Idolized (Hollywood Stardust Book 3) (42 page)

Though she hated the way she smiled at how they fit together, both in mind and body, she couldn’t stop it either. She glanced at the clock on her dashboard. If she played her cards right, she could get her report finished, do her conference call and get back to set before the caterer had a chance to make her favorite chicken sandwich for lunch. Fine, she would end up sharing with Ryder in the trailer. His secret on his diet was safe with her. After all, they were a couple.

As she drove into the unground parking of her office building, she sighed. They were a couple she guessed, they did couple things, they had couple plans, even long-term ones. When she allowed herself to put their arrangement on her back burner, their relationship was normal, or as normal as a relationship with a superstar could be. What happened next? Truth be told it was becoming easier and easier to live the role rather than play it.

Her stomach swirled in a not unpleasant way as she parked. She got out of the car and went around to the passenger side where she gathered up her bag, the espresso Ryder made her before they left, and a prop her star took from the set—a statue with a bronze eagle on top. The little knickknack was in William and Roxy’s living room set and yesterday appeared in the middle of her dining room table at the apartment. Ever the diplomat, she offered to move it to a more appropriate location, namely anywhere where it wouldn’t be a centerpiece in their apartment.

She paused long enough to take a breath. The last time she came to the office at this hour, she ended up with her mind playing tricks on her and feeling like someone was watching her. Instead of focusing on that morning, she used one of Ryder’s acting techniques and visualized her next actions. She was going to march through the lobby, get on the elevator, and go right to her office. Her goal was getting back to set and sharing a chicken sandwich.

“Don’t most stars fade by this time of the morning?”

At the, strange, almost electronic deep voice, her entire body went rigid. She didn’t speak.

The scratch of the person’s shoes on the asphalt indicated he stepped closer to her.

Her throat dry and overcome with shaking, she forced herself to focus, look around. If he were right behind her, there was no way out. Whoever this was had her wedged between her car and the exit.

“Is that why you’re at work so early? Some of the shine wearing off?”

A shudder ran from the base of her neck down to her spine, and she slid her hand to her purse toward her lifeline to the world, her phone. In no way would anyone take her down. “Back away right now.”

“Make one more move and you won’t be able to stargaze anymore.” The voice came closer. “You should know how to take direction by now.”

As if she would ever take direction from this lowlife. She worked with the best and wouldn’t ever settle for anything less. Heat, fire, rage, burst through her. With the only weapons she had at her disposal, she spun around, flung her espresso at the man. He was in all black, wearing a matching drama theatre mask. She hit him in the shoulder with the bronze eagle trophy.

“I’m a producer!” she yelled.

The person let out a cry and lunged for her, knocking her down. “You are a bitch through and through.”

She fell hard on the asphalt and gasped to keep her breath. Her trophy rolled out of reach and with nothing more to lose, she kicked at the intruder, managing to catch him in the shin.

“Watch yourself or you won’t be able to watch the stars.” Her attacker stumbled back, then pointed at her and ran.

“Help!” Cora scrambled to her feet, picked up Ryder’s prop and hugged it to her chest and tried to remember to inhale. Her heart beat with such powerful force it shook her entire body, but she couldn’t move, only stare in the direction her attacker dashed off.

The door to the building lobby opened. “Miss Caine?”

“Help!” Her own cry of weakness echoed around her.

“Miss Caine, are you all right?” The guard she recognized rushed toward her.

“Can you escort me to my office?” Her voice sounded as if someone else far away were speaking.

“Of course, Miss Caine.” He motioned ahead. “What happened?”

Rather than answer, she juggled all her items as she got her phone out of her purse. No way would she create a spectacle.

“Would you like me to help you carry something?” the guard asked.

“No! I have it.” Cora hugged Ryder’s trophy to her and glanced at her list of speed dials before selecting the proper choice and sandwiching the device between her shoulder and her ear.

“What’s wrong?” Viktor answered the phone.

“What makes you think anything is wrong?” She followed the guard through the lobby.

“It’s five in the morning and lately that time of the day is reserved for another man.” He chuckled.

“I’m at the office. Something happened, and I was just wondering if maybe you wouldn’t mind coming here. I’ll buy breakfast.” Though right now she could go for Ryder’s toast or Ryder, she couldn’t bother him on set.

“What happened?” The little bit of laughter in Viktor’s voice vanished.

She charged ahead of the guard and hit the button for the elevator, nearly dropping her prop.

The guard reached forward, but she shot him a look, held on tighter and turned her back to him. “I was in the parking garage and someone came over, said some things about stars and stargazing and knocked me down. Maybe I tripped, I don’t know, but I’m fine. He ran off.”

“Cora!” Viktor yelled into the phone.

The elevator doors opened.

“I just need help with this report. I have to go.” She hung up.

The guard got inside with her. “Miss Caine, if something happened, I need to know. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. It was nothing, really.” She tapped her foot. When the doors opened at last she headed straight to her office.

The guard stayed at her heels. “Miss Caine.”

She sat at her desk and turned on her monitors. “Please. I’m fine. Can you just stay until my Chief Operating Officer gets here? He’s on the way.”

“Of course, Ma’am. I’ll be right outside.” The guard went to the door, but stayed where she could see him.

With everything she carried in still in her hands, she sat down and scanned the screens. Chargge on one, stock prices on the middle one, the third now the official Hollywood Stardust Franchise website. She slid up closer to the third monitor and clicked around, landing on a trivia game about the actors and chose the one entitled,
How well do you know Ryder Scott?

If she were a betting woman, she would say she knew Ryder better than most, but something told her that wasn’t the type of questions the quiz would ask. At least she hoped not.

“Question one.” She read aloud to no one but her trophy. “What was the first film Ryder starred in after
Hollywood Stardust
?” That was an easy one. “
Daybreak Delight
.” She clicked the selection and got a gold star. Only a few days ago she watched that film. It was an avant-garde film where he played the role of a drifter with a heart of gold. He even won an award for his portrayal.

She refocused on the computer screen and read the next question. “What award did Ryder win for his portrayal of Rusty Delight in
Daybreak Delight
?” With a roll of her eyes she clicked the correct answer. “People Select Award.”

Another gold star.

Focused on the quiz, she made her way through nine questions.

“Last question.” She wondered what she got at the end. “What is Ryder’s middle name?” After rubbing her hands together at the easy question, she went to click the mouse.

“Cora Elizabeth Caine!”

At Ryder’s outburst, she jumped up and dropped not only her mouse, but her purse and Ryder’s trophy. Ryder? Where was Viktor? How did Ryder get here? Also, how did Ryder know her middle name. Wait, Ryder was here.

He was here.

With his face only partially made up for the movie, he burst into her office, made a beeline toward her and pulled her into a hug.

“What’s wrong?” She leaned back, mainly to get a glimpse of that glorious face. “What are you doing here?”

“How can you ask me that?” Practically panting, he took her shoulders and held her at arms’ length. His eyes darted over her face. “I heard what happened, why didn’t you call me?”

She pulled away and wrapped her arms around herself. “It was nothing, just some weirdo in a parking lot. You don’t have to be bothered with this.”

“For the smartest woman on the planet, what’s coming out of your mouth is plain stupid.” He closed the distance between them and ran his hands through his hair. “Your life is threatened, and you don’t want to bother me on set?”

“I told you, nothing happened.” Her body vibrated from her trembling.

“Then why are you shaking?” He turned toward her desk and glanced at her screens. “Why are you playing a game? Why weren’t we together this morning anyway? What report did you have to do that you couldn’t do around me?”

Trying to figure out which question to answer first, she opened her mouth.

“Actually, I’m not interested in any of those questions. I’m going to say what’s on my mind.” Again, he took hold of her shoulders. “We’re together. Me and you. The fact that I’m not the first person you thought to call when something like this happened cuts through me. When Viktor called…” He let go of her and walked over to the windows.

“When Viktor called,” still in sweat pants, Viktor entered the room, “I told him what you told me, and he dropped his phone and came running.”

Cora put her hands on her hips. “Why did you call Ryder? I said I was fine.”

“Because this belongs to him, not me, and you and I both know that.” As if daring her to defy him, Viktor lifted his chin.

Ryder turned to her. “I want to know exactly what happened.”

“You know, if we make a big deal out of this, it just gives it more power.” She returned to her chair and picked up the eagle trophy. Between the items Ryder brought home and her auction wins, their place was getting overrun by memorabilia.

Viktor sat in his throne and opened his laptop. “We need to file a police report.”

“I don’t want to do that. Besides, what’s there to report? Honestly, we don’t need any publicity.” Relaying this entire story to the police would only waste time. She took the mouse and finished her quiz. “It’s probably just one of your fans. He was wearing a drama mask and everything.”

A huge gold star popped up with a banner declaring her a Ryder super fan and giving her a wallpaper she could use on her computer. Probably whoever attacked her in the garage could really pass this test.

“What if it’s not?” Ryder resumed staring out the window.

“No, it’s the same person who sent Cora that email. They used the same words.” Viktor typed away.

At the mention of the email she winced.

“There was an email?” Ryder shook his head.

She ran her fingers along the metal eagle.

“I’m going to go ahead and figure out what to do.” Viktor closed his laptop, put it under his arm, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

That blaring silence everyone hated encompassed the room.

After several minutes, she couldn’t take it anymore. “You need to get back on set.”

“I’m not that good of an actor.” Hands in his pockets Ryder rocked back and forth from his heels to his toes.

“Ryder.” With nothing to say after she uttered his name, she sighed.

“I’m your person, Cora.” His words echoed through her office. “I am.”

“What does that mean?” Her heart ached at his longing tone.

“I’m the one you come to first.” At last, he faced her. “What are we if I’m not your person?”

Almost beyond her control, she found herself standing and going to him. “Before this all happened, I was thinking about that.”

“What was that?”

“I guess about us.” At sounding like a girl, she frowned.

“I’ve been doing a lot of that too.” He held his arms out. “I’m going to make sure you’re safe. I’m going to take care of everything.”

Unable to stop, she went right into his embrace.

“Tell me you’re all right,” he whispered in her ear.

“I’m fine, really.” She inhaled. Since the movie started, his normal cologne combined with studio makeup gave him a unique scent. She could pick him out anywhere with just a sniff. “I don’t want this to turn into a circus, we have much more important things to do. Please let’s not make this into a big deal. I want us to live our lives.”

“Together.” He took her chin in his hand and skimmed his lips over hers. “Tell me I’m your person”

“Yes, you’re my person.” There was no denying it.

“Tell me again you’re all right,” he whispered.

“I am.” She shut her eyes and breathed in that wonderful scent. Yes, she was fine. If she kept repeating the words, it would give them power and make it true.

HOLLYWOOD STARDOM

FADE IN:

EXT. ARIZONA – OUTSIDE STEVEN AND ROXY’S HOME – EARLY MORNING.

A limo stops in front of their home.  STEVEN hands his bags to the driver and goes back to ROXY standing in the front doorway.

STEVEN

(Holds his arms out)

Come on, Rox.