Center Stage (Bright Lights Billionaire #2)

by Ali Parker

  "Wilma. Jeez." The little old man beside her offered me a weak smile. "It's all right, dear. Just get the steak fixed."

  "It's not all right. Let me see the tablet." She popped the table twice, causing me to jump. Where I wasn't at all docile, having someone snap at me when I was riding on E and headed toward a long night of hiding myself behind a facade of indifference was too much to handle.

  I pulled my notepad from my front pocket and handed it to her as I picked up her plate and walked it back into the kitchen.

  "This was supposed to be medium rare." I set it on the counter as the chef pulled it close and rolled his eyes.

  "That is medium rare. See this?" He poked at it and blood oozed out onto the plate. "Learn your cooking temperatures, Riley. You're wasting my time."

  "Great, well, the woman at my table is having a fucking conniption because it's not medium rare to her. Can you please throw another steak on the grill for her? Today's not the day for this." I put my hands on my hips, suddenly so damn tired of my old life.

  Barely skimming by from paycheck to paycheck left me angry and quick to tear someone's throat out. The situation with my mother losing our house and lying about keeping my things safe in the process unraveled me even more. I had a bright future ahead of me for sure, but seeing that I was stuck in the present, the future was a world away.

  "No. Take it back out there and tell her that the steak is medium rare. Period." He narrowed his eyes on me before turning around and going back to the insanity in the kitchen. The rumors at the restaurant that I’d seen Ethan Lewis had half the place loving me, and the other half not wanting anything to do with me. It was like I was ‘selling out’ by trying to make something better of my life. Fuck them too.

  "Fine." I turned and walked back out to the table.

  "Here. Obviously it's not you who's an idiot, unless you put in the wrong thing when you typed it in. Where is the ticket you submitted? I want to see it," the woman barked and handed me back my notepad.

  The masculine voice behind me caused me to jump. "Hey, we're just going to grab something from somewhere else. This is taking forever."

  "No, don't do that. I'll be right with you. I promise." Inadequacy raced through me, and I couldn't help but wonder for the hundredth time why I had decided to wait tables. Nothing was more stressful. People were rude, uncaring assholes on good days...

  "I was talking to you first!" the woman barked and stood up.

  "You know what? Get your own damn steak." I took off my apron, pulled my keys and what little bit of cash I had from it, and tossed it on the table. "I hope no one ruins your day like you've ruined mine."

  I turned and walked out of the restaurant not feeling free like I wish I did, but worrying about how I was going to help Charlotte pay rent until my first advance from Eon Productions came in. I wished it was the worst of my worries, but it wasn't. Facing Ethan Lewis for the first time in almost a week was.

  I'd lied about the almost kiss at his house a week before. Shameful pride left me trying to backtrack and cover up my need to push our budding relationship into something it never would be, nor should it. Even more than that, the sickening realization that he was seeing someone, or at least sleeping with her, was devastating. Why I thought an icon like him didn’t have women warming his bed every other night of the week was beyond me. He wasn’t living a normal man’s life. He wasn’t a boy I’d met at school at the coffee shop and our love affair would soon start.

  He was Ethan fucking Lewis and this wasn’t the movies. I needed to remember that above all else.

  I got into my clunky car and tried to start the engine only to have the car sputter and die.

  "No. Please. Come on. Not today. I just made up half an hour. Don't take it back from me," I growled and rubbed the dashboard as I tried again. "Come on, baby. Start up."

  Nothing. The fucking thing wouldn't even turn over.

  I let my head drop as someone tapped on my window. My manager, Gerald.

  "Fucking awesome." I opened the door and got out of the car seeing that I didn't have the ability to roll the window down.

  "Where are you going? Someone confronts you over a steak you mess up, and you quit? That doesn't sound like you at all. What's gotten into you? This isn’t how the real world works. It’s not a film." His words were far harsher than they should have been due to his tone and the ugly scowl on his face.

  "I'm tired, Gerald. Taking one more person's shit today is likely to send me into being postal. I thought it would be best to walk out instead of try and explain to the woman who was ripping me a new one that her order was right. That I didn't mess up, the kitchen didn't mess up, no one fucking messed up. She wants someone to beat down, and honestly, I'm too beat down by my own shit right now to take anyone else's."

  "That's stupid." He put his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes. "Get back inside and apologize to her."

  "I'd rather eat a turd." I leaned down into the car and got my wallet out of the console. "Thanks for the last few years. I quit."

  "Don't ask me for a reference. Quitters don't get advances in life." He moved back as I pulled my phone from my purse and started toward home. It was five miles, but I was praying that I could get a hold of my best friend Charlotte, or if nothing else, my fuck-buddy Jace. Surely someone would be free.

  "Okay. Thanks for that. It was only three years of my life of never missing a shift, getting here early and always smiling no matter how much my life or this shitty job sucked." I shook my head in disgust and pulled the phone to my ear as it rang. He continued to yap, but I walked down the street with my chin up, ignoring him.

  How ready I was for a different life. I wasn't sure the life that Ethan lived was necessarily the one I was after, but one where I didn't have to search for change in the bottom of my car for gas or a loaf of bread at the store would be righteous. To have people pawing at me and worshiping the ground I walked on sounded horrid, but I would take that any day for a paycheck capable of pulling me out of poverty.

  Charlotte's phone sent me to voice-mail, and I growled loudly and called Jace instead. He answered on the first ring.

  "Hey, baby girl. What's up? Need me?" The laughter in the background told me quickly that he wasn't alone.

  "I'm stuck on the side of the road off Vance and Timmons. Can you come give me a ride or are you too busy?" I kept my tone light. Jace was a good guy with a healthy lust for women – all women. He didn't deserve my shit, and after us being friends with benefits since our senior year in high school, he didn't much put up with it either.

  "I'm good. Just leaving a barbecue. I'll be there in three minutes. I'm actually just down the road. Must be your lucky day." He chuckled.

  "Not really, but thanks." I dropped the call and stopped on the side of the road to find somewhere to sit. It was still chilly out, but would be warming up soon. Spring in Los Angeles was fantastic and half the reason I still lived there. The other half was the hope that I'd eventually make it as an actress, and it would seem I had.

  I still couldn't wrap my mind around the idea of being a part of a motion picture. One that people bought tickets to and gathered their friends to see. They would buy buckets of popcorn and a cold soda to sit down in a cold theater and see me. Well, see Ethan Lewis, but me too.

  Ethan Lewis.

  A long sigh left me as I brushed my fingers through my short strawberry-blond hair and tried not to ride that train of thought too long. Between his wavy chestnut hair and warm brown eyes, I was barely keeping my nose above the water. He had a million personalities that ranged from cheeky to sweet to insanely sexy to dominant. I wanted to know about each of them and get intimate with him in ways that would leave us both drowning.

  But... I was being unreasonable. I was a nobody for now. That would change over time, but even that scared me to think about. And even as a nobody, I didn’t look anything like the slutty blond he’d obviously taken to his bed after our meeting the week before, nor did I look like Trish Desmount. T
hey were glamorous and I was plain.

  “And filthy.” I glanced down at my white shirt that was stained with food from my long shift at the restaurant.

  "Hey, sexy. You need a ride?" Jace smiled and waved me over to his navy blue mustang. "I got a car and a cock with your name on it."

  “You finally had my name tattooed on your jimmy?” I laughed as he scoffed.

  “Come find out, Riley.” It was a challenge I wouldn’t make good on for a little while the way my calendar was stacking up, but as soon as I could… I would. Having him paw at me sounded delicious, fun, healing.

  I gathering my stuff and realizing that my folder with my paper that was due was back in the employee locker room at the restaurant. "Fuck," I grumbled and walked to the car.

  "What's up, buttercup?" He reached over and cupped the side of my face, pulling me in for a long kiss.

  I melted into it as my eyes fluttered close. He was like coming home. How quickly I could see us turning into something more than we were, and where I wanted that a week back, I wasn't so sure anymore. Ethan seem to be working to take up more and more of my mental energy, and funny enough, he hadn't done a damn thing to deserve the space. He had actually done everything not to.

  "I left my paper back at the restaurant." I kissed him again and moved back, licking at my lips and enjoying the subtle peppermint flavor of his tongue.

  "Let's go get it." He watched me as if waiting for approval of his plan.

  "No. Just take me home. I have that big-ass party for the film crew tonight. They're going to do a press conference and announce me as the female lead." I shrugged. My excitement was pressed below the weight of having to work with Ethan after I lied about my intent. Hurting him the way I had seemed wrong and took the joy out of a moment in my life that I should have been beyond elated about. Between that and being tired from not sleeping, I was sucking at life.

  "You sure?" He gripped my hand and pulled it into his lap, stroking his erection with both our hands.

  I chuckled and pulled my hand back. "I'm sure."

  "I wanna go with you. Can you take a date?" He licked at the side of his mouth and gave me a sexy grin. "Might meet the woman of my dreams there."

  "I thought I was the woman of your dreams." I snorted and pulled out my phone, texting Charlotte to see if she was still going with me too.

  "You are baby, but you're taken." He reached over and ran his fingers up my thigh softly.

  "No, I'm not." I trapped his hand. "Don't. I don't have time for anything other than getting ready. I want to look my best."

  "You are taken." He pulled back and let out a soft sigh. "You belong to your career and the idea that I'll one day wake up a good guy."

  I rolled my eyes and reached for the door handle as he pulled up to my apartment. "You can come tonight with me if you want to. Charlotte is coming too."

  "Can I have you when we get back from it?" He reached over and brushed his fingers down my neck before gripping it softly. "Will you let me strip you down and bathe you with my tongue, fuck you with my fingers?"

  Warmth danced in the center of my stomach, but cooled quickly at the simple fact that he wasn't Ethan. For some odd reason my libido was convinced that my soon-to-be co-star was the only man who could make me writhe in pleasure. I obviously needed a reset.

  "Absolutely," I lied and leaned across the console of the car and kissed him hard and deep, letting my eyes close as he tugged me into his seat more. Our kiss turned into a quick petting session, and I was aching and dripping wet by the time I untangled from him and got out of the car.

  At least I'd proven to myself that it wasn't just Ethan that could get me going, or was it? I couldn't deny that Jace had become him behind my closed eyes.

  Chapter 3

  Ethan

  "Oh, you look much better." Deza stopped in front of me as I walked into the auditorium where the press was buzzing about in droves.

  "So I looked like shit before?" I glanced around and groaned as several of them headed my way. "I fucking hate these things."

  "Smile and be nice." She patted my chest like someone would a pet.

  "And what's in it for me if I do?" I gave her a cheeky grin as she rolled her eyes and moved away from me.

  "Mr. Lewis. Do you have time for a question?" The reporter shoved his microphone in my face and bumped it against my lips. "Sorry about that."

  I hid my disdain and brushed my fingers over my mouth before smiling. "Of course. Make it quick though. I have no favorites and you're sure making it look like I do. Someone might run a story on me being in bed with your station if we're not careful."

  The guy laughed. "No, really, I just wanted to ask how you guys decided to go with a nobody for this role. America is amazed at your generosity and such, but this girl..." he glanced down and fumbled with his notes, "Riley something-or-other... she's just a college kid with a hard life. Why-"

  "Riley Phillips. She's a very talented actress," I barked, losing my cool. The little shit could suck a nut, as could the rest of the world. I might make a shit-ton of money and have the type of fame most people could only dream of, but to put Riley down and make her out to be nothing... nobody? Fuck that. "She came into the studio and stole our hearts. Not everyone gets recognized for their gifts or their talent. This profession is a game of luck most days of the week, but this time, it rolled in favor of a talented, beautiful woman."

  "Oh, of course. One more-"

  I put my hand on the mic and pushed back as she walked into the room from across the auditorium. Her cream-colored dress was dainty and made her look so much softer than I knew she was. My pulse spiked dramatically, and I couldn't help but move around the weasel in front of me and work to get closer to her warmth. Radiant was an understatement.

  A good-looking guy a little taller than me moved up on her left and slipped his hand into hers as she glanced up and laughed at something he said.

  "Shit. Who's that?" I stopped in my tracks and slipped my hands into my pockets. Was she dating him? She'd mentioned going out with someone when we first met, but through our brief interactions after that first encounter, I'd quickly deduced that she was single. It would seem that I was wrong.

  "What are you looking at?" Deza stopped beside me and chuckled. "Oh, I see."

  "Who's the jock with the shitty buzz cut?" I tilted my head to the side and let my eyes move down the soft curve of her breasts over her flat stomach to her long legs. The straps from her heels were wound up her leg to mid-calf. I wanted so badly to hit the floor and work them off of her sensually, slowly as she laid back and let me have her for the night.

  "No clue." She tugged at my sleeve. "Stop staring at her like you're a starving man who's finally found his first meal."

  "Not his first, but the buffet he wants to bury his face in." I licked at my lips and moved toward her as Deza slipped her arm into mine.

  "Please don’t be a dick tonight. I'm begging."

  "I love it when you beg." I glanced down at her and winked. "If you'd do it on your knees more often I might actually come anywhere you wanted me to."

  "You're gross."

  "It was your dirty mind that took my comment there." I laughed low in my chest, grateful for something to chuckle about as we approached Riley and her beau. "I was just being compliant with your wishes."

  "Riley. We're going to get started soon, so let's get you to the back and touch up your make-up for the cameras." Deza moved in front of me and blocked my view of her for a minute.

  I extended my hand to her rent-a-date. "I'm Ethan. Nice to meet you, man. You are?"

  "Hey. Great films. I've seen most of them." He smiled and I could see why she liked him. He had a bad boy appeal. I hated him already. "I'm Jace Dillon."

  "That name could score you a few films of your own." I shook his hand and slipped my hands back in my pockets. Nervous habit.

  "Hi Ethan!" Riley's pretty blond friend moved around Jace and stopped in front of me.

  "Hey Jade. How are yo
u?" I extended my hand only to have her move in for a tight hug.

  Riley smiled as I glanced over at her. "You'll have to get used to this. She's part of the deal when you guys signed me."

  "I don't mind." I gave the girl a quick hug, but didn't take my eyes off my beautiful co-star. "Tell Deza to suck a dick. You don't need any help with your make-up. You look stunning already."

  She rolled her eyes and moved toward me, surprising me a little as she reached up, cupped my cheek and brushed her thumb just under my eye.

  "You're wearing some. I should too." She moved back with a sweet smile on her face.

  "I have to. The demons won't let me sleep at night." I winked and turned to Deza as she snorted.

  "Stop calling women demons. It's demeaning." She turned and beckoned Riley to join her. I wanted to as well, but it seemed silly.

  There was almost a flood of relief inside of me that Riley seemed back to being her old self. Having her upset with me, or tense in my presence in a way that wasn’t cheeky, was unnerving, and we’d just met. I liked our relationship the way it was. If she were willing to get over the small mishaps we had the week before, I could too. I’d even let the idea of her testing me go. It was a far better answer than thinking I had hurt her pride. Hell had no fury like a woman scorned. Even they would agree with that.

  "So you have a way with the ladies as well?" Jace asked and crossed his arms over his chest. I hated how quickly I was to judge him, but the poor guy didn't stand a chance with me. He was standing too close to the woman I wanted wrapped around me later that night. He had something I wanted - badly, and I wasn't too used to that.

  "Naw... I give them what they want from time to time and go about my merry way." I shrugged and pointed toward the drink table. "Jade, there're bottles of water over there. You want to grab a few for us?"

  "It's Charlotte, but sure." She smiled and walked with a pep in her step toward the beverage table. I wasn't trying to be a male chauvinist pig, but I needed some time alone with Bubba on my left to see what he thought he had going on with Riley.