Hollywood & Vine (4 page)

“Are you okay?” he asked, flexing his fingers around her arms.

Josie cleared her throat and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She stepped back, trying to pull away from the heat of his skin burning into hers, but Anders wasn’t having any of that. He extended his arms as she moved away, keeping her in his grasp.

A feeling of déjà vu swept over him as his gaze traveled down her body and back up again. “Have we met?”

Josie’s jaw slackened with disbelief. She searched his eyes for a hint of recognition, a sign that he was joking, but all she found was sheer curiosity. Her eyes tightened at the corners and her mouth curved into a sweet smile. She fought to remain even-tempered, to appear cool and collected, even though she burned with embarrassment and anger. While she was aware that he’d likely slept with more people than she would in a lifetime, it didn’t lessen the sting of being forgotten.

“Nope.”

“No?” He cocked his head to the side and studied her. A slow smile spread across his face as he imagined the many ways to rectify that situation. As he opened his mouth to speak, a girl barreled around the corner. Wild red hair fell around her flushed face, her expression colored with shock.

Anders sighed internally as he dropped his hands and took a step back. He was familiar with her reaction, the surprise that crossed women’s faces when they saw him in person for the first time. While most times he was more than happy to listen to them gush about how amazing he was, right now he had other things on his mind.

Josie spun around as soon as she heard Madison gasp. With pleading eyes, she tried to communicate to Madison that she was freaking out. Madison approached Anders and Josie with slow, hesitant steps.

“You okay?” Madison whispered, sliding the strap of Josie’s bag back onto her shoulder.

“Yup. Great. Perfect,” Josie nodded with a tight smile.

“Um, are you ready?” Madison darted her gaze to Anders then quickly looked away when she noticed his glare.

“I just need to grab my phone.” Josie turned to find Anders picking up her phone where it had landed across the hall.

“Here,” he murmured. His voice was low, smooth, and pure sex. Josie knew that tone. She’d heard it when he pushed his fingers inside her and sucked her nipple into his mouth.

She licked her lips and tried to control her breathing. Extending her arm, she reached to pull the phone from his hand. “Thanks.”

Anders tightened his grip around the phone. The resistance caused Josie to stumble forward into the same position as earlier.

“Do you want to grab coffee or
something
?” His stormy blue eyes darkened and his lips parted when he thought of the different ways they could do the
something
.

As she pulled her phone from his hand, his words snapped Josie out of her lust-induced daze. The reminder that he had no memory of their
something
made her jaw clench with anger.

“Thanks, but I’ll pass.” Josie reached for Madison’s hand and without another word took off down the hall, leaving behind a shocked Anders.

“I thought you said Anders Ellis never sleeps with the same girl twice,” Madison hissed once they were alone.

“Apparently that only applies if he remembers sleeping with them the first time.”

Madison jerked to a stop and gripped Josie’s hand to keep her from moving any farther. “No,” she exhaled.

Josie sighed and turned to face Madison. “Yes. He has no idea. Well, perhaps some idea since he asked if we’d met, but no. He doesn’t remember.” She blew her hair from her face and gripped the strap of her bag.

“I’m sorry, Josie.”

“It’s okay, seriously. Yeah it sucks, but it’s not as if I like him or anything. Do I think he’s hot? Of course. Who doesn’t? But that man is nothing but an asshole through and through. Other than his looks, I can’t think of one positive thing about him. So really, it’s fine. Although, I wouldn’t be upset if he got hit by a bus either,” Josie muttered as she started walking down the hall again.

“Josie!” Madison laughed, moving beside her.

“What?” Josie feigned innocence. “Too much?”

Madison nodded.

“How about he just gets clipped and loses a toe?”

“Much better.”

“Gotcha.” Josie chuckled, pushing the door open to the conference room.

“He left.” Craig scowled as soon as Josie entered the room.

Josie’s face fell as she took in Craig’s appearance. His usually styled hair stood in several places where he’d tugged it and his loosened tie twisted to the side. “I’m sorry
―
”

Craig held up his hand. “I know about the accident. It was on television. I understand you can’t move cars out of the way and magically appear so people don’t have to waste their precious time waiting.”

Craig paced the room, his face twisted in agitation. She got the impression everyone who attended the meeting didn’t feel the same way. A sense of dread washed over her as she put the pieces together. The room spun making her dizzy and sick. Definitely sick.

Madison’s eyes widened when she realized the same thing as Josie. “So the actor got upset because he had to wait?”

Craig grimaced before nodding. “You could say that.”

“And this person, the new lead actor, wouldn’t happen to be Anders Ellis, would it?” Madison asked as Josie sunk into the closest chair.

“Who told you?” As soon as the words left Craig’s mouth, Josie groaned and dropped her head in her hands.

A humorless chuckle bubbled from her chest as she looked to the ceiling. If this was God’s idea of a joke, she wondered how many Hail Marys she’d have to say for throwing rotten tomatoes while booing.

“We just passed him in the hall.”

“Yes, he had more important things to do than sit around and wait on people all day.” Craig’s tone was dry, his face unamused as he pulled out the chair next to Josie.

“Darn, I was so looking forward to meeting with him.” It was impossible for Josie to sound more sarcastic.

“I know he’s...difficult, but we’re lucky to have him on the project. Walker left us in a real pinch,” Craig pointed out as Josie began pulling the sketches from her bag. “Also, we’ve worked with him before. I don’t recall you having any complaints working with him while filming the last movie.”

Madison pinched her lips together, fighting to keep a giggle from escaping her closed mouth. She failed. Josie’s head snapped up, her glare withering. Madison shrugged unapologetically and looked away. She couldn’t help but think of exactly how Josie had worked with Anders the last time she’d seen him.

“I avoided him like the plague.” Josie spread out the drawings on the table, putting them in order by scene. She wanted to get the meeting over with and go home to beat something.

“Well, just do whatever you did last time. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

Josie cut her eyes to Madison, warning her with one look that if she made a sound, she’d regret it. Madison schooled her features, her face a blank mask as she turned to Craig and spoke, her voice steady and serious.

“I’m sure Josie will have no trouble getting him in and out of his clothes without complaint.”

“Good, good,” Craig answered, not bothering to look up, which was how he missed the daggers Josie shot Madison with her glare.

Over the next hour they worked with Craig, tweaking a few things for the overall look of each character.

“You have his measurements, right?” Josie asked, stacking the papers in front of her.

“Yeah, you can just leave this stuff with me. I’ll take care of the rest.” Craig stood from the table and took the sketches from Josie.

“Sounds like a plan. Will you be sending these over to Mr. Ellis?”

Craig huffed and nodded. “Although, I’m sure everything will be fine. He just wants to look them over for final approval.”

“Well then, if there’s nothing else, I need to get the rest of these changes down to production. Josie lifted her bag to her shoulder, wanting to get the hell away from the studio in case her luck continued to plummet and Anders returned.

T
he next few weeks passed in a succession of disasters. No matter how many fires Josie put out, there seemed to be twice as many to take their place, and this morning was no exception.

Josie moved through the lot, weaving through the trailers that covered every square inch of asphalt. With her eyes glued to her phone, she typed with one hand and held a cup of coffee in the other. The constant beeping of her phone—countless texts and voice mails detailing several last-minute rewrites—woke her before dawn every day. Normally something like that wasn’t a big deal; however, these rewrites meant two of the dresses shipped to Italy for Aubrey were no longer suitable. Now she had to find two new outfits and prepare them for shipping in a matter of hours. She groaned when she finished her text only to find another waiting.

The only thing that had gone in her favor was her ability to avoid any run-ins with Anders. She’d seen him several times but usually when he was on set, so she’d never been in any danger of having to interact with him.

People bustled around the lot, their voices echoing as they darted between trailers too. Just as Josie took a sip of her steaming coffee something bumped into her from behind. Reflexively, her grip tightened around the cup. The lid popped off and hot liquid poured down her body, seeping through her shirt and scalding her skin.

“Shit!” she cried, dropping the cup and pulling her shirt away from her chest. She spun around just in time to see a couple of guys pushing a huge rack of clothing around the corner. Either they didn’t realize they had run into her or they didn’t care.

She pushed open the door to the trailer next to her and dashed inside, ripping her shirt over her head and using it to dab her stinging chest. She crossed to the far side of the room and stood in front of the full-length mirror, grimacing at the bright red color of her skin. When she glanced at the rack of clothing to her right, her heart stopped. One sweep of the room confirmed she had the shittiest luck ever, and all she could do was close her eyes and shake her head.

“Fuck.” Of course she was in Anders’ trailer. Dread sank in her chest as she looked at the coffee-stained shirt clutched in her hands.

Over on set the director yelled cut as he moved in front of the cameras. “That’s enough for now. Let’s grab lunch and meet back here in an hour.”

Anders nodded and crossed the lot to his trailer. He pushed open the door, halting when he noticed the half-naked girl standing in the middle of the room.

“Well, well, well.” He smirked when she jumped and turned to face him. “I’ve got to hand it to Argent. They’ve made great improvements with how they stock my trailer.”

Josie’s mouth fell open. Her fingers tightened around the fabric in her hand as she chanted silently that she wouldn’t hit him.

“Sorry, I’m not part of your goodie bag. Argent only provides what you ask for, or have you
forgotten
?” She failed to keep the bite out of her voice when she emphasized the last word.

“No, I haven’t forgotten. Although, I’m not opposed to the idea either.”

“Oh my God,” Josie groaned. He was such a pig, such a devastatingly gorgeous pig.

“Well, if Argent didn’t put you here, and you’re not here on your own, why are you shirtless in my trailer?” He stepped closer; something about her face seemed familiar. He dropped his eyes to her chest. The lacy edge of her bra pushed into the soft swell of her breasts, causing them to spill out of their restraints.

He slipped a hand into his pocket and pursed his lips. She had great tits, but again, something about them seemed familiar. Not giving her a chance to answer, he spoke again, his voice lower, a roughness to it that wasn’t there before. “I know you.”

Josie shifted her weight when she realized he was staring at her chest. She wanted to slap herself for being attracted to him. She couldn’t deny it again, but she still refused to remind him how well acquainted they actually were.

“We met a few weeks ago. We literally ran into each other in the hallway here at the studio.”

Anders made a noise in the back of his throat as he remembered the girl who blew him off. For days every time he thought about it, his anger spiked. Only after hooking up with a busty brunette did his annoyance subside.

Silence hung in the air as Anders followed the rise and fall of Josie’s chest. When her breathing changed, becoming choppy and shallow, he lost all restraint. In four long strides, he covered the distance between them. Without pause he cupped her breast and squeezed. His cock twitched at the soft, pliant weight in his hand.

“What are you
―
”

“I do know you,” he insisted, brushing his thumb over her nipple, his nostrils flaring as her skin flushed. “I know these.”

Josie jerked away when he drew in a sharp breath, the sound pulling her out of her stupor. She took a quick step back and then another, needing to put space between them before she did something stupid, again.

His mouth curved into a devilish grin as she retreated, his eyes hungry as he advanced on her. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Touch me again and you’ll have to surgically remove your balls from your stomach,” Josie warned, jumping when her back connected with the cold surface of the wall. Her mind flashed to another time when she stood with her back against a wall as Anders stalked toward her.