The Redhead Revealed (Redhead #2)(61)
Author: Alice Clayton

“How cute are you?” I asked, setting my lotion bottle down so I could admire him fully. His towel hung low on his hips, and he ran his hands through his damp hair, making the curls jump and twist the way I loved.

“Why cute?” he asked, looking at me in the mirror.

“You feel guilty for wanting to drive something new, don’t you?”

He looked down again and smirked. “Yeah, a little,” he admitted, and his cheeks turned pink.

I turned him around to face me and wrapped my arms around his waist. His hands found the small of my back and settled there.

“You deserve everything you have, and everything that’s coming to you. Enjoy it, love. If you want a fun car, then get a fun car. It’s okay to have fun with this, ya know.” I kissed his chest and then rested my head against him.

His chin settled on the top of my turban. “I am having fun,” he said.

“Good,” I answered, and hugged him more firmly.

Soon after we stood in my driveway, admiring a bright, shiny, new silver Porsche convertible. He was grinning.

“Wow, this is fun,” I said, walking around and admiring it.

“Mm-hmm,” he said, sliding in and twirling the key ring around his finger. “Wanna go for a spin?” he asked, winking at me.

“Hell, yes!” I cried and jumped in. He slid on his Ray Bans, and we were off. We drove Mulholland for a while, then made our way back down the canyons. We were close to his apartment.

“When’s the last time you were at your apartment?” I asked as we pulled into a gas station. We needed to put the top up now that we were back in town and stopping at stop lights. A redhead in the front seat was just asking for a TMZ headline.

“Hmm, what month is this?” He smiled as we finally figured out how to operate the top. “Actually, right after the movie came out, some fans posted my address on the internet, so now there are always a few girls outside waiting for me—when I’m there,” he said. “They’re usually pretty cool. They just want to say hi when I come out in the morning to get the paper. Sometimes I talk for a bit. It hasn’t gotten too out of hand, and I’ve been traveling most of the time anyway.”

“Ugh, that’s so weird.” I shivered in dramatic disgust.

Top in place, he returned to the driver’s seat and his hand made its way back onto my knee. I smiled, and we were off.

“They’re not really pushy—other than the fact that they’re stalking me outside my apartment—but it would be nice to go home and not have to deal with that,” he said, his voice dropping just a bit.

I knew better than anyone how grateful he was for his fan support, but he needed some anonymity as well.

“No worries, love. I can handle it,” he said, kissing my hand firmly as we drove through the streets of Beverly Hills.

Once home, I started to make a list of the things I needed at the grocery store, and he settled onto the couch. Within seconds I heard the TV click on. I smiled at how at home we both seemed here. I went in to see if he wanted to come to the store, and found myself pulled onto his lap. I kissed him soundly and told him I was heading out.

“Do you want to come with me?” I asked, nuzzling his ear until he cried uncle. “We could dress you up in a hat and glasses. I might even have a wig around here somewhere.”

“No, I think I’ll stay here. I can help you when you get back.” He smiled and ruffled my hair.

“I’m going to be making pie crust,” I said, snuggling into his arms.

“Okay, sounds good,” he replied.

“You want to help me make pie crust?” I rolled my eyes at him.

“Sure. Why not?” he asked, making a point of rolling his eyes back at me.

“I feel bad. Is there somewhere you want to go, friends you want to see? Aren’t you going to be bored? Making pie crust?”

“Are you kidding me? For the first time in weeks the phone isn’t ringing, no one’s telling me I have to go somewhere, no one’s knocking on my door asking me for an autograph, and I can pick my nose if I want and not worry about it ending up on Perez. Making pie crust sounds about f**king perfect if you ask me.” He laughed and laid back on the couch.

“Okay, then. Pie crust it is. Want me to pick you up some Fatburger while I’m out?” I asked, getting up to grab my purse. I heard a moan behind me. I turned and he was smiling huge.

“Grace, I knew I was right to keep you around,” he said, winking.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” I winked back as he threw a couch pillow at me. I paused when I got to the door and looked back at him. “Is it me, or did we just say the words ‘pie’ and ‘crust’ like seventy times?”

“We said pie crust a lot. Pie crust, pie crust…” he answered, saying it differently every time.

I left him mumbling to himself. With a giant grin I walked out to my car, which now looked a little paltry next to his Porsche, and slid in. I turned on the tunes and realized life really didn’t get much better than this.

Chapter 20

Four hours, five pie crusts, and six orgasms later, I packed the Brit into his new car and sent him to his interview. I headed to Holly’s to pick her up. We were going to our favorite little sushi restaurant, tucked away up in the hills on Beverly Glen, for a girls’ night. When we arrived we ordered dirty martinis and spicy tuna rolls, and we told our waiter to keep them both coming.

We toasted each other, sipped, and sighed at the same time. Nothing was as good as a dirty martini, extra dirty.

“So all is well with the Brit, I take it?” she asked, sucking on an edamame.

“Things are fantastic with the Brit. So glad we worked our shit out,” I said, matching her suck for suck.

“You mean you worked your shit out?” She snorted into her cocktail.

“Yes, exactly.” I smiled at her. “I mean, I still have plenty of shit to work on…”

“Ya think, Little Miss Meltdown?” she interrupted, which I stopped by tossing a carefully aimed soybean at her head.

“I still have plenty of shit to work on. Thank you. But I feel better about it than I have in a long time. I think coming clean with Jack about it all—even though my way of coping was a little too dramatic even for my taste—was the best thing that could have happened to us. I mean, we talk a lot more now, about all kinds of things. It’s good for us.”

“Imagine, talking in a relationship. We are so evolved.” She rolled her eyes, and I reared back to throw another bean when she kicked me under table.