“Sounds like a pretty big one too.”
“I guess. Funny thing is, her actor traded her in a year later on a younger model. She called me up and was all apologetic, said she’d realized her mistake and wanted to come home.”
“Really? What did you do?”
“We represent the guy so we knew he’d sent her packing. That’s the bad part of the entertainment business. An agent has to know all the sordid details of their client’s life in order to control their image. We know who does drugs and how much, which ones are alcoholics, the violent sides, their sexual preferences or twists, all that stuff. We make money from their image just as much as their talent so what you don’t know can hurt — not just you but the business.”
“That’s sort of callous. And creepy.”
Grant shrugged. “It is what it is.”
“So, you took her back?”
He shook his head. “Hell, no. I told her it’d be a cold day in hell before she set foot in my apartment, or this car, again. It gives me great satisfaction to drive this little thing. I never would have bought it myself, but it’s actually a lot of fun. Want to try it?”
“No, thanks.”
“Just try it please? It’s pretty fun. Let me pull over.” When she gave in, he eased the car off the freeway at the next intersection, and then whipped into a parking lot. She had second thoughts when they rolled to a stop.
“Really. I’d rather not. I’ve had two glasses of wine and one champagne. I shouldn’t.”
“You drank it over a four-hour period. You’re as sober as a judge. Although I know a couple of judges that are serious alcoholics so I never quite understood that phrase.” He strode around the car and opened her door. “Slide over.”
“No.”
“God, you’re hard-headed. Come on. Do like Nike says and ‘just do it.’ You’ll like this. Are you seriously going to make me force you to drive this thing?”
She slid into the driver’s seat, mainly because he shoved her there. Grant gave her brief instructions on where to find the controls. Jenny whirled the car around the parking lot a couple of times then gassed it onto the freeway. “Okay, it’s a great car.”
“Yeah.” He laughed and leaned back in the seat. “Hey, where does David live? You want to go get
your
car?”
“So, you made me drive this and now you can’t wait to get it back?”
Jenny had an epiphany at that moment. She’d known David a year and had never been to his house. Well, she’d been
to the house, but never in it.
He always came to her, or she picked him up and dropped him off. He never invited her in or asked her to stay. She didn’t even know what kind of furniture he had. In truth, she probably knew more of that about Grant, than David, simply because Grant told her.
Did she want to go there and risk finding David with someone from the party? A part of her wanted to confront him. Find out for sure what this pseudo-relationship really was. Another part feared the outcome.
She deliberated briefly. “No. I’ll worry about that in the morning. Can we just drop me off?”
“You sure about that? Aren’t you gonna need the car tomorrow for work?”
“Yes, but — ” She grimaced. “Look, I hate confrontations. I avoid them at all costs. I’m really not up for that right now. I’ll come get the Mercedes tomorrow, or maybe he’ll drop it by. It doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter. Or at least it should to you.” He put his hand over the seat behind her and rubbed her neck softly with his thumb and fingers. Geez, he’s got good hands. Damn good lips too.
When she pulled her neck away, the car shifted into the next lane briefly. A car honked and swerved to avoid them. “Don’t do that,” she said.
“Why not? You just sucked my tonsils out a couple of hours ago, why does it matter if I touch your neck?”
“I didn’t mean to do that.”
“The tonsil thing? Don’t try to take it back, Jen. You meant it, or at least I hope so. Just like I did. Hell, I can still feel it.” He brushed his hand over his mouth.
Don’t remind me.
“In fact, I kind of like the fact that you don’t want to go running looking for boyfriend Dave right now. I’m wondering if that means you might be interested in doing it again.”
“No way. That was just an accident forced by the people around smashing us against the wall.”
“Sure. Sure. Being with you is one accident after another.”
“Look. I initially only meant to help you that day with your car — even though you were completely ugly about it.”
“It wasn’t you. I didn’t mean to be that way but what did you expect? I was chasing a dog the size of a horse around the freeway, and then trying to change a tire in rush hour traffic. Both pretty life-threatening situations. Pardon me if I wasn’t completely charming while trying not to get run over.”
“You’re really hard to get along with, you know.”
“Really? I thought we were getting along pretty well earlier when your hands were pulling on my hair.”
Did he have to keep referring back to that?
“I wasn’t.”
He laughed. “Yes, I think you were. You’re such a coward, Jen.”
“I am not. Why would you say that?”
“You don’t want to see what’s going on with David because, well, you don’t really want to know. It’s easier to pretend he’s a boyfriend than to realize that he’s just using you to get what he wants, or where he wants. You and I both know he’s not really into you. If he was, he wouldn’t have deserted you the minute you two showed up at the party. You were his ticket in, once in, he didn’t need you anymore.”
“That’s not really how it is, Grant. David’s just easygoing. He likes to have a good time.”
“Well, that I can vouch for. I saw him.”
“Saw him?”
He opened his mouth, sighed, and then closed it as if to stop from saying more. Jenny raised a brow and he continued. “To be honest, I don’t think you’re really all that into him either.”
“Of course I am. Don’t think just because you planted a kiss on me in a crowd that I’m gonna dump him.”
“I didn’t plant the kiss. At least not that last one, and it was one hell of a frigging kiss.”
Jenny whipped the red sports car into her apartment complex, killed the engine, and turned to drop the key fob in his hand. “Yeah, well. Thanks for the ride home, and for letting me drive. Love the car. Too bad for your ex. Maybe you should have planted a few of those friggin’ kisses on her and it would have worked out. You know, you’re kind of a coward yourself when it comes to taking the initiative on that. I wonder if those kisses would have even happened if you hadn’t had a little help from the crowd.”
She popped out of the car and started in toward her apartment. Heavy footsteps chased after her. He pulled on her arm.
“Are you telling me that you wanted me to? Even with a boyfriend lurking around somewhere, you wanted me to kiss you?”
Okay, how should I answer that? Yeah, I wanted to see if the first kiss was a fluke. If I wanted more. I wanted to see if you could make my toes curl up again or I was just over-stressed. And why my pulse knee-jerked when your hand was down my dress. Guess I’m more of a slut than I thought.
Jenny warily stepped against the doorframe of her apartment. “No. I didn’t say that. I don’t know. I just wonder if you’d ever make a move without another accident forcing you. You know, if there wasn’t a boyfriend and I wasn’t the girl.”
She rotated away from him, pushed her key into the lock, and turned it. A warm hand brushed her hair from her neck. She felt his breath before his mouth touched her shoulder.
Gulp. Okay, that’s a good move.
He nibbled at her bare neck, stroking his fingers against her hair. When he clutched into the thick waves, he whispered. “But you are the girl and that’s the tough part. What kind of move does a man make on a girl with a ‘sort of’ relationship with another man?”
“I’d say that would depend on what both of them expected out of it — what his motives were.” Grant turned her into him. He ran his hand down her neck gently, and moved his lips toward her mouth. He hovered there, staring into her eyes.
“What if he’s not really sure about that? He just knows there’s something irritatingly interesting going on. Maybe. She’s annoying, but there’s a draw too. In a weird way.” He closed his eyes and bent to continue trailing his lips along her shoulder.
Holy Guacamole.
“My mistake. Guess you’re not such a coward after all,” she said.
He leaned toward her. His mouth just inches away, his thumb rubbing hotly against the nape of her hair.
Damn, he’s sexy.
She leaned back against the door, trying to get balanced before she melted into the landing. His lips touched hers.
The door flung open from behind her hand. She fell backward with a thud on the carpet. Grant landed heavily on her, knocking the air from her lungs. She looked up dazed.
• • •
“What the hell?” Jenny leaned her head back and peered up to see Josh’s lanky frame standing over her, grinning sheepishly.
“Sorry about that. I thought you were having trouble with the lock. I didn’t know you were — busy.”
“What are you doing in my apartment?” she demanded.
“Yeah, what are you doing in Jenny’s apartment, Josh?” Grant repeated. He and Jenny untangled their arms and legs and rose to their feet.
Josh looked confused. Obviously, he hadn’t considered the possibility that anyone other than Jenny would enter.
Jenny flicked on the overhead lights, smoothed the dress once to cover over-exposed bosom and restated the question. “Would you like to tell me not only
what you’re doing in my apartment
, but also exactly how you got in?”
Josh shrugged. “You left it unlocked.”
“I never leave it unlocked. Not ever. Try again.”
He threw up his hands, whirled around and trudged to the sofa. “Okay! I may have tampered with the lock a little. That’s why I thought you were having trouble getting in. I was worried that I messed it up.” He dropped into the cushions and slammed his shoed feet on the table. He pointed to Grant. “What exactly are
you
doing here?”
“He doesn’t have to tell you that, Josh. It’s not like you’re his boss,” Jenny answered.
“No, but my
dad
is.”
Jenny frowned and fisted her hands onto her hips. “You arrogant little turd. What Grant does for your father has nothing to do with you. Don’t even insinuate that it does. Now, if you don’t tell me what you’re doing here right now, I’m calling the cops and turning you in for breaking and entering.”
“She wouldn’t dare. Would she Grant?”
Grant nodded. Jenny could see he was struggling to keep a straight face. She began dialing.
“I’m SORRY. Okay? I just wanted to talk to you. You said a lot of really crazy things earlier about Shilo. I needed to know where you heard all that.” He glanced wide-eyed at Grant. “I can’t talk about this in front of you, you’ll tell Dad. I just need a few minutes with Ms. Madison and then I’ll leave. I didn’t come here to cause trouble.”
Jenny recognized pain when she saw it. The kid was a mess. Kid. He was only four or five years younger than her. He was no kid. A college student struggling to become a doctor. All that studying and tension apparently took its toll. He looked downright haggard. “Grant, you can go home now. Thanks for the ride.”
“I’m not leaving.”
She touched his arm. “Yes, you are. I’ll be fine.”
“How did you get here, Josh?” he asked.
“I took Dad’s Escalade. He never drives it, won’t even know it’s gone.”
“I’m riding back with you. I’ll wait outside.” Grant tossed his keys to Jenny. “You can drive mine over tomorrow and we’ll get your car at the same time.” He opened the door, took a step out, and then turned. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.” He glanced at her mouth.
Jenny pressed the door closed.
• • •
“Okay, what’s up?” Jenny moved to the chair across from Josh and slid into it.
“Look, Ms. Madison, I don’t know what game you’re trying to pull on me, but I don’t like it. I have way too much going on in school to have some crazy lady pulling head games.”
“What?”
“You know what I’m talking about. Where do you get off telling me that Shilo called you to pick up Mom — or all that crap you said earlier?”
“She did. And I don’t know what you mean by crap, I’m just repeating what she said. She said you never listen to her. Wow, you really don’t. You’ve completely tuned her out.”
“Stop it.” He gnashed his teeth. “You’re a nut job.”
“I most certainly am not.”
“Then why the hell are you talking as if she’s still alive?”
Jenny stared at him in shock. His eyelashes were damp. One puddled tear threatened to spill down his cheek.
“Still alive? Josh, I spoke with her tonight. There, in her room. She danced and jumped on the bed — and hid when you came in.”
“NO! She did not. She’s dead. Stop saying that. She died when she was five. That was eight years ago. I don’t know what the hell you’re trying to do to me. Or why either. But it’s crazy and it’s cruel. I want you to leave me alone.”
“I don’t understand.” Jenny held up her palm and stared at it blankly. “She held my hand. She wanted to show me her room and show me the skit she did in her school play.”
He dropped his head in his hands and started sobbing. “Stop it,” he mumbled. “Just stop. Why would you do this?”
Jenny closed her mouth and pressed her fist against it to choke back the emotions welling up. Was she crazy? Did she just imagine all of that — maybe the drinks? She hadn’t had anything in a long time but the thought that a couple of drinks would start her hallucinating didn’t make sense either. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Exactly what
did
you mean then?”
“I don’t — ” She wasn’t sure what to say, or do either. She sucked in a deep breath. What’s the right thing to say? No idea. “Look, I didn’t know. I must be tired or something and just thought — I don’t know. So, what was she like? Shilo?”
“Don’t try to get me talking about her.” He crossed his arms over his chest. Minutes passed as he attempted to calm himself. A veil of anger closed over him. “I see what this is about. You’re a social worker, aren’t you? That’s why you’re involved. Why you’re driving Mom around. Dad hired you, didn’t he?”