Tabloid Star

by T. A. Chase

  She tossed him another magazine and he grinned through his anger.

  Ry glared back at him from the glossy cover, brows lowered over cold dark chocolate eyes. Some kind of futuristic-looking semi-automatic gun rested on one tanned shoulder while Ry’s other hand gripped the butt of a larger than normal hand gun. His long legs were encased in lace-up black leather pants and black combat boots. This headline read, “Kellar is King.”

  “Shit, this was the actor Simpson was drooling over the other night. The one whose movie is like a box office hit or something.”

  “Kellar’s the newest sensation to hit Hollywood and this picture could either destroy his career or make it. Depends on what he does, I guess.” Rachel’s sympathetic gaze met his. “You’ll have to be ready for some publicity yourself. It’s not going to be hard for reporters to find you.”

  Fuck. He didn’t need this right now. He was barely keeping up with his bills as it was. He couldn’t afford to get fired if one of his bosses took exception to the photos or the publicity.

  Josh scrubbed his hand over his head, absently noting the stubble. He’d have to shave soon. God, what was he going to do? How nervous Ry had been and how he’d worn sunglasses in the middle of the night should have been a clue that Ry was worried about being seen.

  How was he to know that the man who practically sucked his brains through his cock wasn’t just a closet case? Oh, he would never have done anything to “out” the man, even if he knew who Ry really was. Josh didn’t play those games.

  “Do you think I should try to get a hold of him? Maybe tell him I didn’t have anything to do with this.” He gestured to the tabloid.

  Rachel shook her head. “I doubt you’d be able to get a hold of him and besides, I don’t think he’d believe you anyway.”

  Josh slumped and his back protested. “You’re probably right.”

  There was no “probably” about it. Rachel was right and Josh had to think about what he would say or do in case some ambitious reporter found him and started asking questions.

  “Go home, Josh. You’re tired and hurting. Get some sleep and stretch your back. Tomorrow will be soon enough to think about all of this.”

  Rachel stood and walked around her desk, stopping in front of him to offer her hand. He took it and let her help him get to his feet. After hugging him, she walked him to the office door.

  “Get out of here. Hopefully no one’s found out who you are yet and you won’t get molested on your way home.”

  He grabbed his pack, slung it over his shoulder and kissed Rachel’s cheek. “Thanks. I’ll be back tomorrow night for my usual shift.”

  “Just make sure you take care of your back. I don’t want you further injuring yourself. Simpson can take your hours if you need another day.”

  As much as he would have loved to take a day off, his responsibilities wouldn’t let him. “I’ll be fine, boss lady. See you tomorrow.”

  Josh slipped from the club and wandered down the sidewalk toward his apartment building. His entire body ached, but in a weird way, it was his heart that hurt the most. He hoped those pictures didn’t ruin Ry’s career. It didn’t seem fair that actresses could be caught on film doing shit like that and get away with it or at least without any damage to their career. Let an actor have that happen to him and he was blacklisted the minute the picture hit the streets or the internet.

  He got home, went in and locked his door, dropping his bag as he made his way to the bedroom. Flopping down on the bed, Josh buried his face in a pillow. He’d take a nap and go back to the club afterward. Being alone and having to think about all of this was going to drive him crazy.

  God, he should have known that no place was private, not in Hollywood. Sometimes living here sucked.

  Chapter Ten

  “Joining us right now is Ryan Kellar, the hot new star of Luther is King. Put your hands together.”

  Taylor’s bright smile was all teeth and Ryan had the strangest feeling she was going to take a bite out of him in some way. He tugged on the cuffs of his shirt and took a deep breath before stepping out under the lights to wave to the audience.

  He took Taylor’s hand and kissed her cheek like Raz told him to do. The bleached blonde squeezed his hand with her cold fingers. Ryan fought back a shiver and sat where she pointed.

  She eyed him for a moment before looking down at her notes. “So Luther is your first starring role?”

  Relaxing, Ryan answered her question. The feeling of a shoe about to drop somewhere didn’t go away, but anticipating it could make him stiff and ruin the interview. Raz would cut his balls off if he screwed this up.

  Taylor’s questions were light and only slightly personal. Soon enough his ten minutes were coming to a close and Ryan hadn’t done anything to embarrass himself.

  “We’re almost out of time with Ryan Kellar, but I have one more question to ask.”

  She pinned him with her laser gaze and he tensed, knowing she was about to drop something on him he wasn’t going to like.

  “I must say I was surprised when my copy of The Hollywood Enterprise arrived on my desk this morning.” A slight smirk tilted the corners of her lips. “Is there something you’re not telling your adoring fans, Ryan?”

  His gaze hit the cover of the tabloid she held up and his heart stopped. Fuck. Who had taken that picture? Josh told him no one saw them and yet there they were, in all their horny glory, making out in the alley.

  His face was blurry, so any one who didn’t know him wouldn’t have been a hundred percent sure it was him. Yet anyone who knew Josh would recognize that tattoo.

  Ryan’s hands shook as anger welled in him. Smarmy bitch. She’d been setting him up the entire interview for this one moment. His cheeks heated and he knew he was blushing. No, he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing she surprised him.

  Plastering a smile on his face, he shrugged. “You know those tabloids, Taylor. They’ll do anything to make money. What makes you think it’s me? I can’t tell what those guys look like.”

  “Really?” The tone of her voice said she didn’t believe him.

  He grinned and the producer called for a commercial break. Standing, Ryan waited until the grip had taken off his microphone before storming out of the studio.

  His cell phone started buzzing as soon as he made it to his car. Sliding into the back seat, he let the driver close the door and yanked out his phone. The caller ID said it was Raz. Great, the man must be having fits.

  “Yeah?”

  “What the fuck was that, Kellar? What the hell did you do last Thursday?” Raz’s shrill voice shrieked over the phone and Ryan held it away from his ear.

  “What does that picture look like I did last Thursday?” He shoved his hand through his hair and swore. “Fuck. He told me no one would see us.”

  “And you believed some fag?”

  Was Raz’s contempt for him or for Josh? Ryan shook his head. At the moment, that wasn’t the important issue.

  “I want you in my office ASAP. We have to figure out damage control and I want to know more about this asshole you kissed.”

  They’d done more than kissed, but Ryan wasn’t about to tell Raz that.

  “Fine, I’ll be there as soon as my driver can get me there.”

  He hung up on Raz’s continued diatribe and tossed the phone on the seat next to him. “We have to go to Raz’s office,” he told the driver before settling back to look out the window.

  Who could have taken the picture? He swore there hadn’t been anyone else out there besides the two of them. He rubbed his chest as it tightened from stress and worry. What was he going to do? Should he admit it was him and come out? Or should he deny everything and find a good-looking girlfriend to cover his ass?

  Resting his head against the cool glass, he shut his eyes and took deep breaths. He had to remain calm or he’d never be able to make a rational decision about this whole issue.

  Ryan strolled into Raz’s office twenty minutes later to fin
d his agent speaking softly into the phone, anger lacing every word.

  “We have no statements to make at this time.” Raz slammed the receiver down into the cradle and glared at Ryan. “Were you drunk or high?”

  “What?” Ryan dropped into one of the chairs facing Raz’s desk. That wasn’t the first question he expected to hear from Raz.

  “Come on, you had to be high or drunk to do something like that. They say every man is a six-pack away from bi-sexuality. So which one was it?”

  “I had a few drinks,” he admitted.

  “Good.” Raz shuffled some papers on his desk. “I got one of my assistants to do some research on this guy in the picture. He has to be the one who set up the opportunity for the photograph. What’s his name and where does he work?”

  His chance to tell Raz that the alcohol had nothing to do with the kiss slipped past him and he was distracted by Raz’s comment about Josh.

  “He works at the Lucky Seven Club. Do you believe Josh set the whole thing up? Like he had someone waiting in the alley and that he might have known who I was from the beginning?”

  He didn’t want to believe that. For some reason he didn’t want to think about, he wanted to believe Josh was innocent.

  Raz’s snort said the man thought Ryan terribly naïve for making that statement. He buzzed his assistant, passing on Josh’s name and the club he worked at. “Tabloids like The Hollywood Enterprise pay good money for pictures like this.”

  Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees and let his hands dangle between his legs. “He didn’t know who I was. I never told him my full name. How many pictures are there?”

  “The fuckers at that rag say they had a ton more, but they’ve only printed four of them so far.” Raz tossed the tabloid at him. “Page five.”

  He let it fall to his feet, reluctant to touch it like he’d be tainted in some way. Nudging it with his boot, he managed to get it open to page five without having to use his hands.

  Jesus fucking Christ on a stick! He groaned silently and squeezed his eyes closed. More shots of him sticking his tongue down Josh’s throat and gripping the man’s ass as they ground together. He could almost feel the heat and passion between them. Josh couldn’t have been faking all that need and desire. No matter how good an actor he might be, Ryan knew Josh wanted him as much as Ryan had wanted the bartender.

  Several minutes of silence passed as he dealt with the feelings of betrayal and hurt threatening to overwhelm him. Shit, things like this happened to other people, not him. He’d tried hard to keep out of the tabloids while building his career.

  Raz’s assistant bustled in, holding several papers and handing them to him. She didn’t even glance at Ryan before she left.

  “It looks like your kissing partner there needs some serious cash.”

  Raz’s statement registered in Ryan’s mind and he looked up. “Josh needs money?”

  “Yes. It seems Josh Bauer makes a substantial payment every month to a woman up north. Just two days ago, a payment of four thousand dollars was sent to them.”

  “Four thousand dollars?” Ryan blinked. Was that how much Josh got for the pictures?

  “I’ll try to find out who she is, but we haven’t had enough time to dig that out yet.” Raz frowned.

  Ryan ducked his head and pushed the paper out of his sight. So Josh had sold him out for money. Best fucking night of his life and he got screwed by a con artist. God, he was an idiot.

  Raz stood and walked around the desk. “I’m going to write up a statement and release it to the press. I don’t want you doing any impromptu interviews or anything like that. Let me handle this. Done in the right way, we can actually use this to further your career. Scandal’s always good for publicity.”

  He wanted to shout at Raz and tell him no that he wasn’t going to use this trash to help his career. Ryan didn’t want to be one of those tabloid stars who became famous because of the stupid shit they did. He couldn’t find the words to say it and his mind was numb. All he really wanted to do was go home and drink himself unconscious.

  He climbed to his feet and stared at Raz for a moment, trying to think of what he wanted to say. “I’m going home.”

  “Good idea.” Raz escorted him out of the office, talking the entire time. “Get some rest, but don’t drink. Drinking is what got you into this mess.”

  They made it to the sidewalk where Ryan’s driver had the car parked. Climbing in the back seat, he ignored whatever Raz said to the other man. He just wanted to get home and lick his wounds.

  *

  “Where is the bastard?”

  Ryan shoved his way through the crowd at the Lucky Seven, heading toward the bar. A bottle of Jameson provided him with liquid courage and he’d decided to confront Josh in person.

  He saw one of the bouncers making his way toward him and he detoured slightly. He didn’t want to get dragged out of the club just yet.

  “There he is,” he muttered, spotting Josh as the man stepped from the hallway where that woman’s office was.

  Ryan forced his way there in enough time to swing and catch Josh on the chin as the bartender turned.

  “Fuck me.” Josh stumbled and grabbed his chin.

  Shit. Of course, the man would have an iron jaw. Ryan cupped his own abused knuckles in his other hand.

  “No, that’s what you did to me, you fucking bastard.” He poked Josh in the chest, ignoring how his chest hair teased his fingers. “Four thousand dollars for pictures? How dare you lie to me and make me think you wanted me? All you really wanted was money to send to some whore up north.”

  Ryan yanked his arm back, ready to hit Josh again, but one of the bouncers got to him first. He found himself surrounded by two beefy arms and lifted an inch or two off the ground. He wiggled and swore.

  “Put me the fuck down, Fatso. I have every right to beat the shit out of that motherfucker.”

  He tried slamming the back of his head into the bouncer’s face, but ended up nailing his head on an iron chest. Stars swam before his eyes.

  “Jesus, are you made of steel or something?”

  “Put him down, Micah. I’ll deal with him, but we’re not doing it here where everyone can see. You don’t need any more press.”

  Ryan staggered as he was suddenly dropped to his feet. The liquor made his vision blur and his stomach roil. He swallowed quickly while the whiskey tried to come back up.

  Josh grabbed his hand and dragged him to the bathroom where he pushed him to his knees right before he vomited. He hadn’t eaten anything all day, so nothing came up but the alcohol and stomach acid, causing his throat to burn.

  When he was finished, he sat back and hung his head, wondering what the hell had gotten into him? He’d been so hurt and angry that coming to see Josh face-to-face seemed like the only way to ease the pain. Now he looked like a jilted lover.

  “Come on, Ry. Let’s go talk about this.” Josh offered a hand.

  He stared at it for a moment. Scarred and rough, it was the hand of a working man. Josh’s grip was firm as he took Ryan’s hand and helped him to his feet. As he swayed, Josh encircled his waist and let him lean on one of his broad shoulders while they went to the office.

  “I shouldn’t be here,” he murmured.

  “No, you probably shouldn’t be, but now that you are, we’re going to talk.”

  Ryan didn’t like the sound of that.

  Chapter Eleven

  Josh wiggled his jaw from left to right, wincing at the ache it caused. “You’ve got a mean right hook there, Ry.”

  “It’s Ryan and the least you could have done was fall down.” Ry pouted as he listed to the left slightly.

  “Ryan. Fine. I could have fallen over, but I’ve been hit by meaner, bigger guys than you. It’d take more than you’ve got to knock me down.”

  Ryan still looked a little green around the edges, so Josh went to Rachel’s mini-fridge and pulled out a bottle of water.

  “Here, drink this and rinse out your
mouth. It might help you feel better.” After tossing it to the other man, Josh went back to leaning on the desk where he picked up a peppermint candy from Rachel’s dish and handed that to Ryan as well.

  “I’m not sure anything would make me feel better,” Ryan muttered, but opened the bottle and sipped. After he got the cap back on the water, he popped the mint in his mouth and looked at Josh. “How could you do this to me?”

  “Do what?”

  Ryan shot him an incredulous look. “You’ve got to be kidding, right? You set me up, took me out to that alley where your partner in crime snapped those pictures of us. Was the four thousand dollars you got for them worth it?”

  Sighing, Josh rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced. His back throbbed along with his jaw. He didn’t have any idea what the hell Ryan was talking about and he couldn’t get past the hurt shining in the man’s dark brown eyes.

  “Explain this to me like I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.” Because I don’t, he added silently.

  “My agent did a little digging into your background after that bitch of a talk show hostess dropped the tabloid cover in my lap. He says that you need a lot of money and that you sent some woman up north four thousand dollars the other day. That’s a hell of a lot of money for a bartender unless you’re doing stuff on the side.”

  Ryan’s bitter smile cut into Josh and he had to fight the urge to hug the man. That gesture wouldn’t be welcomed at this point. Wait…did he just say that a check had been sent to a woman up north?

  Josh went to his backpack and pulled out his phone. Hitting the number already programmed in, he fidgeted until someone answered.

  “What are you doing?” Ryan shot him a look over his shoulder.

  “Just a second.” He heard the phone click.

  “Hello?”

  “Erin?”

  “Yes. Josh, is that you? I didn’t expect to hear from you. It’s not your normal day to call.”

  He smiled at Erin’s cheerful voice. “I know, but I need to ask you some questions. Did you receive a check for four thousand dollars in the past two days?”