The Price of Fame: A Price Novel (The Price Novels Book 2) (3 page)

“So, we’re all flying down in a few days?”

“No, tomorrow.”

He shook his head. “No, I need more than twelve hours. It’s an important meeting. I can’t just not show up.”

“Fine. You don’t have to go tomorrow, but Taylor and I are. The wedding’s not until Sunday.”

“Fine, Brady and I will come down Saturday.”

“Friday. And no Brady,” I corrected him.

“No Brady?” he shouted. I had known this was going to be a big issue with him too.

I turned back toward him, grabbing his hand. “No, Zac. Brady acted a fool last time they were together. This is their wedding. Brady is a bit of a wild card at the moment.”

“And I understand why.”

“Well, I don’t.”

“Lexi, we can’t not take Brady.”

“We aren’t taking Brady, nor are we telling Brady, for that matter.”

“I am telling Brady!” he shouted. “I’m not letting him find out his whole family flew off on vacation and hid it from him.”

“That’s not what I’m suggesting,” I stated calmly.

“Look, I listened to you last time and didn’t tell him about Colorado. That blew up in my face.”

“I’m just suggesting letting Slayde tell him.”

“Slayde’s obviously not going to tell him, Lex, and by me not telling him, it looks like I’m taking sides. It looks like I’m saying what Slayde is doing is OK.”

“Why isn’t it?” I was about to lose my cool.

He threw his hands up in frustration. “He obviously thinks he’s wrong or he’d have told Brady himself.”

“Let’s agree to disagree here. I love Brady, but Brady has no claim on Arden. It’s been years since they broke up, and he was at fault.”

“I agree with all of that, which is why Slayde should have told him. It looks like he’s hiding it from him.”

“This is none of our business. I don’t like that the boys aren’t seeing eye to eye on this any more than you do, but we need to let them work it out.”

I knew Zac was going to tell Brady, and I understood why. I just really didn’t want anyone fussing about all of this right now. It wouldn’t change anything, and it was really pointless.

Arden really didn’t care that much about all the girly-girl stuff. She wasn’t high maintenance by any means, and she let me take over the wedding planning—which was fine by me. Her mother wasn’t involved in her life at all, as far as I could tell. She’d spent the majority of Arden’s graduation ceremony and celebratory dinner glued to her phone. She even left before our food arrived, without even telling us good-bye. Not only was it rude, I worried about how it made Arden feel. She didn’t act like it bothered her at the time, but I had to believe that it really did. Maybe she was used to it. But that made me even sadder.

She had asked me what I thought about her not inviting her mother to the wedding, and I really hadn’t known what to tell her. When I asked her why she didn’t want to invite her, she finally admitted that she didn’t think her mother would really care to come. I figured she knew best, and if she didn’t need her mother present, then that was OK with me.

I spent a lot of time with Arden in Saint Lucia the few days leading up to the wedding, and she really seemed excited. I was glad to see that because I knew Slayde wanted this more than anything. She did ask me if I thought they were rushing into it, and that really worried me at first. But then she said she was just concerned about things getting hard with her starting her residency, which was understandable. I told her what I would have told to Slayde, that all things worth having are hard sometimes. I said she needed to decide if living without him was harder.

She told me with tears in her eyes that no matter what, she knew she couldn’t live without him ever again. That was all I needed to know. If she felt that way, they could work through anything.

Zac flew in two days before the wedding, since his prior business plans couldn’t be rescheduled. I didn’t mind that he flew in later; he would have been in the way anyway.

He didn’t get in until late, and I was getting ready for bed when he made it to our room.

I gave him a hug. “Glad you’re finally here.”

He squeezed me, kissed the top of my head, and pulled away. “Me too, but I’m tired and hungry.”

“Tell me what you want, and I’ll order you room service while you shower.”

“Whatever. I don’t know what they have.” I held out the room service menu, but he didn’t take it. He pulled off his shirt and headed into the bathroom, mumbling, “You’ve been cooking for me forever. You know what I like.”

“Excuse me, grouchy,” I said under my breath. He was clearly in a foul mood, but I wasn’t letting him get to me.

I ordered him baked chicken and vegetables, thinking that seemed safe, and crawled into bed with a new Nicholas Sparks book.

I heard the shower turn off, and a few seconds later he opened the door, still soaking wet with a towel wrapped around his waist. “So, everything is still all going as planned?”

“If you’re referring to your son’s wedding, then yes. It’s all under control.”

I looked back down at my book, and he disappeared back into the bathroom and reemerged with shorts on minutes later.

He plopped down next to me on top of the covers and leaned back with his arms behind his head. He was quiet. Something was bothering him.

I looked down at him, meeting his gaze. “What? What’s bugging you?”

“Don’t you think he’s too young to get married?”

I tried not to laugh. “Well, I don’t think we have any room to talk. We got married at eighteen.”

“And we got divorced. We’re his parents, Lex. We don’t need room to talk. We have experience.”

Not sure where this was going, I put my book down, giving him my full attention. “I don’t think he’s making a mistake.”

“They were broken up a month ago.”

“It’s his life. Stay out of it. Isn’t that what you always tell me?”

Thankfully his food came then, and he got quiet and ate and let me go back to my book.

Of course, as soon as I was ready to go to sleep, he switched the television on.

“I thought you were tired.”

“I am. But I just want to put it on the sports channel for a few minutes, so I can relax.”

Of course you do.
He knew I couldn’t go to sleep with the TV on, but Taylor and I were meeting early the next morning to get our nails done, so I decided to try and ignore him and his ESPN and go to sleep.

I was almost asleep when he said, “Lexi.”

“I was almost asleep,” I growled.

He turned the light on. “It’s important.”

“What, Zac?” I rolled over, and he was staring at me.

“I need you to talk to Slayde.”

“About what?” I was completely aggravated with him at this point.

“He needs her to sign a prenup. I’ve already had one drawn up for him.”

I had been waiting for this. I was surprised it took him this long to bring it up. “I’m not talking to him about any such thing. He’s smart. He can make his own decisions about stuff like that.” I rolled back over. “’Night.”

“His money is not my problem, but what he has saved up from Price Oil is my problem. That’s our family money.”

“And she’s about to be our family,” I added flatly.

“Oh, come on. Don’t give me that crap. You know as well as I do that this most likely won’t end well. You just don’t want to say it.”

I didn’t share his opinion. I thought Slayde knew what he was doing. “Please let it go. He’s going to get upset if you bring it up. He’s happy, and it’s going to be fine.”

He muttered a few swear words under his breath, turned the TV off, and rolled over.

“’Night, baby,” I said.

He ignored me.
Pouting, I’m sure.

The next morning, he got up when I did.

“What are you doing today?” I asked.

“Golfing and making Slayde hear me out about this prenup. If she’s marrying him for all the right reasons, great! That’s exactly what we want. So why would this matter?”

“I don’t think it will matter to her, but I do think it will matter to him. So if you do this, be ready for him to blow up. Because he’s going to.” I leaned up and gave him a kiss. “Have fun.”

“Love you,” he said.

I smiled. “Love you too.”

I knew this was a terrible idea, and I didn’t want to be involved. But unfortunately, I was going to be anyway. When I got back that afternoon, Zac was pacing in our room.

“I thought you were playing golf with Slayde.”

“We did, but we weren’t alone. So we couldn’t talk. He’s on his way up here right now. I texted him and told him I needed to see him.”

I grabbed my bag again and headed for the door. Zac caught my hand before I could leave. “Please stay.”

“I already told you that I don’t want any part in this.”

Before I could make my getaway, Slayde knocked on the door. I opened it and let him in. I could tell by his face that he knew something was going on.

He nodded at me and sat on the sofa, looking at Zac. “What’s up?”

This is a bad idea.
Zac won’t listen to me, but Slayde is not going to take this well.

“Look, I like Arden. But I want you to get her to sign a prenup.”

“No.” Slayde jumped up. “That’s what you called me up here for?”

“Slayde. I’m not being a jerk. You have interest in our family business. That’s ours. Not hers.”

“Key word, Dad:
family
. She’s about to be your family. Accept that.”

“In a perfect world, I would. But life’s not perfect. If she divorces you, Slayde, she gets part of the family assets. I can’t let that happen.”

“Then take my interest back. I don’t give a shit about it anyway.”

“That’s not what I want to do. I want to protect those interests. They’re yours.”

“This discussion is over. You do whatever you want to with your money. I don’t care!” Slayde shouted on his way out, slamming the door behind him.

Zac looked at me. “Will you talk to him?” I looked blankly at him. “Lexi, this is serious. She has to sign a prenup. Please, Lex. He will listen to you.”

“Think about what you’re saying. You sound like your father.”

“And he was right. You did divorce me.”

OK, now I was pissed. I stood up. “You better be careful. I don’t have a prenup anymore.”

“Where are you going?”

“To take a walk,” I snapped.

“So you’re really not going to talk to him?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t agree with you.”

“Do you realize how much she’d get if they divorced?”

I cut my eyes to him and said, “Then don’t give it to him.”

“So that’s the answer?”

“Zac, he doesn’t care. She doesn’t care.”

“And obviously you don’t care!”

“You’re right. I don’t,” I said with thick sarcasm.

“Alexis. Think about it.”

I held up my hand. “I’m not saying that I think you’re wrong by trying to protect him, but he doesn’t want it. So butt out.”

He was furious, but I didn’t care.

As I headed out to the beach, I saw Slayde sitting on a wooden beach chair, staring out at the water.

I sat next to him. He jerked his head up at me. “Aren’t you supposed to be with your friends and fiancée?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yeah, when I calm down. Arden’ll know something’s wrong. And the last thing I need is anything scaring her. I’m not doing it. So if that’s what you came here to talk to me about, don’t waste your breath. I love her, Mom. I’m not setting us up with a plan B. We’re not going to get divorced. I don’t care what you and Dad think. This is my life.”

I put my hand on his back, hoping to calm him. “Honey, I didn’t come here to talk to you about anything. I was just going for a walk.”

“So, you don’t agree with Dad?” I saw the need for approval in his eyes.

I sighed. “I think he means well, Slayde. I think he truly has your best interest at heart, but I think it’s your life and your decision. Whatever you decide, we will support you.”

“You will support me. Not ‘we,’” he retorted.

“Oh, you know he will support you too. He just likes to be in control.”

He was quiet and sighed before speaking. “I need to know something. Do you share his opinion?”

“Which one?”

“That we’re going to end up divorced?”

I smiled. “No, I don’t.”

The day of the wedding, Slayde was completely fine. No nerves, no jitters. I was impressed. I knew he knew what he wanted. Arden seemed fine too—until we were waiting for her to walk down the aisle. She was taking a little longer than she should have, and I could tell Slayde was about to have a meltdown standing up there, waiting for her.

Zac leaned over and whispered to me. “Where is she? Slayde’s gonna freak out up there any minute now. You’d better go check on her.”

He was right. When I looked up again, Slayde was staring at me, pleading with his eyes for me to go get her. I smiled at him, trying to reassure him that everything was fine. But I went to find her.

If she’s getting cold feet now, I’m gonna kill her.
When I opened the door to the dressing room, she looked up at me. She was most definitely nervous; her face was white, and she was gripping the makeup counter.

“Is everything OK? Slayde’s on the verge of a complete meltdown out here.” I tried to smile, but I felt a little panicked. She smiled at me and assured me everything was fine, and I returned to my seat. I used my eyes to reassure Slayde that everything was OK.

A very long moment later, she came out, and I wished I could have taken a picture of Slayde’s face when she stepped through that door. I wasn’t sure if it was relief or happiness or maybe a little bit of both, but he was smiling from ear to ear, and tears were streaming down his face. It was the sweetest thing I’d ever seen. At that moment, I believed what they said about nothing being more beautiful than someone in love.

W
hen I saw Arden step through the door, I felt a rush of relief. I was starting to think she had gotten scared and decided not to go through with it. I had never in my life seen anything more beautiful than her. She looked like an angel, and she was going to be mine for the rest of my life. I was trying not to cry, but I felt the tears spill down my cheeks. I kissed her head and squeezed her hand when she reached me. She was shaking. I could tell she was nervous, but that was OK. I wasn’t nervous. Now that she was standing by my side, I was completely fine.

The ceremony was short and sweet. Ten minutes, tops. It was perfect. Exactly what Arden wanted. No frills or fuss, just a few close friends and family. Mostly my family, excluding Brady. We had it on the grounds of the resort on top a hill that overlooked the ocean. It was absolutely gorgeous.

After we said our vows, the rest of the party headed out of the chapel, and we got a minute alone. I kissed Arden and told her how happy I was that she was finally my wife. She smiled at me. She looked like she felt sure about herself again.

“For a minute, I was scared you weren’t coming out,” I said.

“I’m sorry. It just took me a minute. You know I’m always a little behind everyone else getting things straight in my head.”

She started to kiss me again, but I pulled back a little. “But it is straight, right?” I couldn’t say that I wasn’t a tiny bit concerned about her hesitation, even though I knew that was her style.

“As an arrow,” she nodded, reassuring me.

I was so relieved that we were finally married. At least now she’d know without a doubt that I was hers forever and that I wanted no one but her. If we were married, she would feel secure and wouldn’t freak out every time she got scared and then leave. At least, I didn’t think she would.

The way she’d done that throughout our relationship had been exhausting at times, and it was definitely something I could have done without. It had killed me to watch her walk away, but I had known I had to. I loved her too much to make her do something she wasn’t ready to do. And if being insecure because of a crappy childhood was the worst thing she’d ever do to me, I could overlook it. I had been treated far worse by girls who’d meant less.

After the small reception, my dad came and gave me a hug. “Good luck, son.” He smiled and raised his glass to me. Watching him walk away again, I thought,
I don’t need luck to be a better husband than Dad.
He definitely didn’t treat my mom the way I thought a wife should be treated. From my perspective, Mom could have done better than Dad, but I could see Mom’s perspective too. She was in love with him. She would rather be missing him and still have him than ever be with anyone else. I shook my head and looked around for my wife and spotted her across the room, cornered by my mom.

I could never leave Arden and be happy with anyone else. I had never in my life needed another human being like I needed her. I never thought anyone would be able to have control over me the way she did. She had total control over my heart, and every other part of me obeyed my heart. I couldn’t do anything about it either, even if I wanted to. We made eye contact, and she smiled and gave me a cute little wave. She was completely oblivious to her power over me, which was fine with me.
Maybe I’m more like Mom than I realized.

We were only going to have two days for a honeymoon, so we had decided to go to Barbados since it was nearby. My director had had a prior commitment for our wedding week, but I’d have to go right back to work when we got home.

Arden would also be starting her internship. After that, who knew when we’d have any time together. I hated our crazy schedules and found myself wishing she would stay home and let me take care of her. Then she’d be able to travel with me—but that was selfish. I knew she’d never be happy like that. She had always dreamed of being a surgeon, and I would never think of asking her to give that up. No matter how much I was going to miss her.

My parents had a bottle of Cristal waiting for us in the jet. There was a note:

Slayde and Arden,

Congratulations on starting your beautiful new life together.

We love you,

Mom and Dad

As soon as we were in the air, I pulled Arden onto my lap and started kissing her neck. “What are you doing? What if someone comes back here and sees us?” she whispered.

I laughed against her skin. “Scott’s the only other person on here, and I doubt he’s gonna stop flying the plane and come back here to see what we are doing.”

She must have seen my point because she gave in.

The resort was amazing. I had no doubt it would be. Mom had set it all up, and she paid attention to every detail. But when we got to our suite, we were both exhausted. I never dreamed I would be asleep before ten on my wedding night, but I was. We both were.

When I opened my eyes, Arden was squinting at me.

“So, what do you want to do today, Mrs. Price?” I smiled and kissed her forehead.

She frowned. “I don’t know what I think about that. What about Simms-hyphen-Price?”

I couldn’t tell if she was serious or not. “Really?” I asked.

She burst out laughing. “I’m kidding, baby.”

“I never know with you,” I said and tickled her.

“Stop!” She pinched me under my arm, and I quickly let her go. “Do we have to do anything today?” she asked.

“Nope. Sure don’t. I’m totally fine staying in this room with you for the next two days.” I grabbed her and started kissing her.

We spent most of the day in our room, which I guessed was to be expected for newlyweds. We eventually decided to get dressed and go find something to eat and explore the island. My family had traveled all over the world, but I’d never been to Barbados before, so I was excited to see what we could get into.

We ended up on the beach at sunset, just relaxing and talking. This was exactly what I had pictured when I thought about our honeymoon. Doing absolutely nothing. We enjoyed the rest of our trip, but before I knew it, it was time to go home. I really could have stayed there with Arden forever.

I rubbed Arden’s leg. “How about we don’t go back. We can hide out here. Would you be OK living in a hut with me on the beach?” I asked.

“Sure, I’m not a real wilderness kind of girl, but it would have to be easier than dealing with the paparazzi.”

“That’s the damn truth.” I chuckled.

When we went home, I jumped right back into my work, and she settled into her internship. Amazingly, her schedule was even more strenuous than mine. I might be at work for sixteen hours on a bad day, but sometimes she was gone for up to seventy-two hours straight. Then when she got home, she slept for at least ten.

I had known going into it that she was going to be busy. She’d warned me more times than I could count. I just hadn’t realized how busy that would be. But it wouldn’t be like this forever, she assured me. So I was looking forward to the future, and I was going to make the most of all the time we were together, which was usually no more than three nights a week.

Arden had just gotten home and showered. “A, you want to go see a movie tonight?” I asked when she lay next to me on the couch. I knew she probably wouldn’t last through a movie.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, snuggling closer into me before answering. “Sure. If you want to.”

“Are you tired?”

“Little,” she whispered.

It was only seven thirty. “If you go to sleep now, you may not sleep tonight.”

“I’m not going to sleep. I want to love on you for a few minutes while you finish watching your show.”

“Mmm-hmmm.” I knew better. I knew if she closed her eyes, she was going to be out, but she looked so peaceful and comfortable that I didn’t have the heart to make her get up. And I was watching a good show, and she was lying on my chest, so this was much better than how I spent many evenings.

At eleven I decided to move her to our bed. I thought she’d end up with a crick in her neck if I left her on the couch. I kissed her forehead and whispered, “Babe, get up.” She didn’t move at first, and I thought I might have to carry her. I was about to when she stirred. “A, get up.”

When her eyes fluttered, I smiled and pointed at the wet spot on my T-shirt. “You were drooling.”

Looking shocked, she sat up, wiping her face and saying, “No, I wasn’t,” at the same time.

I laughed. “Yes, you were.” I pointed again.

She smiled a little and put her hand on my chest. “I’m sorry. I guess I was really tired. Rain check on that movie?”

I nodded and guided her to her feet and into our room, and she went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. I turned out the lights.

When she crawled into bed, she resumed her position on my chest. “I love you. I’m sorry I’m no fun,” she mumbled.

“That’s OK. You can make it up to me in the morning.”

She was asleep again in minutes.

The next morning I woke up before her and went to Starbucks for her favorite coffee and muffin. I was glad to see she was awake when I got home.

She was sitting on the counter in the bathroom, drying her hair upside down like she always did. She must have seen my reflection in the mirror when I came in because she switched the hair dryer off and flipped her head up, so her hair was no longer in her eyes.

She smiled when she saw the coffee and Starbucks bag in my hand. I held them up, and she slipped down off the counter. I held them up where she couldn’t reach them, and she stood on her tiptoes to try anyway. Smiling down at her, I kissed the tip of her nose. “Magic words?”

“Please?” I shook my head, never breaking her gaze. “I love you?” I shook my head again. “Now?” I was about to step back, but she gently caught my face in her hands and whispered, “I want you?”
Bingo!

I nodded, and she smiled as she slipped one hand under my shirt and the other around my neck and began kissing me.

I set her coffee and muffin down on the counter and grabbed the hem of her shirt, pulling it over her head. After throwing mine on the floor with hers, I picked her up and she wrapped her legs around my waist.

I carried her to our room and lay her down on our bed. I tried to stand up to slip my shorts off, but she tightened her grip around my waist with her legs, so I couldn’t.
Fine by me.

I grazed her chin with my nose, exposing the sensitive part of her neck, and kissed my way to her ear. Her breath caught, and her legs tightened around my waist, pulling me closer to her. I continued kissing her, and before long, she was pushing me away while pulling on the button of my shorts.

Afterward I said, “I told you that you could make it up to me.” She smiled and closed her eyes. “No, you aren’t going back to sleep.”

She opened them again. “Will you get my coffee?”

“I bet it’s cold now.”

She shrugged. “Even better.”

Once she had gotten enough coffee in her to become human, I told her I wanted to go see that movie she’d rain-checked on.

That evening, not asking any questions, she slid into my vehicle with me. “It’s so pretty today,” she said, gazing out the window at the sunset.

“And just think, if it hadn’t been for me, you’d have slept the day away and missed all of this gorgeous weather.”

She knew I was right. Smiling, she reached and grabbed my hand. “Thank you.”

I squeezed her hand, feeling excited.

We pulled into the old drive-in that we’d gone to on our first date in the States. She looked at me. “Is this where we are seeing the movie?”

I nodded and stepped out, walked around to the back of the Range Rover, and pulled out chairs and a picnic that I’d made earlier. She was smiling from ear to ear when she got out. “What are we watching?”

Placing my hands on my hips, I pulled her in for a soft kiss. “I guess you’ll find out.”

Once we got settled, the movie started. Arden grabbed my arm. “I love you. Have I told you that today?”

I pulled her over onto my lap. “Maybe.”

“I can’t believe you did this. I know you’ve seen this movie.”

“But you haven’t.”

She made herself comfortable on my lap, and we watched
Mockingjay.
She had been dying to see it, but she had been so busy that she’d missed it at the theater, and it hadn’t made it to DVD yet. I had used my resources and gotten it for her.