Chapter 24
Birthday Girl
BAZ
I knocked on Lanie’s door. Chloe answered, looking me over.
“I’m here to take Lanie out,” I said.
“I’m aware.” Her glare only intensified.
I shook my head. “I know I must do some sort of penance and you are aware—”
“I want to not hate you,” Chloe said. “Lanie is my best friend. Her sister is married to my brother. She should basically be my sister. But after what your family did to her mother… I struggle to see how this works out for her.”
“I understand your concern, but we are on the same side of shite my father did,” I said. “And we are united in our utter disdain for him.”
“Be that as it may, I am still watching you. I am fucking on you like stank on shit, Daddy Vibes. Don’t think I don’t know everything.”
She held power not usually associated with someone so small.
“You are a striking sort of woman. Where did you learn to talk so authoritatively?”
“My mother was a boss bitch and could still kick your whiny little British ass,” Chloe said. “I will find a way to crush you if you hurt Lanie.”
“Chlo, down girl!” Lanie’s voice hit atop the stairs.
As I looked up, she descended them in a beautiful gold dress, holding a pair of red heels.
“I was just warning Daddy Vibes.”
“Daddy Vibes is aware,” Lanie bent to put on her heels.
I resisted the urge to look down her dress as she did.
“Where are you taking her then?” Chloe asked.
“Cliffside,” I answered.
“That place in Soho?” Lanie’s face lit up. “The one with the duck?”
“You said you liked duck,” I said. “And it seemed a good fit. Does it suit?”
“It’s great,” Lanie agreed.
Mission accomplished. I’d given Jeremy almost no parameters, but it was the best option. He was a bloody genius and let me win the night.
“Well, we’re going now,” Lanie said. “So, we’ll leave you.”
“Fine, whatever,” Chloe said. “Don’t murder her or my minions will murder you.”
“Aye-aye, captain,” I said as Lanie stepped out ahead of me.
“She’s very protective,” Lanie explained.
I closed the door.
“I get it,” I agreed. “If I were in her shoes, I’d feel the same. It’s good to have someone like that in your corner.”
We hopped in the car, headed for SoHo to a spot that had been nothing only six months before. Now, it teemed with the theatre crowd hoping to get a sitting on an impossible list. I strode by with Lanie, listening as people recognized her and whispered. She ignored them.
A hostess sat us at a nice table on the second-floor balcony. We could see the bar below and out the massive two-floor windows onto the street. The refinished building was cozy and modern. I appreciated all the openness. It made the place feel alive.
“People were gossiping about you,” I said. “Should I worry?”
“Only if it bothers you.” Lanie shrugged. “They are ramping up the PR on the app and have been planting stories. People hear about me all over. I ignore it. Don’t worry, I’m still mostly a nobody.”
“I disagree,” I said. “I watched the show.”
“And?”
“It’s not my thing,” I admitted. “And watching you inhabit the role of a seventeen-year-old is rather disturbing.”
She giggled, “Welcome to Hollywood.”
“But you do a fine job playing a character who is everything you are not.”
“And you mean?”
“She’s naive, sweet, and obsessed with the way men view her. She’s very immature.”
“And I’m not?”
“No. You are confident, somewhat jaded, a realist, and anything but immature, Lanie. If you were like Annie, I’d have no interest in you.”
“Then why date someone my age? Why…” Lanie lowered her voice. “Why marry someone my age?”
“Because you are young, but not inexperienced. You may be lithe, but you are an old soul who can handle me.”
Lanie bit her lip. “Can I?”
“Yes.”
The server took our drink order. Lanie confidently ordered a very expensive bottle of red wine without asking for the right to do it. It may have read presumptuous to some, but felt right for her.
“Thank you for taking me out,” Lanie said. “I really do like that you tried to make it feel all offish.”
I chuckled. “I’ve never minded taking you out and treating you to anything, Lanie.”
Lanie threw her hair over a shoulder. “Fine. Then take me to the club after this.”
Her unexpected pass threw me off course.
I didn’t want to share her tonight. Something about going through the motions of properly treating her to dinner made something sordid like that seem inappropriate.
I should have jumped for joy, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
I didn’t want to let anyone else touch her tonight.
“No,” I said. “I don’t want that. I want to take you home and be greedy after this.”
Lanie cocked her head. “This is one of your last minutes of freedom, you know?”
“We both know that was not the bargain we struck,” I said. “And right now, I want to play the good boyfriend. Then, I will get you home and put you through your paces.”
Lanie pouted. “Even for a minute? What if only you touched me?”
“Have I created a monster, Lanie?”
The wine arrived.
She took a long sip, setting the glass down and smoothing the tablecloth. “Don’t act as though my wild side is a fucking inconvenience for you, Baz. It’s not like you don’t get off on it.”
She was correct. I also found myself strangely jealous of anyone else who would have her. The thought of it made me dig in.
“What good is the membership if you never use it?”
I sighed. “Lanie, I didn’t use it all the time. It’s a nice fringe sort of benefit of being me.”
“And me… by proxy if you’re about to marry me. Do the benefits transfer or am I just SOL?”
I rolled my eyes. “Lanie, I—”
“Baz, are you being greedy?”
I took a very long drink, confused as to what I could say. Of course I was greedy. She stole my favorite shirt. She’s slept at my place a couple of times. She got me to sign a marriage license—something I never thought I’d do. I was somewhat entitled, wasn’t I?
“You are,” Lanie said. “Unbelievable. And what do you want from me?”
She wasn’t cross. Her face showed sick satisfaction to know I got caught up in it.
“Given that I have a clean bill of health, I’m hoping you can say the same and I will get to take full advantage of it,” I said.
She feigned surprise. “Lord Osgoode, what are you implying?”
“That I am going to get to do the thing I’ve been wanting to do since we first discussed this matter.”
The sides of Lanie’s full lips curled. “I’m good to go. But I want to finish this duck first.”
LANIE
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Lanie Day.”
I looked from my steak as Caleb approached. Baz had run to the bathroom, leaving me alone, trying to figure out how to navigate this. He had no idea who I really was or what Baz and I agreed to. Had he seen me here with Baz? And would there be beef over it?
“Hello, Caleb,” I tried to be neither too warm nor too icy.
He looked at Baz’s lamb chops and the glass of wine. “You busy?”
“Having dinner, yes,” I answered.
“Well, I was surprised to see you here. You’re still in the UK then?”
“They have made me the big story of series two,” I answered. “So, I am around for a bit.”
Caleb’s gaze trained somewhere behind me. I panicked as I realized he spotted Baz.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t you,” Caleb chuckled.
Baz approached, not looking the least bit worried.
“What is the occasion to get you out to dinner before ten? And a proper dinner at that, mate!”
Baz sat, as if reminding Caleb of his place in this bizarre hierarchy. Even here, Baz was the man on top of the pyramid.
“It is Lanie’s birthday,” Baz said. “I figured the least I could do was gather her up for a good meal. And given that her friend gave me such grief for not properly taking her out, I couldn’t ignore that I’d neglected her much longer. That girl is terrifying.”
“Chloe is like her mother,” I said.
“What was her mother?” Caleb asked. “Was she a drill sergeant?”
“She started from nothing and built a cosmetics empire,” I said. “So, yeah. All-around badass.”
Caleb’s jaw dropped. “You know powerful Americans.”
“I’d hazard she is one, Caleb.”
Caleb was sweet and good in bed but lacked Baz’s wit or intellect. Comparing them side-by-side was perhaps perverse, but they’d sort of done it to themselves. Baz’s strategy, his determined work ethic, and his overall intelligence turned me on more than Caleb’s young, hot, sweet aesthetic.
“Well, either way. I shouldn’t be rude and… bother you,” Caleb said. “I’ve also got a dining partner. It was nice catching up, Lanie. See you next week, Baz.”
He left, as if having seen a ghost.
“What was that about?” I asked.
“What?”
“He just put his tail in between his legs. Is it because of you? Or is some woman flagging him down.”
“He’s here with a business associate,” Baz noted. “Not a date. He wants to chase you, Lanie, because you’re a fun actress. You weren’t serious. He got to be the serious one. Now that he realizes you are rolling with powerful people—even if he has no idea who your father was—he’s turned off.”
“What? Over that?” I snickered. “So, he’s a misogynist?”
“No. I wouldn’t go that far.”
I rolled my eyes. “What do you call a man intimidated by women so much he couldn’t get it up?”
“Well, I don’t know. That’s not my problem. If you were boring and simple, I’d have long ago tired of you. Meanwhile, that is what Caleb prefers—young, fun, uncomplicated, and impressed by flash.”
“And I’m not any of those things?”
“We can lie and act like you don’t have the manners of a debutante received by Her Majesty at court or that you didn’t grow up or that your family hasn’t amassed tons of wealth.
I could bloody well ignore most of that and play along.
What I cannot ignore—and what he never could—is you’re clever.
And now he knows not only are you that, but you don’t need him to save you or bankroll you. So, what do you need him for?”
I furrowed my brow. “What does anyone need anyone for? Isn’t it love?”
Baz snickered, “That’s fucking adorable, darling.”
His phone buzzed. He looked at it, grimaced, then turned it over.
“You can get it,” I said.
“It’s just work. I am sure Jeremy has it covered.”
I rolled the duck around in my potatoes as he stared into the distance. His mind was elsewhere. Suddenly, the thought of him fucking me against the wall that graced my mind earlier no longer did.
“I don’t want you if you’re unavailable,” I said. “I do not mind spending time with you and boosting your image—”
“Boosting my image?”
“Baz, I’m a young, pretty actress from a good family. You are going to get told that you’re the man because you ensnared me. Don’t lie. I don’t want you here if you’re really needed elsewhere.”
“Lanie, it’s your birthday,” Baz said.
“I’ll call Chloe. We’ll go out,” I said.
The phone buzzed again.
“I do have to take this,” Baz said. “I’m so sorry, Lanie.”
“It’s okay,” I watched him wander off.
He stood on the railing down the way, talking business. I had no right to be upset. We weren’t a real couple. Business came first for us. He returned in a minute.
“I’m going to meet Jeremy at Heathrow,” Baz sighed. “There is a problem with a project in Berlin and I must run. I am so sorry, Lanie.”
“It’s okay,” I tried not to let his quick departure hurt.
Baz’s genuine dismay telegraphed as I stood. He gave me a soft kiss as if he needed to take a bit of me with him—but not too much—then left. I sat back down and resisted the urge to call Chloe. I’d have to hear “I told you so.”