Suddenly Famous (2 page)

The color drains from her friend’s face, which is damn difficult to achieve since her skin is already so pale. It’s kind of funny to watch the redhead squirm. Then I realize she’s acting the same way I do when I’m forced to meet strangers, nervous, withdrawn, quiet… and that makes me feel like an ass for finding it humorous. She’s an interior designer, so mingling with celebrities probably isn’t a normal Friday night for her.

“Hi, I’m Ryker. Nice to meet you ladies.” My hair flops into my eyes so I shove it back so I can see. I turn to the redhead, “Nice work on the design, it’s really cool here.” The steel noose that usually winds around my neck when I meet strange people doesn’t suddenly appear to choke the life out of me. In fact, I feel pretty good.

Sydney blushes and nods, but doesn’t say anything. In fact, she acts like she’s ready to bolt. I direct my attention back to the gorgeous blonde, wanting to give her friend the respect and space she seems to need.

“So Leah, what do you do? Act, sing…?”

She laughs, a big, honest, joyful laugh. It’s a pleasure to hear and very rare for the Hollywood crowd. The women I meet are usually very giggly and fake. Reality is refreshing.

“No, I don’t act or sing. I went to culinary school and opened a café in Greenwich Village,” she explains.

“Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting you to say that.”

Leah smiles and I melt in her presence. Her intense blue eyes crinkle in the corners and they sparkle with an emotion… something I can’t quite name. Whatever it is, it makes my spine tingle with electricity.

“No one expects that,” she says, grinning.

“You’re from New York?”

“Yep. Born and raised. Just like they say, it’s the greatest city on earth.”

“I agree. I moved here a few months ago myself.” Wow, I never give out personal information like that. Before I make an ass of myself by verbally vomiting my entire life story, I turn back to Leah’s friend Sydney, who is awkwardly fidgeting with her champagne glass.

Damn, this girl is uncomfortable here. I thought I was a wreck.

“So Sydney, has anyone ever told you that you look a lot like Evangeline Allen?”

Instead of laughing and setting her at ease with my joke like I intended, Sydney’s eyes nearly pop out of her head. She exchanges a brief look with Leah and takes off. I can barely hear her when she tells us she’s going to get another drink, because she moves so damn fast.

“Crap, I didn’t mean to upset her.” I look at Leah nervously, afraid that she’ll be pissed at me for insulting her friend.

Leah waves it off, “No worries. She’s just not a fan of crowds. Plus, she has to give Adam Reynolds a personal tour, and it’s got her all freaked out.”

“She’s freaked out by Adam Reynolds?” I’ve met him a few times because he’s going to be writing the album for the next movie in the
Stranger
series. As far as I can tell, he’s as friendly and harmless as it gets when it comes to being famous,
if
you don’t believe the stories in the tabloids.

“Yeah, well, she’s not one to fawn over celebrities,” Leah says, her face flashing a guilty expression for a brief second before she smiles again.

I catch a glimpse of Sydney being led around the room by Adam and smile. “Guess it’s not her night then,” I tell Leah.

She doesn’t return the smile and gives me a hasty reply, “No, it’s not.” Leah changes the subject quickly. “So, what do you think about living in New York?”

“I really like the people. They don’t bother you, they just go about their own business and let everyone else go about theirs.”

Leah laughs, “You know that’s what most people
hate
about New Yorkers, right? They say we’re cold and unfriendly.”

I grin back at her, warmth spreading through my body when I hear that genuine laugh again. “Yeah, I know. I prefer to think of it as knowing not to cross into people’s personal space, not unfriendliness.”

“Exactly!” she says, her blue eyes shining as she gets excited. “We’re not mean, we just respect everyone else’s privacy. Not everyone gets that.”

“Privacy and respect for personal space are very important to me. It’s something I definitely needed more of, so I guess I came to the right city,” I tell Leah.

I look down at her. Even in her unbelievably high heels, she’s still way shorter than me, but I could care less. When we lock eyes, something passes between us, something I’m not familiar with. I’m not sure how I know, but I sense things shifting. The air between us almost crackles with the intensity.

Breaking the powerful eye contact, my gaze drops to Leah’s gorgeous mouth and I imagine what it would taste like. Blood starts to flow south, filling my very neglected cock. When I bring my eyes back up to meet hers again, the blue is almost gone, replaced by pupils so large that I nearly come in my pants right then and there her expression is so hot.

“Leah…” I start, my voice husky and uneven.

Leah’s focus flicks to a place behind me and I watch as her face, previously filled with molten desire, morphs into a vicious scowl.

“Leah, what’s going on?” I ask. The anxiousness I’ve managed to shove aside for tonight starts creeping back in.

By the time Leah’s eyes flick back to me, I notice that the door we opened between us has slammed shut. “Ummmm, I just need to talk to Sydney for a second. I’ll be right back, okay?”

That’s not what I expected or wanted to hear. I turn and look over my shoulder to figure out what’s making Leah so upset. Sydney is standing with an antagonistic looking Kiera Radcliffe while Adam Reynolds desperately tries to calm Kiera down.

“Okay. I’ll be right here.”

“Thanks.” She darts away faster than I thought anyone could move in sky-high stilettos and approaches the tense group.

I feel like I should help, but don’t want to intrude. Leah asked me to wait here, so I’ll wait. I hate it when people invade my privacy. I don’t want to be the asshole that doesn’t give people the same courtesy. Besides, I have absolutely no idea what’s going on over there, and I’d rather stay out of it if I can.

I watch as Leah grabs Kiera’s extended hand and looks at something on her cellphone, then shoves it away in disgust. Leah holds her friend’s shoulders, trying to calm her down. I’m no body language expert, but it looks as if Sydney is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. That’s something I happen to know a little about.

Sydney twists out of Leah’s grip and takes off for the door. Leah follows right behind her, both of them vanishing out of sight.

“Jesus,” I rub a hand down my face and snag another cocktail off of a passing tray. Never a dull moment around celebrities. I hardly have time to take a sip of my drink before Leah is back at my side.

“I’m sorry for leaving you, Ryker.”

Leah is trembling, her eyes moist with tears.

Shit!

“Are you okay?” I take her hand and almost pull back from the intensity of the contact with her warm skin. She shakes her head so I lead her over to a private booth and wait for her to sit, sliding in next to her on the bench once she’s settled.

“What the hell just happened?” I ask. I had heard Kiera and Adam broke up and wonder if that had anything to do with what I just witnessed.

“Sydney…” she begins, then her mouth snaps shut. “Forget it. It’s nothing.”

“Are you sure?” I don’t want to pry but I don’t want to ignore her feelings if Leah wants to talk.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” She fixes her gaze on me, and those same sparks electrify the air between us. Heat builds in my core, flowing to every nerve ending in my body.

I gasp, shocked at the power of the connection I feel with this girl. A girl I hardly know. Desperately needing to touch her skin again, I take my hand and cover hers, threading our fingers together.

Leah exhales sharply, making her perfect lips fall open a fraction. A part of me that I’ve kept buried for the last year comes roaring back to life. The part that craves human contact more than anything else, the part that needs to feel alive with another person, to revel in the energy pulsing between us. Desire stokes in my groin and quickly becomes a raging inferno.

I skim my hand up her arm and neck, touching her smooth skin wherever it’s showing. I continue up to her face. Taking her chin gently between my fingers, I brush a thumb over her full bottom lip. With a nudge, I tilt her head back so I can see right into those brilliant blue eyes, lower my mouth to hers and
feel
.

The loud buzzing of a cellphone rudely interrupts us, making Leah jerk her head away in surprise. She puts a hand to her mouth, still shiny and wet from our kiss, and pauses for a moment. She doesn’t take her eyes away from mine. It’s as if she’s trying to decide if what just happened between us was real or not.

The angry buzz lets loose again and Leah finally moves, pulling her phone out of her tiny purse. Her face falls when she looks at the screen. “I’m sorry Ryker. I have to answer this.”

“No problem. Do you need me to leave?” I start to slide out of the booth to give her some privacy.

“No!” she practically shouts, her free hand grabbing my wrist so I won’t move. I settle back into my seat and she relaxes some, but her eyes are still wide and worried.

“Hello?”

I can hear the voice of a very angry male coming through Leah’s earpiece.

Her response to whoever is on the other end is shaky. “Crap, why don’t I come down and meet with you.”

The man yells something else and then disconnects.

Leah slowly slides her phone back into her purse and sits, stunned, not saying a word.

“Leah? What’s going on? Are you okay? Is that guy going to hurt you?”
What the hell is happening?

She looks at me and her face crumples into a frown. “No, he won’t hurt me. I have to go, Ryker. A friend of mine just got here and wants to talk to Sydney. He doesn’t know she left.”

Leah indicates that I should move so she can get out of the booth. I stand up and help her to her feet. “Are you in danger?” I ask.

She laughs, that loud, authentic laugh of hers and puts a hand on my arm. “No, I’m not in danger. Adam Reynolds? He might be, but not me.”

“You know you aren’t making any sense, don’t you?” My mouth twitches into a tiny smile.

“Yeah, I know. I might have to leave, do you… well, would you want to trade phone numbers? In case…” she lets her sentence taper off, clearly nervous to ask to spend more time with me. She has no idea that I’d like that more than anything, to have her bright, energetic personality surrounding me. To feel the crackling cloud of electricity that seems to form around us when we touch.

“I’d love to.”

When we put our numbers into each other’s phones, Leah smiles. I lean in for one last kiss before she goes. Our lips barely brush when there’s a loud commotion over by the door.

“Shit, that would be my friend,” Leah says under her breath. “I have to go, call me later?”

“I can promise you that you’ll be hearing from me very soon, Leah.”

She smiles right before turning and walking away, headed straight into the raging storm.

“Are we sure this is such a good idea, Britt?” I scan the lobby of my apartment building and then glance out the glass doors to the busy sidewalk. The dark sedan is waiting for us at the curb.

She seems at a loss for words. “I don’t know Ry. You’re the one who said you’re tired of being cooped up all the time. We’ll be in a private suite, so I think we’re pretty safe.”

“Pretty safe,” I repeat. I rub my forehead, knocking back my New York Knicks hat in the process. Britt reaches up and fixes it, grinning at me.

“You told me you always wanted to see a game at Madison Square Garden,” she says. “This is your chance.”

“I do want to see a game there. It’s not Yankee Stadium, but still.” Britt huffs and rolls her eyes. “Hey!” I chastise her for mocking me. “The old Yankee Stadium had history. This will just be, I dunno, a regular old arena.”

“A regular arena with luxury boxes that have leather seats and foosball tables and gourmet food, Ry! C’mon, I want to go. Declan is going and so are Rachel and Jess from lighting. No fans. Tasha promised that no one else would be in the suite, plus it has it’s own private entrance.”

I want to go, more than anything. I’m so tired of being afraid to leave my apartment, of being afraid to be in a crowd.
Fuck it!

“Let’s go.” Before I can change my mind, I make a beeline for the doors and straight to the car. I hop in and Britt slams the door behind us, cutting off screams of the girls who spotted me.

“Go!” Brittany tells the driver. “Now!”

The four girls that saw me are approaching the vehicle, shouting my name at the tinted glass. One is already crying, tears running down her face, leaving a black trail of mascara behind. When a hand thumps against my window, my kneejerk reaction is to recoil.

Jesus!
The girl is in the fucking street! Eventually, someone is going to get run over and killed.

The driver finds an opening in traffic and guns it, leaving the weeping, shrieking girls behind.