Hollywood & Vine (5 page)

She squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to get it together. She needed to control her raging hormones and get as far away from the asshole in front of her as possible. Unfortunately for Josie, Anders had no intention of allowing any of those things to happen.

“You don’t mean that,” he argued, lightly trailing his finger up her side.

Josie shivered before narrowing her eyes in determination. She planted her palm flat against his chest and pushed. “Yes, I do.”

No longer caring about the coffee soaking her shirt, Josie pushed her hands into the bottom and raised her arms over her head. Anders’ eyes followed her movements, his jaw tightening when her raised arms pushed her tits together, making them spill out of her bra a little more.

His gaze swept over her taut skin, freezing when he saw the hint of ink peeking out of her jeans. In one quick motion he trapped her wrists and pushed them against the wall, his grip firm as she clutched the shirt in her bound hands.

He remembered her then
―
the girl who had approached him several months earlier
―
the one with real tits, killer long legs, and a sexy as hell tattoo. “You little liar.” He chuckled, moving her wrists together so he could hold them with one hand, freeing the other.

“Let me go, jerk.” Josie twisted her body to the side as his fingers curled into the top of her jeans and pulled.

“What do we have here?” Vivid images of her flushed and panting flooded his mind. He tugged the button of her jeans loose, then eased down her zipper. Josie’s stomach tightened when he pulled at the material until the top of her panties was visible.

Anders grinned as he traced the outline of the tattoo, wanting nothing more than to grind against her and relieve the building tension. “Why did you lie to me, Ivy?”

The reminder of why Josie lied caused her to snap. She lifted her leg and, without hesitation, kicked him in the shin.

“Fuck!” he yelled, stumbling back a few steps and grabbing his leg. “What the hell?”

Josie yanked her shirt on and fastened her pants in a few quick, angry motions. “Why did I lie? Gee, maybe because needing to remind a guy we had sex isn’t at the top of my ‘fun things to do’ list.”

Anders let go of his leg and straightened his back. The way she stared at him, her eyes blazing with anger and fists balled at her sides, made him want to strip her naked and fuck her senseless.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, holding his hands in front of him. “That was shitty of me. Let me make it up to you. I promise there’ll be no way either of us will forget this time.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Josie laughed, her expression incredulous. “I don’t know what shocks me more. Proposing we have sex so you can remember the last time or that you think for one second I would consider it.”

“I remember,” he assured her, advancing toward her once more.

“Now. You remember now. Tell me something, Anders, what’s my name?” Josie took two steps to the left and moved forward a little. Anders followed her movements with a sly smile on his face.

“Ivy.”

“No. My real name.”

His pause made her laugh. He was such an asshole. “This is why you should stick to your no repeat rule, Mr. Ellis. There isn’t enough room in that self-absorbed head of yours to remember trivial things like the names of girls you’ve fucked.”

Walking briskly to the door, Josie yanked it open and darted into the open air, making her way inside the building. She needed to change her clothes, figure out what dresses to use for Aubrey’s scenes, and get them shipped. But first, she needed a cold shower.

Anders adjusted himself, chuckling when he thought about her feistiness. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman rejected him or ever being so turned on because of said rejection.

In front of the vanity mirror, Anders smiled at his reflection and fixed the few strands of hair that had fallen out of place. His gaze slid to the wall he’d pinned Ivy against and without hesitation he decided to do something he hadn’t done in years. He was going to break his own rule and fuck her again, just to prove he could.

C
raig pulled off his glasses, rubbing his tired eyes and sighing as he leaned back in his chair. He wondered how much longer he could handle this job. As much as he loved it, his current project was on track to give him a heart attack. First the casting drama, and now this.

With a resigned sigh, Craig picked up the phone and called Josie. He wanted to have this conversation about as much as he wanted to shove prickly pears in his ass. It only took a couple of rings before she answered. With a deep breath, he recounted his earlier conversation. By the time it was over, he wanted a stiff drink.

“Son of a bitch,” Josie muttered, ending her call with Craig as she paced the length of the room.

“What happened?” Madison asked, reflexively shrinking away from Josie’s angry glare.

“I’m going to kill him.”

“Who?”

“Anders.” The venom in Josie’s voice was deadly.

“What did he do?”

Josie leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. She wrapped her fingers in her hair and pulled until her eyes stung. Anders Ellis was driving her insane. Since their confrontation in his trailer, he seemed to be everywhere. Like the time she was in the middle of a meeting and he’d waltzed into the room like he owned the place, his face blank and impassive as he crossed the room. It was only when his back faced the others that his expression changed. A devious smile curled his lips as he reached out and shook her hand.

“Josie Bane? I’m Anders Ellis. I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.” He swept his thumb over the back of her hand, chuckling when her mouth fell open. Unable to form a coherent sentence, Josie settled for a scathing glare and jerked her hand away.

Offering a wink to accompany his gloating expression, he cleared his throat and wiped his face clean of emotion. He walked to the conference table and lowered himself into a vacant seat. The condescending superiority of his next words made Josie’s blood boil. “Since you failed to show up for our meeting, I thought I would have better luck catching you on your own schedule. I’m nothing if not accommodating.”

Mindful of the other people in the room, Josie offered him a polite smile. When she spoke, her voice was soft and non-confrontational. “Of course.” Fighting arrogance with animosity wouldn’t get her anywhere.

As soon as she called the meeting to a close, Josie wasted no time excusing herself under the pretense of another appointment. She knew Anders had tried to discreetly follow her, but luckily several interns accosted him for autographs before he could escape.

It was the first of many times Josie managed to give him the slip, creating a frustrating game of cat and mouse for Anders. Every time he cornered her, she outmaneuvered him. His latest stunt, though, turned the tables. He’d captured the queen.

“You know how he’s been complaining about his wardrobe? Always finding something wrong with every little thing?”

Madison nodded.

“Well this time he’s taken it a step further. He called one of the executives and requested I be the one to fit his clothes to make sure everything is in order.” Josie pushed off the floor and resumed pacing, her mounting frustration clear. “And the kicker is, I don’t have a choice. Craig agreed.”

“Is this because you didn’t fall all over yourself to sleep with him again?” Anders was a conceited jerk, but this seemed a little over the top, even for him.

“Honestly? Yeah.”

Madison stared at Josie. She had noticed small changes in her friend over the last several weeks ever since Anders had made it his mission to bed her for a second time. Josie needed to do something, for both of their sanities.

“Then fuck him.”

“What?”

“Fuck him. Get it over with.” Madison crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her brow.

“I’m not going to fuck him so he’ll leave me alone! Are you crazy?” Josie’s eyes widened and her voice teetered on the edge of hysteria.

“It’s not like you haven’t already slept with the guy. From the way you talked, it was pretty damn great, so why not? Although, I might recommend gagging him first so you don’t have to listen to him speak.”

“You’ve lost your mind. Yes, it was great, but there’s no way I’d give him the satisfaction of winning.” The very idea of his smug face made Josie’s fists clench. She refused to let her mind wander to the other details of that scenario. It was a distraction she didn’t need.

Madison lifted her hands and nodded in acquiescence. “Okay, okay, it was just an idea.”

Josie huffed and opened her purse with a little more force than necessary. She pulled out a compact and tube of lipstick, studiously ignoring Madison’s knowing expression. She knew Madison thought she was primping to look good for Anders, and while she was right, it wasn’t for the reasons she thought. Just like wearing power panties, feeling pretty gave Josie a boost of confidence. She needed all the backup she could get when it came to dealing with assholes like Anders Ellis.

“Well, I better get to his trailer before Mr. High Maintenance has an aneurysm.”

“We certainly wouldn’t want that.” Madison stuck her bottom lip out in a ridiculous pout. The sarcasm coating her words was thick as tar.

Josie shook her head, laughing as she opened the door and exited the design room. As she wove through the crowds of people heading to the set, she wondered exactly how long Anders would continue this game before giving up and moving on. An involuntary smile curled her lips as she thought of how much fun it would be to watch him fail. Their new arrangement might not be so bad after all.

Anders checked the time and scowled when he realized more than an hour had passed since calling the executives. Josie should already be there, yet there he sat, annoyed and brooding. He considered that she might not show but dismissed the idea immediately. As much as she studiously avoided him, she wouldn’t jeopardize her job.

Not that it would make a bit of difference in the long run. He’d made up his mind. No matter what, he’d win in the end. He reached for his phone, ready to call her boss, when there was a knock at the door. He leaned against the vanity and yelled, “Come in!” His arrogant tone matched his expression.

Josie opened the door, fighting an eye roll when she saw Anders’ smug face. She wasn’t letting him see how annoyed she was.

“You’re late.”

She wanted to hit him. “I wasn’t told a time to be here, so how can I be late,
Mr. Ellis
?”

Anders didn’t miss the bite in her voice when she emphasized his name, nor did he bother to pretend to care. “Well, I assumed you were aware of the filming schedule. Therefore, you should know I’m due on set in ten minutes.” Anders’ face twisted with annoyance when he realized they were wasting time arguing. He didn’t want to argue. What he wanted involved very little talking.

Josie moved to the clothes rack and grabbed the outfit for today’s scene. Like every other piece of clothing, it was pressed, tailored, and ready to go. She turned to face him, carefully removing the tag pinned to the front.

“You know what they say about assuming, right? It only makes you look like an ass.” Her tone shifted from sweet to deadpan and her face became a blank mask.

“Actually,” he corrected, his voice condescending, “the saying is, ‘When you assume, you make an ass out of u and me.’”

“Actually,” she mocked, “the only ass in this room is you.” She pulled the shirt from the hanger and tossed it to him, keeping her distance. “If you were able to dress yourself like a big boy, you wouldn’t have to worry about being late.”

Josie was angry, that much was obvious. As much as Anders enjoyed getting under her skin, having her pissed wasn’t conducive to his plan. Yet he couldn’t stop the words that tumbled from his mouth next.

“Well, if you did your job, I wouldn’t need you here to fix your mistakes, would I?”

Josie ground her teeth together and marched across the room, yanking the shirt from his hand. “Take off your shirt.”

“What?” Anders stared, dumbfounded.

“Take off your shirt
now
.”

He reached for the hem, taking his time sliding the material over his torso, a smirk firmly in place. He tightened his muscles, flexing his abs as he crossed his arms over his body and peeled off the shirt.

Josie averted her eyes, her annoyance with the situation stronger than the impulse to ogle his body. The situation needed to be nipped in the bud, and it needed to be done now.

“Here.” Her voice was emotionless, the angry bite gone.

“Fuck,” Anders swore under his breath. He’d pushed too hard. “Listen
―
”

“What do you want from me?” Josie asked, draping a pair of pants over his arm. “Because this”
―
she motioned between them
―
“isn’t happening.”

Anders chuckled and dropped his pants. This time Josie didn’t look away fast enough to miss the sight of him in boxers and an open dress shirt.

“I wanted to apologize.”

Josie’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open. “Most people apologize with flowers or a card. They don’t call someone’s boss and say their employee is doing a shitty job and demand they be available at all times.”