Chapter Twelve
Ethan jogged along the final stretch of beach towards home. He’d lifted his exercise game a notch, getting up an hour earlier so he could fit in a decent run before heading to set. He needed to be ready in case he got a shot at the action movie he’d been pushing for. He had to be in the best shape of his life, and if he really was a zaddy or a pre-zaddy or whatever, he was going to make sure he was a hot one. Pre-zaddy. He laughed. Hazel was never going to let that go. They hadn’t seen each other for a few days, not since the night on the beach. He’d been wanting to text to her to check how she was doing, but he wasn’t sure if their friendship was at the checking-in stage.
Friendship.
That was one thing Ethan had to thank Logan for, at least – he’d inadvertently brought Ethan and Hazel closer. They were officially friends, and that would officially have to be enough.
As he headed up the last dune towards his back gate, he heard his name, the sound carried by the wind. Ethan spun around, squinting into the morning sun. Ronnie was jogging towards him, wearing a red bikini and looking very Baywatch.
‘Hi,’ she said breathlessly as she reached him. She raised herself up onto her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.
‘What are you doing here?’ He was puffing. He’d just run ten k’s through the soft sand. He was sweaty and hot and his exhausted muscles were pinging.
‘I heard you were staying along this beach somewhere.’ Her gaze drifted across the large houses looming behind them. ‘I thought I’d come check it out.’ She smiled, all white teeth and glossy lips.
‘You came to check out my place?’ Fuck, the flame emoji was clearly a bad idea.
‘No, silly.’ She tapped his chest playfully, leaving her fingertips resting on his naked pec. He glanced down at her hand and looked back up with an arched brow. She grinned, lifted her hand and flicked her curls.
‘I came to check out the beach. I was told it’s one of the best in the area.’ He nodded, a frown creeping over his face.
‘How was the premiere?’ he asked, glancing over his shoulder at his house. All he wanted was to go inside and shower.
‘Great! I met Ron Howard. We had a joke about having the same name.’
‘Veronica?’ he teased. She narrowed her eyes, then rolled them, her lash extensions heading skyward.
‘Everyone was very interested in our movie,’ she said. ‘I talked it up, gave them the whole Barks Will Fly spiel. I made some of the entertainment pages, I’ll show you later.’ Her head tilted. ‘So, what did you think of my dress?’
Ethan heard alarm bells. He was more than happy to talk business with Ronnie, but he wasn’t going anywhere near the subject of her body-skimming dress.
‘Sounds like you had a great night,’ he said. ‘I better go get ready for set, Tony will be here in thirty.’
‘Can I get a lift with you guys back to my hotel? I’m not needed on set until eleven. I Ubered here.’
‘You Ubered to go for a run?’ he asked.
‘Not all of us get drivers, Ethan.’ She not-so-subtly adjusted her bikini top, the red popping against her copper skin.
He huffed. Yeah well, not all of us carry a whole fucking movie, Ronnie. Then he smiled tightly. ‘Sure, come on in.’ Ethan guided her through the back gate, across the lawn and up onto the deck past the pool. He slid open the glass doors.
‘This place is amazing,’ Ronnie said as they stepped inside. ‘I should have asked for a house or an apartment instead of a hotel. But then, I’m not the star.’ She shrugged her slender shoulders.
‘You’re on your way,’ he said. ‘And next time you’ll know what to ask for. I had no clue for my first big movie either.’ Harry appeared from the other room, looking half asleep. ‘This is Harry.’
‘Cute,’ she said, giving Harry a scratch.
Ronnie wandered through to the kitchen and dropped onto a chair, smiling at Ethan in a way that made him want to pull on some clothes. He was fairly sure she was just flirting. Playing the game. But when she glanced at the staircase pointedly, a bubble of panic lurched up inside him.
‘Ah, you wait here,’ he said, in case she had other ideas. ‘I’m going to shower. Help yourself to a bottle of water.’ He nodded to the fridge and bolted up the stairs.
Hazel had spent all of Sunday and Monday thinking about her encounter with Logan. She wished she could take back her outburst and coolly reproach him with a witty rejoinder instead. She’d come up with at least half a dozen, all far more cutting than ‘Fuck you, Logan Grant’. But it was what it was. At least she got to tell him he was a dick.
She hadn’t fully processed the encounter yet. She hadn’t even told Violet or Meredith, though she wasn’t sure why. Possibly because she knew they’d ask about Ethan, and she didn’t want to tell them about their conversation on the beach and the slightly confusing feelings it had left her with. She hadn’t quite processed those either.
Hazel unlocked Ethan’s front door, calling out, ‘Harry, come on.’ She froze as a gorgeous woman appeared wearing nothing but a red bikini.
‘Oh. Hi,’ Hazel said.
‘Hi,’ the woman said. ‘Who are you?’
‘I’m Hazel, who are you?’ The question sounded far more combative than she’d intended.
‘I’m Ronnie.’ Ronnie flashed her a bright white smile.
Hazel nodded. Her cheeks tingled. Ethan had a bikini-clad woman in his house at 8.15 in the morning. A gorgeous bikini-clad woman.
‘I’m just here to pick up Ethan’s dog,’ she said, as Harry came barrelling down the stairs. ‘Hey little guy, are you ready?’
Crouching, she clipped the leash to Harry’s collar, her gaze gliding over Ronnie’s knockout body as she knelt. She straightened up, her eyes flicking back to the stairs.
‘He’s having a shower,’ Ronnie said, fluffing her curls. The woman’s gaze drifted down, then up. ‘You’re tall, huh?’
‘Yyyeeeep,’ Hazel said, drawing the word out.
Ronnie narrowed her eyes as she continued to study her.
‘You could be a model,’ she said. ‘Runway. Not magazine.’
Hazel didn’t know what the difference was, so she couldn’t tell if it was a compliment or a backhander.
‘Oh um… okay. Thanks?’
‘Sure,’ Ronnie said with a shrug.
‘Hazel?’ Ethan called from the top of the stairs. He jogged down, his hair wet and his feet bare. He glanced between Hazel and Ronnie.
‘My call time got pushed back,’ he said to Hazel. ‘Didn’t production email you?’
‘I didn’t check my emails this morning,’ Hazel answered. ‘I checked the times last night.’ Her gazed flitted from Ethan to Ronnie.
‘I should have texted you,’ he said. ‘Sorry. Did you meet Ronnie?’
Hazel nodded.
‘We met.’ Ronnie shifted closer to Ethan.
‘We’re co-stars,’ he quickly added. ‘I’m giving her a lift to her hotel.’
‘Right.’ Hazel backed towards the door, her pulse thumping in her ears. She wasn’t sure why, but she was suddenly so hot all she could think of was splashing water on her burning face. ‘I should probably go and leave you two to…’ She trailed off, not sure exactly what she was leaving them to do, and quickly stepped out the door, hauling Harry behind her.
Shit.Ethan stared at the door as it closed behind Hazel. Shit. Shit. Shit.
‘Your dog walker is attractive,’ Ronnie said.
‘Huh?’ He swung around to face her, his brow furrowed. ‘Um. Can you give me a sec? Help yourself to a bottle of water.’
Ronnie blinked and took a sip from the bottle of water already in her hand, then shook her head and turned back to the kitchen.
Ethan dashed out the door and up the path. ‘Hazel!’ he called after her. She spun around, her brows pinched.
‘Did I forget something?’ she asked.
‘No. I just wanted to…’ What the hell did he want to do? ‘Ask you how you’re doing?’ he said. ‘Did you end up making that mushroom dish you were excited about? With the fun mushrooms? I forgot to ask on Saturday. At dinner. With everything.’
She nodded, her lips pressed tight. ‘I made it. It was pretty good.’
‘Great. Great. Ronnie and I ran into each other on the beach,’ he said, his hands on his hips, Superman style. He puffed out a breath. ‘In case you’re wondering why she was at my house first thing in the morning.’
‘I wasn’t.’
Fuck. Of course she wasn’t.But that didn’t stop him adding, ‘There’s nothing going on between me and Ronnie. Just co-stars.’
‘Okay.’
‘Okay. Well, I’ll let you guys go. Have a good day.’ He went to flash her finger-guns, then tucked his hands away just as quickly. She was looking at him as if he’d totally lost it. Which probably wasn’t far from the truth.
‘Okay then,’ she said again.
He nodded a few more times, because apparently he couldn’t stop, then turned and headed back to the house, swearing at himself with every step.
Hazel stared at Ethan’s back as he disappeared behind the front door, then slowly turned towards the street, looking over her shoulder one more time. Her entire body was tingling, as if she wasn’t getting enough oxygen. In fact, she was a little light-headed. She obviously needed to get some breakfast into her, and probably some water, and she definitely needed to sit down, because her legs were a bit wobbly. She put Harry into the car and slid into the driver’s seat. She hoped he was being honest about his co-star, because if he wasn’t and they were already hooking up, then the other night on the beach he’d lied to her about who he was, and he was lying to her again now. And Hazel hated liars.
She shook out her hands. Though why would he lie about sleeping with his co-star? Why would he say anything about it at all? She was only being weird because he was being weird. The whole encounter was weird. Hazel wrinkled her nose and turned over the ignition. Next time she’d make sure she checked her emails in the morning so she didn’t spring him with another woman.
It had never occurred to Hazel that she might find someone at his house. Maybe he needed to put a sock on the door to warn her. Maybe she’d suggest it. An ache settled in her stomach. Next time, she’d definitely knock first.