Hollywood & Vine

by Olivia Evans

The questions made her want to fall to the ground and curl up in a ball. A sob tore from her chest as the tears she thought were gone streamed down her cheeks.

  “Were you after his money?”

  Over and over they insulted her. They pushed and shoved with no regard for anything other than a reaction, a comment, a money shot. Her body shook with adrenaline. She lowered her shaking arms and balled her fists as a surge of anger swept over her. Extending her arms, she shoved the guy in her face to the side and pushed past him. She could see her car. She was almost there. She just needed to cross the street.

  “C’mon, baby. I’m sure you used that mouth of yours more than this to get Anders Ellis in the sack. Tell us your story.”

  She had never been so degraded in her life. Beyond humiliated, she stepped onto the curb just as something slammed into her back and propelled her forward. She stumbled into the street, her arms extended as she fell toward the concrete. A horn blared to her left. She only had time to squeeze her eyes shut before strong arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her out of the road and back onto the curb. Reeling, she lifted her gaze to a pair of concerned bright blue eyes.

  “I’ve got you. Are you okay?”

  Hours later and hundreds of miles away, Anders pushed open the door to his cottage and stepped inside. He tugged his shirt over his head, wincing as the material slid across his sunburned shoulders. He’d fallen asleep after swimming and woke hours later with the sun beating down on him. Starved, in pain, and drained from the heat, he trudged up the stairs for a cool shower and something to help him sleep. After eating a sandwich, he fell onto the couch, flipped on the television, and didn’t move again until the sun rose the next day.

  He was groggy and disoriented when the sound of his phone ringing woke him. His back ached and his shoulders stung as he sat up and scrubbed his hands over his face. The incessant ringing of his phone grated on his nerves, and when he snatched it off the table, he was irritated and short-tempered.

  “What?” he barked, standing and moving toward the bathroom.

  “I’ve been calling you since yesterday morning. Where the fuck have you been?”

  Anders stopped short of the bathroom door, his face twisted with disbelief. Nathan had never talked to him like that before. Defensive as always, Anders reacted as expected. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you paid me to be at your beck and call. I thought it was the other way around.”

  “My job is to look out for your best interests. I can’t do that if you won’t answer the damn phone. Or maybe you don’t care that your relationship with Josie is all over the Internet and magazine covers. My mistake. Please go back to whatever else was more important.”

  “This is not news. That article came out when I was still in LA.”

  “You’re not listening. Her name, her real name has been released. They know everything about her. And the paps are looking everywhere for you. They’ve already found her.”

  Anders’ stomach dropped at Nathan’s words. He braced his hand on the doorframe and pulled in a deep breath. In a choked whisper he asked, “What do you mean they’ve already found her?”

  “She was mobbed yesterday. I don’t have the details. I only saw pictures.”

  “Book me a flight. I’m coming home.” He turned away from the bathroom and headed toward his room. Grabbing his suitcase, he started throwing clothes inside.

  “Now, hang on, Anders. You shouldn’t do that. Wait a few days. Let this die down. Don’t put yourself in that situation.”

  Anger radiated through Anders as he froze in place. “What situation? Josie’s situation? You want me to hide here like a pussy while she gets all the heat? Who the fuck do you think I am?”

  “You’re the kind of guy that avoids paps like the plague. What are you going to do once you get here? Are you going to offer yourself up to them to protect her?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

  Silence filled the line. Anders’ admission stunned Nathan so much that he didn’t respond for several moments. When he did, disbelief colored his words. “Who are you and what have you done with Anders?”

  “Don’t be an asshole.”

  “Says the asshole.”

  A shadow of a smile pulled at the corner of Anders’ mouth before fading just as fast. “She’s different. I can’t let her deal with this alone. Book my flight.”

  “Okay,” Nathan sighed. “But let me give you a piece of advice. If you want to take the heat off her, if you want this to die down, you need to stay away from her.”

  “Why the fuck would I do that?”

  “Because this is big news right now. If you’re spotted with her, they’ll terrorize her. Your fans, Aubrey’s fans, the paps, they’re going to make her life a living hell. The best thing you can do is give this time to die down. And you can’t tell everyone your whole relationship with Aubrey was a sham. It’ll hurt a lot more people than just you.”

  “So I’m supposed to do nothing? No way. That’s not happening.”

  “I didn’t say do nothing. I’m saying you should stay away from her. They’ve made her the bad guy here. You’re going to cause more harm than good.”

  “You’re wrong.” He refused to believe things were so bad that she would be better off if he stayed away. He didn’t want to stay away. He wanted to see her. He wanted to be there for her. He wanted to fight for her.

  “Look at the pictures. Read the things they’ve said. Then tell me I’m wrong. I’ll text you later with your flight details.”

  “Make it fast. I don’t have all day.”

  “Of course you don’t.”

  Anders chose to ignore the sarcastic edge to Nathan’s voice as he hung up and opened his web browser. He understood what Nathan meant the moment he saw the first photo. Nausea churned his stomach as anger and sadness wrapped around him like a vice. Each picture was worse than the last. Her tear-stained face made his chest ache and his vision blur.

  Even though he’d lied in the beginning about wanting their relationship to be a secret to protect her from the paparazzi, it didn’t make it any less true. The pictures of her now proved it. The paps were merciless. He opened a link to an article and didn’t even make it to the end before grabbing his suitcase off the bed and throwing it against the wall.

  They’d trashed her, turning her into some sort of villain while painting him and Aubrey as helpless victims. Nathan was right. Anything he did would make it worse. Having him around would keep her in the spotlight, and it would be brutal.

  Maybe this was his punishment for the shitty way he had treated her. What better way for karma to fuck him over than to have him realize he loved her but couldn’t have her? One thing was for certain: karma had help. Someone did this to them. When he found out who leaked this, he was going to destroy them. He opened his texts, freezing when he realized he had a missed call and text from Josie. His eyes slid shut when he read her message. It was only three little words, but they changed everything.

  His eyes narrowed as anger caused his jaw to clench. Pulling up Nathan’s name, his fingers flew across the screen, his resolve setting like concrete.

  Find the source. I don’t care what it takes. Find them.

  Dropping his phone on the bed, he grabbed his suitcase from the floor and started packing. It was time to go home.

  Levi shifted his weight and pushed his long blonde hair out of his face as he tried not to steal another peek at the brunette across the room. Nodding in thanks as the barista handed him two cups of coffee, he pulled in a deep breath and crossed the room.

  “Here you go.”

  “Thanks.” Josie smiled, taking the cup from his hand. She took a tentative sip of the steaming liquid before setting it on the table between them. “I…I didn’t get to thank you that day. I’m grateful for what you did. And of course for this,” she added, gesturing to her wallet lying beside her cup.

  Levi shrugged. “It was no problem. I’m glad I was there to help.” He meant that too.
He’d received the same text as everyone else about her location. He told himself he wasn’t going to get involved, but something made him go anyway. Standing on the other side of the parking lot smoking, camera packed away in his car, he watched as she emerged from the fabric shop. He assumed it would be bad, but the way they swarmed her was beyond what he had imagined. When he realized she was heading toward the street, his gut told him something awful was about to happen. He’d been right. Had he not taken off in a jog, he might not have made it to her in time.

  “Me too. The roadkill look isn’t in style these days.” She tried to joke to wipe away the memory of how terrified she’d been. One minute she had been falling into the street and the next she was being propelled back onto the sidewalk. Shaken, she just grabbed her bag and ran to her car, not realizing her wallet had fallen out. Craig had called the next day and told her some guy had her wallet and had left his contact information.

  Levi cracked a grin. “I suppose not. I was surprised when you called. I was beginning to think you weren’t.”

  “I wasn’t ready,” she admitted, her eyes drifting to the window. “I haven’t been out very much.” Josie tugged at the edge of the cardboard wrapped around her coffee cup. Other than going to work, she’d only left Madison’s house twice in the two weeks since that day and both times had been a disaster. Although, the last time hadn’t been as bad as the first two. She was sure Anders’ recent activities were the reason.

  Levi drummed his thumb on the table, nervous and on edge. Guilty. He wasn’t sure which part he felt guilty about, but the girl sitting across from him was the reason. “Are things better?” He already knew the answer. While the attention on her had eased a bit, nothing about the story had died down. Was it not for Anders being papped with Owen three different times in the last week, she would have caught a lot more heat.

  Shrugging, Josie took another sip from her coffee. “I’m paranoid every time I go out in public. But I’ll get over it. I bought a can of mace. If those guys ever come near me again, I won’t hesitate to set their eyes on fire.”

  Levi laughed, surprised by her sudden feistiness. “That’s one way to get the message of ‘no comment’ across.”

  “I thought so too.” Josie grinned, enjoying the lightened mood. As of late, everything was so damned depressing. It had taken Anders two days to respond to her texts, and even then it was with a text of his own asking if she was okay and saying how sorry he was. He’d tried so hard to convince her to be with him, but the moment their relationship became public knowledge, he did what she’d always expected: he bailed. He went right back to being the person he was before without a care in the world. Which was why she never responded.

  “If you need to run some errands or something, I’d be happy to tag along, so you’re not caught off guard alone.”

  Josie studied him for a moment. There was nothing pressing, but she’d be lying if the thought of doing something normal wasn’t appealing. “I don’t have any errands, but I’m kinda hungry. Would you like to grab some lunch?”

  “Lunch sounds great.”

  After leaving the coffee shop, the pair walked down the street to a small diner. Levi talked about growing up in England and his family. He kept the conversation flowing, firing off questions to Josie and never leaving an opening for questions he wasn’t sure how to answer. When they parted ways, he found himself unable to stop from asking her if she wanted to see a movie.

  Josie’s first instinct was to refuse. However, when she caught sight of the newspaper stand across the street, the glossy magazine covers reflecting the sun, she changed her mind. She knew who and what covered those pages. No doubt there were more pictures of Anders partying with his best pal, Owen.

  “Sure.” After they made plans and said goodbye, Josie climbed into her car and drove to Madison’s. As she sat in front of the house, she came to a decision. It was time to go home.

  “Maddie? You home?”

  “Kitchen!” Madison yelled.

  Josie leaned against the doorframe and watched as Madison unloaded the containers of food Holden had sent home. “I got my wallet back.”

  “Yeah? I told you I’d go with you. The guy wasn’t a creeper, was he?”

  “No. He was nice. He, uh…he asked me if I wanted to catch a movie with him.”

  Madison’s brows shot up in surprise. “Wow. Boy has some brass ones, doesn’t he?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Come on, Josie. Your life isn’t normal right now. The media just outed you for dating one of the hottest guys in Hollywood. Either he’s the most confident fucker on the planet, or he has an agenda.”

  “We were only fucking, Maddie, remember? Just a fling. At least that’s what all the magazines say. We’re the only ones who know it wasn’t like that. Hell, after the way Anders has acted, I can’t help wondering if the whole thing was an act.”

  Madison’s face softened. “If all that was an act, he deserves a fucking Oscar. I just…I don’t know what the hell he’s doing right now. Do you honestly believe it was an act?”

  “I don’t know what to think, but it’s obvious he isn’t concerned about me anymore. He’s back to being Anders fucking Ellis. It makes me want to vomit. I feel like such an idiot.”

  “So where does this guy fit in?” Madison refused to let Josie beat herself up over something she had no control over.

  “He’s nice.”

  “Nice or nice looking?”

  The corner of Josie’s mouth twitched at Madison’s tone. “Both.”

  “Then I say go. Maybe if you’re seen with another guy, they’ll lose interest and this whole thing will blow over.”

  “Yeah.” The thought of being followed by more paparazzi made Josie’s shoulders bunch with tension. If she was being honest, though, she’d already considered what Madison suggested.

  Sighing, she told Madison her other news. As expected, Madison tried to convince her to stay awhile longer but eventually conceded. After packing the few things she’d brought and promising to call later, she drove home.

  The next several days were uneventful, much to Josie’s relief. She stayed busy with work, and while gazes still lingered in the halls, no one commented. She hoped it was the beginning of things returning to normal, or at least a semblance of normal. Levi texted a few times, somehow managing to add dinner to their movie plans. She didn’t protest. He wasn’t Anders, but he wasn’t Philip either. He reminded her of a cleaned up version of Kurt Cobain. With his lean frame and messy blonde hair, she couldn’t deny that he was attractive. He was more her type, even if she wasn’t ready for more than friendship. They decided to meet for an early movie when it would be less crowded, then catch a late dinner. Maybe flipping things around would make them less likely to be hounded.

  On the day they’d planned to meet, Levi arrived at the theater a little early to purchase their tickets. Leaning against the brick front of the building, he drummed his fingers on his thighs as he watched Josie park. He couldn’t help the way his eyes lingered on her body when she stepped out of her car. She looked good. Really good.

  Shame washed over him when the thought crossed his mind. It was just another reminder of how messed up it was to be anywhere near her. After all, he was the reason for her current situation in the first place.

  Levi grinned and pushed off the wall as Josie approached. He tried to shut out his thoughts as they exchanged greetings, but the nagging feeling that he should come clean about his connection to Anders wouldn’t subside. Throughout the movie his mind wandered to the different reactions she might have. He never expected to care, but since the day they had met for coffee and the few times they had texted and talked, something shifted. He wanted her to know, if for no other reason than to tell her before someone else did.

  By the time they reached the restaurant, his leg bounced with anxiety and his palms were sweating. Josie eyed him with suspicion. He was not the charismatic guy she’d chatted with during the last week. For all she kne
w, this was how he always acted and their last meeting had been a fluke. If that was the case, it would be the last time they’d hang out. She didn’t care how much being seen with another guy might help her situation. Shifting in her seat, she took another sip of her drink and glanced at her watch.

  “I need to tell you something,” Levi blurted out.

  Josie’s eyes widened, and her drink sloshed over the side of her glass as she jumped in surprise. “Okay,” she choked.

  “Sorry.” He reached out and dabbed the back of her hand with his napkin before dropping it on the table. Scrubbing his hand over his face, he sighed. “There’s no way to tell you this without you thinking I’ve misled you on purpose, which is what I’ve done, but it’s just…well, I didn’t expect you to be so nice. To be honest, I thought you’d be a complete bitch. When you weren’t, I―”

  “Excuse me? Did you just say you expected me to be a bitch? What the hell?” Josie stared at him, her eyes narrowed and shoulders stiff as she waited for him to answer.

  “Shit,” he groaned. “That didn’t come out how I wanted. What I mean is, you were hooking up with Anders Ellis. And he’s…well, he’s a dick. I never expected someone decent to put up with his shit.”

  “And how would you know anything about Anders?” While Josie agreed, it pissed her off that he’d pegged her as a bitch by association.

  “I know Anders well enough.”

  Josie took a sip from her water, hoping it would relax the sudden tightness in her throat. “Oh?”

  “That’s what I want to tell you. I…” Levi paused to take a sip from his drink and gather his thoughts. “Listen, I just want to be honest with you. I was wrong to assume things about you because of who you spent time with. That was unfair, and I apologize. It’s just, Anders and I have history.”

  “History? I don’t understand.”

  “I can see that.” Levi shook his head. “Wow. I’m sorry. I’m having a hard time processing that you have no idea who I am. Did Anders tell you anything about him and Eva?”

  Josie’s entire frame stiffened. Her conversation with Madison played in her head, and she wondered if this guy wasn’t working an angle after all. “If you’re fishing for information―”