Typecast

by Kim Carmichael

  “Are you trying to take care of me?”

  “Dude, she has you pegged.” Ryder laughed.

  “Be quiet or there will be no pancakes for you.” Logan flipped off Ryder and returned his attention to her.

  The banter between the two men was first class, born over years of knowing each other and keeping in contact. Hell, Ryder even knew Logan’s condom brand. If Logan had told the truth and Erin and Ryder had wanted to do the sequel, how could they have remained even acquaintances if and when Logan managed to ruin the movie?

  But what if Ryder had told the truth, and he and Erin had wanted out? Along the way, did Logan try to rescue them? For her and for Logan, she had to find out. Maybe she could be the one who cleared him and maybe he could have the career he seemed to want.

  She looked him in the eyes. “Someone needs to take care of you.”

  Logan set the cigarettes aside. “You’ve got the job.”

  HOLLYWOOD STARDUST

  DISSOLVE TO:

  EXT. MOTEL – AMARILLO, TX – DAY

  WILLIAM and CHARLES are in the room sleeping while STEVEN sits beside the half-filled pool staring out at nothing. ROXY joins him.

  ROXY

  Can’t sleep?

  STEVEN doesn’t glance her way.

  STEVEN

  With my side of the bed empty, it was the perfect time to sneak in with your man.

  ROXY takes the chair next to him.

  ROXY

  Who said he was my man?

  STEVEN

  Some things don’t need to be said.

  ROXY

  Whatever, I just came out here to check on you.

  STEVEN

  Why do I need checking on?

  ROXY

  I just woke up and you weren’t there.

  ROXY stands.

  ROXY

  Never mind.

  STEVEN gets up and takes her by the shoulders.

  STEVEN

  If you’re with William, why worry about where I am?

  ROXY looks up at him. STEVEN bends down and kisses her. ROXY wraps her arms around his neck. Suddenly, STEVEN pulls back. ROXY gasps and puts her hand to her lips.

  STEVEN

  Maybe a better question is why are you kissing me?

  STEVEN walks away.

  STEVEN

  I feel a scandal coming on.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Logan’s cell phone rang.

  In all the time they had been together, Ivy rarely if ever heard it ring. Actually, she had only heard him talk on the phone one time and he texted only once in a while.

  Even Logan seemed surprised by the noise, first turning his head and then wrinkling his nose before lifting his phone to his ear. “This is Logan.”

  She tried not to appear as if she wanted to eavesdrop and continued to look through her closet for an outfit. They had stayed at Ryder’s, and true to his word, Logan had made the most scrumptious pancakes. Afterward, they had tried out their new and, as both she and Logan would call it, much improved birth control method. The way they weren’t interrupted with condom etiquette and the way Logan held her tight while they slept would stay in her heart forever.

  Unfortunately, morning reality had set in, and after Logan had bribed one of Ryder’s production crew to drive her car home, they’d traveled back down the mountain together. As Ryder had told her, a man liked to take care of things, be the protector. In the course of their travels, he’d arranged for Wilson to deliver some of his clothes to her place and had decreed that once they got cleaned up and changed, they should go into her office.

  “What is that?” Still on the phone, and in nothing but his towel from their shower, Logan turned his back to her. “Oh, I see.”

  Still in her bra and panties, she put her hands on her hips. His one-sided conversation gave her no information, and it seemed to her as if he purposely metered his words.

  “Can you please e-mail me the information? Thank you for calling.”

  All the outfits in her closet blurred together. Maybe she needed to go shopping, since clearly she had nothing to wear. Or maybe she needed to find out who was on the phone.

  “Do you need some help?” After hanging up, he sauntered over to her side, riffled through her wardrobe, and pulled out a late forties fitted jacket and a flared skirt.

  “Is there something you need to work on?” Unsure how he managed to pick the perfect attire, but not really caring, she slipped on the outfit he chose. “The call sounded official.”

  He chuckled and opened up the suitcase Wilson had left for him. “Last I recall, someone promised me she would ask me if she had a question.”

  Biding her time to conjure a question that didn’t make her sound like a nutcase, she licked her lips and took a breath. “Do you have a job?”

  “A job?” With slow, thoughtful movements, he laid his clothes out on her bed.

  Rather than looking at him, she glanced at the contents of his luggage, the copious contents. Suddenly, her bed was filled with shirts and pants, all on hangers, a ton of underwear and socks, as well as several pairs of shoes and a bag of what she assumed to be toiletries.

  “Why do you ask?” He grabbed a handful of hangers.

  “Well . . .” Before she had the chance to ask her question, she watched him walk over to the closet, carefully move some of her clothes aside, and place his hangers on her rod.

  “I’ll save you the trouble and tell you.” He gathered up his shoes and took his time lining them up with hers at the bottom of the closet. “I invest, and sometimes I dabble at Wilson’s, and in case you forgot, I work with you.”

  “Oh.” She wanted more information, but didn’t really know what or how to ask.

  “But that’s not what you wanted to know anyway.” With a handful of boxer briefs, he approached her dresser.

  She rushed over, opened one of the drawers, and moved her underwear over.

  “You wanted to know who called.” He placed his underwear next to hers and then added his socks to her sock drawer.

  She peered inside the drawer. When he dubbed them a couple, he obviously meant coupling up in her drawers as well.

  “Brian called to give me the heads-up on something he read today.”

  At finding out the answer she had wanted, she turned to find him standing buck-naked in her bedroom. Why the hell was she dressed?

  Rather than do the guy thing of showing off his package, or the Logan thing of making love to her or at least giving her a naughty look, he retraced his steps through her room and put his clothes on.

  While fascinating to watch, something was wrong. “Logan.” Her chest tightened.

  Fully clothed, he sat on her bed—or was it their bed? “Come here.” He opened his arms.

  She crossed her arms. “Just tell me.”

  He rubbed his chin. “You know, with the anniversary of the movie and of course the project we are working on, I’ve been in the media a little more than I’m used to the last few weeks.”

  A numbness took over her body, one where she could only stand in the middle of her room, stare at Logan, and listen to her own heartbeat throb through her ears. The man never prefaced anything he needed to say.

  He stood, went to her, and stared straight into her eyes. “The National Reporter ran a story about the two of us and our love affair today.”

  They were in a tabloid magazine? The world’s most disgusting tabloid? Though she wanted to speak, she had no words, and her throat dried to such a point she couldn’t talk if she tried.

  “We are not going to be upset.” He gave her a smile.

  Maybe he wasn’t going to be upset, but she was definitely traveling down that path. “What did it say?” she managed to squeak out.

  “Let me take a look.” He picked up his phone and wrapped his arm around her. With one finger, he navigated around his screen until the e-mail from Brian popped up.

  “All right.” With her in his grasp, he sidestepped over to the bed and sat, placing her n
ext to him.

  Not sure if she wanted to throw up or cry, she put her head on his shoulder and awaited the verdict. Across the room, she spied her own phone light up. “Logan, hurry.” No doubt any phone call, text, or e-mail had to be about the story.

  “Stop shaking, I can’t read.” He rubbed her arm.

  After what seemed like the longest pause in modern human history, he put his phone down.

  “Logan.” She turned to him.

  He stared straight ahead, and she watched his Adam’s apple travel up and down his throat twice as he swallowed.

  She dug her nails into his jeans.

  Finally, he cleared his throat. “Well, it seems as if you and I are popular enough to have people following us full time, not simply taking a well-timed photo.”

  “Just tell me.”

  “The National Reporter took it upon themselves to chronicle our time in the mountains together, including our argument, our makeup in the woods, me carrying you to the cabin and being unavailable for quite some time, and lastly standing in the condom aisle of the market kissing. But the upside is they now have a poll on what birth control we are using on their website.”

  “Upside?” She found it hard to catch her breath.

  “They are giving away a Hollywood Stardust prize package to the winner.”

  “Logan!” The numbness left to be followed by a burst of angry energy, and she grabbed his collar, pulling him down. “What happens now? People are going to be watching us! What if I’m alone and someone comes here?”

  “Impossible.” He shook his head. “In case you didn’t realize, I moved in with you this morning.”

  Well, her first clue was the fact they now shared an underwear drawer.

  “At least I planned it before we knew about the tabloid.” He lifted his eyebrows. “I want to be with you, and we end up together every night anyway.”

  At least his point had logic behind it, but she wouldn’t allow him to make it better with a suitcase and a smile. “Logan.” She lowered her voice. “We’re in a tabloid known for smut. Right about now my mother and my boss are catching wind of this story.”

  “Then they will also be able to read a rehash of the infamous night at the hotel room, including a photo of me being taken away in handcuffs and a retrospective of Drew Fulton’s career with another poll asking if he’s living or dead.” The calm, joking demeanor he put on for her sake melted away. His eyes darkened, filled with shadows of the past. The smile he tried to maintain vanished. “The first time this happened to me, the director of Stardust told me to be flattered I was tabloid worthy.”

  “I’d rather them talk about our birth control.” One tear escaped her eye, and she ground her teeth together.

  “I’m not going to allow them to make you cry.” He captured her tear with his fingertip.

  “I can’t believe they dug up that old garbage. Anyone can look that up online.” The words left her mouth, and they looked at each other.

  “God, I’m in trouble.” He grazed his lips over hers in a light kiss.

  “Logan?” She gasped. “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know how I could want you more, and yet I do.” He pulled her into his embrace.

  She closed her eyes and breathed in the clean scent of his freshly pressed shirt and of Logan.

  “I’m sorry. I never thought I would be the one they were after. It was always Ryder.” He tightened his hold. “I got lazy. With you, I get to forget all those times and focus on the good. There’s so much more to the story than what happened for a few hours one night.”

  She nodded. Every cell in her body told her there was more to the story, and somewhere in there, Logan wasn’t the villain. She just needed to figure out how to prove it.

  “Craig, I have the Ryder Scott interview.” Ivy held up the video card containing the middle of the night breakfast they had shared with Ryder, though she didn’t hold out much hope of redirecting the conversation. She and Ryder had took turns recording while Logan cooked. At the end, they’d ended up with an amazing segment, complete with Ryder and Logan sharing a couple of fun stories about being on the set of Hollywood Stardust. Her favorites included Ryder revealing the time Logan nearly broke his neck running away from a cat on location in Arizona. Not to be outdone, Logan one-upped his friend by telling how Ryder delayed a shoot because he got sick after challenging someone in Texas to a steak-eating challenge. She also managed to get Ryder’s dissertation on health food, gluten-free eating, and becoming a vegan.

  “Is that your secret to overcoming stage fright?” From the seat next to hers, Julia swung her leg and held her pen up high as if ready to take notes. “Sleeping with your cohost?”

  “Practice and coaching.” She didn’t glance in Julia’s direction.

  “I didn’t know that’s what they’re calling it now.” Julia let out a low chuckle.

  “Maybe we need to save the Ryder interview for later in the week, and today Logan and I should address the tabloid head-on.” She and Logan had discussed some strategy on their drive over.

  Craig rocked back in his chair. “I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in anything like this.”

  “I sincerely doubt that.” From across the room, Logan interjected one of his Loganisms.

  She shot Logan a look only a couple shared. The wide eyes should tell him to remain quiet. He’d promised to allow her to take the lead before they’d ever walked into Craig’s office.

  Logan crossed his arms.

  She bit her nail. At this point, her job held little hope. The sheer fact she was escorted to Craig’s office the moment she’d entered the building gave her all she needed to know. She and Logan should have brought a box with them. Along with Logan moving in, they could also move the contents of her office. Good thing Logan’s brother owned a restaurant, since waitressing was the usual career for those who didn’t make it in the entertainment field. “While we were not hiding our relationship, we never planned on it being revealed this way.”

  “You never planned on this?” Craig stood and tossed the freshly minted tabloid in front of her. “I doubt anyone plans on this.”

  “Watch it.” Logan stepped forward.

  “It looks like you forgot a detail.” Julia reached across the desk and lifted the magazine.

  “Why are you even here?” Logan made a noise of disgust. “You’re like a cockroach. If I turn on a light, will you run away?”

  Julia shook her head.

  “Logan.” Ivy went with a more sinister narrow-eyed look. Maybe the act of squinting would focus her energy to shut Logan’s mouth.

  “You let a questionable publication scoop your story.” Craig shook his head. “Everything you wanted to do you failed at the second you got in bed with him. Cora Caine called this morning asking what was going on.”

  At the mention of the Chargge CEO, her chest tightened. She needed to continue her quest to find out the truth, not for Chargge.com, not for her, but for Logan. The man with the sarcasm and sneers was not the man who invested in his friends’ businesses or who held her at night.

  Rather than speak, Logan came up behind her.

  “Craig, while I know that I am a public person now, this is my choice. I feel simply addressing the situation head-on will calm everyone.” At least she hoped.

  “Sounds like more self-serving publicity for you,” Julia interjected.

  “Your personal life ended up as a four-page spread in one of the nation’s top-rated trash cans,” Craig said. “How can we even continue with the story now?”

  Though her mouth dried, she forced herself to continue. “As you know, I’m the one who has the exclusive access to the stars of the movie. The story is viable and needs to be told. The numbers are there and growing.”

  “Maybe this was simply a little stunt to make sure your numbers continue to grow.” Julia put the magazine down. “Maybe it was planned after all.”

  Logan put his hands on Ivy’s shoulders.

  She swallowed. �
�Craig, I assure you nothing is further from the truth. I still have to call my mother back after this.”

  “Another has-been Hollywood child.” Julia muttered under her breath.

  “If you would’ve done your research, you’d know that my mother hates Hollywood and anything to do with it. She’s a woman who lost her father.” For the first time, she glanced at the witch.

  “I wouldn’t need to do my research if certain people remembered their place,” Julia shot back.

  “My place was never to be your gopher.” She faced Julia head-on and made sure to speak slow and clear.

  “Who better than the girl who can’t speak unless her big, bad villain is there for moral support?” One side of Julia’s mouth curled up in a smile. “Is he going to play the role of permanent cohost so you can do your job?”

  “If I have to.” Logan squeezed her shoulders. “I will do whatever Ivy needs, as she would with me.”

  She found herself nodding.

  “I don’t know what game you’re playing.” Her boss stared Logan down and then transferred his glare to her. “I’m a friend of your father’s, and I have to say this—what are you going to do when this is over and he’s not there?”

  “That’s it!” Logan let go of her and rushed to the side of Craig’s desk.

  Though Craig’s words stung worse than a slap in the face, her own instinct fired off and she jumped up. “Logan!” She managed to capture his arm. Under his shirt, his tense muscles trembled.

  Craig raised his hands.

  “Ivy, why don’t you step out and let Craig and I settle this like men?”

  “Logan, please go take a breath and let me talk to Craig.” She swallowed back the sour taste creeping up from her throat.

  “Ivy.” Logan said her name through clenched teeth.

  “Logan, please, this is my job.” While she appreciated he didn’t want to leave her, if she went down, she had to be the one responsible. “I need to take care of it myself.”

  “Fine.” He practically shook her off his arm, then turned on his heel and walked out.