Not Famous in Hollywood (Not in Hollywood Book 1) (10 page)

“
Sounds like
you don’t have much chance for fun” Griffin mused.

“My job is not about fun” I said.

“
Then why do
it?” Griffin asked. “Are you one of those people who is desperate
to have a job in the entertainment industry, willing to do anything
until you get your big break?” Griffin’s tone was only slightly
mocking.

“
No” I
replied. “I am not interested in becoming an actress. I know I
complain about this job but it’s what I am good at. I solve
problems and I look after people. That is my skill set in
life.”

The rest of
the drive went pretty silently. I really had nothing in common with
this man and to be perfectly honest I didn’t want to have anything
in common with him. Once we got to the party I was surprised to see
Jorge at the door and smiled at him as we approached.

“Hi Jorge” I said. “What are you doing out
here?”

“
Got here and
Eleanor didn’
t want me. Seems I cramped
her style. One of their security guys didn’t turn up so I got roped
in. This way I’m getting paid twice to be here.”

“
Smart” I
said still smiling, until I felt an arm go around my
waist.

Jorge’s face hardened.

“Did you want to introduce us sweetheart?”
Griffin said in my ear loud enough for Jorge to hear.

“This is Jorge. He works security for
Eleanor. I’ve told you about him honey” I said patting Griffin on
his chest. “This is my boyfriend Jake” I said sweetly to Jorge.

“The one who arrested you” Jorge said
flatly.

“
That’
s the one” I
replied.

Jorge looked at Jake scornfully with a slight
curl to his lips.

“Go on in. I think Eleanor and her group were
upstairs near the balcony” he said waving us through.

Still holding
me close Griffin leaned down. “That was the guy from yesterday
wasn’t it?” he asked.

“Yes that was Jorge.” I wondered if you could
get a cramp in your face from holding a fake smile too long.

“
He didn’t
seem surprised to see me. Any reason for that?” asked
Griffin.

“I might have mentioned today that I had been
seeing you” I said as I peered around looking for Eleanor.

“How did you explain me arresting you?”

“
I
didn’
t, we just went with the theory that
you were a jerk and that the relationship probably wouldn’t be
lasting long.”

Griffin looked surprised. “He seems to have
believed that, how are you going to explain us being together the
next three months?”

“
Never got
around to getting rid of you until there was another prospect on
the horizon.” Griffin frowned but it sounded reasonable to me.
People did it all the time.

Griffin lowered his voice. “He could be
thinking that you’re keeping me around for sex.”

“Probably not” I said. “During the
conversation I may have intimated that you weren’t very good in
that area.”

“
What?”
spluttered Griffin.

There really is nothing that upsets a man
more than denigrating his bedroom skills.

“
Why would
you do that?” he said a little angrily.

“
Maybe
because I’m really angry that I was having to lie to someone I
thought of as a friend and I blame you for that” I
hissed.

Griffin grabbed me around the waist and
stopped me from stomping away from him.

“Careful sweetheart,” he said. “I may start
to believe that you can’t wait for this arrangement to be
finished.”

Looking up into his eyes I measured my words
out carefully and softly. “I am counting the hours until I never
have to see you again, sweetheart.”

I pulled away
from him and kept walking towards Eleanor’s group. I didn’t bother
introducing Griffin to anyone. No one would care who he was and I
knew that he wanted to maintain a low profile. Eleanor looked him
over quickly when she noted that I had arrived but she didn’t seem
to register him as the detective who had been at Bliss only the day
before. She probably didn’t even remember Ramos even though she had
lifted Eleanor bodily off a screaming Emily. Some people were
really that self-absorbed.

I took up my
normal position on the outskirts of the group. After ordering a
drink of soda, I did what I always did and blended into the
background. Only this time Detective Jake Griffin sat beside me and
kept watch with me. Of course that only lasted a short amount of
time. Watching people get drunk and acting up, even celebrities,
gets old really fast. A couple of times, as Eleanor started to
become loud and quite abusive, I had to make my way through the
crowd and calm her down. Usually I accomplished this task using
skills I had learned as a nanny. I found misdirection worked,
getting her to focus on someone else or a shiny new toy that
someone else had. Sometimes I had bits of gossip that I kept back
precisely for these moments. I didn’t want to go into what this
said about Eleanor or me. During one of these moments I came back
and found Griffin had disappeared on me. Good thing he was only my
fake boyfriend because I’ve got to say, if we were a real couple, I
would not have been too happy about that. While waiting for him to
come back Crystal sat down beside me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Networking” she said. “Same as I always
do.”

“
Who’
s the pretty boy for today?”
I asked straining my neck to look behind her.

Crystal never dated the same guy more than
once. Thanks to her dad’s company she had a stable of very good
looking men that were thrilled to come to these parties with her.
Today’s selection seemed to be going for hipster trendy with a side
of action hero. Not sure if it was working but he seemed to be
happy.

“So are you going to tell me why you are with
Detective Hottie?” she asked smiling.

Pulling her
aside I filled her in on the last two days of my life and what they
meant for the next three months. After telling her I wondered if I
had made a mistake. Those warm chocolate brown eyes of hers were
rock hard. Crystal is usually a fun loving person. Underestimating
her is something most people do despite her position in her dad’s
company. I have never made that mistake because I know she has got
a temper which can stop traffic and I could see it starting to
build. Of course, because that is the way my life goes, Griffin
decided to turn up at that precise moment.

Putting an arm around my shoulder he grinned
down at me. “Care to introduce us babe.”

Crystal’s eyes narrowed and she opened her
mouth to begin what I am sure was going to be a massive tirade.

“
Don’
t bother with the charade
with her, she knows everything. There is no way I could have kept
it from her, so there is nothing we can do. She won’t say anything
but she does think you’re a douchebag, just like I do.”

Once again using my nanny skills I pointed
behind Crystal. “Holy hell, is that Adam Hendricks?” I asked.

Crystal spun around. “It is. What would he be
doing here?”

I looked
behind Adam and groaned. There was Eleanor holding his hand. She
must have got away from the group. From the looks of her mussed up
hair she had decided to use Ryan’s brother to help with her
grieving. I’d been so caught up with my own drama I hadn’t seen
that one coming. I should have though. Adam Hendricks had come to
Hollywood with his older brother, but he had just never come close
to the same heights that Ryan had. He was always at the parties and
events but could never get past being Ryan’s younger, not so hot,
not so special brother. Looks like that had changed for tonight. Of
course the fact he was out partying only a couple of days after his
brother died didn’t say much for the bond between them. Rumor had
it that the Hendricks brothers hadn’t been overly fond of each
other anyway.

“What the hell is she doing with him?” I
asked.

“
Why,
what’
s the matter with that?” Griffin
asked. I looked at him.

“Really” I said. “You see nothing wrong with
the brother and latest lay getting it on only two days after Ryan
Hendricks died.”

“
Interesting
way to put it” he said, “but maybe they’re just working through
their grief together.”

“
More likely
she’
s getting an invite to the funeral
tomorrow” said Crystal.

I turned to Griffin. “The funeral’s tomorrow?
I thought you guys had the body. Why would you release it so
soon?”

“Coroner says heart attack. He’s taken all
the samples he needs for any further testing we plan on doing.
Seems there was pressure to release the body and have this whole
sordid mess taken care of.”

Griffin did
not sound happy. Neither was I. Eleanor at Ryan Hendricks funeral.
With Emily Saunders. That was going to be fun.

“
Babe,
I want to dance” interjected Crystal’s
date.

“
I’m busy,
find something else to do” she snapped. “What?” she said catching
sight of my expression.

“
You know I
love you” I said, “but sometimes you’ve got this whole dominatrix
thing going on that scares me.

“I’d never aim it at you” she said
smiling.

“
I know” I
replied, “but what did Sam37 do to deserve that?”

“
He’
s been whining the whole
night. He’s needy and I don’t do needy well.” she said.

“
Don’
t I know it” I replied
smiling.

“I’m sorry” said Griffin, “but I think I
missed something. Who is Sam 37?”

“
That’
s her doing” said Crystal
pointing at me.

“
Crystal
dates a lot of men from her dad’s casting agency and it just got
too hard to keep up with all the names” I said. “Our friend Edwin
and I started calling them all Sam. We give them numbers to
differentiate them. Tonight’s effort is Sam37.”

“Are you judging me Detective?” Crystal said
sweetly. “I hope not because you’re blackmailing my friend. I
really don’t think you’re in a strong enough moral position to
judge me.” With that she kissed me on the cheek, whispered “call me
when you get home” and walked off.

“
She goes for
the balls doesn’t she” said Griffin frowning as he watched Crystal
walk away.

“She’s way tougher than she looks. Most
people don’t really see it. I’ve seen her rip into men who were
standing over her and she can back it up.”

“She’s George Bronstein’s daughter isn’t
she?”

“Have you been researching us?” I asked.

“Seemed a good idea” he shrugged.

“
In answer to
your question, yes, she is George Bronstein’s daughter but she had
an interesting childhood which culminated at nineteen with her
getting involved with a bikie. I’m not talking an accountant who
rode motorcycles on the weekend either. I’m talking a hide your
daughters, lock up the silverware and why is the sheriff riding out
of town kind of bikie. She got away from that kind of life pretty
soon after that, but not before she absorbed the attitude and some
pretty interesting life skills."

“You sound like you admire her” Griffin
said.

“
I do” I
said. “She had a pretty lousy childhood being used as a cash cow by
her mother and yet she’s come through it okay. She also adores her
father and is very protective of him and her friends and that is
why she hates your guts.”

“
Why did you
have to tell her the truth about our arrangement?”

“
Lying to her
was never going to happen. The people I know best in LA are Reggie,
Monique, Crystal and my friend Edwin. I could not get away with
lying to them. They know me too well and would have suspected
something and got in the middle of it anyway. This way they are in
the know but you can be sure they won’t say anything to anyone.
It’s the best I can do” I said.

“Okay” Griffin said. “I’ll trust your
judgment on this one.”

“
Y
ou are just full of the sweet
talk” I said sarcastically.

Looking as if he was desperate to change the
topic Griffin looked around. “Is it always like this?”

“What, the celebrity scene.”

“
Yes I was
expecting it to be more, I don’t know” he said waving his hand in
the air.

“More exciting” I filled in. “More
interesting, less desperate alcohol and drug fueled hookups.”

“Yeah I guess so.”

“They’re people” I said, “just a bit
amplified.

I could see that Eleanor was getting ready to
leave and went over to her.

“Are you okay?” I asked her. Her eyes were
overly bright and I was a little concerned that she might not have
just been indulging in alcohol tonight. I lowered my voice. “Were
you safe with Adam?” I asked.

“
You always
worry about me don’t you?” she said patting her hand against my
cheek.

“Of course I do” I said.

“
I think
you’
re the only person I can really
depend on.”

Oh no, please
don’t let her start crying on me. When Eleanor gets drunk she gets
maudlin. The last time she got drunk she cried over me about how I
was her only true friend. The next morning she screamed at me for
being the moron who couldn’t get her coffee right. You learn to
take the good with the bad.

“
I’m going to
the funeral tomorrow” she whispered. “Adam said Ryan would want me
there. He said I was the one Ryan really loved.”