Chapter 2
Juliette
What a day.
I walked out of Bradley Wilson’s trailer at five o’clock after a long, shitty day. Arlo had not, in fact, called the director this morning to inform him that his lead actor was demanding another set of rewrites. So when he showed up at nine to start shooting, all hell broke loose.
I wound up working ten hours on rewrites in Bradley’s trailer, while he did stupid shit like gargle with rose petals and get a lymphatic neck massage from a massage therapist who cracked his knuckles every five minutes and told his patient that his “lymph nodes hold rage.” Not to mention, I had to play charades to guess the changes Bradley mimed because his throat was a little scratchy, and he worried he’d lose his voice during filming.
So, the very last thing I needed at the end of this day was to find Wes Callahan, the guy from this morning, parked next to me in the studio parking lot.
He watched me as I walked to my car, but didn’t roll down his window until I knocked on it.
“How did you even get past the guards at the gate?” I asked. “You can’t get onto the property unless you’re on the pre-approved list.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
I rolled my eyes. He might be better looking than the others, with his chiseled jaw and enviably full lips, but this guy was one of my father’s goons all right. That was exactly the type of response Vince Ginocassi, or any of his men, gave whenever I asked a question.
“You’re fired.”
The jackass smirked. And I hated that my eyes lingered on his mouth for a beat too long.
“You can’t fire someone you didn’t hire, sweetheart.”
“Well, you can’t just follow me around. That’s harassment. I’ll go to the police.”
“We don’t know each other yet, but trust me when I say that won’t stop me.”
Ugh. The jerk might have a jawline that rivaled Henry Cavill’s, but he was no different than my father’s regular crew.
I knew there was no point in arguing with him, so I didn’t waste my breath.
I got into my car and pulled out. As I waited at the guard’s station for the parking gate to go up, I called my father.
Not surprisingly, he still didn’t answer.
That did not change the fact that the last thing I wanted was one of my dad’s people following me around, so when I got out to the main road, I made a sharp U-turn and hit the gas instead of taking my usual left.
I weaved in and out of side streets with my heart racing until Wes’s car was no longer behind me.
I felt a little high at having lost him, at least until I pulled up in front of my house and found the jerk blocking my driveway with his car.
He leaned against the driver’s side door, tossing his keys into the air and catching them.
He smirked again when he saw me, and I decided I officially hated him—especially because he looked annoyingly hot, and my body reacted.
I rolled down my window and growled at him, not noticing his broad shoulders. “Move!”
“Say please.”
“I am not saying please.”
He tossed the keys into the air and caught them again. “Then looks like you’re going to have to park somewhere else.”
I slammed the car into reverse and nailed the gas, causing the tires to chirp. Steam practically billowed from my nose as I parked in front of the house and got out. Wes had his truck open now and was unloading a suitcase.
“Uh… What do you think you’re doing?” I asked.
“Moving in with you.”
“Like hell you are!”
***
Maybe I shouldn’t have made him sleep in the car. It was a little bit chilly last night—for me at least. But even if he wasn’t cold out there, he had to have been uncomfortable.
My father had some nerve sending this guy here, but I knew it wasn’t Wes’s fault. He’d just been doing his job. I realized how demanding Dad was, and this guy likely had no choice but to go along with all of this. His life could literally depend on it.
I should go outside and tell him to come in.
But first, coffee. I couldn’t deal with him—or anything else, for that matter—until I was properly caffeinated.
I was just about to pour myself a cup when there was a knock at the door. Assuming it was Wes, I cinched my silk robe tighter. When I opened, Wes was indeed standing there, but next to a cop.
My heart dropped. “What’s going on here?” This had to have something to do with my father.
“Your neighbor called to report a suspicious car parked in front of your place, ma’am,” the officer said. He pointed to Wes. “I just spoke to the occupant. This gentleman here says he’s your boyfriend, and the two of you got into an argument last night, so you made him sleep in the car…”
Oh my goodness. But relief washed over me that this had nothing to do with my father causing trouble.
Having no good options, I cleared my throat. “Yes, that’s right. We got into a bit of a tiff, so I kicked him out for the night so I could have some space.”
The cop arched a brow. “Just to confirm, no one laid a hand on the other person, correct?”
I shook my head. “No, no. He would never.”
I glanced over at Wes, who grinned at me smugly. “Just a little lover’s spat,” he said.
“Been there,” the officer said, patting Wes on the shoulder. “Okay, as long as everything is copacetic now. I’m gonna head out and let you two sort out your issues.”
I nodded. “Thank you, Officer. I appreciate you checking in.”
“Well, thank your neighbor. She was looking out for you. Rare to find people who care these days.”
I managed a smile. Actually, I wished Pam and the other neighbors would mind their own damn business, considering the circumstances of my life.
Pam was my book club buddy and friend, but she was damn nosy—always after more details than I wanted to give her.
All I needed was for someone to find out what was really going on.
Why didn’t my father realize that assigning a bodyguard would only draw more attention to me?
After the police officer left, Wes stood before me in all of his fuck-hot glory, with his hands in his pockets and his tight white T-shirt practically painted onto his muscular chest. His hair was a little messed up and flattened from what I was sure hadn’t been a pleasant night’s sleep.
“Sorry for making up that story,” he said. “But I didn’t know what else to tell him. Wasn’t like I could admit the real reason I’m here looking out for you.”
I crossed my arms. “Maybe you should’ve, and he could’ve carted you away, so I don’t have to deal with any of this.”
“Now, now. Is that how you talk to your loving boyfriend?” He winked.
“Please don’t repeat that.” Especially in that annoyingly seductive voice.
“Well, you don’t think at some point we’re gonna have to pretend to be something to each other? People are going to wonder who the hell I am. How else are you going to explain me, if I’m not your boyfriend?”
“I’m hoping not to have to explain you at all because I’m counting on this arrangement ending soon.”
“Well, if you’d let me sleep inside like you should’ve, I wouldn’t have attracted the neighbor’s attention.”
“I will admit that making you sleep outside was a mistake, in hindsight.” I rubbed my pounding temples. “Do you want some coffee? I need to get a cup before my head explodes.”
He smiled wide. “I would love some.”
God, those dimples.
Had they been there yesterday?
Of course they had.
Again, I needed coffee.
After I filled two mugs, I handed him one. “As you just saw, my neighbor is very nosy. You need to keep a low profile. That means no hanging around outside my house unless absolutely necessary. She’ll try to talk to you.”
“I’ll be fine if she does. I’m a pretty good liar.”
“How commendable.”
He shrugged. “I don’t make a habit of it. But in this business, you have to be able to stretch the truth with a straight face.”
Putting my coffee down, I crossed my arms. “We have to set some ground rules.”
Wes grinned from behind his mug. “Okay…”
He’d better be taking this seriously. I took another long sip of coffee. “One, you have to sleep on the couch. I only have one bedroom. So…”
“All right. I was expecting that. No big deal. I’ve slept on worse things.”
“Not even gonna ask.” I sighed. “Also, no walking around without your clothes on.”
Wes raised a brow and laughed. “Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know. You seem like the type who might be comfortable enough in your skin to want to flaunt it or something. Just letting you know I won’t appreciate that.”
“No naked ass. Got it.” He nodded. “What else?”
“No eating anything in my refrigerator that belongs to me. I just went to Erewhon to stock up. Practically spent a week’s salary.” I opened the fridge and began moving my items to the right, leaving spots on the left of the top two shelves empty. “You can keep your stuff on this side.”
“How generous of you…” He grinned.
I tilted my head. “Are you mocking me?”
“No.” He pursed his lips, probably to keep from laughing.
I sighed. Maybe I did need to calm down. This situation was making me more high-strung than usual.
After a moment, he asked, “Are you done?”
“I’ll let you know if I think of anything else.”
“Look…” he said. “I don’t wanna be here any more than you want me here. So let’s just try to make the best of it.”
“We don’t need to make the best of it. We need to stay out of each other’s way and not make each other insane.” I downed the last of my cup of joe.
Wes’s expression dampened. Had I hurt his feelings? This situation stressed me out and made me less than pleasant. My father’s antics brought out the worst in me. I felt like I needed a time out.
On that note, I took my own advice and ventured back to my room to have my second cup of coffee in peace.
When I walked back out into the living room about fifteen minutes later, my jaw dropped. It was like I’d walked onto the set of Love Island. Wes was sitting on the couch with his feet up on the ottoman—shirtless, with every beautiful contour of his bronzed chest on full display.
What. The. Heck. I gulped. “What are you doing?”
He stood, looking confused. “What do you mean? I’m just sitting here.”
“You’ve only been here a matter of minutes, and you’ve already broken a rule.” I scoffed. “The most important one, I might add.”
He drew in his brows. “What rule?”
I glared. “Naked?”
He looked down at his chest. “I’m not naked.”
“You took your shirt off.”
“That’s shirtless. Not naked. You say naked, and I think…junk hanging out. This is not naked.”
I shook my head. “You need to wear a shirt in this house.”
He stalked toward me. “It’s hot as Hades in here. Does your air conditioner even work?”
“I don’t like it too cold. I freeze easily.”
“I guess that’s what happens to people who are already cold enough.”
As he stood there with his hands on his hips, I did feel oddly warm, actually. And it had nothing to do with the air-conditioner setting.
He smirked. A chill ran down my spine.
Fuck. Those dimples.
I’m going to kill my father for hiring this guy.