Chapter 4
Chapter Four
H arper handled all of her waiting emails, did twenty minutes on the elliptical in the rec room, then showered and dressed in rolled-cuff jeans, an easy T-shirt, and flipflops. Cute enough. There was no point getting too fancy if she was going to end up with a dog in her lap.
She dried her hair, did some light, easy makeup, then checked the time. Several hours to go before she was supposed to meet Mitch to look for a dog to adopt. But she’d gotten ready early on purpose. Before she met him, she had another situation to deal with.
Jack.
She stood in the living room and thought about how to start the conversation that needed to happen. Should she come right out with it and just ask him what was going on? Why he was here? Or would that make him defensive?
This had been his father’s house, but it belonged to her now. He was on her property. Not that she would use that as leverage to get him to talk. That wouldn’t be right. In truth, if Jack and Teddy had fought Arlington’s will, they might have taken this place away from her.
They hadn’t fought it. Hadn’t been anything but gracious about it.
She felt like she owed them for that. But she also deserved to know why Jack was here. He’d used the word “trouble” himself. She kept getting stuck on that.
What kind of trouble? Drugs? Alcohol? Teddy had had his issues. He’d also dealt with them, but such things were sadly commonplace in Hollywood. Had Jack fallen into the same kind of thing? He’d always been a bit of a partier.
Or was his trouble more the female kind? Jack was known as a playboy. Women loved him. He was kind and generous and laidback in a way that often saw him defined as a real Californian.
He’d never settled down. He’d been linked to a lot of women, even had long-term relationships with several, but had yet to marry one. Harper had once offered to help him with his commitment issues, but he’d just smiled and told her commitment wasn’t a problem. After all, he’d owned the same F150 pickup truck since 1984, when his father had given it to him as a high school graduation present.
She hadn’t bothered explaining that owning a car and getting married were not the same things. Clearly, he hadn’t wanted to talk about it.
She was just going to have to go over there and use every skill she had to get him to tell her what was going on. And if that didn’t work, she always had Teddy as a backup. She really didn’t want to resort to calling him.
With no real game plan, she walked through the house, down the hall past the office, and out the door to the connecting breezeway.
The curtains were open at the guest house and the television, which she could see through the windows, was on. Sports.
She knocked on the door.
Jack came to answer in cargo shorts, a well-worn T-shirt, and several days’ worth of stubble, his shoulder-length sun-streaked hair pulled back in a ponytail. Somehow, he still looked like one of the most eligible bachelors in L.A.
“Harper.” He lifted the bottle of sparkling water in his hand in greeting. “What’s up, man?”
“I was hoping we could talk a little. Catch up. Are you free?”
“Sure thing. Just watching some ball. No big. Come on in. Sorry about the au naturel swimming earlier. Hope I didn’t scar your sister for life or anything like that, man.”
She laughed softly. “Frankie will be fine. In fact, you might have given her a new core memory.”
He chuckled. “I live to serve, man.” He gestured toward the couch. “Pop a squat. Tell me what’s up with you.”
He sat in the recliner and turned the volume down.
She hadn’t come over to talk about herself, but it might help him open up. Especially if she shared information no one else knew yet. She took a seat on the couch. “I’m loving life here in Hideaway Bay. I haven’t told anyone outside of my family and friends here, but I’m going to make this my permanent home.”
His brows rose. “Get out. Good for you. L.A.’s a rat race, man. You’re smart to get out. Dad would love that.”
“You think so?”
“I know so. He hated L.A. most of the time. Hated the movie business half the time. But it was part of him, you know? In his blood.”
She nodded. “That I do know.”
Jack got a faraway look in his eyes. “ King of the Sahara was on last night. I caught the tail end. Man, Dad was good, wasn’t he?”
“He was.” She watched him carefully. “So are you.”
“I’m all right.” His expression darkened but only briefly. “Teddy’s better. Teddy’s got that solid kind of presence, you know?”
“How’s he doing?”
“He’s good, man. Dude is a rock. He’s been taking the boys hiking a lot lately. He’s dropped like twenty pounds.”
“For a role?”
“Nah, just getting active with the kids.” Jack propped his feet on the coffee table. “But you watch, he’ll get a new part soon with that trimmer physique. You know the camera loves thin.”
She did know that. Almost every single one of her clients had at one time or another complained about having to lose weight. And each of them were already thin. At least by civilian standards. “Hollywood is overboard on that.”
“No argument from me.” He put the water bottle to his mouth and tilted it back. “Hey, you want something to drink?”
“No, I’m good. Thanks. Was there much here? I haven’t been over here since I arrived, so I have no idea if there was anything in the fridge.”
“Nothing, but I ordered groceries. Had ’em delivered first thing this morning.” He grinned. “Well, not first thing. But early enough for me.”
“Then you’re all stocked up?”
“For a little while, anyway.”
“How long do you think you’ll be here?” She held her hands up. “Not that I’m trying to get you out. Not at all. You’re welcome here. I want you to know that.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it. I know this is your place. You earned it, all that you did for Dad and Teddy.” He held the bottle in his lap, both hands wrapped around it.
“So what brings you here? You said something about trouble…”
He stared at the bottle like he was trying to mentally laser a hole through it. For a few long seconds, he said nothing. Then he looked at her. “You still do those NDA agreements with your clients?”
“Yes, I do.”
His feet came off the table and he sat upright, canted toward her. “I want to hire you. Go get one right now and I’ll sign it. Then we’ll talk, man.”
She tensed. “You’re serious.”
“As serious as a big summer swell at Zuma Beach.”
She got up. Jack would swear on his surfboard just as soon as he would a Bible. “All right. I’ll be back.”
She let herself out and went straight to the house. She took her laptop into the office, connected it via Bluetooth to the printer and without too much fuss, which was some kind of miracle, printed out a copy of her standard NDA. Maybe since she’d done it before for Mitch, when she’d printed his NDA out, the computer and printer had decided to play nice.
She grabbed it and a pen, and went back to the guest house, letting herself in. She put the NDA and the pen on the coffee table in front of him.
He leaned forward, glanced over the agreement, then looked at her. “Same one my dad and Teddy signed?”
“Same one.” She was still standing, so she sat, not wanting to loom over him and make him uncomfortable.
He gave it another cursory glance, then scrawled his signature on the bottom line. She took it from him and signed her name on the second spot. “I’ll make a copy of this and get you one.”
He nodded, looking slightly pained. “So, um…yeah, I have some trouble.” He raked a hand through his long hair, sighing like the weight on him was almost more than he could bear.
“Can I help?”
He shook his head, misery darkening his eyes. “I don’t think anyone can. I’ve got a stalker.”
Harper frowned. “That’s not good. Who is it?”
“A one-night stand.” He groaned softly. “It was a stupid thing to do. I was doing a special appearance at San Diego Comic-Con for Left Field , that sci-fi comedy I was in a couple years ago. You know the one?”
“I do.” The movie had become something of a cult hit.
“Anyway, man, the panel was great, standing-room only, then afterwards I had a photo session set up. Did that. Everything went well, went out for drinks with some of the other cast that was there, had a little too much and ended up going home with one of the servers. Some chick named Monica.”
Harper exhaled. This wasn’t good.
He grimaced. “I don’t even remember sleeping with her.”
“What do you remember?”
“Drinking too much. And then basically waking up in her bed at her place.”
“And now she’s stalking you?”
“Yeah, man. She says if I don’t give her money, she’s going to tell the press I forced myself on her. You know what that would do to me?” Anger sparked in his eyes. “The press would vilify me. Wouldn’t matter if I was guilty or not, man. You know how it goes when it comes to celebrities, man.”
Harper nodded. She’d seen it.
He threw his hands up and sat back. “I don’t know what to do. I just need to hide out here for a while. Figure things out. See if, maybe, this’ll blow over.”
She felt for him, but she wasn’t sure she had an answer, either. “You can be here as long as you need. Okay?”
He nodded. “Yeah, thanks, man. Really appreciate it.”
She got up. He stood, too. She gave him a hug. “We’ll figure something out. If I can help, I will.”
He hugged her harder. “You’re good people, Harper. I knew coming here was the right thing to do.”