Mr. Hollywood (17 page)

Jennifer ended up staying with us for two weeks, while Grayson and Jax gave her apartment a big security makeover. In the meantime, Grayson also tried to reach out to Ethan but didn’t have any luck. Turns out the entire cast and crew were deep in the jungle and completely out of touch.

It was great having Jennifer staying with us because we spent all of our free time planning my wedding. But at the same time I could tell she was still overwhelmed with sadness. I wasn’t sure if it was because she missed Ethan so much, because of the crazy guy who tried to kill her, or some mixture of the two. All I could do was try my best to keep her busy and distracted so she didn’t have time to think of either.

Eventually though, Jennifer decided it was time to return to her apartment, despite me begging her to go with us to a place or at the very least stay at our house while we were gone. She didn’t want to do either, though. She wanted to get on with her life and felt the only way she could do that was to be back on her own, at the apartment and return to work full-time.

When it came time to leave for Uruguay, I was a nervous wreck, but Jax assured me he would have some of his men keep an eye on Jennifer while we were away.

We took Grayson’s private jet and flew directly into Punta del Diablo. It was a long, fourteen-hour flight. I slept almost the whole time. When I wasn’t sleeping, I was working on my laptop writing notes for my next book.

My new book was basically going to be a murder mystery where the sexy, alpha male, FBI agent fell in love with a witness to a crime. Harvey wanted me to write a sequel to my Grayson love story, but I just wasn’t feeling it. Maybe I would one day, but not for my second book.

The moment we landed in Punta del Diablo, the production crew rushed us to the set. It was not what I was expecting. I think I somehow got it in my mind that Uruguay was a third world country and everything would be dirty and run-down. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Everything was breathtakingly beautiful. We were staying in the most exotic and stunning resort and that was also where they were filming the movie.

We would get to be in this amazing place for weeks, free from the paparazzi. I felt like I was in heaven. I was happy to be there and be a part of it with Grayson. But still, he was there to work, so I spent my free time trying to work as well.

When I wasn’t writing notes for my new book, I was planning my wedding. My sister suggested I create some boards on Pinterest to help with organizing my wedding plans. I didn’t want a big affair with a lot of people, but there were still some things that needed to be settled, like what I was going to wear, where we were going to have the ceremony, what the cake was going to look and taste like, how I was going to do my hair, and what kind of flowers I wanted.

The wedding was just going to be a few friends and family, but we had agreed to let OK! Magazine have the exclusive photos. They were going to pay us a boatload of money, which in the end would pay for the entire cost of the wedding, so I couldn’t really complain about that.

I was struggling with what kind of wedding dress I wanted. At first I thought I wanted something simple yet elegant, sort of like what Kate Middleton wore when she married Prince William, but the more I looked at wedding dresses on Pinterest, the more I fell in love with the fantasy-type gowns with lots of tulle and Swarovski crystals.

Cat thought it would be a good idea to tweet about my dress board on Pinterest and see what my followers had to say. The response was overwhelming; I could barely keep up. My assistant, Kendra helped organize them all and even had a wedding website made where fans could cast their vote on their favorite selections for my dress, bridal bouquet and even what shoes I should wear.

Grayson and I decided to get married during the spring instead of the winter. It wasn’t that we didn’t want a holiday wedding, but it turned out he would have some promotion to do for a movie that would be coming out at around that time and I would be busy promoting the release of my own book during December as well and we didn’t want work to interfere with our wedding.

To keep the press at bay, though, we decided not to tell anyone, not even our family when the real date of the wedding would be, which was going to be March 21
st
. Instead, we told everyone that it was going to be a huge summer affair, probably in June. Since that was a typical time for weddings, everyone seemed to buy it. We even booked a big castle in Scotland for June 10
th
to throw everyone off.

The Food Network contacted Cat about doing an episode of their popular TV show ‘Last Cake Standing’ around making a cake for our wedding. Because it takes some time to prepare and film an episode like that, they would begin the pre-production process right away, but the episode wouldn’t actually air until after the New Year. Grayson and I would film our parts for the show when we returned to the United States from Uruguay.

Everything was getting out of hand. I couldn’t believe how our small, intimate affair was turning into such a huge mess. There were going to be less than twenty people at our wedding. Did we really need an entire television show dedicated to coming up with our wedding cake?

How could something that was supposed to be so special, the most important day of my life, be so taxing? Wasn’t it supposed to be happy and magical?

The more things got out of hand, the more my mind drifted to the photos that Jennifer showed me of her wedding with Ethan. It was just the two of them. They didn’t have a big cake, lots of friends or anything at all … just the two of them on the beach and she never looked happier. She wasn’t stressed out that she picked the wrong shoes or that she would have the proper tiara for her wedding veil. She was just with the love of her life, enjoying their special day together. That’s what I wanted.

I don’t care what Grayson and I would be wearing or that the facility would have the proper lighting for the photos for some stupid magazine. I wanted it to be just us, for our special day. Nobody else mattered. Nobody else should matter. It was
our
day after all, not anyone else’s. So, how do I tell Grayson that I didn’t want a wedding? How do I tell him that I wanted to run off and get married, just the two of us? Would he go for it? Would he agree to such a crazy idea?

I didn’t get a chance to even talk to Grayson about it because our private time alone was interrupted by a visit from one of the producers of his movie.

“As you know, we like to invite members of the press to the set during production so that they can get some behind the scenes footage. It’s great marketing for the movie.”

“Okay, but what does this have to do with me?” I asked him. “I’m not in the movie. I’m just here visiting my fiancé.”

“Yes, well,” the producer continued, “a crew from Entertainment Tonight is on their way. We thought that since you happen to be here - and right now you are all everyone seems to be talking about with your upcoming wedding - that you might like to be an extra with the Entertainment Tonight host, Nancy O’Dell.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Normally, when they are filming behind-the-scenes footage, we give the host a walk-on part in the movie. Not always, but when it’s possible, we like to do it.”

“And you want me to film the scene with the host of Entertainment Tonight?”

“Exactly,” the producer said excitedly.

“But why? I’m not an actress.”

The producer looked at me disbelievingly.

“You do realize that you are in the news right now more than any other actress, right? You are huge back home. Your upcoming wedding is what everyone is talking about. My wife has called me ten times since we’ve been here trying to get some inside scoop about it.”

“Seriously?” I looked to Grayson and he just shrugged, seeming just as surprised as I was about this. I mean, I knew our wedding was being talked about, but was it really
that
big of a deal?

“So I guess what you are saying is that by being an extra with the Entertainment Tonight host I would get additional media coverage and that would help Grayson’s movie, right?”

“Exactly my dear. Now let’s get you into hair and makeup. The Entertainment Tonight crew should be landing any minute.”

“What do you think, Grayson? Is this okay with you?”

“I think it’s great. I love that we will be working together, even if it’s just in one scene of the movie.”

He got up, grabbed my hand and went with me to the makeup department where I was prepared for my scene. I was just getting my hair done when the Entertainment Tonight host arrived and introduced herself.

“Hi, I’m Nancy O’Dell.” She stuck out her hand to shake mine.

“Hello. I’m …”

She cut me off. “You’re kidding right? Everyone knows who you are. I was more excited to come out here and talk to you than to get a behind-the-scenes look at this movie.”

She looked around to make sure nobody heard her. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that to come out like it sounded. Of course, I am happy to be here. I love Grayson Chase and I’ve heard nothing but great things about this movie.”

I just giggled.

After we got our hair and makeup done, a production assistant led us over to wardrobe where they dressed us for our scene. Her camera crew followed us the entire time, except of course when we were getting our clothes on.

For our parts in the movie, I was lounging around by the pool with Kendall Jenner in a very skimpy bikini. That part I wasn’t so happy about. We ordered a drink and Nancy O’Dell delivered them to us, pretending to be a waitress. But really, what she was doing was trying to overhear what we were talking about.

Hopefully, this particular scene would find its way to the cutting room floor. I didn’t look half as good as Kendall Jenner did in a bikini and that was freaking me out just a bit. I’m not normally so insecure about my looks, but compared to a model, you can’t help but look fat in a teeny tiny bikini.

After my part was over, I went back to Grayson’s trailer. Nancy O’Dell had more to film, so she was busy for the rest of the day, and so I didn’t have to deal with that. In fact, I got so caught up in my book I almost forgot Entertainment Tonight was there until Grayson informed me that we would be doing an interview with them before dinner.

I was relieved when they spent so much time talking to Grayson about the movie. I thought I would be off the hook, but no such luck. After they finished with him, the glare of the spotlight was on me. She bombarded me with questions about what it was like to work with Grayson, my upcoming book, the movie deal and of course our wedding. Did I pick the dress yet? Was I excited about the Food Network deal we had for the design of our wedding cake? How many bridesmaids would I have? What would the color scheme be? I could barely keep up.

I answered the questions the best I could, using the previously agreed upon answers Grayson and I had come up with. Still it was nerve-wracking.

I didn’t want my wedding to be like this. I didn’t want to share it with the world. I didn’t want a spectacle. I wanted my day to be special and I knew the only way that was going to happen was if I confessed my feelings to Grayson.

Before I did, though, I wanted to have a plan in place. I knew Grayson would be busy all through the next day, so I told him I was going to spend the day shopping. Of course, he made me bring Jax with me, but that was okay; I preferred that anyway. I learned my lesson about security and wouldn’t ever complain about his overprotectiveness again.

Jax and I took the jet to Brazil to find this resort Grayson had mentioned before. We made our way to the Casas da Vila and sat down with the manager. I explained my situation and what I wanted from him -- an intimate, breathtaking wedding ceremony for just Grayson and myself.

The Casas da Vila was a private resort with only nine rooms and nine suites. If we were to book them all we could have the entire place to ourselves. That wouldn’t be cheap but it would provide us with the privacy I wanted. The problem was, I didn’t want Grayson to have to spend that much money on our wedding. That wasn’t fair to him. No matter what he may say, it was
his
money and I just wasn’t comfortable with him spending that much of it on me.

“If you bring in your own wedding photographers you can still sell your photos to the magazine and use that money to pay Grayson back for the cost of the wedding,” Jax suggested.

Holy hell! That was a brilliant idea and that was exactly what I was going to do.

The hotel manager agreed to make some calls and get everything ready for us. The problem was availability. The first dates he had were in late January. I could get married on January 23, instead of March 21st. Then it hit me - that would be perfect. Instead of getting married on 3-2-1, I would be getting married on 1-2-3. It was as if it were a sign from the heavens.

I had the resort manager put a temporary hold on all the rooms, letting him know that I would confirm with him later that night after I spoke to Grayson about it.

Although we wouldn’t be having a huge affair, I still wanted a real wedding dress, so that was the only thing left I had to focus on. That was, if Grayson agreed to my plan to elope instead of having a real wedding.

I was nervous, and when Grayson stepped into his trailer he could tell.

“What’s wrong, baby? Is everything okay?”

“Yes. Everything is wonderful,” I assured him as I patted the seat on the couch next to me.

Grayson hesitantly sat down next to me and I jumped in his lap and began explaining myself and how upset I was over the whole wedding and what I really wanted.

“And you thought I wouldn’t love this idea?”

“I don’t know, Grayson. I thought maybe because of your family…they would be upset if they couldn’t be there.”

“Alison baby, they want me to be happy and they know how relentless the media can be. So if eloping helps relieve some of the stress from our lives, I’m confident they would support that.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Plus, we can always have a reception later with all of our friends and family when we get back from our honeymoon.”

I liked that idea. I don’t know why I didn’t think about that before. It would allow Grayson and I to have our intimate ceremony and still celebrate with our friends and family later on.