Fame

by Jillian Dodd

  “Baby, I need to pee,” the blonde says, at a totally inappropriate time.

  “So, go,” Riley says, shrugging her off. “It should have been amazing. We used a lot of my actual footage from that day—digitally enhanced, of course.”

  “And, more importantly,” Aiden adds, teasingly, “I didn’t have to sacrifice another Maserati. So, Boots, I hate to break up the trip down memory lane, but we need to head out.”

  I swoon when he calls me Boots. It’s what he called me before he knew my name.

  I glance at his watch. “We have plenty of time before the fashion show. Speaking of memory lane,” I say to Riley. “I was surprised to see you added a photo with Ariela in it. Maybe you should call her sometime. See how she’s doing. It’d be nice to see you with the same girl more than once. I swear you must have a stable of blondes hidden behind your penthouse.”

  “No fucking way,” he replies. “I’m perfectly happy with Shelly.”

  I bite my lip, holding back a smile.

  “What?” he asks.

  “Her name is Shelby.”

  He rolls his eyes. “Whatever. Close enough.”

  The actors who played Keatyn and Aiden join us. We all congratulate them on another success, and I give them huge hugs.

  I watch Riley pat Aiden on the back and say something discreetly to him.

  “All right,” Aiden says to me, “we have to get going.”

  I take his hand. “You and Riley looked sneaky. What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” he says, dragging me toward the exit.

  “I heard him say something about luck.”

  “Oh, he just said with any luck, he’d accidentally lose Shelby somewhere between the premiere and the party so he could hang with all the models.”

  “Are there any models left that he hasn’t already dated? Or any aspiring actresses? I wish he’d aim a little higher, age-wise. Maybe find someone who’s already successful. Maybe I should set him up with—”

  “Riley doesn’t want strings. Ariela broke his heart when she wouldn’t come to California with him after graduation.”

  “Did you talk to him about it? I was shocked he added that photo of the cast party. They looked so in love.”

  “I tried to talk to him, but he just turned it around and gave me shit.”

  “About what?”

  “Us. He said I couldn’t give relationship advice until I’d put a ring on it.”

  “You did put a ring on it,” I say, holding out the vintage diamond and emerald four-leaf clover ring he gave me years ago. “That’s all we’ve ever needed.”

  I realize I’ve been silly. We don’t need a piece of paper to tell us we’re in love. We can have a baby and not be married. Our love is all that matters. It’s all that’s ever mattered.

  The corners of Aiden’s beautiful mouth turn down for a second. I’m about to ask him why, but am interrupted by him telling my bodyguard that we’re going straight to the car and not stopping for autographs.

  Which is weird, because he’s always so supportive.

  As he drags me toward the car, I’m trying to at least wave to all the fans yelling my name.

  “Stop rushing me, Aiden. You’re starting to piss me off.”

  When the limo door shuts behind us, he gives me a hard kiss, which manages to both cool down my temper and heat up my insides at the same time. He still gets me as worked up as he did the day I met him. It was my first day at boarding school, when I decided to stop scripting out my life and do something crazy. I ran down a hill wearing a dress and cowboy boots, interrupting a shirts vs skins boys’ soccer game, stole the ball, dribbled it down the field, and kicked it past the goalie’s head. A goalie so beautiful I immediately nicknamed him the God of All Hotties.

  And have been in love with him ever since.

  He looks so handsome tonight. His dark blonde hair, those gorgeous green eyes, the sexy freckle on his cheek, a dark suit perfectly tailored to highlight his tall, lean body.

  I move my hands to the front of his pants, forgetting I’m mad and thinking about the hotness behind his zipper, when his phone rings.

  He checks the display and hands it to me. “It’s Dallas. I’m sure he wants to talk to you.”

  “Hey, Dallas,” I say.

  “Riley’s predicting box office success.”

  “He always does.”

  “What do you think?”

  “I think I agree with him. Releasing the full three-movie version was brilliant.”

  “Wait. Did I hear that right? Is this history in the making? Did you just admit to being wrong?”

  “Yes, I said it. You’ll be busy adding up the money. How's RiAnne feeling? Baby five cooperating?”

  “I can't tell you how many times this week she's said she needs this baby out of her. She’s pouting because we couldn't come to Paris with y’all, and now she’s craving macaroons.”

  “Are you getting her some?”

  “Of course.”

  “You're a good man.”

  “Always have been.”

  “Damn straight. Tell her we’ll celebrate with dinner at the beach when we get back.”

  “Sounds good. Tell Aiden good luck tonight.”

  “Okay,” I say. “Bye.”

  As soon as I hang up, I turn to Aiden. “Wait. Why did Dallas just tell me to wish you luck?”

  He gives me a smirk. “Probably thinks I’m going to need it. You know, holding off all the models that will be hitting on me after the fashion show.”

  I kiss him. “You’re bad.”

  “So what was your favorite part of the movie?”

  “Oh, gosh, I have so many. But probably when I first told you I love you.”

  The limo stops at the base of the Eiffel Tower.

  “What are we doing here?”

  “Thought we’d take in the view. It’s a gorgeous evening,” he says.

  He ushers me out of the car, and we meet a concierge who takes us to the top.

  We lean against the railing and take in the view of Paris.

  “You can see our apartment from here,” he says, pointing in its direction.

  “The view is the reason we bought it, remember? It had great bones but was such a mess.”

  “It’s beautiful now, which makes it worth it.”

  “We’ve done a lot over the years,” I say. Watching the movie of our love has left me feeling very nostalgic.

  “You’re right,” Aiden says, and starts naming off our accomplishments. “Two college degrees. Twelve movies. Thousands of sunsets in twenty-six countries. We built our mansion of love overlooking the vineyard and managed to survive the renovations of our Paris apartment and our Malibu beach house.”

  “Thank goodness we didn’t have to do anything to the loft in New York. It’s always been perfect.”

  He smiles at me and touches my face. “Your loft has that one important piece of decor we’ve added to every one of our homes.”

  “And what is that?”

  “Don’t be naughty.” He gives me a little smack on the butt. “You know it’s the glow-in-the-dark moon on the ceiling of our bedrooms.”

  “I’m just teasing you,” I say. “And don’t forget the millions of dollars your winery has donated to worthy causes. Its Moon Wish label has done very well.” Moons are kinda our thing. Although it totally sounds like something that could only happen in a movie, Aiden and I wished on the moon at virtually the same time, a country apart, before we ever met, for our perfect match. And, somehow, we found each other.

  “Well, it certainly helps sales when we have the hottest actress under thirty in all our advertisements.”

  “I’m thinking it might be time for us to slow down a little,” I say with a sigh as he wraps his arms around my waist.

  “I think that’s a good idea. You could use some time off. We both could.”

  “I have something I need to tell you, Aiden.”

  “Not yet,” he says, kissing my neck. “I’m not don
e with memory lane. Remember when you tutored me in French—back when you were still trying to resist my charm—and I told you I was going to ask you to marry me here someday? And, later, how I asked you to go to Winter Formal with me by having the guys in the dorm build that lame Eiffel Tower replica?”

  “It wasn’t lame. It was so romantic. I’ll remember the way you looked that day for the rest of my life. It was one of those take my breath away moments.”

  He whispers in my ear. “I hope this is another one of those moments.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I glance over my shoulder, not seeing him.

  I turn around.

  And.

  Ohmigawd!

  He’s. Down. On. One. Knee.

  He takes my hand.

  I hold my breath, trying to capture every feeling, every single thing about this moment. The smells of Paris, the sunset, Aiden’s sexy voice, the way my hand still feels like it belongs in his forever. He makes me feel like anything and everything is possible.

  “You and I are like a promise,” he says. “A wish. Proof that fate and luck bring people together. Proof of love at first sight. Proof that true love will survive. I promise you a life that’s better than anything you’ve ever scripted. So, what do you say, Boots? Wanna get hitched?”

  “Hitched?”

  “Yeah. Get it: boots, hitched?”

  I laugh. “You’re silly.”

  “And you’re beautiful. Seriously, will you marry me?”

  “Yes, I will.”

  When he stands up, I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him.

  “That was easier than I thought,” he says, an adorable smile playing on his face. “Dallas said I’d need the ring to get you to commit to planning a wedding.”

  “Is there a ring?”

  “Is there a ring? Of course, there’s a ring. Wanna see it?”

  “Hell yeah.”

  He pulls a velvet box out of his jacket pocket and opens the lid.

  The ring is ablaze with color.

  A large round canary diamond set into a thick band, baguette stones ringing the band in rows, starting with clear brilliant diamonds then moving across the band in graduating shades of light yellows and pinks.

  “It looks like a sunset!” I gasp.

  “That’s by design.” He slides the vintage four-leaf clover ring off my finger and replaces it with the engagement ring.

  I admire it for a moment.

  “Turn your hand over and look at the back.”

  I flip my hand around. The back is also ringed with stones, graduating to brighter shades of oranges, hot pinks, and reds.

  And one single emerald. I know exactly what the emerald means. When we were in St. Croix over Thanksgiving break of my junior year, we saw the green flash together. I had thought I’d seen the flash at sunset before, but I was wrong. And I didn’t know I hadn’t seen it until I saw the real thing.

  It was like our love. I thought I had been in love with other boys, but I didn’t know it wasn’t real until I had experienced the real thing. When my ordeal with the stalker was over, I told Aiden he was my green flash. My true love.

  “You’re my green flash too,” he says, giving me another kiss. “Always. Only. Ever yours.”

  “Um . . .” I say.

  “Um?”

  “Yeah, we might need a rewrite on that part.”

  “What part?”

  “The only part.”

  “You don’t want only me?”

  “It’s not going to be just us anymore.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m pregnant, Aiden.”

  “How?”

  I laugh at him. “Um, I think you know how.”

  He lowers his voice. “But you're on the pill.”

  “Remember about six months ago when you said I should go off it and see what happens?”

  “You did?”

  “Yeah, I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want the pressure of trying. I was hoping it would just happen. Honestly, I was starting to worry that I couldn’t get pregnant.”

  “You shouldn’t have worried,” he says, holding up my palm, reminding me of what a palm reader predicted so long ago. “You know we’re having four kids. It’s fate.”

  “Maybe sorta like fate,” I add with a laugh, mimicking what he said years ago. I’ll never forget tutoring him in the library. After he told me he would ask me to marry him at the top of the Eiffel Tower at sunset, I laughed and said, Why would I marry you? I don’t even like you. Then he asked me what the French word for fate was. When I told him it was sort, he gave me that cocky grin of his and said, Exactly, we’re sorta like fate. That line was used in the theme song for the movie. Damian wrote the song ‘Sorta Like Fate’ and his band, Twisted Dreams, recorded it. It might just be my favorite song ever.

  Aiden holds my hands tightly and looks into my soul. “Are you really pregnant?”

  “Only a few weeks, but, yes, I took a test this morning and it was positive.”

  He has the same shocked look as he did when I kicked the soccer ball past him.

  Then a smile starts to form, the corners of his mouth turning upward.

  Which turns into the full-wattage powerful god-like smile that still makes me swoon.

  “Come on, beautiful. Let’s get going so we can tell everyone the good news.”

  As we drive to the fashion show, the moon slides into view.

  I make another wish on it.

  That our baby gets their daddy’s smile.

  Thursday, September 25th

  Movie Premiere - Los Angeles

  RILEY

  I’m bored and sitting on a little cream chaise waiting for Shelby to try on yet another designer dress. Granted, I should have planned this better, but I had no idea I’d be taking her to all three Keatyn Chronicles premieres: Paris, New York, and now L.A. But I’m too busy and too tired to care. I just have to get through this last one and then I’ll cut her loose.

  Maybe.

  The girl is freaking crazy in bed. Wild ass shit that I’ve never done and will probably never do again but that’s fun to try.

  Once.

  “I like the backless black one,” I tell her. “We need to get going. The hair and makeup team will be at our suite in an hour.”

  She comes out in a red dress with a big bow on the shoulder, looking like a present. Not that I wouldn’t mind unwrapping her, but it’s a pretty ugly dress.

  “But I think I luuuvvvee this one,” she pouts.

  I push her back in the dressing room. “If you choose the black one, we’ll have about an hour to kill before hair and makeup arrive.”

  “Oh,” she smiles. “That’s what you want, huh, daddy?”

  I cringe when she calls me daddy. What is it with young girls and that term?

  “Yes, that’s what I want.”

  “But what about jewels? Keatyn always gets to wear real jewels.”

  “Real jewels that are on loan. You have to earn that privilege.”

  “Well, whose dick do I have to suck to get them? I mean, this is my third red carpet appearance!”

  I cringe again as I hear the stylist chuckle. “That’s not how it works. You have to be a movie star.”

  “Or with someone rich. You could just buy me some jewels. Then I wouldn’t have to borrow them. That’s what I don’t get. Keatyn has to be loaded. Can’t she buy her own freaking diamonds and let people like me who can’t afford them be the ones to borrow them?”

  I ignore her comment and tell the stylist which dress we’d like.

  Once we’re checked into our hotel suite right across from where the premiere is being held, I pull a couple scarves out of my overnight bag.

  “Oh, daddy wants to be naughty.”

  “Yes, I do. You’ve been a very bad girl. I’m going to have to tie you up and spank you.”

  She giggles, strips, and lies on the bed.

  I wrap the first scarf around her wrist and tie it to the be
dpost, then the other.

  Once she’s secure, I get naked and thrust my cock in her mouth, just like she likes it.

  As soon as she gets me nice and hard, I pull out and turn her over, spank her ass, and get ready to fuck her.

  “Oh, daddy!” she calls out, causing me to instantly go limp.

  “Stop fucking calling me that!” I yell at her while stomping into the bathroom and locking myself inside.

  I take a shower, trying to erase her words out of my head.

  I know my thirtieth birthday is quickly approaching, but I’m certainly not even close to being old enough to be her daddy.

  She knocks on the door. Apparently, I didn’t tie her up tight enough.

  “I’m sorry, Riley. Let me in. I’ll make it up to you.”

  “Nope, hair and makeup will be here any minute. Get yourself in a robe and answer the door when they get here.”

  “Fine,” she says, “but I’m ordering champagne!”

  I punch the shower wall with my fist. This is why I never date a girl more than once.

  “Wow,” Keatyn says at the after party. “You should’ve asked me to be your date instead of breaking your rule.”

  Keatyn knows my rule. I rarely take the same girl out more than once, and definitely never to three premieres in a row.

  “She loved the one in Paris and asked if she could come to New York. Of course, she had my dick in her mouth at the time. What was I supposed to say? That was a difficult predicament to be in. I mean, what if I said no and she bit it off or something?”

  Keatyn gives me a huge eye roll. “She’s trouble, Riley. And she has no class. You’d be better off going stag or with a cast member.”

  “I know.” I sigh.

  “At least she’s showing a little less skin tonight,” Keatyn says, trying to make me feel better.

  “That’s because I picked out the dress.”

  “Well, thank goodness for that.”

  “Speaking of that, why isn’t Aiden here? Why did you come with Knox?”