The Trouble with Marrying a Movie Star (16 page)

We all had dinner the night before I had to return to California. Dad and Nelson talked cars, while Rebeca and Pilar spent most of the evening talking about the kids whom Rebeca helps. They all seemed to get along wonderfully. I didn't have any doubt that they would. I sat there, watching, and everyone seemed happy.

Taylor was due any day, and I had hoped that she would have the baby while I was still in Virginia, but no luck. The baby was as stubborn as her mother. Wade was a mess, and continued to drive Taylor crazy, but the love they shared for each other was evident. For as much as she would curse at him, Taylor still had a look in her eyes of adoration for her husband.

I said goodbye to everyone, wishing them all well, and headed back to LA, grudgingly. I wasn't thrilled to return to the land of paparazzi, but I was more so dreading the talk that I needed to have with Andrew. For the first time, I wasn't in a rush to see him. The repressed anger that I felt still festered in my loins regarding his nonchalant behavior towards our wedding. Andrew and I had quarreled about it for the remainder of the week.

Previously, we had already decided on a small private wedding, yet the studio now wanted a lavish over the top show, and he had agreed to it? The ring had barely been on my finger, yet it seemed as if this had been planned out ahead of time. The wedding coordinator to the stars just so
happened
to be available and a list of over a thousand guests had already been estimated? It kept getting better and better every time we spoke. I couldn't hear anymore of Andrew's reasoning, and we ended the last conversation without settling anything. Andrew had already spoken to—whomever—before picking up the phone to ask me my thoughts, so he could continue to speak to them without me.

My aggravation was apparently seen by Rebeca when she had dropped Connor and me off at the airport. She asked me if I was still upset that Andrew couldn't come. When I told her that I should have expected it, she asked me if anything else was wrong. I had played it off, acting the happy fiancée to the movie star because I didn't want to air our issues.

His issues.

Upon landing back in LA, Connor and I were welcomed with camera flashes and catcalls as we walked to the awaiting SUV. What I didn't expect was Andrew to be in the backseat to greet me. "How was your flight?" he asked, smiling.

"Good," I answered and was very much aware of my clipped tone.

Did he forget the past week?

He dropped the smile as he leaned in to kiss me. Afterwards, he stared into my eyes and said, "You're still angry."

What gave it away
? "No, I’m disappointed."

He leaned back into the seat, adjusting his sport coat. "I said that we can forget the offer and have a small wedding."

I looked out the window at all the hungry paps, as flash after flash lit up the backseat. "You did."

He turned his body fully around to face me. "Then why are you still angry?"

I turned mine to face him as I yelled out, "I didn't know that I would be going to bed with the studio as well! Maybe if you had told me this would be an open relationship, I would have been more prepared."

Connor chuckled loudly as he sat in the front passenger seat, and Andrew glared at him before asking the driver to pull away.

I didn't mean to air our business in front of everyone, but Connor and the driver just happened to open the door after they placed our bags in the trunk. Andrew looked pissed, and told the driver to put up the privacy divider in the car. Once the divider was up, Andrew turned back towards me. "It's not like that—"

"You didn't discuss this with me, first. Then when I get upset, you decide to go back to our original plan, making me look like the bad guy for wanting a private wedding."

"I told you that we will do whatever makes you happy." I glared at him. "What?"

"When you received the call from Grant's office, who did you call first?"

"I called Frank, PR, Maisie..."

"Exactly, and you didn’t think to call me? The person you're marrying? I'm the last person on your list now?"

"Andria..."

"Do you want a large production of the wedding?"

"No," he answered running his hand through his hair.

"Then why did you entertain the thought? Forget not talking to me first."

"You see how they are." He waved in the air, which I presumed was towards the paps that were following us. "They will stop at nothing to get a glimpse of our wedding. Trust, me. I have asked others who have experienced this situation. It is no easy feat to have something private, and many have said it's complicated to pull off. Someone even laughed at me and said, 'Good luck.'" Andrew grabbed my left hand and started playing with my ring. "Baby, I want our day to be perfect. No, I may not care what size wedding we have, but the only thing I care about is marrying you. I want that day to be perfect, not for me, but for you. The one day that you shouldn't be affected by my career choice, is our wedding day."

My heart melted a smidge, but my brain huffed in protest. I was still upset, but I tried to understand his point of view. "I'll
think
about having the large studio wedding."

He lifted my head. "Hey, don't agree to anything that you don’t want."

I sighed. "I'm marrying you,
all
of you, and this…" I also waved to the paps that were still on our tail. "Is a part of who you are."

He leaned over as if he was looking for something in my eyes, and placed a long, lingering kiss on my lips.

"Are you sure, Andria?"

Erin could always tell when something was bothering me. "What choice do I have? We also narrowed the months down to October or November, depending on when Andrew's junket begins."

Erin was my 'official' wedding planner. She claimed the title when I was in Virginia. The person that the studio hired had to deal with her, once I gave them my answer. And that thought brought me a smidgen of satisfaction, knowing that my best friend would give them all hell.

"You're going to be okay with all of this?"

What choice did I have?

I felt the mattress dip. Then his hands slowly slid along my waist as his arm wrapped around me. He started kissing down the back of my neck. Pushing himself harder against my backside, scraping my earlobe with his teeth, before whispering, "Are you asleep?"

I stayed still, slowing my breath down, willing my body to not be affected by Andrew's growing need. He said my name again, emphasizing it with a thrust. I didn't move. He raised his hand over my breast, massaging as he squeezed harder. I took a deep breath, not meaning to be heard, yet he knew that I was still awake.

"Baby, it's been a while," he cooed out.

Eleven days, sixteen hours, fourteen minutes, and twenty-seconds to be exact, but who's counting. I was in Virginia for seven days, and we hadn't had sex since my return. The first night that I came back, Andrew had to work late, which normally didn't matter. But, when he came home, I wasn't feeling it. In fact, I hadn't
felt
it since. Don't get me wrong, my body was screaming out for him to touch me, but my mind was still upset. "I'm tired," I lied.

His hands began to be persuasive, and they were
very
good at persuading. "Are you sure, you're tired?"

"Mmmhmm." Was all I could get out as I turned further away from him, pretending to fall asleep. Andrew got the hint, groaned in frustration, and rolled over.

"Good morning," Andrew said with a hard disposition.

I was finishing up our breakfast when he walked into the kitchen. Keira and Owen were already at the table. I walked over with a plate of bacon and sausages in my hands and placed a kiss on Andrew's lips.

He grabbed a hold on my forearm. "Did you sleep well?" he asked, punctuating it with a soft snarl.

"I did." I said, squinting my eyes at him.

His eyes narrowed, before releasing me to sit down next to Owen. Our brief encounter was apparent to the two people at the table who were looking back and forth at us. "Is everything all right?” Owen asked. "Ouch!" He looked at Keira, who was glaring at him. "I was just asking if they were okay. Ouch!"

I shook my head and placed the plate of eggs in the center of the table. We ate in silence at first, and then Keira and Owen provided conversation by going over our schedules. I didn't look at Andrew once, but I felt his eyes on me.

That weekend was Erin's bachelorette party. It was actually a combined weekend for both her and Miles. He had to fly in for a meeting with Andrew, and Erin thought that was a perfect time to have their parties. His brothers had never been to California, and she could get some work done while she was here. There were a couple of trunk shows happening that she wanted to see.

After Keira had gone over the weekend events, she finalized my upcoming LA book tour. The one that I had reluctantly said I would add. I stood up after we had finished and brought my dish to the sink. I heard Owen and Keira quickly leave the room before I felt Andrew behind me, blowing hot air into my hair as his breathing grew heavier. I did everything to ignore it, but he just stood there, breathing, and occasionally growling to himself. "When are you going to stop being mad at me?"