Heart Is Where the Home Is Ch. 02

They all laughed and Abby said, "Ladies, let me introduce Chantelle's eye candy's new girlfriend, Lainey."

Chantelle blushed and said, "I'm sorry, honey. Your man pushes all the right buttons though."

I couldn't help but laugh along with them. Her boyfriend, Devon, is a huge sex symbol in his own right.

"Hey, you can look at my white chocolate all you want," I said, "but I wouldn't mind taking a bite out of your dark chocolate eye candy."

The ladies busted up in a bout of laughter that brought them near to tears.

That was the moment I finally relaxed. They were just like my girlfriends back home. Julianne gave me a hard seltzer and I felt like I could be friends with them.

"Lainey, how was your first peek into Hollywood glamour," Abby asked.

"I haven't felt so sick in ages. I wanted so badly to not mess up but I was a fool. I actually told a reporter that being with Ken is mind-blowing."

They laughed again and Brandi said, "I'll bet it's mind-blowing. We've all seen the pictures."

No one laughed at that, and Abby shook her head no very quickly.

"What pictures?" I asked.

Abby sighed and said, "It was a long time ago. There was a big hack of the cloud and a lot of celebrity private pictures and videos got put onto the internet. Most sites deleted them and refused to put them up once the lawsuits started coming down."

"And Ken was one of those?" I asked.

"Not exactly," Julianne answered. "Ken's ex-girlfriend was hacked. There were a couple of pictures of her having sex but you can't tell who the guy is. We all know that it was Ken, but no one ever publicly confirmed that and it never leaked."

"How do you all know it was Ken then?" I didn't like where the conversation was headed but I had to know.

"Ken got drunk at an after-party and admitted it. We're all friends, none of us would ever tell anyone, but he was pretty upset by it."

"How long ago was this?" I asked.

"Seven years ago," Brandi said.

"So you've all seen pictures of Ken having sex, then?" I asked, increasingly angry.

I don't know why I was angry, I didn't know him then. I guess it was some kind of misguided jealousy.

Abby's southern twang came out when she said, "Hold on, mama bear. Put your claws away."

I don't know why but her sweet charm calmed me again.

"Lainey, no one here is after your man. We've all got our own superheroes to worry about."

"You're right. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, sweetie. We're gonna be great friends, and seeing as how you're an outsider, you could definitely use friends like us."

The ladies all raised their glasses in a toast.

"Now, let's play hubby Charades," Brandi said.

"What's that?" I asked.

"We play Charades but the answers are our husbands. We mostly do impressions. Stupid quotes from their movies are allowed and encouraged."

Everyone laughed.

Julianne said, "We all love it when Abby does her impression of Devon in his love scene."

I laughed along and said, "Okay, let's do this!"

"Ooh! Someone's pretty confident," Abby sang.

"I've seen the movies. This is gonna be fun."

*** Ken

"That's it for me, guys. I'm exhausted," I said.

"Is that little hottie too much for you old man?" Jim barked.

"Maybe," I said with a grin. "You'll find out in the morning if I'm dead."

High fives were exchanged and goodbye hugs were given.

"Just three more premieres, right? Paris, London, and Tokyo." Devon asked.

"Yeah," Jim said, sadly.

Devon frowned and said, "We should get together once a year after all of this is over. I'm gonna miss you guys."

"Great idea," I said. "It's a pact."

I held up the last of my beer in a toast.

"To the Patriot Squad. May the world never need it."

"Here, here."

I walked into the adjoining room and found the women in the middle of a laugh. No doubt at one of their men's expense.

"Okay, what's so funny?"

"Your girlfriend was just telling us about your, um, power to make women fall asleep."

They all erupted in louder laughter at my obvious embarrassment.

I shook my head and said, "Well, goodnight, ladies. I'm hitting the sack. Lainey, you're welcome to stay if you'd like."

She looked crestfallen. I wasn't sure if it was because I was leaving or because I suggested I would leave without her.

"No, I'll go too. Goodnight, everyone. I had an amazing time."

We hugged each of the women goodbye and Abby whispered to me, "Be careful with her. She has a jealous streak and I would bet a fair bit of Irish temper."

I kissed her cheek and thanked her.

Walking to the elevator, I asked, "Did you enjoy yourself?"

"God! Ken, they are awesome. I had a blast."

"I told you so."

She laughed and punched my arm.

"I know. I'm sorry, I've been a pain. I really hope that my stupidity with that reporter doesn't hurt you."

I laughed and said, Seriously? The entire world now thinks I'm a sex god. What could hurt me about that?"

I hugged her and then the doors opened.

When we got back to the room and she opened the door I asked, "Aren't you gonna invite me in for a nightcap?"

She dragged me into the room by my shirt and I never got that drink.

*** Lainey

He had promised to take me sight-seeing, but it became more when he got a text first thing in the morning from Jim.

"Breakfast in our room in fifteen minutes."

He read it to me and asked, "We can decline if you don't want to do it."

"We have to eat anyway, and I really liked Abby."

"They're good people. You'll see that Abby can be a big help with dealing with celebrity partners."

"We'll see," I said still not grasping that I would need that kind of help.

I looked at myself in the mirror and a wave of angst came over me. What was I doing there?

I was dating a movie star, about to be having breakfast with another of the biggest stars in the world, spending the night in luxury so outrageous, I couldn't conceive of it before—I felt like I was the actress pretending to be someone I wasn't.

***

He knocked on their door and Jim opened it shirtless wearing satin pajama pants.

He looked amazing with his chiseled torso bare. He flexed his chest and abs and I swear I almost fainted.

"Holy shit!" I gasped and again wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Why couldn't I filter myself around those people?

"Get dressed, asshole," Ken said as we walked into the room.

Abby was freshly showered and fully clothed and I was glad for that.

"I'm sorry, Lainey," she said. "He thinks he's being funny. Go get dressed, you've had your fun."

Jim laughed and rubbed my shoulders from behind.

"I'm sorry, guys. I'm just messing with you, Lainey."

He walked into the bedroom of their suite and stopped at the door to pose like a bodybuilder and flex his ripped body again. Damn! That man was in serious shape.

Ken turned my head towards him and said, "I've got muscles too."

Abby laughed and said, "You sure do, sweetie," then patted his chest sarcastically.

Abby poured and handed me a cup of coffee. Jim walked in after dressing and Abby said, "Sugar, if Ken ever gets down about Jim being more famous, richer, better looking, more muscular, or anything else, you just remind him he has a bigger dick than Jim."

Ken and I both choked on our coffee and Abby laughed hysterically.

Jim said, "Hey, it not the size of the..."

Ken cut him off and said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, tiny."

We all laughed and Abby said, "I didn't say he was tiny."

Jim changed the subject from us laughing at his penis size, saying, "Do you have any plans for today? Abby wanted to do some shopping while in town."

Ken looked at me and said, "Not really. We were gonna see some of the touristy things and I'm sure Lainey will want to pick up some souvenirs for her family."

"Lainey, would you mind hanging out with us today?" Abby asked. "I don't want to cut into your time with Ken or anything."

I looked at Ken, who was stuffing sausage into his mouth. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure, Abby. I'd like that," I said. I was happy as hell. I would be spending the day with Jim Steel!

"Awesome. We can check out the walk of fame and dance on our men's stars."

Ken laughed and said, "That's better than you spitting on them."

"Ugh! If you didn't eat that crap, you'd be in as good a shape as I am," Jim said to Ken.

"Hey, man! You ordered it for me."

Jim laughed and said, "I know what you like."

Ken followed up by shoving half of a pancake in his mouth.

"Jesus, it's like having two more children," Abby said.

Jim started juggling oranges and stuck his tongue out at her.

***

After a day of sightseeing and shopping, Ken was kissing me goodbye at the airport terminal when Janis made a big deal out of us flying in a 777 first class. "I told you, Lainey. Never again."

I laughed and Jen sighed exasperatedly.

"Lainey, I'll be in touch as often as possible. I'll be home next week for a few days and the following week we go to Paris."

"I'll miss you, Ken. Stay out of trouble."

"Always," he said as I got one last scorching kiss and we headed to the TSA check-in.

*** Ken

"You guys look like you're in love already," Jen said as we watched Mom and Lainey walk through the security line.

"I think I am, Sis. I miss her like hell and she's been away less than five minutes."

"You've been stung bad, Ken. Just be careful with her. There were times yesterday I thought she was going to run away."

"I know. I think she's better after hanging out with Jim and Abby today. They went out of their way to show her we can be normal too."

"You'll never be normal. Remember that so you're always on your toes."

I nodded and watched Lainey wave goodbye one last time.