Reluctantly Famous (13 page)

“
You could have just
called me.”

She grins, the big Cheshire cat grin that
made me become her friend all those years ago in London. “I know,
but what’s the fun in that?” She hooks her arm through mine. “Let’s
get lunch.”

I pull out my phone to scroll through my
calendar app. “I have another session at… two o’clock. That gives
us…”

“
Plenty of time to catch
up,” Leah finishes for me.

Shaking my head, I chuckle at my friend’s
enthusiasm. “Okay, let me put my stuff away. We can go to Trellis,
they have that patio that I love and it’s gorgeous out today.”

Twenty minutes later, we’re being seated at
a wrought iron table at the tiny Italian bistro. The waitress tries
to hand us menus, but we’ve been here so often we order without
looking.

“
So, how’s everything with
Inpatient? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in the wards.”
Leah leans her elbows on the table, her blue eyes filled with
sincerity.

“
It’s great. I love
working for the charity full time. I wasn’t sure if I would, you
know, working with family. But I honestly love it.”

“
I’m so glad. I know it
was hard for you to quit pharmacy. You busted your ass to get
there.”

I shrug. “Yeah, but I’m not sorry.
Everything turned out great for me, so I can’t complain.”

“
No, you can’t.” Leah
smirks. “How’s that hot husband of yours doing these
days?”

At the mention of Dex, I turn to mush. I’m
sure my features are all starry-eyed and dreamy, but I can’t help
it. He just does that to me. “He’s great, how’s Ryker doing?”

She grins, “Perfect as usual, especially now
that the
Quantum
trilogy is done and over with. The crazy
fans have really backed off. It makes life so much easier.”

“
I know. Dex didn’t have
the fans like Ryker did, but life is still so much better with all
of that insanity in the rearview mirror.” I picture my husband, so
beautiful and smart and kind. Not a day goes by that I don’t feel
lucky to have him in my life. Especially when he does that thing
with his tongue…

The waitress returns with our food, placing
the dishes down on the table before quietly leaving us to eat.

“
Hmmmm, why do you look
like you’re imaging Dex naked right now? You got it bad girl.” She
starts giggling at my ridiculousness.

“
I do.” I laugh with her.
She’s right, I do have it bad. “He still acts here and there, but
he’s doing more marketing and financial stuff lately for his
business.”

Dex started a public relations firm that
works in conjunction with studios and other big entertainment
groups. They manage all of their promotional needs plus a few other
services. He loves acting, but wanted to use his brilliant mind to
do more than that.

“
Ryker mentioned that. I’m
really happy for you Al. After all the shit you went through, hell,
that your family went through, you deserve it.”

Leah scrunches her face up as if tasting
something bitter. I’m sure she’s remembering the tabloid nightmares
that have surrounded Syd and Drew and to a lesser degree, Dex and
me over the last few years.

“
Thanks Leah. For
everything.”

She winks playfully. “Anytime girl.
Anytime.”

Declan – five years
later

My phone chirps from where it rests next to
my thigh on the leather seat. I scoop it up when I see that it’s a
text from Allie.

“
One sec,” I tell my
companion. A nod from the other side of the back seat of the Town
Car lets me know that he understands.

Allie done?>

“
It’s Allie. She wants to
know how long we’ll be.”

He looks out the window to see how close we
are to our destination. “Fifteen minutes to get there, ten to get
inside, mingle, kiss ass, finish this shit, drive home… I’d say two
hours, two and a half max.”

“
Sounds about right.” I
type out my response.

Me

My phone pings almost immediately.

Allie planned>

I can’t hide the grin that spreads across my
face. Something special is Allie’s code for ‘when you get home I’ll
be naked and waiting’.

“
Dude, could you at least
attempt to rein it in? That’s my sister you’re leeching over. Don’t
make me fuck you up too.”

I cover my smile with my hand, but it
doesn’t falter. Nothing can keep me from lusting after my wife, not
even an angry Drew Forrester threatening me with a beat down.

“
Sure Drew. No problem.” A
small bark of laughter erupts from my chest.

“
Ass,” he
mutters.

I attempt to glare at him, but can’t manage
the intimidating look I’m going for. Smirking, I taunt him. “Don’t
you have a pregnant wife at home waiting for you? Maybe you should
spend your time texting her instead of busting my balls.”

Drew glares back at me. He doesn’t have any
problem keeping his gaze intimidating. I smile and turn back to my
phone.

Me baby>

Allie

“
Shit.” I groan and shift
on the seat at the thought of Allie touching herself.

“
Fuck, Dex! Cut it out!”
Drew shoots daggers at me.

I roll my eyes at his attitude. He’s been a
beast all day. In fact, he’s been pretty much intolerable ever
since Allie confessed to her brother that football player Troy
White, now of the New York Jets, is the guy that took advantage of
her back in college.

In my wife’s defense, she didn’t mean for
him to ever find out. Drew can be very unpredictable when it comes
to defending his family. Sometimes, he can be terrifying. Sort of
like he is now.

He invited us to join him for a game a
couple of months ago in a luxury box at Met Life Stadium where the
Jets were playing the Patriots. Allie, a lifetime Patriot fan, flat
out refused to go. Drew pushed as usual, Allie argued also as
usual. He put two and two together when she yelled out that she’d
never set foot anywhere that was in a five-mile radius of the
‘asshole that ruined her life’.

Now, I’m stuck in a car with a hostile
brother-in-law and a naked wife at home that I’m not supposed to
lust after in his presence.

Fuck me.

The car glides to a stop in front of an
upscale club in lower Manhattan. Two valets open our doors so we
can step out.

“
Ready?” Drew fixes his
shirtsleeves, tugging on them under his jacket.

“
Remember, what you
promised,” I remind him.

“
Yeah, yeah.” He blows me
off in typical Drew fashion as he stalks up the red
carpet.

“
Jesus, this is going to
be so awful.” I mutter under my breath. I hurry to catch up to
Drew.

The paparazzi outside the club snap our
picture over and over, calling out our names as we pass. Neither of
us acknowledges any of them, instead keeping our focus on getting
in and out of this thing just like we planned.

“
Come on,” I say to Drew
the second we’re out of sight of the media. “Upstairs.”

He follows me through the club to a
staircase in the back. We greet people as we go, chatting briefly
and moving on. No one thinks twice about seeing us, even though
we’re not on the ‘official’ guest list. My company does the PR for
this club and for the brand of liquor being unveiled tonight.

“
What is this party
again?” Drew asks.

“
Launch party for a new
brand of tequila. The main investor is the guy who owns the
Jets.”

Drew makes a noise, kind of a grunt, but
continues to follow me to the second level. We hit the landing and
scan the dark room.

“
There,” he says, nodding
to my left.

I follow his chin, my eyes finding their
target almost immediately.

“
Fucking bastard,” Drew
hisses.

He’s right, of course. The asshole is
surrounded with women, none of whom are his pregnant wife, a
well-known country singer.

“
He’s going to the back
room with one of the women,” I say.

We watch as they laugh and smile, his hand
on the woman’s lower back, rubbing a little too low for a married
man.

“
Now,” Drew says, taking
off before I can get my bearings. He weaves through the crowded
space, ignoring everyone who tries to strike up a conversation.
Once again, I have to hurry to keep up.

By the time we get to the other side of the
room, the door to the back room is closed. Drew tests the knob.
It’s not locked.

“
This guy is even more
stupid than I thought,” I mumble.

“
No, he’s exactly as
stupid as you thought,” Drew snaps.

He shoves the door open and we both slip
inside. I pull out my phone and snap several quick pictures.

“
Hey!” the girl squeals,
peeking over her friend’s shoulder. He has her pinned to the wall
behind her. Her legs are wrapped around his waist.

“
Out!” Drew yells,
pointing at the girl.

She lowers her feet to the ground. The man
makes a motion as if he’s doing up his zipper, then turns around to
face us. He turns deathly pale, looking terrified for a split
second before regaining his cocky façade.

“
I said out!” Drew roars
at the disheveled woman. She scurries past us and out the door,
without looking back.

“
What are you two doing
here?”

“
Troy, you know exactly
what we’re doing here,” Drew says in a calm, menacing
voice.

“
Remember Drew, no visible
bruises,” I remind him.

“
I can do that. It won’t
be nearly as satisfying, but I can definitely do that.”

“
Wait a minute.” Troy
holds his hands up as we advance on him. “This is a big
mistake.”

“
You better believe it was
a mistake. The day you fucked with my sister is the day you gave me
license to beat the fuck out of you.”

“
It wasn’t like that,”
Troy whines.

“
We don’t care what it was
like. Just be glad football season is over, because you definitely
wouldn’t be playing next week if it wasn’t,” Drew says, advancing
on Troy.

“
And you won’t be saying a
word about this, or I’ll release these pictures to the media,” I
tell him.

I never really thought of myself as a
violent person. It turns out I was wrong.

“
Allie, I’m
back.”

I enter our condo, located in the same Upper
East Side building as Leah and Ryker’s. It’s dark inside. The only
light filtering in is from the bright city lights. I quickly wash
my hands, wincing at the bruise I feel forming on one of my
knuckles. Hopefully, Allie doesn’t notice.

Stopping in the hall, I bend to pick up a
silky blouse. I bring it to my face. It smells like her, sweet and
inviting, and pure sex. A black pencil skirt is next, further down
the hallway. Right before our room, I find a lacy white bra.

“
Jesus.” My dick is
throbbing against the fabric of my pants.

Slowly, I push open the bedroom door. A tiny
white thong sits at my feet. I pick it up and tuck it into my
pocket, grinning. My gaze lands on the king-sized bed on the other
side of the room.

“
There you
are.”

Allie is stretched out on top of the covers,
completely exposed for my viewing pleasure. I take in every inch of
her creamy skin, from her feet all the way up to her gorgeous
face.

“
I’ve been waiting for
you,” she whispers. “Where have you been?”

I think about the knee I landed right on
Troy White’s nuts and smile. “Nowhere important, baby. I’m right
where I want to be.”