Glitter on the Web (27 page)

He wore a sweet smile as he studied the outrageously expensive toy. I found my hand reaching for his, which he squeezed tight before he kissed me.

We were in public, after all. These kinds of PDAs were second nature to us now.

The giraffe sat in the back seat on the way home, its head sticking out of the sunroof. Next to him sat a bounty of things to make his sister’s trip more fun, including some DVDs and all her favorite foods for a private dinner at home, which amounted to a ton of junk that siblings might share.

“If we had more privacy, I’d set up a tent out back,” he said with a slight scowl. It was the first time I had ever seen him inconvenienced by the fame he had fought so hard to achieve.

But this was his sister. He rarely spoke about her. He rarely spoke about his family, period. No one had ever seen a photo. If he referred to a sibling, he didn’t mention age. He gave very little, except for one pat answer.

“I asked for the fame, she didn’t.”

For me, however, he expounded a little. “She deserves to have a normal childhood. And you know what kind of crazy people are out there. They go after famous kids unabashed, hounding them with the paparazzi, ready to take a photo, any photo, and sell it to the highest bidder. What kind of person needs to see a photo of a kid that bad? It’s sick.”

I found myself asking a question I never thought I would ask him. “What happens when you have kids of your own someday?”

He slid a glance to me. “According to some people, I’m not fit to be a dad.”

I looked away. I knew he meant me.

His voice softened. “I suppose a girl like you wants kids someday.”

I shrugged. “I guess I’m supposed to say yes. I don’t know. Like you said, relationships are hard enough. Check back with me when I’ve been in one for more than a few months.”

He laughed. “I guess we had more in common than I thought, Sunshine.”

I gave him a side-eye scowl. “Must you call me that?”

“I like it,” he decided.

I snorted. “I’m not a sunny personality. You of all people should know that.”

“True,” he conceded. “You’re more like a solar flare. As long as I wear my sunscreen, though, I can risk the burn.” He winked at me and I just rolled my eyes.

“Just do me a favor. Don’t teach it to your sister.”

He laughed again. “No promises.”

He smiled just like a kid. In fact, the way he grew ever more excited the closer it came to Gabby’s arrival, the cuter and younger he appeared. It was like all the cynical stuff melted away. He even behaved himself, without cracking wise with not-so-subtle innuendo. That had never stopped over the past few months, though it wasn’t as laser-focused as before.

That was a part of who Eli Blake was. Eli, the big brother, however, was another person entirely. I saw that the second he opened the door and his little sister flew into his waiting arms.

Gabrielle Huntington was your typical ten-year-old girl. As a preadolescent, her body was starting to morph out of its baby fat stage with awkward developing curves that already made her look years older. As a result of these emerging hormones, her long, dark brown hair was a little stringier and unmanageable. She was stuck somewhere between childhood and teenhood, and her body was simply trying to find its place. Immediately I fell in love with her, all the way from her geeky TV-show themed T-shirt to her sparkly purple toenails.

She had bright green eyes and a smattering of freckles on her upturned nose. Her smile lit up her face like a parade as Eli hugged her tight. He lifted her right off the ground and spun her in a circle, making her giggle.

“Look how grown up you’ve gotten, G,” he said as he kept her in that strong, protective, loving embrace. “Who told you that you could do that? I don’t remember signing off on this.”

She laughed. “I turned in the paperwork, sir,” she teased right back, in what felt to be a familiar routine between them. “In triplicate!”

He pulled back just enough to look into her face. “I don’t recall ever seeing these forms, Miss Huntington. I’m afraid you’re just going to have to stay a little girl.”

He gave her a loud peck on the cheek, which turned into a loud, obnoxious raspberry. She giggled even more and hugged him tighter.

For the briefest moments I wondered what it must be like to win and earn Eli’s love and not be perfect. Gabby was the only one on planet Earth who knew.

“I have someone I want you to meet,” he said before he returned her to her feet. He took her by the hand and walked her to me. “This is Carly Reynolds, my girlfriend.”

Hearing him refer to me as such had never really lost its weirdness. Yes, we were in a relationship. Yes, we lived together. Yes, we often canoodled for the whole wide world to see. We had a relationship. But girlfriend? It still didn’t ring true, no matter how softly or affectionately he might have said it.

“I know who she is,” she told him before she flung herself into my arms, hugging me every bit as tight as she hugged Eli. “I’ve been dying to meet you,” she said to me at last.

“The feeling is mutual,” I replied. And I meant it.

“How did you know about Carly?” he asked her when we finally broke apart.

“Mom,” she said and he nodded. This news did not appear to please him.

“Ah. And what did she say?”

Gabby slid me a glance before she turned back to her brother. “It doesn’t matter.” She hugged him again. They both quickly changed the subject. Eli carried her piggyback down the lapacho flooring towards the living room. She spotted his coveted golden statuette, the one he won because of his song for her, sitting right on the bright red grand piano that Eli had nicknamed Laverne.

“Oh my gosh!” she squealed. “Let me see!”

He carried her right to Laverne, where she practically leapt off of his back to get her hands on our smallest, but most important, roommate.

“It’s heavy,” she said as she lifted the statue.

He leaned forward. “It’s yours.”

Her eyes opened wide as she stared up at him. “For real?”

“Would I lie to you?” he asked and she furiously shook her head. Such a thing was absolutely unthinkable. She then grasped Oscar even closer.

He parked himself on the bench to play for her, and she eagerly jumped in the spot next to him. She held her prized possession tight as he began to play her song, without her even having to ask. I leaned over the piano to watch them. He softened as he sang to his sister, a promise—a vow—that he’d always be there for her, no matter how far apart they were.

Gabby stared up at him with sheer adoration; one afforded to beloved little sisters. He returned it, her besotted older brother.

One of my ovaries might have actually exploded.

After it was done, she held Oscar under her arm to clap for him. “I loved it.”

He leaned into her. “I love you.”

She giggled appropriately. “Sing me another one.”

He did just that, singing a popular tune from an animated movie that I could tell right away was her favorite. She sang along with him, and I was somehow startled by the power in her voice. During the chorus, she turned to me, to wave me in so that I could sing along. I could neither sing really well nor sing badly, so I joined in.

After we were done, she turned back to Eli. “Have you written anything for Carly?”

His gaze drifted towards me. “Not yet. Working on it. But nothing is quite special enough for my Carly.”

For some dumb reason, a slight tremor raced through my body hearing him speak possessively about me like that.

“I’ll help you,” Gabby decided. She set her new golden friend back on the piano as she clanged away on the piano. Though Eli was exceptionally touchy about anyone near or around Laverne, he let her do as she pleased.

“So how’s school?” he asked.

She shrugged as she kept playing. “School is school,” she said with a shrug, one that I knew immediately was anything but offhand.

“Honor roll, I trust,” he grinned and she gave him a side-eye glare like I might have done.

“Of course,” she said.

But there was something more there. I wondered if Eli noticed it, too. If he did, he didn’t make a point of it. Instead he decided it was time for lunch. Gabby clapped her hands immediately.

“Oo, let’s do a picnic on the beach!” she suggested.

His face fell. I could tell that he hated to deny her anything. “No can do, G. You know that.”

My heart broke for the both of them. To protect her, he had to keep her secluded in his multi-million-dollar fortress. It just seemed wrong somehow.

“Go to the dining room,” he told her. “Everything is already set up.”

“Okay,” she pouted. “Can I take Oscar?”

He leaned into her again. “You can take any ol’ thing you want,” he promised, booping her on her nose with his forefinger.

It took me aback to see him use that gesture so affectionately when I always took it as patronizing.

She took off for the dining room like a shot. Eli smiled at me as he took my hand so we could follow behind. We heard her squeal before we got there.

Her newest stuffed animal, the gigantic giraffe, sat at the head of the table, looming over our picnic of chili dogs and chips. Oscar was forgotten in a second, though he was placed gently beside the new toy. “I love him!” she squealed as she grabbed it by its impossibly long neck. “What’s his name?”

Eli shrugged. “You can name him anything. George. Gerard. Guillermo.”

“Gigantor,” I added with a grin and Eli smiled down at me.

“Gene,” she decided instantly as she stared into its big brown eyes. “He’s totally a Gene.”

She sat at the head of the table, with Gene on one side, and Oscar on the other, as we enjoyed our meal. She regaled us with tales from Colorado, though most of her conversation centered around school and her friends, not her parents.

Apparently it was a touchy subject.

Finally she decided she needed to hear how we both met and fell in love. I let Eli do all the talking.

“Carly worked for my agent,” he said. “I met her nearly a year ago. We were friends first, but then I realized I couldn’t get her out of my head. Every relationship I had in the meantime felt like a substitution for what I really wanted.” His eyes met mine. “So I went after what I really wanted.”

Gabby heaved a sigh as she grinned at us. “Was it love at first sight?”

“No,” Eli answered her, honestly this time. “But then I looked again.” He squeezed my hand before he brought it to his lips.

I had to wonder if it hurt him to lie to his sister, when it was crystal clear that this was the one relationship he wanted to keep his integrity.

“How about you, Carly?” she asked. “Was it love at first sight?”

I shook my head. “I hated him, actually.”

Her eyes opened wide. “Really?” I nodded. “Why?”

Again I looked at Eli. He watched me carefully for my answer. “Because it took him more than one glance to fall in love with me,” I finally said. I kept in character, yet still told the truth. At least partially.

Gabby giggled, especially when Eli leaned forward to kiss me, chastely but firmly on the lips.

We finished lunch and then we retreated to the media room to watch some movies. He had a few screeners from the studios, of movies that weren’t out yet, which seemed to appease her somewhat that she couldn’t go outside. The ocean beckoned us with its thunderous crashing waves, which we could hear just outside on the beach she so coveted. Yet we were stuck indoors, trying to make the best of things.

He ordered a pizza for dinner, and we played a board game together. She promptly whooped both our butts. After a piece of ice cream cake, another favorite, we played video games all night, including a karaoke game and a dance game.

Again, she bested the both of us. And I was fairly sure that Eli wasn’t just letting her win, either. I had put up a fight and she still got the better of me. I was only twenty-four and felt nearly put out to pasture by the younger generation. I could tell immediately that the same exceptional genes that had driven Eli to be the best had been passed on to his sister. She went full throttle to win, and wouldn’t let anything stand in her way.

Eli had inspired that in her.

I was exhausted by the time she headed for bed at midnight. She insisted that she helped us clean up all the mess from the day, and Eli and I were too tired to argue.

Finally we tucked her into bed in her pretty purple room that was all aglow with twinkling lights. Oscar stood like a soldier on her nightstand, while Gene got to sleep in the bed, tightly wrapped in her embrace. Beau Jangles had decided to abandon us for the evening, opting instead to make room on the crowded bed, cuddling up into a loud, purring, fluffy ball at her feet.

Eli bent for a kiss. “Goodnight, rug rat,” he grinned.

Her eyes brightened as she stared up at him. “Can we go to Disneyland tomorrow, Eli? Please?”

His face promptly fell. “You know we can’t do that, G.”

Her face fell also. “Yeah. I guess it’s dumb to keep hoping.”

“Never stop hoping,” he chastised at once. “Trust in your dreams. That’s what makes them come true.” She nodded, as if he had imparted sage wisdom of the ages. “And I’ll do everything I can to it happen when you’re older. You know that.”

Her pout protruded. “It won’t be the same Disneyland when I’m older.”

I could tell immediately how her words pained him. “Hey,” he said and she looked up at him. “I love you.”

She smiled happily. “I love you more.”

It nearly popped my other ovary.

She reached out her hand to me and I walked over to her, bending to kiss her other cheek. “Goodnight, Gabby,” I said.

“Goodnight, Sunshine,” she grinned.

I sent a playful glare to Eli, who shrugged with a dopey smirk on his face. Gabby laughed and Eli turned off the light, before leading me from the room by the hand.

He led us straight to our bedroom, but I was too tired to fight. Before our full day of pseudo-parenting, I was certain that I’d be completely freaked out to return to his bed. Now it looked like heaven. I couldn’t wait to crawl in between those covers and go to sleep.

Fortunately for me, Eli must have felt likewise. He couldn’t hide his yawn if he wanted to. “Probably a good thing we can’t do Disneyland,” I teased. “I don’t think either one of us would make it.”