David: “Well, I may have misspoken, but she should be. Halle’s the one who got them together.”
Cassie had a sudden revelation.
Cassie: “How far along is Lexi?”
Ben looked like he might be ill, while Halle, sitting between him and David, sunk back into her seat. It was the old game of ‘not it.’
David: “I would guess three or four months, looking at her baby bump. And if any guy is going to know about that kind of stuff, it’s me.”
Cassie was the only one who gave a mild chortle for his self-deprecating joke.
Cassie: “You just said that you just broke up with Isabel a month ago …”
David: “That sounds like a whole other discussion for your next segment. I would bet Lexi came with Ben. You should get these three on and talk about it. Better yet, invite Isabel so everyone can clear the air. But I need to get going. I just wanted to remind everyone to come out and see both Love Letters and the second Star Academy movie. If you think real life is entertaining, you have to see the movies.”
David stood up, undid his mic, and did a literal mic-drop. He was done.
◊◊◊
Fritz arranged for them to go out through the building’s garage. There were met by a wall of paparazzi, who tried to slow them down. Fritz revved the engine, which had them scrambling. David briefly wondered how Ben and Halle would get out of that mess but quickly forgot about it.
David did a quick inner check and could honestly say that his ‘breakup,’ for the lack of a better word, with Lexi didn’t bother him in the least. His usual MO was to go through a ‘heartbroken’ phase. This time, he mused that in the back of his mind, there might have been a little voice that told him to simply enjoy their time together.
Yes, he’d felt that he loved her. Then again, if everyone is telling you something …
He knew the answer to that. No one wanted to hear the nay-saying when they were in a relationship. He was glad that little voice was listening to them, even if his conscious mind wasn’t, and the little voice had guarded his heart. On paper, Lexi might have been his longest, most intense relationship. It was the closest he’d come to being married without saying the vows. She’d been his constant companion the whole time he filmed the James Bond movie and the final two Star Academy movies.
She was the first person he saw when he woke up and the last before going to sleep.
Then he’d gone to college, and, after a rough bump, they’d picked up best they could. Lexi was his one constant.
But ‘on paper’ didn’t explain his being able to walk away so easily. He wasn’t even mad at Ben or Halle. Were they friends? Hell, no. Halle now fell way outside his inner circle of trust.
David’s phone rang. Ruth was in charge of it when he was doing interviews.
“It’s Brook Davis.”
‘That didn’t take long.’
He reached out and took the phone.
“Are you mad at Halle?”
“Why would I be mad at Halle?” David asked back.
Brook hated it when she asked a question, and David answered with one of his own.
“David.”
“Brook.”
“Just tell me.”
“Okay. It’s none of your business.”
“What do you mean, it’s none of my business?” she asked, surprised.
“You and I are no longer dating, and Halle has nothing to do with you. This is between Halle and me. If she wants to know something, tell her to … uh … call me,” David said and hung up.
He came to two realizations. First, that he still had feelings for Brook, and how they had left things in New York still bothered him. Even though logic said otherwise. Second, that he was mad at Halle. It wasn’t right for her to set up Ben and Lexi.
His phone rang again. Guess who.
“Okay, I get that it’s probably none of my business, and I think when I see you at your birthday party, we need to talk. But I’ve never known you to act like this. Just give me an idea about what happened. Halle isn’t talking,” Brook said.
“Let me give you a hypothetical.”
“Really?”
“Do you want to hear it or not?” David shot back.
“Okay, tell me.”
“When we were dating, how would you feel if Halle had set me up on a date with Kate Upton and we had sex? Shortly after that, I’d pulled back from you and never shared that I’d spent time with Kate. Then you heard that we were filming a movie in Paris, and Kate’s dorky baseball husband sent you pictures of Kate and me having sex.
“Not wanting to jump to conclusions, because you would never do something like that, you hired a private investigator who shot video to prove an ongoing affair,” David said.
Brook said several trigger words.
“Now, go back to the beginning. How would you feel about Halle hooking us up?”
Brook didn’t say anything for a full minute.
“I would be mad at her,” Brook finally admitted.
“I’m trying not to be, but she and I are no longer friends, and I don’t trust her. At all. With anything.”
Brook sighed and said another trigger word. The fleet must be in because she sounded like a sailor.
“Who did Lexi sleep with?”
David knew that it was useless to stand firm because, like his mother and Tami, Brook would eventually get the whole story out of him. So, while they drove to his next interview, he told her what he knew.
“Her pregnancy is fake?!”
“I sort of told the world that the two of them were getting married, and Halle would be the maid of honor,” David added.
This girl was not going anywhere near his children. Coby and Carol would take to cussing instantly. He was sure his mom would make him explain it to their daycare.
“They deserved that. I can’t wait to see how they spin a fake pregnancy and marriage,” Brook said.
“Do you think I’ll be invited to the wedding?” he asked.
“If you are, you’re taking me. Maybe her fake water will break at the reception.”
Everyone in the car laughed at the thought of that.
“I’m on speaker?” Brook complained.
“They made me when I began to explain everything. My publicist thinks he needs to know everything in order to protect me,” David explained.
“Sir, we are here,” Ruth said.
“I forget,” he said. “Who all is flying in with you from New York for my birthday? I need to make sure I bring a big enough car to pick you all up.”
“I’ve missed you, and your mom would kill me if I told you.”
“I admit that my mom might not win a ‘Most Easy to Get Along with Mother of the Year’ award any time soon. She might not even make the short list, come to think of it, but I’ll protect you.”
“Not happening,” Brook said.
“Will I like whatever’s planned?” David asked.
“You would never guess what it is in a million years,” was all that she would share.
◊◊◊
Chapter 30
Crystal
Wait! Crystal had a flash of a memory of David from this morning. A flash that put him right on top of her, his fingers on her jaw, his face only inches from hers as they stared into each other’s eyes like they were in some sort of slow-motion montage.
And then … oh fuckity-fuck! She was in fuck heaven, her eyes half-closed and her mouth in a wet-lipped happy grin. The spicy, dark aroma of his cologne on his pillow tickled her senses.
David was possibly the most handsome man she’d ever laid eyes on. Scratch that; he was beyond handsome. He was downright gorgeous. Crystal remembered the first time she’d seen him naked. She found herself hypnotized by his perfectly sculpted pecs and broad shoulders. David looked like a freaking damn Adonis, standing waist-deep in the ocean as gentle waves lapped at his taut stomach. His chiseled abs begged to be licked.
And as he walked out of the water, it exposed …
“Ahhh!” Crystal cried out as she threw herself out of bed to end her fantasy.