Hollywood Fairytale (Fairlane Series Book 2)

by Harlow Layne

  “Hey, why don’t you show me your room before I have to leave?” Decker said placing his hand on top of Mason’s head and directing him toward the house.

  Mason turned his head underneath his hand. “I wish you could see my room at Luke’s house. He decorated it so cool. It has posters and bedding from all my favorite Marvel characters.”

  “I’m sure it’s great,” Decker gritted out, giving Luke a dirty look as they passed by to go into the house.

  There was no way I was letting Decker walk around anywhere he wanted in the house. I didn’t trust him. If there was a way to ruin something or make me upset, he was sure to do it.

  This time Luke took my hand as we went back inside and made our way upstairs to stand out in the hall looking in as Decker stalked around Mason’s room inspecting every little thing. His room was spotless, but that was only because he had a playroom downstairs with all his toys. That room was a disaster since before he had gone to his dads for the weekend. I was sick, and hadn’t asked him to pick up before he left.

  Once Decker was finished looking over every inch he squatted down in front of Mason, his face unreadable. “I’ll see you when you get back from your trip with your mom and then me, grandma and grandpa are going to take you on a real vacation.” Standing he left the room without another word. I looked to Luke for him to follow Decker, I’d be right behind.

  Happy that Decker was leaving, and that Mason was home, I hugged him, swaying back and forth. “It’s about time for bed so why don’t you get into some PJ’s and brush your teeth and I’ll be right back to tuck you in, okay?”

  “Will Luke tuck me in too?” he asked nonchalantly as he went to his dresser to pick out a pair of superhero PJ’s.

  With a small smile, I answered. “If you want him to I’m sure he will.” Luke would love to hear that he’d been asked to tuck Mason in. I couldn’t ever remember a time when Mason had asked Decker to tuck him in. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Hurrying downstairs, I found Luke and Decker in a heated discussion close to the front door. Decker’s face was bright red by the time I came to stand next to Luke.

  “I don’t know who you think you are, telling me what to do.” Decker growled, stepping toward Luke, trying to intimidate him. It didn’t work since Luke had almost a good five inches on him.

  Luke straightened to his full height, looking down on Decker. “This is my house. I’m your ex-wife’s… boyfriend.” I knew he wanted to say fiancé, but we didn’t want to risk him going to the press. We were lucky he hadn’t already gone to some gossip magazine and made up some story. If he knew we were getting married he would do everything in his power to ruin it.

  “Decker you got what you wanted so please leave.” I begged quietly, hoping Mason wouldn’t hear. I didn’t have it in me to fight him tonight.

  “How on Earth do you think I got what I wanted?” His arms flailed around as his face got redder with each word. “Here you are with some new boy toy who’s flashing his money all over town, buying a new house, a car, and everything in between, while everyone talks behind my back about my wife leaving me. It makes me look bad,” He yelled, face turning purple. “But do you know who’s going to look bad in the end? It’s going to be you, you stupid bitch, once he leaves you and you have no place to go.” He laughed maniacally, eyes trained on me.

  “That’s enough,” Luke growled. “I’ve already kindly asked you to leave my house, but I will not have you talking to Alex that way. The only person who’s going to look bad is you and you want to know why?”

  Decker crossed his arms over his chest as he glared daggers at Luke. He shook his head as his eyes mocked Luke, saying, ‘yes, tell me why.’

  “You did all of this to yourself by treating her like shit for years. If you could’ve been nice or treated her better, she’d still be in your house, in your bed, but she’s not and I’m not stupid enough to do anything to jeopardize what I have with her.”

  “Whatever! You can have her. She’s a dumb slut anyway. Maybe at least for you she’ll suck your cock.” Decker spat out.

  I never understood how he could ridicule me and say I was a slut when in the next second he’d complain about me being a prude and not giving him blowjobs.

  “Every day and twice on Sunday’s so you better get going.” Luke shot back as we stood at the front door to make sure he left.

  “This isn’t the end,” Decker shouted from the sidewalk. His arms straight, fists clenched.

  “It never is,” I replied as I leaned against Luke’s side. We watched him get into his truck, slam the door and drive away. His tires peeled out, leaving skid marks on the street.

  Closing the door and setting the alarm, Luke hugged me to him. “Hopefully he won’t want to bring Mason home anymore now that he’s got that out of his system.” I thought about it then added. “At least for a little while.”

  “Is that what it was like every time he used to bring Mason home?” he asked, his chin resting on the top of my head.

  “No, this was actually low key for him if you can believe it. That was him being loving toward Mason. Normally he ignores him which is better than the alternative of lashing out and being mean. On a brighter note, Mason asked that you come with me to tuck him in.”

  “Yeah?” His lopsided grin slowly made an appearance as he gazed down at me.

  “He likes you and wasn’t expecting you to be here.” My hands slid up his chest to rest on his pecs. “I’m just thankful he’s been so easy going about me and you.”

  Leaning down, he kissed my forehead. “I believe it’s easy because he sees how different our relationship is compared to yours and Decker’s. He’s a smart kid that has good judgement.”

  Taking his hand, I led him up the stairs giggling. “You’re only saying that because he likes you.” I joked. “Which admittedly isn’t hard to do.” Tilting my head side to side, I said. “Although it’s possible he wouldn’t like you as much if you didn’t like his favorite superheroes.”

  He laughed, trailing behind me up the stairs. “I’m pretty likable.”

  Looking over my shoulder, I winked at him before opening Mason’s door. “I’ll show you just how likable you are once we get Mason to bed.”

  Sitting up straighter and clapping his hands when we walked in the door, Mason’s smile beamed at us. “You came!”

  Luke sat down beside him, putting his hand on Mason’s shoulder. “If I’m home and you want me to I’ll always tuck you in.”

  Looking down at the floor, Mason dejectedly said, “My dad never tucks me in.”

  Tears instantly stung the back of my eyes hearing his heartbreaking words and the sadness in his voice. In the blink of an eye, I was down on my knees and hugging him to me. “You’re going to have to beg me to stop tucking you in and one day you probably will, but I hope that’ll be a long time from now, like after you’ve gone to college.”

  Luke’s hand rubbed up and down my back, calming me as if he knew I was seconds away from crying. “What do you do before bedtime?”

  Pulling back, I smiled at him for breaking the sadness in the air. “He brushes his teeth, most nights he takes a bath, puts on his pajamas, and then I read to him. We’ve been reading Harry Potter and we’re on the fifth book. It’s been taking us quite a while since we’re lucky to read half a chapter a night.”

  “I’ve never read the books.” His mouth turned down, but quickly turned back into a smile. “I’ve watched all the movies.”

  “The movies are good, but the books are much better.”

  Seeing the books on Mason’s shelf, Luke went over and picked out the first one. “I’ll have to read them then. It’s a good thing I’m a fast reader since you’re on book five.”

  Mason’s eyes lit up that Luke wanted to be a part of our nightly routine and read the books. I hated that Decker never tried to connect with him.

  “I’ve got some news to share with you,” I said excitedly. I couldn’t hold back any longer. My smile was s
tretched so wide at the thought that I was afraid I might scare Mason with my Joker smile.

  Mason’s eyes darted toward Luke, but quickly came back to me. I stood by Luke and held his hand. We were a team and I wanted him to be as much of a part of this as he wanted. “As you can see Luke came home early last night because I wasn’t feeling good.” Mason frowned. “I’m feeling much better now,” I quickly reassured him. “But that’s not the news. The news is that last night Luke asked me to marry him.” Mason’s eyes widen almost comically, and his mouth fell open. “And I said yes.”

  “Does that mean you’re going to be my daddy now?” he asked so sweet and innocently. I felt the tears sliding down my cheeks before I could stop them.

  “Well,” Luke started and then cleared his throat. “We’ll be family. I’ll be your step-dad, but I can never replace your dad. My family will be your family.”

  “Do I have to call you dad?”

  “No,” Luke shook his head as he knelt down. “You can call me whatever you want.”

  Looking serious, Mason nodded and then stated. “This will be good.”

  “It will.” Luke and I both replied as we watched Mason grab his book off the shelf. Looking up at Luke, I smiled. “I guess that’s it.” His eyes followed Mason before agreeing.

  Now that Mason had a much bigger bedroom, I’d upgraded his bed to a full size, so it was much more comfortable to read to him at night. With all three of us on it I was thinking maybe I should have gotten him a queen or even a king. Mason climbed underneath his blankets and I tucked him in just the way he liked. It was close to the point he couldn’t move while sleeping, but he had a little wiggle room. I couldn’t imagine sleeping like that, but Mason didn’t sleep well unless he was thoroughly tucked in.

  After getting him just right, Luke and I climbed onto his bed. I laid down beside him to pick up where we left off reading before his weekend with his dad, and Luke sat taking up a good portion at the bottom of the bed. Mason lasted a little longer than he normally did from the excitement of having Luke there with us.

  Quietly we got up, I turned off the lamp, and kissed Mason’s cheek. I was looking forward to having Luke as a part of our nightly ritual and I knew Mason was too.

  Now it was time for me to show Luke just how likable he was. Maybe I’d even ask him to put on his glasses.

  22

  Taylor’s eyes traced over the patio that overlooked the pool where we were having dinner. All of our friends and family were with us in Hawaii for our wedding. To keep the wedding private, Luke rented out the entire place for the rest of the week. Everyone was feeling free with the entire resort being ours.

  “Wow, I still can’t believe you guys booked the whole place, but I get it. I think I’ve finally picked my jaw up off the floor after seeing Anna, Colton, and Reeves walking around earlier. They were very sweet about by my star-struckness.”

  “Is star-struckness a real word?” I laughed at her.

  “It is now, and it might be my perpetual state being friends with you and Luke if celebrities will be dropping by for holidays and birthdays.”

  I could only shake my head. “I seriously doubt any will be dropping by, but after you’ve been around them for a little while you realize that they’re just like us. They’re normal people with normal problems.”

  Side-eying me, she spoke out of the corner of her mouth. “Except that they have an abnormal amount of money.”

  “Afraid they might hear you?” I whispered back with a smile.

  “I don’t want to offend anyone.”

  “You realize now that you’re back in Fairlane that you’ll be around Luke and he’s one of them, don’t you?”

  “Luke is so normal except for his hotness.”

  We both burst out laughing at her statement. I had to agree. Luke was pretty normal aside from how sweet and amazing of a man he was. There was a possibility that I was biased.

  Biting her lip with a sad look in her eye, Taylor asked. “Did you invite Ryan?”

  Letting a sigh out, I looked at everyone taking their seats. “Even though I hadn’t talked to him in months, I thought that maybe he’d finally see that Luke is the guy for me and that all the shit Ashlyn posted was a lie, but he didn’t even respond to the invite.”

  Taylor’s face fell. “I’m so sorry. I know that you’re disappointed that he hasn’t come around.”

  Wetness sprang to my eyes, and I bit my bottom lip. “I miss him. Ryan was there for me after the divorce and we got close again. He was my go-to-guy for when things went wrong with the house and they went wrong a lot.”

  Wrapping her arm around my shoulders, Taylor pulled me in for a side hug. “Well, you don’t need him anymore. You’ve got a new house and in a couple of days you’ll have a new husband that adores you.”

  “Can you believe it? Two years ago, I never would have thought I’d ever get married again. Hell, I didn’t think I’d ever date again and now I’m marrying the most amazing man in the world.” I closed my eyes and smiled. “One day I’m going to have his baby and I know that we’re going to live happily ever after. My life became a fairytale.” Taylor looked over at me her eyes wide and her mouth parted. “What?”

  “Are you really planning on having a baby?” she asked in a hushed voice.

  “How could I not want to make a baby with him? To make another person that’s a part of him?”

  Luke dipped down from behind me, kissing my cheek. My gasp then smile caused his lips to tip up as he sat down beside me. “What prompted your dreamy eyed look?”

  “You,” I answered truthfully. “How much my life has changed in the last two years and how great it is now.”

  Leaning in, Luke cupped my face and gave me the most tender kiss of my life. We didn’t care that everyone in the room was probably looking at us. His thumb caressed my cheek as his lips swept against mine one last time.

  While I had a dreamy look before, I knew then that I had a starry-eyed gaze now. Luke had a tendency to do that to me and I hoped that it would never go away.

  He kissed the tip of my nose and then my forehead. “You’re not the only one with a great life, beautiful.”

  I could only smile at him.

  “Are you ready for tonight?”

  Luke shrugged as he brought a shrimp to his mouth. “I could take it or leave it, but I’m happy to spend more time with my dad and brothers.”

  Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I worried if Liam and Leo had planned to take Luke to a strip club. Surely they would try to keep it low-key, so the media wouldn’t find them. I wasn’t worried Luke would cheat or even touch a girl, but what a girl would try to do and might make up to make a little money. Since we’d been in Hawaii for a little over two months, it was known that Luke was shooting a movie and that Mason and I had joined him. Luckily for us there weren’t any paparazzi here, but there were still plenty of people that had taken pictures and posted them online.

  “Do you know what the guys have planned?”

  Turning to look at me with an assuring smile, he wrapped his hand around mine. “They wouldn’t tell me but promised not to get me in trouble. What about you? Do you know what Taylor and Anna planned?”

  “Nope.” I gave Taylor the stink eye, but she was talking to my high school friend, Josh, so she didn’t see. “Only not to get me so drunk that I’d have a hangover tomorrow.”

  He hummed to himself as he looked at the people at our table before turning back to me. “I think I have more to worry about than you do.”

  “I don’t know how that’s possible. The men definitely outnumber the women and I know how much trouble Josh, Mark, Jason, and Jack can get into.”

  “So, you do admit that you’re worried,” he stated with amusement.

  “No. Well, yes, I’m worried, but not for the reasons you might think I am.”

  “What reason is that?” he asked before shoving an entire shrimp in his mouth.

  “I’m worried about someone trying to make it look as
if something happened with all you guys out. Maybe some girl will think we broke up and will try something, and when you reject her she’ll be mad.” I shrugged. “It could happen.”

  “Hey,” he murmured against my ear as he pulled me close. “I’m not trying to trivialize what you’re feeling, but I don’t think you have anything to worry about. It’s something I’m always conscious of,” he stopped and frowned. “Sadly, now you are too.”

  “I don’t want ugly rumors right before we get married. I want it to be perfect.”

  “I want it to be perfect too and it will be. No one’s going to find out until we release a statement, and by then we’ll be safely tucked away in Fairlane.”

  “You don’t think people will speculate why Anna, Colton, and Jenner are all in the same place as we are with our friends and family? I’m surprised they aren’t already.”

  “They can speculate all they want, and we knew it would happen if we invited everyone here. Now I want you to sit back, relax, and enjoy yourself.”

  My lips met his in a brief kiss until Jason groaned about having to watch us. Still, I smiled as I rested my forehead to his. “Thank you for making me feel better.”

  I watched as his eyes crinkled up as he smiled.

  “That’s my job.”

  I didn’t care that everyone was watching us. And that I’d only just met most of Luke’s family. This was the man that I loved and always would. I knew he’d never let me down.

  “I love you so damn much,” I whispered and then kissed him with everything that I had to show him how much I loved him in that moment.