Chapter 19: Tell Me About the Kiss
Allie
I woke up at the ass-crack of dawn Monday morning to a call from Michael.
"I'm keeping security in place at your house to keep the paparazzi at a distance. There don't seem to be quite as many there today from what they've reported to me, but it's still early so that could change. Can you stay where you are for today? I'd really like to give it at least one more day before you're out in public."
"I need to pick Gracie up. She's still at my sister's house, and she's getting upset because she misses me. We can stay with my parents for a couple of nights, but I need to at least stop by my house today to get some clothes and things for us," I told him.
Michael sighed, and I could picture him rubbing the bridge of his nose the way he does when he's not happy. "OK, I get it, but I want to send a car and driver for you to use for the next few days at least. The driver will double as a bodyguard, and he can get you in and out of your house safely."
I sighed, beyond irritated with the whole damned situation already. "Thanks, I appreciate it. This is such a pain in the ass. Ihope some other celebrity scandal comes along soon to distract everybody," I said with a laugh.
"Well, one can only hope," Michael agreed. "Let's just focus on containing this particular shit-show in the meantime, shall we? Text me Ellen's address, and I'll contact the car service. I'll have them there by 8:00, and they will contact you when they're ten minutes away, as always."
"You're a pretty terrific guy, you know that? I don't know what I'd do without you sometimes."
"Eh, make me a batch of those cookies of yours, and we'll call it even. Jayne tried to make them a few weeks ago after you gave her the recipe. My lovely wife has many skills, but baking is not one of them. I'm not sure what she did to them, but the Kings could have used them as pucks in their last game."
I giggled, remembering her call to tell me about it. "I can't believe that you dropped one on the floor and it bounced without breaking!"
"Hell, I think we're lucky it didn't dent the kitchen floor," he groused, and I could hear some kind of commotion starting in the background. "Oh shit, you should definitely not come to the office today. Those assholes are already staked out in the parking lot. Gotta go!"
After showering, I got dressed in yesterday's jeans, the panties I'd washed out in the bathroom sink last night and hung to dry over the shower rod, and a T-shirt I borrowed from Aunt Ellen. Yes, it would definitely be worth the hassle of going to my house to get clean clothes. I called my folks to give them a heads up that they would be having two uninvited guests, then called Hannah, so I could let her know I would be there in a bit.
Dean answered her cell. "She's busy fixing breakfast for Gracie. You doing OK this morning? Have things calmed down at all?" he asked.
"Not really. Michael's sending a car for me, with a driver-slash-bodyguard to keep the horde at bay. I should be there around 9:00 to get Gracie, if that's OK. We're going to stay with Mom and Dad for a couple of days, so I need to stop at the house first to grab clothes and crap for us. Michael said the security company reported paparazzi outside my house still, so I want don't want Gracie around that circus."
"That sounds like a good plan. Totally sucks that they're running you out of your own home though." I heard Hannah call out something in the background, then Dean's slightly muffled voice whining back "I don't wanna ask her that!" After a bit more muffled back and forth with her, he came back on the line with me. "OK, your sister wants to know if the K-I-S-S with N-I-C-O was as hot as it looked in the picture, but just so you know, I really don't want any details, so please just give me a basic yes or no so she'll get off my back."
I started laughing. "I assume Gracie is within earshot?"
"Whatever gave that away?" he asked dryly.
"The short answer is yes, it was," I said.
"Thank you," he said, but his relief at my limited response ended when I added that the kiss was so hot, my panties had melted. I cackled with laughter as he groaned and hung up on me.
The car service arrived shortly after, and the driver and I made good time getting in and out of my house. The guy made an excellent bodyguard. When he stood in front of me, he was sobig that I wasn't even visible to the camera guys trying to get a good shot.
I did make it a point to step into their line of sight ever so briefly as I walked back to the car, so they could get one shot of the T-shirt I had changed into while inside. It featured a giant pair of red lips, and the message said,"Why don't you just pucker up and kiss my big fat ass?"I figured it got my point across nicely. Maybe since I allowed them to get one good picture, they would all give up and go home.
The driver made sure no one followed us to pick up Gracie. When I got there, Dean took one look at my shirt and laughed. Then he remembered he was mad at me over the panty-melting comment and told me I was an evil woman who ought to be ashamed of herself for corrupting her poor innocent brother-in-law like that.
I just laughed at him. "Wait a minute. You're the guy who told my baby sister that she was a good 'fluffer' while standing in the middle of my living room! Innocent, my ass."
Gracie raced into the room just then, preventing him from saying anything else. Hannah came in after her, backpack in hand.
"Mommy, I missed you so much!" Gracie yelled, as she jumped into my arms.
I stumbled back slightly as I tried not to drop her. "I missed you, too, sweet pea. Were you good for Uncle Dean and Aunt Hannah?"
"Uh-huh," she said, nodding like a bobblehead doll.
"If I ask them, will they give me the same answer?" I asked with an eyebrow raised.
Dean walked over and held out his arms to her, and she leaped out of my arms at him. "Yes, she was an angel, as always. We had lots of fun," he told me, giving her a squeeze and a noisy smacking kiss on the cheek that made her squeal and squirm. "Bye, kiddo. Thanks for teaching me that funky chicken dance."
