Escorting the Actress by Leigh James
Kyle
"I'mproud of you too," I said.
Lowell was looking in the visor mirror, fixing her makeup, as I drove us to the studio.
"Thank you," she mumbled. "I only had the courage to say that to her because of you though."
"Don't undo it." I put my hand on her knee and squeezed. "You did that yourself. It took lady balls, and you did it."
She smiled and put on some more lipstick. "I'm going to need even bigger lady balls to deal with Lucas."
"Well, I have my man balls. For backup."
She laughed, and I suddenly knew that everything would be all right.
"You've gota lot of nerve," Lucas's assistant said to Lowell when we walked in. "Jenny wants you dead. Lucas is off-the-wall right now."
Lowell just smiled tightly at her. "I'm sure he is. Is he available?"
"For about two seconds, which is all it's gonna take to fire you," the assistant quipped.
We went into his office, and Lucas shook his head at Lowell. "Jenny told me everything. That was fucking unbelievable. You have royally fucked me. You know you're fired, right?"
Lowell dealt him a tight smile too. "Actually, Lucas, I quit. I don't think this movie supports a healthy body type, and I no longer want to be associated with it."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" He stood, red and livid.
"Nope. And that's the interview I'm giving tomorrow. No need to send Jenny. You're no longer affiliated with my brand."
She tossed her hair, and I followed her out. Lucas didn't even have the chance to speak. We walked back through the office, and his assistant was sitting at her desk, clearly stunned. She must have been listening in.
Lowell smiled at her again, but this time it was genuine. "See ya, Cristina. He's all yours. Good luck with that."
A new Mercedes SUVwas parked outside Lo's house when we got back.
"I've never seen that one before. It doesn't look like one of the photographer's cars." I glanced at Lowell.
"I don't recognize it either," she said.
We smiled, held hands, and kissed for the photographers on our way in. Katie was back, scowling at us. I winked at her and blew her a kiss. She frowned sourly, but I no longer cared.
That was a nice feeling.
Lowell grabbed my hand and checked her watch. "It's almost time. Are you ready?"
I nodded and pulled her to me after we went through the door. "I'm only ready because you've given me the strength to be ready."
"Nah," she said, beaming at me. "We were already both strong. We just gave each other another really good reason to be."
I kissed her forehead and wrapped her in my arms. "Thank you for being my reason."
Shirley interrupted us. "We've got company."
I raised my eyebrow at her.
"More company," she insisted.
We followed her into the living room. Seated on the couch next to Caroline Barton was my father.
"Hey, Dad," I said, surprised and wary. "Are you here to yell at me like Lowell's mom?"
He stood and shook my hand, a gesture that stunned me. "No, son. I came out to show my support." He nodded at Lowell. "I'd like to rescind our previous conversation, if that's okay with you. I was… pretty upset."
"Okay," Lowell said, wary as well.
"Congratulations on your engagement," he told her. "I know you'll make my son very happy."
"Th-thank you, Pierce. Isn't that nice, Kyle?" She elbowed me.
I opened my mouth then closed it. I just looked at my dad. "Do you mean it?"
"I do actually." He dropped back down into his seat next to Caroline.
I blew out a deep breath. "But… do you know we taped a major interview that's gonna premiere tonight?"
"Caroline filled me in," he said.
"Did she tell you it's a tell-all interview?" I asked, bracing for the worst.
"She mentioned that, yes."
I couldn't believe how calm he was. I sat across from him. "Do you know what that means?" My father was brilliant, but he had probably never watched the Entertainment network in his life.
He shrugged. "It means that you're going to tell everyone Lowell hired you as an escort. They already know that I was married to her mother."
"That's right," I said cautiously, watching his face. "We told them everything. We want a fresh start, Dad. We don't want to start our lives together pretending."
"I think… I think that's very mature, Kyle." He looked at me. "I'm proud of you."
"Huh?" I asked. "I did the opposite of what you asked me—no, what you begged me—to do. I ruined your launch too."
"My launch is inherently compromised. But at least my Forbes piece will be entertaining." Pierce nodded thoughtfully, his eyes twinkling. "When I spoke to Lowell yesterday and she told me about the truth coming out, I lost it. After that, I sat in my office for a while, fuming… and I realized it didn't matter. If you two really love each other enough to risk your privacy and your reputations, then who am I to stand in the way?"
"My father," I reminded him. "Who has a vested interest in the situation."
"I know you went against my wishes, son. But I also know that you did it for the right reasons. And you used good judgment. Which, I might add, I've never seen you do before. So this is sort of a big deal."
I felt the pinpricks of tears in my eyes, but I willed them away. "So you don't… hate me?" Lowell clutched my arm, giving me the strength I needed to hold back the tears.
My father's face softened. "You're my son. I could never hate you. Even when I cut you off, I was angry, but I didn't hate you. That's not possible." He gave me a long look. "This isn't how I would plan things, but I've never seen you this happy. I've never seen you this together. I feel like, for the first time since you were a kid, since before things went… wrong with us, I feel like you've been honest with me. And I like you when you're honest and together." He grinned at me. "I actually like you, son. Between worrying that you were going to kill yourself and wanting to kill you myself for so many years, I didn't know that was possible."
"Gee, thanks, Dad," I said, grinning.
"You're welcome, son."
Lowell leaned forward. "And you forgive her?" She jutted her chin at her mother.
Pierce patted Caroline's knee. "Don't be so hard on your mother. She's been through quite a shock."
I might have imagined it, but I thought I saw a small smile pass over Caroline's lips.
Here we go again. For better or for worse.
We were headedtothe Hearts Wide Open premiere.
"I'm nervous," I said as I adjusted the bow tie on my tuxedo for the thousandth time. "And I don't get nervous."
"Yes, you do, you big lug," Lowell said and swatted my hands away from my neck. She fixed my tie and blew me a kiss. "You look gorgeous, though. Nothing to worry about."
"Everybody knows I was an escort. They're probably all going to be thinking about this." I motioned to my cock.
Lowell burst out laughing then clapped her hand over her mouth. "Sorry." Her shoulders were still shaking. "But are you really worried that people are going to be focused on your penis?"
I shrugged defensively. "Maybe. Probably. Usually."
"I'll be thinking about it. That's for sure." She grinned wickedly.
"Don't make me mess up your pretty dress," I growled and chased her around the room.
Squealing, she ran until I had her in a corner.
"Kyle, don't!" she yelled, laughing hard. "I just had my makeup done!"
"Then you better behave," I said, fake-menacingly. "And stop looking at my dick."
She was laughing so hard, her mascara was going to start running. "I love you, babe," she said when she could catch her breath.
"I love you too. And I'm looking forward to messing up your pretty dress later, when you can feel free to look at my dick."
On the red carpet, we saw a lot of our normal photographer friends but also a lot of new faces.
"Lowell! Kyle! Over here!"
"Show us the ring again!"
"How does it feel to have everything out in the open?"
"It feels great," I called.
"Do you two have any regrets?"
I looked at her, and she looked at me.
"I wish we'd slept together sooner," she said so only I could hear.
"I wish we were getting married sooner," I said.
We'd decided to get married six months from today, on the beach. Then we were going to Hawaii for our honeymoon. I was finally going to teach my girl to surf. I couldn't wait to see her catch her first wave.
It would be awesome. All of it, from now on.
What seemed like a thousand flashes went off.
"I'm pretty sure they're all looking at your dick," she said, under her breath.
"Of course they are, babe. I told you so. It's my not-so-secret weapon."
"Bang bang," she said, laughing and holding me close.
"So do you?" the reporter called again. "Have any regrets?"
We turned back to him, both of us flashing our best megawatt smiles.
"None," we said in unison and moved on to the next question.
