She didn’t seem to care that Ava had accompanied Brendan, or that he had casually rested his arm around Ava. With every word she spoke, she had to rub Brendan’s arm or squeeze his knee; each time her hand inching higher up his thigh. Ava wasn’t comfortable with her touchy-feely ways, or her laugh. Oh, that laugh was god-awful! She sounded like a sick mule.
It seemed as if everything Brendan said was the most hilarious joke in the world. She would toss her head back, allowing her long, blonde hair to brush up against Brendan and guffaw loudly. As her laugh reached its crescendo pitch, she would allow it to fall slowly into a sigh and brush against Brendan or lean on him.
Brendan was more gracious than he needed to be in Ava’s opinion. She personally felt like he should have placed some distance between himself and the woman. That would have been the only way to stop her shenanigans. After all, she had seen the large ring on Ava’s finger when he had introduced her around to everyone as his fiancée. Her eyes had instantly gone to the ring on Ava’s finger when they shook hands, and she hadn’t been able to pull her eyes back up to Ava’s until long after they had parted ways.
She guessed this was what he meant when he referred to the groupies.
Hit with a bolt of inspiration and courage, Ava tapped him on the shoulder. “Bren,” she purred, causing him to turn around.
A slight lift of his eyebrow quickly turned into both eyebrows lifting, when she placed one hand on the back of his neck and kissed his lips. Brendan released a soft moan, kissing her back. Ava pulled away abruptly.
“I’ll be back, Bren,” Ava said, standing up.
“Where’re you going?” he asked with a startled expression on his face.
“I just need to use the restroom. I’ll be back,” she said, winking at him and sashaying from the room with a confidence she didn’t feel.
“Do you want me—?”
“She’ll be fine!” the other woman insisted, grabbing Brendan’s hand as he prepared to stand, desperately clamoring for his attention.
Ava left Brendan alone to deal with his problems, while she quickly escaped the studio room, making her way to the restroom.
Standing in the restroom with the door locked, she took in her appearance in the mirror. Cheeks flushed red, a somber expression in her stormy green eyes, and the full lips that generally smiled turned down in a true pout. Anyone looking at her could tell she was flustered, and she knew her expression hadn’t changed much since she had been in the studio with Brendan and his friends.
Thinking back on the kiss, Ava pushed a finger against her lips and released a soft sigh. What was she doing? Setting herself up for failure, that’s what. This wasn’t a real engagement. They weren’t truly in a relationship. Yet, sometimes she couldn’t help that think they were. Taking the privilege of kissing him the way she had, had been nothing more than staking her claim against the other woman.
Why had she been so brash to kiss him? If she were being honest with herself, she wanted to kiss him. But when he asked her about it, and she was certain he would, she would use the excuse she was simply acting her part. That of a jealous fiancée and nothing more.
Sighing at the thought of how that conversation might go, she couldn’t believe she had left him alone with that predatory woman. A part of her knew Brendan would be fine. After all, he was in these situations often. But the reality of the situation was he had not gotten up and chased behind her to pacify the tantrum she was having.
Turning on the water in the sink, she filled her hands up with cold water, splashing it against her face. Grabbing a couple of paper towels, she patted them softly on her cheeks and around her temples, drying the droplets of water that clung to her hair.
“Who am I kidding?” she muttered to her reflection. “Brendan probably thinks I’m crazy now. The rest of the world may not know the truth, but he and I do, and I have no right to be jealous.”
Feeling the pinpricks of tears stinging at the back of her eyes, she once again doused her face in water and repeated the drying process. “Ava, get a grip!” she groaned.
She couldn’t be accused of falling in love with Brendan. No one could make that accusation against her. Because…she had loved him for as far back as she could recall. The only difference between now and then was that she had effectively built a wall around her heart that would protect her from getting hurt. And she had also categorically compartmentalized her feelings and emotions where Brendan was concerned. Never had she allowed him to see what she was feeling. But these days? Up close and personal, it was harder to maintain that air of indifference.
After not seeing him for a couple of years, then being thrown back together in the same household and in a contrived, but intimate setting, it was no wonder she struggled to rein her emotions in.
Glancing down at her watch, she realized she had been gone for at least five minutes. Not that anyone would miss her absence, but she needed to get back. Not looking forward to returning to the studio to watch the woman’s seductive aspirations, Ava made up her mind that she would go outside for a little while and wait for him. They had already been at the studio for almost three hours. They couldn’t possibly remain there much longer, could they?
Unlocking the bathroom door and pushing it open, she stopped cold when she saw Brendan standing against the wall opposite the bathroom. With one foot planted against the wall and his well-worn ballcap turned backward, it gave him a rakishly handsome look. Seeing him like this brought back to mind the boy she had once known. The one she had fallen in love with all those years ago.
“Hey, what’re you—?”
Reaching for her hand, he pulled her close, staring at her lips and then into her eyes. He softly placed a finger on her lips and traced them before dropping his hand.
Brendan tossed his arm around her shoulders, looking down at her. “Come on, it’s time to go.”
She looked up into his intense gaze, wondering if she had upset him by taking the lead and kissing him the way she had. Neither of them had initiated that in their façade yet. The only time they had kissed was when London encouraged them to.
Instead of aggravation, she saw the corners of his lips turning up into a smile and those brilliant hazel eyes sparkling with warmth and something she couldn’t quite identify.
“Are you sure?”
“Never been surer of anything.”
She allowed him to lead her out of the studio, his arm still draped around her shoulders. It felt good and she basked in the feeling.
“Besides, I’d rather go grab a bite to eat and have a meaningful conversation with my fiancée than be aggressively pursued by a woman who only sees dollar signs when she looks at me,” he said with a teasing smile.
“I thought we were going to have to call out the cavalry for a minute there.”
“Hmm…I was thinking you’d probably left me to fend for myself. I went to check to see if you had jumped in the car and left me all alone.”
Looking up at him, as he removed his arm from around her shoulder to open the car door, she asked, “Are you serious? I’d never leave you, Bren! Never!”
He tugged on a strand of her hair. “I know you wouldn’t, kiddo.”
Folding her arms over her chest, she turned to face him fully. “That’s another thing, Bren. I’m not that little kid anymore. I’m a grown woman, and I wish…I wish…”
Placing an arm on her shoulder, he stared into her eyes, causing her to freeze up. That smoldering gaze he gave had her wanting to reach on her tiptoes to kiss him again, but she refrained.
“What do you wish, Ave?”
“Just that you and Keith wouldn’t continue treating me like a little kid anymore.”
Nodding his head, he looked as if he were going to say something else, but then changed his mind. “Okay. You’ve got it. I’ll respect your wishes. Now Keith, on the other hand, I can’t speak for.”
“I’ll handle my brother,” she said, dropping into her seat and latching her seatbelt as he closed the door
and walked around to the driver’s side.
What was wrong with her? She’d been on the edge of saying she wished he would recognize that she was a woman. Yet, that was territory she wasn’t ready to venture into. At least not with Brendan, if ever.
“Do you still love seafood?”
“Yes.”
“There’s an exclusive little restaurant that we can go to that serves the best fried catfish in Georgia. It’s called Seagulls.”
“I’ve heard of that place. But I thought you had to have a reservation like almost a year in advance or something.”
He chuckled, causing her to wonder what was so funny. “Well, you do unless you’re a celebrity. They’re very careful about accepting reservations, and there are certain celebrities that can shut the place down when they come there. The entire purpose is to give us a place to enjoy a meal with family, friends, or a special someone without being mauled or gawked at by the public.”
“And do you go there often?”
Shaking his head from side to side as if he were weighing something on scales, he said, “Not that often, but often enough. I don’t need a reservation if that’s what you’re asking.”
That wasn’t what she was asking. What she really wanted to know was if he ever went there with someone special, but she couldn’t work up the nerve to ask. It seemed to Ava that, at some point, he would have broached the topic of her kissing him…but it seemed to be the furthest thing from his mind. Either that or they were locked in a game. And if that’s what he wanted to do, she could do that, too. The one thing Brendan obviously had forgotten about Ava was that she wasn’t only intellectual, but she was also very competitive. And now…the game was on.
8
Ava had done her best to give Brendan what he had asked for. His old friend back. Not that she’d ever thought of them as friends, but with each passing day, she felt the old normalcy return. She was able to laugh and joke with him and share some of her thoughts without regret.
She watched the way he watched her when he thought she wasn’t looking. How he would try to tame his glances in front of her brother when she would pass by him in a nice pair of jeans that hugged her curves. Or how comfortable he became with placing his arm around her and casually stroking the ball of her shoulder. What she enjoyed most was how he would sweetly press his lips against hers in the most casual of kisses in public.
As comfortable as she was with Brendan, she’d be lying if she said there wasn’t a ton of weight on her as she walked around with the ring on her finger, telling lies to everyone. She’d become what she despised. How could she judge him anymore when she was no better than he was?
It was one thing to attend glamorous parties, nightclubs, and give interviews about their relationship and what Brendan the man was like, but lying to his family was an altogether different matter entirely.
Sitting in his grandparents’ apartment, she wanted to disappear between the cushions of the couch.
“I’m just so delighted you two finally figured out what we’ve all known all along.”
“What’s that?” Ava asked with a smile on her face, as she took a bite of one of his grandmother’s peanut butter oatmeal cookies. They still tasted just as good as they did when she baked them for them as kids.
“That you two belong together. You know we always knew you two would grow up and fall in love, especially when you got older. The way Ava always hung adoringly up under you and tagged along behind you,” his grandmother stated.
Brendan choked on the juice he had been sipping.
“Yes, son, we knew those shenanigans about you and the actress weren’t true. I don’t know what’s going on in Hollywood, but I kept telling your grandma that’s not our boy,” his grandfather input.
He grabbed the paper towel his grandmother passed to him and wiped his mouth. He could feel Ava’s eyes beaming into the side of his head, and he was reluctant to look her way. She had not wanted to make this visit, but he had to pull out all the stops. His grandparents had called and asked when he would be stopping by, and as luck would have it, some of the staff at the senior living community recognized him.
He had been stopped for autographs for someone’s daughter, niece, or granddaughter as he made his way to his grandparents’ residence. And he had obligingly given them what they requested. But he also realized that some of them would be inquiring into his private life, as was par for the course for a star. And as luck would have it, one of his grandparents’ neighbors asked him about the scandal and the pretty little thing at his side as soon as his grandmother stepped outside.
He was left with no other choice but to lie. He despised doing it and hated even worse to drag his grandparents into the fray. But he knew if he were to tell them the truth, they might accidentally let the truth slip. And he couldn’t have that. He feared that more than anything. The potential of this entire scam engagement blowing up in his face.
Brendan had yet to derive a reason for why their engagement would end. But he knew he would have to contrive some reason the public would buy, without tarnishing either his or Ava’s name. That was the greatest risk. Hurting her. She was too special for him to ever do anything to cause her harm, so he would have to be careful how he proceeded with this plan.
“So, when’s the wedding?” his grandmother asked, lifting the empty plate with only a smattering of cookie crumbs. She slowly made her way to the kitchen to retrieve more, and he felt that much worse. His grandparents weren’t getting any younger, and they deserved nothing but complete honesty.
Then he turned to look at Ava’s face, and she looked strained. She had always loved his grandparents, even visiting them long after he had left home.
His grandmother returned to the living room, and he made up his mind. “Grandma, I have to be honest with you. We haven’t set a wedding date, because there’s not really going to be a—”
“A date that’s good until we can confirm when Brendan’s parents will be in the country to attend,” Ava interrupted, grabbing Brendan’s hands in hers firmly and squeezing. “It’s very important to him that they be able to attend alongside you all of course,” she said.
He stared at her incredulously. Brendan could not believe she had lied on his behalf. That was so unlike her, and now he felt even worse. And as if she could read his mind, she leaned her forehead against his and pressed one palm to the left side of his cheek, while pressing a kiss to his lips. “It’s okay. Everything’s going to work out fine,” she whispered before pulling away.
It took Brendan a moment before he recalled where they were and what was going on around them. That’s right; it was all an act. Well, why did he have such a difficult time recovering from her kisses every time she was generous enough to share one with him?
Walking through Atlantic Station, hand in hand, they stopped in front of Victoria’s Secret. “I need to go in here for just a moment,” Ava stated, pulling the door open.
“Do we really have to?” he groaned.
“Rest assured, I’ll do nothing to embarrass you, Brendan.”
“But a ladies underwear store?”
“Not like you’re going to see anything worth seeing,” she quipped. “Come on, I just wanted to check out a new scent that’s just been released. Is that okay?”
He paused for just another moment before he reached out and grabbed the door, holding it for her.
He looked around momentarily, overwhelmed by the feminine items on display, ranging from fragrances to underwear. Brendan had been considering the perfect gift to give Ava for Christmas and hoped he could draw some inspiration from their shopping trip today. The problem was, he didn’t know how she would react to a gift from Victoria’s Secret from him. He continued to gawk at the array of items a woman could choose from before he was instantly flooded by fans seeking an autograph.
The first thought that rushed through his brain was the field day the media would have if they got their hands on a picture of him in this store. He had given them more t
han enough to talk about lately and didn’t want to bring any more negative publicity to his band. The other guys just didn’t deserve it, no matter how they had taken this mess with Misty in stride.
Somehow the hushed whispers and little squeals of glee had escaped his notice. He had become accustomed to such things when in public but had not thought about its impact on Ava. His eyes searched the crowd for her, only to see her standing beside a table fingering a pink bottle of cologne with a white top, and the letters “VS” etched in fancy script across the bottle.
“Brendan! Please sign this for me?” a young teen in all white asked, shoving a napkin and pen at him, drawing his gaze away from Ava, who wasn’t paying him attention anyway. He spent the next several minutes completing similar requests before he looked up and realized a small crowd had gathered. Some of the people in the store were only there because they had wandered in to see what all the hullabaloo was about. Upon seeing him, they stopped to get autographs, as well, and still others went outside to announce his presence.
What had started off as a simple stroll turned into an eventful ordeal with the small crowd gathering around him, and he quickly lost sight of Ava. One customer approached him, pushing a newly purchased lacy bra towards him. “Brendan, sign this, please. You’ll forever be close to my heart.”
Ruefully, he honored her request. Looking at the woman, he realized she was probably in her mid-forties. His fans spanned a large generational gap. They weren’t just comprised of young girls, teens, and young adults.
“Brendan, is it true you’re getting married?” one young teen asked.
He smiled at her and shook his head. “Yes, sweetheart. Had I not met her first, I’m sure you would have stolen my heart.”
She pressed her hands against her cheeks, turning red and looking at her friend who stood beside her. The pair of girls had a giggle-fest as he slowly began making his way through the crowd. Not spotting Ava anywhere, he turned in circles until his eyes landed just beyond the store. She was standing right outside the doorway, waiting patiently for him.
Fake Marriage to a Rock Star: Fame and Romance Page 6