Hollywood Rush

by Rhonda Laurel

  “From what I saw on that chart, Marvin was pretty much the right hand of God. There weren’t many names above his and he was the only name from Pinnacle.”

  “Really? I would have thought that pompous ass Raymond was near the top,” Kate mused.

  “Me too, but that’s so not the case.”

  Sabrina continued with her breakdown of the chart as they sipped their drinks. Kate had lost her appetite by the time the pasta was placed on the table. The waiters continued to tend her every need and the manager dropped in at least two more times before the end of the meal.

  * * *

  By the time she returned home, Kate was barely able to drag herself through the door. She walked through the house looking for Chris when she saw the patio door open. She called out to him.

  “I’m out here!”

  She stepped outside onto the deck to find him taking a soak in the hot tub. There was some retro easy listening music playing and a nice fruit and cheese spread on a nearby serving table, complete with a bottle of wine.

  “I’m glad to see you’re enjoying your time off.” She removed her suit jacket, set it on a nearby lounger, and took a seat on the edge of the hot tub. “The only time I remember that we have a Jacuzzi is when Merlot gets too close to it. I think it’s time we start using it on a regular basis.”

  Kate took a look at him. “I feel like I’ve been teleported to the seventies. All that’s missing on you is the chest hair, mutton chop sideburns and a gold chain.”

  “I had a seventies action movie marathon when I came back from the farmer’s market. I think some of that era seeped into my brain. Grab a bikini and join me.” He smiled.

  “As tempting as the offer is, I don’t have enough energy to change.” She pouted.

  “Tell Chris about your day.” He reached over to the serving tray and poured her a glass of wine.

  “Let’s see. After courtroom theatrics with Henry, I finally made it to Atlantis only to find out I came back just in time to stop John from sleeping with our songbird Lana. I’ve been moved up on the VIP list at Bellow’s.

  “Sweet! No wait time at Bellow’s.” Chris rubbed his chin.

  She giggled. “Kate Cavanaugh has arrived. Now if I could find out where Kate Garrison went.”

  “Kate Garrison is still right here. You know, it’s OK if you don’t want to take my last name professionally.”

  “I like it. People have been calling me Mrs. Cavanaugh all day.” Kate smiled.

  “I don’t want you to think you have to sacrifice any part of yourself to be with me.”

  “I know. And I feel the same.” Kate searched his face. “Do you worry that people may talk and say your career is attributed to being married to me now that I own a chunk of Pinnacle?”

  “Why, are you going wield your power and make me a superstar?” Chris raised an eyebrow.

  “Of course not. If you want that coveted brass ring, you’ll have to grab it yourself. One day when you accept some big acting award, it won’t be because of any influence on my part.”

  “So I get have integrity and still sleep with the boss,” Chris mused.

  “Cavanaugh, you have the dumbest luck of anyone I’ve ever met.” Kate laughed.

  “Baby, my whole career has been a synchronous series of happy accidents.”

  “Sabrina heard from a waiter at Bellow’s that the biggest stars don’t always get the best reservations. I was seated before Raymond Whitland today.” She smirked.

  Chris burst out laughing. “That must have pissed that megalomaniac off.”

  “I wish I had taken a picture of his face with my cell phone. He looked like a firecracker exploded in his mouth.”

  “Just when you think you know what’s going on, something new pops up.” He sighed. “But I’m totally going to exploit that Bellow’s angle.”

  “How did you enjoy your drama-free day?”

  “They sent over a revised copy of the script.” Chris sighed.

  “What did they change?”

  “See for yourself.”

  Kate picked up the open script next to the tub, not sure what to expect by the look on her husband’s face. A third of way down the page the love scene began. The love scene in the original script had been downright virginal compared to the revision. As she continued to read, her cheeks reddened. She finally put it down. “That’s some pretty hot stuff.”

  “I can’t believe this shit.”

  “You’ve done love scenes before in your movies.”

  “Well, I wasn’t married before when I did them, and they weren’t with ex-girlfriends.”

  “How is Allison these days?” She looked away.

  “I have no idea. I haven’t seen her since we both read for the movie.”

  “Well, Sabrina’s keeping track of her social media rants. She’s super excited to be working with her ex CC.” Kate waggled her eyebrows.

  Chris dismissively waved his hand. “That’s Allison’s way of taking the sting out of working together.”

  “So, are you saying you weren’t acting when you did those love scenes?”

  “Sometimes, despite how technical it all is with the camera crew and equipment everywhere, you still get lost in the moment if your costar’s hot.”

  Kate raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really.”

  “I’m just being honest.”

  “Don’t you have cover your junk?”

  “Yeah, but they’re not giving me a steel box,” Chris mumbled.

  “So basically you get to cheat on me.”

  “I never said that.” Chris threw up his hands.

  “Cavanaugh—”

  “I don’t want to do this love scene. Even if I was giving someone a peck on the cheek, it would still feel like I was cheating on you.”

  Kate thought for a moment. “You kiss Charlotte and Sabrina all the time.”

  “Sisterly pecks, I assure you. Besides, Billie said if I did anything stupid, she’d cut my nuts off and make Italian wedding soup with them.” Chris put his hand on his groin.

  Kate sipped on her wine. “Jinx! I told John the same thing if he went near Lana again.”

  “You are becoming more like your scary doppelganger cousin than you realize.” Chris laughed. “Dominic is a brave man, being married to her. By the way, why does everyone in your family look like they’re on their way to a Special Ops convention?”

  “Why do you say that?” Kate looked away.

  “They all had that vibe at the wedding.”

  “My family is full of surprises. What do you know about Special Ops anyway?”

  “Remember the movie I did a few years ago, Enemy Down?”

  “Yes.” Kate nodded.

  “There was some retired military dude name Dirk Storm—I swear that was his real name—who was a consultant for the movie. Dirk was a class-A bad ass. He was six three, built like a tank, and could bench press my Harley. He trained us for the movie and had a survival weekend retreat before we started shooting. He taught us about hand-to-hand combat and sharp shooting. I think he tried to kill me twice. But he still wasn’t as scary as your family.”

  Kate giggled. “You just gave yourself and Little Chris incentive to keep that love scene on a professional level.”

  “I suck at them anyway. I’ve tried the patience of every director in every movie I’ve ever done with a love scene. They say I rush it.”

  “You do.” She sighed, debating about whether or not to critique him on his fake love making skills.

  “I do?”

  Kate let out a deep sigh. “I know I’m going to regret telling you this, but here goes. I’ve noticed that since we’ve been together your love making has gone from a tornado to more of a Seattle downpour.”

  “Huh?”

  “What I mean is the tornado is like a taut, tightly coiled high pressure that comes out of nowhere and ravages everything in its path. When we met you were spontaneous and could get very passionate at a moment’s notice. There wasn’t a whole lot of self-co
ntrol going on.”

  “I will admit I had difficulties keeping my hands off you. I didn’t think it was a bad thing.” Chris gave her an expectant look.

  “Believe me, it’s not. But now, you’re like a Seattle downpour. You know to expect it and when it comes it’s steady, consuming, and guaranteed to leave you soaked to the core. I love both ways, but the latter makes me feel connected to you in a way that’s hard to describe. And I definitely don’t want to see you connecting with Allison like that on screen.” Kate leaned over and kissed his cheek.

  “You don’t have to worry about that.” Chris reached up and pulled her into the Jacuzzi with him.

  “Chris!” Kate yelped but he covered her mouth with a kiss.

  Kate giggled as Chris removed her clothes. “You just ruined one of my favorite suits.” Chris threw her clothing over the edge of the Jacuzzi and pulled her into his arms.

  “Worth it.”

  Kate wrapped her arms around his neck and relaxed into the warm jets of water bubbling against her skin. “I have a present for you. It’s in my bag.”

  “Later. I have a present for you right here.” Chris reached for a strawberry off the tray and placed it between his lips.

  Kate took a bite of the strawberry, then began to lap up the juice that dripped down his bearded chin. He tightened his hold on her and gently guided her to the seat, trailing kisses down her neck. Chris dipped his tongue into her mouth, playfully seducing hers. She groaned at the contact, never tiring of the feel of his firm body or the touch of his mouth on hers.

  He thrust into her, the pulsing of the jet behind them intensifying the feeling. Kate wrapped her legs around his waist and squeezed him so he would increase the painfully slow rhythm he was inflicting on her. He reached between them and began massaging her clit. She could barely contain the waves of pleasure rolling through her body. When she finally couldn’t take it any longer she climaxed. Chris let out a loud groan as he came with her.

  “You can’t fake this,” he said on a ragged breath.

  Kate laughed. “No, you can’t.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Kate rubbed her temples and listened to Todd, the sound engineer, rant. This was the fourth call she’d received about Kingston Shane behaving badly in the studio this week. This wasn’t his legendary antics of hitting band members on the head with microphones or setting instruments on fire because he felt they were out of tune; this was the sullen behavior of a child who wasn’t getting his way.

  What he wanted was Kate stapled to a chair in front of the console each time he recorded a new track. He was still mourning Marvin in his own way and needed some encouragement about his return to the arena with new music. She accommodated him as often as possible, dredging up the sound engineer he used in the eighties and convincing three of his five band members to tour with him again. Still, Kingston continued to raise hell until she returned to the studio.

  Todd finished his twenty-minute rant then apologized for whining. She told him she’d talk to Kingston. Todd said he was going to smoke a joint to calm down. Kate hung up the phone only to have it ring again.

  “Yes, Sabrina?”

  “Tate McGill was holding for you but he said he had to board his plane,” Sabrina screamed into the phone.

  “Okay, calm down. Did he leave a message?”

  “He said he’s going to be in town in a few weeks and would like to meet with you.”

  Kate smiled. “Great. I can’t wait to hear his new material.”

  “It totally sucks that he has a steady girlfriend now,” Sabrina lamented.

  Signing Tate McGill had been quite a feather in Kate’s cap. He had explosive appeal in the country western genre, and she knew he’d made a big splash crossing over. His duet with Lana had been a chart scorcher, and the Epic Music award they’d won was proof of it. She had no desire to change his sound; she just wanted the rest of the world to know what they were missing.

  Tate gave a hundred and ten percent in his songs and on stage. She was amazed at the electric charisma of this man. Even the great Tru Davies at Blue Vinyl had wanted him, but hadn’t been able to acquire him. The problem was people had been courting him with all the bells and whistles of fame and fortune, when he was a simple, down-home country boy just like his brother Seth. And Kate knew just how hard it was to keep things real in this business.

  * * *

  Kate was glad she got Clara a new cell phone and the latest Wi-Fi e-reader as a bon voyage present for her vacation. She couldn’t wait to surprise her with them. After weeks of family and friends trying to persuade Clara to get away from the memories of Marvin for a while, she finally relented and decided to go on a cruise with her sister.

  “I’m all packed and ready to go.” Clara pointed to her bags in the foyer as Kate entered the house.

  “Well, I have a few things for you.” Kate opened the bag and displayed the e-reader and the new cell phone. “This should eliminate one suitcase. I’ve loaded over a hundred books on there.”

  Clara took the e-reader. “So wonderful of you to do this. I’ve been wanting to try one of these.”

  Kate smiled. “No problem. I’m just a phone call away if you need anything. I can transfer the information to your new phone but it will take some time. How about we open a bottle of wine while I transfer your contacts?”

  “Excellent.”

  Kate got to work on the phone. “So, have you heard from Henry lately?”

  “He’s left messages.” Clara leafed through her passport.

  “Clara, when you were on the stand you said something about your son Sam. I didn’t know you had another child.” Kate looked up at her and placed the phone on the table.

  Clara stilled. “I don’t like to talk about it.”

  “Oh.” Kate blushed. “I didn’t mean to pry. It just took me by surprise that you and Marvin never mentioned another child.”

  Clara took a seat at the table. “No. It happened so long ago, but it still feels like it was yesterday. Sam died when he was thirteen.”

  “What happened?”

  “Henry and his friends were going sailing for the weekend. Sam looked up to Henry and followed him everywhere he went. That particular weekend Henry wanted to be alone to hang out with his friends but Marvin insisted he take Sam with him. We got a call in the middle of the night that he’d drowned. I still don’t know all the details; I couldn’t bear to hear them. Marvin never forgave Henry. He said he did, but they grew apart. Marvin couldn’t see it, but he treated him differently after the accident. Henry was already doing drugs, but I think that sent him over the edge.”

  “I’m so sorry that you lost your son.”

  “When you moved next door, it really was a blessing. We got a chance to be parents again.” Clara wiped a tear from her cheek.

  Three hours later Kate had successfully transferred all of Clara’s information into her new phone and had given her a brief tutorial on how to use it. The car service came around ten, and Chris and Merlot had made it over to the house to say good-bye. Clara gave them both a hearty hug and told Kate and Chris to take care of each other.

  * * *

  “Stanley.” Chris walked into his agent’s office and closed the door.

  “What’s with this Stanley shit?” Stan barked as he took his seat. “You only call me Stanley when you have bad news.”

  “You only invite me to the office when you have bad news,” Chris countered.

  “There’s no bad news. But I do have some news.” Stan smiled.

  Stan dug through the stacks of paper on his desk and grumbled about his secretary misplacing things. Chris cracked his knuckles, hoping the sound would pull his agent out of his dramatic pause. Stan hated when he cracked his knuckles. He told him disfigured hands were a director’s nightmare with close ups.

  “Stop that!” Stan snapped.

  Chris smiled.

  Stan finally said, “Word is going around that there’s going to be a sequel to The Knock Around Boys.�
�

  “That’s great!”

  “They want Jack to direct it. Did you two bury the hatchet?”

  Chris took a bottled water out of the mini fridge. “You saw him at my wedding, didn’t you?”

  “I saw something but I’m not quite sure what it was.”

  “We’re good.” Chris rolled his eyes. “As good as we can get in that bizarre situation.”

  “Good, because this is what we’ve been working toward.” Stan gave him a long, assessing look. “I remember when you first came to me. You couldn’t sneeze on cue. Thought you could coast on your looks. I forced you to go to acting classes. I told you if you wanted to see your face on something bigger than a TV that you’d better have some talent to go along with those dreamy blue eyes.”

  “See? Look at me now. And it’s all because of you,” Chris persisted.

  The secretary came in with the contract Stan had been searching for and placed it in front of him.

  “You know kid, I’ve been around a long time. Too long, some would say. This town is infested with psychopaths and narcissists posing as actors. But every once in a while someone like you comes along and makes me feel like what I do has some greater purpose than putting the next sex symbol in a movie.”

  Chris nodded. “To tell you the truth Stan, I never expected to be more than that.”

  “What changed your thinking?”

  “Kate. I need to be more than a sex symbol. She’s smart, rich, and could probably find ten guys who look just like me in this town. If I don’t strive to be the best man I can be, then I don’t deserve her,” Chris replied.

  “Where is the self-centered idiot I used to represent? What have you done with him?”

  Chris chuckled.

  Stan looked at him for long time. “Tell Kate to watch her back at Pinnacle. Raymond Whitland has been the top dog for a long time, and he doesn’t like to share the spotlight.”

  “He tried to buy her shares and she turned him down.”

  Stan whistled. “Raymond probably thought he could talk Kate out of those shares with ease. Marvin and Raymond each owned thirty-seven percent. Ivan only owns twenty.”