Maybe it was time to talk to a therapist.
Luis and Angela on the other hand, had come around and were loving all the drama in my life. Nothing like sordid, love-triangle drama right before a Valentine’s movie release to get people’s attention. As Angela said, two attractive men fighting over me only made me more desirable. Hearing them now, you’d have thought they planned it all.
“Can I get one more drink before you take me too far from the bar?”
“Nope. I’m afraid if you get any drunker, this evening will turn into a pay per view fight between you and blue dress.”
“I wouldn’t start a fight,” I scoffed and then muttered, “but someone should really tell her she shouldn’t act so desperate.”
“You know, the jealous look you’ve got going on would be cuter if it were me you were so concerned about.”
“I’m not jealous.”
“You are, but it’s okay. I’ll play along.”
“What do you mean?”
Before he could tell me, we were waylaid by Ian Schultz, the director, and it was a while before we got away. I wasn’t the only who’d been hitting the bar hard. His cheeks had that red glow and his hands were flying as he talked. Not that I could recount a single word he said if asked, because even though my eyes were fixed on Ian, my brain couldn’t focus on a single word coming out of his mouth. Not with James hovering nearby. I should have known he wouldn’t let me out of his sight. And blondie was still tethered to him. It took a lot of focus not to focus on the two of them. I was so intent on pretending not to notice them, it didn’t go unnoticed by Hunter and his annoyingly observant tendencies.
“You’re pathetic,” he breathed in my ear after we’d slipped away during Ian’s second retelling of his favorite joke about a shitzu.
“You’re annoying, and I want another drink.” I veered toward the bar, but Hunter snaked a hand around my waist.
“You don’t need another drink. You need a distraction.” He tugged me away from the bar, through rooms and around corridors, until we finally found a quiet space to ourselves.
“What are we doing?”
Instead of giving me an answer, he backed me into the corner, caging me in with his body, hands pressed to the wall on either side of my head.
“Umm, wha-what are you doing?” I stuttered and tried to become one with the wall.
“I think you can figure that out,” he said, bringing his body flush with mine.
My hands flattened on his chest between us. His hard, sculpted chest, the kind of chest he paid a personal trainer a lot of money for. So worth it, and yet even with his glorious chest beneath my hands and the smell of his divine cologne or body wash or combo of the two, invading my senses and his gorgeous, honey colored eyes drilling into me, all I could think was, Danger Will Robison.
If my heart was racing, it wasn’t because of anticipation. And the twisty-turning-flippy-floppy thing going on in my stomach wasn’t butterflies. “I don’t think this is a good idea, Hunter.”
“Oh, but it is.” One hand came down off the wall and brushed a stray curl behind my ear and then skimmed a finger along my jaw. It felt nice and my breath caught, but it still didn’t feel right.
“Hunter,” I whispered hoarsely, pushing gently on his chest.
He pressed his thumb to my bottom lip and traced it. When he removed it and dipped his head to the crook of my neck, I tugged my lip between my teeth. He inhaled and traced the curve of my neck with his lips.
Oh boy.
It felt sooo good, but also, still not right. But soo good.
His lips. Light kisses on my skin.
I let my head fall back against the wall and gave up half-heartedly trying to push him off.
Teeth on my earlobe. A little nibble and a tug.
I groaned and squeezed my eyes. Maybe if I tried hard enough I could convince myself this was what I wanted.
A hand on my waist and a nip at the curve of my neck.
I did want this, but not with Hunter. Which either made me insane, or pathetic, exactly like Hunter said.
His hand squeezed my hip, bunching my dress, digging his fingers into my flesh and it took every bit of restraint and willpower I possessed to wrap my fingers around his wrist and pull his hand away. “Hunter, no. We can’t do this.”
He twined his fingers with mine and pressed my hand to the wall. “Yes we can,” he murmured against my jaw, getting so near my lips.
“But we shouldn’t.”
He chuckled and lifted his head, bringing our eyes level. “How about instead of arguing and being difficult, you just say, ‘Thank you, Hunter’ and kiss me.”
“Why would I thank you?”
“Because you’re so distracted you’ve yet to notice, Captain American lurking nearby with a glower to rival your own.”
“What?” I started to jerk my head and my eyes away, but Hunter caught my chin and brought his lips within a breath of my own.
“Don’t look, that defeats the purpose of the second part of my plan.”
I raised my brow. “Your plan?”
“Distract and retaliate.”
I huffed out a heavy sigh. “This is about making him jealous?”
He slid the hand that wasn’t linked with mine around to cup the back of my neck. “I’d say this was about me getting to kiss you here in the darkened hallway in the hopes that kissing here in the hallway would lead to more behind that door over there, where I would show you just how good we could be together, and that making that uptight schmuck jealous is just a nice little perk. But that would be the truth and I know the truth would freak you out. So, yeah, this is only about helping you make him jealous for purely selfless reasons.”
I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I see.”
“Do you?”
When I said nothing, because I didn’t know what to say, Hunter drew my mouth closer to his. To anyone else, it would have looked like our mouths were touching, but they weren’t. There was the tiniest space between our lips where our breaths mingled. His tasted like scotch and spearmint. It would take almost nothing for me to press my lips to his.
“Just kiss me, Riley,” he breathed. “Kiss me and forget him for just a second.”
So I did.
I kissed him.
But I couldn’t forget about James watching from the shadows, and even though the kiss was nice—better than nice even—my stomach twisted with something resembling guilt.
Twenty-Three
James
Fuck this.
And Fuck Hunter Foxx.
I turned and headed back toward the main room. I was supposed to be her shadow, but it didn’t mean I had to watch that. As much as I would have loved to tear Hunter off her, he wasn’t the trouble I was meant to be protecting her from. The sly bastard was certainly playing to win, though. If it weren’t for the fact that Riley’s eyes had hardly left me all night, I might have actually been worried.
I wasn’t.
He might be the one kissing her, but I guaranteed I was the one she was thinking about. Didn’t mean it sucked any less to watch her play these games.
The situation called for a stiff drink, but regardless of how harmless most of these rich assholes were, I was still on the job. Which meant when I sidled up next to the bar, and the pretty server with a little too much makeup on, and too much desire in her eyes, sauntered over, leaned across the bar and asked me, “What’s it going to be?” I gave her tight lipped smile and asked for a cranberry and club soda.
She batted her fake lashes and kept up the flirty little grin as she flashed a glimpse of her cleavage while she poured my drink. I doubted she’d be trying so hard if she knew I was just as much the hired help as she was. It was obvious from the way her eyes took in everyone who approached the bar in a calculating way, that she was hoping to sink her manicured claws into somebody tonight. Either the girl was an aspiring actress looking to sleep her way to her big break, or a girl just hoping to sleep her way into
a life of comfort as a trophy or mistress.
Once she realized I wasn’t gonna bite on the silent but not so subtle offer in her expression, she moved onto the next guy, just as Lisa in the blue dress had. He was more than happy to take the bait, and from the looks of him, he was exactly what she was looking for. No doubt he knew that as well.
The selling and buying up of souls that went on in this city was just one of the many things that I would never understand. This girl wanted to trade hers for what? Money? Because that ever made anyone happy? The way I saw it, more money only meant you could pretend better than the rest of us. You could see the truth though in their hazy, glazed over eyes. They sucked down booze and snorted, smoked, or shot up their way through life just to keep up the lie.
It wasn’t all of them. But it was most of them, and if that doesn’t tell you right there that all the money in the world can’t fill the emptiness inside, then who was I to try and make anyone see it. I shoved off from the bar, leaving my empty glass behind, and the conversation between the bartender and her prey—or maybe it was the other way around—behind.
I veered toward the opposite end of the room to wait for Hunter and Riley to rejoin the party.
A guy I recognized as Scott Lengel, the silver fox, was huddled in a small group not far from where I was holding up the wall and scanning the room. I couldn’t help but overhear some of his conversation, and as soon as I heard him mention the film that Riley had so badly wanted a part in, I tuned in.
“Production is still on hold until Camille’s contract can be cemented. I’m beginning to think she won’t accept until the studio gives her a producer’s credit on top of the number of zeroes she’s demanding.”
One of the men I didn’t know, a heavier, bearded guy sucking down Scotch like it was water, snorted. “These actresses, man, think their tits and not their talent will get them everything. Wasn’t her last film a flop?”
“Yeah, but with the shoddy writing on that one, it can hardly be blamed on the cast,” the other of the three men chimed in.
“True enough,” the big guy conceded.
“I just wish the studio would listen to me and drop her. I haven’t had the pleasure of working with her, but from everything I’ve heard, Camille Rogan can be a real nightmare on the set. I don’t need some Diva trying to take control of my movie.”
“They’re all divas,” the third guy laughed.
“Nothing’s worse than having an ego on set that won’t take direction because they think it’s all about them. I’ll walk away from the movie myself before I let some little Princess tell me how to make my movie.”
“Why do they want to go with her anyway?” Bearded guy asked.
“I had someone else in mind for the part, but it didn’t work out. Studio thinks Camille is a good second choice because she’s a hot topic right now, after that whole debacle with the Prince.”
Ah, I remembered hearing about the actress that was “dating” one of the Swedish princes, or maybe it was Belgian. What I did know was that it ended in a scandal when very intimate pictures of the two of them were released to the media. It later came out that Camille was responsible for them getting out. Real peach that one must be.
Scott and the two men continued to bitch about egotistical actors and actresses, and overbearing studio execs, and all the problems with the industry, while I went back to tuning out their conversation and watching for Riley to reappear. If she didn’t soon, I was going to have to go check on her simply for my peace of mind because that’s what my sense of duty demanded, despite my reluctance to interrupt her and Hunter in whatever compromising position I might find them in. When it came to Riley, my protectiveness was in overdrive. As harmless as all these suits and dresses looked, I didn’t have much information on any of these people, which made them unknowns, which made them potential threats. Laughable though that was, because I’d sized up every single person I’d laid eyes on, it wasn’t my job to take chances. Not with a guy who could get onto the red carpet, sneak into secured homes and hotel rooms and gain access to private cell phone numbers.
This party should be safe, but those other places should have been as well. The fact that the police and my own guys had yet to figure out how he managed any of it, didn’t sit well with me at all. Nothing in his background suggested the guy was this smart or had the resources to not get caught. Which meant we were missing something, and I’d be damned if I let it cost Riley.
The men with Scott dispersed, and the same thing that twisted my gut when I watched Hunter kiss Riley, compelled me to move. I didn’t even know what I was doing until I was approaching Scott, saying, “Excuse me, Mr. Lengel.”
“Yes?” He gazed up at me with a curious brow.
I skimmed a hand over my head, while silently asking myself what the hell I was doing. “We don’t know each other, but I couldn’t help but overhear bits of your conversation.”
At that his brow shot up, a bit of annoyance creeping into his expression.
I needed to get to the point fast. “I work for Riley James, and I just thought you needed to know, it wasn’t her who turned down the part. It was her stepfather. He had other plans for her, but I think if you had a conversation with Riley yourself, you might find that she’s available for the role, and more than that, she wants the part. She was walking on sunshine for days after you guys talked at the SAGs.”
“I wanted her for the part as well, even though the studio worried she might be a little young and green for it. I think she has the right fire. I see potential in her for very big things.”
“I think I see why Riley admires you so much and thinks very highly of your work. You clearly have good instincts, and I can guarantee Riley wouldn’t take the chance for granted. She’d give it everything. I don’t think the world has seen what she’s truly capable of yet, but when she finally shows them, people are going to be kicking themselves for ever trying to stick her in a box or doubting her. She just needs the right person to have a little faith in her. It’ll be magic.”
“I’d say she’s already found him.” I watched as a slow grin came over Scott’s face. “I just figured out who you are. You’re the bodyguard. The one that’s all over the internet.”
I awkwardly skimmed a hand over my head. “Uh, yeah.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Riley and Hunter slipping back into the room. My eyes zeroed in on where his hand held hers. When I looked up again, our eyes locked and she slipped her hand free and pretended to smooth out her dress.
“Interesting.”
Scott was still grinning when I returned my focus to him.
I arched an eyebrow like, excuse me?
“I don’t generally buy into anything I see in the media, but . . .” he let his voice trail off as his eyes wandered over to Riley and Hunter, the smirk never leaving his lips. Then he turned back to me. “Well, I appreciate the bit of information you shared. If you’ll excuse me, I need to go make a few calls, see if I can’t convince a few arrogant assholes to listen to me.”
“Good luck with that.”
“And good luck to you as well. For once I might actually be interested to see how this plays out. The writer in me can’t resist a compelling story.”
I didn’t bother pretending not to know what he meant. If I wanted Riley, I had to get used to other people being in my business, knowing shit I didn’t want them to know.
Twenty-Four
Riley
I eyed the picture under Luis’ deep scowl while Hunter pouted in one corner and James smirked triumphantly in the other. We were all four inside Luis’ home office. I’d been summoned first thing this morning. James and I had arrived to find Hunter already here.
“What is it you expect me to do?” As annoyed as I was that James was so pleased, it took and extraordinary amount of effort to hide my own amusement.
“None of this is funny,” Luis ground out. Clearly I wasn’t doing all that great of a job. “Deal with it. We’ll give you a minute t
o make the call.” He exited the room, Hunter shuffled out after him. James hung back.
“Are you responsible for this?” I waved the picture at his face.
He made a who me? gesture, and then trailed after the other two, throwing a wink over his shoulder before he shut the door behind him.
I tossed the photo down on Luis’ desk and slumped into his chair. I pulled my phone out and made the call.
“Hey, baby girl.”
“Hey, Daddy.” I spun the chair around in a circle. “How’s everything at home?”
“Oh, you know. The work’s never done, but it’s going.”
“That’s good, that’s good. You, uh, still seeing Sue?”
There was a quiet pause before he answered slowly, “Yes.”
“That’s good. Real good.”
“Ava, what’s going on? Is something wrong?”
I blew out a long breath. “Dad, where did you get the shirt?”
There was another long moment before my dad answered, his voice laced with humor. “What shirt you talking about? I got lots of shirts. Sue just got me this new flannel from the tractor supply store last week, do you mean that one?”
“Dad,” I rolled my eyes even though he couldn’t see. “You know damn well what shirt I’m talking about. Someone in town took a picture of you in it leaving the station and posted it online. Now it’s all over.”
He chuckled. “Why would anyone care what I wear?”
“Because you were wearing a Team James shirt, Dad! Where the hell did you even get it? Did James put you up to this?” That picture of my dad in the shirt was currently circulating social media and every celebrity gossip site and blog out there. Everyone was in a tizzy because my dad had spoken and chosen his side and it took the whole debacle to another level. Luis was pissed because it completely undermined my relationship with Hunter. Naturally his people weren’t too pleased that Hunter was coming in second. Angela was the only one not concerned, because it was all still publicity.
A Taste of Pink (Shades Book 4) Page 24