by Julie James
Valerie shrugged amiably. “Fine, I want to get back to your place to freshen up, anyway.”
Kate rolled her eyes. “Freshen up? You spent twenty minutes doing your makeup on the plane before we landed.”
Valerie fixed Kate with an ultraserious stare. “Katherine. We are in L.A. One must look their best at all times out here. You never know who you might meet.” Val looped her arm through Taylor’s as the three of them headed in the direction of the baggage claim. “Tell her, Taylor.”
Kate pulled her suitcase along, keeping up with them. “Yes, tell me, Taylor,” she said teasingly. “Tell me how the celebrities are just falling off the trees around here, like oranges.”
Taylor stared straight ahead as they walked, praying she didn’t lose her shit right there in the airport.
“Um, well . . . let’s get back to my place. Then I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
BACK AT HER apartment, after getting Kate and Val set up in her guest bedroom, Taylor poured them a round of their usual mango martinis. She sipped her drink quickly, figuring the buzz would help loosen her tongue, which lately seemed to get stuck anytime she even thought the name Jason Andrews.
Oh yeah, and Scott Casey, too. Of course.
Realizing she couldn’t delay any further, Taylor sat her drink down on the kitchen table. Determined to get this over with.
“Okay, look—I need to tell you guys something. Actually, now it’s a couple of somethings.” She took a deep breath. Slowly, ease into it slowly.
“So here’s the deal: the firm put me on this project, and I had to keep things quiet to avoid any publicity conflicts with my trial.” Taylor stopped. Damn—that had come out wrong. “Not that I thought either of you would purposely tell anyone,” she backtracked, “but—”
“Oh my god . . .” Kate whispered. Her eyes widened in shock. “You’re not coming back to Chicago.”
Taylor shook her head. “Of course I am. That’s not it.” She regrouped. “Anyway, for this project, I had to work with a certain someone, and help him out with—”
Valerie gasped excitedly. “I knew it! You’re dating somebody!”
Taylor pointed at her emphatically. “No. We are definitely not dating. Well, but then there’s kind of this other guy, but I just met him last week and I don’t really know where that’s going . . .”
Seeing that her friends were totally lost, she pulled herself together. “Let me start over. About a month ago, I met—”
She was cut off by a loud knock at her front door.
Taylor held a finger up to Val and Kate. “Hold that thought for a second while I get this.”
As she headed into the living room, she overheard Kate mumble to Val, “Hold what thought? I haven’t understood a word she’s said yet.”
Taylor unlocked her front door and opened it. Before she could react, Jason barreled right in, all fired up.
“Where have you been?? I tried calling you—is your cell phone off? I need you to tell me who the hell I can sue. I just met with Marty—we got back the mock-ups for the new publicity posters the studio’s going to use to promote Inferno .”
Jason stormed into the kitchen, so engrossed in his rant he didn’t notice Valerie and Kate. He opened Taylor’s fridge and helped himself to a bottled water.
“And get this,” he fumed angrily, “the dumbasses who designed the posters have me pictured in this scene where I’m putting out a fire with all these other firemen. But if you look at the poster from the side, the water from the hose of one of the other firefighters looks like it’s shooting right out of my crotch. And the best part is, they want to put this poster over the theater entrance for the premiere. I can just see it—” He gestured grandly to the air. “ ‘Come see Inferno! Get pissed on by Jason Andrews!’”
With that, he threw Taylor a wink. “It should be right up your alley.”
Finished with his rant, Jason took a sip of water. Then he finally noticed Kate and Val. He smiled charmingly.
“Oh. People. Hello.”
Kate and Val sat in silence at the table. They stared at the sight of this god, this ideal man of modern time, standing before them in all his glory.
In their friend’s kitchen.
Valerie began giggling nervously.
Kate held her martini glass aloft, still frozen in midair after Jason’s grand entrance.
“Taylor Donovan,” she whispered hoarsely. “What is this man doing in your kitchen?”
Jason tipped his Evian bottle. “Having a drink of water.”
Taylor threw him a look—he wasn’t exactly helping the situation. She turned to her friends to make the introductions. So much for easing slowly into the conversation.
“Kate, Val—I think you know Jason. Jason, this is Kate and Valerie, my friends from Chicago.”
Valerie jumped out of her chair, finally finding her voice. “You little shit!” She wagged her finger in Taylor’s face. “How could you not tell us this?”
Not waiting for an answer, Val rushed over to shake Jason’s hand, gushing effusively. “It’s so nice to meet you, Jason. I’m a big fan—I’ve seen every one of your movies. Like six times.”
Hearing that, Jason proudly folded his arms across his chest and shot Taylor a satisfied grin. “Told you,” he mouthed. Then he turned back to Valerie, who stared at him in a daze, still holding his hand.
“Thank you. That’s always nice to hear,” he said warmly. “So you two are friends of Taylor?”
Kate and Val managed mute nods.
“You’re visiting from Chicago, then?”
More nodding. Chicago, yes, uh-huh, whatever. We saw you naked in Overload.
Jason turned to Kate, trying to draw her out. “So what do you ladies have planned for tonight?”
Val and Kate shrugged, silly grins still plastered on their faces.
Taylor intervened, gently extracting Val’s hand from Jason’s. “I tried to get us reservations at Koi, but they were booked this whole weekend. We’ll come up with something else.”
At this, Jason rolled his eyes. He whipped out his cell phone, unable to suppress his smile. “You never cease to amaze me, Taylor.”
Despite herself, she felt her cheeks blushing.
Jason held Taylor’s gaze as he spoke into his phone. “Yeah, Marty, it’s me. Get me a table at Koi tonight. Party of . . .” He looked at her questioningly. “Is this a girls-only night, or are guys invited, too?”
“Oh my god, guys are so invited!” Valerie cried out, practically barreling Jason over in her excitement.
Over Val’s head, he looked at Taylor teasingly. “I guess that means you’re stuck with me again, Ms. Donovan.” He grinned at Valerie, to explain. “She thinks she hates me.”
He winked, as if to say they all knew the likelihood of that being true.
Twenty-two
THE GIRLS SCRAMBLED to get ready. As they rushed in and out of the bathroom, trying on various outfits (Val’s fifteen now came in very handy), Taylor’s friends demanded to know every detail of her relationship with Jason. So she told them.
How she couldn’t stand him when they first met.
How he was arrogant and rude, and how he insulted her on national television.
How she fought and fought and fought to get off the Andrews Project, but nobody at her firm had listened.
“And now?” Kate asked, sitting cross-legged on Taylor’s bed. They both were already dressed. Val, however, still fussed in front of the full-length mirror in the corner of the bedroom.
“And now, I don’t know,” Taylor said, shrugging. “I guess I find him, you know, tolerable.”
“Tolerable.” Val turned around from the mirror. “You find Jason Andrews tolerable.”
“Well . . .” she hedged.
“Would you like to amend your answer, Taylor?” Kate asked in a sly lawyer’s tone.
Then she told her friends about Vegas, and how in a moment of alcohol-induced weakness (that was still her story and she w
as sticking to it), she and Jason had almost kissed. Until they were interrupted by a horde of screaming fans.
“Man, I hate when that happens,” Kate interjected. “Screaming hordes of fans ruin everything.”
Then Taylor also told them about the party, describing in detail Jason’s amazing house. But for whatever reason, she didn’t tell them about the run-in with Naomi. Pride, perhaps.
“So now what?” Val asked. She had finally settled on a red sleeveless top and True Religion jeans. “What’s going on with you two?”
“Nothing is going on with us,” Taylor said.
“Well, isn’t that a crime . . .” Val mused. “You need to get on that ASAP, Taylor. Like tonight. You’re a fool if you don’t.”
Before Taylor could respond, the doorbell rang. Val jumped up and ran excitedly into the living room. Taylor and Kate followed and caught up with Val as she peeked out the front window.
She turned around, gesturing outside. “This man you find tolerable just sent a limo to pick us up. What do you have to say about that?”
Curious, Taylor and Kate peered out the window.
“What on earth have you done to him?” Kate asked, taking in the limo outside.
“Oh, you know, slammed a few doors in his face, hung up on him a couple of times, tossed around a slew of insults.”
Kate nodded. “Ah, the usual stuff.”
She and Taylor shared a smile. Then they watched through the window as Valerie hightailed it outside. She paused at the limo and grandly blew air kisses to a few of Taylor’s neighbors before climbing inside.
EVERYWHERE THEY WENT that night, people stared.
At Koi, as the five of them (Jason had brought Jeremy along) ate ridiculously expensive sushi and knocked back several drinks, people stared.
At Teddy’s at the Roosevelt Hotel, as they laughed while at their poolside table, people stared.
When they left Teddy’s and walked right past the line outside Privilege, people stared.
As they were ushered into the club, with its white walls and white floor, by a manager (dressed all in white), and seated at a private booth (white leather, natch), people stared.
And Kate and Val ate up every minute of it.
It had to be one of the best, if not the best, nights of their lives. And certainly the most glamorous. They were treated like royalty everywhere they went. All because of Jason.
After the waiter took the group’s drink orders, Taylor found herself thinking about Jason’s attitude that evening. Or rather, his complete lack thereof. He was being entirely gracious with her friends. Charming. Friendly. Downright nice, actually. Throughout the night, he had been eager to make sure her friends were having a good time. He talked at length to both Val and Kate, making an effort to get to know each of them. To the point, frankly, where Taylor felt as though she had spent almost the whole evening with Jeremy.
Which was perfectly fine. Her friends could have Jason Andrews—she’d spent enough time around him as it was.
Hadn’t she?
They were on their second round of drinks when Taylor noticed that a thick crowd had grown around their table. When a sweaty drunk guy with overly gelled hair—some famous-for-being-famous oil heir who hung out with Paris Hilton (according to Val’s knowing whisper)—knocked into Taylor and nearly spilled his drink on her, Jason appeared to reach his limit.
“Let’s head to the back,” he declared.
Taylor took advantage of their change in location by heading over to the bar to settle their tab. Jason had paid for everything else that evening, and she felt guilty continuing to take advantage of his generosity. He may have money, but she certainly could handle paying for a few rounds of drinks.
She got her credit card out of her purse and was trying to flag down their waiter when Jason pulled up next to her at the bar.
“What do you plan to do with that?” He pointed to her credit card with amusement.
“At least let me pay for the drinks,” she insisted.
“Why? So you can turn around and expense them as part of my legal bills?” Jason grinned teasingly.
Recalling how awkward their earlier conversation on the subject of billing had been, Taylor blushed. “Don’t worry—I’m not going to expense it,” she told him. “I doubt I could get away with calling this work.” She gestured to the bar and the crowd surrounding them.
Jason leaned against the bar. “No? Then what exactly would you call this?” He gestured to the bar and crowd, imitating her.
Right then, somebody bumped into Taylor, pushing her into Jason. He steadied her, putting one hand on her hip to protect her from the crowd. Pressed against him, Taylor glanced up and found his eyes staring straight into hers.
There were hundreds of people in the club that night.
But suddenly it felt like it was just the two of them.
AS THEY STOOD together amidst the low, seductive candlelight that illuminated the bar, Jason’s mind raced in a million directions.
He watched as Taylor took a step back, putting some distance between them. She seemed a little flustered. Good, Jason thought. It was about time.
“What do you mean?” she asked, trying to continue on with a normal conversation. “What would I call what, exactly?”
He pointed between them. “I think you once described this as me ‘pestering’ you.”
Taylor smiled. “Me? That doesn’t sound like something I would say.”
Jason could’ve sworn he heard a flirtatious tone there. “No, I distinctly remember the conversation,” he said. “We were at the Bellagio, on the terrace . . .”
Taylor’s cheeks flushed tellingly, and Jason knew then that she remembered not only the conversation but also what had happened, or almost happened, immediately afterward.
Just at that moment, the crowd surged again. To avoid crashing into Taylor, he braced himself against the bar, one arm on either side of her. Trapping her in.
He grinned down at Taylor, referring to their position. “Yes, I think this is exactly where we were last time.”
She gazed up at him. “We should get back to our friends.”
“We’ve already spent a lot of time with them tonight.”
She cocked her head. “I thought you liked talking with Val and Kate.”
“Because they’re your friends.” Jason paused. “It’s all for you, you know.”
He saw a flash in her eyes, but it wasn’t anger this time. “Jason . . .” she said in a husky voice.
Man, that did it every time. Forgetting where they were, and everything around them, Jason leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Say it again, Taylor. I love the way you say my name.”
He heard the quick intake of her breath at the intimacy of his words. He moved his head, so that their lips were just inches apart. Her eyes were dark and sultry. She turned her face up toward his and slowly began to lean in as if she, too, was being drawn in and couldn’t help it—
“Jason.”
But this time, the person saying his name wasn’t Taylor.
It was Jeremy.
Jason glanced over and saw his friend standing next to him. His look said it all—You have got to be fucking kidding me.
Jeremy wore a sheepish expression. “Sorry, buddy—but we’ve got to get you in back. In case you hadn’t noticed, these people are going crazy.” He pointed to the crowd behind him. “I don’t think the club’s bouncers can keep everyone away from you for much longer.”
Jason peered over Jeremy’s head and saw that he was right. A throng of people, both women and men, surged forward, trying to slip past the three bouncers who had formed a perimeter to protect him.
Jason nodded in agreement. Normally, he was very cautious in public places, but he had completely forgotten himself in the past few moments with Taylor.
“Lead the way,” he told Jeremy while eying the frenzied crowd. He glanced down at Taylor and put his arm around her waist. “Stay between me and Jeremy,” he told her.
&n
bsp; Right then, a woman in her midtwenties broke past one of the bouncers. She lunged for Jason, shoving both Jeremy and Taylor out of the way.
“Oh my god! Jason—I love you!” she screamed frantically.
One of the bouncers grabbed hold of the woman right before she got to Jason and pulled her away.
Jason reached for Taylor. “Are you okay?”
But she seemed not to hear him. Her gaze was fixed on the woman, who was making a scene, clawing frantically at the bouncer who pulled her away from Jason. “Wait—please!” the woman cried out desperately. “I only want to talk to him for a minute! I just want to talk to him!”
Taylor was mesmerized.
Jason took her by the arm. “Taylor, we have to move away from here.”
Hearing his words, she snapped out of it and nodded. “Sorry. Of course.”
Then she quietly followed Jason and Jeremy to a private room in back.
JASON BARELY GOT a chance to talk to Taylor again.
She spent the rest of the time with her friends, and he didn’t want to intrude. He suspected she’d been unnerved by the incident with the woman and wanted to give her some space. People around him unfortunately had no choice but to get used to that kind of thing. Even if it was more than a little weird.
The group stayed until the club closed. As they were leaving, the bar manager told Jason that a mob of paparazzi had formed out front and suggested they exit out back. As the five of them headed toward the limo that waited in the alley, Jason could hear the girls chatting excitedly about their evening.
He watched as Taylor broke apart from her friends and headed over. Jeremy subtly walked ahead as she fell into stride alongside him.
After walking a moment or two, she stopped and reached out to him. “Jason—hold on.”
She paused awkwardly, then looked up to meet his gaze. “Thank you. For tonight.”
With a slight smile, Jason nodded.
“You’re welcome.”
The two of them stood there, and Jason noticed that for once, she didn’t ruin the moment with a sarcastic comment.