Absolutely Famous (22 page)

Bev returns with our beers and places them on the table, avoiding us like the plague. Her manners are quite different than the first time around. It seems that Drew’s little talk worked at keeping her flirting in line.

We order our food and the night turns out to be relaxing and enjoyable. No one approaches our table for autographs or to gush over us. If anyone takes any pictures of us, I don’t notice and I don’t care. Printing photos of us together would only help squash the gossip surrounding our relationship. I even forget that Steve is sitting a few yards away, watching over us all night.

I almost feel … normal.

As we approach the hotel in our hired car, my nerves start to get the best of me. I’m paranoid of someone listening to me in our suite. What if they tape us having sex? I could never get past my sex life being available to anyone and everyone who is interested in hearing it.

“What are you thinking?” Drew
asks, drawing circles with his thumb on the palm of my hand. “I can tell you’re worried about something. Tell me.”

I stare out the window at the lights of the city then back at our hands on the seat between us. “The recordings
. I’m afraid to go back to the hotel.” I look up at Drew and see his eyes get darker and his brows pull together in determination.

“I won’t let them tape us again, I promise.” He closes his eyes and brings our hands to his mouth dragging his lips across my knuckles. Molten desire spreads throughout my body, concentrating at the apex of my thighs. I press them together in an attempt to control the dizzying sensation.

Drew feels me shift on the leather seat and his eyes fly open, burning with lust. “Uncomfortable?” He teases me, trailing his fingers from my knee up to a fraction of an inch from the heat blazing between my legs. I try to bat his hand away but he grips my thigh tightly. “Don’t,” he says. I let my hand fall away and attempt to control my racing heart, practically panting from the need to have him right here in the car.

Drew doesn’t remove his hand, but he doesn’t move it any closer to where I need it the most either. By the time we pull in front of the Warren, I’m a barely controlled mess of hormones, ready to jump Drew in the elevator. Of course, having Steve with us is frustrating as hell, keeping us from attacking each other and ripping our clothes off before we can get to the room.

I slide the key card in the door and Drew opens it, allowing Steve to go in first. I want to roll my eyes at the two men, but maybe a little caution isn’t such a bad thing for once.

See, I’m learning to be reasonable.

A moment later, Steve comes back to the door and steps aside to let us in. “All clear,” he says confidently. Steve flicks a few switches on the anti-bug detecting thingy and we wait for the green light. It blinks and I let out the breath I had been holding. “No devices,” Steve says.

“You can go,” Drew tells Steve. “Have Evan take over for you in the hall.” Steve nods and leaves the suite.

Drew turns and faces me, a dark, determined look on his face. I instinctively step back from him and his brow quirks up. “Are you sure you want to do that Sydney? Or don’t you remember what happened the last time you tried to get away from me?” His voice is husky with lust.

I think back to the villa in California, he stalked me until I was up against a wall where he took me fast and hard. I swallow loudly
. “I’m not trying to get away,” I whisper. My eyes flick over to the detection device, making sure that the light is still green.

Drew hesitates, seeing the panic on my face. He closes the gap between us in two big steps and crushes me to his chest. “They’re not listening baby. I told you I won’t let them tape you and I mean it.” He slides his hands down my back and grips my ass. Understanding what he wants, I wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck and he pulls me against his body.

He walks us into the bedroom and sits down on the bed with me still clinging to him desperately. “Syd,” he breathes, his eyes half-closed and his lips parted just a fraction. I tangle my hands up into his hair and tug, causing him to let out a gasp. His eyes open, blazing with pure hunger. I inhale his masculine scent and lower my lips to his. Drew crushes his mouth to mine and takes over, flipping us so he’s on top of me on the massive bed.

I close my eyes and let him lead, knowing he’d never hurt me.

Chapter
25

I wake up uncomfortable. My left leg has gone numb. I try to move it but can’t, it’s pinned to the bed. Smiling, I open my eyes and see Drew’s naked torso splayed out on the bed next to me. He’s lying on his stomach, one arm over my chest protectively and one heavy leg wrapped around mine causing it to lose sensation.

His head is facing away from me, so I reach over and drag my fingers through his soft, dark brown hair. He
shudders then relaxes, so I pull my fingers through his hair again, scratching his scalp gently as I get to the back of his head.

“Mmmmm, that feels so good,” he murmurs. Giggling, I do it again. He
lifts his head and looks at me. “Good morning gorgeous.”

“Good morning yourself
.” Right now, he looks hotter than he ever has before. His thick hair is tousled from my hands last night, his sinewy arms flex as he leans up on his elbows to see me, his gorgeous face is slightly swollen from sleep and I see a hint of his dimple as he flashes his perfect teeth at me. I shift slightly and he moves, allowing me to remove my poor crushed leg from underneath his.

“Ow.
” I reach down to massage my calf as the blood rushes back. “You’re heavy,” I joke, pushing on his rock hard shoulder.

Faster than I can blink, he’s pushed me down and is hovering over me, holding his weight in his elbows and knees. “Am I? I didn’t hear you complaining last ni
ght.” He nips at my ear and I shiver. He lowers himself slowly, letting his body press into the length of mine, all of the correct pieces lining up perfectly. “Am I still too heavy?” He breathes into my neck, worshipping my skin with his tongue.

“No,” I groan,
trembling from his attentions. I feel his erection growing against my sensitive cleft and lift my hips to him in response.

Drew slides down and takes a hard nipple into his mouth, raking his teeth over it until I moan.

The front door of the suite slamming shut is like a bucket of cold water to the face. Drew jumps out of bed, pulls on a pair of boxer briefs and cracks the bedroom door open. “Allie?” he calls out from behind the door, not wanting his sister to see his … aroused state.

“Drew? Syd
? Are you guys still sleeping?”

“Not sleeping,” he murmurs under his breath as he grabs a pair of jeans off of the floor and yanks them on. “I’m coming!”
he calls out to her. “Let’s go.” He jerks his thumb at me to get out of bed, “If I have to go out there all frustrated then so do you.” He playfully tugs the covers off of me.

“Stop!” I squeal, scrambling to grab the sheets before he can expose me. Laughing, I clutch them to my chest. “I’ll be out in a second, jeez! Bastard.”

“Ewwww, gross, are you guys in there doing it?” Allie says in a horrified voice. “No wait! Don’t tell me!”

Drew smirks at me.
“Unfortunately, no. We aren’t
doing it
, Allie.” He turns and leaves the room, shutting the door behind him so I can get dressed.

I hear Allie and Drew raising their voices at each other and throw myself from the bed. I grab a pair of yoga pants, pull on one of Drew’s huge T-shirts and hurry from the bedroom before the siblings kill each other.

“I am twenty-five years-old, jerkoff! I don’t have to explain myself to you!” Allie yells from one side of the dining table.

“You’re my sister and it’s my job to look out for you! So yeah, you do have to explain to me where the fuck you’ve been all night!” Drew roars from the opposite side of the table.

Drew’s Boston accent is coming out. Smart girl, putting the table between herself and Angry Drew. Of course Allie always has her Boston accent, so I have no idea how to gauge her level of anger.

“It’s none of your damn business where I was or who I was with!” Allie says, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Yeah, I’d say she’s pretty angry right now.

Exasperated, Drew rakes his hand through his hair and pulls on it, making it stick straight up from his head. “I don’t want you to have a fuckin’ reputation as another conquest, Allie! I’ll beat his fuckin’ face in! That shit’ll follow you around for the rest of your life! You wanna be the girl guys wanna fuck just because some movie stah had you!”

Allie’s face falls and the color leaves her skin. She drops her han
ds and looks like she might cry. “You’re an asshole,” she whispers, then she turns and leaves the room, slamming her bedroom door behind her.

Drew drags his hands down his face and lets out a huge breath with a huff. “Fuck,” he says quietly.

“Yeah, I’d say so.” I grab his hand and pull him back into the bedroom. “What the hell Drew? You don’t get a say in who she dates.”

“Don’t start with me Syd,” he says darkly.

“No you don’t start!” I stab my finger into his bare chest. “If she likes him and he likes her then it’s none of your business. How would you have felt if I had a brother who tried to keep me away from you?”

He sighs and looks up at the ceiling, clenching his hands into fists. “I would fucking hate it,” he says calmly. “I would fucking hate it. Fine, I’ll lay off of
Dexter
.”

“Don’t be a jerk Drew; you know damn well his name is Declan. Now put a shirt on and go apologize to your sister. She’s freaked out about the article, she’s met a new guy, and her brother is being a giant douchebag.” I grab a T-shirt from a drawer and throw it at him.

I look up, my chest heaving from frustration. He stares back and smiles at me. “Yeah, I know his name.” He slips the shirt on and goes to find Allie.

Twenty minutes later I still haven’t heard from either one of them, so I head over to Allie’s room and knock gently on the door.

“Come in,” Allie’s voice calls out. I crack open the door slowly, not sure whether I’m going to see the two of them ignoring each other, crying, or what. What I’m not expecting is for them to be sitting cross-legged on the bed grinning like fools.

“Well, I guess you guys are okay,” I say lamely.

“Yep,” Drew says smiling.

“Yep,” Allie says, throwing her arm around her brother’s shoulders.

“Oookaay. Ummm, I was going to order breakfast. You want any?”

Allie bounces from the bed.
“I’m starving! I’ll grab the menu!” She bolts from the room.

“I’m starving too,” Drew says, getting up and putting his arm around my waist, walking me out to the living area.

“You two are weird,” I mumble, shaking my head.

We end up ordering a ton of food because Allie can’t decide what she wants and she says ‘everything sounds good so I’m just going to get one of each’. Drew tells Evan to get Steve and Sal and have them join us for breakfast.

We’re all hanging out in the living area, joking around and pretending to have British accents. Of course Drew’s is the best, having studied with a dialect coach for a film he did a few years back.

A sharp rap on the door lets us know that the room service has arrived. Steve gets up and answers the door, opening it wide for the two employees to push in two separate carts loaded down with trays.
It looks like Allie really did order one of everything on the menu.

As the carts enter the suite, all hell breaks loose. The secret-agent bug detection thing starts lighting up like Times Square and emitting a loud, piercing wail. Steve slams the door shut, trapping the hotel employees in the room
. Evan and Sal leap from the couch and are in the foyer in a heartbeat, pinning the two men to the ground.

“What the heck is going on?” Allie yells, covering her ears with her hands to block out the high-pitched sound from the device.

Drew stalks over to the table that holds the gadget and flicks the off switch, stopping the ear-splitting noise. He motions to Steve who grabs the smaller handheld detector and brings it over to the room service carts. Steve turns it on and sweeps it back and forth in front of the first cart and it squeals wildly.

Drew walks over to the cart, lifts the white linen cloth that covers it and looks underneath the shelf. Reaching in, his hand jerks and he pulls out a small silver rectangle about the size of an iPod.

“I told you this was going to get all cocked-up!” one of the men on the floor yells to his companion.

“Shut your bloody noise hole!” the other one screams.

“Both of you shut up!” Steve roars, shocking everyone in the suite. I’ve never heard Steve raise his voice, hell, the man barely speaks, so when he yells it’s a big deal. Even Drew looks shocked, and that’s not easy to achieve.

“I’m going to call agent Wilson,” Drew says, fetching his phone from the bedroom and dialing.

Allie leans in and whispers in my ear. “The fucking room service carts, Sydney. That’s how they were doing it.”

“But how? Three different hotels with lots of different employees, plus they h
ad to count on us ordering food.” I’m trying to wrap my mind around the situation.

She stares at me
for a minute before speaking. “I guess they figured that people tend to talk over meals and took a chance. Something is better than nothing to them, I’m sure. And money always talks Syd, they probably bribed them to do it.”

Drew ends the call and walks over to where Allie an
d I are standing. “Agent Wilson contacted the guys from Home Office and I called Sam, they’re all on their way here. Fuck! The Goddamn room service!” I see him struggling to contain his temper as he watches Sal and Evan lift the two men off of the floor and walk them over to sit on the couch.

“Drew, don’t.
” I place my hand on his arm before he can follow them.

He exh
ales and squeezes his eyes shut. “I want to fucking kill them,” he says under his breath.

“Remember, they’re not the only employees involved and someone from the outside had to have been paying them to do it. We need them to tell us everything they know, so we can’t do things that may keep them from cooperating
.”

“Right.
” He smashes his lips together in a hard line.

“Hey,” says Allie. “Can we still eat the food? I’m still starving.”

I laugh and uncover a plate, revealing an enormous stack of strawberry pancakes. “Why not?”

I call Leah after we eat and tell her to come down to our room because we caught the people who were recording us. Ryker
is still sleeping because of the late nights filming, but she comes right over.

Wilson arrives with Fitzroy and Jones about an hour later followed by Sam Jennings a few minutes after that. The two Home Office agents cuff the suspects and leave with them in tow, telling us they’ll be in touch for our statements. Wilson packs up his gear
and shakes hands with all of us. Drew is especially grateful, smiling and patting him on the shoulder.

Sal, Evan
, and Steve leave to go back to their rooms to catch up on sleep after Wilson takes off, and Drew continues speaking to Sam in the far corner of the room where we can’t hear them. After they’re done, Sam says good-bye and heads out for the airport to fly back to New York, eager to get back home.

“Oh my God Syd,” Leah exclaims once everyone is gone.

“I know, it’s crazy, right?”

“Completely and totally nuts,” says Allie. Then she turns to me and her eyes get all big and sad, “Sydney, are you coming to the charity ball I asked you about?”

Holy crap!
She’s giving me a guilt trip now?

I look at Drew for help.
“Hey, I told her I’d only go if you went.”

Traitor!
“It’s your charity Drew, you have to go!”

He just shrugs. “I don’t want to be there without you,” he tells me with his honest look.
Damn. Just damn
.

“When is it?” I ask Allie, defeated.

“The Fourth of July. We always hold the dinner at The Basin on the river so the guests can watch the fireworks afterwards.”

“Well, I’ll definitely be done here,” I respond cautiously
. “And it would be nice to visit Boston with you,” I say to Drew.

Allie starts bouncing on the couc
h and clapping her hands. “So …” she squeals eagerly.

“So, fine. I’ll go.”

“We’ll go,” Drew corrects me, taking my hand.

“Yay!” Allie screams, hugging me tightly.

“Holy cow, you’re squeezing the life out of me.” I gasp under her iron grip.

“I’m so happy,” she says, her eyes teary. She glances at Drew and they share some kind of moment, but by the time I turn to look at him it’s passed.

Drew pulls me in close and tucks me under his arm. “I’m so happy too,” he whispers in my ear.

With all this crazy shit behind us, so am I.