Destined for the Star (Starstruck) (26 page)

Olivia started giggling then.

”Thanks Andy, I’ll try not to let you down.”
 

”Good, that’s settled then. Everybody’s looking forward to me being tortured tonight for at least a couple of hours. Glad to be of service,” Nate said, his voice dripping with sarcasm but his eyes shone with happiness. ”Oh, and Andy? Could you arrange for a driver to take this car back to its owner?”

”You didn’t steal a car, did you, Nate?” came Andy’s disapproving voice over the phone.

”No, man, don’t be silly,” Nate snorted. ”I didn’t have to, I have very powerful friends up here in Viking-land.” He winked at Olivia.

”Oh, and talk to Gabe about upping security tonight. I’m not taking any chances,” he added. ”We’ll be at Arlanda in 20 minutes or so. I’ll leave the car keys with airport security, all right?”

”Okay,” Andy replied. ”Have a safe flight and see you in a couple of hours.”

”Thanks, see you then, Andy.” Nate hung up.

”What’s that about security?” Olivia asked.

”There are always at least one bodyguard with me at premières and such. The fans tend to get a little overexcited sometimes. It’s just a precaution.”

”What if they don’t like that you’re bringing a date, Nate?”

”What? The fans? I won’t lie to you, Olivia, it might get a little rowdy but I’ll never let anything happen to you. We’ll be well taken care of. Most of my fans are really nice, they’ll be happy for me.”

”Or really disappointed you’re not with Julia in real life too,” she said quietly.

He looked over at her but didn’t say anything.

Chapter 19

Andy must be some kind of a magician, or else he had very powerful friends everywhere, because he somehow managed to have the private jet refueled and ready to go, flight plan approved and everything, within an hour. Olivia had only been aboard a plane a couple of times before, and not at all since her mom died. But she remembered how magical she thought flying was so this was something she really looked forward to. But as soon as she was seated next to Nate and very comfortably snuggled into his side, his arms holding her tight as if he wanted to make sure she wasn’t going anywhere, she felt so relaxed that her body immediately succumbed to her need for sleep. She slept in his arms the whole two hour flight and only awoke as they touched down in Berlin.
 

When she realized where she was, and that in just a few hours she would be walking the red carpet in front of a lot of people, next to the main attraction of the event, she almost panicked. But she managed to rein herself in, by reminding herself why she was doing this. She was going to walk that carpet with Nate, no matter how terrifying she found it to be, to somehow pay him back a little for risking everything for her at the press conference earlier that day. She was terrified, not only of being caught in the glare of the camera lights with nowhere to hide, but even more so of the excited, screaming crowds that would surround them. She trusted completely in Nate when he said they would be safe, but part of her, perhaps irrationally, still feared the madness of the multitudes that may so easily get out of control, if something triggered mass hysteria. Even though her fear of crowds wasn’t completely rational, and therefore even harder to appease, she knew she could, and she would, brave anything for Nate. She could do anything for him; his love gave her super-human strength. She felt as if she could move mountains for him if need be.

Before they exited the plane, Nate warned her that it would be hectic at the hotel, getting ready for the première, since they had so little time before they had to leave for the red carpet, and he didn’t want her to be overwhelmed or frightened by that frantic energy. She smiled and assured him she’d be fine.
 

Waiting in the town-car at the airport were Andy as well as Nate’s manager Dan, apparently utilizing every second of time before the première to catch up on things. Dan didn’t waste any time at all. As soon as Olivia sat down in the seat opposite him he lunged forward and grabbed her hand, shaking it profusely.
 

”I’m assuming you’re Olivia,” he said. ”Andy clued me in,” he explained upon seeing her slightly confused expression. ”I’m Dan, Nate’s manager. I can’t begin to thank you for getting him back here in time for the première. He very nearly gave me a heart attack when he pulled that stunt at the press conference this morning.”

”You should be very grateful to her, Dan,” Nate interrupted. ”I wouldn’t have come back at all if she hadn’t agreed to come with me. She is the most important thing to me and I refuse to be separated from her at any moment during the rest of the tour, is that clear?”

Dan must have understood there’d be no point in arguing with him.

”All right, I’ll take care of it,” he said. ”The movie’s getting a ton of free publicity thanks to your verbal diarrhea this morning. The studio is beside themselves with joy, especially now that you’ve come back for the première. They’ll trip over themselves to please you. Wouldn’t surprise me if they get Olivia some ridiculously expensive gift out of sheer gratitude that she managed to talk some sense into you.”

”No, please, tell them I want to keep as low a profile as possible,” Olivia blurted out then, terrified at the thought of drawing any more attention to herself than absolutely necessary. Even if it only was from the studio, and behind the scenes so to speak. ”As close to Nate as possible, please, but as much in the background as possible as well. I’m not at all used to being in the spotlight, and, frankly, it terrifies me.”
 

Nate pulled her closer into his side then, and kissed the top of her head.

”Have you gone over the security aspects with the organizers?” he asked.

”All taken care of,” Dan replied. ”You’ll have Rick there as usual, he’ll be top dog. And an additional three guys, plus Julia’s security, of course, should things get too heated.”

”How is she?” Nate asked then. ”She okay with me bringing some fierce competition to the carpet tonight?” He smiled down tenderly at Olivia.
 

”I think so. And if she isn’t she should just suck it up. After all, she owes you big after you essentially having bearded for her for free for so many years.”

Olivia didn’t understand much of the conversation between the men but she was busy taking in nighttime Berlin as it rushed past the car’s windows anyway, so she didn’t mind. She’d ask Nate later what bearding meant.
 

* * *

At the hotel, there was a whole team of people waiting for them. She soon realized that every one of them had the single objective in mind of making them both look perfect for the première. Although she couldn’t imagine Nate needed anything done. He looked like a god already when he rolled out of bed in the morning. She smiled at the thought.
 

”Olivia,” Andy called out and pulled her back to the present, ”this is Myra. She’s brought a few different dresses for you to choose from.” A petite brunette in her thirties smiled at Olivia and offered her hand in greeting.

”You are absolutely stunning,” she said. ”Randolph will be thrilled to see the pictures from the première of you in one of his designs.”

Olivia blushed and murmured a thank you.
 

The first dress Myra took off of the rack standing next to her, was a simply cut, bright red, sleeveless gown with a plunging neckline, almost to the navel.
 

”It’s gorgeous,” Olivia said, stunned by the beauty of the design and the fabric. ”But I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to pull it off. I’d be too self-conscious wearing it,” she admitted.
 

”It is beautiful and incredibly sexy,” Nate agreed, ”and you’d look amazing in it, but I’m much too selfish to have you look that sexy in public.” He looked at her with a mischievous glint to his eyes. ”Now if we were going on a private date, it would be another matter entirely.”
 

”What else have you got?” He turned back to Myra.

She showed them a soft gray, satin and lace full-length gown next. It too was exquisite, but it was the third dress she pulled off the rack, that had Olivia’s heart beating faster. It was a midnight blue silk gown with a draped silk-chiffon one shoulder strap leaving the other shoulder and a lot of the back bare. Cut and draped to seductively hug the curves of the woman wearing it without showing a lot of skin, Olivia instinctively knew that it would make the most of her hour glass shape. It was tightly nipped in at the waist and fell in asymmetric silk-chiffon panels to the ground. A tantalizing thigh-high split in the front of the left leg would make it easier to move in the dress but also show off the shoes Andy had hopefully managed to find for her. She hoped he’d found her a really sexy pair just like he’d promised he would.

Her face must have lit up when she saw it, because Myra and Nate both laughed at seeing her expression, and Myra said,

”I think we have a winner. There’s really no need for me to show you the last two, is there, Olivia?”

”No,” Olivia admitted sheepishly, ”this one stole my heart.”

”Excellent choice,” Myra agreed.

”It’s gorgeous, perfect for your amazing figure,” Nate said and smiled down at her. ”I’ll go get ready and meet you here again when you’re ready too, all right, love?” He bent down and kissed her gently on the lips. ”I love you, Olivia,” he murmured before Myra whisked her away to the next room to try on the dress.

When she had the dress on, Myra turned her around to look in the floor-to-ceiling mirror. Olivia gasped when she saw herself in the mirror. Even without makeup she looked amazing. The rich blue shade of the fabric brought out her eyes and enhanced the creamy paleness of her skin. It made her hair glow like dying embers in the dark. The draped design caressed her curves and made her look incredibly feminine.

”The perfect dress for you,” Mira said, deep satisfaction in her voice. ”The cut shows off your gorgeous womanly figure. Mr Montgomery is a very lucky man,” she smiled at Olivia.

”Thank you,” Olivia blushed, ”that’s very kind of you.”

”Not at all, it’s the truth. Now, the only thing I’m going to do while you’re getting your hair and makeup done, is nip it in at the waist just a little more. You have a really tiny waist and it would be a shame not to flaunt it, I think.”

”Thank you for helping me,” Olivia said sincerely, ”I’ve never done anything like this before and I’m terrified of embarrassing Nate somehow, so I really appreciate your help.”

Myra smiled and squeezed her hand encouragingly.

”Trust me, Olivia, there is no way you could possibly embarrass Mr Montgomery. The only thing you’re going to do tonight is make him very, very proud to have you on his arm. You are an incredibly beautiful young woman with a gentle spirit that shines through. It’s obvious to everyone why he is crazy about you. Now, let’s get you to hair and makeup, there’s so little time tonight.”
 

* * *

At a quarter to eight they were both finally ready to go. Olivia felt a flurry of butterflies in her stomach as she walked out into the living area of the suite to meet up with Nate. When she had looked in the mirror after the experts were done with her, she had thought she had never looked better but what mattered was that Nate was satisfied with the way she looked tonight. She truly felt terrified about letting him down somehow.
 

When he turned around and saw her, his eyes widened in surprise and he didn’t say anything. For a split second she panicked and thought he didn’t like the dress on her. But then he cleared his throat.

”Miss Berg, you take my breath away. You look beyond beautiful,” he murmured and swiftly walked over to her.

”You clean up pretty good yourself,” she smiled, taking in his intense, smoldering beauty.

He bent his head and kissed her tenderly on the lips.

”Nate,” she protested, when he let go of her, ”you’ve got lipstick on you now.” She reached to rub it off of his gorgeous mouth, and felt the familiar throbbing between her thighs as she thought of that mouth traveling across her naked skin. ”You look incredibly handsome in that suit,” she breathed.

He smiled down at her.

”All I can think about right now, is you taking it off me later tonight,” he murmured, a wicked half-smile on his face.
 

She pressed herself against his body then and kissed him, thoroughly this time.

The makeup artist came fluttering at once.

”Darling, no! You’re messing up my masterpiece,” he chided her. ”Here let me fix it for you.” He spent a few seconds patching up the damage.

Nate grinned and winked at her, all the while not letting go of her hand.

She took the opportunity to peek her leg out through the split and show off the gorgeous champagne glitter sandals Andy had gotten for her.

”Look, Nate! Jimmy Choo’s! Have you any idea how much a pair of these cost?”

Nate chuckled and groaned at the same time.

”No, as a matter of fact I don’t. But whatever they cost, they’re worth it and then some. I’ll have to have a serious talk with Andy later for putting me through this kind of torture.” He bent and ran his hand down her leg, all the way to the sandal in question. He took a closer look at it. ”Do you have any idea how incredibly sexy you look in these shoes?” he growled between his teeth.
 

She started giggling.

”Nate,” she murmured, ”we’re not alone right now.”

”Oh, believe me I know that. If we were alone you’d be wearing nothing but these shoes right now…”

Andy showed up then.

”Great timing as always, dude,” Nate grumbled and let go of her leg.

Andy just smirked at him.

”Great shoes, huh, boss?”

Nate glowered at him some more. Andy just ignored him.

”The Herrmann brothers sent over some jewelry for Olivia to wear, if she wants to,” he said and motioned for a man to bring over some jewelry displayed on a tray. There were several exquisite and very expensive-looking necklaces, one with a matching bracelet, arranged on the tray. A couple of different sets of earrings and a few different rings were also there.