Theo turned around to face Anna.
“He really does. He always has, actually.”
At least his brother came through for him when it counted.
“He actually does,” Maddie chimed in from the back seat. “A whole little shelf set up in his closet for them. Weird, but true.”
Wow, Maddie defended him, too.
Wait a minute.
“Why is that weird?”
Maddie and Theo both laughed.
“I mean, Ben,” Theo finally said. “You’re not exactly Mr. Responsible.”
He couldn’t believe Theo was saying this with Anna right there.
“I am so!” Why did he sound like he’d reverted to childhood? “I mean, I’m perfectly responsible.”
“Do you remember that time when you took a stranger’s suitcase when you left the airport, and you didn’t realize it for hours, well after the poor woman was freaking out?”
“First of all, that was not my fault! All black suitcases look alike. Second, that was ten years ago!”
“What about the time you left the key in the driver’s-side door of your car on the street overnight?”
Ben had to laugh. That had been something of a miracle.
“And it wasn’t even touched! I think everyone who walked by it must have thought it was a setup or something.”
Maddie piped up from the back seat.
“What about when you helped me transport those dresses for that benefit and managed to spill coffee all over the valet when we got to the hotel?”
He couldn’t believe Maddie was joining in on this. Though, what she didn’t say, thank goodness, was that he’d been so busy flirting with the makeup artist that he hadn’t been looking where he was going.
“The dresses themselves were all pristine, weren’t they? Plus, I tipped that guy very well!”
Theo laughed again. Ben didn’t trust that glint in his eye.
“Oh, and there was the time . . .”
He should have pushed his brother into traffic when he’d had the chance.
* * *
—
Anna laughed as she listened to Theo and Maddie making fun of Ben in the way only family can. Ben and Theo were so different—you could see that even in their posture in the front seat, with Theo’s back ramrod straight, and Ben relaxed—but anyone would still be able to tell they were brothers from a mile away.
Ben seemed so outraged by all of the stories that Theo and Maddie were telling about him, but they all made her like him even more. She liked how they all obviously jumped to help one another in an emergency, and how Maddie treated Ben like a little brother. And now that she knew Maddie was a stylist, another mystery was cleared up. She was pretty sure she had Maddie to thank for her new Palm Springs dresses.
Maddie turned to her as they got close to the hotel.
“How do you want to do this?” she asked. “Are we going in through the front and then up to your room from there, or through the back so you don’t have to get in the suitcase again?”
Anna thought about that. It had been cramped and uncomfortable in the suitcase, obviously. And she was tempted to call the hotel manager and tell her she was on her way so she could go in through the kitchen. But . . . the idea of being carried in a suitcase through that staid, elegant hotel lobby cracked her up. Maybe it was the diva in her, maybe it was the devil on her shoulder, but she grinned at Maddie after she thought about it for a few seconds.
“We’ve come so far, why take the easy way out?”
But wait. She’d better double-check that she wasn’t taking the diva act too far.
She leaned forward.
“Guys—are you sure you’re up for carrying me to my room? If not, we can—”
“Theo, I think she’s calling us weaklings,” Ben broke in. “She’s saying we aren’t strong enough to carry her up to her room. Are you going to take this lying down?”
Theo shook his head.
“Oh, absolutely not. That’s an insult I won’t stand for.” He turned to the back seat. “Maddie. Zip her in.”
Maddie saluted him.
“Yes, sir.”
Anna folded herself back up. She was grateful for all of the yoga she’d done over the past few years, which made it possible for her to fold her body like this. And that movie she’d done early in her career where she’d had to hide under a bed for hours, which had forced her to get rid of any latent claustrophobia. Maddie zipped the suitcase most of the way closed, and Anna smiled to herself.
Then she thought of one more thing.
“Hey, Maddie?”
She could feel Maddie’s head come down to the suitcase.
“Yeah? Everything okay in there?”
“Oh yeah, everything’s fine. But, um, if you can, without being obvious—can you take some pictures of this? In the lobby, I mean. I desperately want to see this from the outside.”
Maddie chuckled.
“Oh, don’t you worry. There’s no way I’d let this go without being memorialized. I’ll head into the lobby while they’re getting you out of the car, so I can get the best vantage point.”
No wonder Ben had called his brother and Maddie. He was right, she was a pro.
She normally wouldn’t have asked for evidence like this—she normally would have specifically banned evidence like this, actually—but while they’d been waiting for Theo and Maddie at Ben’s apartment, she’d googled Maddie based on what Ben had said about her and had been reassured. If she’d worked for a member of the royal family—especially that member of the royal family—the woman must know how to keep her mouth shut; she probably had way more top secret photos on her phone than of a suitcase. And it was clear Ben had already told Theo and Maddie about them—he’d just said “Anna” on the phone to Theo, who had known exactly who he was talking about.
Plus, she probably wasn’t the only one who had noticed she and Maddie had gotten along well; she was pretty sure there was no way Maddie would jeopardize her career—or any potential professional relationship—by blowing this secret sky-high.
Anna could feel the car slowing down. They must be pulling up to the hotel now. She felt that same giddy anticipation she’d felt when they’d left Ben’s apartment. This was just so profoundly ridiculous, and she loved everything about it.
Early in her acting career, when it was just starting to get off the ground, she’d felt this kind of thrill about all of the fun, actressy things she’d gotten to do. When she’d met Denzel Washington, when she’d gotten fitted for an awards show dress for the first time, when she’d first been in People and Us Weekly in the same week. But then, all too quickly, that glitter had faded, and all of those previously exciting things had become imbued with stress. Now when she got fitted for dresses, she worried about whether she would win or lose at the ceremony. Now when she met another actor she’d respected for years, there were often so many cameras pointed at them she couldn’t relax. Now when she was in People, she worried about what the less-kind celebrity press was going to say about her later that day.
It had been a long time since she’d just let herself relax and do something ridiculous like this, one of those wacky celebrity stunts she’d never believed could be true until she’d become one herself.
She certainly never would have expected that she’d let a guy she’d slept with—was sleeping with? Was it present tense or past? She’d figure that out later—and his brother carry her around in a suitcase to dodge the press. Or that she’d enjoy it. Life was full of surprises. All she knew was that walk from Ben’s apartment to his car had been hilarious, and she hoped the trip from the car to her hotel room would be just as fun. She couldn’t wait to see Maddie’s pictures.
“See you in there,” Maddie whispered when the car stopped. The car doors opened and she felt Ben, Maddie, and Theo all jump out of the car.
“Oh, no, thanks, we’ve got it,” Ben said. To the bellhops? “Precious cargo.”
Anna couldn’t help but smile. She could just picture the smirk on his face when he said it. So many men had hit on her in so many elaborate ways, but Ben’s corny compliments got to her.
And then, slowly, she and the suitcase slid across the back seat.
“One, two, three!” Ben said, presumably to Theo. At three, they lifted her out of the car and up the steps of the hotel.
She could tell as soon as they got inside, just by the quality of the sound. The wind from outside was gone, replaced by the din of tourists and travelers and bustling staff. But she had no concept of what direction they were moving in.
Oh no. What if someone stopped them on the way up to her room? Hotels like this had tight security, which she usually appreciated, but now it might be her downfall. What if someone thought Ben and Theo looked suspicious with that enormous suitcase and asked them where they were going? What would they say? She should have called ahead and told the hotel that she would be getting a delivery, and to let them up, just in case. Because now . . . oh God, if they tried to say they were with her, there was no way for her to verify it. Her phone was in her bag, currently on Maddie’s shoulder, so even if she could contort herself enough to send a text message inside this suitcase, she wouldn’t be able to.
Anna made herself take one long deep breath, and then another. Okay. This would be . . . a little weird, but it would be fine. She’d have to pop out of the suitcase; that was what she’d have to do. Hopefully the manager would question them somewhere private, so she wouldn’t have to do it in the middle of the lobby. Despite her fears, she fought back a giggle at the mental picture. That would definitely get her some tabloid headlines.
“Excuse me.” Ben and Theo halted at the woman’s voice. Oh no. This was it, that must be the manager. She was a woman; she’d introduced herself to Anna early on in her stay. Anna had liked her, very no-nonsense but with a sense of humor. She’d at least laugh when Anna popped out of the suitcase.
“Guys. The elevator to the room is that way.”
Maddie. The voice was Maddie. Anna’s shoulders slumped in relief.
“I told you it was that way!” Ben hissed.
“You did not! You didn’t tell me anything!” Theo whispered back.
“I nodded my head in that direction but you kept walking this way so I followed you because I thought you knew where you were going!”
“Why would you think that?”
“Because you usually do!”
Now Anna had to fight back laughter again. Soon they stopped walking, and she heard a very quiet ding. Ah, they must be in the elevator.
“Everything okay in there?” Ben asked. “Knock twice for yes, once for no.”
Anna laughed and knocked twice.
“What were you going to do if she knocked once?” Maddie asked. “Drop her to the floor and unzip the suitcase now? The guy watching the hotel elevator video cameras would have gotten a kick out of that.”
Anna giggled at that, but Ben ignored it.
“Don’t worry, we’re in the home stretch now! Elevator’s almost there!”
“Oh my God, why are you talking to the suitcase?” Theo said. “Isn’t the whole point of this to be stealthy?”
Theo had a point there.
“The video cameras in elevators don’t have sound—did we all learn nothing from that video with Solange and Jay Z?” Ben asked.
Ben also had a point.
The elevator slowed, and then stopped, and the procession moved on. Anna should have told them they could set her down in the elevator, but that would probably hurt their egos too much.
“Maddie—”
Maddie cut Theo off.
“Going ahead now to direct you guys. Follow me.”
Maddie must have figured out the way to Anna’s suite without incident, because the next time they stopped, the suitcase jostled around some.
“Sorry . . . um, no one, just had to get the room key out of my pocket,” Ben muttered.
And then, seconds later, Anna heard the door open, and they moved again, super quickly.
As soon as the door closed, she was slowly lowered to the ground.
“We did it!” Ben said. The zippers slid apart, and the lid popped open. Anna sat up and saw Ben’s gleeful face. “I was worried for a second there in the lobby; we got a few weird looks, and I was trying to plan for what to do if we got stopped, but we made it!”
Anna laughed out loud.
“I panicked for a moment there, too, but I’m glad I had nothing to worry about.” She grinned at him. “That was so much fun.”
And yes, despite her brief freak-out in the lobby, this had been as fun as she’d wanted it to be.
Ben took her hands and pulled her upright.
“That was a blast.”
Anna looked at Ben for a second. Oh, the hell with it. Maddie and Theo knew the deal.
She grabbed Ben and kissed him hard. He kissed her back without hesitation. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her out of the suitcase. She tilted her head back, laughed out loud, and kissed him again. She felt victorious about this small, fun, silly thing she’d done for herself, and had enlisted this fun, silly, excellent fling of a guy to do with her. The kiss was a celebration of herself, of the pieces of herself she’d thought she’d lost and wasn’t sure if she’d ever find again, of everything in her life that had brought her to this moment, of Ben and the strange but delightful way they’d come together.
When they finally pulled apart, Ben had that delicious, lustful smile on his face again. And Maddie and Theo, still standing by the door, had shit-eating grins on their faces. Ben glanced over at them, then quickly bent down to zip up the suitcase. Anna had a feeling they’d tease Ben about this hard. Just thinking of that made her smile.
“Um . . . we should take off,” Theo said. “I have to, um, get to work. We’ll take a cab back to my car.”
Ben, Anna noticed, did not argue.
“Thanks for everything, guys,” Ben said. He picked up the suitcase and handed it to his brother.
Anna walked over to Theo and Maddie.
“Yes, thank you both so much. Maddie, for the brilliant idea and Theo, for carrying it out.” She winked at them. “Literally.”
Maddie laughed.
“It was my pleasure. This was definitely a morning I’ll never forget.”
Anna thought of something right before they opened the door.
“Oh, Maddie, can you send Ben those pictures? And also . . .”
Maddie held up a hand.
“The only people who will ever see those pictures are standing in this room right now. I swear.”
Anna smiled at her.
“Thank you.”
Maddie and Theo said good-bye again, and Anna didn’t miss the smug look Theo gave Ben. Anna turned around to Ben, suddenly shy to have him here in her suite.
“Um, I can go, too, if you want,” he said, as he fiddled with the room service menu. Maybe he was shy about being up here, too.
She took the menu from him.
“I don’t. Want you to go, I mean. But you know what I do want?”
He grinned at her.
“Breakfast,” he said.
“Breakfast.” She grinned back. “I have an hour before my meeting; we have time.” She picked up the phone.
Fifteen minutes later, room service arrived with their huge breakfast spread.
“Okay, first of all,” Ben said as he unfolded his napkin, “do you always get food that fast from room service? I feel like it takes at least an hour whenever I order it.”
Anna picked up a sausage link.
“I sure do,” she said. “It’s pretty fantastic, I’ve got to say. Maybe not worth having to dodg
e paparazzi at unexpected times, but if I have to do that, I might as well get the benefit of lightning-fast service.”
He opened the basket of pastries on the table between them.
“Do you do a lot of stuff like what we did this morning? Suitcase capers, I mean. Because, I have to admit, that was a hell of a lot of fun, but I can see how it would get old after a while.”
She laughed.
“It was a hell of a lot of fun, wasn’t it? And, no, I’ve never really done stuff like that before—probably because I’m mostly either in L.A. or living out of hotels while on set and having very prescribed comings and goings, so I’ve never had to. I’d probably hate things like today if I did it a lot, but today I was basically giggling the whole time.”
Ben’s brow cleared.
“Oh good. I was worried about you in there—I remembered you’d said some of your worst anxiety was because of all of the photographers outside the set that other time, so I didn’t know if all of this stuff was hard for you for that reason.”
She liked the way he asked that—he brought up her anxiety like he was talking about a sprained ankle or something—no hushed voice or expression like he was discussing something bad or like she was some fragile being who might fall apart. But also, she was glad he’d thought about it and had checked in on her.
“Thanks, I appreciate that,” she said. “I did start to panic for a second in the lobby, but it didn’t last long. Mostly, it was just fun, which I was grateful for. I haven’t relaxed like that and had fun with”—she gestured to the room—“all of this, the fun part of being ‘Anna Gardiner,’ for a while.”
There was a knock at her door. Probably room service, bringing something they’d forgotten.
Anna got up and looked through the peephole. Shit, Simon was here already? Okay, okay, she’d just have to play this cool. She could do that. She put a surprised smile on her face and opened the door.
“Simon! What are you doing here? It’s only seven fifteen!”
Her manager strutted into the suite, looking very proud of himself.
“I told you I’m in town for my husband’s sister’s wedding, right? Well, I had been convinced to go over to his other sister’s house and consult on the flower arrangements before breakfast—I do not know why they couldn’t have me do that last night, but Aidan’s family is like that, you know—but his nephews were awake and running around, so I made sure to snap out my orders—sorry, advice—on the flowers as fast as possible. Nothing against children in general, it’s just that those children are invariably . . . sticky.” He shuddered. “And they always want to touch me, and this shirt is not for three-year-olds to . . . Oh! Good morning.”
While We Were Dating Page 17