Player in Paradise (13 page)

Heading to the Starbucks next door, I order a Frappuccino with extra whipped cream and chocolate drizzle. I’m quickly snapped out of my thoughts about Austin when I hear the barista shout out the name “Tyler.” Could it be THE Tyler?

I stare at
the patron out of the corner of my eye as he walks over to the counter to grab his beverage. I’m ninety-nine percent sure that this guy is the Tyler I’ve been searching for all week. But what is he doing here???

Screw the Frappuccino, I’m back on my super sleuth mission and follow his
footsteps. I try my best to spy while hiding behind a large column back inside the hotel lobby. He greets Cassidy and hands her the Starbucks cup. She smiles and takes a sip before checking her phone. They seem friendly, just like Mandy had mentioned at the bakery. I watch as she hands Tyler a key card to a hotel room.

It’s now or never. I sneak
around to the bank of elevators, making sure Cassidy doesn’t see me, and slide in when Tyler enters.

“What floor?” he asks me.

“Forty,” I reply.

He pushes the
button for the 40
th
floor and nothing else. As he exits, I watch him walk down the hall to Cassidy’s suite, which is only a few doors down from mine.

I
quickly call Mandy for advice.

“Tyler is here!” I whisper
into my cell.

“What?” she asks.

“He’s in the hotel with us. He’s staying in Cassidy’s room!”

“Oh my God, I knew they seemed a little too close
for comfort when I saw them together the other day.”

“So, what do I do
now?”

“You need to catch them in the act! You
have to get a photo of them making out or something, otherwise no one is going to believe your story.”

“Ok
ay, okay. I’ll try my best. Cassidy’s going out to dinner with Austin soon, so I’ll have to try and get them when she comes back or sometime tomorrow.”

“I’ll
keep my fingers crossed for you. Hope you and Austin are having fun!”

“T
hat’s a whole other story…I’ll talk to you about it later.”

“
Oh, that doesn’t sound good. Call me whenever you need to. Have a good night.”

“
Thanks, bye.”

I order room service and fire up my laptop to get some work done, making sure all the interviews are confirmed for the next day. I’m still bothered by Austin’s remarks about not wanting to commit and I know I’m not going to feel
as comfortable around him until we discuss it. I don’t want to scare him off or make him angry, but if I’m going to go through all this shit with Cassidy and Tyler, then I need some sort of confirmation that he’s going to stick by my side in the end.

Hours go by
as I stare at the bright computer screen in my dimly-lit room. My eyelids feel like they have ten-pound weight attached to each one. Finally, there’s a knock on my door. I spring from my chair and brush my fingers through my hair to smooth it down.

I look through the peephole a
nd find Austin staring back on the other side. “It’s me,” he shouts.

I open up and he immediately throws his arms around my body.

“Ouch,” he says under his breath.

I pull away. “What’s wrong?”

Then I see it. A large bandage covers his left shoulder. “Oh my God, what happened? Are you hurt?”

My heart races as I imagine him being mugged on the str
eets of New York City and then rushed to the hospital. But then I remember; he’s a celebrity -- it would have reached the news by now if something like that had occurred.

He shakes his head and gives me a sloppy smile. He’s fucking wasted.
Great. I have the feeling that I’m the only one of his “employees” that ever dares to pull a drink out of his hands. Would it kill his security to try to stop him from going from buzzed to completely shit-faced?

“Explain yourself!” I demand
, ushering him into the room.

He slumps against the closed door and grabs for my hand, but I don’t let him hold it.

“What did you do, Austin?” I ask again.

He laughs quietly and slowly peels the bandage down, revealing a
freshly-inked tattoo. I study the shiny black lines that outline the water crashing down his bicep. He leans his head back against the hard surface and closes his eyes for a moment. “It’s a waterfall,” he states.

I study the artwork closer, recognizing o
ur secret Hawaiian rendezvous spot…I can vividly remember the sound of the pounding water, the refreshing temperature of the pool, Austin’s first touch on my bare skin…our first real kiss.

“W
hy did you do this?” I ask.

Sighing, he sticks the
gauze back over his skin. “It reminds me of you.”

He slides down to the floor with his legs splayed out in front of him. I crouch down to h
is level to search his glossy eyes.

“But, why?”
I repeat, reaching for his hand now. “I thought you didn’t want commitment. And this is sort of stuck on you…forever.”

He squeezes my fingers before intertwining them with his. Shrugging his shoulders, he offers me some sort of explanation. “Does this prove to you how much I want you in my life?”

I nod, but I still don’t understand. Wouldn’t it be much easier to say you want to be in a relationship than to mark your body with a remembrance of someone for the rest of your life?

“I only have one other tattoo,” he says, turning his hand over to reveal a letter on his wrist. I’ve noticed it before, but never really thought much about it. He touches it with his index finger and stares,
lifting his wrist closer to his face. “It’s an A, for my mom, Anne.”

I always assumed
the initial was for his first name. I’m taken aback by his openness and I’m not quite sure how to respond. I reach my arm around his back and rest my head on his non-tattooed shoulder.

“I miss her sometimes,”
he continues, still tracing the A with his fingertip.

“
I miss my family too,” I confess. My mother would flip out if she knew I was dating a movie star – she’d probably make me move back to Florida and live at home under her watchful eye. I grew up pretty sheltered, and it wasn’t until college that I realized I could go wherever I wanted to, and do whatever I wanted to do after graduation. I’m glad I took the risk of moving to LA. I couldn’t imagine my life without Austin in it now, even if he does drive me crazy.

“
I was taken away from her,” he confides. “I haven’t seen her in years.”

I lift my head back up to face him. Is that why he said he’s been on his own since he was a child? My heart aches for him
, and I know that I might be the only person he’s ever discussed this with.

“I’m so sorry, Austin.”

He drops his head down and he’s quiet for a while. I let him think in silence as I rub his back reassuringly.

“I’m scared to love you,” he
whispers. “I’m scared to get too close.”

“
Don’t be. I’m not going anywhere.” I squeeze his knee and kiss his cheek.

“No one’s ever said that to me and meant it,” he responds.

“Well, I mean it.” I stare into his hazy blue eyes. “I care about you a lot, Austin.”

He blinks
a few times and I know it’s hard for him to sit here and talk to me like this. “I care about you too, more than you know.”

My eyes sting as
his lips urgently crash into mine. His fingers dig into my waist as he pulls me closer to his chest. 

I press myself against him so hard that I’m sure our bodies will meld into one and pray that he remembers all of this in the morning.

The phone rings for our wake up call. Another early morning, but at least I get to wake up with a sexy tattooed guy in my bed. 

“Oh
God, my head hurts,” Austin mumbles, rolling his body closer to mine and snuggling his head on my chest.

“We have to get up,” I say, scratching my fingers in his messy hair.
It’s soft and tangled and I twist my index finger through his waves.

“M
y arm is killing me,” he states.

“Please tell me you remember why,” I say with a lump in my throat.

He scrunches his nose and closes his eyes. “Shit. I got a tattoo, didn’t I?” He rises from the mattress and runs over to the mirror, peeling down the bandage.  “Damn, it looks sick.”

“Yeah, real sick
.”

“What? You don’t like it?”
he asks, strolling back toward the bed wearing only his boxer briefs.

“No, I lo
ve it. It’s just a little surprising…that’s all.” Of course the one time I don’t escort him to dinner is when he goes off and acts irresponsibly.

He stands in front of me with his arms crossed
and stares down at the tattoo. “I wanted to fuck you so bad in that waterfall.”

I shake my head and laugh.

“Almost as bad I want you right now,” he continues, inching back toward the mattress.

“No, there’s no time, we have to start getting ready,” I say,
tossing my sheets off.

“There’s always time for this.” H
e smirks and playfully pushes me back down.

I f
all onto the pillow and let him kiss my neck. “Just wondering…do you remember anything else about last night besides your tat?” I ask as he’s nearing my collarbone.

He nods and moves his lips closer to my ear. “
Yes, thank you for listening.”

I take his face in my hands and kiss him hard.
“Of course; and I meant what I said.”

“Me
too.” He nudges his pelvis into mine and raises an eyebrow. “Let’s make love.”

“Well, when you say it like that…” I
reply, cherishing the words,
make love
. I can’t resist his smile; and his bronzed, ripped abs call out for me to touch. I kiss him again and grind back into his hips. His mouth turns up as we kiss and I fall under his spell.

Skin to skin, heartbeat to heartbeat, breath to breath – we match our movements perfectly as if we’re connected on another level. Our eye contact only breaks when the feeling is too good to keep them open.

We arrive at a cozy restaurant in SoHo and are taken to a reserved table in a private room in the back. Austin’s wearing snug grey denim pants, a form-fitting white t-shirt and white Converse sneakers. His hair is swept under a black beanie, but a few strands fall loose around his forehead. Cassidy looks glamorous in dark skinny jeans, a red and white striped tank, and bright red lipstick. Her black Chanel sunglasses sit on top of her perfectly coiffed mane of long, blonde curls.

“Austin, Cassidy, this is Karen White with Celebrity Culture Weekly,” I sa
y, introducing them to the third journalist of the day. They stick out their hands to shake and I take food and drink orders for the table.

Of course the journalist wants to hear
more about their engagement details than Cassidy’s new movie or Austin’s upcoming roles. But I’m not worried – Cassidy takes the lead in the conversation, gushing to the reporter on just how romantic and spectacular that special evening was to the both of them. Austin smiles and nods while holding her hand on top of the table between their coffee cups.

I should be listening to their conversation to make sure the right things are said, but after Cassidy mentions three kids and a dog, I can’t help but
want to tune out. I’m sure at this point Austin probably wishes he had ordered straight whiskey instead of a beer.

Karen is enthralled wi
th every word they say and maintains a permanent smile on her face throughout the entire interview. I wonder if she’s acting too. I don’t think I could deal with Cassidy’s chatter about the cut, color and clarity of her diamond for more than five seconds.

Celebrity Culture
promised us the cover story for next week’s issue, and they’ve planned a photo shoot for the happy couple at a studio in Midtown Manhattan following the interview. We hop in our chauffeured SUV and head over to the shoot. Austin slides into the backseat with me while Cassidy sits with the reporter in front of us. He slips on his shades and lays his head back on the leather headrest. I poke his side. “Tired?”

He half-smiles and places his hand on my thigh. “I guess you wore me out,” he whispers.

“Shhh!” I hiss. Hello, there’s a member of the press sitting within ear shot!

He smiles wider this time before placing his lips next to my ear. “I like making you squirm.”

I lift his sunglasses and peer directly into his blazing blue irises. “I’m sitting next to the driver on the way back, asshole.”

Tilting his lenses back down, he squeezes my thigh and chuckles.

“What’s so funny back there?” Cassidy asks.

“Nothing, nothing,” Austin respond
s.

She turns back around and continu
es her conversation with Karen until we reach our destination. We enter the building and are led up to a giant room filled with a flurry of people. I’ve never been to a photo shoot, and it’s different than what I had imagined it would be like. Photographers, makeup artists, stylists, assistants, and other miscellaneous crew are bouncing around, setting up lights, backdrops, props, clothing choices and the like. There’s a large craft services table in the back with a spread of food and some couches and chairs.

Cassidy heads straight to the table of jewelry and shoes
, and one of the assistants turns on a stereo booming out Jay-Z music. Austin bobs his head up and down to the beat as he sticks his hands in his pockets. The editor for the photo shoot goes over the styles and set designs he has in mind. Cassidy wants to showcase her ring as much as possible and the photographer promises to make sure it’s highlighted.

After the plans have been settled, I hang back and observe. As I load up a plate of strawberries, cheese and grapes, I’m shocked to see a certain someo
ne walk through the doors. Tyler breezes through without bringing any attention to himself, and Cassidy does a perfect job of ignoring his presence even though I’m sure she was the one who invited him to come along.

This could be my opportunity to snap a picture of them together, but I have a feeling they wouldn’t be dumb enough to do anything too risky in public. As soon as there’s a break in the shoot, I wave Austin over.

“What’s up?” he asks, standing in front of me in an amazingly sexy fitted black tux. Excuse me while I wipe the drool from my mouth.

I glance to the side and tilt my head back to the right. “That’s Tyler.”

“Tyler, as in, Cassidy’s Tyler?”

I shake my head up and down to confirm.

“Holy shit.”

“I know.”

He traces his finger along his jaw line and looks up to the ceiling.

I interrupt his thought process with a suggestion. “Should I try to follow them around and see if I can catch them doing anything?”

“I think you should just confront him,” he states. “Just tell him you already have photos and information that you will leak to the press unless he convinces Cassidy to break off the engagement and break up with me for good.”

“Isn’t that blackmail?”

“Maybe? Sort of? But, isn’t that what she’s doing too?”

“
Kinda…I guess.”

I don’t feel comfortable about this at all
, but what else can we do? At least we’re in a semi-public place so he won’t be able to freak out on me too much… “Ok, I guess it’s game time then.”

“Good luck,” Austin says, squeezing my hand quickly. “I’ll try to keep Cassidy’s eyes away from wherever you guys are standing.”

“Thanks.”

Fuck…
What did I just agree to?