More Than Famous (Famous #2) (36 page)

"Imagine Dragons are coming here next month.  I'd like you to come with me to the concert, Brook.  We can ask Cade to join if you want."

I felt myself tense and my fists clench.  Of course, she'd want Cade along.  "Wendy, so much has happened; I don't know."

She looked exasperated. "I'm sorry about what happened, okay?  But to be fair, you have to admit that you didn't tell me that you were with Cade.   I didn't know, so your reaction wasn't really fair."

David didn't say anything at all; he just watched the two of us, so that told me that Wendy had shared the whole sordid mess with him.

"Hmmmph."  It was true I hadn’t told her Cade and I were together, but he’d told her he loved me, and that didn't change what she did or how she let me believe that she'd slept with him.  "Why did you even go there? You knew how he felt."

"Brook, come on.  You knew I wanted to be with Cade.  I'm sorry, but he's hot, everyone wants to do him." I stiffened at her words, and even David was getting uncomfortable with the conversation, by the way he was bristling in his seat. "But, I wouldn't have tried if you would have told me the truth." 

Yeah, right.
  My mind protested.

"If that’s true, why did you let me think you two had sex?  You saw how upset I was."

"Because, I felt ridiculous that you'd found me there with my clothes off.  I thought that it was Cade at the door and you took me by surprise, and then I was unsure what to do.   Upset is the last reaction I expected from you, Brook.  I was wrong, and I'm sorry.  I think you more than retaliated, didn't you?"

My arms were folded in front of me as I looked at her through hooded eyes.  She was right.  I did annihilate her in front of most our friends. 

"I was just so pissed.  I missed out on three months with Cade, and what I can't forgive is how much it hurt
him
. Wasn't it a little presumptuous of you to think he'd sleep with you?  I mean, he'd been telling you over and over that he loved me, hadn't he?"

She reached out to put her arm around me.  "Yes, but as far as I knew, you didn't want him." She shrugged.  "Be reasonable, Brook.  I admit it, I wasn't thinking straight.  I hoped that if he'd had a little too much to drink, I could convince him to be with me, and then after—well, that he'd want to be with me again."

Jesus.  Did I have to hear this?

"I adore you, Brook, and I want to work this out, even if it's in baby steps.  This is a start, isn't it?  I thought if I came along today, Cade wouldn't be as upset since you wouldn't be alone with David." 

Wendy leaned her head against mine and squeezed my shoulders.  It was a little too much fake-love for me at this point, and I pulled away from her.

"Gee, thanks, Wendy.  Thanks a hell of a lot."

She shrugged at him as she moved away from me finally.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out.  Of course, it was from Cade.

Are you with him now?

I typed out my response.

Yeah.  Wendy is here, too.  I'll explain later.  Will I see you for dinner?

"Wendy, I think it's Cade who deserves the apology and I'm sorry, but I still can’t trust you.  You'll have to prove that you're sincere before I'll ever be able to do that."  My voice was quiet and I was still extremely skeptical, however it would make doing
Don’t Forget to Remember Me
easier if there wasn't constant tension on set.

"Sure, if that's what it takes, I'll apologize to him too.  I do feel bad, and now everyone hates me.  My life hasn't been all sunshine and roses these past two weeks either."

We pulled up at the restaurant and the minute the cab door opened the cameras started firing. 

Hmmm... funny they knew where we were going.

"Did Pinnacle tell the press where we'd be or did you, Wendy?" I sounded snarky, but fuck, that would be so par for the course!

David grabbed my hand and smiled at me as he put his sunglasses down over his eyes.  Damn if those weren't practically identical to Cade's. 
What the hell was he trying to do?

"I did, Brook.  It's part of it.  We have to get pictures, or I don't get paid.  Understand?"

David certainly was in a good mood as the three of us walked into the restaurant, and Wendy was all smiles for the cameras as well.  She wasn't hurt by our argument, in the slightest. She was so painfully obvious.

 I, on the other hand, wanted to be anywhere but with the two of them and I was annoyed.  I didn't care at all.  Maybe we had to get a few pictures, but I'd be damned if I was going to look like I was enjoying myself.

After lunch, Wendy wanted to go check out some of the shops in downtown Vancouver, and it really didn't matter to me what we did.  I was obligated to a couple of hours and that was going to be the end of it.

As we walked down the street, David kept pulling my hand into his and I'd find any excuse to pull away.  I knew I'd get a tongue lashing from the suits, but hell, I couldn't help it.  All I could think about was how this was going to make Cade feel, and since he hadn't returned my text yet, I started to worry.  I knew we were solid, but this was still going to be hard for him.

I couldn't resist, I finally had to ask David about his clothes.

"Um, what's up with your little CC make-over?  Seriously dude, it's sort of pathetic. The press is gonna eat you alive."  I rolled my eyes at him, and then regretted my words. 

I could see that he was hurt and embarrassed; the skin of his face was getting redder by the second.  It didn't help when Wendy laughed and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Do you have to try to hurt me all the time, Brook? Jesus, isn't what I've been through for you enough already? Don't you care about me at all?"

Yes, I cared about him. You don't spend years of your life with someone and then just wake up one day and forget everything they'd meant to your life.  He was a good person, a good friend.  I lowered my eyes as I struggled for what to say.

"David, I'm not trying to hurt you, but you shouldn't try to copy Cade.  You should just be yourself."  I put my hand on his arm in the form of an apology. "You have a lot of great qualities of your own."

"I'm not
copying
him.  I just thought this was the type of look that you were attracted to now."

I sighed.  "I wasn't attracted to a particular ‘look', David.  I don't want to hurt you more, but it's just Cade.  It doesn't matter what he wears, how long his hair is, or whether he shaves or not.  That isn't it. I'm sorry you've been hurt.  How many times can I tell you that?"

"It doesn't hurt that Cade's so drop-dead beautiful, does it, Brook?"  Wendy was looking at some shoes but she still put in her two cents.

Will the real Wendy Reed please stand up? I felt sure this one was it. She was so blatantly insensitive to other people's feelings.

I shook my head in barely veiled disgust, and moved off to the other side of the store away from both of them and checked my watch.  This was more than enough time to be out with them and so I decided that the afternoon was over.  Finally, my phone went off in my pocket.

Hey, love. Some of the film got exposed and we have to reshoot at least half of what I've done today.  So, I won’t be able to make dinner.  Sorry, sweetheart. Can you let me know when you're away from David?

I love you, more.

I sighed in regret.

"I need to get back.  I have to take a nap before my scenes tonight."

I typed out a text response to Cade.

Going back to the hotel now.  I miss you
.

IT WAS NEARLY
10 PM and I was exhausted.  Sarah, Gavin, Jennifer and I had shot and re-shot one of the hospital scenes twenty times and I was sick of it.  My eyes searched for Cade all night, but I hadn't seen him.  I hadn't heard from him either, so hopefully he was getting some much-needed sleep, but I decided to go to the sound stage where he was scheduled just to check.

Martin was having the crew reset the scene because he wanted to get one more take of the lead-in, when I finally saw Cade across the set.

His arms were folded across his chest with one hand up to his mouth as he talked to the production manager.  I made my way toward him as if pulled by gravity.  I was praying that I had some time to talk to him before my scene resumed.

When Cade saw me moving toward him, he excused himself from his conversation so he could meet me halfway.

"Hey, you."  His voice was low, so no one else could hear.  My eyes were drinking him in, the eighteen hours since we'd seen each other seemed like forever.  My hands ached to reach out and touch him.  "I wish I could kiss you.  I've missed you today," he sighed.

I nodded and bit my lip.  "Missed you, too.  Are you almost done?"

"Just a couple of shots.  They need me against this background so they can match it up with what we lost today.  What a bloody nightmare that was.  I think someone lost their job over it."

 "That's harsh."  His eyes were searching mine and I could see the questions behind them.

"Well, it was an expensive mistake.  It puts the whole thing behind schedule." He paused and took a deep breath.  "I saw the pics of you and the idiot today. PopSugar and eOnline have them up."  He looked around the set to make sure no one was listening.

"Already?  Those assholes sure work fast." I couldn't help myself; I reached out and touched the front of his shirt.

"Yeah.  Did David work fast today, too?"  His brow dropped and his lips pursed as he looked at the ground.

"Hey.  If you saw them, you had to see how pissed and bored I was.  I thought about you all day.  I was worried about how you were going to take it."

"Yeah.  My head knows, Brook, but I still bloody hate it.  He didn't try anything did he?"  I could see the memory of Rome flash across his features. “I will fucking kill him.”

"No. Wendy came along because she said she was trying to make it up to us; that she thought that you'd feel better about it if I wasn't alone with David."  I looked away from his face to smile at a production assistant who was passing by us. 

We couldn't have the crew speculating about our relationship.  Any one of them could make significant money by leaking information about Cade and me.

"Well, in a way, the logic is good.  I wish I could kiss you right now."  His hand reached out to mine for an instant before he let it drop to his side.  The electricity I felt at his touch always amazed me.

"You look so tired.  I think you need to sleep tonight, baby."  My voice was quiet as I searched his face.

"I am tired, but I want to be with you.  Can I sleep with you in your room?" He was so beautiful with his brows raised over his sparkling eyes and that boyish grin playing about his mouth.

I felt my own lips curve in a bright smile.  "As if I'd let you do anything else. But we both need to
sleep
, Cade, okay?"  I poked his stomach again and he grunted good-naturedly.

"Brook, places!"  Martin called to me from forty yards away.

"Meet you in your room later, then, honey, yeah?"  Cade said, as I turned to leave. 

I love you
.  I hoped he could read it in my eyes.

I LAY NAKED
in my bed waiting for Cade. I told him we needed to sleep, and so I probably should have had something on, but I knew he loved being completely naked with me in bed.  My skin on his; he said it was his favorite thing to wear. 

It made my heart beat faster just thinking about it.  He was so romantic, so amazing. Perfect in everything he said to me, how he touched me, and how much he loved me.  I wanted to melt right into him. 

Our call in the morning was at 9 AM, so he'd need to get right to sleep.  I felt my eyes getting heavy as I let thoughts of him flood my mind and heart.  I hugged a pillow as I lay on my side and fought the sleep that tried to overtake me.  I wanted to wait for Cade and had music playing to keep me awake.

I wasn't sure how much longer he'd be, but this had been one long fucking day for him.  4 AM to 1 AM.  Finally, I heard the key card in the door.  My body jazzed, and my heart raced.