Suddenly Famous (8 page)

“Sounds like you’ve thought it all out then. What will you do?” I run a hand up and down one of her silky hips, loving the feel of her warm skin beneath mine.

“I’m not sure. Take some time off. I haven’t had a real vacation in a long time,” she says dreamily, her fingers threading through my hair randomly.

I shift until I’m lying on top of her, braced on my forearms so I can look into her eyes. “What about London? Have you ever been there?”

“A long time ago, why?” Leah’s faraway gaze turns sharp, inquisitive.

My thumb caresses the side of her face as I brush my mouth over hers. It’s just a light touch, our lips skimming briefly. “Come with me,” I whisper against her lips.

“What do you mean, come with you? Where? To London?” She pushes me back so she has enough space to watch as she considers my offer.

“Yes to London. I’m leaving next week and I’ll be there for months filming. It’ll be dreadfully boring alone. Come with me. We’ll have fun.” I give her my best puppy-dog eyes, the ones that usually get me whatever I want.

“Well… I mean, I don’t know. Isn’t this a little fast?” She bites her lip, trying to give the discussion some thought, but I can see it in her eyes. She wants to go, she’s just putting on a show so she doesn’t seem too easy.

“No, not to me. I don’t really feel comfortable with most people. Hell, I told you the other night that it’s been a while for me, you know, since I was with someone. It’s because I don’t trust anyone.”

“You trust me?” she asks.

“Without a doubt,” I answer immediately.

“London, huh? Rain and lorries and pubs?”

“No, you and me and three months in England.”

She laughs and grips the back of my neck, pulling me down for a kiss. I take advantage of the contact, clamping down on her mouth and grinding my hips into hers. The sexy moan that vibrates through her is enough to drive me insane, even though I was buried in her less than ten minutes ago.

“Wait,” I gasp, pulling away before we get to far for me to stop. “Will you come with me?”

“I thought that’s what we were doing,” she says playfully.

I narrow my eyes but can’t help the laugh that escapes. “No, to London. Come with me to London.” To bolster my argument, I roll my hips again, pressing my hard length into her sensitive slit.

“Jesus, Ry,” she cries, throwing her head back and arching up. “Yes, I’ll go. I’ll go.”

“Good to hear. Now I can fuck you.” Leah’s breath hitches when I taste her delicious mouth again.

This movie shoot is going to be fucking incredible.

“Thanks for helping me pack, Leah.” I give Brittany a smug look when she glares at me from her seat in the opposite row of Surge Films’ private jet.

“I didn’t mind. I love clothes. Shopping for clothes mostly, but choosing them and packing them are pretty high up there on my list of things I love to do,” she says excitedly.

I give Britt a smile when she rolls her eyes at me. “Leah, you realize that now you’re destined to pack every single thing he ever needs, right?”

Leah bursts out laughing, her loud, genuine laugh, and I love it. “Yeah, I figured. But most men hate dealing with stuff like that, so if I can help and I enjoy it,” she shrugs, “I figure it’s no big deal.”

Brittany grins. “You asked for it girl. Just so you know, don’t come to me when he has you folding his disgusting dirty drawers or sweaty used socks.”

“Ewww.” Leah turns to me, “Dirty clothes are not a part of the deal. Clean only.”

I lean in and kiss the tip of her adorable nose. “Deal.”

“You guys are too much.”

I wrench around in my enormous leather seat to see Declan, who’s sitting behind me. “Don’t be a party pooper, Dex. We’ll find you your own girl. Maybe a cute British chick. What do you think?”

Dex blushes, he actually fucking blushes. “Nah, I’m good man.”

I study him carefully. Watching how he pretends to be fascinated with the view out the window all of a sudden. “I’ll be right back,” I whisper to Leah.

“Sure. I’m going to read for a bit.”

I slide out of my seat and drop into the empty one next to Dex. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you, Dex.” I add a punch to his shoulder to lighten the atmosphere. Neither one of us is very big on ‘talking’ or any of that shit. What guy is? Hell, it took me a month of no sleep just to go see a therapist about my nightmares and PTSD.

“You didn’t. I’m… shit. Don’t worry about it, Ry. I’m good.” He shifts uncomfortably in his seat and absentmindedly starts fiddling with the television console in front of him.

“Dude, we don’t have a lot of people we can confide in. Christ, besides the people on this plane and my parents, I have
no one
I can confide in. It’s a lonely place to be, I get that. So, if you want to tell me something, know that it won’t go any further than you and me.”

Dex looks at me out of the corner of his eye and sags into his seat, seeming to give up on avoiding me. “I’m sick of the hook-ups, Ry. I know that sounds stupid. Most guys would be all over it, fucking as many chicks as they can get their dicks in, but… I’m done with it.” He blows out a huge breath and scratches the back of his head, finally making eye contact with me.

I nod in agreement. “I can’t say I have a whole lot of experience with the hook ups. I mean, I’ve had some, but once the shit hit the fan, I just wasn’t going to go anywhere alone with a girl I didn’t know. At best, she’d freak out and call me Orion in the sack then steal my underwear on her way out the door. At the worst,” I shudder, “she might fucking knife me out of some insane imaginary jealousy or some shit.”

“That’s really fucking sad, Ry.” Dex’s eyes shine with pity and I play it off like it’s no big deal.

“Whatever. It is what it is.” He scowls, clearly not believing a word I say. “But if you’re done with hook-ups then you’re done with hook-ups. We’ll find you a great girl, I know it.” I elbow him in the ribs and he smacks the back of my head.

“Hey! Asshole!” I shout.

“Boys, some of us are trying to sleep,” Lilly says tiredly from her seat a few rows up, her chair reclined into the bed position.

“Sorry, Lilly,” Dex says, laughing under his breath.

“There’s an Xbox in the back room, are you up for some Modern Warfare?”

Dex shoves me out of my seat and into the aisle, climbing out after me. “You’re on. I’m going to kick your ass this time.”

“You said that the last four times we played.” We make our way around the wall that divides the front of the plane from the back. The front holds the leather chairs that recline into beds. The back, however, is a playground. Couches, televisions, video game systems, a table and chairs for eating or game playing, and a full bar stocked with whatever you want.

“Today that all changes, my friend.” Dex gives me a huge grin and grabs a controller.

“Bugger off, Ryker! You’re making me a nervous wreck! Stop your bloody pacing and relax. She’s fine, I promise.”

I shoot Adam Reynolds a piercing glare, which does absolutely nothing to the guy. Except for my pacing, he’s impossible to rile up, completely relaxed and in control all the time. It’s fucking annoying yet admirable at the same time.

“You can’t know that,” I growl, turning to look out the window of my suite at the Warren Hotel in London. “The paps found us at the Corinthia, they can find us here too.”

“Listen, I’ve known Leah a while. Not well, but well enough to know that she is a lot bloody stronger than she looks. Shit, she squeezed her tiny little body in between that Forrester arsehole and me at Verve, at the risk of accidentally getting a fist in her face. She’s gone toe to toe with Kiera and come out on top. That, my friend, doesn’t happen very often.” Adam picks up his acoustic guitar and strums out a random tune, humming wordlessly along.

I drop onto the other end of the couch from Adam and try to keep from thinking about Leah. She’s at Heathrow Airport, alone, picking up Sydney. Apparently Sydney’s been hired to redesign the club at
this
Warren after the success of the opening of Verve in New York.

“So, you coming to the set again tomorrow?” I ask Adam.

He stops strumming, looking at me thoughtfully for a moment. “Maybe, I’m not sure. I may visit my mate, Dax’s parents.”

“Right, I forgot you have friends here.”

“No. I don’t.” He says in a tone that lets me know the subject is closed.

My cell rings and I dig it out of my pocket to answer it. “Leah?”

“Hey! We’re on our way to the hotel. Traffic is a bitch though, so it’ll probably be another hour. I didn’t want you to worry.”

“Good. I’m glad you called. I
was
getting a little worried,” I admit.

“Leah, he was going mental!” Adam yells loud enough for her to hear through the phone.

She laughs loudly, “Don’t worry, Ry. We’ll be there soon.”

“Okay, bye.”

“Bye.”

I turn to Adam, scowling. “Thanks jerkoff, for making me look like a pussy.” I punch his arm, then crack up at the shocked expression he makes.

“I guess I deserved that,” he chuckles. “Now, what do you think of this?” He strums the guitar and starts playing a simple, but layered song.

We discuss the different music that Adam’s come up with, playing around with the melodies until Adam decides that he knows what he wants for the first three songs. We’re so into it that we don’t notice the lock disengage until Leah comes into the room, dragging an exhausted Sydney Tannen behind her.

Leah flops down into my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck. Happy to have her back, I run my nose up and down her neck, inhaling deep. Thank God she’s back okay.

Adam’s beautiful strumming comes to a hideous screeching halt. When I look up, I see Adam staring at Sydney. Her cheeks are flaming red and she looks away. I’m guessing from her reaction that Leah didn’t tell her Adam would be here.

“Sydney? You’re quite possibly the last person I ever expected to see walk into this room,” Adam says. He stands up to place his guitar on the coffee table, giving her a kiss on the cheek while pulling her in for a hug. I can’t hear what he whispers in her ear, and I’m too busy with Leah to care.

We all make awkward small talk for a while, then Leah jumps off of my lap and grabs Sydney’s hand, pulling her towards the bedroom. “Come on, Syd. Let’s go get ready. We’re going to have a hell of a lot of fun tonight!”

“What in bloody hell does your girlfriend have planned for us?” Adam asks, looking a little wary.

“I’m not sure, but I have an idea that it’s going to be interesting.”

“Leah, this could go very badly,” I warn as the studio’s hire car pulls up to the curb of a very packed nightclub in London’s West End.

“Ry, stop worrying. They have a VIP section. No one can get at us. I checked online, regular patrons can’t even see up into the VIP area. Prince Harry hangs out here!” Leah says, running a hand across the back of my neck in an effort to calm my nerves.

Shit!

“Okay, Leah. That’s the VIP entrance, right?” I point at a deserted door off to the side of the main entrance, where an abnormally long line snakes around the building.

She looks over my shoulder so she can see. “Yes, that’s it. There’s no one there but the bouncer.”

“I can make a run of it, or I can hide in the middle of you three.”

How fucking humiliating is it that I can’t walk on the sidewalk alone?

“I’ll protect you, mate,” Adam says with a giant grin.

I snort. “Fuck off, Reynolds.”

“Ry, lets just walk normally and hope no one see us, okay? The more of a spectacle we make, the worse it will be. It’s pretty dark out. I think we’ll be fine.” Leah takes my hand, urging me to open the door.

I take a deep breath. There’s no steel band around my chest, so I shove open the car door, stepping out onto the sidewalk.

Leah follows, not releasing my hand for a single second, which I’m grateful for. I don’t look to check on Adam and Sydney, hoping that they’re back there somewhere. We get to the bouncer without a single scream, squeal, or screech.

It’s a fucking miracle.

“Hi mate,” Adam says to the bouncer, flashing his perfect teeth.

The bouncer’s eyes go wide for a brief second before he composes himself. “Welcome to LowRent.” He pushes open the door and steps aside to let us through, eyeing each one of us thoroughly.

“See, piece of cake,” Leah says, squeezing my hand while leaning into my side.

“Yeah, it was.” I know I sound surprised, but nothing ever goes smoothly for me. Not in public, anyway.

I throw my arm around Leah’s shoulders to follow a scantily-dresses hostess up to the VIP lounge. After seating us in a very private booth, she speaks. “Your waiter will be right over.” The waitress winks at me before turning and leaving, making sure to put extra sway in her hips.