I shook my head. “That part is easy. No. I’ve always wanted to do this. Even though I feel like Young, MD is getting boring or has veered too far away from the original point of the show, I still want to be in this business. I just want to branch out and experience a different side of it. I want to stretch myself and play different roles and really hone my skills.”
“And what about Noah? Again, I didn’t realize when I encouraged you to go to the ball with him that would mean you’d get into a relationship. Do you think you can make it work with him?”
I bit my lip. “I hope so. I offered to host Friendsgiving for him and his friends.”
“Host? As in, here?”
“Nope. In Aspen.”
Molly gasped and pulled out her phone, ready to get to work. “Aspen? What the heck? When were you going to tell me about this? I need to call Frankie over there at the Residences and see if he has availability. How many rooms do you need in your block?”
I reached over and put my hand over her phone, gently pushing it into her lap. “Easy, tiger. He said he wants to talk to his friends at work about it tomorrow, and then he’ll let us know. We’re already running on super-short notice. What’s one more day?”
“Easy for you to say,” she replied, gaping at me. “At least let me put some feelers out to see what their availability is like.”
“Fine. But do it through one of your other assistant buddies so they don’t know it’s me.”
There was this underground assistant network that Molly told me about a few years ago. Apparently, they were all pretty closely connected and if you needed something for your client and had no idea how to make it happen, you could call on one of your assistant friends in the network and they’d give you tips or contacts. It’s the epitome of the I’ve-got-a-guy mentality. Having a well-connected assistant meant they could pretty much make anything happen for you. One of the most common ways to use the network was to have someone else’s assistant reach out to a place to inquire about rates, services, or availability so you didn’t have to give away your plans before you were sure about them.
“You got it,” Molly said. “I definitely think Friendsgiving sounds fun. My family is a mess this year, so I’m thinking of staying in LA while you’re gone for once.”
Molly’s family, based in New York, was big and loud and fun, but there did seem to always be a lot going on. She was the middle sibling of five, so she flew under the radar a lot. That’s kind of what made her so available to me, but I also found myself wanting to be the family she didn’t have out here in LA.
“Why don’t you come with us?”
She blinked at me. “To Aspen?”
“Yeah, you should come with us. I could really use your help making sure things go smoothly with that many people coming together, and I’m supposed to be the host. Besides, if there’s a bunch of family drama, wouldn’t you rather laugh at mine from a distance rather than live yours and be annoyed about it?”
She chuckled. “Well, when you put it like that …”
“Hard to say no, huh?
She considered my proposal for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. I’m in. I think it’ll be fun. Plus, from a professional standpoint, I can see why you’d need help coordinating all of that, so it won’t even be a lie to my mom when she demands to know why I can’t come home this year.”
Satisfied, I fist-pumped the air. “Yes. The tyrant wins again.”
Molly laughed. Her family only rarely made The Devil Wears Prada jokes about her life as an assistant to a high-powered woman. I didn’t actually like to think of myself as the bullying boss featured in that movie, but I did work long hours, have a lot of press tours, and made quite a few public appearances. Molly definitely needed to be a hard worker to keep up with my commitments, and I viewed her as indispensable.
“Anyway, let me know as soon as you know about Aspen so I can get planning. I’m going to head to bed,” Molly said, standing from the couch and stretching.
“Same.”
“Oh, I meant to ask. What was the deal with that thing Noah said to your dad about coming within a mile of you? It sounded … strange.”
My eyes bulged. “Oh, man. I forgot all about that. I was so distracted by the stuff with Chase and wanting to show Noah a good time while he was in LA that I never asked him what it meant.”
“It sounds like there’s some history there.”
“Oh, for sure. Back in the day, my dad had just as many hopes pinned on Noah and his baseball career as he had on me and my acting one. He wanted to strike gold twice.”
Molly made a face. “Was he that good at baseball?”
“He was so good. Scouts showed up to every game and he had his pick of the best baseball colleges.”
Molly sat back down. “So why did he quit? Did he get injured?”
“No. Right before graduation, his parents got arrested in this huge FBI bust for financial crimes. I don’t know how they did it, but they were always scheming and plotting and somehow got involved with some really bad people who were defrauding large groups of senior citizens. It was really sad. They’re actually still in federal prison to this day.”
Molly’s mouth dropped open. “Wow. That’s intense.”
“Yep. I think the pressure to pick a school to hang his future on was too much. Not only that, but he viewed a career in the majors as somewhat of a gamble, which was something his parents spent way too much time doing—gambling, that is, not supporting his baseball career. But like, what if he got injured and dropped, and it all ended with nothing to show for it? I don’t know, he didn’t want to chase the big money. He wanted security. And he wanted to leave Phoenix after what happened, and the military seemed like a natural fit. With me leaving to start working on Young, MD, he broke up with me that day.”
“Man, I’m sorry, Paige. You never really told me the backstory with Noah. Just that you loved him but broke up when you went your separate ways. It always seemed like there was more to the story, but I never wanted to pry.”
I shrugged. “Well, I honestly didn’t like to think about it before. It made me think about all kinds of pointless things. Like maybe that I shouldn’t have followed through with Young, MD when he was having such a hard time. I used to wonder what my life would be like now if I’d told the producers I couldn’t do the show and had gone with Noah on his journey instead. We didn’t even know for sure that it would be a hit back then. It was just a pilot episode.”
Molly arched a brow. “Well, for starters, we wouldn’t be sitting here right now in your Spanish-style villa in the Hollywood Hills if you’d done that.”
“Yes, true.” I snorted. “But would I be happier?”
“Paige, you are happy. Trust me. I’ve been here.” She pointed to the bungalow outside. “Closer than anyone. I’ve seen you have joy and love what you do. When you and Chase were on a good streak, you were happy then, too. And now that you’ve found Noah again, I can definitely see a cheesy, lovestruck glow about you. Don’t regret your decision to follow your dreams. You’re an inspiration to a lot of young women, and I’m proud to work for you.”
I reached over and took her hand, giving it a squeeze. “Thanks, Mol. You’re the best.”
“I know. Now, I’m really going to bed. My boss is a tyrant.”
“Hilarious.”
14
Noah
“Well, well,” Hawk said, standing from the toolbox he had been crouching over. “Look who’s back from his ninety-six with a celebrity.”
Mills and Cooper came over, ducking under the wing of the massive F-18 fighter jet in the hanger. Since I’d been in quality assurance for the majority of my time in San Diego, I didn’t have many friends in the powerline shop like I’d had with my last squadron. These ordnancemen had become my work family, and I was grateful for it, even if they poked fun at me for being a paper pusher now. We can’t all sit around playing with bombs and missiles all day.
“Hey guys,” I greeted them, then an extra
nod to Cooper, who outranked me. “Good morning, Gunny.”
Mills shook his head. “How did a year-old ball invitation turn into a road trip to Arizona, a hike, a helicopter ride, and sightseeing in LA?”
“You guys already know about all of that?” I asked.
“You’re all over the place, West,” Hawk said. “Those pics Paige posted on her profile are getting shared like crazy. Everyone wants to know who Paige’s Marine boyfriend is.”
I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling self-conscious. “Eesh.”
Cooper clapped me on the back. “Good for you, man.”
“Not gonna lie, Ellie thinks there’s more to this story than a whirlwind romance. Her words, not mine, by the way,” Hawk said. “She thinks you guys have a history.”
Bingo. My friends didn’t know about me and Paige, but it was time to face the music. I just felt bad for letting them think my invitation last year was your average celebrity invite that so many Marines attempt and rarely succeed at doing.
“So, Paige is my ex-girlfriend,” I said.
Their faces revealed their shock, all except for Hawk, who hung his head and muttered something about losing a bet with Ellie. He must have thought we’d really just hit it off, poor guy.
“From when? Before she was famous?” Mills asked.
“Yep,” I confirmed. “We dated in high school for a couple of years, then she got the part on the show and I joined the Marines, so we broke up. Now we’re back together.”
Hawk chuckled. “Well, all right then. Congrats, man.”
“Thanks,” I replied, relieved that they didn’t seem to care about any of the details. “Also, she offered to host Friendsgiving for us.”
Cooper’s brow shot up. “In LA? Cool.”
“Actually, she’s thinking Aspen. And we can invite the rest of the guys who moved away, too. Like Brooks and Murphy. Something like a reunion trip.”
Again, I was met with expressions of shock. It lasted just long enough where I was about to tell them I was kidding, but then they broke out into exclamations of excitement and gratitude.
“I’ve never been to Aspen, isn’t it like a skiing spot?” Cooper asked.
“Yep. She showed me the resort, it’s a big thing there,” I replied.
“I’m not sure if a trip like that is in the budget for us,” Mills said, wrinkling his nose. “Sorry, hate to be a buzzkill, but Olivia goes all out on Christmas presents for Amelia, and I’m already stressed enough about that.”
“Yeah, you should see the list of stuff Ellie wants to buy for the baby.” Hawk shook his head. “And if it’s a girl, I’m going to spend a lot more than if it’s a boy, I can already tell.”
“Actually,” I said, “Paige said to think of her as just a regular host. You wouldn’t pay admission to anyone else’s Thanksgiving dinner, right? So she’s taking care of everything and all we have to do is show up.”
For the third time, all I saw before me was shock and awe. I swear, it was a good thing these guys were all young because I’d be responsible for a few heart attacks if we were old men.
“Okay, sold,” Hawk said.
“Same,” Mills agreed.
Cooper nodded. “It sounds sick, but I was going to bring my buddy Vince and his family to Friendsgiving this year. They’re coming to town for it. I wouldn’t want to bail on them.”
“Vince was my recruiter,” Hawk said. “He’s good people.”
I’d never met him, but if he was a friend of Cooper’s and Hawk gave him a good word, he was in. “Invite them, too. Seriously, we talked about it a lot and she wants the whole group of friends to come. She’s really excited about the idea.”
At first, I’d really wrestled with the thought of letting my girlfriend pay who knows how much to fly my friends and their families to a ski resort for Thanksgiving weekend. But she’d brought up the idea on Sunday night at dinner and didn’t stop talking about it the rest of the time I was in town. By the time I left, she’d convinced me that it really wasn’t a big deal. She was generous because she wanted to be, and I didn’t need to get all worked up about it like it was charity.
“Not that I’m looking a gift horse in the mouth or anything, but any chance she’d consider taking us somewhere … warmer?”
Everyone looked at him like he had two heads, and Mills swatted him in the arm. “Hawk. Seriously?”
“What?” he said. “I’m just asking!”
I shrugged. “I don’t know why she suggested Aspen, but I could definitely see if the location is flexible. Where did you have in mind?”
“Mexico?” Hawk asked.
“Bro,” Cooper interjected, “you know we’re not allowed in Mexico.”
I laughed. That was a strange concept for me, having spent my entire career either in Japan or on the East Coast. Apparently, many years ago, Marines from San Diego would regularly go down to nearby Tijuana on the weekends. Whether stories of the shenanigans they’d gotten up to had been exaggerated or not, I didn’t know, but they’d caused enough trouble to ruin it for the rest of us. Now you had to have a really good reason to get your leave request approved if you wanted to cross the border in that particular direction.
“Hawaii?” Mills suggested. “We had a blast there on that last deployment, and it’s in the US so it’s more likely to get approved. Plus, Murphy and his wife got married there, so I’m sure they’ll be down to go back.”
Everyone nodded in agreement, so I took out my phone and shot a quick text to Paige.
Me: Any chance we can move Friendsgiving to Hawaii?
The bubbles instantly appeared to signal that she was typing. I bit my lip as I waited, hoping she didn’t think I was a jerk for suggesting it.
Paige: HECK YES. I haven’t been there in years. And I have the perfect place in mind. How many people?
I looked up from the phone. “She’s good with it. How many people are we, all together?”
“If you include Vince and his wife and kid, and me and Angie and our kid, we’re six,” Cooper said.
“We’re still two for a little while,” Hawk added, always the proud dad-to-be.
“Okay, that’s eight,” I said, then pointed to Mills. “You, Olivia, and Amelia make eleven. Paige and I make thirteen.”
“Add in two for Brooks and Cat,” Mills said. “And two more for Murphy and Ivy.”
I added it up quickly. “So then O’Malley, Rachel, and Finn would make it twenty.”
“Why are we counting?” O’Malley asked, walking up behind me at the perfect time.
“West’s celebrity sugar mama is taking us all to Hawaii for Thanksgiving.”
O’Malley balked. “Seriously? All of us?”
“And Brooks and Murphy, too,” Cooper added. “And my friends from recruiting duty.”
“Whoa. You must have been some ball date,” O’Malley said, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Long story,” Hawk said. “We’ll fill you in on the plane. Are you in or out? She’s paying.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. If she expected a sophisticated bunch for this Friendsgiving trip, she wouldn’t find it with these guys.
“Uh, yeah, I mean, I’ll have to talk to Rachel, but I think we’re in,” O’Malley replied. “Finn will be absolutely stoked. We were just talking about taking him to Hawaii. In fact, we thought about getting married there since Rachel loved Ivy’s wedding. The only reason we weren’t going to do it is because we want you guys to be able to come and didn’t think you’d fly to Hawaii for the wedding.”
One by one, the implications of what he said sank in for all of us.
“Well,” I said, grabbing O’Malley by the shoulder, “looks like Friendsgiving just turned into a destination wedding.”
15
Paige
“Thank you for meeting with me, Paige,” Sandra said, shifting in her seat. “Especially since you had to come down from LA. I appreciate it.”
“Of course,” I replied. “I
’m grateful for the meeting.”
And in truth, there were way worse places to travel for a meeting than the same city where my boyfriend lived. It had only been two days since Noah had left my house in LA and I was already looking for another reason to see him when Sandra invited me to a business lunch.
She’d chosen Juniper and Ivy, one of San Diego’s many culinary hot spots. It was owned by a celebrity, so there were a lot of built-in measures to ensure that we could have a normal conversation without getting swarmed by uninvited guests. Thankfully, the paparazzi was pretty respectful outside of LA, anyway.
“So, how are you holding up? I’ve been keeping an eye on what they’ve been saying in the papers about you and Chase. I absolutely loved the statement you put out on your social media about the whole thing. That’s part of why I wanted to have this meeting.”
I swallowed. I’d spent forever agonizing over what to say in the message to my fans, eventually striking what I hoped was the perfect balance between enough details to excite them and not giving away too much information to violate Noah’s privacy. “It seems like it’s getting a good reception, so I’m hanging in there.”
“Yes, it does. You came across as very genuine, Paige. I wanted to see for myself if that’s really who you were.”
“I see.” The server brought us our food, and I stared at my Asian pear salad, hoping I’d have the stomach for it depending on how this conversation went.
“So you know my son is a Marine, obviously,” Sandra continued, picking up her fork and knife and slicing delicately into her beef carpaccio.
“Yes, ma’am. Is he stationed here, too?”
She shook her head. “No, he’s stationed in Hawaii, actually. At the base in Kailua. Beautiful place, you should go sometime if you get a chance.”
I grinned. “Actually, I’m hosting a Friendsgiving trip for Noah and his friends in Hawaii, so we will have to go check out the base. I’m sure they’ll want to go.”
Adored by You: A Sweet, Celebrity, Military Romance (San Diego Marines Book 7) Page 11