”Do what?” he asked with concern in his eyes.
”I can’t let you risk everything for me like this. I’m guessing the studio is really angry with you for running off like that? You are letting a lot of people down by not being there tonight, aren’t you?”
He stared straight ahead, his hands gripping the wheel.
”I mean, not just the studio and your colleagues, but all the fans. Sasha told me they’ve been camping out for days before each première, to get a glimpse of you there.”
”Yes, that is all true, and I do care, I care very much,” he said, turning to her with agony clearly visible on his face. ”But none of that matters as much as you do, Olivia. I came so close to losing you altogether, and I can’t stand being without you again, baby. I just can’t.”
”But I’m yours, Nate, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right here when you come back after all the premières are done. You should hurry to Berlin and be there tonight. For the fans, most of all,” she said. It was so hard to tell him to go, because it scared her senseless to be without him again. The only thing she really wanted was to tie him securely to her bed and keep him there with her forever. The mere thought of being separated from him again, if only for a few days, was unbearable. But she had to be strong and not show him that. Because if she’d learnt anything about him by now, it was how much he loved his job and how hard he’d worked to get to where he was. She loved him too much to let him throw it all away.
He turned off the ignition and turned to face her, grabbing hold of her hands as he spoke.
”I understand what you’re saying, love, and I really appreciate that you care so much and want to protect my career, but I cannot bear to be away from you again. I just can’t,” he said fiercely. ”I don’t care if I lose it all as long as you’re there by my side, Olivia. I can be happy doing anything for a living as long as you’re mine.”
”I’m not going anywhere, Nate, I promise you.” She grabbed his face in her hands and locked his gaze in hers. ”I will be here waiting for you. I give you my word, Nate. I won’t freak out again. I will never doubt your love for me again. You don’t have to be afraid of losing me. I belong to you, body and soul, forever.”
”I hear you, sweetheart, and I believe you, but I still cannot stand being away from you. I know it’s not completely rational, but it terrifies me to let you out of my sight again,” he admitted, a little embarrassed. ”I don’t know how to explain it, but you are so precious to me in a magical sort of way, that sometimes I get this feeling you will disappear and I’ll wake up and realize you were just a dream. I just can’t face another night without you in my arms. Being this in love with you, it’s still so new to me, I just can’t bear to be separated from you. I just can’t.”
”But I can’t let you give up so much for me. I can’t stand the thought of costing you this much, Nate.”
He took her hand from his cheek and kissed her palm.
”Then I can only think of one solution,” he said.
”What’s that?”
”Come with me to Berlin, and then stay with me for the rest of the tour.”
”Come with you?” she asked, feeling utterly confused. ”But I would only be in your way, and what would everyone say?”
”Who cares? You could never be in my way, and the studio will be beside themselves with joy, if I show up tonight after all. They’ll trip over themselves to thank you. Please, baby, say you’ll come,” he pleaded.
”Are you sure that’s really okay?”
”Of course it is. I say it is.”
”Okay, then,” she conceded, ”if that’s what it’ll take to get you to that première I’ll go.” She smiled at him. ”What time do we need to be there?” she asked, looking at the clock on the dashboard. It was a little before three o’clock in the afternoon.
”The red carpet starts at seven, and the screening at nine, so somewhere in between there we need to be at the theatre if the fans are going to get to see us.”
”Wait, I’m staying at the hotel, right, while you go do that?” she asked, just to make everything perfectly clear.
”No,” he said, ”I’m not letting you out of my sight. I mean that literally. You’re coming with me everywhere I go.”
”No, Nate, I’m no good at that sort of thing,” she pleaded, panic-stricken. ”I’ll make a fool of myself in front of everyone and embarrass you. Trust me, I’m really a behind the scenes kind of girl.”
”Olivia, please? For me? I really want to show you that part of my life, I want you to know everything about me. Not to mention, I really want to show off my beautiful fiancé, now that you’ve agreed to be mine forever and I don’t have to hide you anymore,” he coaxed, turning the full force of his smoldering gaze on her.
Her heart skipped a beat.
”Nate, that’s not fair,” she groaned.
”Please, say you’ll come to the première with me, love. Please.” He was relentless.
”You’re really tenacious when you want something, aren’t you?” she smiled at last. ”All right then, I’ll go to the première with you.”
He smiled triumphantly and turned the key in the ignition again, swiftly spinning the car around and speeding back towards Stockholm.
”And for the record, love, you could never embarrass me, no matter what you do. Not even if you walked down the red carpet in your birthday suit.” He smirked at the thought. ”Although, if you did that, I might really embarrass you, by having my way with you right then and there, in front of everyone.”
She blushed at the picture he painted.
”No, I’ll definitely be wearing clothes tonight,” she said. ”Well, not for the entire night, I hope,” she amended, at the thought of sharing a hotel room with him. ”How long do we have to stay at the première?” she asked eagerly.
He laughed.
”That’s my girl.” He squeezed her thigh affectionately. ”As soon as the lights go out and people start watching the movie, we can sneak out and go back to the hotel. And then you’re all mine,” he promised, a naughty smile on his lips.
”Oh, shit!” It suddenly hit her, ”I have nothing to wear. And I don’t have time to go home and pack, right?” she asked in horror.
”No, I’m afraid not, sweetheart, I’m driving us straight to the airport. But don’t worry, babe, I’ll take care of it,” he declared.
”How?”
”Just watch and learn, kiddo,” he joked as he pulled out his cell phone and put it on speaker mode.
”Hey, boss! What’s up? You done groveling yet?” she suddenly heard Andy’s cheerful voice.
”Ha, ha, you’re hilarious, Andy,” Nate replied drily. ”As a matter of fact, I’m bringing my fiancé,” he winked at Olivia as he emphasized that last word, ”with me back to Berlin right now. She’s going to walk the carpet with me, all right?”
There was a moment of stunned silence at the other end and then:
”Wow! Congratulations, boss! And my deepest condolences to you, Olivia,” she heard Andy say.
Olivia couldn’t help but laugh.
”Very funny, man,” Nate snorted in response.
”Seriously, though,” Andy went on, ”I’m so happy for you both. I’ve seen how happy you make him, Olivia, and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.”
”Thank you, Andy,” Olivia said. ”He makes me extremely happy too.” She looked over at Nate. He reached for her left hand and kissed it.
”So, you’re bringing her to the première tonight, huh?” Andy’s voice broke in. ”I guess you’ll be needing something to wear then, Olivia?”
”That’s right,” Nate said, ”the whole shebang. We don’t have time to stop at her place - we’re heading straight for the airport as we speak.”
”I don’t know if they’ll have enough time to refuel the jet and get a flight plan approved this late, but one way or another, you’ll be on a plane here within the hour,” Andy vowed.
”Perfect,” Nate said.
”What size are you, Olivia?” Andy asked then.
”Um, usually a 36 or 38, it depends on the clothes.”
”Are those French sizes?”
”I’m not sure,” Olivia said, ”I think French sizes are a size smaller than ours.”
”I’m guessing you should go for 6’s and 8’s. Get Randolph on it.” Nate cut in. ”Tell him she has the most beautiful hour-glass figure ever and is tall and slender. And she has a perfect set of C-cups. Tell him I want her curves shown off,” he winked at Olivia.
She blushed scarlet and groaned.
”Got it,” Andy said. ”Nate, you lucky dawg!” he joked.
”Yes, the luckiest ever,” Nate said, his husky voice thick as he looked over at Olivia.
”Okay, can we stop talking about my body now?” Olivia moaned in horror.
Nate chuckled.
”Sorry, babe, couldn’t resist the urge to brag a bit.” His grin was unrepentant.
”Before we leave this topic of conversation, what size shoes are you, Olivia?” Andy tried to keep a more appropriate tone but she could hear the mirth in his voice too.
”Oh, God, now I’m even more embarrassed. I have huge feet,” she groaned, ducking her head in her hands.
Both men started chuckling at that.
”You have beautiful feet, sweetheart. They’re in perfect proportion to your height,” Nate stated, trying hard to keep a straight face in light of her obvious mortification.
”You owe me for this, Nate,” she growled under her breath and then she answered Andy. ”I wear size 40 shoes. Have no idea what that is in American sizes, but just ask for the section for shoes for giants and you should be all right,” she forced out between gritted teeth.
She could hear Andy snort with laughter.
”Why do I get the feeling I’m going to pay for this later?” Nate smiled and raised an eyebrow at Olivia.
Andy’s voice broke in, still filled with laughter.
”Olivia, I feel for you for having to put up with this brute of a man. I’ll find you a pair of shoes for tonight that will have Nate going crazy when he sees them on you. Remember, he will have to suffer through at least a couple of hours of red carpet stuff before he can get to those shoes you’ll be wearing. So you work those shoes tonight, girl. You torture him, all right?”
Olivia started giggling then.
”Thanks Andy, I’ll try not to let you down.”
”Good, that’s settled then. Everybody’s looking forward to me being tortured tonight for at least a couple of hours. Glad to be of service,” Nate said, his voice dripping with sarcasm but his eyes shone with happiness. ”Oh, and Andy? Could you arrange for a driver to take this car back to its owner?”
”You didn’t steal a car, did you, Nate?” came Andy’s disapproving voice over the phone.
”No, man, don’t be silly,” Nate snorted. ”I didn’t have to, I have very powerful friends up here in Viking-land.” He winked at Olivia.
”Oh, and talk to Gabe about upping security tonight. I’m not taking any chances,” he added. ”We’ll be at Arlanda in 20 minutes or so. I’ll leave the car keys with airport security, all right?”
”Okay,” Andy replied. ”Have a safe flight and see you in a couple of hours.”
”Thanks, see you then, Andy.” Nate hung up.
”What’s that about security?” Olivia asked.
”There are always at least one bodyguard with me at premières and such. The fans tend to get a little overexcited sometimes. It’s just a precaution.”
”What if they don’t like that you’re bringing a date, Nate?”
”What? The fans? I won’t lie to you, Olivia, it might get a little rowdy but I’ll never let anything happen to you. We’ll be well taken care of. Most of my fans are really nice, they’ll be happy for me.”
”Or really disappointed you’re not with Julia in real life too,” she said quietly.
He looked over at her but didn’t say anything.
Chapter 19
Andy must be some kind of a magician, or else he had very powerful friends everywhere, because he somehow managed to have the private jet refueled and ready to go, flight plan approved and everything, within an hour. Olivia had only been aboard a plane a couple of times before, and not at all since her mom died. But she remembered how magical she thought flying was so this was something she really looked forward to. But as soon as she was seated next to Nate and very comfortably snuggled into his side, his arms holding her tight as if he wanted to make sure she wasn’t going anywhere, she felt so relaxed that her body immediately succumbed to her need for sleep. She slept in his arms the whole two hour flight and only awoke as they touched down in Berlin.
When she realized where she was, and that in just a few hours she would be walking the red carpet in front of a lot of people, next to the main attraction of the event, she almost panicked. But she managed to rein herself in, by reminding herself why she was doing this. She was going to walk that carpet with Nate, no matter how terrifying she found it to be, to somehow pay him back a little for risking everything for her at the press conference earlier that day. She was terrified, not only of being caught in the glare of the camera lights with nowhere to hide, but even more so of the excited, screaming crowds that would surround them. She trusted completely in Nate when he said they would be safe, but part of her, perhaps irrationally, still feared the madness of the multitudes that may so easily get out of control, if something triggered mass hysteria. Even though her fear of crowds wasn’t completely rational, and therefore even harder to appease, she knew she could, and she would, brave anything for Nate. She could do anything for him; his love gave her super-human strength. She felt as if she could move mountains for him if need be.
Before they exited the plane, Nate warned her that it would be hectic at the hotel, getting ready for the première, since they had so little time before they had to leave for the red carpet, and he didn’t want her to be overwhelmed or frightened by that frantic energy. She smiled and assured him she’d be fine.
Waiting in the town-car at the airport were Andy as well as Nate’s manager Dan, apparently utilizing every second of time before the première to catch up on things. Dan didn’t waste any time at all. As soon as Olivia sat down in the seat opposite him he lunged forward and grabbed her hand, shaking it profusely.
”I’m assuming you’re Olivia,” he said. ”Andy clued me in,” he explained upon seeing her slightly confused expression. ”I’m Dan, Nate’s manager. I can’t begin to thank you for getting him back here in time for the première. He very nearly gave me a heart attack when he pulled that stunt at the press conference this morning.”
”You should be very grateful to her, Dan,” Nate interrupted. ”I wouldn’t have come back at all if she hadn’t agreed to come with me. She is the most important thing to me and I refuse to be separated from her at any moment during the rest of the tour, is that clear?”
Dan must have understood there’d be no point in arguing with him.
”All right, I’ll take care of it,” he said. ”The movie’s getting a ton of free publicity thanks to your verbal diarrhea this morning. The studio is beside themselves with joy, especially now that you’ve come back for the première. They’ll trip over themselves to please you. Wouldn’t surprise me if they get Olivia some ridiculously expensive gift out of sheer gratitude that she managed to talk some sense into you.”
”No, please, tell them I want to keep as low a profile as possible,” Olivia blurted out then, terrified at the thought of drawing any more attention to herself than absolutely necessary. Even if it only was from the studio, and behind the scenes so to speak. ”As close to Nate as possible, please, but as much in the background as possible as well. I’m not at all used to being in the spotlight, and, frankly, it terrifies me.”
Nate pulled her closer into his side then, and kissed the top of her head.
”Have you gone over the security aspects with the organizers?
” he asked.
”All taken care of,” Dan replied. ”You’ll have Rick there as usual, he’ll be top dog. And an additional three guys, plus Julia’s security, of course, should things get too heated.”
”How is she?” Nate asked then. ”She okay with me bringing some fierce competition to the carpet tonight?” He smiled down tenderly at Olivia.
”I think so. And if she isn’t she should just suck it up. After all, she owes you big after you essentially having bearded for her for free for so many years.”
Olivia didn’t understand much of the conversation between the men but she was busy taking in nighttime Berlin as it rushed past the car’s windows anyway, so she didn’t mind. She’d ask Nate later what bearding meant.
* * *
At the hotel, there was a whole team of people waiting for them. She soon realized that every one of them had the single objective in mind of making them both look perfect for the première. Although she couldn’t imagine Nate needed anything done. He looked like a god already when he rolled out of bed in the morning. She smiled at the thought.
”Olivia,” Andy called out and pulled her back to the present, ”this is Myra. She’s brought a few different dresses for you to choose from.” A petite brunette in her thirties smiled at Olivia and offered her hand in greeting.
”You are absolutely stunning,” she said. ”Randolph will be thrilled to see the pictures from the première of you in one of his designs.”
Olivia blushed and murmured a thank you.
The first dress Myra took off of the rack standing next to her, was a simply cut, bright red, sleeveless gown with a plunging neckline, almost to the navel.
”It’s gorgeous,” Olivia said, stunned by the beauty of the design and the fabric. ”But I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to pull it off. I’d be too self-conscious wearing it,” she admitted.
”It is beautiful and incredibly sexy,” Nate agreed, ”and you’d look amazing in it, but I’m much too selfish to have you look that sexy in public.” He looked at her with a mischievous glint to his eyes. ”Now if we were going on a private date, it would be another matter entirely.”
Destined for the Star (Starstruck) Page 20