Authors: Jillian Dodd
“I’m sorry, miss, but our client records are confidential.”
“But, I need to get him this ring.”
“If you want to do that, please ship the ring to us and we’ll take care of it.”
I haven’t taken it off my finger since he put it on me, except to show Tristan. No way will I send it back to the store.
“Could you please transfer me to a manager?” I ask politely.
“Sure,” she says with a huff. “But he’s going to tell you the same thing.”
I wait on hold about five minutes before the manager answers and says, “How can I help you?”
“Look, I know you have confidentiality and all that, so I’m going to tell you the truth. I didn’t find the ring. I got married in Vegas on Saturday to a guy I just met. The ring is way extravagant, and I snuck out of our room and I didn’t find out his name. I need to do the honorable thing. Find him and give the ring back personally.” And maybe fuck him again a few more times. “I know this is an unusual situation but, please, can you help me?”
“Actually, your situation is not that unusual, other than the cost of the ring. It is Vegas, after all. Where was the ceremony?”
“At your hotel.”
“You had to sign a marriage license. That will have both your names on it. Why don’t you call the county and request a copy of it.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks.”
I hang up, then remember signing my fake ID name on the paper they put in front of us. What if he signed a fake name too?
God, it was hot with him. I dreamed about him all night and woke up so freaking horny that I dug out the vibrator I got as a gag gift from Harper, hoping it would do the trick. But it couldn’t even compare to him.
Sure it could stimulate, but it doesn’t have his soft lips, roaming hands, or muscular shoulders.
And it couldn’t pin me beneath its weight.
Or pick me up and do me against a wall.
I’m still not completely sure how he did that. I didn’t tell Harper this when she brought it up, but Zach and I tried to once and miserably failed when I fell to the ground pre-fuck.
I glance at the clock, realizing I need to get to the studio.
As I transfer my wallet from my clutch to my handbag, a piece of paper falls out.
I pick it up and realize it’s our marriage license.
Ohmigawd! He signed it.
I look at my name and then his.
Ben
, is it? His signature is barely legible. But then I see our names printed in a neat block print across the top.
BEN SMITH.
I grab my phone and call the jewelry store back.
“I know his name!” I say to the person I first spoke to. “It’s Ben Smith. Will you please just look through your records and tell me if a Ben Smith bought a four-carat diamond on Saturday night?”
“But, earlier, you said you found it?”
“Oh yeah, whatever—do you have someone by that name?”
“I’m sorry,” she says again.
“I’m not asking for information, nothing personal. Just a simple yes or no answer. I’m dying here.”
“I don’t have anyone by that name making a purchase here in the last thirty days. Are you sure you have the right store?”
“You’re next to the dress shop, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then I have the right store. Shit. I’m mean, thank you.”
I reluctantly take the ring off, put it in the safe, and go to work.
Off Limits
Cash
I’m outside Cade’s office waiting for him to get off a conference call. I’ve filled out a bunch of paperwork, but still have no idea exactly what I’ll be doing. I probably should have done some research on what a junior agent does.
I do very much like my salary, however. Beats the pants off what I was making in Seattle.
While I wait, I find myself daydreaming about a pale shoulder shimmering in the moonlight as a hot-ass girl rode me. I think about the disappointment I felt when I woke up and she was gone.
“Cade will see you now,” Carly—his way-too-pretty assistant—tells me, leading me into his modern office.
“Have a seat,” he says. “So, how does it feel to be back home?”
“I’ve only been here since yesterday, but so far so good. Carter’s house is sweet. Although the little bitch made me drive his Escalade here instead of his Bentley.”
My brother leans back in his chair and laughs. “Can’t say I blame him. How many cars have you wrecked since you turned sixteen?”
“Come on. None of those accidents were my fault.”
“Tell that to the two dead Porsche Carreras.”
“So, I saw my salary, not bad. Do I get a pretty car too? A house on the beach? Use of the corporate jet?”
“For now, what you get to do is be an assistant on the set of a movie.”
“A movie? I thought I was going to be a junior talent agent? Put the law degree to good use.”
“You need to learn the business before you’ll be ready to take clients of your own. A movie set is a good place to start. Especially, now.”
“Whatever you think,” I say with a shrug. If he wants to pay me that much to poke around a movie set, I have no problem with it. “So what’s the movie? Who’s in it?”
“One of my top clients, Ashlyn Roberts.”
When he says her name, I can’t help but smile.
“Oh, no,” he says. “Wipe that smile off your face. Ashlyn Roberts is off limits to you. In fact, she’s the reason I want you there.”
“Oh, really?” I say with a completely straight face. “How come?”
“She only has a couple more weeks of filming left and needs to get through them without any drama. I don’t have her signed for another project because, frankly, the industry is waiting to see how this one goes. And, right now, it’s not looking good. Reports are that she’s been high on set. That her head isn’t in the game when she shows up. They’ve had to work around her crazy schedule with this guy she was dating. So your job is to watch her. See that she has no distractions. Stays out of trouble. We had two deals on the table. One, a very lucrative one that I thought she should take, but the studio rescinded the offer last week when the sex tape broke. The other is one that her manager wants her to take, one I believe could kill her career. I’m afraid he’ll either talk her into it or that it will be her only option. I’ve worked too hard to help her get to this point, and I genuinely like the girl. I don’t want to see her go down in flames.
“She also has some other issues. She hates her co-star, Kenton Mills. And I’m pretty sure the feeling is mutual. I’ve been telling her for months that she needs to fire her manager and publicist, but she won’t listen because she thinks they are friends. Her personal life is a mess, and that was
before
her ex-boyfriend released a sex tape of her. I believe both her publicist and her manager had a role in the tape being released, but I’ve yet to prove it. Really, it’s too bad you didn’t make it to the wedding. I could have introduced you to Ashlyn then. Although she was kind of drunk from doing shots with the groomsmen.”
“The groomsmen, meaning you and our brother. Why is that bad?”
“Because she was hammered. She’d been dating Zach Ellison. Do you know who he is?”
“Boy band guy?”
“Yeah. After the sex tape released, he told her that he was going to stand by her side. But he broke up with her at the wedding.”
“He sounds like a dick.”
“His family is very close-knit. I’m sure his parents made him.”
“Still.”
“Fine. I think the guy’s a douche. But, even though he was a distraction, at least with him, she was getting mostly good press.”
“And now?”
“I’m waiting for photos to show up from this weekend.”
“What happened this weekend?” I ask, trying not to sweat.
“She called Carter, borrowed his plane, picked up some random guy, took him to Vegas and, according to the pilots, they fucked loudly on the plane. Twice.”
“Sounds like a fun girl,” I say with a laugh.
“She’s a sweet girl, but she’s ruled by her emotions. She’s such a good actress and has a good head on her shoulders in every area of her life except love and friendship. It’s almost like she’s desperate or something.”
Or something, I think naughtily.
“Anyway, if we don’t get her on track, her career will be over. And I’d hate to see that. So, your job is to babysit her.”
“Babysit her, how?” I ask, although I have plenty of ideas, putting her over my knee and spanking her hot naked ass if she gets too out of hand, being first on the list.
“Just get to be friends with everyone on set. But, mostly, keep an eye on her. She’s a ticking time bomb. I want you to make sure she doesn’t go off.”
I bite my lip, holding back a smile, knowing exactly what happens when she goes off. It’s loud, dirty, and hot as fuck.
Cade smacks my back and laughs. “I know that look, bro. Keep it in your pants. That’s rule number one. Flirt with her if you need to, but absolutely no fucking. Got it?”
“Got it,” I lie.
“Good. Carly will take care of your credentials.” He slaps a thick stack of paper in front of me. “This is the movie script. You’ll be reading a lot of these soon.”
“So I’ll be going to the set today?” I ask, trying not to sound too eager.
“Read the script first. Carly is also going to give you a binder with info on Ashlyn. Read it. Memorize it. Put that brilliant mind to good use and help me figure out how the hell we’re going to keep her from destroying her career.”
I go back to Carter’s house, sit on the deck overlooking the ocean, and flip through the information Carly gave me on Ashlyn Roberts. It’s pretty basic stuff—hell, I think I know more personal stuff about her after spending less than twenty-four hours with her—but our time together was of a pretty personal nature.
I should have told Cade about Vegas, and I’m nervous someone will tell him that it was me on the plane with her. I don’t typically lie to my family, but this—is different.
Besides, she said we’d be getting a quickie divorce this week.
Once she knows where to find me, I expect to get those papers. Then it will all be over, and we can chalk it up to one of those crazy nights.
Okay, back to business.
Ashlyn started her career when she moved to Los Angeles at seventeen. This article says that she got the first role she auditioned for, which was a cheerleader who moonlighted as a shifter slayer. She showed up at the audition in a cheerleading skirt with a black leather jacket and was chewing bubble gum. She was unknown and exactly what they were looking for. After two years on the series, she got a few small roles on the big screen. She played a vampire in a popular series and followed that role with the sexy, girl-next-door love interest of a nerd who was stung by a radioactive wasp and turned into a super hero. Since then, she’s played the lead in numerous romantic comedies, a female super hero, and a kick-ass spy. All big budget films. All commercial success. She has a modeling contract with a large perfume brand, a preppy designer label, and a mass-market makeup line. Last year alone, she earned fourteen million dollars, making her one of the top ten grossing actresses. The statistics show that for every dollar the studio paid her, they earned back $68.70.
I flip through the file looking for articles about her personal life and find nothing at all about her family. So I do an internet search and find an article where she mentioned that her dad passed away when she was young.
My brother might be right. She may be desperate for love.
I remember her babbling meltdown. How she told me all sorts of little secrets.
I read the tabloid articles about her boyfriends and her relationship with that dick, Luke O’Brien, who better hope I never run into him.
I check out her manager’s social media. Don’t like him.
I check out her publicist. She has a certain sex appeal, if you like girls who look like they belong on a pole. And when I see the photos of her with Luke, dating back to before his split with Ashlyn, I decide she’s a conniving, scheming bitch.
So far, the only person I’m going to like of those who deal with her is my brother. But I may be biased.
Next, I check out her whirlwind courtship with dick number two, Zach Ellison, who left her when she needed him the most. But after looking at the photos, I agree with my brother. She was just a pawn.
That’s what I can give her. I don’t want or need anything from her. I just want her.
Then I realize I sound stupid. We just met.
It was just one night.