Reluctantly Famous (4 page)

“
Hey!” I scuttle back on
the booth, pressing into Dex’s warm body.

“
Jeremy, why don’t you
take off man,” Ryker says from the other side of the
table.

“
What? I’m just getting
reacquainted with an old friend.” He leans over, his face way to
close to mine. “Isn’t that right?” The blast of alcohol from his
breath has me turning my head away. I feel his fingers trail up my
arm. I’m so skeeved out I feel nauseated.

“
Jeremy, leave. Now,
before I fuck you up.” Everyone turns to face Dex, shocked at the
tone of his voice.

“
Dex, chill,” Jeremy
slurs. “I’m just chatting up a hot piece of ass.”

Dex stands up and walks around the table
until he’s toe to toe with the drunk and sloppy idiot. “Get the
fuck away from her and don’t ever call her that again.”

They stare at each other for a moment before
Jeremy relents. “Okay man, no problem. I got ya.” He staggers off
to who knows where to bother someone else.

“
Thanks, Dex,” I tell him
once he’s sitting back besides me.

“
You met on the
plane?”

“
Yeah, he’s a complete
idiot. I can’t stand stupidity, no matter how good-looking the
package is.”

Dex grins, at what I’m not sure. But I’m not
complaining.

“
So, your brother is…” Dex
starts, thankfully changing the topic.

“
Yeah. He is.” I don’t
need to hear the rest of his question to know what he’s
asking.

Dex heard Syd talking to Drew earlier so I
told him my brother was Andrew Forrester. I assumed he already
knew. He’s in the industry for God’s sake and Sydney is so
recognizable, everyone knows who she dates! But no, he didn’t, so
now it’s out there. At least I know he’s not trying to use me to
get to Drew. Funny, I’m not uncomfortable sharing that part of my
life with Declan, the part I keep secret from everyone else I
know.

Declan appears to think it over for a few
seconds. He’s quiet for so long I’m almost afraid of what he’s
going to say next.

“
Huh. He’s kind of
scary.”

I burst out laughing, partially because I’m
pretty buzzed, and partially because that is so
not
what I
expected him to say. My brother is far from scary. Well, he is to
anyone who threatens our family, but to anyone he knows, he’s a big
marshmallow. I mean, Sydney has him so whipped it’s hilarious.

“
Scary? I guess it
depends.” I look right into Dex’s eyes. They’re the clearest blue
I’ve ever seen, almost transparent. Like the color the sky is on a
day when it’s somewhat cloudy but not raining. Icy, that’s the best
way to describe them.

“
Depends on what,” he
murmurs, his breath caressing my ear.

I shiver from the contact. “If you’re
threatening someone he loves. Then you’re ten kinds of fucked.”

“
I’m in luck, then. I’m
the least threatening guy I know.” Dex has a big grin on his
handsome face.

I study Dex carefully. His dark, almost
black hair is ruffled from dancing all night. I can see a faint
smattering of freckles across his cheeks and nose, barely
noticeable in the dim lighting of the club. His shirt is oversized,
but after watching him film half-naked all day, I know exactly
what’s underneath. It’s the stuff fantasies are made of, even
hidden by that huge shirt.

“
I don’t know, after what
I just saw you do to Jeremy, some people might find you
threatening.”

Drew would instantly hate anyone I was
dating, threatening or not. That’s just how he is. He’s a
Neanderthal. The hit before you speak kind of guy. He means well
though, most of the time. Thank God he doesn’t live in Boston, I
couldn’t deal with him flipping out every time I had a date, which
sadly isn’t that often.

Dex’s eyebrows arch over wide eyes. “What!
No way. I’m a nice guy. Ask anyone.” He turns to Ryker, who is
sitting across from us, his tongue down Leah’s throat.
Get a
room
. “Ry, tell Allie that I’m a nice guy.”

Ryker peels his face from Leah’s and smiles.
“He really is, Allie. He’s like a boy scout or something. Didn’t
you graduate with a 4.0 GPA, Dex?”

Dex blushes. I swear to God, the man
actually blushes. “Stop it Ry.”

“
No, Dex.” Ryker turns to
me. “He got a full ride to some uppity Ivy League business school
and flew through the classes in three years. Isn’t that what you
told me, Dex?”

“
I ummmm, sort of.” Declan
stumbles over the words, clearly embarrassed by the
praise.

“
What? You should be proud
of that.” I reach under the table and take his hand, squeezing it.
“Don’t ever play down your intelligence Dex. It’s a disservice to
you.”

What the fuck? Why am I sitting here
spouting drunken Nietzsche-type advice?

“
You’re amazing, you know
that?” he whispers.

How do you answer that? I have no idea, so I
decide to wing it.

“
Not nearly as amazing as
you.”

His eyes drop to my mouth and his pupils
dilate, eclipsing the icy blue. Dex slides his hand over my thigh,
gently massaging my leg. From the dark look on his face, I’d say my
response was perfect.

Hmmm, sometimes winging it works. I’ll have
to remember that.

Declan – now

My head is spinning in confusion. One
minute, we’re all sitting at a dark little pub called Birdie’s,
grabbing a few drinks and some food. A few Google Alerts, some
angry phone calls, and a hasty back door exit later, and Allie’s
cowering in the hotel elevator with a panicked look on her face.
Leah is scowling, cartoon steam practically coming out of her ears.
Ryker just seems relieved that his hoard of fans didn’t catch
him.

Sydney turns to us, hopefully to explain
what the fuck is going on around here.

“
So someone overheard a
conversation me and Allie had earlier this morning and they heard
us last night in your suite, Leah. That’s why Drew called, to tell
us about another
CelebCast
article.”

Allie starts trembling and cowers into my
side.

What the…?

“
Someone recorded you and
wrote about it?” I can’t hide my shock at finding out that people I
know are being spied on by tabloids. Ryker had mentioned something
about a tabloid, but didn’t really go into detail. I figured it was
the usual bullshit, not that they were planting recording devices
in private hotel rooms.

Allie nods, but won’t look at me. I have no
idea why she’s scared and embarrassed, but she shouldn’t be. That
shit isn’t her fault.

Sydney makes it sound as if she let Allie
down somehow.

“
I’m sorry Allie. I swept
the place last night when we got back from the club. There was
nothing there! I don’t understand. All we did was sleep, we didn’t
leave at all.”

The knowledge that these bastards can reduce
a confident, beautiful, outgoing girl into a nervous wreck pisses
me off. I’ve only known her for a few days, but I feel protective
of her, something I’ve never felt before.

Everything about this situation is fucked
up
.

“
Well, we’re all going to
your room and we’ll check it for you. You’re not getting recorded
again.” I sling my arm around Allie’s shoulders and pull her close,
letting her know that she can count on me to be there.

Ryker and I use some sort of detection
device to check the room for bugs, but we don’t find a thing. It’s
frustrating to come up empty, but if we actually found one I’d
probably lose my shit in front of everybody so we’re probably
better off this way. Leave the spy games to the professionals.

Sydney excuses herself to her room after
Leah and Ry take off, leaving Allie and me alone for the first time
since we met. I put my hand on her lower back and direct her to the
couch. She looks so sad. I have to try to do something to make her
feel better.

“
Hey, do you want
anything? A drink?”

Allie looks up at me with a desolate look in
her eyes, that playful spark I enjoyed is gone.

“
No, if you could just… I
don’t really want to be alone right now and I don’t want to leave
Syd. Can you stay?” Her voice is so small, so vulnerable, it makes
me want to wrap her up in my arms and hold her until everything is
better.

“
Sure. Want to talk about
it?” I’m not sure if I should ask, but it seems
appropriate.

“
Not tonight. Maybe once
reality sinks in.” She gives me a sarcastic little laugh before
pulling her feet up onto the couch and snuggling closer.

“
Okay.” I let her sink
into me, let the warmth of her body and the scent of her hair
envelop my senses. I’ve never been the protective type, not that
any girl has ever given me a chance. But I find that I like being
the one Allie turned to when she needed someone. I could get used
to this role.

It takes a minute for me to figure out where
I am. I blink my eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the dark room.
A person shifts next to me and I spot a tangled mess of dark hair,
I remember everything. The pub, Ryker’s insane fans, the tabloids,
the spying, it all comes back at once.

I sit up and realize we’re in her bed.
Together. I’m fully dressed though, and from the looks of it, Allie
is wearing sweats and a T-shirt. She moves again and I smile. We
were up half the night talking, something I’ve never done before.
Hell, I’ve never shared a bed with a girl before. Not overnight and
especially not without at least some version of sex happening.

My cheeks flush when I remember what we
discussed. I drop my head into my hands, humiliated. Stupid me, I
told her how I took my hard-earned Ivy League education, the one
that made my Irish parents so proud, and never used it, not for one
single day.

Declan – then

“
Dex! What’s wrong with
you lately? You losing your touch or what?”

I glare at my roommate Seth from where I’m
studying at the kitchen table. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He laughs. “It means, you haven’t had a
chick in here in months. Usually, there’s at least one or two a
week, if not more. Did your dick fall off or something?”

Clenching my pen tight, I talk myself down
from beating his ass before answering him. “No Seth. I’m busy,
that’s all.”

I know that’s not all there is to it. That
day in the library fucked with my brain. I ran through all of my
hookups in my head, tried to figure out what the fuck is wrong with
me, why I can’t score more than a one-night stand. The answer
wasn’t pretty, or maybe that was the problem.
I’m
too
pretty.

No one takes me seriously. They think I’m a
hot body and face with nothing going on between my ears. Girls
don’t hang around long enough to find out the truth and if they do,
they think I’m full of shit. No one who looks like me could
possibly be intelligent. I’ve spent the last semester hiding under
hideous clothing just to prevent the random come-ons.

“
Well, something’s up with
you. Is graduating getting to you? You don’t even look like
yourself. What’s with the baggy clothes? Don’t you work at
Abercrombie and get free clothes and shit?”

“
Lay the fuck off, Seth.
I’m studying for finals.” I snap at him, watching as he recoils in
shock. I never raise my voice. I’m the calm, easygoing roommate.
Well, not anymore.

“
Alright. No worries.” He
returns to watching his movie, not bothering to talk to me
again.

“
I gotta get to work
anyway.” I slam my book shut and stalk off to my bedroom. Can’t
show up at work wearing old clothes that are two sizes too
big.

“
Hi Dex.” My manager,
Kathy, greets me as I walk into the back room after my shift
ends.

“
Hey Kath. What’s
up?”

“
Can we talk for a
second?” She points towards the tiny office next to our employee
break room.

“
Sure.” I dutifully follow
her, flopping down on the chair opposite her overflowing
desk.

“
So, Dex. Did you know
that the company only uses store employees in their
ads?”

“
Huh?”

Wow, way to prove your intelligence,
idiot.

“
Those big pictures on the
walls, the magazine ads, they’re all former store employees.” Kathy
smiles at me as she shuffles through a stack of papers.

“
Sure. Okay, that makes
sense I guess.” It
doesn’t
make sense, but whatever. As a
marketing major, I’d think they’d want to choose from a larger pool
of models to represent the brand, not just sales clerks.

“
Store managers can
nominate employees that they think are right for the campaigns.”
She hands me a piece of paper. “I nominated you, and they want
you.”

I sit up straight in the chair, my mouth
gaping. Hesitantly, I take the paper from her outstretched hand.
“What do you mean, they want me?”

Kathy laughs, but she does it in a way that
doesn’t make me feel as if I’m being patronized. “They want you to
go to New York, Dex. To be one of the models in the ads.”

This can’t be right. “I’m in school,” I tell
her, shaking my head.