by T Gephart
My gaze lifted, giving him a warm smile as he settled into the sofa across from me. “Hello, Dave.”
Dave Larsson was the younger brother of superstar Eric Larsson. Eric was part of Hollywood’s elite, gracing the pages of magazines and touted as one of the hottest actors in town. He also had a body that made atheists find religion and a smile that disintegrated panties. And while his younger sibling hadn’t reached the same level of professional success, he was no less impressive in the looks department.
With a slightly darker complexion, delicious brown eyes and fantastic brown hair, he had women creaming their pants before he’d even open his mouth. He was funny too, his wicked sense of humor making him even more desirable.
And sure, I’ll admit when I first met him I’d fantasized about testing his washboard abs with my tongue just like everyone else. But alas, he was forbidden. Because along with being hot, talented and funny, he was also a client, which put him strictly in the no-go territory.
Such a shame too because I really would have liked to tongue his abs like the fantasy.
“Jeremy will see you in a minute.” I gave him another smile, buzzing Jeremy to let him know his next appointment had arrived.
“You know,” he leaned back, his strong forearms folding across his chest as he shot me a devilish smile, “we could skip the whole meeting part and you could tell me what the part is. I know that you’ve probably read the script and have seen the director’s notes.” He wasn’t even attempting to be subtle, trying to get the insider scoop and flirting shamelessly like he always did.
“Nice try, Larsson.” I grinned, not even considering it despite his best efforts. “But I wouldn’t deprive you of the joy when Jeremy tells you.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He chuckled as he shook his head. “One of these days you’re going to cave.”
I was positive if I ever did cave, it would only mean trouble. And not just for my job, but for my hormones as well.
“Dave!” Jeremy burst through the door, lifting his arms in the air like he was welcoming his best friend. “How’s my favorite Larsson?” He curled his knuckles like a prizefighter in Vegas, punching air as he moved closer.
Dave rose to his feet, rolling his eyes as he grinned. “Stop bullshitting me, Jeremy. I know Eric’s your favorite.”
“Please, that prima donna.” Jeremy waved his hand like the notion was ridiculous. “I just pretend to love him more because he has the bigger ego and needs constant reassurance.” He mock punched Dave in the gut. “Now you, you’re my guy. Look at you.” He took a step back, as if to admire him. “You’ve been working out. Hell, you must be at least two hundred pounds of solid muscle.”
“Two-twenty,” he answered, his lips curling in a grin. “You want to feel me up some more or you going to tell me about this audition?”
Jeremy shook his head laughing. “Yeah, fine. Let’s go talk business. Jessica, hold my calls.”
He slapped Dave across the back and welcomed him into his office. I was almost positive the meeting wasn’t going to last long. That audition Jeremy had set up wasn’t exactly one I’d think Dave would be excited to take.
It seemed both of us were destined for misery today.
Sadly, the company didn’t make it any better.
“HEY, WAS THAT DAVE?” KATRINA scampered over, her smile doing little to convince me she hadn’t been staring at him the whole time he was at my desk.
“Yes, it was.” I rolled my eyes, knowing she had a massive crush on all the Larsson boys. “Don’t stare at his ass when he leaves though, it was creepy when you did it last time.”
She had the decency to look shocked. “I wasn’t staring at his ass. I was trying to read the label of his jeans.”
“Sure, that sounds convincing too.” I rolled my eyes again, clearly a prerequisite for both dealing with Katrina and Jeremy. I wished my only problem was whether or not to stare at Dave Larsson’s ass.
“Actually, while I’ve got you here you’re going to need to fill in for me when I go home for a wedding. It’s next month.”
Her face lit up, excitement dancing across her features. “Yay! Lana is getting married. Thank your lucky stars she didn’t ask you to be a bridesmaid. That dress you had to wear at her sister’s wedding—hideous.” She screwed up her face in disgust, remembering the burnt orange dress I’d had to endure. It had been fall-themed wedding, sadly that didn’t do wonders for my dark auburn hair and pale skin. And I had curves too where the other bridesmaids hadn’t, the tight fabric making me look like a distended pumpkin. I still refused to look at the photos. “And of course, I’ll cover for you. Whatever you need, I’m your girl.”
“Thanks, and trust me, a hideous dress is the least of my problems.” I took a deep breath. “They’re expecting my boyfriend to come.”
The only two people who knew of my stupidity were Katrina and our friend Liz. Both had been convinced I’d done the right thing, even commending me for my quick thinking. But apparently I had a responsibility to come clean at some point and that was where our opinions differed.
“Shit, you haven’t told them yet?” Katrina’s voice lowered, side eyeing suspiciously like my family might be lurking around the next corner.
“What was I supposed to say?” I threw my hands up in defeat. “Hey, remember when I talked about that guy I was dating and told you all how wonderful he was? Yeah, I made the whole thing up.” Wow, saying it out loud made it sound even stupider than I thought. Who made up fictional boyfriends? What was I? Twelve?
“Surely they’ll understand.” Katrina tried to be sympathetic. “I mean, it was for a good reason, your heart was in the right place.”
She was right about that. My heart had been in the right place, but I doubted that would matter to my black-and-white family.
I sighed, letting the breath slowly ease out of me as I closed my eyes. “Trust me, they’re going to be disappointed.”
I was just about to share my previously bad—and currently the only one I had—idea about hiring a prostitute when my cell rang. The letters M O M lighting up the screen as I cursed not so quietly under my breath.
Not sure how she did it, but that woman had a sixth-sense. And I was almost positive her call was not one of coincidence.
“Hi, Mom.” I pulled a face at Katrina, her eyes widening as she looked on. “What a great surprise.”
That, of course, was another lie. Not that I didn’t like hearing from her, but there was nothing great about the surprise. I was beginning to wonder if the truth was ever going to make an appearance again, certainly not from my mouth.
“Baby!” She still called me baby even though I was twenty-six and had a younger brother. “I know you’re at work but I’ve been trying you catch you for weeks and never seem to get you at home. I was fixing to send out a search party.” She continued, barely taking a pause, “I wanted to make sure you got Lana’s invitation. She thought you might be offended by the plus one, but you never did tell us your mystery man’s name. I told her you wouldn’t be, but you know your cousin. Anyway, with all the excitement of Gran Shelly pulling through, and you being so busy at work, I never did find out his name. Now, you know I don’t like to pry, but I haven’t heard from you in ages and I need to know what to tell your aunt to put on the place card. Besides, it’s been so long since you called your momma, if I didn’t know better I’d say you’ve been avoiding me.”
I shook my head wondering in what world I thought any of it was going to work out okay. Dodging calls would only go so far, and clearly my mother wasn’t going to tolerate radio silence forever. “Mom, don’t be ridiculous, I just thought you would be busy. Your attention should been on Gran Shelly, I mean what a miracle. Praise the Lord.”
Despite my affirmations, I wasn’t overly religious. I believed enough to think there was a heaven and hell, but wasn’t convinced that time on your knees could win you favors. All though if it did, I’d happily spend some time on them to get me out of my mess.
Ka
trina looked at me, biting back her smile at my Jesus praising and probably wondering—like I was—how long I could keep up the deceit.
“I’m so glad Lana didn’t end up cancelling,” I added, hoping to deflect a little longer. “I know how excited she was. And yes, I got the invitation last night. I just didn’t get a chance to open it until now.”
I’d sidestepped the whole name thing but I knew there was no getting out of it. All I’d really done was successfully stall her for a few seconds, hoping that in that time I’d come up with something good. I always did my best work under pressure, and now would not be the time for that theory to come undone. Plus, I had praised God. Hopefully that—the praise—had gotten his attention and he was willing to throw me a bone. Or at least, give me a small reprieve.
“Oh, I’m so glad.” Her voice sweetened, but she didn’t sound convinced. “Now, put your momma out of her misery. I want to hear all about the sweet boy you’re bringing home with you. He is coming to the wedding, right?”
“Errr.” I paused. Now would be a good time for that help, God. “You know, I just got it. I mean, I haven’t even had a chance to ask him.” My mouth spat out words that didn’t sound confident.
I hated being in this position, but it didn’t seem like I had a lot of options either. I was far too deep in the hole to just casually toss out the truth now.
A smart person would have realized the jig was up, flown down there on the weekend and set the story straight. Cry a little, act remorseful, and then promise to never do it again while sipping on sweet tea and complimenting my momma’s cooking.
The combination of crying and begging would probably be the only thing that would save my ass, but I’d probably still have to wear the shame like a metal chain around my neck for the next one hundred years, or until I died. And I wasn’t a fan of big gaudy jewelry so you could see how the option wasn’t overly appealing.
So instead, I left the shame necklace for another time and tried to brainstorm ways to try to stop the mother of all snowballs from spiraling out of control.
And like the miracle I’d been praying for, a loud bang filled the air, Jeremy’s door flying open with a very unhappy Larsson storming out.
“Dave,” I said absently, my eyes tracking his delicious body as he stalked through the doorway like a lion.
I assumed he wasn’t going to be pleased at Jeremy’s pitch, but I’d never seen him so angry.
“Dave?” His name echoed, the second mention coming from the phone I was still holding at my ear. “Oh, that’s a lovely name. Strong, classic, manly. I thought he was going to be called something like Tad or Razor, thank God he has a sensible name. Tell me, baby. Is he a Christian?”
Shit.
Shit.
Shit.
“Momma, I need to go. I will call you back.” I hung up the phone before she had a chance to say goodbye, stepping from behind my desk. “Dave, wait.”
I ran out in front of him, stopping him from leaving the office. He didn’t look happy, his body looming as he looked down on me. He seemed taller than the six-three listed on the back of his headshot, but maybe it was because I wasn’t usually standing right next to him. And wow, Jeremy was right. Dave had been working out.
“Dave, come on, calm down and come back into the office.” Jeremy followed him out, engaging in damage control. “I’ll get Jessica to get us a drink. I had some water flown in from the Himalayas.”
Dave looked at me and then at Jeremy, his jaw tensed like it had been clamped shut and his teeth were grinding. Fierce looked good on him—and while I was positive he wasn’t attempting to look sexy—angry and pissed off made him look even hotter. I bet it would be even better naked.
Dear. Lord.
His hotness didn’t make me forget my family drama. All that shit—the chains of shame, the disappointment on the face of my parents—was still very much a concern. Not to mention that not only was I expected to bring home a man, but also I had now unwittingly given my fake boyfriend a name. Well played, mouth. You are an asshole.
But those problems were going to have to wait a minute as I attempted to help Jeremy calm down Dave so the rest of the building wasn’t treated to a sexy version of Godzilla. Not to say they wouldn’t enjoy it, especially if he ripped his shirt off and treated us to those astounding abs. But some asshole would probably take pictures with their phone. There was a PR nightmare waiting to happen, besides, I didn’t want to share the fantasy with anyone.
“Katrina, can you go grab the water?” I turned to find her still standing silently beside my desk. She was looking at Dave with a lust that most women would have the decency to hide. Probably fantasizing about climbing him like King Kong scaled the Empire State, or maybe it was just me who was thinking that?
But finding some professionalism, she nodded briefly before scampering off, and probably glad it wasn’t her this time in the crossfire.
“And Dave,” my voice softened as I turned my attention to him. Climbing him is not an option. “Maybe we go back in Jeremy’s office and—”
“Another dog food commercial?” He didn’t give me a chance to finish, looking at me before turning to Jeremy. “Come on, dude, I’ve already done that. You promised me this was a lead.”
Yep, I knew it wasn’t going to fly and had even warned Jeremy about it before the pitch. But of course, he hadn’t listened, telling me how much cash they were throwing at it, convinced there was no way Dave would say no.
“And you were so great at it.” Jeremy’s smile widened, his arms spreading out to the side. “That’s why they want you back, to roll out a series of ads. Not only that, but there are going to be billboards, magazine spreads.” He smacked Dave on the shoulder in encouragement. “You could be like that English soccer player who sounds like an idiot. The ladies love him.”
Dave shook his head, not buying Jeremy’s hard sell. “David Beckham sells his own shit. He’s not pushing someone else’s dog food. Pretty sure he also played sports every once in a while too. And why the hell do I need to be naked? I don’t mind nudity when the script calls for it, but this is a pet food commercial. This is the big break you promised me?”
WOW.
Naked.
There was no way that had been on the original brief, because that was not the kind of detail I would have forgotten. Just the thought of all that man being stripped down made me need to fan myself. Lordy, I could barely take him clothed, but . . . naked? Yeah, sure as shit would have gotten my attention.
“No one is going to see your junk, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Jeremy laughed. “It will be covered by the food. That’s the beauty of it. It adds to the character.”
“Here’s the water!” Katrina power walked, balancing a tray of crystal glasses and a smile. “I sliced some lemon and lime too.”
Silence.
The tension cut through the air like a hot knife through butter while I thanked Jesus, Katrina hadn’t been around to hear about Dave’s exposed junk. I was having a hard enough time keeping myself in check; I couldn’t be responsible for controlling everyone else’s hormones as well.
“Why don’t we take this back to Jeremy’s office,” I suggested, thinking we should probably be offering him something a lot stronger than water. Lord knows I could use a drink. “I heard the director is really good.”
The director is really good?
What the hell did I say?
Clearly, I’d missed a cloud of locusts or something, because the day of the apocalypse had obviously come to pass and there I was grasping at straws. JJ Abrams could be the man behind the lens and it wouldn’t change the fact that Dave would be naked, covered in dog food like a poor man’s version of American Beauty.
“No.” He looked at me and then turned to Jeremy. “Find me something else. Anything else. And preferably a real role this time.” He walked over to Katrina and picked up a glass, gulped the entire thing in what looked like one long sexy swallow then waved goodbye.
Da
mn. He was hot.
“He’s right, you know,” Jeremy said under his breath as we watched Dave leave.
“Yeah, he is.” I sighed, nodding to Katrina that she was free to take her Himalayan water and leave. She didn’t need to be asked, giving me a we’re-going-to-talk-later look and heading back to her desk. “You do need to find him a better part.”
“No, not about that,” Jeremy scoffed. “I meant when he said I liked Eric better.” He laughed.
“You’re a jerk.” I leveled my stare at him. “You think Eric will be pleased with the way you treated his brother? I wouldn’t be surprised if Dave doesn’t have him on speed dial right now.”
While I’m sure many women would have applauded his effort to get Dave naked and visible for the general population, it still was a shitty thing to do. I liked Dave, unlike some of the assholes who walked through our door, he was never sleazy. Plus, he spoke to me like a real person, not like I was just the hired help.
“Shit, you’re right. Call him and smooth it over.” Jeremy pointed at the phone with urgency. “If he wants to toss away good money, fine, but I don’t need the family to close ranks and pull their talent. Eric is one of my best earners.”
I shook my head as I huffed out a breath. Jeremy could be the biggest prick sometimes, but I guess in the industry, nice people finished last. And as much as I hate the way he sometimes conducted his business, cleaning up the mess was one of the things I did best. Coming from a big family meant I was used to the chaos, or maybe I was just secretly hedging my bets in case there really was judgment at the pearly gates. You never know. And if the California sun was murder on my skin, the fiery pit of Hell wouldn’t be a good thing. “You can go now. I have work to do.”
Jeremy shot me a grin, knowing I would handle it like I always did. He didn’t even look back as he headed back to his office to focus on another client. I hoped for both our sakes he didn’t piss that one off too. Lord knows if he did, I was going to ask for a raise.