One Hot Secret by Sarah J. Brooks
Chapter 30
Grace
“You look beautiful.” I can’t stop looking at Isla. She’s glowing, and it’s not from the makeup we helped each other apply. Happiness is radiating from inside her. We’re in a hired limo on the way to the venue. It’s only a few blocks away, but the package comes with a limousine. The men went first twenty minutes ago.
“I’m so excited; I feel as if I can fly out the window,” Isla says.
“Please don’t; Mark will kill me. I love the way he looks at you as if you’re his whole life.” It’s always been like that between the two of them, and I always wondered why they were taking so long to make it official.
“Sort of the way Kyle looks at you,” Isla said.
“No, we’re definitely not there yet.”
“You don’t see it do you?” she asks me. “That man is going to propose to you soon.”
I laugh nervously and remember Kyle’s comment earlier about wishing it was us getting married. I’m in love with him too, but I can’t think long-term yet. I’m still getting used to dating a celebrity. The thought of marriage scares the hell out of me.
“I hope not.”
Isla smiles fondly at me. “A lot of women would donate a limb to be Kyle’s girlfriend.”
“Only for material things. All this is nice, but it doesn’t matter or even contribute to a person’s happiness,” I tell Isla.
She smiles at me and pats my knee. “No wonder Kyle refuses to let you go.”
“Why?”
She shakes her head, but before she can answer, the limo comes to a stop in front of one of the glamorous buildings in the town. The driver opens the door for us, and at the entrance, there’s someone waiting to show us to the chapel. We pause outside while he goes in. I adjust Isla’s hair and her strapless pale pink dress. I have a similar dress on except that mine is sea green and has spaghetti straps. The music inside the chapel changes, and it’s time for me to go in.
The uniformed young man who brought us in comes back out with a bunch of flowers, which he gives to Isla. She inhales them, and her eyes fill with tears.
“Mark remembered. I told him I needed a flower arrangement to feel like a real bride.”
“It’s beautiful, just like the bride.”
It’s my turn to go in, and after kissing Isla, I make my way down the aisle, trying not to rush down. My heart thumps wildly as I imagine that it’s Kyle and me getting married. By the time I reach the front, a layer of sweat is covering my brow. I shake off my silly thoughts telling myself we have a long way to go before we have to think of stuff like marriage.
I raise an eyebrow when I see Kyle standing next to Mark as his witness. Sweet. I didn’t know that he was going to ask him. They both look very smart in identical tuxedos.
Watching Mark tear up as Isla enters the small chapel makes me tear up as well. They only have eyes for each other as the ceremony proceeds. It’s short but touching, and Kyle takes my hand and squeezes it as they are saying their vows.
Afterward, we have lunch in the adjoining hotel and drink a bottle of champagne to toast the newlyweds. I can’t tear my eyes from Kyle, and each time I look at him, I find his gaze on me. I can’t help wondering if I’ve finally found the man I want to spend my life with. If I’ve finally come to terms with his life in the limelight and I’m confident that I can handle it.
We have a good time in the hotel, and the champagne flows. Later, we continue our celebration until the wee hours of the morning in the hotel’s bar where we are staying.
We finally make our way to our respective suites, way after midnight.
“I can’t tell you how thankful we are. You’ve made our wedding super special and something I’ll never forget,” Isla tells Mark tearfully. She throws her arm around him, alcohol removing any inhibitions she might have felt.
“You’re welcome. It was my pleasure,” Kyle says. He drank less than the three of us, and I have a feeling that he’s the only one who is close to sober.
“You’re like a brother,” Mark says solemnly, his voice slurring.
I stifle a giggle, and Kyle keeps a straight face as Mark launches into an emotional speech and then clumsily hugs him. We won’t see them again as they are flying off to Hawaii for their honeymoon tomorrow morning before Kyle and I fly home.
We finally manage to extricate ourselves and head to our suite.
“That was a lovely day, but now I’m glad to have you to myself,” Kyle says, pulling me into his arms.
***
My head feels as if it’s been borrowed from someone else, and my throat feels as though a barbecue had been held there last night. I dare to crack one eye open, and the effort alone makes me want to shed tears. I close it and try and fall back asleep, but I need water.
My throat is on fire. I force my eyes open again and gently remove Kyle’s hand from my waist. The movement doesn’t wake him up, which does not surprise me. We slept very late, and the antics we got up to can easily knock a man out for a week.
I cast a loving look at him as I slowly get out of the huge bed. As soon I stand, a wave of dizziness comes over me, and I quickly sit down at the edge of the bed and stay very still. After five minutes, it goes away, but now my throat is throbbing. I get up slowly and head to the bathroom to grab a bathrobe.
In the small kitchen, I grab a water bottle from the fridge and return to the living room. I need a distraction from the swirl of nausea in my stomach. I turn on the TV and at first, I’m sure that my mind is playing mind games with me.
I blink rapidly and try to figure out why Kyle and I would be on the screen, clad in the clothes we were wearing yesterday. Then big words come on screen. Secret Vegas wedding. I want to giggle because they have it so wrong, but it’s not funny. I feel violated. I didn’t see anyone take pictures of us. Several pictures flash across the screen. Kyle and I staring into each other’s eyes, Kyle and I walking out of the chapel hand in hand. I press the volume button to increase it. The news anchor says it’s not verified, but they suspect that Kyle Bryce has married his lover in Las Vegas.
“Morning,” Kyle’s voice says as he walks into the room. “I woke up, and you were gone …” He rubs his eyes and stares at the screen. “What is that? Is that us?”
He sits next to me on the couch and takes a swig of my water.
“Yes,” I tell him with a sigh. “It seems that some sneaky person took our picture, and now they think we were the ones getting married.”
“That’s one mistake I don’t mind them making,” he says.
The reporter says something about interviewing one of Kyle Bryce’s very good friends and costar, Skyler. She comes on screen and the reporter interviewing her asks what she thinks about the alleged wedding.
She smiles coyly at the camera. “Not true,” she says, and the reporter sensing a story, goes for the kill.
“Why do you say so, Miss Skyler?” he quickly asks.
“First of all, I know that Kyle Bryce is not in a relationship with that woman.”
My jaw drops. I’m seething inside, though I try to keep cool. That woman?
“I shouldn’t say this because we haven’t agreed to talk to the media, but Kyle and I have a little something going on between us. I don’t want to say too much because it’s still very new and fragile ...”
All I see is red. I stare at Kyle in disbelief and shock and, to be honest, hurt. Has he been going on with her behind my back while they’ve been filming? She’s speaking with so much confidence. I remember the comment I’d made that Skyler is professional and would not hit on Kyle during filming. I feel like a complete idiot.
“Is it true what they say about you and your leading men?” the reporter asks, breaking into my thoughts.
She laughs again. “What can I say? I find all of them so sexy, but I have a feeling this will be my last one. He’s special.”
“Bullshit!” Kyle explodes and jumps to his feet. He goes to the bedroom, and when he returns, he has his phone with him. He jabs at it to turn it on. He makes a call, and while he waits for it to be picked up, he paces up and down the room.
Then he seems to remember my presence.
“I hope you know that she’s lying.”
I don’t know what to think, and my look communicates just that. Logic tells me that someone would not lie about something like that. Skyler is a grown woman, not a fifteen-year-old girl.
Kyle is about to say something, but his attention is taken by the phone. “Can you find out what the fuck is going on with Skyler? Why is she lying about us when she knows very well that our only relationship is professional?”
He listens for a few minutes and then comes to sit next to me. He takes my hand, but I pull it away. I’m not ready to open myself up to him again. I need to know that I’m not making a fool of myself. I feel so vulnerable and helpless.
“I promise you there’s nothing going on between us. I’m not interested in Skyler in any way or form. How can I when I have you?” He looks so sincere, but then he’s one of the most gifted actors of our time.
“Does she hit on you on the set?” I ask him.
He nods. “I decided not to tell you about it because I thought it would pass. Once she saw that I wasn’t interested, she would move on to someone else. I never expected this.” He points at the screen angrily.
I’m frightened, and I don’t know what to believe. “Why would she come on TV and imply that you and she are dating? It doesn’t make sense.”
A look of frustration comes over Kyle’s features. “I’m thinking it’s a tactic she employs to keep herself on the front pages. Some people thrive on that kind of thing. It makes them feel relevant.”
I shake my head. “That’s your world, Kyle, not mine, and I don’t know what’s normal or what’s not. Right now, I don’t know what to think or who to believe. This was the very thing I was afraid of.”
He takes my hand again, and even though my instinct is to fling it away, I stay still.
“Please, believe me, sweetheart. I know we haven’t known each other long enough, but I promise I would never cheat on my woman. I have no reason to. If I wanted Skyler, I’d have ended my relationship with you.”
Somehow, I start to believe him. There’s a solidness to Kyle. A seriousness when it comes to matters of the heart. Then, of course, he’s Kyle Bryce. He doesn’t need to tiptoe around me if the woman he wants to be with is Skyler.
