Love's Wager

by J. M. Jeffries

  “Is she someone I need to worry about?” Scott asked.

  Miss E. frowned. “I don’t know. Louisa wasn’t particularly interested in the casino originally. She enjoyed the privileges and the perks that came with being Jasper’s only child. When all that was taken away, it’s like she lost a part of her identity.”

  Nina remembered the fierce, pinched look of anger on Louisa’s face while she sat with Gary. Louisa was a woman who felt she was entitled to what Jasper could give her. Nina saw a lot of that sense of entitlement in the entertainment industry. Actors, at the top of their game, believed they were more than special, that they could do what they wanted when they wanted. But the reality was they were only one good scandal away from losing everything.

  “It must be difficult for Louisa to give up the attention,” Nina said, “the ingratiating way other people treated her.”

  “Maybe,” Miss E. conceded, “but Jasper is enjoying his life and loving the fact that he’s not responsible for taking care of this place anymore. He settled a trust fund on his ex-wives and his daughter, and is loving this new sense of freedom.”

  But that wasn’t Nina’s point. Louisa needed to feel special. “I see time and time again in Hollywood where celebrities claim to hate the attention and publicity, but will pull stunts designed to do nothing but focus attention on them.” Maybe Nina could introduce Louisa to some director who might cast her in something. She had the right look and attitude.

  “Don’t feel sorry for Louisa,” Miss E. said gently. “In her head, she might feel she’s fallen from grace, but she landed on a big old feather mattress.”

  “But that doesn’t explain,” Scott interjected, “why she was having dinner with Gary White.”

  “Maybe they’re dating,” Lydia said with a fond look at Hunter. Hunter grinned back at her.

  Yeah, Nina thought, they were totally in love and wanted others to share in their glow. “Nope, they didn’t have the dating body language, not even the fake dating body language.”

  Lydia asked, “What, pray tell, is fake dating body language?” She leaned forward gazing at Nina curiously.

  “We call it PR dating. Celebrities date to call attention to themselves, or a project they’re working on, or to divert the public’s attention from something they’re hiding, or the ‘I’m not gay’ date.” A lot of celebrities had come out of the closet, but just as many hadn’t. “I set up several fake dates myself. Fake dates are terrific publicity. Almost as good as having a baby or a lavish wedding you know is doomed to fail before the two parties finish their vows. And babies are really big business for celebrities.”

  “How are babies big business?” Lydia asked curiously.

  “Babies are publicity platinum, especially for women,” Nina replied. “There’s the ‘I can’t wait to see the baby bump’ response. How is she dressing the baby bump? If she’s not married, who’s the baby’s daddy? And then afterward, there’s whole getting back into shape, who’s watching the baby, baby photos, what kind of loot did you get. You have eighteen months of publicity madness.”

  “What do you give to new mothers?” Miss E. asked.

  “I knit baby booties,” Nina said. “I’m constantly amazed at the number of expensive gifts new mothers get they can’t even use, but my booties are popular and practical. It’s that personal touch. Anyone can call Tiffany’s and order something and I give something handmade to people who can afford the best of everything. I get pregnancy confirmation before the press. One of my friends told me that my booties are a sign of ‘you made it.’ People compete for my booties.” She’d even had little tags that she put on the booties that said, Made by Nina, just for you.

  “That’s just odd,” Lydia said. “If I get pregnant, will you knit a pair for me?”

  “I’ve been waiting for the Russell family to start producing so I can provide booties for them.”

  Lydia smiled. She exchanged another intimate look with Hunter that excluded everyone at the table except Maya who clapped. “I want a baby brother.”

  Nina grinned. “Trust me, sweetie, brothers are overrated. I have five of them. They get mad when you dress them up, they don’t want you to play with their toys and they rip the heads off your Barbie dolls.”

  Maya frowned. “I want a sister, instead.”

  “I’ll make that happen,” Hunter said with a laugh.

  “What are we going to do about Louisa?” Miss E. asked.

  “I’m going to keep an eye on her and Gary,” Scott said.

  Everyone nodded at Scott’s comment and the conversation turned back to the wedding.

  Nina sat back and watched the family dynamics. She loved being with them. As much as she loved her family, the chaos level with the Russells was so much lower and easier to manage. She settled back and just watched, her mind busy with wedding planners and the New Year’s Eve celebration. So much to do and time was slipping away from her.

  Chapter 10

  Scott knocked on the door to Nina’s suite. She flung the door open and gasped when she saw him.

  “What is going on?” he asked. She’d left a message in his office to come see her as soon as possible. He’d left his phone in the charger and hadn’t had a chance to get back to his suite to grab it. His morning had been ultra-busy with the construction people in the casino building the last step of the viewing case for the ten-million-dollar jackpot. Already the jackpot had generated a ton of new business in the casino for people who wanted a glimpse of what ten million dollars looked like even though the money wasn’t in the case yet.

  She grabbed his hand. “Come here. You have to see this.” She dragged him to her laptop open on the dining table. She pushed him down on the chair. “Look at this.” She tapped a key.

  All Scott saw was a tangle of legs and arms along with melodramatic groans and tiny gasps. He couldn’t make any sense of it. “What am I looking at?”

  She pointed at the screen. “Wait for it.”

  His brain finally sorted out two people rolling around on a bed and then a light went on. He was looking at a sex tape. A sex tape starring...Anastasia Parrish and Nina’s ex-husband, Carl Durant!

  He leaned closer to the screen, not believing he was seeing what he was seeing.

  His first comment was, “Is that really Carl? What is he doing with Anastasia?” The sex part was obvious, but why? “She’s ten years younger than he is.” His second thought was that her father was going to kill her or put her in a convent. His third thought was that Senator Richard Parrish, who ran on a family values platform, was going to be unemployed come the next election when his very conservative South Carolina constituency saw this.

  He turned to Nina. “How did you get this?”

  “A friend sent it to me. It was posted this morning.”

  “This is not good.” His thoughts turned to the damage this could do to the hotel. There was no denying that the tape had been made here. The background showed the Casa de Mariposa colors and distinctive furnishings. The date at the bottom said the tape had been filmed several days ago. At the bottom of the screen Casa de Mariposa flashed letting the world know where the tape had been done. Scott tried not to groan.

  “I can spin this,” Nina said with a wave of her hand.

  “What about Carl’s new start on his career?”

  Nina laughed. “This will put him on the radar of every studio in the country. Better than having a baby.” Her eyes gleamed. “I know Anastasia probably did this herself, but still I have to ask myself why.”

  “To embarrass her father,” Scott said.

  “Most likely, though all she has to do is wake up in the morning to do that. I think this is for you to show you what you’re missing.”

  Scott blinked.

  Her phone rang. She glanced at it and sent the call to voice mail.

&nb
sp; “But a sex tape!” Scott stared unbelievingly at the screen. “Why?”

  “I’m going to be a pop psychiatrist for a moment. You stood up to her father and you stood up to her.”

  “The man is not that impressive.” The senator had a smug, superior manner that grated on him. He felt sorry for Anastasia. She was confused, angry and hurt, which was a dangerous combination.

  “He swings his power around like a bat and he doesn’t care who it hits as long as he gets what he wants. He’s not above using his daughter to further his agenda. So, yes, she is getting back at him while showing you the bonus you could have had. But I’m just speculating. I’m surprised she hasn’t done one before.”

  Incredulously, Scott watched Anastasia twisting herself into the weirdest position he’d ever seen. He tilted his head trying to figure out what was going on. He couldn’t believe he was watching this.

  Nina’s phone rang again. Again, she sent the call to voice mail. A second later it rang again.

  “Aren’t you going to answer that?”

  Her phone rang again. “This one I have to answer. It’s Carl.” She pressed the talk button. “Hello, Carl, what can I do for you?” She listened, a smile on face growing. “Sex tape? Heavens. How did something like that ever happen?”

  Carl’s voice was an indistinct murmur. Whatever he was saying amused Nina. At one point she covered her mouth to keep from laughing. “Carl, you know how to spin this. Own it. People are going to think you’re hot stuff. A senator’s daughter. This is one promotion that was made in heaven. How could you not know Anastasia was filming the two of you?” She listened again. “You’ll be fine. Just own it. I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”

  She disconnected and doubled over laughing.

  “You think this is funny.” Scott did, too, but wondered what Nina found so amusing.

  “Yes. Don’t you?”

  “Yes, it’s amusing. Carl sounded upset.” Carl hadn’t come across to Scott as someone who would do something like this. Deep down inside, Carl was a private person and even though Scott didn’t particularly like him, he was, in his own way, a nice enough man.

  “For about thirty seconds, until he realized this is great for his career.”

  “How is this good for his career?”

  “He’s with a senator’s daughter who is almost as media savvy as me. She knows how to get her name out there and now Carl’s name is linked with hers. This is awesome. Notoriety in Hollywood is golden. Only a few things trump a sex tape.”

  “Such as...” Scott coaxed.

  “A good stint in rehab.”

  “Your world is messed up,” Scott said.

  “I’m inclined to agree. Everyone loves a good failure. The only people who aren’t allowed to fail are people like me. I have to knock the ball out of the park every time. But actors, directors, writers fall on their faces all the time and rise like a Phoenix from the ashes. The public watches them struggle to regain themselves and feels like they’re a part of their lives.”

  “But not everyone pulls themselves back up.” Scott could think of a number of celebrities who disappeared into obscurity after particularly nasty failures.

  “Then we get to feel superior.” Nina turned the laptop to look at the screen.

  “The senator isn’t going to like this.”

  “I know. He’s already called me...” she looked at her phone, which she had turned to vibrate “...seventeen times. I’m surprised he hasn’t called you.”

  “I left my phone on the charger this morning and haven’t had time to get it. Besides, I’m not her babysitter, no matter how much the senator thinks I am.”

  “She is a grown woman, sort of. For all her savvy she does the silliest things.” Nina shook her head. “One good thing about all this is, I’m sure her daddy is revving up his broom to get her out of here and back under his control.”

  Scott brightened. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “That’s why I get the big bucks.” She paused, thinking hard. Her phone vibrated. “That’s your grandmother. I called her before I called you for an emergency meeting to figure out how to use this. You need to talk to your people. We’ll need crowd control. The press will be here to interview Anastasia. Too bad she didn’t leave with Carl. We could have been spared the media attention. After my meet with Miss E., I’m going to talk to Anastasia, prep her on what to say.” She clicked out of the browser and closed her laptop. She slipped her laptop into its case and swung it over her shoulder. As they walked to the door, she suddenly kissed him and did a little dance. “This is turning out to be a great day.”

  * * *

  After her meeting with Miss E., Nina hunted Anastasia down. Anastasia sat by the pool, her dog in her lap, a floppy hat on her head and the smallest white bikini Nina had ever seen, though she had to admit the white looked perfect against Anastasia’s almond-colored skin. A bottle of sunblock sat on a table next to her accompanied by a margarita.

  A bunch of teens romped in the shallow end of the pool under the watchful gaze of their parents who sunned themselves.

  Nina sat down next to Anastasia. “I saw your sex tape.”

  “Isn’t it great?” Anastasia gushed. “I have no idea why you divorced your husband.”

  Because he was doing this crap while they were married, without the visual proofs. “Let’s just say, we drifted apart. Sweetie, I need to know one thing. What were you thinking?” Besides coming up with new ways to embarrass her father. Nina still hadn’t answered the senator’s frantic calls. She was now up to thirty-one.

  Anastasia shrugged. “It seemed like a fun idea at the time.”

  Nina ground her teeth. “I understand. You were trying to hurt your daddy.”

  “Daddy only brings me out when it’s election time and I have to play the part of the good, dutiful daughter. He doesn’t care about me the rest of the time.”

  “And this is your way of making him notice you.”

  Anastasia took off her sunglasses. “I don’t care anymore.”

  “What is your mother going to think when she sees it?”

  Anastasia put a hand over her mouth, her eyes going wide. “I didn’t think of my mother.”

  “I think you and Carl should date for a while.” Nina had thought about ways to avert some of the damage the tape would cause.

  “Why should I do that?”

  “People have more sympathy for a couple who are dating. Otherwise it just looks like a one-night stand.”

  “Well, it was. Carl is very nice and I enjoyed my night with him...” Anastasia looked wistful.

  Nina had the feeling the date meant more to her than she was letting on. “Then you need to enjoy a little more time with him.”

  “He did say he thought I’d be perfect for a small part in this new movie he’s going to be working on.”

  “You should be able to leverage this tape into an acting gig.” Actresses a lot less skilled than Anastasia had done similar stunts.

  A small smile crept across Anastasia face. “I think I’d like to be an actress. I want to have my own life, my own money.”

  Nina nodded. “I can understand that. The next step is up to Carl. Just talk with him.”

  “Is he angry with me for leaking the tape?”

  “Good God, no,” Nina said with a short laugh. “For men, it’s a badge of honor that proves their sexual prowess. Carl is thrilled.” Not completely the truth. “This is exactly the bump he needed for his career. He’s about to direct two episodes for a major TV show...” Her voice trailed off as she stared at Anastasia, suddenly realizing she was the woman Carl needed. She was media savvy, knew how to keep her name in front of the public and Nina herself couldn’t ask for a better replacement. “Just call him. I think Carl needs you. You two could get a lot out of this.”<
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  Anastasia reached for her phone. “Then I will.” She thought for a second. “And then I’ll call my mom. At least she’ll act like an adult.”

  “What about your daddy?” Nina repressed a shudder. Dealing with the senator was not going to be pretty.

  “I think it’s time I dealt with him, too.” Anastasia’s voice sounded confident, but the look in her eyes held uncertainty. She looked at her watch and tapped the crystal. “Forty-five minutes.”

  Perplexed, Nina asked. “What do you mean?”

  “I calculate he’ll be here in about forty-five minutes, so you better get ready for the Parrish temper tantrum.” She gave Nina a coy look. “I came by the name legitimately.”

  “I’d better warn Scott.”

  Anastasia just nodded. She leaned back against the lounge chair, phone to her ear. Nina stood and headed back into the hotel.

  * * *

  When Anastasia predicted forty-five minutes, she’d been accurate to about thirty-five seconds. Nina warned Scott, but he hadn’t needed it. He knew the senator and how his daughter knew which buttons to push.

  Senator Richard Parish was a large, bulky man with severe features and angry brown eyes. He stalked into the hotel as though he owned it, followed by his retainers who hustled along in his wake like waves behind a cruise ship.

  Scott waited in the lobby, calm and relaxed.

  Senator Parrish walked right up to Scott after noticing him and punched at him with his finger. “This is your fault.”

  Scott didn’t back away. With one eyebrow raised, he replied. “I wasn’t in the sex tape with your daughter.” He couldn’t help enjoying the senator’s embarrassment.

  The elevator doors slid open to reveal Anastasia and Nina. The stepped into the lobby and the senator immediately started to pounce on his daughter.

  Before he opened his mouth, Anastasia said sweetly, “Daddy, how nice to see you. Before you say something, do you really want to make a scene in such a public place?”

  He clamped his mouth tight over what he’d planned to say.