I panic and slam the door. I’m practically panting as I lean back against it. I only get a split second reprieve before I am flung forward as she barges through the door anyway.

Probably should have locked that
, I think to myself as I tumble to the floor.

“I asked you a question!” she yells.

The next few minutes play out like a scene from
The Real Housewives of Orange County
. As I turn to gather my sheet, she lunges forward, screaming and scratching. I huddle on the floor, trying my best to keep away from her fake nails that seem to double as talons, as she flings her arms in the air.

I can’t understand most of what she is screaming. Something about me being a home-wrecking whore.

Where is Ashley when you need her? Ashley would have thrown this chick out on her ass by now. She has brothers, and grew up learning how to be scrappy and fight dirty.

“What the fuck? Vanessa? Holy shit!” The loud swearing signals to me that Brandon has entered the fray.

Within a few seconds he hauls her off of me and manages to restrain her arms at her sides so she can’t assault anyone further.

“Cherry, are you all right?” he asks over his shoulder.

“Cherry? What are you? A stripper?” Vanessa sneers. “Or is that more of a hooker name?”

My mouth drops open but for the life of me, I can’t think of anything to say. Call me naïve, but I didn’t realize grown women actually talked to each other like this.

“Vanessa, shut the hell up,” Brandon growls. He releases her with a warning look. She backs up, her fists still clenched and eyes narrowed in my direction.

Brandon crosses back to where I am, still sitting on the floor. He squats down in front of me and his eyes search my face, gently touching a scratch on my cheek.

“Brandon, what the hell is going on? Did you invite her here?” I ask.

He speaks softly. “I’m so sorry, Charity, I have no idea how she even knew I was here. Listen, there’s a little bit of a crowd outside and I don’t want to attract any more attention. I’m going to deal with all this.” He turns back to her with a look of disgust. “But I need you to get dressed and once I get her out of here, give it five, ten minutes and then leave and go straight home. I’ll meet you back there as soon as I have this handled.”

He runs his thumb over my cheek again before standing up. He grabs Vanessa by the arm and starts to lead her out of the room.

“Bye, bye bitch,” she calls back to me.

“Vanessa, I am warning you,” Brandon hisses. “One more word out of you and I am calling the cops and having your ass arrested for assault. You think your daddy is going to be happy if he has to bail you out of jail?”

“You wouldn’t dare,” she says.

“Try me.”

They stare at each other intensely for a beat, and Vanessa seems to back down. She still looks like she could fly into another rage at any moment, but she allows him to steer her from the room without further incident.

I stare her down as Brandon leads her out of the room, one of his hands firmly grasping around her tiny wrist.

Once they leave, it takes me a few minutes to gather myself, still slightly in shock, and get dressed. I take one final look around the room to make sure I’ve got everything. I peek outside the window and don’t see anyone lurking about. Assuming the coast is clear, I hoist my purse up on my shoulder and leave the room.

I try to keep my head up and act like I did not just get beat up by a girl that probably weighs less than a hundred pounds.

There are a few people loitering around, but no one seems to be paying any particular attention to me. I hurry to my car, pull out of the parking lot, and start heading home. I check the rear-view mirror every five seconds, like I’m some sort of paranoid CIA agent. I roll my eyes and force myself to drive like a normal person the rest of the way home.

***

Once home, I shower and change out of yesterday’s clothes. I try to busy myself with cleaning until Brandon arrives a couple of hours later. He knocks on the door, and I let him in after checking the peephole—not making
that
mistake again.

He immediately pulls me into his arms. I try to relax, but I can’t force it. I push away from him. “What the hell was all that about?” I try—and fail—to keep the anger out of my voice. “You told me you weren’t with her! Were you lying to me? Is all of this a lie?”

He groans and rubs his face with both hands. “Charity, please don’t do this.”

“Do what?” My voice is bordering on hysterical.

“Don’t freak out, please. I know that whole thing was jacked up, and I really am sorry that it happened, but don’t take your anger out on me. I’m on your side, remember?”

“Don’t freak out! How could you even say that to me right now?” I yell. “I just got attacked by your crazy girlfriend, or ex-girlfriend, whatever! And you want me to not freak out?”

“Can we sit down and talk about this? I don’t want to fight with you.” His voice is low and soft.

I cross my arms across my chest. His eyes are soft, and I want to relax into his arms and go back to how things were at the hotel. But, all the events of the last few days are catching up to me and making it hard to think clearly. There is a sense of panic in the back of mind that is trying to convince me that I’ve just made a terrible, costly mistake in even letting Brandon get close again, without really knowing what he wants.

“Please, Cherry?” He says, offering me his hand.

I take a deep breath and nod, doing my best to force away the anxiety building in my chest. He steps forward and takes my hand, and I let him lead me to the couch.

We sit down and he turns to face me. “I didn’t lie when I told you that Vanessa and I are not together. We met a couple of years ago on the set of my first movie and, yes, we
used
to date, but that’s been over for a long time. We tried to stay friends after the breakup, but it’s been dysfunctional to say the least.”

“How did she know where you were? If you didn’t invite her…”

“I guess my manager told her. I called him yesterday to see about getting a longer break to stay here and be with my mom. Then, apparently, when Vanessa called him to find out where I was, he told her everything. He told her about my mom and the cancer, and gave her my info for the hotel.”

“Why would he do that, if you’re not together?”

He sighs. “I don’t know. She can be very…convincing.”

I wrinkle my nose. Not sure I know what that means. Not sure I even want to know.

“Anyways, I’ve handled it. I put her on a plane back to LA and told her that she is never to come near you or me again.”

“What makes you think she will listen?” I ask. “Call me crazy, but I need a little reassurance psycho bitch won’t be lurking in dark alleys waiting to pop out at me!”

“Let’s just say, I brought it to her attention that I have some very compromising photos of her, and that it would be a shame if those were to fall into the wrong hands,” he says. “Her dad is a very conservative business man who has already been embarrassed enough by her antics over the years. She really can’t afford one more scandal, or she’ll get cut off from him. And bye, bye daddy, means bye, bye bank account.”

I gasp. “You wouldn’t do that!”

I have nothing but ill-will towards this woman, but even I wouldn’t stoop that low and the Brandon I know, or knew, wouldn’t either.

“No, I wouldn’t. I don’t even have the pictures anymore, I deleted them when we broke up one of the million times. But she doesn’t know that,” he answers. “The point isn’t that it’s an empty threat, the point is that she won’t be bothering us again, I promise.”

He takes my hands. “Again, I am so sorry. I truly had no idea.”

Relief floods through me and the tension in my chest recedes. I decide that I believe his story. “Okay.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks. He takes my chin in one hand, and gently turns my head to see the scratch on my face.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just a little scratched and bruised. I think you got her off of me before she could go for the jugular. Good thing too. Who knew acrylic could do so much damage?” I joke.

Brandon smiles. “I always hated those things.”

“What did you ever see in her in the first place?” I ask.

Now that I have “met” this mysterious Vanessa woman, I can pretty much state that she is my polar opposite. She is a high fashion, full makeup and hair, and probably a sleeps-in-her-stilettos kind of girl. I don’t doubt Brandon’s love for me, but if he’s thinking I will ever be some kind of glamazon woman, he’s going to be very disappointed.My makeup bag has less than ten things in it and I really only fuss with my hair when I’m going somewhere fancy.

“Truthfully, I think the fact that she was different from anyone I had ever met was what initially attracted me to her. But I quickly realized that behind all that…stuff…is a very insecure woman who surrounds herself with people who worship the ground she walks on. Once you stop being good at that, she turns on you. She either cuts you out of her life or tries to make your life hell.”

Listening to him, I almost begin to feel sorry for her.

Almost.

Brandon pulls me close to him on the couch and wraps his arm around me. I snuggle into his side and breathe in his smell.

After a while he tips my face towards him and kisses me slowly.

“Charity, there is something we need to talk about though,” he says when we break apart.

I stiffen and brace myself, suddenly nervous.

“What happened today is certainly not the norm and I don’t want to scare you, but the world I’m from, down in LA is totally different than what you’re used to here. You know that I love you and that I will do everything in my power to protect you and keep you out of that mess, but I can’t guarantee that you won’t get hurt again. Probably not in a catfight, like today, but sometimes words can hurt more.”

He pauses, seeming to think of what to say next. “When I left that room with Vanessa, there were people outside with camera phones. I wouldn’t be surprised if the tabloid takes the bits and pieces from today and spins some crazy story. Ultimately you could end up in the middle of that. It could drag up our past and make it public knowledge overnight.”

I feel my eyes go wide as I absorb his words. I hadn’t even considered that.

“I hope that doesn’t happen, but I have to prepare you. Especially if you decide to move to California with me. Which, I really hope you do, more than you even know, but I would be doing you a disservice not to tell you the whole truth. The good and the bad.”

“I understand,” I whisper. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid. But I do trust you to fight alongside me no matter what comes our way. The good, the bad, and the ugly.”

Brandon smiles and holds my gaze for a long minute before kissing me again. “So, we’re in this together, then?”

I stare into his deep green eyes for a moment and the fear and uncertainty dissolves. “Together.”

He smiles and my heart races as he leans in and kisses me softly.

BOOK: Seduced

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