Living Dangerously (8 page)

“Ari,” Julie warned. “We’ve talked about this. You’re a married man. You know my feelings on that.” She’d wanted him to believe it was his marital status that kept her at arm’s length. A tiny bud of fear inside her said to hold off on rejecting him for any other reason because it could mean the difference in her getting the role and not getting it. She’d learned to tread very lightly when it came to Hollywood.

He sighed. “I’ve told you my wife and I have an arrangement that is very comfortable for us.”

“It’s not comfortable for me,” she told him with a wry smile.

He grinned and leaned back on the sofa, propping his ankle over his knee. “You know why I’m here, yes?”

“I hope it’s to tell me you’ve decided I should play Elizabeth in
Meltdown
.”

“You’ve always been my first choice.” His eyebrows lifted. “But how will your friend Carrie Ann take the news if I say I want you to have the lead role?”

Was this a trick question? Was this Ari pretending to care about her friendship with Cal? Good God, what if Cal had slept with him in hopes of securing the role and Ari thought he could play one of them against the other? Could he be
that
sleazy
? Would Cal have kept that sort of news from her since Ari had considered Julie for the role originally? A small part of her felt as if she might be betraying Cal. But things like this happened all the time. Start dates got pushed. Schedules changed. Financing fell through. The whole town was one gigantic crapshoot of luck and timing.

“Carrie Ann and I have been through a lot. We both understand the business. Besides, she works all the time. If she doesn’t do your film, she’ll work on someone else’s.”

“But we both know the Academy will love my film. It has everything they look for in a best picture.”

Ari did love to toot his own horn. She imagined Ari and Leo Frost duking it out in the ring for least humble.
And
the
winner
is
...

“You’re right. It is a great script. Look, it’s just us, Ari. Either tell me I got it or tell me I didn’t. I can take whatever you have to dish out.”

“You’ve hit on my dilemma,” he said, leaning forward. “I had some trouble with the financing and had to do some last minute—how you say—finagling. My new partners are not sold that you are the one to play Elizabeth.”

Julie tried not to let the news depress her too much. Her mother was definitely right. She’d grown a big head in the last few years. She hadn’t even hit thirty and already her star was beginning to sputter out.

She inwardly rolled her eyes. Her mother would’ve smacked her for that last thought, especially since Julie hadn’t gone into this business for the fame.

“I can’t control what your new investors want so I guess I’ll have to wait for the decision like everyone else.” She got up from her chair. “Can I get you something to eat or drink or did you have to be going?”

Her mother would’ve smacked her again for the rudeness. But Julie wanted him out of her house. Hell, maybe she’d be better off pulling her name out of the hat completely. But she really did want to sink her teeth into this amazing character.

Ari checked his watch. “I do have to leave, but thank you for meeting with me.”

Julie had no idea what he’d accomplished in person that he couldn’t have told her over the phone, which only led her back to her original assessment. Ari was coming over for a quick fuck as he dangled the coveted role in front of her and since she’d given him a resounding no, he had nothing to do but make up an excuse to leave.

She opened her front door and instead of walking through, Ari stopped right in front of her. Too closely in front of her. He put his hands on her arms and leaned close. Julie stiffened and pulled back slightly at her loss of personal space. He stood only a few inches taller than her, but she’d never felt more cornered.

“You and I,” Ari began. “We are much alike. We have standards and principles.”

Julie held back her snort of laughter and just watched him.

“You make me consider things I don’t normally consider,” he told her.

Like
being
faithful
? But she couldn’t say it out loud.

Ari caught her by surprise and kissed her on the lips. Not a passionate kiss, but he planted one and kept his lips on hers for two seconds too long. He pulled back just as she was about to push him away.

“I’ll call you as soon as I know anything.”

“You do that.” She forced a smile before closing the door behind him with a hard thud, then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

Chapter Seven

Troy leaned back against the headrest of his BMW as Ari’s limo—parked only three cars in front of him—pulled away from the curb. He set his camera on the passenger seat and closed his eyes. Damn. Why’d he have to see it up close and personal? He hated this job. More than any job he’d ever had in his life. He hated Sophia Nepali for hiring him and paying so much goddamned money, and he hated Julie Fraser for having an affair with Ari.

The proof was in the pictures. He’d snapped four of them. Four perfect pictures of Ari kissing Julie.

Yeah, he hated this job.

Of course, it was a quick visit as far as fucking went, but he’d seen it before. Get in and get out. Literally. Maybe Ari had someplace to be.

Maybe Troy should just quit. He could give Sophia her money back and leave Hollywood altogether. But starting over now held very little appeal. Besides, he was as far away from home as he could get and he wanted to stay that way.

His cell phone rang and yanked him back to the present. He pulled it out of his pocket, checked the screen.

Julie.

Wasn’t that interesting? Damn his pulse for jumping.

He punched the talk button and tried his best to sound casual. “Hey. How’re the scrapes?” He had similar ones from crawling through two inches of broken glass.

“Healing. What about you?”

He kept his eyes on the house. “Same.” Why was she calling him if Ari just left? That was only one of the questions flying through his brain. He waited for her to say something and when she didn’t, an odd sense of trouble prickled the hair on his neck. Was it possible that what he’d just seen at her front door wasn’t what it appeared to be? Though they’d definitely kissed, she hadn’t been all over Ari. In fact, thinking back on it, she’d been stiff and unresponsive...and he wanted to see those pictures again to look for things he should’ve looked for the first time around. “Everything okay?” he asked.

Three coyotes emerged from some bushes two doors away and headed downhill toward Julie’s place.

“I guess,” she said quietly. “Are you working right now? Ari was just here and I didn’t see you so I didn’t know if you had the night off.”

He did have the night off, specifically so he could tail Ari and snap the pictures he needed. He’d been parked for thirty minutes before Ari got there. His zoom lens had no problem with the distance. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m a free bird.”

“I’ve been thinking about something, and I thought since you work in security, you might be able to help me.”

He shouldn’t have been disappointed, but he was. She wanted to talk business. The other night he’d been sure she wanted him and now all she wanted was his security expertise. Unless that was just her excuse. Not that he could act on it anyway. “What do you need?” he asked.

“Well, I’ve been in my house almost ten years and I love it, but other than an alarm, I don’t have a fence or other type of gate for security. My house is too close to the street to really build something, and I guess I need someone to tell me if I’m right on my assumption and I should move, or if I can secure my house and stay here.” She paused and sighed. “I know. Stupid question. If you don’t want to help me, then I wonder if you know someone who can.”

Even as she spoke, he studied the layout of the house. It was long and deep, and she was right about it being on top of the street. Building a wall would kill the curb appeal. Although
staying
alive
beat out
curb
appeal
any day of the week. But she’d clearly put work into the place, and the small amount of landscaping required for the front was top-notch gorgeous. A wall would kill the whole look. The front porch light switched on and the coyotes froze in the middle of her lawn, sniffing the air.

Troy sat up straighter in his seat, a thin line of panic crawled up his spine. “It’s not stupid, and what makes you think I wouldn’t want to help you?” Did she doubt him, his experience, or was it something else?

“I don’t know. I just don’t know how busy Ari keeps you. I wondered if you’d be able to come over, take a look at my place and give me your best advice. I’m happy to pay for your time.” Her voice cut out as if she’d jostled the phone.

“I don’t think that would be necessary,” he said. “What are you doing?” The idea of her walking outside right now with three hungry coyotes in her yard had adrenaline rushing through his veins. He reached in the glove compartment for the gun he only used in target practice. He’d purchased it to use on the job, but he’d thankfully never had to. He’d learned early on that the presence of a weapon escalated a situation and he wasn’t a fan of that type of escalation.

“I ordered a new citronella candle for my front porch and just unwrapped it. I thought I’d put it out.”

“Don’t.”

She paused. “Excuse me?”

“I mean...” He scrambled to find the thread of their conversation. “Don’t do it right this second. Describe your house to me and let’s see if I can’t help you over the phone.”

“Oh.” Did she sound bummed or was that his imagination working overtime? “I thought maybe you could come see it one of these days. Maybe take a walk through and tell me what I should do to secure it better.”

An invitation to her place. The world got weirder and weirder.

He’d already told her he was a free bird tonight, but he couldn’t tell her he’d be right over. No way could he face her after watching her kiss Ari.

She must have taken his silence as a negative response waiting to happen. “Look, I don’t want you to think after all you’ve done that I expect anything more from you. I owe you my life. I haven’t forgotten that. I never will. I also don’t want you to think that you can’t get rid of me...if...you know...you wanted to get rid of me.”

Troy would’ve laughed if those coyotes hadn’t been lingering in her yard. He checked the safety was off on his H-K Compact .45. Get rid of her? Hardly. He’d already admitted to liking her so the beans were spilled. But it didn’t change the fact that he’d put himself in a damn screwy predicament. “I’m happy to help if I can.”

“I’m up in the canyons,” she continued. “I’ve got a one-level ranch-style house.” Her front door swung open and the coyotes crouched low.

“Fuck,” he muttered. He shifted in his seat, ready to bolt out of the car.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

He needed to warn her without blowing his position. “I don’t think I’d love a canyon home, not with all the wild animals hovering.” And hovering they were. “But I can probably arrange to be there in the next day or two. Hey, you don’t go outside at night without checking the yard, right?”

“Um.”

Her door shut and the custom shades parted as she glanced outside. “Oh, my God!” she breathed. Yep, she’d spotted the coyotes.

“What?”

“Three coyotes are on my lawn and I just nearly went out front. I think you might’ve just saved me again.”

He let his head fall back against the seat rest, relief rushing through him. “Ah, well, you know...all in a day’s work.” After slipping the gun back into the glove compartment, he watched the coyotes continue down the hill.

“I meant to ask, did you talk to the police at all about the shooting the other night?”

“Yeah, but they didn’t have anything new to tell me. I don’t think they look too fondly at hired muscle asking questions.” Actually, he’d left a message with his contact and as soon as the man came back from vacation, he planned to try again. “Why?”

“I guess I figured you’re all in the same business and I didn’t know if anyone had confided anything that the press hadn’t heard about. No one’s certainly told
me
anything.” She sounded insulted. “I mean if I am the real target here, I think I’m entitled to know how the case is progressing.”

He nodded. “I agree.”

She stayed quiet on the line and Troy wanted to say
screw
it
to this whole operation, knock on her door and take her to bed. Except the image of her with Ari burned a hole in his brain and he couldn’t get past it.

“Troy?”

He loved the way she said his name. “Yeah.”

“If I offered to top Ari’s paycheck, would you come work for me?”

Jesus Christ. He hadn’t seen that coming. “Uh.” Fuck. He had no idea what to say.

“I know this is out of the blue, but I don’t know anyone else and I trust you. The LAPD has officers checking my house every few hours, but they can’t afford to station a car outside full time. I know Ari would be furious as hell with me and it might even cost me the movie, but...after everything that’s happened between the Sporties and the other night, I feel like I should have a little more protection.”

He couldn’t argue with that. But he wasn’t working for Ari. He was on Sophia’s payroll. And Sophia could do serious damage to his reputation if she decided to badmouth him to the press or start gossiping in social circles. To lose his business the same way he’d built it would be ironic as hell.

“I’ll have to think on that,” he said. “But thank you for the offer.” He already knew he didn’t want to be a hired hand. They’d end up in bed, and he’d collect a check and feel like a twenty-first-century gigolo. Then she’d get tired of him and toss him out. He was forgetting the most important part of this whole charade. He wasn’t a fucking bodyguard. He was a private investigator working his first undercover job to get the dirt on a smarmy producer. He had no plans to take this to another level. He already hated the extent of the lies he’d told.

“Okay. I guess I’ll let you get back to your night.” She sounded sad and he didn’t want to let her go.

“I’m not doing anything exciting,” he told her. “Just waiting for laundry to finish up.”

Apparently, he’d become fairly efficient with the lies.

“Lucky you,” she said. He heard the smile in her voice.

“What are you up to besides unwrapping citronella candles?” he asked. Maybe he could approach this from a different angle. Not that he expected a confession, but maybe she’d confide in him and he could wrap up the case for Sophia and get back to his real life.

“I just had a meeting with Ari,” she said.

“Yeah, you mentioned that.” Did her definition of the word
meeting
match his? “How’d it go?”

“Oh, you know Ari. He’s like almost every other producer in town. Full of shit.”

That didn’t particularly sound like a woman in love with a man. Not that they had to be in love to fuck. Troy had worked in this town long enough to know that people fucked for all sorts of reasons, the least of which included love.

“Does that mean he told you something you didn’t want to hear?” Troy asked.

“More like he didn’t tell me anything—most especially what I want to hear. I’m sorry. I’m not making sense. He’s just dicking me around because he knows he can. Sorry for my French.”

Troy chuckled. Her
French
only proved how wholesome she really was. Which chalked up another reason that he didn’t see Julie fucking Ari. He picked up the camera and started scrolling though the pictures, focusing on the actual body language.

“Did Ari—” he wasn’t sure how to phrase it without letting the cat out of the bag, “—do something that made you uncomfortable?” he asked.

“Yes. No.” She sighed. “I don’t know.”

The one thing he hadn’t considered was a lover’s quarrel. Maybe they were lovers, but Ari had pissed Julie off somehow. That would explain her body language and the tone of the conversation. Troy hated that potential road because it meant he was right about Ari and Julie in the first place.

“What did he do?” Might as well go for the whole enchilada.

“He pushes,” she said. “I don’t like when he pushes. It makes me want to push back.” She paused and Troy waited for her to continue. “Do you ever feel like you’re paying too much to do the thing you love to do?”

Troy nodded. Was she reading his mind? Odd that they felt the same way about their lives. Odd and maybe a little sad. “Yeah. I feel like that a lot of the time lately.”

The line beeped. “Oh, I should probably get that. It’s my mom.”

“Go ahead,” he told her.

“You’ll think about my offer?” she asked.

“I will.”

“Great. Okay. Thanks. Talk to you soon. Bye.” She disconnected and Troy stared at her name on the screen until it went to black. What kind of trouble was he about to get himself into?

* * *

Allen couldn’t believe his good luck. It had been more than six weeks since the Sporties shooting and he’d been trying to contact Julie ever since. He’d tried her agency and her publicist but no one ever returned a call. She’d want to thank him for the flowers he’d sent. She was nice that way. Problem was she’d gotten out of the hospital much quicker than he’d anticipated and he hadn’t had a chance to send her another arrangement. He’d thought he’d have more time and hadn’t signed his full name or left any contact number. Stupid. For a technical genius, he had to admit he lacked certain social skills. Sometimes he did things before he thought them out thoroughly. Not with his games, but with people. Especially people he really liked. Or loved.

But he’d seen a promotion yesterday and discovered that Julie had an appearance on an L.A. morning show. He’d woken up super early and driven to the lot. He found a parking place right out in front of the studio gates. He saw her pull in, driving a new Prius, and smiled at her attempt to conserve fuel and help the environment. That was just like her and just another reason for him to love her even more. No fancy cars for his girl. He’d have to splurge on her once they got married. He’d buy her something decadent. Something she could drive on special occasions. He’d have to force her, but she’d finally cave and she’d love him even more because he loved to spoil her. She needed spoiling.

After waiting three hours, he followed her out of the studio. She met her best friend for an early lunch, and Allen felt privileged to see them together. To see how much they joked and smiled at each other. He’d seen Carrie Ann Larkin in a few movies, but mostly he’d quit watching her because she wasn’t as good as Julie.

After lunch, he followed Julie home. He kept a decent distance behind her. In fact, he nearly lost her once they got into the winding canyon roads. He saw her enter her garage and watched the door slide down as he drove slowly by.