Beyond Famous (Famous #3) (40 page)

"Pfft! Whatever."  I looked back down to the pages.  "They're so wrong about you."

"As long as you think so," she said softly and then moved to sit next to me on the floor, the towel barely clinging to her damp skin.  She leaned her head on my shoulder, and I bent to place a kiss on her wet hair.  "I love you."

"Yeah, I missed you today.  I was worried that hag would bother you.  I'm glad it turned out okay."

"I can handle her now.  Keep reading."  Her hand wrapped around my bicep and squeezed.   The clean scent of coconut from her shampoo was all around me, and I inhaled deeply.

"Okay, so it talks about us being here in side-by-side rooms, with the entire floor to ourselves."

"Good old Jeanne.  That should send a message even though the fans already know we're in one hotel and the rest of the cast is down the street.  She's great."

"You said I spend more time on my hair?  Seriously?"

"Cade.  Come on.  Did you deny it? Plus, I lost half of mine."

I smiled.  "Not really.  I just said that I don't like people messing with it."

"Shit,
you
mess with it.  Constantly. "

"You agreed I’m more athletic. Good girl.” I smiled.

She only laughed.  "Wouldn’t want you feeling inferior. How did you answer the questions about who Googled themselves more?'

I nudged her with my shoulder.  "I told the truth.  I said you, of course."

She gasped.  "Me?  Uh uh... you're always looking yourself up."

"I knew you'd say me. Do you really think I'm superstitious and not a good sport?"

"You
are
more superstitious than I am.  I could give a fuck about most things and you know it.  But I never said you were a bad sport.  I just said I was more uh... relaxed."  She bit her lip to hide her smile as she started to stand up and then began to run into the other room. “I was referring to the need to be open about the relationship. I’m fine with keeping the secret, and you aren’t. I couldn’t say that, so I improvised.”

I longed for the day when we could be honest about everything. I quickly set the article to the side and reached for the edge of her towel, and yanked it from her retreating form.  She squealed and I jumped to my feet and chased her back into the bedroom.  My arms caught her and I fell with her onto the bed.  We were both laughing, but quickly sobered as our mouths found each other.

"Sorry, love, I just can't help myself.  Here you are all naked... and mine so... "  I knew the food would arrive soon, but I looked into her eyes and brushed her hair back off her face.  I saw the look there, the same one I'd seen in that photograph and my heart leapt in my chest.

"Yes.  Yours."

"Are you sure you want dinner?” I asked against her mouth, and it came alive under mine.  All thought of burgers and beer was forgotten.  Even when the knock on the door came, we ignored it.  The only sounds in the silent room were panting breaths, soft moans, and hungry mouths as we claimed each other yet again.

I WAS SITTING IN
the makeup trailer as Mickey worked on my face, my heart thrumming in my chest at the contents of the envelope on my lap.  Jeanne sent it to me through the production company using a bonded messenger.  It hadn't hit newsstands yet. I had only looked at the cover and hadn't read the article.

I glanced up at the man working to make my face perfect, and then he moved to start working on my hair.  "Damn girl.  You were a stupid bitch to cut your hair.  These hair extensions are a pain in my ass!"

"Hey, dipshit.  I hear that from you daily.  I get it.  Move on."  I rolled my eyes at his reflection in the mirror. He huffed.

 "It's me that has to deal with the repercussions, not you, missy.  Couldn't you have thought of what I'd have to go through before you whacked the shit out of it?" he complained.  "I kept hoping your man would hate it enough to dump your skinny ass and give someone else a chance at that hotness."  He smirked at me and I smiled happily back at his reflection.  He knew that Cade and I were solid, but he loved to tease me. 

"It’s not that short, and nope.  He's off the market indefinitely, Mickey.  Although," I quirked an eyebrow at him, "I might have a seriously delicious treat for you today."

His eyes lit up.  "Is he coming in to see me?" 

My jaw jutted out as I tried not to start laughing. 

"Um, no.  But this is close.  Before I show it to you I want you to promise not to damage it, Mickey.  You can't keep it either, only look at it.  It comes out in three days, so I have to keep it under wraps."

"What is it?" Mickey asked anxiously.

"Do you promise?" I persisted.

"Bitch, if you don't get on with it, I will not be responsible for my actions!"

I burst out laughing.  "I love you, Mickey.  You're so hilarious!"

"Brook!"

"Oh, okay."  I pulled out the November issue of
Vanity Fair
.  Cade was on the cover and his intense gaze ripped right through me.  Jesus, he was beautiful.  I pulled it to my chest to hide it from the anxious man practically jumping up and down next to me.  He reached for it, and my arms tightened around it.  "Mickey.  Take a deep breath," I teased.  "This is probably the most beautiful picture of Cade I've ever seen, so be prepared.  I don't want you hyperventilating on me."

"I'm fucking prepared already!  Just let me see it!" The man was beside himself with excitement.

I lowered my arms and his gasp was audible. 

"Holy
Jesus
." His hands reached out to take the magazine from me, bringing it up so he could examine the cover photo more closely.

"I know, right?" I asked breathlessly.  He was sexier than hell, in bed no less and his blue eyes blazing.

"Oh. My. God!"  Mickey took the magazine from my hands and looked at it in silent awe.  "That boy is... "

"All mine," I said quietly and glanced down at my hands.

"Like I said Brook, you are one lucky bitch.  If you hurt him, I will hunt you down and shave your head.  More than it already is."

"Shut up, Mickey.  It's not
that
bad.   Now give it back.  I need to be on set in twenty minutes."

"I want to read the article and look at the rest of the pictures," he whined but handed it back to me reluctantly.  I tugged it hard to get him to let go completely, "For crying out loud.  You see him every day."

“So?” He pouted.

As Mickey went back to work, and I flipped open the magazine; my phone rang.  It was Jeanne.

"Hey. Thanks... " I began but she interrupted me.

"Brook.  Have you read the article?" she asked anxiously.

"Not yet.  I was just about to.  Why?"

"Cade is going to be so pissed."  I felt my face flush.  If there was something in the article that was wrong, it was too late to do anything about it.

"Why, Jeanne?  Just tell me."

"Well, Cade did that interview at Comic-Con the morning before you went up there, and well... "

My heart was beating faster and I stood up from the chair, leaving Mickey to throw his hands in the air at his lack of subject matter.  "Jeanne, please."

"It says that he's not in a relationship, that he's single."

I took a deep breath.  Considering all of the articles that came out around the time of Comic-Con and since where Cade's feelings for me were plastered across them for all the world to see and then all of the photos of us together than had come out just after this interview had taken place, I could see the problem.  I also knew that I didn't really care, but that Cade would.  He wouldn't want any contradiction to the Harper’s article, and he was adamant that while we didn’t exactly confirm anything, we’d stop denying the relationship. This definitely fucked that up.

"Ugh... "

"No shit!  The worst part will be is that the
Harpers
article is coming out in two weeks and we don't want that message to be discounted because of this one."

"What can we do?"  I started to pace back and forth across the table. "How did this happen?"

"Brook!" Mickey called, and pointed to his watch.  I waved him off impatiently.

"Obviously, the writer of the article did not verify the contents with Cade just before publication as is what the protocol is.  He's going to be in deep shit from his publishers.  Especially since the same company publishes both
Vanity Fair
and
Harpers
.  It's a huge cluster, and I'm sure the execs over there are pissing in their pants."

"Oh, God," I said shortly.  I wanted to run my hands through my hair but stopped when I realized I’d screw up Mickey’s work with the extensions.  "Well... they have to do something if they ever want Cade on a cover of any of their publications ever again."  My mind raced and the silence on the other end of the phone meant Jeanne's was too.

"I'll call them.  We need to get the
Harpers
pictures out there before this article publishes.  I think that's the best solution."

"Will they do that?" 

"Brook, the entire Harper's spread was to let the world know you and Cade care about each other.  We can't have the
Vanity
article screwing that up.  They'll do it because I'm sure it won't keep fans from buying the magazine for the interviews.  Even if it does, it's their problem, not ours."

"Okay."  I sat back down in the chair so Mickey could resume his work but he shot me a snarky look.  "Tell Denise to let me break it to Cade.  He's going to be so upset, but I'll try to explain it to him."

"Actually, she and I have already talked.  That was our plan: to have
you
tell him."  Jeanne laughed nervously over the telephone.

"Hmmmph," I sighed but smiled.  "It’ll be okay. He won't blame you two.  I'll handle it.  I promise."

When I hung up the phone, Mickey was staring at me.  "I'll bet you'll handle it."

"Yes." A blush rushed up under my skin, which was surprising, considering Mickey knew the status of Cade and I. "He knows who loves him, and soon fans will know, too.  This is just a little, unexpected bump.  I'm sure it’ll be fine.  We've got the best team behind us, and we have each other.  No matter what."

FILMING WAS GOING
well, and as much as I hated the thought of our time filming together ending, I was anxious to get out from under Pinnacle's preverbal thumb and start our life. Out in the open.

Brook had a screen test for a new film, so Martin had graciously given her a break from filming while I was to work on some of my scenes with Leah St. Claire. I didn't want her doing the movie because I didn't like the director, nor did I trust the male lead who had already been cast. Sheldon Richards was a plonker who used his good looks and star-power to leave a stream of women in his wake. He preyed on the younger actresses and crew who weren't aware of his reputation.

Tonight, during dinner and then on the way back to our hotel, Brook and I had a row about it. She didn't want me on set for the test, bloody hell if I wanted to stay away. I knew it was part of the job, but there was a part of me that didn't want that shit to go down without me around.

"Cade, we talked about this! You know I don't like you on set when I'm doing these kissing or almost kissing scenes. Can't you just let it go?" she said impatiently, pulling away to sit by the window of the cab and away from me. I ran my hands through my hair in frustration.