3
SKYLER
“Morning, Birdie,” I hear from a few feet behind me.
I grin and place the powdered sugar over the perfectly grilled bread in front of me that’s loaded with heated maple syrup. The pretty sugar dust is the final touch on my self-proclaimed famous french toast.
“Voilà!” I spin around and present the plate loaded with three thick slices of my homemade specialty.
Tracey smiles and presses her hand to her chest. “For me? Aw, you shouldn’t have.” Her voice changes to a poor interpretation of a southern accent. “Nah, you absolutely should!”
I chuckle and set the plate in front of her as she settles on one of the stools. “Coffee?”
“Absolutely!”
“Coming right up.” I smile, happy that Tracey seems to be in a good mood this morning. I still need to talk to her about my plans with Parker and our future, so she understands that nothing is changing. She may think we’re moving too fast, but the two of us hashed it out last night and believe we’re on the right path for us. In the end, that’s all that matters, and as my best friend, she needs to support me in this decision or keep quiet and let me make my own mistakes, if that’s what she thinks I’m doing.
I gear up to bring the topic up until my phone buzzes on the counter. I glance over and note Wendy’s calling. Now that the wedding is only a couple of months away, things have really heated up in the planning phase. As her maid of honor, I want everything to be absolutely perfect for her big day.
I grab the phone and lift it to my ear. “Hi, girlie!”
“Guess what?” she screeches happily into the phone.
“What?”
“You’re going to be thrilled. It’s kismet, I tell you!” She continues yapping cheerfully in that way she does, which I find makes her more endearing.
“Well, if you’d tell me, I’d know and could possibly agree with you. Is this about the wedding?”
Tracey’s eyebrows rise up, and I cover the phone with my hand and whisper, “Wendy and Mick.”
“Thank God,” she mumbles, and shoves another bite of french toast into her mouth.
I frown and turn around, not wanting to see her sour face.
“Wedding shmedding! This is about a certain someone looking to buy a house in a certain gated community that’s only four acres down from me and my McMansion!” Her voice rises along with her excitement.
My heart patters out a chipper beat. “No way. There’s a home available?”
“Just came up today. I was walking Lauren, and my girl likes to roam. Having been in a cage for two years of her life, she needs to be free. As in, the stretch of open road ahead of her needs to be long. And since I want my baby to have whatever she needs, Mick and I take turns doing her long morning walk—”
“Wen . . . the point? I’m dying here!” I cut her off, knowing that Wendy loves her beagle mix, Lauren, to distraction. The girl can go on for days on end about her baby, and she hasn’t had her very long. I guess when it’s right, they just make your world better. I know Midnight and Sunny have done that for Parker and me. They’ve made us a family, and that alone is priceless.
“Oh yeah, anyway, Lauren and I hit the end of the street to the left and saw the neighbor come out to walk their dog. We got to talking, and she told me they were going to put their home on the market by week’s end. And girl, the house is phat. It’s not as big as ours, because it’s more like a house you’d find on a farm in Savannah, Georgia. It has a huge wraparound porch in the front, and it’s all one story. Still, it’s around twelve to fifteen thousand square feet, so it’s not small; it’s just not forty thousand like ours.”
“My goodness . . .” I gasp, imagining my man sitting in a rocker on his porch, his dog at his feet with his children by his side.
“How much land?”
“Five acres. We have twelve, but it runs the line of our property. It even has a separate two-bedroom guesthouse, with a separate driveway and garage, that’s about eighteen hundred square feet on its own, separate from the main home’s square footage.”
“No . . .”
“Yes! And get this . . .” Her voice rises in pitch.
“Stop. Wendy, I’m getting too excited.” I can barely say the words since I’m losing my breath.
“Babe, it’s yellow with white trim. I swear they pulled that house right out of a farm in the South and plopped that sucker down outside of the city limits of Boston.”
Parker’s dream house.
“When can I see it? Are they putting it on the market now? Parker and I are leaving tomorrow for Madrid.” I bite into my lip and worry a lock of hair around my index finger.
“Well, then, it’s a good thing I made an appointment for you to see it after work today. Told the owner I have a great couple who would be interested in buying it right away, if the house is right. She was totally down with that since she was hoping to get it on the market ASAP. Turns out her only son and his three children are moving to Florida because he’s career military. She wants to be near the grands. Her husband already found them a new home.”
“This sounds too good to be true!” I whisper, my heart now pounding against my chest, making it even harder to catch my breath.
“I know. We might be neighbors! Our dogs can play together and have doggy dates, and when we have the babies, since Mick is working hard to get me prego, our kids and dogs can have playdates!”
“That would rock!” I bite into my lip harder and imagine Sunday dinners with Mick and Wendy and our combined families, the Ellises coming over to spend holidays and birthdays. The guys and whatever women they settle down with popping over to play football in the yard, or basketball in the driveway. “I’ll need to get a basketball hoop.”
“For sure! You’ll have so much space you can build a barn and have horses if you want!”
Horses.
“Wow. Wendy, I’m freaking out over here. I can’t wait to tell Parker!”
“You think I’m putting a lid on this news when he gets into the office? Girl, you are crazy. I’ve already put the meeting on his calendar. Just be down at five, and we can head over. I’ll introduce you to the owners, and we’ll go from there.”
“Thank you, Wendy. This is such great news and timing!”
“Word. Oh! Parker just stopped in my office. Gotta go talk to your man! Eeek!”
I hang up, laughing and grinning like a loon.
“What’s going on?” Tracey asks, an odd expression on her face.
“Wendy just found out there’s a farm-style house in the gated community they live in. It’s top-notch, Fort Knox–type security but open land between houses. Neighbor of hers is moving to Florida and going to put it on the market. Her finding out early means we’ll get first dibs. Everything I ever wanted is working out perfectly.” I hug myself and spin around. “And just so you know, when I’m done with the A-Lister movies, I’m going to take a serious step back from acting.”
Tracey drops her fork onto her plate and wipes her mouth, and her gaze turns cold. “Excuse me?”
I nod, grinning. “I want to focus on building a life outside of acting. One with Parker. I was actually thinking of maybe even opening an acting academy in downtown Boston. Work with less fortunate kids and teens who show some talent for the craft. Help them get their foot in the door.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? Less fortunate kids. Donate to a fucking charity for crying out loud.” Tracey’s voice is brimming with anger.
I tilt my head back and place my hand on the counter to brace myself for the sudden onslaught of fury I’m feeling coming off her in waves, directed right at me. “I told you years ago that, eventually, when the time was right, I’d slow down. Focus on other things I want to do.”
“Skyler, now is not that time. You’re at the peak of your career. Everyone wants you. Do you have any idea how many scripts come across my desk? I don’t even look at them unless they’re in the ten- to twenty-million-dollar range or higher.”
“But what if the role is on my wish list? Especially in the theater?” I had given Tracey a wish list of directors I wanted to work with, parts I wanted to play, and even some theater I wanted to do if the right role came about.
“Sky, the theaters can’t afford you,” she says dryly. “It’s a waste of your time.”
“Not if it’s a role I want. Tracey, you know I worked long and hard on that list. Come to think of it, you haven’t put anything I’ve requested in front of me for a long time. I did several of the Angel movies, which were fun, but it’s not like they were hard to play.”
She scoffs. “Maybe not, but you made a mint off each one, and they helped keep you at the top. Big budget is the way to go. Keeps us both in penthouses and the upper echelon of the industry.”
“Trace, I don’t give a crap about being at the top. I care about the craft. Why do you think my muse was having such a hard time when you hired Parker?”
“A mistake I’ll never forgive myself for,” she says with a hint of malice in her tone.
“What? Are you insane? Tracey, Parker coming into my world was the best thing to ever happen to me. He’s everything I could ever need or want, and when we get married, not if, I’m going to suggest we start on having our family right away. Something about my man and the way he loves his family tells me that he’s likely not going to have a problem with this decision. Things are changing. I don’t want the huge roles unless they’re parts I want to play and do not take me away from my new family for months on end. I won’t do it.”
“You can’t mean that. Sky, you’re in puppy love. This will pass, the same way it did with Johan.”
“No, Johan was a drug user and a cheat. Parker is neither of those things.”
“Give it a few more months. All I’ll have to do is offer him a payout and a line of coke the same way I did to Johan. He’ll show his true colors just like the hunky, weak model did.”
“The same way you did to Johan . . .” My throat dries up instantly as if powdered concrete has been poured down my esophagus.
Memories of Johan and Tracey sharing whispered conversations back in the day flit through my mind. Her stopping by randomly to drop off a package to Johan. The women he cheated with always were low-level actors or extras from one of my movies.
My neck prickles and heats as the dryness in my throat makes it hard to breathe. I swallow a few times and breathe through my nose, trying to calm the panic teasing the back of my neck. I rub at the sore spot on my chest. “Trace, did you—”
“Supply Johan with his taste for coke and women?” She smiles evilly. “Yeah, Birdie, I did.”
A wall of flame couldn’t have burned me any more than her words just did. “Wh-wh-why would you do something like that? He was all I had after my parents died.”
She snorts. “He was all you had? Sweetheart, that man was weak as hell and proved it every time he fell in love with the white lines I made available to him instead of being with you. He wasn’t good enough for you. Those women? He fell all over them when they were put in his presence. Like I said, weak. You needed to scrape him off. I just helped make it possible. I’m always looking out for you, and I always will.”
Tears fill my eyes as I realize the magnitude of my best friend’s betrayal. “Tracey . . . I can’t . . . I can’t believe you. H-how could you do that to me? I thought . . .” I shake my head as a tear falls. “I loved him.”
Her gaze narrows. “And then you learned he wasn’t worth that love. Don’t you see I saved you from a lifetime of misery?”
I wave my hands between us. “This is not okay. I don’t even . . . I don’t know what to do with this information. You’ve crossed the line . . .” I choke on a half sob, needing to go somewhere else, just get away.
Tracey stands, her light eyes narrowing on me as I back up. “Birdie . . .”
“Don’t call me that!” I screech. “You hurt me. You destroyed what I had with a good man.”
She shakes her head emphatically and keeps moving toward me as I’m moving away.
“No. Sky, just think about it. If he was worthy of you and your commitment, he would have never cheated on you. He wouldn’t have snorted crap into his brain. Just because I made it a little easier to get it doesn’t mean I’m the one at fault.”
“You contributed to his problem, his addiction!” I shriek, and run my hand through my hair, pulling at the strands, embracing the pinch of pain that helps bring me back to the here and now.
“When you’re rational, you’ll think this through.” Her tone has moved into the mothering one she uses when I’m panicking. “It’s my job to protect you. I always have your best interests at heart. Ever since I took over your management when your parents died in the freak boat explosion, I was there for you. Got you the best-paying jobs. Made your career something you could be proud of. That we can all be proud of. That was me. I’ve always put you first. Always. Even when you told your mom you wanted to stop showbiz. I was there, making sure you made the right decision. I took care of you, and I’ll always do that because it’s my job, Sky, as your manager and your best friend.”
Everything she’s saying is heartfelt and gut wrenching, but I’m confused, and it’s twisting my head into a jumble of emotions. I’m unable to wrap my mind around the years of lies going back to what I feel is her betrayal. “You never told me about Johan. I had to find out on my own that he was using and cheating.”
She nods, but her expression is one of sadness and concern. “Because if you hadn’t, you would have never let him go. I’m so sorry you had to go through that awful time, but I was there for you, wasn’t I? Held you while you cried. Gave you a place to live. Made sure you were busy as could be and focused on much healthier things, like building your career and empire.”
Actually that’s true. She did take care of me. Helped get me on my feet when my parents died, and then took me in when I caught Johan cheating and using.
Still, I can’t fathom that she’d help him destroy himself and our relationship. It doesn’t make sense, and I’m not sure what to think or believe right now.
“I think you need to go.” I swallow and firm my chin. “You need to leave my house.”
“You’re kicking me out?” Her expression telegraphs her shock.
I narrow my gaze and inhale deeply. “You don’t live here. You came unannounced. It will be no trouble at all for you to find a hotel or go back to New York. Frankly, Trace, I can’t look at you right now. I need to think.”
She approaches me and holds out her hand. “Sky, you don’t mean that, and you don’t need time to think. I only did what I did to protect you from a man I knew wasn’t worth your time or energy. I knew he would hurt you terribly, and he did. At least you didn’t marry him and have his children. Then where would you be?”
I clench my teeth and purse my lips, thinking over her words. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that she’d enable someone to hurt themselves and me in the process.
“You need to go.” On that note, I dig into the drawer that has my dogs’ leashes. “Come here, guys!” I holler out. Both Midnight and Sunny run into the kitchen and jump playfully around my legs as more tears threaten to fall. I clip on their leashes and head toward the elevator.
“Sky, Birdie, come on, let’s talk about this.”
I turn around and put my hand flat out in her direction as she is advancing toward me. Midnight growls and puts his little ten-week-old body in front of me like the guard dog he’s becoming. Sunny whimpers behind me, and that pisses me off even more. Her scaring my baby like that. She’s had enough shitty things to get past in her life at the puppy mill. The last thing she needs is to be scared by someone who’s supposed to be my family.
“I don’t want to hear it. You’ve said quite enough. Now I’m telling you: I need time to think, to be alone. You need to pack up your things and get a hotel or go back to New York.” My voice is firm, and for a split second, I’m proud of myself for being direct and straightforward about my feelings instead of cowering and hiding out. Parker would be proud of me too.
Parker.
I need him like I need air and water to survive.
Tracey huffs dramatically. “Fine. I’ll leave, but I’m not leaving Boston. I’m going to be here when you get back from your trip, ready to talk when you’ve had some time to realize that everything I’ve ever done, I’ve done for you. Because I love you. Because I care more about you than anyone else in this world. Once you’ve had time to think about that, you’ll realize it’s true.”
She takes off down the hall, and I tug on the leashes, get in the elevator, and press the button for the IG offices.
“That’s intense, baby,” Parker says as we walk hand in hand around the park near his office. Each of us has a leash with a pup on the end of it; this time Sunny is being walked by her daddy, and I have Midnight. I’ve just finished telling him the explosion of information that happened earlier and how broken I feel over it.
“You’re telling me.” I pout and focus on the breeze through my hair and the sun glinting off my man’s lush, sandy-brown hair, which brings out some slight coppery tones. The tortoiseshell Ray-Bans he’s wearing fit his business-casual style to perfection.
“At least for now she’s out of the house. Besides, we’re heading to Spain tomorrow evening, taking the red-eye so we arrive first thing the next morning. You’ll have plenty of time to work out how you want to handle Tracey before we get back.”
“Uh, did you talk to Wendy?” I ask, switching gears.
He stops as Sunny sniffs a bush. Midnight gets in on the sniffing action, only he chooses to pee on it for good measure.
Parker grins. “About the house. Yes. What do you think about it?”
“It sounds perfect for us,” I respond wistfully.
“I agree. Though, the comps in the area are putting it at a hefty ten to twelve mil, and that doesn’t include the community fees or yearly taxes, which are going to be steep.”
“Honey, if we love this house, I want to buy it. We’re setting up our life together, and I have twenty times more money in my account than—”
He presses two fingers over my lips. “Shh. I’m trying to let go of this macho need to be the one to provide my woman with the world.” He moves his hand to cup my cheek, and I nuzzle into his palm.
“But I want to provide you with the world too,” I whisper, and pout.
“It’s taken me a long time and a lot of talks with Royce and Bo to accept the fact that you are always going to make more and have more invested than me. The nature of your job makes it so. Still, I need to do my part. So, here’s what I’m thinking . . .”
I smile so wide, thrilled with the fact that he’s willing to put his machismo aside and compromise for our future.
“I’ll pay the twenty percent down to get things going. I’ve got the cash. You can pay the remainder so we don’t have a mortgage payment.”
“Honey . . .” I gasp as tears prick at the backs of my eyes, knowing this is costing him but loving more than anything that he’d take these steps for me.
“Ah, ah, listen . . . ,” he warns.
I nod and press my lips together.
He grins and continues. “I will pay the property taxes and community fees due each year. You can furnish it how you want as long as you keep in mind the fact that your man is not a girly man. I do not do pink in my bedroom. In a tie or a dress shirt, sure. In the bedroom or the primary living spaces . . . no dice. Seeing as you have an eye toward comfort over cost, I don’t think we’re going to have a problem. However, I buy our bed. My woman will be made love to and fucked within an inch of her life in a bed I paid for. End of. That’s my deal.”
“Deal!” I squeal, and jump into his arms so completely he has to catch me by the ass, and I wrap my legs around his waist. I kiss him wild and for a long, long time until I hear the camera clicks going off in the background. I pull back, still smiling, knowing I’m making a spectacle and not caring one iota because Rachel and Nate will make sure the paps don’t approach, though there’s nothing we’ll be able to do about the pictures.
“You realize this little move is going to be on the cover of every tabloid from here to Timbuktu?” His eyes sparkle with mirth, but he’s gotten used to being the center of attention around me. He just ignores it or goes with it. Another reason he’s my perfect other half.
“Did my man just agree to a compromise on a home purchase and buying a new bed that’s ours, not his or mine?”
He nuzzles my neck and kisses me there while breathing me in. Parker is such a scent whore. “Yes, I did.”
I slide down his body, but he keeps a firm hand on my ass, making no bones about the fact that he will grope and touch me any way he likes regardless of who’s watching. Hell, he probably does it because the whole world is watching. Staking his claim, fulfilling that little bit of caveman I know hides inside of him and comes out with some of his overly alpha tendencies.
“I can’t wait to go see this house! I’m hoping beyond anything that it’s the right one for us. It’s, honestly, ideal timing and near Mick and Wendy, which makes it even better. It’s also close to your work and where we’re doing most of the shooting over the next couple of years.”
Parker kisses my forehead. “It sounds perfect, but don’t get your hopes up. I don’t want you sad our entire trip to Spain.”
“Not possible. I’m going to be with you. No matter what, we’ll have a blast.”
“That’s true. Come on, the pups are getting antsy the longer we don’t move.”
I look down at our dogs and realize they’ve twisted themselves up in one another’s leashes. Once I’ve gotten them situated, Parker loops an arm around my shoulders and we continue our walk.
“You feel better?” he asks, referencing the mood I was in when I arrived with a broken heart and on the cusp of a panic attack.
“In your arms? It’s pretty hard to feel bad, honey.”
He snickers. “I mean about Tracey.”
I shake my head. “I don’t like knowing the lengths she went to in order to break Johan and I up. I mean, he wasn’t the right man for me, but what’s to say she wouldn’t try to do that with you and me?”
Parker laughs out loud and squeezes the ball of my shoulder. “Oh, Peaches, let her try to get between us. She’ll have the fight of a lifetime. Although, if you think about it, she’s never been anything but cordial to me. She hasn’t offered me drugs, women, or money of any kind.”
“Maybe because she knows those aren’t vices you’d succumb to . . . thank God.” I frown and remember how much it hurt when I found out about Johan’s cheating and drug use. It broke me into pieces that took a long time to heal.
“This is true. I’m not sure there’s anything she can do or would want to do. She might think we’re moving too fast, but she’s never hinted before that she didn’t like us together. She set up those media interviews, did press releases on our relationship. To be fair, I’m not getting the vibe that she’s going to be my best friend because, in truth, I’m the one lessening her time with you. Except she also knows I’m not trying to get between the two of you either. I’m sure this will all blow over, and regardless of which way that wind does blow, whether it brings you two closer or farther apart, I’ll be there for you, right by your side, keeping you standing.”
“I kind of wish we weren’t walking through the park with the paparazzi on our tail,” I huff with a little drama.
He chuckles. “And why is that?”
“Because I’d really like to jump your bones right now.”
His eyes flash with a heated desire I recognize intimately. He dips closer and presses his lips against my temple. “Good thing my office has extra-thick walls and a comfortable couch. Wouldn’t mind tipping your tight ass over the arm, pounding you hard from behind, tickling your little hole with my thumb while I do it.”
“Honey . . .” I shiver in his hold, my mind flashing with the seductive imagery he instigated with his filthy promise.
“I think my girl wants to get herself fucked over the couch in my office.” He chuckles.
“Yeah . . .” The word comes out in a throaty, needy, single syllable.
“Time to go, kids.” He takes my leash and his own into one hand and leads our dogs back toward his office.
“Seems I didn’t do what I promised last night. It’s only Thursday baby, not Tuesday.”
I grin all the way back to our building, my mind on his leather couch, my panties soaked, and my heart so filled with love I can barely catch my breath.