Adored by You: A Sweet, Celebrity, Military Romance (San Diego Marines Book 7)

by Jess Mastorakos

  And with that, I accepted my position as the celebrity’s unfamous boyfriend and planted another kiss on her lips for the cameras.

  7

  Paige

  Once the paparazzi showed up, it was time to go. They had a way of making everyone feel uncomfortable if the ratio of celebrity-to-noncelebrity was too unbalanced. If there were lots of stars around, they spread their attention around the room and no one felt like a freak. Since it was just me, not only was the paparazzi relentless, but the onlookers at the ball now had an even more interesting show to watch than before.

  “Paige,” one photographer yelled, “who’s your date?”

  Another piped up. “Did you know him before tonight?”

  “What about Chase? Are you guys together right now?”

  The paparazzi fired out dozens of other questions, all of which we blatantly ignored. We quickly rounded up Noah’s friends and escaped the ballroom for an unofficial after-party in my suite. Not a single one of them cared to hide their shock at the grandeur of what was essentially a large four-bedroom house within the hotel.

  “I could definitely get used to this,” Hawk said as he lounged on the plush velvet couch.

  “Same,” Ellie replied, plopping down next to her husband and kicking off her shoes. “I thought it would be safe to wear flats instead of heels, but apparently it doesn’t matter what kind of shoes I wear. By the end of the night, I’m exhausted.”

  Olivia smiled warmly at her friend. “You’re creating a tiny human right now while the rest of us are just sitting here. You’re allowed to be exhausted.”

  “Tell her, Liv,” Hawk said, patting Ellie’s leg. “I swear she thinks she needs to be superwoman all the time.”

  Mills pointed at Olivia. “She was the same way when she was pregnant with Amelia.”

  I watched the friends continue their conversation about having kids, O’Malley and Rachel chiming in about how Finn would make an amazing big brother someday. This made the rest of them explode into exaggerated exclamations of how cute that would be.

  I stole a few glances at Noah here and there while the group talked about the future. They all seemed so close and casual with each other. They had so much history. Now that I was his girlfriend (inspired by a lie, but still) I wondered if I could fit in with him and the rest of these couples. Noah and I had a long history, sure, but not recent history. More like ancient history. I felt like I needed to get to know him all over again. And when and if I did, what would I think? What would he think of the new me?

  Just as I started to get nervous about the whole thing, he caught my eye from where he was making himself a drink and winked at me. It was just like he used to do back in the day, and it had the same result of making my heart soar. My confidence in our relationship solidified. Maybe this could work, after all.

  “I can’t believe this is our last ball together,” Olivia said to Ellie, and they both frowned.

  “Hopefully not for long.” Ellie shot Hawk a look. “I really hope we get orders out to the East Coast, too. Between you guys and Brooks and Cat, we need a reunion tour out there.”

  “We’ll see what happens. I should be up for orders soon.” Hawk held out his hands.

  “I’d like to see the East Coast,” Rachel said. “I’m from Texas, so even though I know it’s the best state ever, I’m excited that being with this guy means we’ll get to have some adventures.”

  O’Malley smiled at his brand-new fiancée. “I don’t know, I just spent my whole career over there. I’d like to give Japan or Hawaii a shot next if you’re up for it.”

  She grinned and clapped her hands. “Finn would love that. Think about how much fun he’d have snorkeling out there.”

  “I, for one, am happy to be back on the West Coast,” Noah chimed in. “I was sick of having to stay up so late to watch sports. Between that and Japan, I was always messed up with games.”

  “Where are you from again?” Rachel asked him.

  He cut a glance at me as if just the mention of where he was from reminded him of us. “Born and raised in Arizona.”

  O’Malley scoffed. “See, being born and raised in Arizona is your real problem. It’s not worth staying up late when you’re always rooting for the losing team.”

  I laughed at Noah’s fake aggression toward O’Malley at his taunting words. He had a point, though. Arizona wasn’t known for having the best sports teams. Even back when Noah considered the major leagues, he’d hoped for a team outside of Arizona. Not that it mattered now.

  “Hey, this has been a pretty outstanding season for football. I’m kicking your butt in fantasy football with Arizona’s QB.”

  O’Malley waved him off and gave some retort that involved way more football lingo than I could understand. My mind wandered back to what Ellie had said about her friends getting transferred to the East Coast and wanting to go with them. Noah had been on the East Coast already, and Japan, so now that he was here, I wondered how long he’d actually stay.

  Molly cleared her throat from behind me. She wore her typical uniform for when she was up late and still wanted to be ready for anything. Black leggings and a black T-shirt paired with the Tory Burch Miller sandals I’d gotten her for her last birthday. She had her phone in hand and her brow was deeply furrowed.

  I stood and crossed the room with her to stand in a corner. “What’s wrong?”

  Molly blinked at me, then held her phone up and read from the latest headlines, “‘Cinderella Walker: Paige Caught Kissing Her Marine Prince at the Ball.’”

  I snorted. “That’s cute.”

  She turned the phone around and I saw a photo that one of the paparazzi took on the balcony of Noah kissing me. Butterflies took flight in my stomach at the sight of him cradling my face in his hand, his other arm wrapped tenderly around my waist. We looked like we fit perfectly together, and with my dress and his uniform, it was definitely reminiscent of a fairy tale.

  I sighed, and Molly threw her hands up in the air. “Girl. You’ve lost your mind.”

  “What?” I whispered.

  “What do you mean, ‘what’? I told you to go on this date with Noah for the photo op and to get him off the pedestal. I did not tell you to get caught kissing and have it plastered all over the internet. Where is your phone? Your dad has called me twenty times looking for you.”

  “I turned it off.”

  “Lovely.”

  “Molly, you don’t understand. This whole thing started with that message from Sandra. She accused me of using Noah for a photo op to get to her.”

  “Which you absolutely were.”

  I held up a finger. “Not the point. I mean, I knew that, and Noah knew that, but I couldn’t just come out and admit it to Sandra. I freaked out. So I told her he wasn’t just a photo op, that he was my boyfriend.”

  Molly’s jaw dropped, and she squealed, “You what?”

  I waved my hands in front of her face to shush her and dragged her into a sitting room away from everyone in the living room. “Keep your voice down. I admitted it to Noah, but he said he wouldn’t go along with the lie.”

  “Oh, really?” Molly held up her phone. “Looks like your lips changed his mind.”

  I couldn’t help the bark of laughter that escaped me. “Oh my word, stop it. I’m saying he didn’t want to go through with lying about it, but he does want to actually be my boyfriend. For real. Not just to get the part, though he was happy with that being a side effect of it.”

  Molly leveled a gaze on me that I was sure could make most of the hunky heroes downstairs shrink back. “Paige, I just don’t think you’ve given enough thought to all of this.”

  “Well, maybe I’m sick of always having to think so much about everything all the time. All of these strategies and plans and hanging out with certain people because of the good press or staying away from others because of the bad press. It’s all just too much.”

  “And what about Chase?”

  I blinked at her. “What about him? We’
re not together right now.”

  “Paige. We all know that, but I don’t think the public does. Some of these articles are talking about you cheating on Chase with this ‘mystery Marine.’”

  I rolled my eyes so hard I almost gave myself a headache. “I would never do that. My real fans know that. My entire brand is built around who I really am, and that’s a good person. I wouldn’t cheat on Chase.”

  Molly looked at her phone again, then held it out to me. “It’s your dad again. I think you should answer this time just so he knows you’re not dead.”

  “No. Please tell him I’m alive and well, hanging out with my friends in the safety of the room.” I started to leave, then stopped in my tracks and spun back around. “Actually, don’t tell him that or he’ll come here.”

  Molly shook her head. “He’ll come here if you keep ignoring him.”

  “Fine,” I said, taking the phone from her and answering the call. “Yes?”

  “Paige, finally,” Rich barked into the phone. “I was worried.”

  “Sorry.”

  “What’s going on with that boy? I thought we agreed a long time ago that he wasn’t right for you. Honey, he’s dumber than a box of rocks and even worse for your image. When people find out about his background and his decisions, it’s not going to go well for you. I’m just trying to protect you. Don’t you understand that?”

  My back straightened involuntarily. My father thought he knew everything about what happened between me and Noah all those years ago, but he was wrong. He didn’t know Noah or the reasons behind his decisions. And he only cared about protecting my image because of the way my image impacted him and his bottom line. Speaking of pedestals, my dad used to be on one, too. I’d since removed him.

  “Are you finished?” I asked. “I have guests and I don’t want to keep them waiting.”

  “We’ll talk about this when you get home tomorrow. But please, stay away from Noah West. And if you can’t do that, at least stay away from the cameras.”

  “You got it,” I replied, meaning the latter. I’d definitely had enough of the cameras, but I had absolutely zero intentions of staying away from Noah.

  I handed the phone back to Molly, and she gave me a resolute smile. “So, what? You and Noah are going public as a couple now? Are you sure he really wants to do that, given how he feels about all of … this?”

  I followed her gaze and looked around the opulent room. “For tonight, I just want to spend time with him and his friends. They make me feel so normal. And then tomorrow, we’ll have another heart-to-heart about everything before it gets too crazy. Can you have the helicopter pick us up at nine?”

  Molly balked. “‘Us’? ‘Nine’? Where are you going? I thought you were going home tomorrow.”

  “Noah has a ninety-six for the Marine Corps birthday and Veteran’s Day. I thought maybe we could go to Phoenix and hike Camelback like old times.”

  “‘A ninety-six’?”

  I shrugged as if it were obvious. “Yeah, ninety-six hours of leave. Four days off.”

  “Oh, duh,” she said, chuckling and hitting her forehead as if she’d simply forgotten. “Aren’t you just an official hashtag-Marine-girlfriend now?”

  I jokingly pretended to flip my hair, even though it was piled high in an updo. “I’m learning.”

  “Okay, fine. I’ll arrange the helicopter. But seriously, Paige, be careful. I just don’t want to see you get hurt. You still weren’t over Noah when I first met you, and that was two years after you’d broken up.”

  I’d put on a brave face, though. I remembered those days—and Noah’s reasons for breaking up with me—like they were yesterday. “Thanks, Mol. I’ll try.”

  8

  Noah

  “I still can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Paige said as she took the helmet from me, looking at it like it was going to come alive and bite her.

  “Oh, come on. Live a little.”

  Her eyes narrowed at my wink. “Yes, I do want to live a little. That’s why I’m nervous about this.”

  “You trust a helicopter more than a motorcycle?”

  “Maybe I trust the highly decorated, war-hero pilot who flies my helicopter more than I trust you to drive the motorcycle,” she retorted, her chin raised and a smile on her full lips.

  “Very funny.”

  When Paige had suggested we go for a ride from Vegas to Phoenix to hike our favorite mountain, I was all about it. But not on a helicopter. If we were going for a ride, it was going to be like normal people. Well, as normal as you could get when taking a widely known celebrity on the back of your motorcycle. Apparently, letting her overprotective security detail tail us in their SUV was nonnegotiable. But I’d take what I could get.

  “Well, we definitely had to get up earlier for a four-hour ride instead of what would probably take an hour in the air.”

  I grinned. “Good thing you’re so pretty you don’t need much beauty sleep.”

  She threw her head back and groaned, laughing at my dumb joke. “You are ridiculous.”

  “I know. You ready?”

  She bit her lip. I couldn’t tell just how nervous she was, but I decided to take a beat and make sure she was really okay before we took off on our four-hour adventure. I hooked my finger in the pocket of the lightweight jacket she wore for the ride and tugged her against me as I sat on the bike.

  “Sunrise is going to be really cool over the mountains. Just relax and hang on. If you hate it, I promise I’ll let your goons call in the helicopter.”

  She snorted. “Deal.”

  Without another word, I leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips. She smelled like she was fresh out of the shower, her bare face a contrast to the glammed-up look she’d sported for the ball. She was gorgeous in formal attire, no doubt about it. But there was just something about seeing Paige in a sporty ponytail with no makeup on, ready to spend the day adventuring with me. I reached back and grabbed a few wisps of hair between my fingers and gave them a gentle tug. “Your helmet isn’t going to fit over this high pony.”

  “Right.” She stepped back, handed me the helmet, and took down her long, curly hair. I watched as she reworked it into a bun at the base of her neck, then took the helmet back from me. “Better?”

  “Better.”

  Her eyes changed from concern to what I hoped was trust, and she leaned back into me and gave me a quick kiss. Then she squeezed my shoulders. “Okay, let’s get this show on the road so we can do our hike in time for lunch at the top.”

  “That’s the spirit.”

  I helped her with her helmet, climbed on the bike, and then gave her a hand as she slipped onto the seat behind me. She fit snugly against me, wrapping her arms tightly around my waist.

  I turned my head to the side. “Just lean with me when I’m turning, okay? I have to lean into the turns. It’ll seem scary, but fighting it will be worse.”

  She nodded and gave me a very convincing smile. “You got it, boss.”

  I waved at the guys in the SUV behind us to let them know we were ready to take off and pulled out of Mandalay Bay’s parking garage. The sun still wasn’t up and the Strip was relatively quiet. This was the time when most people would try to catch a few hours of sleep, but even still, there were a few people milling around who didn’t seem to care about that.

  I thought back to the night before. Not that I’d been doing much other than thinking about it since it happened. Having Paige on my arm at the ball, hanging out with my friends like she was just one of the group, had been so surreal. Right up until the paparazzi showed up, blinding us with their flashes, I’d almost forgotten how big of a deal it was that she was even there. The rest of the ball guests had chilled out after a while, just as she said they would. Thank goodness Paige had suggested for all of us to go back to her suite to have a place to hang out in private. I wasn’t sure how much longer the command would have tolerated the spectacle of the cameras at the ball. In fact, I was surprised the paparazzi
even made it in with Marines guarding the place. Oh well, someone somewhere must have thought it would make for some good publicity.

  Is that what our life would constantly be like now that we were dating? I mean, sure, we were sneaking out of the Mandalay Bay under the cover of darkness, so there was no commotion. Our plans to hike gave us the perfect excuse to slip out before dawn, unnoticed. But what would happen when we got there? Would the peacefulness of our hike be ruined by paparazzi, too?

  The roaring of the wind around me as we drove out of the city only aided me in falling further down this rabbit hole. As amazing as it felt to have Paige’s arms tightly wound around my waist, maybe I should have let her take us in the helicopter. At least we could’ve talked, and I wouldn’t be silently overanalyzing everything like a teenager.

  For the next two hours, I did my best to get lost in the feel of her against me and the winding road in front of me. That, and the fact that after eight years of living our own lives, we were finally giving it a shot. Maybe it would crash and burn, but we had last night. We had today. Tomorrow was out of our hands.

  Finally, I pulled into a gas station in the small town of Kingman, Arizona, and killed the engine.

  “Is this the halfway point?” she asked, taking my hand and hopping off the bike.

  “Just about, yeah.” I took off my helmet and then helped her with hers. “I figured we could just stretch our legs and grab a coffee or something. Four hours is a pretty long first ride.”

  “I’m really enjoying it. I haven’t had that much time to just sit and relax in … I don’t even know how long. It’s not like I can pull out my phone and check my social media on the back of this thing.”

  “Yeah, I strongly recommend that you don’t do that. Not unless you want it to fly out of your hand and wind up in the windshield of your security team’s SUV.”

  “Speaking of, I should check it, just in case.” She took off the miniature leather backpack she’d been wearing as her purse and pulled out her phone. Her brow furrowed slightly, but at my questioning look, she waved a hand and put it away. “Nothing that can’t wait.”