Beyond Famous (Famous #3) (39 page)

The intimate details of our relationship were sacred, so we’d decided to keep those between us, but at least we wouldn’t be saying we were just friends or denying our relationship anymore.  Frankly, it bloody exhausted me.  I wanted to be normal.  I wanted to take her out, kiss her in public, and scream from the rooftops that she was mine.  And she would always be mine. 

I smiled to myself and picked up my guitar, my fingers automatically strumming out chords of one of the melodies that always ran around in my head.  I hadn't had time to write anything new for ages and that was a part of my life that I wanted to explore.  As a cast, we didn’t have as many jam sessions during this film either.  After being apart for three months, Brook and I holed up alone most nights, and the rest of the guys in a different hotel made it less convenient.

My phone started playing Denise's ringtone and I put the guitar in the bed and answered. "Hey."

"Cade, did you get it?"

I rolled my eyes and laughed.  "Obviously not since I don't know what you're talking about.  What am I supposed to have gotten?"

"Well, it's supposed to be there.  What time is it?"

"It's 3:30."

"Well, call me when you get it," she said excitedly.  "Oh my fucking God, Cade.  It's so amazing.  You'll be so happy."

"About
what
, Denise? Bloody hell!" I laughed in exasperation. 

"Oh, sorry.  Harper's sent the finals on the pictures and the interview! I had a copy sent to you by Federal Express.  They'll verify the content before it prints, but the photos!  Oh. My . God!  You both look
so
gorgeous.  And if you don't want the world to know you're completely gone for each other, then these are an epic fail.  Seriously, Cade.  They brought tears to my eyes."  Her voice thickened on the other end of the line.

"Are you crying now?" I chuckled. 

"Stop teasing me.  You'll get it when you see for yourself.  It's clear Brook loves you, too.  So clear."

My heart swelled and I smiled.  "Yeah," I said softly.   "Finally." 

A knock at the door made me jump.  "Hey, someone's at the door, maybe that's it.  Hold on."

I opened the door and one of the bodyguards handed me an oversized packet.  "Thanks, man," I said and let the door close before moving back to the table in the sitting room and setting it down.  "Yes, Denise, I think this must be it."  I quickly opened the package and gently lifted out the contents.

There was a cardboard sleeve that was taped on all sides and a manila envelope with the words,
Interview: Carlisle/Halloway/Dec. Issue
scrawled in black Sharpie. 
Confidential and Contents under Copyright Conde Nast 2015,
was stamped in red across both.

I set the envelope aside and slit the tape around the cardboard with my fingernail.  The knowledge of what we were trying to accomplish with these photos made my heart beat slightly faster in my anxiousness to see them. I should wait to open them with Brook, but I was too anxious to see the look on Brook’s face that Denise had just described.

"Well?" Denise said impatiently.

"I'm just pulling them out."  My breath left my body as my eyes fell on the top photo.  It was Brook and I lying on a bed of flower petals; we were staring into each other's eyes and my left hand was touching her arm.  "Bloody hell.  Denise... " My words fell off as my hand hesitated over the photo.   I couldn't take my eyes off of Brook's face.  How in the hell I kept myself from kissing her in the moment this photo was taken, I'll never know.  She was so beautiful and the way she was looking at me slayed me.  It was so intense and even though there were literally thousands of photos that had given hints to our feelings for each other, they were all times when we'd been trying to hide them.  In these pictures, we let them show. We w
anted
them to show.

Her left hand was resting on her stomach and her forehead was resting on my bent arm that was also holding my own head.  The red of the roses was picked up in the velvet bodice of her dress, but her face, her porcelain skin... she was perfect.  My heart thrummed in my chest as I glanced at that left hand.  The only thing that would have made it more perfect would have been to see my engagement ring visible there.

"Caden!  What is it?"  Denise's voice was panicked.  "Is it okay? Cade!"

I cleared my throat and sank down on the bed next to the photo.  "Um... it's just... I'm... completely
speechless
.  There are no words."

"Jesus, you scared me."  I heard her sigh in relief and I moved the top photo off to the side and shifted through the others.  "So they’re good then?"

"More than good."

"Okay, call me after Brook has had a chance to look at them and when you both get a chance to read through the interview.  I don't want any hiccups on this project.  Jeanne and I have a tight reign on this article and we want it to deliver just what it's supposed to.  The Vanity Fair article comes out just before that, so have you seen that interview?"

"Not yet.  Was it supposed to be sent like this one?"

"I'd think so.  We need to see it before it prints in any event."

"Right."

"How did the horseback shots turn out?  I know Brook was adamant about the horse segment," Denise said, and my hands searched through the stack of pictures and found two shots she was referencing.  Brook was staring into the lens on both, and the whole focus was the long expanse of her leg and her eyes.  Those amazing eyes: so intense.  "Really good.  One was labeled with a headline, “Fairytale.”  I guess that's the headline of the article, yeah?"

"Probably.  Listen hon, I have to run. Call me later and let me know if you get the stuff from Vanity Fair."

"Okay, talk to you later, then.  And, thanks, Denise. To Jeanne, too." I hung up and threw the phone down, moving to lift one of the photos to look at it more closely.

I grinned widely when I saw the picture of Brook and me on the magnificent black stallion.  She had the great idea to do that and Jeanne had insisted it be part of the photo shoot.  I remembered how much she loved that horse. I’d have to get an acreage and then see about buying it for her for Christmas.

"Official fuck you to Pinnacle and their ridiculous demands!" Brook had laughed as she said the words.  "What better way than to shove it all back in their faces then to have Julia on the back of a horse with Ryan? I love it!" 

I was laughing out loud at the memory when the door burst open and the object of my thoughts sauntered into the room.  She looked tired, but she gave me a smile as she threw her hoodie down and kicked off her shoes.

"Hey, sexy.  What's so funny?" she asked casually and then her eyes widened as she saw the pictures strewn out on the table.  "Oh, my God.  They're here."  She came forward and I pulled her down on my lap as she looked through the photos.  "They're amazing."

I nuzzled into her neck and her hair was matted slightly, and there was the faint taste of salt on her skin.  "Yes.  You're so beautiful in them."

"I'm looking at
you
.  Jesus, Cade.  Oh, my God!  You're so...
hot
."

Brook reached forward, pulling down the two pictures that were labeled
cover one
and
cover two
. In one, she was dressed in a sexy top and leather pants and practically plastered up against me, my hand resting on the bare skin of her midriff and the other, in the custom gown that they had made for her, in a light off-white, lacy and elegant. It could have been a bridal gown if she had a veil and my heart had dropped when I’d seen her in it. I was dressed in a tuxedo and we were holding hands and staring into each other’s faces. It was intense and conveyed just the message I wanted. This one had been my idea, because when we did get married, the pictures wouldn’t be public.

"That , beautiful," she observed and then ran her hand over the image of me.  "You're so gorgeous."  She turned in my arms then and laced her fingers through the hair at the side of my head as she pushed it off of my face.  "So gorgeous," she murmured against my lips before we kissed deeply, our mouths hungry for each other.  I wrapped my arms tightly around her. “My man in a tux. I don’t think I’ll ever recover from that.”

"I quite like this mutual admiration society we've got going, love."  I smiled against her mouth as we drew back to look into each other's faces.  Her eyes were sparkling as a small smile danced on her kiss dampened lips.

 "Look at this one." I pulled the ‘bed of flowers' picture from the bottom of the pile and moved it to the top. 

Brook stilled as her breath rushed out.  "Holy shit.  Just...
wow
."

My hand was drawing circles on the back of her shirt and she leaned back into me slightly.  "Exactly.  That's my very favorite.  I never want to stop looking at your face.  The love there... it's incredible."

"It is." Her lips found my temple and she brushed them across my skin.  That photo was the last one that we shot and afterward, we could barely keep our hands off each other until we got back to the hotel that night.  Heat rushed under the surface of my skin at the memory.  Brook read my mind. "That night was incredible.  You were so... "

"Hungry," I said softly.

"Mmmm, yes.  That's a good word.  I like you hungry," she teased.

"That works out well then, doesn't it?" I ran my hand down her leg and squeezed the muscle of her thigh as she sat on my lap.

"Yes, and I could easily let myself get caught up in it right now, but I'm gross.  It was a long day, and I need a shower."  I could hear her stomach grumbling and smiled.  "Looks like I'm hungry, too," she chuckled softly.

"Okay, I'll order something while you get cleaned up.  What would you like?"

"
Food
."  Brook kissed my mouth quickly and then got up and went to gather clean clothes from the dresser.   I laughed at the way her eyebrow raised as she looked at me.  "Whatever you order is fine, unless it's Figgy pudding."  She laughed and I couldn't help but join.  "You didn't peek at the interview, did you?"  I gave her a cheeky grin and her eyes widened.  "Cade?" she questioned.

"Who, me?"

 "Better not have.  I'd have to punish you."

"Damn it!" I teased.   "Now I wish I
did
read it!" My eyes roamed over her body, and stopping on the bare skin exposed above the waistband of her jeans underneath the hem of her shirt.  "But, no, I didn't.  I promised I'd wait."  We hadn't discussed the interview right after we'd done it and agreed that it would be more fun to wait and read the other's responses without knowing what the answers were ahead of time.

She giggled as she took note of where I was looking and purposely pulled off her shirt and disappeared into the bathroom.  The expanse of bare skin across her slender back called to me.  "Don't worry.  I'll still punish you if you want me to, baby."

I couldn't help but laugh out loud and picked up the phone to order room service as the water turned on in the bathroom.  I ordered beer and burgers and then grabbed the still-sealed envelope and went into the bathroom.  I could see Brook's naked body through the steam that had accumulated on the glass door of the shower.

"Mmmmm... Yum," I said softly, then slid down the wall next to the shower, now torn between reading the article and staring at her delicious nakedness.

She glanced up from soaping her body and admonished me.  "Hey, none of that until after we read that interview and eat.  I didn't have lunch."

I felt tension grip my chest.  Wendy.

"What did she do?" I asked with a great deal of trepidation. 

"Nothing really, it's just so damn uncomfortable being around her.  Timing sucked because she just got fired off another movie."  The amusement in Brook's tone was clear and I drew in a breath.  I was always on guard when it came to Wendy.  After everything she'd put us through, I'd never trust that bitch. “To be fair, she’s a good actress, but she’s a trouble-maker. Cade?"

Brook's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.  "Um, yeah."  I ripped open the top of the envelope and pulled out a stack of paper held together by a spring-loaded clip.  "Do you want me to start?"

"Sure." She was shampooing her hair now and my gaze lingered on the curve of her breasts as she raised her arms.  Her pink nipples, and the roundness waiting there for me to open that door and reach out and touch.  I shook my head. 
This is not what she wants me to be doing.

I cleared my throat and began.  "With
The Future of Our Past
the young actors found themselves thrust into the spotlight.  Now, while their characters are torn apart in
Don’t Forget to Remember Me
, they couldn't be closer."  I smiled because I couldn't bloody stop myself.   Fuck! If they only knew, we'd been
close
for months more than anyone knew.

Brook grabbed a towel that was hanging over the shower and opened the door.  She was smiling too, and taunting me with her nakedness.  She knew how helpless I was when she got all flirty and tempting.

"I'd like to get closer.  You?" She raised her eyebrow and licked her lips once.

"Stop being so naughty.  Do you want to read this, or what?"

"Okay.  I couldn't resist."   She wrapped the towel around herself and began running a comb through her hair, sitting on the edge of the tub as she did so.  "What about the newlywed thing?  That dude, Mark, told us that he was going to reference it to the picture of the white dress."

"Um, okay... I’m looking."  My eyes scanned the page.  "Hey, that asshole said you lead me around by the nose.  What a wanker," I said, amusement lacing my tone.   I let out my breath.  "Hmmph.  I think that was pushing it. I wanted to be public about us, but I don’t need people thinking I’m a pussy."

Brook laughed out loud and nudged my knee with her foot.  "You're just too nice in those interviews, babe.  It's just a perception people get.  They scare the crap out of me, so I come off like a standoffish bitch.  Everyone assumes it, even before they even meet me.  It's the deer-in-the-headlights look."  She tried to widen her eyes and stare blankly at me, but she couldn't stop the huge grin on her face and we both ended up giggling.  "You're so humble and oblivious to how beautiful you are."