Reluctantly Famous

by Heather Leigh

  Okay, so jokes are the wrong way to go with him.

  “Whoa!” Sydney jumps in front of the Andrew Forrester freight train and quickly leads him out of the room, calling out her goodbyes as their bedroom door slams shut.

  She doesn’t have to tell me twice to get the hell out of here.

  “I think should head back to my room. Are you feeling better?”

  Allie frowns. “No. Let me throw on some clothes. We can go for a walk.”

  “Sure. I’d say take your time, but I’m not inclined to be here when your brother comes out of that room. Not scary, huh?” I raise an accusatory eyebrow at Allie.

  She laughs at me. “Maybe a little.”

  After wandering through St. James Park for a while, Allie asks me to buy one of the local tabloids. She wants to read the article for herself.

  “Oh my God.” Her face goes pale and she nearly drops the tabloid on the ground.

  I take it out of her shaky hands so I can scan it for myself. “Wow. They really are listening in, aren’t they?” Allie curls up into a tiny ball next to me on the park bench as I read.

  The article goes into great detail describing Sydney and Allie’s worries that people use them to get close to Andrew Forrester. I’m surprised that there’s a brief mention about how Allie met me on the Quantum Stranger set and we all went out to a club the night before.

  “Yeah, they are.” Her voice is a whisper.

  “Hey,” I pull her close to me again, that strange urge to protect her rushing back full force. “We’ll figure it out. Ryker has that MI6 guy on it and your brother probably knows a lot of people who can help.”

  “I know. That’s not what has me worried.”

  “What is it then?”

  “I- I don’t really want to discuss it now.”

  “Okay, you don’t have to. Let’s get back to the hotel. I need to go to my room to shower and change my clothes. You can catch up with your brother and we can meet back up later if you want to talk. Does that sound good?”

  Allie smiles, not a big one, and certainly not enough to make me think she’s doing any better. “Yeah. Sounds great.”

  Chapter 5

  Allie – now

  Beep beep beep

  Beep beep beep

  One little beep, actually, three beeps from three different phones. That’s all it takes to plunge a fun, laughter filled moment with Syd and Drew into one of total horror.

  Sydney and I immediately stop laughing and freeze. All three of us pull our phones out at the same time. Drew’s face instantly turns a hideous shade of purple. I swear he’s going to bust a blood vessel someday.

  I check mine.

  Google Alert- Declan Foster

  I forgot I set that up last night after we found out about the article.

  “Do you have an alert set on one of us Allie?” Sydney’s brow is scrunched down, her eyes filled with concern.

  “No, it’s Declan. I set one for him out of curiosity.”

  Syd looks confused. “So whatever it says is about all three of us?”

  Drew still hasn’t said a word. One fist is clenched at his side while he squeezes his phone with the other. I click the link and read the title of the article.

  Andrew Forrester Has Confrontation with Declan Foster Over Dating His Sister

  It describes everything that happened this morning during breakfast. Drew threatening Dex, Sydney breaking it up… everything. Drew storms out of the room. While Syd is reading the article, I sneak off to get dressed. I need to get the hell out of here. This shit is just too much. I’m not famous, I don’t want to be famous, hell, people at work don’t even have a clue about my brother. Until now, that is.

  I’m not going to be able to go back to work.

  I worried about it this morning, but now it’s a reality. I can’t go through that shit again. It was so awful in college, I just can’t.

  After a quick shower and change of clothes, I hurry to get out of this room. Dex said he had night shoots the next few days, so I’m going to hide in his trailer while I sort out my life.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Drew, don’t. I can’t talk about this right now.”

  His angry posture relaxes and he carefully winds an arm around my back. “You don’t have to say a thing, Al. Agent Wilson is on his way and I’m going to fix this.”

  My voice cracks and I sob into my brother’s shirt. “It’s not fixable, Drew.”

  He wraps me up in a comforting hug. “It is, Al. I promise.”

  I pull away, wiping my eyes. “I’m going to the set with Dex. I’ll call you later.”

  Drew’s eyes narrow but for once in his life, he doesn’t say anything. He nods and lets me go.

  Dex is one floor down, so I take the stairs at the end of the hall, forcing myself to keep it together as my feet pound down the metal staircase.

  Drew might be able to stop the tabloids, but the damage is done. It’s my freshman year all over again. Just thinking about it makes me sick, a horrible, gut-wrenching feeling in my stomach that refuses to calm down.

  I sit on the bottom step and bury my face in my hands. I can’t go through that again, I’m not Sydney. I’m not strong like she is. They think I’m this loud, brash go-getter, but really, that’s just a mask to hide the damaged girl inside.

  Allie – then

  “Al, you coming to class?”

  I bury my head under my thick flannel comforter, nice and warm despite today’s freezing temperatures.

  “No. It’s too cold.”

  “C’mon, Allie.” My roommate Beth sounds closer. I can hear her giggling.

  The nest of blankets I made is suddenly gone, ripped off of me in one cruel motion. “Beth! What the hell?”

  “Get up, Al. You can’t just party and skip classes. Finals are a few weeks away and you’ll never pass if you don’t get your ass out of that bed.”

  Grumbling, I throw my feet over the side of the bed and glare at my roommate. “I hate you.” A shiver wracks my body when I lower my bare feet to the icy cold floor. “Holy crap!”

  “You’ll thank me when you don’t fail out of school,” she says with her hands on her hips just like my mom used to do when I was in trouble.

  “God, Beth. Fine!”

  “Fine!”

  I dress quickly, too cold to take my time, and find myself following Beth down to the cafeteria. The turning heads and subtle whispering has become so commonplace, that it doesn’t bother me anymore. I figure, if they want to think I’m special and treat me like I’m special just because of Drew, then that’s fine by me. It gets me into all of the awesome parties so I could care less.

  Beth and I chat about the guy she met last weekend when she went with me to a party at a football player’s apartment. We no sooner sit down, when the first of a never-ending line of eager students approaches us.

  “Hi Allie.” The girl beams proudly from where she’s standing, way too close to my seat. “You should hang out with me and my friends. We’re going to a great party on Friday.”

  I take in the girl’s fake, over-friendly expression then flick over to meet Beth’s eyes. The girl does something to annoy my normally calm friend. She grits her teeth and addresses the girl herself. “Go away.”

  “What? Who the hell are you?” The girl snaps. “I’m not talking to you.”

  “Allie doesn’t know you, okay? Get your stupid ass away from us.”

  I cover my mouth with my hand, smirking behind it gleefully. The stunned girl snorts and walks away, clearly very unhappy. This continues all throughout breakfast. Students approach our table, try to befriend me, and Beth tells them off, sometimes rudely, sometimes not. Either way, I’m grateful to have someone on my side running interference. It’s fun being popular and all, but sometimes I just want to be left alone to eat my bagel.

  “I’m not going to be with you all the time, Al. You have to learn to tell them to go to hell.” Beth watches me out of the corner of her eye as we trudge
across campus.

  “I know. I just…” I sigh, feeling sorry for myself. “I just don’t want to upset anyone. Plus, sometimes they’re really cool.”

  “They’re using you, Allie. They want you to introduce them to your brother.”

  I narrow my eyes at my roommate. She’s been angry at my newfound popularity. Sometimes I think she’s just jealous, but I include her in everything I do, so I don’t know why it would bother her.

  “They are not. The only thing that sucks is that my phone number got out. I had to turn it off after it blew up with calls and texts all day Friday. By Saturday, my voicemail was full.”

  We walk across campus, students smiling and waving to me. Different people stop to say hi or ask how I’m doing. It’s pretty cool to be so liked, so recognized. I can see why Drew does what he does, the attention is addicting. Why he gets so pissy about being well known is beyond me.

  Beth puts her arm on my hand before heading off to her class. “This is going to end badly, Al. I don’t know how, but it will. These people are not your friends.”

  I smile and duck into my Chemistry class not believing a word Beth says.

  Turn out I’m a bigger idiot than I thought.

  Allie – now

  “Allie! Hey, come in.” Dex opens the door to his trailer so I can get by him.

  “Hey, thanks for letting me crash here. I just had to get out of that hotel room. The spy was coming over plus Drew’s lawyer. It’s too much for me to deal with. Anyway, I know you’re filming tonight. Promise I’m not in the way?”

  I clutch my small backpack of overnight things to my chest, praying that he doesn’t make me leave.

  “Nah. It’s fine.” His kind smile lets me release some of the tension in my shoulders. I can almost feel each knotted muscle loosen. “Here,” Declan moves a pile of books off of the couch, “sit. Be comfortable. I don’t have to be on set for a few hours. Want to talk?”

  I’m about to join him on the tiny sofa, but for some reason, I’m drawn to the stack of books he placed on the floor. Sitting cross-legged, I lower myself to the soft carpet and slowly sort through the pile.

  The classics are there, John Cheever, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Ralph Ellison, along with modern favorites, John Clancy, Vince Flynn, and John Krakauer’s book about Mt. Everest.

  Jesus, if these books are a window into Dex’s mind, then he is fucking brilliant. Not your average guy in his mid-twenties.

  “Ummmm, yeah, so I like to read.” I was so engrossed in Dex’s books that I forgot he was watching me snoop though them.

  My eyes look for his only to find him staring at his hands, his cheeks and neck mottled by a deep scarlet blush.

  “Sorry Dex. I didn’t mean to go through your things.” I restack the books so I can get up and sit on the couch.

  He hesitantly looks at me, his clear blue eyes projecting a sweet vulnerability. “I’m not mad, Allie. It’s just… sometimes people give me shit for reading stuff like that. For reading, period.”

  “Huh? I’m not following you.”

  People give him shit for having a hobby?

  Dex shrugs like it’s no big deal. “No worries. So, did your brother figure anything out about the spying yet?”

  Drew’s hideous behavior towards Declan springs forward in my mind. “Dex, I’m so sorry that my brother was such an asshole to you. He promised to stop acting like a jerk.”

  Dex smiles, his previous vulnerability replaced by pure joy. “He wasn’t so bad.”

  Then Dex makes a face, as if he tasted something sour.

  That’s all it takes to crack me up. I laugh, hard and long until Dex joins me. When I’m finally able to stop to catch my breath, I pat his leg. “Thanks for that. God it feels good to laugh after all that other shit. You don’t have to sugar coat my brother’s behavior, I’m used to it. He was an ass, but he means well.”

  “Glad I could help you feel better.” His beautiful grin draws me straight in. He really is stunning, but if those books are a glimpse into his mind, he’s way more than a pretty face.

  Our gazes lock, the mood quickly shifting from jovial to intense in the span of one heartbeat. I break eye contact first, dropping my eyes to his chest. He’s wearing another massive shirt, a button up at least a size, maybe two larger than he needs.

  “You should fire your stylist,” I say without thinking. “Your clothes are always too big.” What the hell is wrong with me and my stupid mouth? “God, Dex. I’m sorry. That was so rude.”

  “You have to stop apologizing, Allie. It’s fine. Say whatever you want, you can be comfortable around me.”

  “I am.” Our eyes meet again, this time the blush is undoubtedly on my face, not his. “Comfortable around you, that is. Actually, you’re the first guy I’ve been relaxed around since…” I snap my mouth shut, realizing that I’m blabbering on without thinking again.

  Dex tilts his head and looks at me, studies me. It’s as if he can see right through my bravado, peeling away all the layers to find the infected wounds hidden deep inside. He shifts on the couch, moving closer until we’re pressed together from our shoulders to our knees.

  “Tell me when you’re ready, Allie. I’ll be here. I won’t hurt you.” He puts his hand over mine, warm and comforting. I thread our fingers together, loving the contact, the feeling that Dex is someone I can rely on. I can literally count the number of people in my life that are there for me unconditionally on one hand.

  “I know.” And somehow, I do. I’m just afraid to pick that scab, to see what’s been festering under it all these years. I don’t know if I’m strong enough to find out.

  Chapter 6

  Declan – now

  After a long night of filming on location, all I want to do is crash in my trailer. I’m too tired to even wait for a cab to take me back to the hotel. I stumble up the stairs, almost tripping on my own feet in the dark. As quickly as possible, I strip down to my briefs. The tiny bedroom at one end of the trailer might be small, but right now it may as well be a king sized pillow top at the Ritz. That’s how fucking tired I am.

  I brush my teeth and use the bathroom before making my way to the bedroom. It’s so dark out I can hardly see, but I know where the bed is. I pull down the covers and slide into bed… and right into a warm body.

  “What the hell?” I leap out of bed, tumbling to the floor with a loud thump.

  “Dex?”

  “Allie?”

  “Yeah. I was so tired waiting for you and your couch is so small. I hope this is okay. I can’t face everything yet, the reporters, the spying… I just can’t.”

  Her voice is low and raspy from sleep. All I can see is an inky shadow moving over the white pillowcase as she shifts over in the bed.

  “I made room for you, Dex.”

  “Al,” I whisper, swallowing down the arousal that starts to build. “I’m not dressed.”

  “S’okay. Can you just hold me? I’m so worn-out from being scared and alone.”

  I grit my teeth, determined to do the right thing and somehow give Allie the comfort that she needs. No way will I take advantage of a vulnerable girl who trusts me. “I can do that, Allie.” Hopefully, I’m able to disguise the warring feelings I’m having. I have no interest in making Allie uncomfortable by my sexual desires.

  I’ve never been more thankful in my life for being drop dead exhausted. I’m able to slither between the sheets next to Allie and gather her in my arms without my dick taking much notice. When she shuffles back to press against my body, hungry for human contact, her warmth immediately draws me into a deep sleep. I throw an arm over her waist, holding her to me all night.

  Bright sunlight filters through the large window on the ceiling of my bedroom. My eyes blink rapidly until they adjust to the harsh light. I reach for Allie only to find an empty spot. She must have gotten up a while ago because the sheets are stone cold.

  “Al?” I pull on a pair of sweats, shuffling out of the bedroom in my search for Allie. I figure she’s pr
obably reading on the couch, drinking a cup of coffee. The thought makes me smile.

  “Allie?” The living area of the trailer is empty. I check the bathroom. It’s empty as well. My gut clenches at the thought of Allie sneaking out of my trailer in the middle of the night.

  All of my old insecurities come flooding back. They’re picking at me, nagging me to remember that girls don’t stick around. They use me for my body and take off immediately after. I’m just a pretty face. Only, Allie and I haven’t even kissed, let alone had sex, so why would she bail? My brain hurts, it’s way too early for all of this deep thinking. Instead, I decide that a cup of coffee is exactly what I need right now.

  After rummaging through the cabinets, I locate the Keurig cup that has the strongest blend. Mid-yawn, I find the note Allie left taped to the front of my Keurig machine.

  Sorry. Didn’t want to wake you. Had to get back to discuss wiretapping with Drew. Call me when you can.

  She didn’t bail on me. Even though I knew she didn’t, it’s nice to have it confirmed. Old insecurities can be a bitch to overcome. That’s why I’m done with hookups. No more using girls for sex. No more allowing girls to use me. I may not have used my degree, but I’m not stupid and I’m not going to be treated as if I am.

  Allie, though… she’s different. She sees me. I’m hoping that in time, she’ll let me see her. For some reason, I get the feeling that her demons might be worse than mine.

  Allie – now

  I’m flat out fucking exhausted. Sleeping in Dex’s trailer was great. He made me feel safe, protected from all the shit that’s about to blow up in my face. But that didn’t stop my mind from racing through it all night before he got back from filming, and all during the cab ride back to the hotel.

  Fucking paparazzi ruining my life, exposing my identity! I want to cry, throw a tantrum, pull my hair out, break a bunch of shit in frustration… but I’m just too tired to care. All I want is to curl up next to Declan and let everything fade away.