Chapter 16
The next morning starts out well enough. We order room service and are lazy, but we decide to go strolling through a couple street markets. As soon as we step out of the hotel, we are bombarded with reporters. “Is it true you two are engaged?” “When’s the wedding?” “Where will the wedding be held, here or in the U.S.?”
Shocked, I immediately halt. Ryan thinks quickly, grabs me and shoves me into a cab with him right behind me. He tells the driver to just go.
“What… what was that?” I ask out-of-breath.
“How did they find out already?” Ryan asks mostly to himself. “Someone had to leak the news, but it was just family last night.” His phone starts ringing.
“Jake, hey listen….”
Ryan is quiet while Jake talks.
“WHAT!!” Ryan shouts after Jake tells him something. I jump at his unexpected outburst. So does the driver.
“I’m going to kill her. So, it was all just for a story?”
Uh oh. Jake is talking again. I wish I can hear what Jake is saying.
“Well, she got her story now, didn’t she?”
He pauses, listening again.
“Yeah, I know you’re sorry and I believe you didn’t know anything about it.”
Everything clicks together for me now. Drey. Drey is the one who leaked the news. Since Ryan said she got her story, Drey must be a reporter. Oh, poor Jake. I’m not sure what his feelings are for her, but still that’s got to be a blow to him.
Ryan hangs up and curses.
“So, Jake caught Drey on the phone telling her best friend all about last night. Her best friend is a reporter for the largest gossip magazine in London. They’d been fighting for a while about it otherwise he would have called to warn us. He says to tell you he’s sorry. He didn’t know and would never do anything to hurt us.”
“Jake has nothing to apologize for. Drey needs to apologize, but I’d be ok if I never have to see her again.”
“I agree. I swear I’d strangle her if I must see her again. Leslie warned me about her. She said I shouldn’t trust her. I don’t think she was even all that crazy about Jake. She seemed annoyed with him most of the time.”
“Thank God we decided to wait to say anything about….” I pointed to my stomach. I am not sure if he driver is paying any attention to us or not, but I am going to be safe.
“Oh Christ,” Ryan says quietly enough that only I can hear. “I didn’t even think about that. This circus would be ten times worse if that news got out. I almost did say something. I know we had agreed to wait to say any anything, but I was so happy. I wanted our family to know everything.”
We ride around in silence for a while. I am holding Ryan’s hand, looking out the window. Ryan squeezes my hand.
“Well, what do you want to do now? We can’t go to the street market. We’ll just be swarmed and inundated with questions, even with Jeremy with us.”
“I’m not sure.”
“I’m so mad right now, I can’t think straight.”
Ryan puts his arm around me and leans me against his chest.
“Jake’s over at Steven’s. He said we could hang there if we wanted to. I wasn’t sure if you would want to spend more time with my family, particularly after this.”
“It’s not his fault, Ryan. Let’s go.”
Ryan gives the driver his brother’s address. While Ryan calls Steven to tell him that we are on our way over, my phone rings. The only reason I answer is because it is Taylor.
“Why didn’t you call and tell me that you accepted Ryan’s proposal?” Taylor demands.
“Well, because it just happened last night” I reply.
“Oh! But how did it get out already?”
“It’s a long story. But the jist of it is that Ryan’s brother, Jake’s girlfriend – Drey, the one I said seemed fake - pretended interest in him to get info on Ryan. Her best friend works for a gossip magazine here. She was there last night when Ryan proposed.”
“No!” Taylor says horrified. “Jake should have known better. She couldn’t have been that good of an actor.”
“Taylor, it’s not Jake’s fault. He was used too.”
“Whatever. Well, I’m sorry about the girlfriend and the news leaking out, but I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks. I’m very happy, too. It’s just a little crazy right now.”
Ryan squeezes me.
“When are you coming back?” Taylor asks.
“We leave Thursday.”
“We?”
“Yes, Ryan’s coming back with me.”
I can hear Taylor smile.
“Yeah! I can properly congratulate both of you.”
“I’ll have to talk to you later. We’re almost to Ryan’s other brother’s place.”
“Ok, call me when you know for sure when you will be in town.”
We arrive at Steven’s place. There are a few reporters here, too. Ryan calls Steven as we pulled up so he can let us in right away. Steven’s friends Thomas and Phillip are there and help us get inside and blocks everyone else out.
“Olivia! I’m so sorry about this,” Jake says as soon as we got inside. “I feel awful.”
He looks miserable. I hug him.
“Jake, stop. It’s not your fault. You were used, too. In fact, you should be pissed off, not being sorry.”
“Well, I am pissed off. But if I weren’t so stupid, I would have seen through her false interest right away.”
“Jake,” Ryan says. “She’s a good actress and tricked us. Olivia? Doesn’t that sound like someone else? Don’t beat yourself up, Jake.”
It sounds exactly like something Craig would do, especially if money is involved.
We hang out and talk, play some pool. We all try to make each other feel better about the situation and finally by the time we are ready to leave, I think everyone does feel at least a little bit better.
Steven and his friends ask if we need them to come with us to get back to the hotel ok. Ryan says he called the hotel already and let them know that we will need security when we arrive. Plus, Jeremy is going to be there to protect us, too.
“You know, this will eventually die down,” Ryan says on the way back to the hotel. “Once everyone gets used to us and sees that we are blissfully happy, no one will be interested in us anymore. Life will go on as normal.”
“Until the other news gets out.”
Ryan smiles at me and leans over to kiss my hair.
“Well, that’s why we’re keeping it a secret as long as possible,” he whispers.
We get back to the hotel and find it a madhouse. Reporters, cameras, recorders are everywhere. Jeremy and hotel security comes out when we arrive and are escorted into the hotel. Jeremy escorts us up to our suite. Once inside, I plop down on the couch. Ryan pours himself a soda.
“I’m not so sure about this dying down,” I say, rubbing my stomach. “What happens when this baby arrives? They’ll always want pictures, right?”
“Probably,” Ryan says quietly. “You want anything to drink? Soda? Water?”
“No, thanks. I don’t know how I’ll get used to this. People watching me everywhere I go. Documenting everything I do. Heaven forbid I should pick my nose or something and it will be all over the news.”
Ryan snorts. “It is a little difficult to deal with.”
“How can they do that? Why don’t they get a life of their own instead of following others around?” I am getting hysterical and emotional. Ryan comes to sit by me, pulling me into his arms. “How can anyone live a normal life with that in their face?”
“Love, it’s ok. It’s not always like this. We made some big news today and yes, it will be crazy for a while and it will be again when we get married and when the baby arrives, but it will calm down.”
We go to bed and Ryan just holds me in his arms, comforting me until I fall asleep. I wake up a while later and find the bed empty. I look around the bedroom but don’t see him. I get up and walk out to the sitting room. He is sitting in a chair by the window, looking out. I am not sure how to describe how he looks. His hair is a mess from running his fingers through it. His body language is giving off depressed or defeat signs.
He makes my heart race.
I walk over to him silently, slip my arms around him. He jumps a little, but is quick to pull me to his lap. I loop my arms around his neck, laying my forehead against his. I know something is massively bothering him but he hasn’t said anything to me.
“I missed you in bed,” I say.
“I need to talk to you.”
He is silent again. It seems like he doesn’t want to talk.
“Baby?”
“Olivia, I… You were right earlier about the reporters following us around and when we have the baby, they will swarm us. As long as I’m acting, they will always be around. I want to give you the option to end this now. You don’t have to deal with this. You can leave.”
What? How can he think I could, would leave him?
“Ryan, I won’t…. No, that’s not correct. I can’t leave you. I’ll get used to being followed. I’m new to this so it kind of freaked me out earlier, plus my emotional state is not so good right now, you know, because of this little guy or girl. But I’ll be ok.”
He looks at me intently, almost willing me to take this seriously.
“Yes, but you don’t have to get used to it. You and the baby can have a normal life.”
I am shaking my head ‘no’ the whole time he is talking.
“Olivia…,” He says, exasperated.
“No, Ryan. If I and this baby don’t get you with that normal life, I don’t want it. I love you, Ryan. And soon, very soon I’m thinking, for better or worse, you’re going to be stuck with me.”
He smiles at me.
“Really?
I nod.
He looks like the whole weight of the world has been lifted off his shoulders.
“God, I love you. You are so perfect for me.”
“I know. You are my soul mate. I cannot live without you. Don’t try to make me.”
I kiss him and reposition myself to straddle him. The kiss becomes deeper. My hands run up and down his chest; then up to his neck and to the back of his head. His hands come down my back and slid around to capture both of my breasts.
“Ryan. Make love to me.”
His control snaps. His t-shirt that I am wearing is ripped off of me. He roughly shoves me to the floor with him following, laying right on top of me. His mouth takes my breast and sucks and bite hard on the sensitive nipple. I scream out. Then he captures my mouth and drives himself into me.
“Is this what you want, baby?” he asks as he pounds into me.
“Yes, Ryan. Oh, God, yes.”
He is moving so fast, but I am keeping pace with him. I come again and he follows, groaning out my name. He falls exhausted onto me. Our breathing coming hard. I can hear his heart beating so fast, as fast as mine. Neither of us can move.
“Sweetheart. You’re going to kill me,” Ryan says when he catches his breath.
“You’re young. You should be good to go,” I tease.
“I’m good to go whenever you want, Beautiful,” he says as he nuzzles my ear.
“You keep doing that and you’d better get ready to go again soon,” I purr back at him.
“Ok. I’ll stop. I need a little bit more time to recover before I devour your beautiful breasts, or move down to your heat and kiss you, lick you until I make you come again…. Or maybe we don’t have to wait…. “ And I feel him getting hard again.
“Oh my! You are good to go, aren’t you?” I ask.
We make love a second time. Somehow we finally end up back in bed and pass out.
Our morning wakeup call comes way too early. Didn’t we just fall asleep? I guess it was only four hours ago. Ryan says make-up is going to kill him. I go with him to the set. They are hoping to finish today and I want to be there for that.
As soon as we get there, Leslie comes barreling into Ryan’s trailer, practically screaming.
“Oohh!!! Congratulations guys!” she says as she hugs me. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“Leslie, we were a little preoccupied,” Ryan says.
“I know. I warned you about Drey, didn’t I? But noooo! No one listened to me, did they?”
“I’m sorry, Leslie. I should have listed to you,” Ryan apologizes, while he rolls his eyes.
“You know. I had an odd feeling about her when I first met her,” I inform both of them. “I couldn’t figure out what it was, but I felt uncomfortable around her.”
“You never told me that,” Ryan says.
“I thought I was being silly.”
“See, you need to listen to your premonition,” Leslie says. “So, when are you planning on having the wedding?”
“We don’t know,” I answer. “We haven’t had a chance to talk about it.”
“I’d better be invited,” Leslie informs us, grinning like crazy.
“You’d better get your butt back to your trailer and get ready for our last scene,” Ryan says.
“All right, all right. I’m leaving,” Leslie pouts, going out the door.
I laugh.
Ryan’s arms come around me, hugging me to him. “We do need to talk about the wedding. My parents would love to have it here. But I know your parents and a lot of your fiends would love to have it in Kansas City.”
“Hmm. I’ll think about it and we’ll talk it over. I have an idea, but want to think about it a little more.”
A knock on the door and someone yelling, tells Ryan he needs to get on set. I sit and watch. They finish with only two takes and a loud cheer escapes up when the director calls “It’s a wrap.” There is going to be a small celebration at a pub that is close by. Ryan and I go hang out with everyone and lot of fun.
Once we get back to the hotel, we relax for a little while. I finally bring up my idea for our wedding.
“So, I was thinking about our wedding and how we’re going to keep it from the press as much as possible. I would like to get married soon. And I was thinking why not have it back where our story all began.”
“The Bellagio.”
“Yes, the Bellagio. We could keep it fairly quiet and just have a handful of family and friends there.”
“Yes! It’s perfect. Let’s do it.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes, and in the next few weeks.”
“Two months, tops. I will start showing too much after two months. I’ll get the girls to help me. I love you, Ryan.”
“I love you, Olivia. I can’t wait for you to be Mrs. Ryan Paxton.”
So, I have a wedding to plan and also a baby to plan for. I don’t have any more stalkers, kidnappings or crazy reporters posing as girlfriends to worry about, but I do have to deal with the paparazzi. And I am sure I can handle them, as long as Ryan is by my side.