The Price of Fame: A Price Novel (The Price Novels Book 2) (8 page)

BOOK: The Price of Fame: A Price Novel (The Price Novels Book 2)
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She turned around and gave me a mean look. “Are you serious?”

I groaned and leaned back in the chair. “I don’t know. I don’t like where this is going.”

“I don’t either, but you know that nothing ever happened between Eric and me. Baby, you know that.”

“You kissed him.”

“Oh my gosh! Seriously? You are never gonna let me forget that, are you?”

“Well, you did, but whatever. What did you say to him?”

“At first I didn’t say anything—I just turned around and walked out. I really don’t care what either of them think about me, but I didn’t appreciate him disrespecting me. So I went back in there and said, ‘Eric, seriously, is that how you remember things? Because that’s not how I do. Do I need to jog your memory?’ He didn’t say anything at first—he just looked shocked. I stood there and waited for some response, and finally he said, ‘I’m sorry, Arden.’ I asked him why, and then he took a deep breath and looked at Austin and said, ‘I lied, OK. Arden wouldn’t give me the time of day in college, or ever.’ Then he stormed out. I looked at Austin and rolled my eyes, and he laughed. It was so embarrassing. I followed Eric into the locker room and asked him why in the hell he would say something like that. All he could do was say that he was sorry, and he walked away. That was really a breaking point for me,” she explained. She was crying again.

I held her tight and kissed her cheek. “I’m sorry, baby. I know you thought he was your friend, and he probably is, to an extent. But he’s still a guy, you know.” The last thing I wanted to do was make light of what he did, but I hated to see her hurting, and she really did think he was her friend. “He can’t help that he has feelings for you. You’re beautiful and smart. Hell, I fell for you that first day I saw you in Paris. So I know where he’s coming from.”

“I just feel stupid that I gave him the benefit of the doubt all this time. I kind of thought that maybe you were being jealous and possessive.”

I couldn’t believe she said that. I figured she thought that I was overreacting, but possessive? “What? Possessive? I have never been possessive. I love you, and I want to protect you, but I don’t see how that makes me possessive.”

She laid her head on my chest. “Well, maybe not possessive, but you know where I’m coming from.”

“I guess. So why are you home early?”

“Oh yeah, there’s more.”

“Great!” I rolled my eyes.

“After Eric left the locker room, he went to Chief Robbins and asked if he could be transferred. Supposedly the chief tried to talk him out of it, and Eric said that he couldn’t work with me.”

“What?” That made me furious. It was one thing for him to be a punk, but it was another to try and hurt her professionally.

“Exactly, so that made me look bad. The chief pulled me aside and asked me what the problem was. I couldn’t believe it. I was so humiliated. This is not the kind of attention I want. I told him I didn’t have a problem and that Eric was being ridiculous. Obviously Austin told the chief what happened in the lounge because he pulled us both into his office to talk. Eric wouldn’t even look at me. He’s so childish. Anyway. The chief said that he had made a call, and they had room for Eric at another hospital, and he hated that it came to this. Eric left as soon as he dismissed us. The chief stopped me and told me that he knew that this had nothing to do with me and that he saw so much potential in me and that he hoped I wouldn’t let this set me back.”

“Well, that’s good, right?” I asked.

“Yes, it’s really good.”

“And you came home early because … ?”

“Oh, because the chief said I work too hard and it wouldn’t hurt for me to go home a few hours early and spend time with you.” She smiled and kissed me. “But I couldn’t find you.”

“Well, if you had looked on the calendar, you would have seen my golf game with Dad,” I teased her. She always fussed at me for not knowing anybody’s schedule, including my own.

She tickled me. “OK, jackass.” The gate buzzed. “Who is that?” she asked.

“Oh, shit. It’s Kevin and Whitt. I forgot.” I pressed the button to let them in.

“You forgot what?” she asked.

“I wasn’t expecting you home until morning, and we all planned on going wakeboarding this afternoon. You wanna go? Or I can cancel.”

“No, that’s OK. I don’t want to intrude on your guy time.”

“Whatever, I’m not going and leaving you here. Go get your swimsuit on. I have a wet suit for you at the marina.”

“I don’t want to be the only girl.”

“You won’t. I think Whitt’s girlfriend, Emily, is going. Please come.”

“OK.” She stood up and got dressed.

The water was perfect. I loved going out in the middle of the week. There were hardly any boats on the water, and you could ski in the channels without having to worry about other boaters. Arden and Emily were getting along well, and I was so glad she came. We usually didn’t want to bring the girls—another reason why we liked to go in the middle of the week, but I would never admit that to my wife—and this time it was great.

“Come on, baby, get out here. I’m gonna teach you how to do it,” I yelled at Arden from the water.

“No, I can’t do that. I’m not athletic like you or coordinated, for that matter.”

“Whatever! Taylor can do it. Get out here.” I knew she didn’t want to, but she did anyway.

“Baby, I’m scared,” Arden said as she swam to me.

“Why? You’re gonna love it.”

“You love it because you’re good at stuff like this. I will never be able to do flips like you.”

“I couldn’t do flips at first either. I started the same way you’re going to.” I grabbed my wakeboard and shoved it toward the boat. “Kev, throw me Taylor’s wakeboard.”

“All right, which one is it?” Kevin asked.

“Ummmm, The pink one with
Taylor
painted on it.” I laughed.

“Gotcha!” Kevin threw me the wakeboard.

“All right, what you’re going to do is put your feet in here and hold your board like this. Keep your knees bent until you pop up.”

“Who taught you how to do this?” Arden asked.

“Nobody. I taught myself, but I taught Taylor, and she is awesome at it now. It’s easy. Trust me.”

“I don’t think I have enough upper-body strength to do this. You have big muscles. Look at my skinny little arms.”

I laughed. “Baby, I weigh ninety more pounds than you do. I have to use my arms to get up. The boat will pull you right up. You don’t really have to do anything but balance.”

“All right, I guess, but I’m scared in this water by myself. What if I fall?”

“I’ll drive and make sure you get up, and I will come back as soon as you fall. It may take you more than one try, so don’t be frustrated. Now make sure your board stays like this and turn your body like this when you come out of the water, OK?”

She nodded, and I went to the boat. Kevin got in the back to make sure she was OK. It only took her three tries, and she was up and doing awesome.

She finally let go. “That was awesome, baby. Did you like it?” I asked as she swam to the boat.

“Actually, I did, but I’m exhausted, and I don’t know if I will be able to move in the morning.” We all laughed, and I pulled her into the boat. She did look pretty tired. Then I taught Emily how to wakeboard too. I think everyone had a good time. I know I did.

After we dropped the boat back off at the marina, we all went back to our house to grill. I loved having Arden home and getting to do stuff with friends like normal people.

“Chest in the morning before you go to work?” Kevin asked me. Kevin was my personal trainer turned best friend.

“Do I have to?” I whined.

“No, I guess not, but then you will be a skinny little shit like you were when I met you.” He hit me in the chest.

“You
were
skinny, babe,” Arden said.

“But you still thought I was hot,” I teased.

“Yes, I did.” She winked at me.

“See you in the morning,” Kevin said, and they all left.

“Did you have fun today?” I asked Arden.

“Don’t I always have fun when I’m with you?” She kissed me.

“Well, let’s go finish this fun day in our bedroom.” I carried her inside.

Chapter 8
Arden

S
layde would be home that day a little while after I got home, and I couldn’t wait to see him. The last three days I’d been so busy I’d talked with him only once, and it was a very short conversation. So I really hadn’t talked to him since our day wakeboarding. I missed him, and I was way overdue for some serious Slayde snuggle time.

I hurried home from the hospital and showered, planning on catching a few hours of sleep and being up in time to make him a special lunch.

I was still sleeping soundly when I felt something tickle my nose. I swatted without opening my eyes. After a few seconds, I felt it again. I was still closer to being asleep than awake, so I gently covered my nose with my hand and didn’t open my eyes.

Another minute or so passed, and I felt something brush against my knuckles. I flinched and opened my eyes to see that gorgeous smile staring back at me.

He spoke softly, knowing I wasn’t all the way awake yet. “Rise and shine, beautiful.” He kissed my forehead, lingering there a few seconds.

“Did I oversleep?”

He crawled across me and pulled me to him. “No. I’m early.”

He was famous for that. Showing up early without warning. He liked to surprise me. And I loved it. That was the best surprise.

“So we can rest a little while longer?”

“If you want,” he whispered in my ear before peppering soft kisses down my back.

I was exhausted, but that wasn’t anything I wasn’t used to. Slayde was what I needed more than sleep

After catching a quick little nap to recoup from some long-overdue sex, I sat up quickly. “Crap!”

He opened one eye.

“I was going to cook for you,” I said.

He closed his eye, and I saw him trying to keep the corners of his mouth from turning up. “Why?”

Beginning to laugh myself, I said, “Because I love you.”

He started laughing, and I playfully slapped his chest. He grabbed my wrist and pushed me back down on my back and kissed me. “Then please don’t cook for me,” he murmured against my lips, and we both laughed.

“I have a better idea,” he said.

“And what’s that?”

“Ruby’s.” Ruby’s was a beachfront hole-in-the-wall that had amazing seafood.

I smiled. “Much better idea.”

He sat up. “How about we surf or swim after?”

I nodded. Surfing was not my thing, but he liked it when I did his stuff with him. And I liked it when he was happy, so I would do it.

I put on my swimsuit and covered up with a tank top and my favorite cutoffs, threw my hair into a ponytail, and went out to the garage.

Slayde had put on some old khakis that hung low on his hips and a T-shirt he had cut the sleeves out of. He was holding his surfboard over his head, putting it on top of his Range Rover. I just sat there and enjoyed the view. After a minute, he turned around. “What are you staring at?”

“You,” I said flirtatiously.

He grinned and rolled his eyes before turning back to what he was doing. His phone started ringing in his vehicle. “Can you get that?”

I crawled in and grabbed it, then shouted to him, “It’s Kevin.”

“Well, answer it.”

“Hello,” I said.

“Hey, A, what’s up?”

“Slayde.”

“Huh?”

“Slayde’s on the roof.”

“The roof?”

“Of the vehicle. Tying down his surfboard.”

He laughed. “Oh, I was worried for a second. Where’s he surfing?”

“I dunno. Hold on—he’s almost done.”

I handed Slayde the phone. “What’s up? Yeah … maybe. I don’t know. We are going down to Zuma Beach. Maybe we will surf. Maybe we won’t. I guess it depends … Ah. Just text me. All right. See ya.” He hung up and looked at me. “Ready?”

“I guess,” I joked.

He picked me up, threw me over his shoulder, and slapped my behind. “You guess?”

After he dropped me into my seat and walked around to his side of the vehicle, I asked, “Is Kevin coming?”

He looked confused. “No. This is our time. I see Kevin more than I do you. He just asked me to text him if the surf was good.”

I didn’t say anything, just smiled. I loved Kevin, and his presence never bothered me, but I kind of wanted all of Slayde’s attention today. And no matter what he said, if Kevin showed up, Slayde would end up going off with Kevin to surf. Their little bromance put most relationships to shame. That was fine with me; I was glad he had Kevin. Kevin was a real friend, and I knew that no one had many of those at our age.

We parked in the beach-access parking and walked the block to Ruby’s. Slayde had grabbed a baseball hat, which was a must in public. He pulled it down low and then grabbed my hand, lacing his fingers through mine.

The hostess was a red-headed girl, maybe about eighteen. She looked at Slayde twice, smiled, and led us to a table out on the covered deck so we could see the ocean. If she recognized him, she said nothing. The waitress took our drink order, and we sat there staring out at the calming, rhythmic motion of the waves. Before long, the sound of the gulls and the breaking of the waves had me totally relaxed. Slayde pointed at some dolphins in the distance.

We were almost finished with our meal when I first noticed them. Paparazzi.
Assholes.
I nodded in their direction, and Slayde quietly said, “I saw them. But I’m ignoring them. I wish you’d ignore them too.” He winked at me.

I took a heavy breath. “I’ll give it my best shot.”

And he flashed me that smile. “That’s more than I hoped for.”

However, walking back to the car, it wasn’t as easy to ignore them. They were crowding behind us, matching our pace. Slayde must have sensed my angst, because he walked faster, holding my hand tighter. When we got to the vehicle, we both got in.
They’re ruining our day. Our time.
I felt my eyes filling up, and I sniffed, trying to get rid of the tears.

“You want to stay or go?” he asked, irritated.

I looked at him. “What do you want?”

“I want to go chill on the beach with you, and drink beer, and surf.”

I nodded and took another deep breath. “OK, then that’s what we’ll do.”

He smiled broadly. “OK. I’m getting out and getting our stuff. I’m gonna smile and ask them to back off and let us chill. Easy as that.”

I laughed to myself, knowing they’d back off for a little while but they weren’t leaving. No way in hell.

I met Slayde at the back of the vehicle, where he was almost finished getting the cooler, chairs, umbrella, and surfboard.

Knowing he’d need my help, I threw my bag over my shoulder and grabbed our chairs, never looking at the leeches calling our names.

He locked the truck and threw his keys, wallet, and phone in my bag. Then he picked up the cooler, umbrella, and surfboard. He looked at me. “Ready, babe?”

“Yep.” And we headed out to find a spot to relax.

And like I had expected, they didn’t leave. But they kept their distance, watching and taking pictures from afar.

He grabbed the surfboard and my hand, and I followed him out into the water. We had done this before but not with an audience.

Before we got on the board, he said, “I’m glad we came.” And I felt the tension leave my shoulders, and I forgot about the people watching us.

Of course we fell the first couple of times. But finally we stayed up and rode a good wave. But then I was exhausted, and we went back to our chairs. He dropped the board onto the sand behind us and sat in the chair beside me as I sprayed sunscreen on myself. He handed me a beer and then let me spray his back. His phone chimed, and he dug it out of my bag.

“Kevin,” he said aloud.

“Slayde, tell him to come out with us.”

“No. This is our time. I told you that.”

I pushed my shades down. “Just tell him. I’ll tan while you two play a little while. No big deal.” Now that I was worn out, I would take a little nap, and he could play with Kevin.

Kevin must have been close when he texted, because he showed up only minutes later—but with company. Company that I hadn’t expected or wanted. I’d rather have the paparazzi sitting next to us than Kimberly.

“You didn’t tell—” I was saying quietly when Slayde interrupted.

“Because I didn’t know.”

Kevin was walking a few steps ahead of her and looked as flustered as I felt.
Does he not want her here either?

“Hey,” Slayde said.

“Hey,” he responded, sounding much less enthusiastic than when I’d spoken to him earlier. “Kimberly decided to join us. Last minute.” His eyes looked apologetic.

“Yes, I saw him driving and followed him. I guess I didn’t hear him say he was off today.” She put her hand on his arm. “Good thing I always carry a spare bikini in my car.”

“Good thing,” Slayde mumbled, which made me laugh. Slayde was nothing if not polite. His visible disdain for her was very uncharacteristic. Kevin knew him well enough to sense it too, but Kimberly seemed clueless.

Kevin asked while looking out toward the ocean, “How’s the surf?”

“OK. I’m resting a minute and may head back out there if A doesn’t mind.”

That was the original plan, and I hadn’t minded until now that I knew I would be stuck with Kimberly.

“I don’t mind. I have a new book I want to finish listening to anyway.”

Slayde smiled knowingly at me and finished off his beer. That wasn’t really the case, but that would give me an excuse to not have to converse with Kimberly.

Slayde and Kevin grabbed their boards and headed off, while Kimberly got settled in Slayde’s chair.

“Since he’s not using it,” she said as I dug around in my bag, praying I had earbuds in there. “So, how’s married life?” she asked.

“Fine,” I said, still digging around in my bag.

“Just fine?” she asked, apparently not taking the hint that I wasn’t fond of her and that the last thing I wanted was to have girl talk with this bimbo. “Oh, it’s got to be more than that. Come on, tell me. I want the juicy details.”

I stared at her. She was serious. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you. He works a lot, and I am busy with my residency, but other than that, it’s fine. Like I said.”

She lay back, clearly bored. “I figured that you’d have quit your job by now.”

Now I was pissed. “My residency?” She nodded “Why?” My tone was obviously cluing her in to my annoyance, because she held up her hands.

“Chill, honey. I was just making conversation. You aren’t very approachable, you know.”

I didn’t know how to respond. I wasn’t approachable to people I didn’t like. With her being one of them.

I lay back in my chair and closed my eyes, thinking that surely she wouldn’t try to talk to me anymore, but that wasn’t the case either.

“I wasn’t trying to hurt your feelings, Arden. Damn!”

“Oh, I didn’t realize it was a compliment,” I grumbled.

She smiled at me. “I think you and I will get along just fine.” And she lay back.

This bitch is nuts.

I was almost asleep when she started talking again. “I was kind of surprised when Slayde didn’t invite Kevin to the wedding. They are together so much that I assumed he would have.”

“He—” but before I finished that sentence, it hit me. Slayde was upset that Kevin wasn’t there but tried to shrug it off. I knew he’d invited him, and I knew that he’d let Kevin know that he really wished he’d come alone. “It was very small. We only had close family.”

“I thought your best friend went. What’s her name?”

“Milly, and yes she did, because my family didn’t come.”

“Hmmm.”

Why the hell was I explaining this to her anyway? And how the hell did she know that stuff?

She must have read my quizzical expression. She smiled. “I saw some pics. That’s how I knew.”

“Where’d you see pics?”

“Some magazine. I don’t remember.”

“Oh!” But now I was wondering where the hell she’d seen them because to my knowledge no magazine should have our pictures.

A few minutes later, I saw Slayde and Kevin heading back in our direction. Slayde looked a bit worried, and Kevin looked without a care.

She was ruining my day. This was not what I had envisioned when I thought about this day. I must have looked sour. After Slayde dropped his board next to me and sat down on it, he leaned over, kissed my ear, and murmured, “Sorry.”

I didn’t want him to feel bad for enjoying himself, so I shrugged and smiled. “Tired?” I asked.

Slayde lay back on his board. “A little.”

Kevin, still standing in front of me, said, “That’s because you drank too much last night.”

I looked at Slayde for an answer.
He went out last night?

“Kevin cooked for me last night. We had a few beers. I guess a few too many.” He smiled.

“Thanks for the invite, Kev,” Kimberly said, obviously unaware of their dinner as well.

Kevin looked at her. “It was a dude thing. You are not a dude.” He smiled at me. “Besides, it was my night with Slayde, since you get him tonight.” He winked.

I laughed and kicked a little sand on his feet. I really liked Kevin. I sure hoped he ditched the bimbo sooner than later, though. She definitely wasn’t wife material.

Slayde got up and reached for my hand. “Swim?”

Knowing this was probably the only way that we were going to get alone time, I gladly joined him.

Once I was about chest deep, we stopped, just on the other side of the breaking waves. The rise and fall of the waves was making me have to stand on my tippy-toes at times to keep the waves from slapping into my face.

Slayde, noticing my struggle, pulled me to him and smiled that crooked smile I loved. “I was going to keep walking until you had to let me hold you.”

“So I have to hold you or drown?” I asked.

He kissed me softly and then whispered. “Life or death.”

We were both quiet for a moment, enjoying the warm sun and holding each other, when I remember what Kimberly said about seeing our wedding pictures.

I leaned back so I could look at him. “Kimberly said that she saw pictures from our wedding in a magazine.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I told you about that. I asked you if you were OK with it, and you said yes.”

“What? When?”

BOOK: The Price of Fame: A Price Novel (The Price Novels Book 2)
7.37Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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