Tender Love Read online

  Tender Love

  The Love Series, Part Eleven

  Emma Keene

  Outfox Digital Publishing

  Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2017 Emma Keene

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real people, or events are entirely coincidental.

  To all the wonderful people I met while on my latest trip to Europe. They gave me the inspiration I needed to write this book... and to write many more.

  1

  “Are you almost ready?”

  I turn around and raise an eyebrow as Spencer walks into the bathroom.

  “Does it look like I’m almost ready?”

  “Yes? Maybe? Honestly… I have no idea.”

  I shake my head.

  “Sorry… I’m just… I spent the last thirty minutes trying to do my hair and it still looks like crap.”

  He walks over and presses his lips to my forehead. Spencer puts his hands on my shoulders and gives them a light squeeze.

  “Just try to relax… it’s a party.”

  I sigh and nod.

  “I know… I just didn’t want to be late.”

  “It’s your birthday… we can show up whenever we want.”

  “Fair enough, but I didn’t want everyone to be waiting on me.”

  “Baby, it’s L.A., half the people probably won’t get there until an hour after we do.

  He’s right about that—people here, in my experience, have a somewhat skewed sense of time.

  “Yeah… I know what you mean.”

  Spencer kisses my forehead again and then pulls back as the doorbell rings. Arte jumps off the bed and runs toward the door, barking loudly enough to scare just about anyone away.

  “That’s probably the film crew,” Spencer says.

  “Can you just close the bedroom door?”

  “Of course.”

  “Thanks… I’ll be out in a couple of minutes.”

  He gives me a wink, turns and walks out of the room. I wait until he closes the door to turn back around and look at myself in the mirror. I sigh and shake my head. I’m not even sure why, but I’m really not looking forward to today. When I was growing up, my birthday always seemed like such a great day. It didn’t matter what was happening… if my parents had been fighting, if I was having trouble in school… for that one day at least, everything was fine. Now, though, I feel like I’ve grown up so much the last couple of years that I don’t feel like it’s that special anymore.

  I shake my head and go back to putting on my mascara. It takes me a few more minutes to get my makeup to the point where I’m marginally satisfied. I walk over to the bed and pause as I look at the clothes I set out before jumping into the shower.

  They aren’t quite right. I was just planning to wear jeans and a shirt with a big heart and “LA” in the middle of it. I mean, it’s my birthday… but I guess I should also dress up a little nicer since today were filming the finale of the second season of our show. I sigh and walk toward the closet.

  It’s hard to believe that two years have passed since we started the show. The whole thing has been hard, but I’m so glad we decided to do it. There were a few times during the filming of the first season where I wasn’t sure we were doing the right thing… it’s weird to not have any privacy and to be dumping tons of our own money into the production of a show we had no idea if people would care about. It worked out though and people seem to love it. We’re already talking about filming a third season and if we should take some time off before we start. I think it would be really nice to be away from the cameras for a little bit.

  I pull a black dress out of the closet, hold it in front of myself and look in the mirror. It’s fine… but not exactly a birthday kind of look. If we were going out to dinner or dancing or something it would be perfect. I hang it back up and keep looking for something else.

  There’s an orange dress that catches my eye. It’s certainly more festive, but I don’t think I’ve even worn it before… and have no memory of buying it. I grab it and stand in front of the mirror. A smile forms on my face. Cute. It has a round neckline and there’s a big decorative bow on the waist. Short sleeves that should go halfway down my arms and it ends right around my knees.

  “Where the heck did I get this?”

  I shrug and walk out of the closet. Whatever. Over the last couple years, I’ve had tons of clothing companies send me stuff to wear, so that’s probably where this came from and I just hung it up without ever trying it on. It’s super cute and I’m looking forward to wearing it. Yeah, I’m sure it’s not going to be as comfy as jeans and T-shirt, but it seems considerably more appropriate.

  I put the dress on, stand in front of the mirror and spin around a couple of times. Perfect. It fits me like a glove… well… a comfortable glove, not one of those ones that are nearly impossible to squeeze a hand into. It looks super cute, too… at least I think so. I get a pair of black wedge-heeled sandals with a cork heel and slip my feet into them. Not the most beautiful shoe choice, but they are incredibly comfy and I have no idea how long I’m going to be on my feet today.

  The plan for today is to hang out with Dex at his house… have a little bit of a party there and then Spencer is taking me out to dinner, I think. He’s been kind of secretive about where we’re going once we leave the party. I tried a few times to get him to tell me where he was taking me, but he was tight-lipped. It’s cute that he wants to surprise me, so I dropped it. I’m excited, though, because he never fails to disappoint when it comes to surprises.

  I grab my phone and glance in the mirror one last time—I’m about to go on camera and I want to make sure I’ll look OK. My hair isn’t perfect, but there’s not much I can about that. I got it cut and colored the other day… and it’s impossible for me to recreate how she styled it after. I really did try and it wasn’t going to happen. With the all the time I’ve spent getting my hair styled these past three years, I feel like I really should’ve picked something up, but I always end up reading scripts or looking at stuff on my phone while I’m sitting in the chair.

  Spencer is in the living room, just talking to Archie, when I walk down the hallway. They both turn and look at me.

  “I suddenly feel under dressed,” Spencer says.

  He’s wearing a collared shirt and tan slacks.

  “You look fine.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yes.”

  He stands up from the couch.

  “You don’t think I need to go change?”

  “No,” I say, shaking my head.

  He smiles and nods.

  “I… do you mind if I do?”

  “Whatever you want.”

  “I’ll be fast.”

  He turns and heads back toward the bedroom. I look over at Archie. He’s checking his camera. We hired him for season two of our show and he’s been great so far. His business partner and fel
low camera man, Charles, is going to be meeting us there.

  “How are you, Archie?”

  “Good… and you?”

  “Not bad.”

  “Happy birthday,” he says.

  “Thanks.”

  “Is… do you… how old are you?”

  “Twenty-one.”

  “Sorry. Was that a terrible thing to ask?”

  “No,” I say, smiling and shaking my head. “Not at all.”

  “I just never know… you know? A lot of Hollywood people are secretive about their age and they get offended if you ask.”

  “I’m sure, but as you know… I try not to be a typical Hollywood person… as much as I can. Plus, I’m not old.”

  “No, you’re not either of those things. I was just telling Spencer, actually, that the two of you are the most awesome employers I’ve ever had… and that I hope you’ll be bringing us back for season three. It’s so nice to work with people that seem… normal compared to the people we usually have to deal with.”

  “Aww… that’s nice of you to say. I mean, we haven’t made a final decision about season three yet… but I assume that we’ll have you back. We’ve been very pleased with how you and Charles worked out for us, but I guess it’s something we’re going to talk about in the coming weeks.”

  “You are doing a season three, right?” Archie asks.

  “Uh… I assume so. We actually haven’t talked about it.”

  We’ve been so busy the past eight months. We each shot a film, then had three films land in theaters… which meant endless premieres, interviews, appearances… and everything else that goes along with it. Plus, we were shooting our show throughout that whole time. It’s been hectic, but neither of us has anything scheduled for the next six weeks. We need the time off and I’m really looking forward to it.

  I head into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

  “You want a drink or something?” I ask.

  “No, I’m fine, thanks.”

  I nod as I open the fridge and pull out a bottle.

  Spencer walks back into the living room and does a little spin.

  “So? What do you think?”

  He’s wearing a gray suit with a white shirt and skinny pink tie. It’s an outfit I’ve seen before and I love… and he knows it, which is probably why he chose to wear it today.

  I shake my head and smile.

  “You look very handsome,” I say.

  “Yeah?” he asks, as he walks toward me.

  “Yes, but I think you already knew that.”

  “What? Me?”

  He winks at me and puts his hands on my hips.

  “I don’t wanna mess up my lipstick.”

  He leans in and gives me a kiss on the cheek.

  “That’s fine… as long as I get a proper kiss later.”

  He gives my butt a little smack and pulls away. My face is bright red. I hope Archie didn’t catch our little exchange.

  “Are you ready?” I ask.

  “Yeah… you?”

  “Yup.”

  “Archie,” Spencer says.

  “Yes, sir?”

  He looks over at us.

  “I think we’re ready. Can you get a shot of us from outside as we walk out of the house?”

  “Of course.”

  Archie nods and heads toward the front door.

  “My little director,” I say.

  Spencer smiles and takes my hand in his. The front door closes and we’re alone.

  “I really love you.”

  “And I really love you.”

  He takes a deep breath and smiles.

  “What is it?” I ask.

  “Nothing.”

  “You seem… like you’re thinking about something. Is something wrong?”

  “No,” he says, shaking his head, “everything is perfect.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Totally. I was just thinking about you and how these past three years have passed so quickly. I feel like sometimes we hardly get a chance to breathe.”

  “I get it,” I say, nodding. “I feel that way every once in a while, too.”

  “I know it’s not always easy.”

  “It’s all good. We’re together and that’s all I really care about.”

  Spencer takes my hand in his and gives it a gentle squeeze. I smile and just stare at him.

  “Should we go?” he asks.

  “Yeah.”

  We start walking toward the front door and Arte trots toward us. I turn around and give her a quick rub on the head.

  “You have to stay here, little lady. Be good and guard the house. We’ll be home in a few hours.”

  She lets out a little whine.

  “I know,” I say, nodding, “but your daddy still hasn’t told me where we’re going after the party… so you can’t come with us.”

  She sits down and just looks at me and then turns her head to look at him.

  “Be a good girly,” he says.

  We turn and walk out of the door. I can hear Arte crying through the door. She’s gotten pretty good at being left home alone, so I know she’s just making one last attempt to get us to take her along.

  Archie is standing in the middle of the lawn and films us as we walk out of the door and head for the car. We get in, Spencer starts the engine and pulls out of the driveway. He drives to the end of the block before turning around and heading back to the house so we can pick up Archie. He gets in the back seat and starts to film. It’s weird to do that kind of stuff… always driving away and then coming back, but it’s a part of doing the show. I never thought about that kind of stuff before, but it just seems kind of normal now.

  “Did you get the shot?” Spencer asks.

  “Yeah… I think it came out pretty good.”

  “Good.”

  Archie has been pretty good about telling us if he didn’t get a shot. As he told me, it’s easier to shoot it again if he’s not happy because it’s not as though we can do reshoots like on a movie. The whole reality TV show thing has been very different in every aspect… but I’ve really enjoyed it so far. I’m always happy to experience something new and that’s exactly what this has been. It does feel pretty normal, having so much of our lives filmed, but there are still moments where I wish we could just be alone. I suppose that’s the compromise and it’s something we did discuss before we went down this path, so I try not to think about it too much and just roll with it at the end of the day.

  2

  We pull through the gate and park. I can see Charles in front of the house, filming us as we pull up. Spencer turns the car off and waits for Archie to jump out and get a different angle of us getting out of the car.

  He turns and looks at me.

  “You ready?” he asks.

  “Yeah… I think so.”

  “You look really beautiful… just in case you didn’t already know.”

  I blush a little and smile at him.

  “I never get tired of hearing you say that to me.”

  “Really?”

  “No,” I say, shaking my head.

  He smiles and winks at me as we get out of the car and walk toward the front door. Spencer rings the bell and we wait. Gina opens it a few seconds later and her face lights up when she sees us.

  “Mrs. Amy… and Mr. Spencer… it’s so good to see you.”

  “It’s good to see you, too, Gina.”

  I give her a quick hug and we head inside. Archie and Charles are right behind us as we head into the formal living room that I’ve never seen get much use in the three years that I’ve known Dex.

  “Mr. Dexter is upstairs… on the phone. Do you wish for me to tell him you are here?”

  “No,” I say, shaking my head, “it’s fine, we can just kind of hang out and wait for him.”

  “The other guests, the ones who have arrived, are in the back… if you wish to see them.”

  “Thanks.”

  Gina smiles and nods before heading back toward the kitchen.
I’m sure she’s hard at work trying to get everything ready for the party. I told Dex we could just have a small get-together at our house… but he insisted that he throw the party, so I wasn’t going to argue. It just means less of a mess in our house and then we can kind of bounce out of here whenever, especially since Spencer has his mysterious surprise planned for later.

  “Any idea who Dex invited?” Spencer asks.

  “No… you?”

  “Well, he did call me to ask about who to invite.”

  “So, you do know?”

  I shake my head and roll my eyes in a playful way as we walk out of the living room and head toward the door leading to the back yard. Dex isn’t exactly known for his subtlety, so I’m expecting to see the entire yard full of people… but that’s the exact opposite of what we find. There’s a dozen, or so, people milling about. Most of them are sipping on drinks and having conversations in small groups. Brenda is off talking to someone I vaguely recognize, but can’t place how I know them.

  “I’m surprised he didn’t invite more people,” Spencer says.

  “So am I… but I’m glad.”

  “Yeah, I get it.”

  I take his hand in mine and we walk outside. A waiter carrying a tray of Champagne glasses approaches us before we can take more than two steps.

  “Would you care for a drink?”

  “Thanks,” I say.

  We each take a glass. I take a sip as we walk across the porch. I’m not a big connoisseur, especially since I’ve only had wine on a few occasions… I do try to behave myself most of the time… but this is definitely the best Champagne I’ve ever had.

  “It’s good,” Spencer says.

  “I think so, too.”

  My agent, Chloe, walks toward us with a smile on her face. She usually looks incredibly serious, but it would appear that she’s a little relaxed today… a nice change and I’m glad to see she’s capable of it.

  “Hey, Chloe,” I say.

  “Happy birthday, Amy.”

  “Thanks. How are you?”

  “I’m fine… but I wanted to see if you might have a few minutes to talk.”

  “Can it wait until tomorrow?” I ask.