Extremely Famous (27 page)

“Yes,” we both say, me a little bit less confident than Drew.

“Alright, face each other and repeat after me. Sydney, you’re first.”

I take a
deep breath and face the man I love.
This is it Syd, don’t pass out
.

“I
, Sydney Scarlet Tannen, take you, Andrew James Forrester, to be my lawfully wedded husband,” Judge Harrington says.

I manage to repeat the words without stumbling on them or just flat out keeling over.

“Now you,” he says to Drew. “I, Andrew James Forrester, take you, Sydney Scarlet Tannen, to be my lawfully wedded wife.”

Drew says the words clearly, looking into my eyes the entire time. He is loving this moment. It’s written all over his face. Seeing his joy, I know I made the right decision today. After everything we’ve been through, we deserve to be happy.

“If you have rings, you can exchange them now,” the judge says to us.

Drew pulls two rings out of a small Harry Winston bag that he removes from his jacket pocket and slips one on my finger. He hands me his and I do the same, giving him a puzzled look.

“I know we can’t wear them out, but we’ll have them and remember this,” he says to me, shrugging off my obvious concerns of being seen with them in public.

I look down at my hand and see a perfect ring of small, elegant diamonds sitting next to the huge solitaire. “It’s
beautiful,” I tell him, holding back the tears that threaten to fall.

Drew is wearing a plain dark gray band in a strange metal that I’ve never seen before.

“By the authority vested in me by the State of New York, I now declare that you are husband and wife, in accordance with the laws in this state.” The judge closes his book and smiles. “You may now kiss the bride.”

“My favorite part,” Drew says. He steps to me and pulls me close, kissing me passionately and dipping me back.

I laugh as he swings me around in a circle. “I guess you’re happy.”

“You have no idea,” he whispers in my ear.

We sign the final document and thank the judge, who promises that no one will know a thing about our visit or the reason behind it.

Drew and I leave the office, laughing and holding hands and acting like complete idiots, our marriage certificate tucked away in Drew’s jacket pocket. Evan is waiting in the hallway and he tries to hand me his overcoat but I decline. There’s no media outside and no one knows we’re here. It is absolutely perfect.

We dash across the sidewalk and into the SUV before a single person can recognize either one of us. Evan shakes his head in amusement and climbs in the front seat. A few minutes later, they drop us off at Drew’s underground garage and he dismisses them both for the day.

Oh boy, alone!

Excited, I hurry up the stairs but Drew slides an arm around my waist, stopping me before I can make it to the first floor.

“Mrs. Forrester, I believe I’m supposed to carry you over the threshold. Since we can’t go through the front door, I’m going to carry you all the way upstairs,” he growls into my ear.

I shiver in anticipation as Drew sweeps me into his arms and kisses me passionately.

“I can’t wait to get you
naked,” he whispers.

“Then hurry
.”

The corners of his mouth curl up and he starts climbing. Three floors later he lets me
slowly slide down the front of his hard body, sparking every nerve from my head to my toes.

He holds me still, up against him and his growing need. Drew kisses me reverently
, then he releases me to start frantically removing his suit, desire blazing in his darkening eyes.

Following his lead,
I kick off my boots and start to help him with his suit, itching to get my hands on his skin. Frustration sets in when I can’t manage the buttons of his shirt. Drew grabs the front and yanks hard, scattering buttons all over the hardwood floor.

Panting and desperate, I attack the hard planes of his chest without even bothering to remove the shirt
from his arms, licking and biting and savoring every inch.

“Turn around,” he commands, the urgency in his voice causing a
delicious tingling between my thighs.

I face away from him and he reaches under the thick sheet of auburn waves to unzip the dress that he chose. My wedding dress.

When I step out of it, I hear him suck in a sharp breath. Turning back to face Drew, I see his eyes greedily devouring my body, wearing only the lacy ice blue bra and panty set.

“
Fuck Syd, you’re so fucking hot,” he growls. Drew shucks off his damaged shirt, and his pants and socks go next. Before I know it, he’s crashing back into me, grinding his hard length into my soft core.

I moan into his mouth, the friction so unbearable that I have to have him in me
… now.

“Take me Drew, make me yours,” I pant.

My words undo any remaining shred of control. He steps back and shoves down his boxer briefs, letting his heavy erection spring free from its confines. I eagerly reach behind me and unclasp my bra, tossing it aside. Then quickly step out of my panties until we’re both naked and panting.

Drew grabs my waist and pulls me into him, then backs me up until I feel the low dresser pressing into my
ass. He grips me firmly and puts me on top of the dresser, my splayed legs at the perfect height to accept him.

“So wet,” he moans as he slides a finger down over my aching cleft.

“Please,” I beg, licking my lips in anticipation.

He twists a hand into my hair and tugs,
angling my head back so he can watch me. “You want me to fuck you?” he grunts.

“Yes.”

“I’m the only one who gets to fuck you Sydney. You’re mine now.” He reaches down and positions himself at my entrance but leaves me wanting.

I cry out in frustration.

“Tell me that you’ll only be fucked by me Sydney, your husband,” he demands, sliding his cock up and down my sex, driving me mad with lust.

“Only you, no one else. Ever,” I moan.

Satisfied with my response, Drew plunges in roughly, driving until he’s buried to the hilt.

I scream out his name and submit to the demanding pace that he sets. His hips thrust so hard that the dresser shakes from the force
of each blow. Unable to control myself, I writhe and shriek from Drew’s intense lovemaking, from him branding me as his.

He lifts one of my legs over his shoulder and the change in position sends intense waves through my body. The orgasm
that follows is so powerful that it completely consumes my senses. As the fire licks through my body and spreads outward to every cell, I clutch his biceps and allow myself to feel every single second of it.

When I finally come down from my high, I can barely breathe. Drew untangles his hand from my hair and rests it behind my neck, bringing my lips to his. Gently nipping at my mouth, he groans and lifts me off of the dresser and places me on the bed.

I run my hands down his sides and feel something on his ribcage.
A bandage?
Was he hurt?

Before I can ask Drew about it, his mouth is back on mine and he thrusts inside me once more.

“God Syd, I love you so much,” he says gruffly. “You feel so fucking good.”

He takes his time, making love to me slowly
, biting and kissing and licking, until we both climax spectacularly together.

Lying on the bed, limbs tangled, I run my hand over the large white bandage on Drew’s left side
and frown.

“What happened?
Are you hurt?”

He smiles.
“No babe, not hurt.” Drew sits up and starts to remove the tape that keeps the gauze in place on his ribcage. He peels away the bandage and reveals a swath of black ink.

“A tattoo?” I ask,
tilting my head to read the black script that curves diagonally along his side..

“For us, for our loss,” he whispers. “It’s where I went this morning.”

It has been said that time heals

all wounds. I do not agree. The

wounds remain. In time, the mind,

protecting its sanity, covers them

with scar tissue, and the pain

lessens, but it is never gone.

“It’s beautiful,” I say, tears welling up in my eyes.

All this time I thought that I was going through the loss of our baby alone, but he was hurting just as much. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that he lost his baby too.

“Thank you for today, Drew. I love you so much.” I prop up on an elbow and look at him. “So, I’m curious about the clothes you chose for me.”

Smirking, he
traces a finger down my hip as he replies, “The shoes were old, the dress was new.” He grins as the shock on my face lets him know that I figured out what he did. “The necklace is borrowed.” He reaches out and touches the heart that lies at my throat. “And the lingerie is blue.” He smiles at the thought of the lacy panty set.

I choke up.
“You really did think of everything. It was perfect.”

He swipes his thumb across
my cheek, catching a stray tear. “Us against the world, baby. Forever.”

“Forever,” I whisper back.

Leah freaks out the next day when I tell her we got married. We’re sitting in Drew’s trailer on the set of his and Ryker’s movie when I break the news to her.

“Holy shit!” she screams
, jumping up from her seat next to me on the couch. “You’re fucking married?”

“Shhh
! Someone is going to hear you!” I tug on her arm, pulling her back down.

“I can’t believe it! And I can’t believe you didn’t invite me!”

“We didn’t invite anyone Leah. I didn’t even know I was getting married,” I exclaim. “My parents don’t even know.”

She huffs loudly, as if it’s just so difficult to be my friend.
“Well, I guess I forgive you. It sucks that you guys can’t even wear your rings,” she says, her gaze flicking down to my empty hand.

I frown as my eyes follow hers to my naked finger,
“Yeah, it does. But with the massive pack of rabid paparazzi following us everywhere right now, it’s better to not draw any more attention to ourselves.”

“I agree
.” She cracks an evil smile, “Drew must be going crazy not being able to tell anyone,” she laughs.

“You’d be surprised,” I tell her. “I think that Nakedgate has given him a change of heart about how vicious the media can be.”

“Nakedgate?” Leah scoffs. “That’s awesome.”

“Yeah,
it’s what we’ve been calling it.” I laugh with her. It feels good to be normal, having girl talk with my best friend.

“So, what’s going on with your project with Adam,” she asks, changing the conversation fast enough to give me whiplash.

It doesn’t escape her sharp eyes that I pale when she brings up his name. I haven’t told her about the kiss, or about Drew’s history with him.

“What are you not telling me,” she prods. She knows me too well.

I reluctantly tell her about the night out at the bar with Adam, our dinner the next day, how he kissed me, and how Drew reacted when I told him about it.

“Oh my God,” she says
, stunned. “Honestly, I used to think he wanted you in that way, but then he never made a move so I figured he truly wanted to just be your friend.”

“I don’t know Leah. Part of me thinks he was just swept up in the emotions of the moment and didn’t really mean it in a romantic way. Part of me thinks he really just hates Drew so much that he’s doing all of this just to piss him off
.”

“No way, it just doesn’t seem like him
to be that much of a vindictive bastard. And you knew him before you even met Drew, there’s no way he could be that devious.”

“I know. He really seems like a genuinely nice person. I just don’t know what to think. I have to finish the project, which will probably be another five months of work. Drew is going to
go ballistic when I tell him I’m not quitting. He’s not going to want me seeing Adam.”

“Can you blame him
at this point, Syd?” Leah asks.

“No, I can’t.”
It’s going to lead to an almighty fight when I mention going back to work.

The next few days are perfect. Well, as perfect as it can be when dozens of paparazzi are following you everywhere you go and the world can’t seem to stop talking about naked pictures of you.
Like everything else unpleasant in my life, I avoid the Adam conversation for now, preferring to wait for the right time.

Which would be never.

Drew goes to work every day on his movie with Ryker,
Breaking the Truth
, that’s filming right here in the city. Most days I either go with him and work on my laptop or I head uptown to hang with Leah at her place. Since Leah has been with Ryker for a while, the press knows her by sight too. We’ve gotten pretty good at going out with our ‘human-repelling outfits’ on, so we can shop and eat out in peace.

I even resume my daily runs, leaving out the back or having Bruce drops me and one of the S
EALS off somewhere away from the paparazzi. Sal loves running and makes for good company. Interestingly, I’ve found that Steve absolutely hates it and tries not to be on shift during my usual exercise times.

One of the guys accompanies me everywhere every day, but I find that I don’t mind anymore. Since the
horrific naked photo scandal, I’ve pretty much come to terms with my new life and accepted everything that comes with it. The good and the bad; Bruce, Sal, Steve, Evan, Jane, my Dad, paparazzi, screaming fans, disguises… everything.

The one thing I really miss
besides my freedom is my loft. I miss Richard and the coziness of my own space. But I’m married to Drew now, and his place just makes more sense. It’s where he runs his company, it’s where Jane works, it has enough rooms to keep the guys overnight if we need them and still have some sliver of privacy.

Drew wants me to sell the loft, but I can’t just yet. It means leaving behind the last piece of my life that’s just mine. He says he understands, but I can tell he doesn’t like it.

Drew just got home from the set and we’re having dinner when I decide that I can’t put off the Adam conversation any longer.

“So, I’ve been getting a lot of emails from my office about my project.”

I watch as Drew stills and his demeanor instantly changes from pleasantly relaxed to silently disturbed.

“And?” he asks, letting his one word reply hang in the air, daring me to continue.

I meet his angrily flashing eyes. “And I have to get back to work. I can’t damage the firm’s reputation or mine.”

“Over my dead body will you be alone with that prick ever again,” he threatens.

I sigh and put my fork down on my plate. “Drew, I’ve never been alone with Adam. One of the guys always goes with me,” I explain for the hundredth time.

“Yeah, except for the time his
disgusting lips landed on yours,” he taunts.

“I’m not rehashing that again Drew. I really think you two should sit down and talk about…”

“Fuck that!” he bellows, throwing his napkin on the table and leaping up to stand behind his chair.

I wave my hand at him dismissively.
“Fine, don’t talk to him. I’m letting him know that I’ll begin the demo immediately and that I fully intend to have the project completed by February.”

Drew’s knuckles turn white from gripping the back of his chair, his neck is strained and red, and his eyes are cold and calculating. I can tell that he’s trying to come up with a reason to keep me from going back to work on Adam’s penthouse.

“Then I have one request,” he says evenly, completely opposite in demeanor to his current physical appearance.

“What’s that?” I ask, knowing I’m not going to like whatever he says.

“I get to meet with the douchbag first,” he growls.

“But
you… you just said that you didn’t want to sit down with him.”

“I don’t want to sit
, Sydney. I’m going to let him know what will happen if he crosses that line with you again.”

I can see the determination on Drew’s face. He isn’t going to let this go, and honestly, Drew deserves the chance to confront Adam over that kiss.

“Fine, I’ll text Adam and set something up. How’s tomorrow?”

“I’m off tomorrow,” he says through gritted teeth.

“I’ll see if he’s available.”

How do I keep ending up in these situations?

Adam is not happy about Drew coming along with me today, but he agreed to it in order to move ahead with the remodel. He knows that he shouldn’t have kissed me and I think he truly regrets it, but I can’t change Drew’s mind about doing this.

Steve stands behind us in the elevator up to Adam’s penthouse. The
blistering anger vibrating off of Drew would register on a seismometer if I had one handy. He’s been working out with Damien a lot since we got back from Belize. Now, with a potential confrontation with Adam dangling in front of him like the gold ring at a merry-go-round, I’m afraid that he won’t be able to hold back. I’m grateful Steve is here, if only to keep Drew from killing Adam.

I ring the doorbell with a trembling finger and wait.

Holy shit, the stress is going to kill me. I feel like a girl bringing her Dad to meet her first date. The thought makes a nervous laugh bubble up and escape from my throat. As if I would have any clue what that was like.

Drew glares over at my inappropriate noise just as the door opens.

“Morning Sydney,” Adam says to me, smiling. “Hello,” he says coldly to Drew.

“Hey Adam,” I respond as he steps aside to let us in.

God, this is so awkward!

“Reynolds,” Drew spits out venomously.

I clutch at Drew’s arm and hold tight, hoping that the contact will keep him somewhat calm.

“Drink?” Adam asks politely.

I shake my head and Drew just glares at him in an
‘are you fucking kidding me’
way.

“Alright, then
. Say your piece, Forrester,” Adam says in an annoyed manner. “I’ve already apologized to Sydney multiple times, so what is it that you want?”

Drew clenches and unclenches his fist, his bicep flexing under my hand. He’s like a race car revving its engine at the starting line, ready to shift into gear and take off.

“What is your real interest in Sydney? Huh Reynolds? Fabricating this bullshit project to keep her with you for months on end? Is it just to fucking piss me off, or do you have other reasons?” Drew hisses.

A sneer that I never would have expected to see on Adam’s perpetually happy face curls up the corner of his mouth.

“It’s not to fucking piss you off, but I must admit that it’s a lovely side effect of me hiring her,” he taunts.

Adam’s eyes flick over to me and he sees me standing in shock, my mouth gaping at his hostility. Drew I expect this from, but from Adam it’s totally foreign.

“Go fuck yourself Reynolds!” Drew yells as he takes a step forward. Steve jumps in front of him and holds his hands against Drew’s chest.

“Don’t do it man,” Steve says quietly.

“Adam,” I plead with the gorgeous man that I’ve come to know so well, at least I thought I knew him well. His hazel eyes meet mine and I see regret there.

“Sorry Sydney.” He huffs out a breath in annoyance as he looks back at Drew. “Listen, I don’t give a fuck about you and you don’t give a fuck about me; but I’d never fucking use Sydney for anything! She’s my friend and that’s all. And she’s a bloody fucking brilliant designer. That’s why she’s here,” he says angrily.

“And I’m just supposed to trust you?” Drew says mockingly.

“I don’t give a bloody fucking shit
e if you trust me!” Adam replies with a smirk.

And that’s all it takes. Drew leaps around Steve and lands a punch squarely on Adam’s jaw
, sending him stumbling back a few steps. Adam’s eyes widen as he puts his hand on his chin and scowls.

“I guess I deserved that,” Adam says
calmly as he massages his jaw.

“Stop!” I yell, unable to take this anymore.
I stand between the two men, the cloud of testosterone practically choking me. “You two are acting like complete assholes! Get over your shit and move on!”

All three men are shocked by my outburst. They should realize by now that
I don’t fuck around anymore.

“You!” I stab a finger at Adam. “You and I are friends and that’s it. You will not insult me by insulting Drew.”

Adam stands there, speechless.

“And y
ou!” I yell, pointing at Drew, “will trust
me
because that’s the only thing that matters!”

I throw my arms up in frustration, “If you two would just talk
, you’d see that this entire bullshit rivalry is all built around a giant misunderstanding. Since you won’t act like adults, then neither of you gets a say here. I’m telling you what’s going to happen.” I’m on a roll so I keep on talking. “I’m finishing this project. I’m going to do the interview for
Architectural Digest
and bring the attention to my mom’s firm that it deserves. There will be no more ulterior motives or suspicions from either one of you idiots!” I turn to Drew, “And no more fighting!”

Neither of the men says a word. The dressing down I just gave them is certainly a first for them both. Their egos are so massive that they probably needed someone to remind them that they’re just regular, stupid, moronic men just like every other idiot out there.

“Adam,” I say politely, “the workers will be here Saturday. You will need to find somewhere else to live until the project is done.”

He blinks a few times to clear his head
and finally drops his hand from his face. “Right, well I’m headed back to the U.K. in a few days so that’s not a problem.”

“Oh,” I reply.

I notice Drew’s head snap up when he hears that Adam is leaving the country.

“When will you be back? I’ll need you to approve things here and there.”

“It’ll be at least a month, maybe even after Christmas,” he says, seemingly embarrassed by this conversation. “We’re done with the Quantum Stranger album, so I’m going home to… to see some old friends before my solo drops and I have to go on tour.”