Starstruck - Book Four (10 page)

“It’s okay,” I replied. I was already starting to cave. I
could feel it.

“Why were you at Ava’s yesterday?” I asked the million
dollar question. My hands glided over the leather-bound steering wheel,
stopping to grip it tightly as I waited for his response. My palms were sweaty,
and I chided myself for asking that question. He was just going to tell me what
I wanted to hear.

The silence went on for too long. It wasn’t like Hudson to
not have an answer for everything. I finally looked up at him to see what was
taking so long, only to see him standing there with his hands covering his
eyes.

“Hudson?” I asked. Was he crying?

He ran his fingers through his dark hair and took a step
back.

“I can’t win with you, Brynn,” he said. He looked tired.
Defeated. And slightly on the verge of tears. “Nothing I ever do is good enough
for you.”

“That’s not true,” I said.

“Anytime I try to do something for you, I’m instantly
accused of doing something wrong,” he said. “I give up, Brynn. If you want me,
you know where to find me. But I’m tired of constantly trying to prove to you
that I’m a good guy.”

He threw his hands in the air and walked backwards, his eyes
filled with disappointment. He wasn’t going to fight for us. Not this time. He
wasn’t going to give me a perfect little Hudson explanation. He wasn’t going to
even try.

I’d royally fucked up. At least I was 95% certain.

I slipped on my sunglasses and watched as he climbed back
into his Range Rover and drove home. It was really over this time. There was
going to be no back and forth banter. No crazy makeup sex. No Hudson telling me
how crazy he was about me and how he would do anything to make me happy.

In the short time that I’d known him, he’d whisked me away,
treated me like a princess, and shown me things I’d never have seen otherwise.
He took me under his wing. Gave me a car worth more than most people’s
salaries. A wardrobe any girl would die for. Jewelry. Access to his personal
trainer and top-notch stylists and industry professionals. He put my mom in one
of the best treatment centers in the country. He’d given me the keys to his
kingdom and placed the world at my fingertips. Not once did he ever ask for
anything in return except for me to love him.

Anytime things weren’t perfect or something came along to
rock our beautiful little world together, I’d start an argument. I’d make an
accusation. I’d believe the lies printed in the tabloids and think about
throwing in the towel on Hudson.

“I’m such a fucking asshole,” I said out loud in the car. I
needed to hear it with my own ears. “I’m such a fucking asshole.”

I’d just ruined the best thing that had ever happened to me.

As I drove back to Alec’s in Hudson’s car, wearing clothes
Hudson had bought and paid for, and clutching the cell phone Hudson had given
me, I thought about my mom sitting there in that treatment center. I had no
idea how much it was costing him to keep her there, but I couldn’t expect him
to keep paying for it. Not after what I’d done and not if we weren’t together
anymore. He’d given me so much. I wasn’t going to keep taking from him. I
wasn’t that kind of person.

But how was I going to pay for her treatment? She needed at
least another month there, maybe longer.

I pulled up to the stoplight outside of Alec’s condo and
something caught my eye. It was the glimmer of my yellow diamond ring,
sparkling in the late morning sun.

I didn’t want to sell it, but it wasn’t going to do any good
sitting in a box, shoved in a drawer somewhere. I had no idea how much it was
worth. If I could just sell it and get enough money to pay for the rest of my
mom’s treatment, I could save up to pay Hudson back for the ring. I knew he’d
understand. And it was going to be a lot easier than asking him to straight up
pay for her treatment after the falling out we’d just had.

 It was the only thing that made sense, and it was going to
be win-win for everyone.

The box had the name Lorraine something on it. Lorraine
Schultz? Lorraine Smith? No, it was Lorraine Schwartz! That was the name of the
jeweler. I typed it into my navigation system and headed there immediately.

The only thing I was thinking about was getting that money
so my mom could stay at Paradiso. I wasn’t thinking about how my hair was
sticking up like a crazy person or about how I hadn’t brushed my teeth yet that
morning or how my eyeliner was smudged below my eyes.

In yesterday’s clothes, I marched straight into the jewelry
store and up to a sales associate in a navy sport coat with slicked back silver
hair. He glanced at me and then did a double take. I was sure to him I looked
like a homeless person.

“I need to return something,” I said as I slid the canary
band off my finger and clinked it down on the glass counter.

He picked it up, looked at it, and then looked at me.

“This is definitely one of ours,” he said with a sigh, as if
he were sad to see it returned. “Are you not happy with this piece?”

“No, it’s not that,” I said staring longingly at it. It was
a gorgeous piece, but it didn’t mean anything anymore. “I got it from a
boyfriend. We broke up.”

“I see,” he said. He didn’t quite believe me. “Let me look
up the sale in the system. What was his name?”

“Hudson Smith,” I mumbled. Keeping my voice down was the
best way not to cause a scene. My humble appearance had already caused a scene
of its own. I didn’t need another one.

“I’ll be right back,” the salesman said as he trotted off
with the ring and went to a back room.

As I waited, I glanced around the store. Sparkling baubles
under clear glass displays, highly attractive staff, and subtle, elegant music
that mewed lightly from the speakers created the perfect storm of simplistic
sophistication. This place oozed money and status, and I didn’t belong in
there. Not anymore.

The salesman came back after several long minutes with a
pained look on his face. If I could just get a few thousand out of it, I’d have
been happy. I had no idea how much anything in that store was, but a few
thousand would buy my mom a little more time in the treatment facility.

“I don’t know if you’re familiar with our return policy,” he
began as he handed me a piece of paper with Hudson’s signature. It was the
original sales receipt. “We have an 80% restocking and return fee.”

My eyes scanned the document for a number, and when I
finally saw it, it was all I could do not to pass out. Hudson had spent $50,000
on my ring. Some quick math told me I’d be walking out of there with $40,000.

“So that will be forty thousand going back on the Amex,” the
salesman said as he began clicking around on the computer in front of him.

“Oh,” I said. I hadn’t even thought about him putting it on
his credit card. I supposed that was how big purchases were made. I had no
idea. I’d never made any big purchases before.

“Is…there a problem, ma’am?” he asked. I was certain he was
trying to catch me in some sort of lie. Maybe he was assuming it was stolen.
The way he looked at me with his incredulous, steel blue eyes made me want to
get the hell out of there.

I couldn’t take another second of being stared at. And it wasn’t
just him. It was the entire store. Other patrons. Staff. I was clearly out of
place.

By the time I made it to my car, I realized I’d left the
ring in the store. I thought about going back in there to retrieve it, but I
didn’t have the guts to show my face again after I’d just run out of there like
some lunatic. I wanted to forget the whole thing even happened.

                                               ***

“Where’s your stuff?” Alec asked as I walked into his condo
empty handed.

“Couldn’t get in. Hudson changed the code on the gate,” I
said.

“Really?” Alec scrunched his nose. “That doesn’t seem very
Hudson-like.”

I shrugged. “No comment.”

As we stood in the entry way, I noticed he was all dressed
up, messenger bag flung over his shoulder and keys in hand.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“It’s Tuesday,” he said. “Work.”

“Who are you styling today?” I asked as I plopped down on
his couch and made myself comfortable.

“Mia Sterling,” he said, stifling a huge smile. “She’s
amazing. I love her. You’ll love her. You’re coming with.”

“No, not today,” I said as I nuzzled my head into a throw
pillow.

Mia Sterling was an actress who never seemed to snag any
leading roles. Her signature round face and infectious smile always seemed to
land her supporting actress roles or best friend parts. She was a great actress
though and seemed super nice on T.V. But then again, so did Ava. They were all
a bunch of phonies as far as I was concerned.

“As my assistant, you don’t get a choice,” he said. He
placed on hand on his hip. “As your boss, I’m telling you you’re going.”

“I don’t have anything to wear, Alec. You’re forgetting
that.”

“Look who you’re talking to. I’ve got a whole closet full of
women’s clothes. Most on loan so don’t you dare spill anything on them. But I’m
sure we can find you something,” he said. “Go. Shower. Get dressed. I’m going
to load the car. I’m giving you thirty minutes. Don’t wash your hair. You don’t
have time.”

I wasted no time in getting my ass to the shower. I helped
myself to Alec’s amazing assortment of high end products that could easily
rival Hudson’s, and showered in a flash. I ransacked the closet in his guest
room and found a pair of jeans to squeeze myself into and a plain, fitted
t-shirt. After readjusting my top knot and finger-brushing my teeth, I was as
ready as I was going to be.

“This good enough?” I asked Alec after emerging from the
bathroom.

His discerning eyes looked me up and down before he glanced
at his watch.

“We’re running late,” he said. In other words, he thought I
looked like shit.

We drove through crazy, congested traffic towards the
outskirts of Los Angeles and eventually ended up in a gated community in
Calabasas. We pulled up to a home that was probably one of the more modest ones
in the neighborhood, but it still held its own.

“So here we are,” Alec said. He seemed nervous, which was
odd because he never got nervous. “I’m not used to having an assistant. I
usually do everything on my own. I’m sort of a control freak that way.”

“I know.” I rolled my eyes. It amazed me that for as long as
he’d been in the business, he never had an assistant, but it was starting to
make sense. His business was his baby, and for some crazy reason he was
trusting me with it. “I won’t embarrass you. I promise.”

“It’s not that,” he said.

“Yeah, it is,” I laughed. “You can be honest.”

“Okay, fine,” he said. “Just don’t act all starstruck.”

“You’re funny. Let’s go.”

We climbed out of his car and began unloading his trunk. As
he assembled the garment rack, I hung everything up and grabbed containers of
accessories and jewelry.

“Basically you’re just here to be my second set of hands,”
he said as we headed toward the front door. “You don’t have to talk or give
opinions or anything like that.”

He was so nervous, it was cute. I would never jeopardize his
reputation, and I’d gladly keep my opinions to myself. I still didn’t know the
first thing about style or fashion. He’d forgotten, he was the one who styled
me. Of course he liked my style. He gave it to me.

“Hello, hello!” a happy voice greeted us as the front door
swung open. Standing with open arms and her signature infectious smile was the
gregarious and stunning Mia Sterling. “You’ll have to forgive me. I’ve got a
hot date tonight.”

She patted the huge curlers that covered her head of lush,
raven hair.

“A hot date?” Alec asked. “And who might that be?”

“No one you’d know,” she laughed as she swatted his arm.
“Nosy Rosy here.”

I smiled. I was mesmerized by her. She was so fresh-faced,
happy, and normal. God was she normal. And nice. I was staring. I was going to
embarrass Alec.

“This is my new assistant, Brynn,” Alec said.

“Hi, Brynn. I’m Mia,” she said with a gracious smile as she
extended her right hand.

“Nice to meet you,” I said. She had the softest hands in the
entire world.

“Shall we?” she asked as she spun on her bare heel. She was
in jeans and a simple t-shirt. She was already speaking my language.

“Do you guys want anything to drink? Soda? Water? Wine?” she
offered. She was so sweet.

“We’re good, doll,” Alec said to her. “We’re just going to
get your measurements today and have you try on a few things. We won’t take up
too much of your time.”

Mia looked at her watch. “Eh, my date’s not for another few
hours. Take your time.”