One Hot Secret by Sarah J. Brooks

Chapter 28

Grace

I’m supposed to stretch every thirty minutes while I’m painting, but I never remember. My full bladder is what pulls me from the piece I’m currently working on. I grab my phone and run to the toilet in our room. I’m a creature of habit, and even though there’s a toilet in the sunroom floor, my feet gravitate to the one I’m used to.

Relief floods me as I empty my bladder, and now I can pay attention to something else. Like my phone, which has been on silent all morning. I have several messages, but Kyle’s is the only one I really see.

Kyle:Good morning, sweetheart. You looked so peaceful and so beautiful sleeping; I decided not to wake you up. I kissed you, though.

I smile at the image his words conjure. I visualize him kissing my forehead in the semi-darkness of dawn before tiptoeing out of the room.

Me: Morning movie star. Thanks for the kiss, even though I can only imagine it.

I’m surprised when a response comes less than five seconds later. That means he’s on a break.

Kyle: You won’t need to imagine it when I come home.

Me: You’re a flirt, Kyle Bryce.

Kyle: Only with you, my love.

Me: How did I get so lucky?

Kyle: That’s my line.

Me: Lol

Kyle: Have to go back on set. I’ll see you later.

Me: See you later.

My conversation with Kyle leaves me with a big grin on my face. I turn my attention to the other messages. A link from my mom. I ignore that. We can’t continue like this. She sends me websites where Kyle is mentioned, and I ignore her messages. I can’t stand it, but short of blocking her, I don’t know how else to make her stop.

I smile when I see a message from Isla.

Isla: I know you’re painting. So reply asap when you see this. If you see this. Can we go out for lunch? I have news.

I laugh, and excitement courses over me as I try to guess what kind of news she has.

Me: Yes of course.

Isla: Yay, she’s out of the cave. Can we meet at one? The Friendly Coffee House, downtown?

Me: I’ll be there.

I finish up my business in the bathroom, wash my hands and head downstairs to let Maria know that I’ll be out for lunch.

“I’m meeting Isla for lunch; you remember her?” I tell Maria, wanting to talk to someone. It’s half-past eleven, and I’ve been holed up in my studio for hours. As much as I’m an introvert, I crave human interaction sometimes.

“Good for you. It’s nice to go out,” she says with a smile. “Chris will keep me company at lunchtime and Carlos if he agrees to come in. He likes eating outside amongst his beloved plants.”

“I don’t blame him. It’s beautiful outside.” It’s easy to forget the rest of the world when you’re in Kyle’s house. It even ceases to exist.

I chat with Maria for a few more minutes and then return to the sunroom to wrap up a few things. At noon, I go to our room to get ready for the day. A shower and clean clothes later, I’m ready for my lunch date with Isla.

Outside, I find my car sparkly clean and in good shape. I haven’t used it in almost two weeks, but Carlos clearly takes care of it. I tell him thank you as I’m driving through the gate.

LA traffic doesn’t care for the time, and it takes me longer than I’d anticipated to get to the coffee house. I’m lucky to get parking in front of the building. As much as I love locking myself in my cave to create art, it feels good to be outside with the sun warming my bare arms.

The scent of chocolaty coffee hits my nostrils as soon as I enter. I let out a sigh as other tantalizing smells tease my taste buds, like the smell of baked products. I spot Isla and make my way to her at the far end of the room.

“Latecomer,” she says as she stands to hug and kiss me.

“I’m sorry. Blame it on the traffic,” I tell her.

She gives me a naughty look. “You sure it’s not lover boy who made you late?”

I laugh. “Lover boy is at work.”

A server comes to take our orders. We both ask for salads and coffee. When she tosses her blonde mane to one side for the third time in a time span of fewer than three minutes, I know something is up, and it’s huge.

“Okay, spit it out,” I tell her.

She grins. “Mark proposed, and I said yes!” She shouts the last part so that half of the people in the coffee house hear her news.

A cheer erupts and people tell Isla congratulations. I’m grinning as I’m listening and watching the show. Trust Isla to do things in her own flamboyant way, including telling her best friend her news.

“Oh my God, finally!” I tell her when the furor has died down.

“I know,” Isla says, her face flushed. “You’ll never believe his reason for taking so long to propose. Turns out the idiot hates—no, detests—big weddings. So he kept putting it off.”

I let my face fall dramatically. “Your wedding was my one chance to be a maid of honor.”

She reaches out and rests her hand on mine. “Never fear. You’ll still be my best maid. Only we’ll do it in Vegas. That’s what Mark and I decided.”

I grin. I’m so happy for her. Mark and Isla were made for each other. “I’ve never been to a Vegas wedding.”

“There was one before our time at the station,” Isla says. “One of the guys and his wife got married in Vegas, or so I heard.”

“I heard about it too, and now it’s your turn. I can’t believe you’re going to get married.” I’m beyond myself with excitement, and I have so many questions. “Are you inviting other people?”

The server brings our food, and another follows with our coffee. We continue with the conversation as though there hadn’t been an interruption.

“No, it would defeat the purpose of going to Vegas if we invite a crowd. However, you and lover boy are invited.”

I frown. “Can you stop calling him that? It’ll stick.”

Isla pouts. “You’re no fun. I won’t mind if you come up with a nickname for Mark.”

“You know I wouldn’t. I’m far too respectful.”

Isla smiles at me fondly. “Yes, you are. Let’s talk dresses now. I was thinking of getting a simple strapless ball gown-like dress … pink. I don’t want white.”

I roll my eyes. “And here I was thinking you were a traditional sort of girl.”

She ignores me and continues as though I haven’t spoken in between mouthfuls of her sandwich. “And the same for you. Just a slight variation or maybe even the same. We can even pretend we’re having a double wedding.”

I laugh. “You’re crazy, but I’ll be happy to wear whatever you want.” Since we met, Isla likes to joke that we’ll have a double wedding. I’m glad that is one dream of hers that is not coming true.

We make plans for the wedding, and by the time we part company several hours later, I feel as if everything is set. I can’t wait for Kyle to get home so that I can share the news with him.

To my surprise, I see his car as I’m parking mine, and joy envelopes me. I hurry into the house. I find him in his office, seated at his desk, staring at the computer screen.

He pushes his chair back and smiles at me. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”

“What a nice surprise to find you home.” I cross the room and go straight to him, plopping down on his lap and wrapping my arms around his neck. He smells so good. I kiss him, and we kiss deeply for the next couple of minutes, forgetting all else but each other.

I finally draw back and grin at him.

“That’s my favorite kind of welcome home,” Kyle says. “How was lunch with Isla? Maria told me.”

“It was fun and newsy.”

Kyle frowns. He looks so cute when he’s frowning. “Newsy?”

I kiss his nose. “Yeah. She’s getting married in Vegas, and I’m her best maid. You’re invited too.”

“Oh wow! Good for them. I haven’t met Mark, but I’m sure he’s a good person,” Kyle says.

“He is, and they’re made for each other. He’s able to handle Isla’s brand of craziness.”

He laughs and leans forward to kiss me, slipping a hand under my neck.

“So, will you make it?” I ask him, drawing back to look into his face.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Anyone who is important to you is important to me.”

I tear up at the simple declaration. It means everything to me to hear him say that. “Thank you.” I’m a little choked. A tear escapes my eye, and Kyle brushes it away gently with his finger.

“We’ll use my private jet to fly to Vegas and then back. I’ll have my pilot fly them wherever they want to go on their honeymoon.”

I’m at a loss for words. Then I shake my head. “You can’t do that. It’s too much.”

It dawns on me how shortly we’ve been together, yet he wants to do all that for my friends.

“I want to. I told you. The people who are important to you are important to me. Besides, since we’re invited, I’d like us to go in comfort. Oh, and I have an agreement with one of the nicest hotels in Vegas. Just let me know how long they want to stay for.”

“Thank you,” I tell him. “I’ll ask her right now.”

I call Isla and put her on speakerphone. “Hey, about to be married lady,” I tease her when she answers the phone.

“You’ve got that right,” she says laughing. “Mrs. Cole. Arg. I’m not too sure about Mark’s last name. I think I might just stick with mine, and don’t tell him I said so.”

Kyle and I exchange looks of amusement.

“Anyway, I’ve told Kyle about the wedding, and he says congratulations.”

“Tell him I said thanks,” Isla said.

“He also said he’ll fly us there in his private jet and organize our stay. He wants to know how many days you guys will stay so that he can book the rooms.”

There’s silence from the other end until I worry that Isla has disconnected the phone. “Isla?”

“Oh my God,” she finally says. “I want to say yes so badly, but it’s too much.”

I laugh at that. One of the things that drew me to Isla and deepened our friendship was Isla’s honesty. One thing about her is that what she says is what she means.

I turn to Kyle, and he gestures at me to tell her to agree.

“He won’t take no for an answer,” I tell Isla.

“In that case, the answer’s yes, and I think I’m going to die before the weekend arrives. I’m going to get on a fucking private jet,” she yells. “Tell him thanks a million from Mark and me.”

“You can tell him yourself. You’re on speakerphone,” I tell her.

“I’m going to kill you, Grace. I just embarrassed myself,” she says.

“It’s fine, Isla, and you’re very welcome,” Kyle says, laughing.