Fame & Fakery (Betray Me Once #3)
Chapter 1
SERENA
Istared out the window of the private jet I flew all the way across the country just to pick up a cake. If that didn’t say I’d made it in Hollywood, I wasn’t sure what did.
It was kind of ridiculous, but the only thing my baby sister specifically said she wanted for her sixteenth birthday was a cake from Hale & Honey Bakery in Westbridge, Connecticut.
The owner was the IT baker for celebrities right now, and having one of Tessa’s famous creations at her party would go a long way in helping Avery enjoy her big day.
Luckily, Tessa was as sweet as her desserts because the ball was dropped on ordering the cake, but she’d been willing to squeeze the order in for me.
My phone buzzed on the armrest, pulling me from my thoughts. A photo of Hudson’s face lit the screen, with that devilish half-smile that made my knees weak. He’d used it to his full advantage to get me to agree to go out with him while we filmed a movie together a few years ago.
I’d made a rule when I came to Hollywood that I’d never date someone I worked with, but he’d been impossible to resist. His reddish-brown hair had just enough curl to make my fingers itch to toy with it, and his deep brown eyes felt like they were always on me.
Back then, at least, but not so much anymore.
I stared at it for a moment, my thumb hovering. I half wanted to let the call go to voicemail, but that wouldn’t help anything. So I swiped to answer.
“Hey, honey. You free tonight? My evening call time got pushed back, so I have the whole night off. Thought we could grab dinner at that little Italian place you like. Just us.”
It really sucked that the person who was at the root of the friction between us was the reason I couldn’t accept. “I won’t be back in town for another three hours.”
“Back in town?” he echoed.
“Yeah, and then I’ll have to battle rush hour traffic to get home from Van Nuys,” I explained. “So it’ll be too late before I’d be ready to go out for dinner.”
“What’s going on, Serena?”
I leaned my head against the cool window, watching the wing slice through the clouds. “I flew out to Connecticut this morning, and I’m about halfway back now.”
There was a pause, and I could picture him rubbing the back of his neck the way he did when he was confused. “Why are you up there?”
Avery’s cake sat buckled into the seat across the aisle.
With three tiers, it was almost like having another passenger on the plane.
A very pretty one with contrasting buttercream frosting on the bottom layer, stenciled and hand-painted decorations on the others, and white chocolate flowers dyed lilac with sugar pearls on top.
Tessa had outdone herself. “I went to Hale & Honey myself.”
Hudson exhaled. “Babe, you should’ve told me. I would have come with you.”
That would’ve defeated the purpose of me getting on the plane. I’d needed some time away to breathe, and unfortunately, I wouldn’t have been able to do that if Hudson had been with me. “I figured you’d be busy on set today.”
“If I’d known you were going, I could’ve sent you on my jet,” he grumbled. “There was no need for you to pay for a chartered flight.”
When I booked the plane, I knew I could’ve called Hudson to borrow his instead.
And maybe I should have, since it was his best friend who’d created the problem I needed to fix.
But I’d been too irritated to ask for his help.
“I had to move fast to make sure the cake got here in time for the party tomorrow night.”
He sighed. “Maddie feels awful about the mix-up. You know that, right?”
I knew no such thing because his best friend hadn’t even bothered to apologize for her mistake. At least, not to me. I had no doubt she’d been full of contrition when she told Hudson her side of the story, though.
“A mix-up would be ordering chocolate instead of vanilla. This was her doing the exact opposite of what I asked.” I rolled my eyes as I pictured the vanilla sheet cake with no customization from a random bakery near the Galleria that we’d almost ended up with.
“I was very specific about what Avery wanted.”
“She’s still figuring out how things work here.” His voice dropped into the soothing tone he used when he wanted to calm me down. “LA is a lot different from Indiana. She’s trying to help, babe. Cut her some slack.”
I’d heard this excuse too many times and wasn’t sure how many more it would take before I was completely over his explanations. “She’s been here for months, Hudson. If she hasn’t adjusted to it yet, maybe she’d be happier back in Indiana.”
I didn’t bother reminding him her visit was supposed to have only been for two weeks because I’d already pointed that out when we had this same argument right after I found out about the cake.
“She’s had a rough go of it. You know that.”
I’d been sympathetic toward Maddie when she arrived in LA, but that quickly changed when I realized she was going out of her way to cause problems between Hudson and me. The worst part was that he refused to see what she was doing.
“And I’ve had a rough go of making sure my sister doesn’t feel like an afterthought in her own life.”
He went quiet for a moment, and his tone was softer when he finally spoke again. “I’m sorry the cake got messed up. But it’s fixed now, right? Avery’s gonna love it.”
“Yeah. Because Tessa Hale did me a favor.” I shook my head as I stared out the window again. “If she hadn’t been a fan of my movies, I wouldn’t have been able to give my sister the one thing she really wanted. And you know how much I hate to trade on my name.”
“I get that you’re upset. But Maddie doesn’t even get how badly she messed up because one fancy bakery is the same as another to her. Back home, the best birthday cake you can get is the one someone baked for you to show how much they care.”
I pressed my lips together hard enough to hurt so I didn’t say something I’d regret. That would only give Maddie exactly what she wanted—a bigger wedge between Hudson and me.
“I don’t want to fight,” he murmured. “I miss you. Come over when you get back. We’ll eat whatever takeout you want and open a bottle of that Pinot you like.”
It would be so easy to let him wrap his strong arms around me, his devilish smile chasing away the knot in my chest. But I’d been up since before sunrise and just spent the past three hours replaying every excuse he'd made for her. “I’m tired, Hudson.”
“Then I’ll come to you instead.”
At least if he was at my place, I didn’t need to worry about Maddie walking in on us unannounced, since there was zero chance of me ever giving her a key to my home.
Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for my boyfriend, who hadn’t removed her code from his security system when she finally moved into an apartment.
“Sure, but Avery is expecting me to bring home something for dinner.”
“I can take care of that so the food is waiting when you get there. Sushi, pasta, or that burger she likes from Craig’s?”
His kindness was one of the reasons I’d fallen so hard for Hudson, and it hurt like hell that Maddie kept turning it against me.
“Craig’s is perfect. Thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me for doing something that benefits me as much as you, baby. Bringing dinner over is a small price to pay to get to hold you tonight.”
I blinked back the tears that welled in my eyes. We'd survived the tabloid gossip, separations for shoots, and the constant eyes on us. I'd thought we were the kind of couple who could weather anything. Until he turned a blind eye to the stunts Maddie was pulling.
If I wasn’t so in love with Hudson and he wasn’t such a good boyfriend, this whole mess would be much simpler because I would just walk away. But moments like this gave me hope that Maddie’s interference would stop, and then we’d get back on solid ground again.
“I’ll text you the order.”
He laughed. “As if I don’t already know. The cheeseburger with extra onion jam for Avery, salmon for you, parmesan truffle fries, chopped salad, and pigs in a blanket. Unless you want the honey truffle chicken?”
I normally didn’t indulge in fried foods while filming, but I felt like I deserved it with everything going on lately. And my call time wasn’t until later in the afternoon anyway. “The chicken please. And the chocolate bread pudding.”
“If you’re asking for dessert, then today must’ve taken more out of you than I thought,” he murmured. “I’ll bring a bottle of Pinot, too.”
Some of the tension left my body. “I’d tell the pilot to fly faster if I could.”
“Just be safe, baby. I’ll be there waiting for you.”
My phone buzzed again, but it was a text from my sister this time.
Avery
I can’t believe I couldn’t skip school today because of a chemistry test while you got to meet Tessa Hale!
I smiled despite everything.
Me
At least the cake is secured and perfect. Tessa killed it.
Avery
OMG YESSS. You're the best.
Me
And Hudson is bringing over your favorites from Craig’s for dinner tonight.
Avery
Okay, my day just went from super sucky to amazing. Thank you!
I set the phone down, my sister’s joy easing more of my tension. At least one thing today went right…even if my relationship felt like it could implode at any minute.