Absolutely Famous (Famous Series)
Page 26
“Hey,” I say to him quietly so the other guys won’t overhear. “Why the hat?” I reach up and tug lightly on the brim.
He gives me his full blown, dimple-showing, panty melting grin. “For good luck.”
Shivering, I turn to him. “You never needed luck with me.”
“It never hurts to bring a little luck Syd.”
We pull onto the Mass Turnpike and I let my mind wander to all of the things that would need to be done for a wedding.
Shit. A wedding. To ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ Andrew Forrester. It’s going to be a giant clusterfuck of paparazzi and helicopters and front page tabloid articles.
New Sydney isn’t supposed to freak out, but she is. I can feel the panic rising in my chest. My instinct to run far far away is warring with my love for Drew. My skin turns clammy and I face the window so he won’t notice the expression on my face. He always knows when I’m upset because I suck at hiding my feelings.
“Syd, are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I choke out. I can’t manage anything else. New Sydney is fleeing, leaving Old, insecure Sydney in her place.
“I know there’s something wrong, what is it?”
Crap, now he sounds upset.
I turn back to him and take a deep breath. “I’m thinking about the … the attention that all of this will bring.”
“Oh.”
Oh? What the hell does ‘oh’ mean?
“Maybe we can, you know, keep this to ourselves until we figure it out?” I’m afraid that Drew’s feelings will be hurt because I don’t want to tell people.
“Okay babe, if that’s what you need. I think it’s a good idea. I don’t want all that shit to rain down on us anyway.”
“Y-you’re okay with it?”
“Sydney, it’s just like I said about the other tabloid crap. As long as we know what’s real between us, I don’t care about anyone else. We could get married tomorrow and not tell a single person and I’d still be ecstatic. I just want you.” He takes my hand and squeezes it gently. He frowns and hesitates before speaking. “I did tell one person though. Well, besides Jane, she picked up the ring for me and brought it here.”
“Really? Who?”
“I sort of called your dad and asked if I could marry you,” he says sheepishly.
“What?” I yell, causing the three big men in the SUV to turn and look at me. “Sorry,” I say, embarrassed by my outburst. “You called my dad?”
“Uh, yeah. I’m kind of a traditional guy and he gave me his number when you were, you know, in the hospital. It felt like something I should do.” He looks afraid of my reaction.
I sigh.
“Are you mad?”
“No. I think it’s kind of sweet. I just … I’ve been putting off calling him because I’m scared. I guess this is the push I need to reach out.” I snuggle up to Drew.
“I’ll be there for you however you need me. If you want me to fly out with you or hold your hand when you call him. Whatever you need, Syd.”
Holy crap.
A blowup with Kiera Radcliff, a lunatic in jail for trying to kill me, a studio trying to break up my relationship, a wiretapping scandal with a tabloid, a secret proposal, a wedding to plan, a father to reunite with and a new life in the public eye to get adjusted to….
A motherfucking F5 tornado of shit? Nah, just another day in the crazy life of Sydney Tannen.
Acknowledgements
Where do you start when you have so many great people in your life who are there for you when you come up with a crazy idea? When you up and decide one day that you’re sick of reading so-so books and you just know you can come up with something better even though you couldn’t stand English class and Creative Writing was like poking a stick in your eye for an hour three days a week?
I guess I start with my husband, Brian, who didn’t bat an eye when I told him my plan. He didn’t complain one bit when I began to spend my free time hunched over my laptop instead of taking care of everyday things. When he went to the pantry and there was no food because I was too wrapped up writing to go shopping, he just shrugged and went to the store for me. Yeah, he’s pretty great.
Next, I have to thank my friends. The ones who read the first rough drafts that weren’t very pretty and were full of typos. They read each draft, getting more excited as each one came closer to being a “real” book, worthy of being purchased by someone who wasn’t being forced to read it as I stood over their shoulder saying “Well? How is it?”
Of course, I have to thank my Betas! The girls I rely on to tell me how it is. What works and what doesn’t work. Heather DeLuca, Amy Woods, and Krystal Wiles-Austin. As Drew would say, you guys are wicked awesome!
I also have to thank Deborah at Tugboat Designs, for making the cover art as beautiful as it should have been from the very beginning.
To the ladies at the Georgia Romance Writers, for their invaluable advice on how to proceed in this era of self vs. contract publishing. They helped a newbie learn the basic terms of published writing that left her scratching her head at the end of her first meeting. Betas, hooks, queries, show don’t tell, and MOBIs? It’s like learning another language.
Lastly, I’d like to thank the fans who fell in love with Drew and Sydney’s story. You make it worth all the time and effort that went into making sure each book was worthy of you. I have to give a special shout out to The Rock Stars of Romance, who believed in this series and gave a new author a chance.
H. Leigh
About the Author
After growing up in New England, Heather Leigh currently lives just outside Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and two children. She enjoys traveling, anything made of chocolate (except white chocolate, which doesn’t count as actual chocolate), hanging with her French Bulldog and Pug, and of course, the Boston Red Sox.
Visit www.relativelyfamousseries.com or twitter https://twitter.com/HeatherLeigh_8for updates on new releases in the Famous Series. Or find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/relativelyfamous or at Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20816593-relatively-famous.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20978718-absolutely-famous
Famous Series
Book 1 - Relatively Famous
Book 2 - Absolutely Famous
Book 3 - Extremely Famous: coming soon
Book 4 - Already Famous: coming soon