Mr. Hollywood (Celebrity #1) (11 page)

I had no idea how Zane would react to finding out he
had a son. What if he was angry? What if he tried to sue me for custody? The
guy was obviously well off. Certainly he could buy the best attorney around, if
he didn
’
t own him
—
or her
—
already. The whole idea terrified
me. I couldn
’
t lose Dustin. He was everything to
me. Just the thought of losing him was enough to send me straight into a panic
attack.

As if on cue, the door burst open and my darling son
came running through the door.
“
Mom!
”
he
shouted excitedly.
“
Grandpa took me to fly his new
airplane! It was awesome!
”

Laughing, I held my arms out.
“
That sounds like great fun! Come
give me a hug, you stinker. I
’
ve missed you so much today!
”
He launched himself into my arms,
squeezing me tightly and I kissed the top of his buzzed, brown hair, which was
more the color of Zane
’
s hair than it was mine.
“
How was school today?
”

“
Good.
I already got my homework done. Grandma made me do it before I could go to the
park.
”

“
Good
for Grandma,
”
I replied, glancing briefly
at her and smiling.
“
Go grab your things and let
’
s go home and make some dinner. I
’
m starving.
”

“
Okay!
”
Releasing me, he quickly ran from
the room.

“
Best
kid on the planet,
”
my mom said with a grin.
“
We sure are lucky, aren
’
t we?
”

“
We
sure are,
”
I replied with a smile, my
heart full of much needed joy.
And I hope it stays that way,
I added mentally to myself.

“Z McCartney Camp Still Quiet on His Whereabouts. Rumors Speculate
Over Jail or Rehab Possibilities.”

~
LA Metropolitan
~

Chapter Eight

Aubrey

“
Dr.
Bentley has assigned someone else to cover your rounds this morning,
”
Angie said when I came to pick up
my charts for the day.

“
What?
Why?
”
I asked, alarm spreading through
me. Immediately I wondered if someone had discovered my connection to our
current resident celebrity and my heart sank. I couldn
’
t lose this job. If Zane McCartney
messed up one more thing in my life, my head might explode.

“
He
said he needs you to come to his office for a conference. He asked me to send
you as soon as I saw you.
”

Oh, this is so not
good.
Dread filled every
fiber of my being.
“
Okay. I
’
ll get right over there. Thanks,
Angie.
”
Turning away, I left the office,
hoping that my voice had sounded somewhat normal. On the bright side, at least
I was about to find out what fate had in store for me and I didn
’
t have to wait and wonder. That was
something to be grateful for, at least.

My heart rate had practically reached galloping status
by the time I reached Dr. Bentley
’
s office.

“
Go
right on in, Aubrey,
”
Tanya, Dr. Bentley
’
s secretary said to me, waving me
on by.
“
They
’
re
expecting you.
”

They?
I hadn
’
t thought it possible, but I grew
even nervouser
—
more nervous
—
nervousest? Were those even words?
Oh hell, forget the damn grammar lesson. I needed to get a grip.

Giving a brief knock, I turned the handle and stuck my
head inside, finding a whole host of people sitting in the room, all of which
turned to look at me simultaneously. I locked eyes with Zane and felt ill. They
knew. They had to.

“
Come
on in, Aubrey,
”
Dr. Bentley said, throwing me
off a little with how cheerful he sounded.
“
There
’
s a chair right over here next to
Mr. McCartney.
”

Slinking around behind the others, I recognized Dr.
Wilson was in attendance also, but I didn
’
t know who the other man and woman
in the room were. It was against protocol for Zane to have any visitors during
his first ten days, so I had no idea who they could be. I slid into the seat
beside Zane, but kept my eyes fixed on Dr. Bentley, feeling like a lamb about
to be slaughtered and he held the ax.

“
Sorry
about the surprise meeting this morning and the change to your schedule, but we
had some new things come to light regarding Mr. McCartney and we
’
ve tried to come up with a suitable
plan that won
’
t compromise the care he
’
s receiving here.
”

Damn it. They knew.
This was it.
I mentally
prepared myself for the blow I knew was coming, feeling as if my neck was
stretched across the chopping block.

He continued on.
“
These people here are part of Mr.
McCartney
’
s team. This is Penelope Dantes, his
personal assistant, and his lawyer, Mike Larson.
”

His lawyer was
involved? Was I in that much trouble?
I gripped my hands together tighter in my lap, trying to keep them from
trembling, even though I was sure alarm was written over every inch of my face.

“
As
you know, Mr. McCartney is of some considerable notoriety. Because he has come
to rehab, and he hasn
’
t been participating in some of his
normal industry obligations, this has caused a lot of speculation in the press.
The studio he
’
s under contract with has become
nervous and they
’
re wanting action taken to dispel
the rumors
—
true as they might be.
”

Relief poured through me and I had to fight not to sag
down in my chair.
“
Okay. What does that have to do
with me?
”

“
Well,
there
’
s an awards event this evening that
Mr. McCartney had committed to attending prior to his admittance here. He is
supposed to be one of the presenters and has been advertised as attending the
event. His team of people would like for him to be released from the facility
for the night. Dr. Wilson and I had concerns about him being placed back in
this environment, however, without even being through his first ten days of
therapy. This is highly unusual.
”

Zane broke in, staring at me.
“
I suggested that they send a staff
member with me. Someone who could pose as my date for the event, but still help
keep me on the straight and narrow. I suggested maybe you could do it since you
’
d be off work in time.
”

“
But
then Ms. Dantes said it requires a considerable bit more time to prep you for
such an event,
”
Dr. Bentley added.
“
If you
’
re willing, they
’
ve offered to pay you an additional
day's wage if you
’
re willing to leave work and go
with them.
”

I couldn
’
t believe this. Zane had somehow
managed to set up some pseudo-date for us right under the noses of everyone and
he was looking pleased as punch about it. Not only that, if I said no, I
’
d seem like a complete and total
uncaring ass.

“
What
about my other patients?
”
I asked, knowing I had many
other duties than just the ones revolving around Zane.

“
They
’
re all taken care of,
”
Dr. Bentley replied.
“
One of the other nurses picked up
your morning rounds and one of the weekend nurses is coming in to cover the
rest of the day.
”

For the life of me, I couldn
’
t seem to grasp any other straws
that might save me from this. My mind was drawing a complete blank.
“
It appears you have it all figured
out.
”
I wasn
’
t sure how I felt about all this
being done without even asking me first.

“
So
you
’
ll do it?
”
Zane asked, and I swore he was
holding his breath.

“
I
guess so.
”
I didn
’
t have much of a choice.

He didn
’
t even try to hide his grin.
“
Thank you.
”

Dear lord, that smile. It should be registered as a
lethal weapon it was so infectious. It was a crime how much joy seeing it
brought me. I didn
’
t want to think about that, though.

“
You
owe me,
”
I said, feeling a smile niggle at
the corner of my lips in spite of myself. Plus, I didn
’
t want to look like a complete
jerk.
“
Big time.
”

“
I
do,
”
he agreed immediately, and
something in his eyes suggested we weren
’
t talking about the same thing
anymore.
“
You name it
—
anything
—
it
’
s
yours.
”

Eyeing him, I realized he was completely sincere.
“
Hmm. I
’
ll have to think on it and make it
something really good.
”
Everyone in the room
chuckled. They were obviously unaware of the past tension between us.
“
So what
’
s the plan from here?
”
I asked, not knowing what else to
do.

“
I
turn you over into the capable hands of Ms. Dantes,
”
Dr. Bentley said with a smile.
“
You have the rest of the day off.
”

The woman mentioned, stood, and extended her hand to
me.
“
It
’
s
nice to meet you, Ms. Hart.
”

“
You,
too.
”

“
Why
don
’
t you go grab whatever things you
need, and we will meet you at Z
’
s room.
”

“
All
right. It
’
ll only take me a minute.
”
I stood, nodding at the others.
“
See you soon.
”

Nervously sitting in the limousine, I stared at the
others accompanying me, not really sure what to say. I felt totally out of my
element. I
’
d taken a few moments to call my
mom and asked if she could let Dustin spend the night with them tonight. I told
her I had to work late, but I would call her later to fill her in on the
details. I still didn
’
t officially have permission from
anyone yet to tell her about Zane.

“
Um,
I have a question,
”
I finally said, unsure of
whom to address it to, so I glanced between the three of them.
“
I can
’
t
break patient confidentiality, but I
’
m pretty sure my parents might
freak out if they suddenly see me on television or something. Is there some way
I can tell them what is going on, so they aren
’
t
shocked by anything?
”

“
Tell
them anything they want to know,
”
Zane spoke up, before anyone
else could.

Penelope shuffled restlessly, glancing at him with a
slightly annoyed expression.
“
We
’
ve
tried really hard to keep things from leaking, Z. Are you sure this is wise?
”