it all worse was that he knew his father shared the same sentiments but was too passive to say as much. His father hated conflict. Discipline and bluntness had always been his mother's thing. A trait Bryce wished he had gotten from her. His brother certainly had.

  ****

  Arial smiled softly, relief washing over her at the thought that she might not be as alone as she’d feared. “Yes, that conversation. There aren't a lot of people who see the truth, are there?”

  “I don't think so.” He also smiled, his gaze lifting to meet hers. “It's good to finally be able to vent all of this out. You can't complain about the lifestyle back in L.A., because then you're ungrateful. Most people don't think that what we do is real work to begin with. I like to think we still change lives. We're still important. We offer people a chance to be heard, to not be alone, and to feel something different for a little while. That's why I do this.”

  His reasons were far nobler than her own. “Sometimes, I'd rather not be myself. I guess you could say I escape with the fans.”

  “There's nothing wrong with that either. If there was no need for what we do, people would be turning off the television, staying out of the theaters, and keeping their books on the shelves.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “If you've changed at all, I promise you it's been for the better. That doesn't make it easier to hear, I know, but whose opinion is more important anyway?” He winked, and she was sure he was teasing her, but it did put her at ease. Spending time with him, she was starting to realize more and more why entertainers needed to be around their own. They all shared the same joys and downfalls.

  She chuckled quietly. “You are the only one that matters. You are the sun to my solar system. My entire life orbits around your very being.”

  He nudged her. “Nerd!”

  “You're one to talk!” She nudged him back. “In all seriousness, thank you. You're right, not many people want to listen. I've tried talking to my mom about all of this, and she only tells me I don't understand why she says the things she does, because I haven't been able to separate myself from the situation enough to agree. That makes me feel like I'm backed into some kind of a corner with only a handful of options — agree and get her to back off, or continue to fight about it.”

  “Keep trying,” he urged. “They'll listen eventually.”

  It sounded so much easier than it was. The whole reason she had agreed to stay for an entire summer was to prove her parents wrong. If she couldn't stand to be there without him, did that only prove them right? She should have felt happier about returning to the farm.

  ****

  Arial walked back to the house after escorting Bryce to the Henderlites. It helped to clear her head from the swirl of confusing emotions inside her heart. The afternoon had opened up a lot of wounds she thought were soldered closed. All it took was one of his intense, passionate glances, and it was like a knife had ripped through the stitches she'd so carefully put in herself. Maybe that was her problem. Maybe she needed to open up to him more so he could help her repair her broken heart.

  It's dangerous to fall for a man who's mourning his first love, she reminded herself. Bryce might not have thought it a big deal for her to bare her soul to him, but she knew better. Telling him how deep the wells of her emotions went meant eventually confessing she loved him. When she took that leap and he wasn't there to catch her, it would be the end of their friendship. Then she would be back at the beginning again, dealing with the pressures of her life alone. Why did he have to make it seem so easy?

  She opened the back door of the house to find her mother still in the kitchen. Instead of cleaning, this time she saw her cooking dinner. Arial hugged her from behind and laid her head on her shoulder. “It smells good.”

  “You're back earlier than I was expectin'. And solo!” Her mother kissed Arial's forehead before returning her attention to the pot on the stove. “Where'd your boy go?”

  “He's not my boy,” Arial said and found a place on the nearby countertop to get comfortable. Back in the days when she still lived with one parent, this was one of her favorite things to do. She'd sit on the counter and watch her mother or father cook. Usually, it was her mother who lived with her in Los Angeles. It was easier for her to get away from the farm than her father. The only reason she ever left Arial's side was because the rest of her siblings needed a mother, too.

  Patty gave her a sideways glance. “No, I suppose he's not. You two did spend an awful lot of time together this afternoon, though. That's usually a good sign of bloomin' romance, if I ever saw one.”

  Arial rolled her eyes. “First of all, Ma, we spent a lot of time together before comin' out here. Why should things be different all of a sudden? And second, I thought you didn't want me to pursue a romance with him.”

  “I don't think you should, no. This is my roundabout way of askin' what's going on between you two. While you may have spent a lot of time together back in the city, it wasn't all day long. From the window it looked like things were getting' kind of deep, too. Not the same as watching the two of you work things out on set.”

  “Ma, we're just friends. We were having a serious talk, yes, but he's the only one who understands the things bein' discussed.”

  “Such as? What does he get that your own mama can't?” her mother inquired.

  Arial shook her head. “Business stuff.”

  “You shouldn't bring work back here. It bothers your sisters,” Patty said stiffly.

  More like it bothers you. She got down from the counter. “Exactly what I thought.”

  “Honey, we can talk about it all later if you want. I just don't want one of them walkin' in and —”

  “Thinkin' my life is more important than theirs. You've told me this before. Believe me, I've never forgotten. Just like I haven't forgotten about how I can't be too city in front of them or they might think I'm a snob, or get crazy ideas of their own. I'll be up in my room until dinner.” Arial grabbed a can of soda from the fridge and then made her way out of the kitchen.

  “We will be talkin' later,” her mother called after her.

  Arial wasn't going to be holding her breath waiting on that promise. Unlike Bryce, her mother probably didn't mean it. They wouldn't talk; they would fight.

  Chapter Six

  Arial woke up to the sounds of the lawnmower running. Glancing at the clock, she saw it was around ten in the morning, much later than she had wanted to wake up. For all of her mother's promises to make sure she got up with the sun to be put to work, it was an awful lot of talk. No wonder her brother and sisters thought she got special treatment. If she wasn't being forced to do the daily chores with the rest of them, then how could they all be at an equal level? Arial had already been home on the farm for four days, and she'd yet to be asked to do anything. Most of the chores she did help out with were small ones that she forced herself to do.

  She frowned. Her father should have been working on a project, not mowing. Looking out the window, however, she didn't see her father struggling to push the mower through the massive yard, but instead Bryce breezing along with the machine as if it was nothing. Arial knew that contraption was heavy and clunky. She kept telling her father she'd buy him a new one he could ride on, but he refused to take her “charity.”

  While he might have been strong, Bryce
wasn't exactly a natural at cutting the grass. The machine wasn't giving him any problems, but his turns weren't tight enough. Small patches of uncut grass could be seen throughout the yard. And, of course, he had to be shirtless while he did it all. She couldn't tear her eyes away from him. Not just because of the physical beauty of his body, but also out of amusement. She couldn't help but admire how adorable his furrowed brow of determination was.

  Sighing, she left her window to go and get ready for the day. She selected a worn pair of navy jeans and an old T-shirt from one of her favorite bands. Today, she decided to pull her hair back into a simple ponytail. She went to the kitchen to grab a light breakfast to go. Hovering around the windows was her mother and all three of her sisters.

  “What's goin' on?” Arial asked, trying to peek around the four heads to see out the window herself. None of them answered her. Shrugging, she reached into a nearby cupboard for a granola bar. She sat down at the kitchen table next to her brother Kieran.

  He slurped cereal off his spoon. “They're oglin' Bryce.”

  Arial rolled her eyes. “Mama, really? That is not appropriate.”

  “I am not oglin' anyone. I am washing dishes. These other ladies I can't speak for,” her mother said. Her arms went around her daughters.

  “For someone who's doing dishes, I sure hear a lot of runnin' water,” Kieran said sarcastically.

  Arial giggled. Her brother had grown up so much since she'd last seen him. Already he was becoming quite the young man, even though he was only eleven. She winked at him. “Yeah, I noticed the sink isn't turned on.”

  Her mother gave Arial a pointed look from over her shoulder. “I was takin' a break.” She gave the three young ladies around her a nudge. “Go find somethin' else to do. This is not how we should be treating our guest. Especially since he is being so kind as to help with the work.” Patty then turned on the faucet and began washing the dishes in the sink. Tiffany and Caroline sat down at the kitchen table.

  “Like I can help it. It's hard not to watch!” Tiffany insisted.

  Caroline nodded. “I always thought they airbrushed those bodies on television, but his muscles are real!”

  Arial wanted to point out that the magazines were responsible for airbrushing the images they received for publication, but she held her tongue. Her sister's ignorance was another example of how people did not think of celebrities as real people. Inside of Bryce was warm blood, and his body was made from actual flesh. He ate, slept, and used the bathroom just like every other human being on the planet. Of course his body was real. He took exceptional care of it. There was no doubting the evidence of the developed muscles on his abdomen and arms. But she did expect better behavior from her family.

  How embarrassing! “Once you spend more time with him, you'll see he's just as normal as I am,” she said.

  Both of her sisters stared at her, eyes wide and eyebrows raised. She knew the look well. They didn't believe her, and they had no reason to.

  “You're not normal, though,” Caroline said.

  Arial tried not to be stung by the comment. When her family said things like that to her, she might as well have been from another planet. Kieran came to her rescue.

  “There's no such thing as normal,” he stated. He drank the last of the milk from his bowl. “Besides, Caroline, you think studying words from the dictionary is cool.”

  “Anyway, like Mama said, we shouldn't gawk at him like some kind of thing,” Arial said. If he noticed, he might get scared away.

  “He's super cool,” Kieran added. “He taught me how to make a shot every time in basketball!”

  Arial peered across the table at her brother. “When do you spend so much time with him?”

  Kieran shrugged as he rose from the table to put his dirty bowl into the dishwasher. “He's been getting here super early in the morning and feeding all of the animals. Why do you think Mama's let you sleep in so much? He does your chores.”

  “Is that so?” Arial folded her arms on her chest, an eyebrow raised. “That doesn't mean I can't do somethin' else.”

  “But then I would have to tell him to do those as well,” her mother replied. “He comes over, asks what needs to be done. I keep tellin' him he doesn't have to do anything. He insists and says, ‘Just have me do whatever Arial would do.’”

  “Well, he doesn't have to do my work. I'm more than capable of doing things, too,” Arial grumbled. “And I'll be sure to tell him as much.”

  “Don't do somethin' so stupid. There might not be another time a cute guy comes by wanting to help you so much,” Caroline said. “We all know you're not exactly a winner in the dating department. Maybe if you acted more like a lady, they would see you as such.”

  Arial glared at her sister. “You know nothing about my love life, so stay out of this.” She stormed out of the kitchen and stalked her way across the yard to Bryce. Who is she to talk to me about being a lady? How dare she criticize me without knowing anything about me! I've got a lot more class than most of the women out in Hollywood. A frustrated growl left her lips as she stepped into Bryce's path.

  ****

  Bryce stopped mowing the grass when he saw Arial move into his line of sight. Her arms were crossed in front of her, and her pretty, kissable lips were pursed. She was mad. He'd seen this look on her before. Taking a moment to wipe some sweat off his brow, he carefully planned his next words. When she was angry, she needed to be treated like a wild animal. She certainly lashed out like one sometimes.

  He killed the engine on the lawnmower. “Hey there, uh, what's up?”

  “While it's awfully nice of you to want to help out so much, I don't need you to swoop in and save me from my chores. I happen to like going out and feeding the cows breakfast and tending to the garden and —” Arial spoke so fast he was soon lost.

  Putting his hands in front of him in an effort to calm her, he took a step forward. She didn't try to bite his head off, so he took it as a sign to move closer. “Easy now, I'm trying to understand what you're going on about, but it's a little hard to. You're talking at about five hundred words a minute, and with that cute accent of yours they all kind of blur together. Try it again. What's wrong?”

  “I don't want you to do my chores,” she said. He noticed how the accent disappeared and how red her cheeks were. Did she not like it when she slipped into the accent? Personally, he loved it.

  “I'm just helping out,” he stated.

  “You know, I get that, but how am I supposed to help out if you keep doing everything that's on my list?” she asked.

  He sighed and took one more step forward, completely closing the gap between them. With a lot of uncertainty, he placed both of his hands on her shoulders. “Like I said, I only want to help. I didn't realize it would be so upsetting.”

  “Next time you can ask before taking on my responsibilities.” Her blue eyes were rimmed with tears. How had he managed to upset her so much without even knowing? What had he even done wrong?

  Slowly, he lifted his hand to brush aside a few loose strands of hair that hand fallen into her face. “What's wrong? It's more than me just doing your chores. Talk to me. We're best friends, remember?”

  ****

  Arial took in a long, deep breath and then exhaled. “If I don't work, it'll only cause more animosity between me and my family. I'm trying to prove to them I'm still normal, and I can't do that if you're doing everything for me. Not that I mind you coming over and helping out, and it's been great spending the day with you here at the house, but…” She shook her head. “I'm not sure how to make you understand.”

  “You don't need to.” He gazed down into her eyes. For a moment they simply lingered there. Her heart was going to pound out of her chest again, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. His eyes were just too beautiful. When he took the time to listen to her so intently, it only made her want him more. Not in a primal, hormonal sense, but in a way that a woman truly wants a man, desiring every part of his being and craving more
of his soul.

  She had to break contact with him before she couldn't hold back from temptation any longer and kissed him — for real rather than for a script. One step back seemed safe enough. Rejecting him completely was not what she was going for, and she didn't want to do anything that might be interpreted as such.

  Swallowing, she continued. “Good, so don't do my chores.”

  “I think we've already established that I won't, but can I at least join you when you do them? Getting up with the sunrise has been nice. I know it's not necessary, but seeing the beginning of a new day is humbling. And Jojo and I are getting awfully tight. You might have some competition in the best friend department.” He winked.

  Staying mad at him for long was nearly impossible to do. She went from glaring to laughing in a matter of seconds. “Fine, you can keep me company so long as you're not a sour puss. If you want to see something really humbling, though, you should come over at about eight tonight.”

  “Oh? Why's that?”

  “Just trust me,” she said.

  He nodded. “I'm not sure if this is one of your chores or not, but I'd like to at least finish what I've started here.” He pointed to the lawnmower.

  She laughed. “That's one chore you can always do for me. Just make sure you go back and get all of the patches you've missed.”

  “I did n—” He glanced back over his shoulder and then frowned. “Okay, I missed some. Can't say my family had much of a yard to take care of growing up. I'm hoping to leave an expert.”

  “You will be,” she said. As she was turning to go back inside, Bryce called after her again.

  “I'm going to ask about this later, too.”

  She wanted to know what he meant by that, but before she could get the question out, he'd already started up the lawnmower again.

  Chapter Seven