Authors: Heather Leigh
Chapter
31
“Where the hell have you been?” Leah’s expression is alternating between wanting to hug me and punch me when I see her. It’s been five days since the party at the Verve, and I haven’t contacted anyone since I left. I flew back from Belize this morning and when I got home, the concierge had the messenger bag that I left at the club.
My phone was dead so I plugged it in to charge. It beeped about a million times when it came to life and I saw that I had so many voicemails my mailbox was full. Most were from Drew and Leah, one was from Adam apologizing for Kiera,
how did he get my number?
, and three were from Jeff Talley, Sander Yates and Ben Walton at the Warren, all congratulating me for the design and the success of the opening. At least they didn’t notice my early departure.
I erase the ones from Drew without listening to them; I have too much going on to start crying again. And frankly, I’m not ready to talk to him just yet. There are also so many text messages from Drew and Leah that I couldn’t possibly read them all, so I just delete those too.
Now, after calling Leah and telling her I’m home, she’s standing over me less than ten minutes later screeching like a banshee. Who knew that someone so small could be so intimidating?
“I went to Belize and stayed with my mom. I had to think. I just couldn’t do that here with the pressure from you and Drew.”
“So you left and didn’t tell me? Or Drew? He went absolutely nuts and caused a huge scene at the club when he found out what happened, Sydney.” I wince at her words. “The man arrives from flying cross-country to see you and finds out that you’ve vanished! He was devastated Syd, you should have stayed and talked to him!”
“You know how I feel about that, Leah. I …” she cuts me off
, angrier than I’ve ever seen her.
“I know that y
ou love him! That’s what I know. I know that he loves you too! Nothing else matters! You have got to let this crazy paranoia go or you’re going to be miserable. I’ve known you for a long time, Syd, and Drew has made you happier than I’ve ever seen you! And you’re ruining it because of his job!” Leah is pacing my den, hostility radiating off of her small form.
“You can’t know that he loves me Leah, he hasn’t even told me yet.” I glare at her, trying to be angry so I won’t cry. I can’t cry anymore.
“Well he told
me
that he loves you.” She puts her hands on her hips defiantly. My mouth gapes and I can’t make any words come out. “That’s right, he knew I recognized him. He knew I did him a favor and didn’t tell you he was an actor. He’s not stupid, Sydney. He knew enough from that crap with Adam that if he revealed who he is, you’d leave him.
“
He came to see me at the café the last time he was in town to see you. He wanted to know why you were so afraid of fame and celebrity. I let him know that I wasn’t going to tell him and that he was going to have to get that story from you. I also told him that he needed to explain to you what he does for a living, because you were going to find out eventually and hearing it from someone besides him would be really bad. He told me he was in love with you, Sydney. He was scared of you leaving him when he told you. I told him I thought you loved him enough to stick it out. Was I wrong?”
I just sit, frozen on the couch, knees pulled to my chest, my arms clutched around my legs trying to hold myself together. I m
ight fall to pieces any minute.
Leah continues her rant.
“He was going to tell you before you left for the party! He knew he couldn’t walk into that club without you knowing. Shit, everyone there knows who he is. That bitch Kiera Radcliff is his co-star in his next movie for God’s sake! But his flight was delayed in L.A. and then diverted to Denver due to a medical issue with one of the passengers. It was one big clusterfuck!
“
He tried calling you to let you know where he was, but by the time he was able use his phone, yours must have been behind the bar at the club. He said that he planned on staying downstairs in one of the hotel’s conference rooms when he arrived and he was going to have a staff member bring you to him to talk. But then Kiera told you who Drew was before he got there, and you left him!”
“He lied to me Leah. And you!” I stab my finger at her
. “You knew who he was this entire time.” I stare at her accusingly.
“Yeah, I knew. It took me a minute to recognize him under that ugly-ass hat, but I knew. And you told me you were glad I never mentioned that Adam was a celebrity because you never would have given him the time of day and you found out he was actually a great
person. So I did exactly what you just said you wanted me to do. I let you get to know Drew as a person, Sydney, not Andrew Forrester ‘Sexiest Man Alive’.” Her words cut me to the quick.
I stare down at my toes looking at the bright red polish I had done for the club opening. “It sure does explain his fondness for that n
asty baseball cap, doesn’t it?”
I look up
and can’t help that the corner of my mouth lifts in amusement. It actually explains a lot, like the pilots’ reaction to him and the private dining rooms. God, and that homeless running outfit. Damn, I’m so oblivious.
She starts laughing, “Yeah, it does.” My smile fades as quickly as it appeared when Leah keeps talking. “You have to talk to him Sydney. You didn’t see how devastated he was. He got to the party and the staff told him you were gone
. I swear it was only thirty minutes after you left. I found him in the club and told him what happened.
“
He went nuclear on Kiera. I’ve never seen anyone so angry, Syd. I had to physically get between them. Kiera had this nasty smirk on her face, and said something rude about you, and I swear I thought he was going to punch her. Then he turned on Adam and threatened to kick the crap out of him for trying to steal his girlfriend. Someone even got a picture of it and posted it to some crap blog online. It was a shitstorm.”
“Holy shit, Leah, she’s
a bitch and all, but it’s not Kiera’s fault! He’s the one who didn’t tell me who he was.”
“But he was going to tell you, just like you were going to tell him about your parents prior to the party. You both had secrets. You both wanted to make sure you were right for each other before sharing them. You’re not exactly innocent, Sydney. After he made a scene we left Verve and came here because we couldn’t reach you on the phone.”
“I left my phone in my bag at the club.” I say sheepishly.
“I didn’t know that at the time,” she glares at me. “An employee at the Warren found it behind the bar the next day and it had your business cards in it. So they called the New York office listed on the card and a co-worker of yours brought it to your concierge on Monday. Anyway, we got here and you wouldn’t answer your phone
and the concierge wouldn’t let us upstairs. Drew was going ballistic in the lobby, screaming at the concierge to open your door. When he refused, Drew threatened to call the police to let us in to make sure you weren’t dead. I’m not kidding, Sydney, I’ve never seen a man have a complete breakdown, but I’m pretty sure I did that night.”
I can’t speak. M
y throat is dry, and I have no response to Leah’s accusatory stare. “So, they finally let us in and we could tell that you had been here. You threw away a four-thousand dollar Jason Wu? Are you nuts?”
“I don’
t ever want to look at it again,” I snap defiantly.
“Real mature Sydney.” I stick
out my tongue and Leah gives me an evil look. “Anyway, it’s a good thing it was so late, because only one or two of your neighbors came through the lobby while one of the world’s biggest movie stars was having a meltdown at the front desk. Hours later we finally realized you weren’t coming home, and Drew only left when I shoved him out the door and promised him I’d let him know if I heard from you, even if you told me not to. You have got to call him Syd, otherwise I will. I gave him my word.”
“I know Leah. I will. But first I need your help.”
Chapter
32
Leah is sitting on the edge of my bathtub, all of the color gone from her face. Leah, silenced again. I seem to be good at that lately. “Leah! Leah!” I snap my fingers in front of her face. “Hey! I’m the one that needs to be comforted, okay?”
She looks at me, her trance broken. “This…this is…” she waves the positive pregnancy test in front of me. “This is huge, Syd. I can’t believe it.”
“I know.” I’m so over-stressed that I’ve passed the point of reacting to anything and moved to total numbness. “I already took one, it said I wasn’t pregnant.”
“What? Yo
u knew you could be pregnant?” She looks at me as if I sprouted a second head.
“It was one time a month and a half ago, Leah! A caught up in the moment thing. I took a test a week later and it was negative. I don’t even get regular periods. But I’ve been sick for the last couple of weeks. I blamed it on stress and nerves.” I sound whiney and I hate it.
“A week? You can’t test for pregnancy until at the very least two weeks after you have unprotected sex, Sydney! How do you not know that?” Leah jumps to her feet and is waving the test in front of me. She has an incredulous expression on her face, making me feel like I’m the stupidest person ever.
Which, I probably am right about now.
“I don’t exactly use pregnancy tests every day, Leah! I just wanted to get the test over with so I wouldn’t have to worry anymore!” I snatch the test out of her hand and throw it in the sink. “Fuck, Leah, I have to call Drew.”
“Yes, you do, for more than one reason. Get over the fame thing, Syd. He’s going to be the father of your child. You can’t let potential tabloid shit come between you. Don’t make the same decision your parents did. Don’t let your kid grow up without a father.”
Leah’s face is sympathetic, but still upset. Her dark blonde eyebrows pulled are into a ‘v’ over her concerned blue eyes. I’ve let her down. I let my mom down. I let Drew down. I was faced with my fears and ran away like the twelve year-old Sydney would. Now, it’s time to stop running and fight. I pull out my phone and dial.
When the
thunderous knocking starts I hurry and open the door so my neighbors don’t come out to see what’s going on. A very disheveled and tired looking Drew comes rushing in, wrapping his arms around me. He kicks the door shut and pulls my head to his chest. “Jesus, Sydney. You scared the shit out of me. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” I hear his voice crack a little.
Crap, don’t cry Sydney
.
I snuggle into his warm body and inhale his scent, pure Drew; masculine and
comforting. I relax into him and can’t help it, I burst into tears. “Shhhh, it’s okay babe. It’s okay.” He scoops me up and brings me down the hall to my bedroom, gently laying me on top of the bed. He uses his feet to remove his shoes and lies down with me, letting me cry into his shirt until I’m spent.
I wake up and see that Drew is still draped around me. He’s awake and I’ve caught him watching me sleep. I can see the fear in his eyes behind the love that I know he feels for me. He doesn’t trust that I won’t run away again.
“Drew,” I whisper and reach up to run my fingers through his soft hair. “I’m not going anywhere.” I hesitantly lean in and press a gentle kiss on his mouth. We have so much to talk about, but right now, I need him to take me, make me his again.
“God, Sydney.” H
e holds me and kisses me aggressively, needing to prove to himself that we’ll be okay. “I love you, Sydney,” he whispers against my lips. “I can’t be without you.”
I grip his hair in my fists, my hear
t pounding from his declaration. “I love you too, Drew. I’m sorry I ran. I won’t do it again.”
He groans and rolls
us until his hard body is pinning me down to the bed. Claiming me with his mouth, his tongue pushes in and tangles with mine, bringing a rush of wetness between my legs as I taste him.
“Sydney, I want you, I need to know that you’re still mine,” he says as he rubs his nose along my neck.
I nod and he grabs the bottom of my shirt and yanks it over my head, then does the same to his. Drew lowers his head and grazes his teeth over my nipples and they harden under my bra.
“I can’t wait,” he pants. We shed our clothes and come back together, unwilling to be apart for another second. He rests his perfect body back on top of mine and pulls my hands above my head, holding them in one hand.
Reaching down he tests to see if I’m ready for him, sliding a finger several times across my damp slit.
“
Jesus, I missed you.” He produces a condom from somewhere and rolls it on. In the back of my brain I realize that he doesn’t know that we don’t need one anymore, but I’m not stopping him now. I wrap my legs around him and press down on his backside, urging him to take me. He positions himself at my entrance and stares into my eyes as he sinks into me slowly.
“You feel so fucking
good, Syd.” Drew lets go of my hands and rests on his elbows, taking some of his weight off of me as his dives in and out in a perfect rhythm. “I love you Sydney,” he says, his voice cracking from the emotion. His glistening green eyes are penetrating my protective layer. I can see the love in them. I can feel it with each stroke.
I lift my hips to counter his, moving faster as the frenzied need in us builds.
My hands find his perfect ass and I hold on tight, gripping as if my life depends on it.
I can feel the delicious pleasure gathering in my center. Drew keeps up a punishing pace,
plunging his tongue into my mouth and dragging his lips across my neck, whispering his declarations of love in my ear as he drives us both to climax.
“God, Drew, I love you so much,” I tell him as I fall over the edge into ecstasy, my
slick core clenching around him, pulling him over the brink with me.
“Fuck Sydney, don’t ever leave me again,” he says
huskily as he shudders his release, surging deep into me one last time.
Drew
collapses, letting his full weight rest on top of me as he continues to press soft kisses on my lips and I drag my fingers lightly across his back.
When we finally part, we both fall asleep this time.
Holding each other desperately, afraid to let go.