Chapter Five
Brody
Something was tickling the edges of my mind. Not that I knew this guy. That was a hard no. Because I’d never forget a guy this cute. Short hair, stunningly dark eyes and adorable pouty lips. Just…cute. And, if I had to guess, clearly into guys. Well, at least not creeped out by gay couples.
Does that make him gay? Bi? Bi curious? Straight and polite? I just didn’t know.
“Bye, Brody.” Teri waved frantically at me—as if I could somehow miss her. “Thanks for the Shirley Temple idea…that was brilliant.”
I waved goodnight at her, then turned back to Robbie who had an eyebrow arched.
Heat raced to my cheeks. I cleared my throat.
“So I needed an excuse to check you out, at Hallstein’s insistence, and suggesting Teri get another drink was the best I could come up with. She didn’t want booze, so I suggested—”
“A Shirley Temple.”
I nodded.
“And the guy, Hallstein, everyone calls him by his last name?”
“What?” I blinked. “Oh, no, that’s his first name. I…” I squinted. “Nope, I can’t remember his last name. I do remember not to call him Hallsy which is Myles’s nickname for him. Made that mistake once. Never will again.” Damn, what was Hallstein’s last name anyway?
“Yeah, I wouldn’t dare call him anything other than sir.” Robbie shifted.
I leaned in. “He’s former RCMP. And we had a shooting on set earlier this year—before he took over his job. Nothing that could have been prevented, but…”
Robbie’s eyes had gone wide. “You’re talking about the Cole Hamilton shooting?”
I nodded.
He snapped his fingers. “And I just spotted…Dade something, right? He’s a new guy in Vigilante Justice.”
New guy was relative as Dade was in his second season, but he’d been a late addition last season, so he still felt new to some viewers.
“You work on Vigilante Justice?”
Slowly, I nodded. I didn’t share that with a ton of people. Usually they’d start asking questions about Cole, Julie, and the other stars. Since I’d never divulge anything—even if I had gossip to share—the conversations usually dried up quickly.
“And you said you were a…” He tapped the table. “Key grip?”
I nodded.
“So that’s different from a regular grip?”
I chuckled. “Yep. I’ve worked my way up to telling people how to grip. The job’s got a lot of responsibilities, but I love it.” I worked with the best people in what, to me, was the best job. I got to build things, fix problems, and then tear things apart. What was more fun than that?
“You smile when you talk about your job.”
“You don’t enjoy your job?”
A shadow crossed his face. Briefly…but enough for me to see. “Hey, what is it?”
He swallowed. “Nothing.” He shook himself—almost like Minnie when she shook off water. “So…key grip…”
“Oh God, Brody, you’re here.” Julie Reyes stepped to the table and placed a hand on my shoulder. “I am having such a shitty evening. Is everyone gone?”
I gazed up into the luminescent-green eyes of objectively one of the most-beautiful women in the world.
With her white-blonde long hair, piercing eyes, and killer body, she stunned wherever she went.
Oh, and she was objectively one of the nicest people I’d ever met.
She might be the star of VJ, but she, like Cole, made certain to know and be kind to everyone on set.
She was shaking, so I rose and pulled her into a hug. “What’s going on?”
After a nanosecond, she wrapped her arms around my waist. “Some cyclist careened in front of my cab. The driver braked but he couldn’t stop.
Totally not his fault. He was distraught, so I called 911.
Then I’m giving orders about administering first aid because you know Donovan and all those lessons he ensured we took.
I mean, thank God the cyclist was wearing a helmet.
It cracked badly, and she was unconscious, but the paramedics thought she’d be okay, and then the police wanted statements, and by then people were filming me because my beret had flown off, and…
” She patted her incredibly distinctive hair.
“So they took me back to the police station to give a statement, which I guess made sense since the snow had started, and it’s freezing out, and…
” She drew in a deep breath, then met my gaze.
Her face fell. “Oh shit, Brody. Here I am, carrying on, and you—”
“I’m fine, Julie, really.” Because months had passed, and because I was good at shoving the pain down. “Look, can I buy you a drink? Val and his tab have gone home…”
She glanced at the large table behind us where just Svetlana sat, playing a game on her phone.
She likely hadn’t realized everyone was leaving.
Brilliant costume designer who spent every moment not in wardrobe on her phone playing some newfangled game.
Why she’d come at all was a bit of a mystery to me, but I’d caught her talking to Teri and eating a massive basket of onion rings, so hopefully she’d gotten something out of the evening.
Julie glanced down at Robbie and her cheeks pinkened. “Oh God, you’re on a date, and here I am rambling about cabs and—”
“It’s fine.” Robbie cleared his throat. “It’s not a date, and I’d be honored if you joined us. I was thinking of ordering some food. Maybe nachos we could all share? Do you eat meat? You know what…I’ll just order the vegetarian version—”
“I like ground beef.” Julie offered a smile. Then she stuck out her hand. “Julie.”
“Robbie.” He took her hand as if mega movie stars offered their hands to him every day. I was so grateful for his discretion in that moment. Already, a couple of heads had swiveled.
I snagged a chair and placed her between Robbie and me.
Our server arrived at that precise moment with our sparkling apple ciders.
Julie decided to have one as well, and Robbie ordered the nachos.
The server grinned. “Anything else? This is on Val’s tab.”
At the same time, Julie and I burst out laughing. Yeah, that was Val. We shook our heads. Neither of us would ever take advantage of Val’s generosity.
Julie removed her coat and settled a bit. She drew in a breath, pressed a hand to her belly, and winced.
Panic settled low in my gut. Is she okay? Is this some kind of delayed stress reaction? She was in the cab when it hit the cyclist? Was she injured but just playing it down—
“I have to pee.” She grinned, hopped up, and headed toward the bathrooms.
Robbie blew out a breath. “I can honestly say I wasn’t expecting that.”
“No, you wouldn’t. If you knew Julie, though, you’d not be the least bit surprised.” She could be as raunchy as the rest of us. I was pretty sure she would’ve said piss if not for the newcomer.
“I…” Robbie fingered his glass. “That’s so scary. About the cyclist and the cab…” He swallowed.
“I know.” I winced. “My brother died after being hit by an SUV in October. The asshole driver was drunk. He’s going to trial next year sometime.” I blinked. “Well, that would be this year.”
Robbie blinked. Several times. “Your brother…?”
“Yeah, Stefan. Great guy. Like a way-better person than I ever might hope to—”
“You’re Stefan’s brother?”
Hadn’t I just said that? As I gazed into startled dark brown eyes, realization dawned. “Oh shit.”
Again, Robbie blinked. “I haven’t had anything to drink.”
“But you knew Stefan. My twin brother.”
Robbie gaped. “Like, that’s not a thing, right?”
“Having a twin? I promise you, it’s definitely a thing.”
“He never said…”
“Yeah, he wouldn’t. I mean, he might say he had a sibling, but he was always vague about me.
People would find out I worked in the movie business, or even VJ in particular, and things would get weird.
He was just happy to have a great relationship with me, but not necessarily tell everyone.
” I cocked my head. “I should’ve realized you might’ve known Stefan.
Just, you know, Vancouver’s a big city. Well, biggish.
And you didn’t come to the funeral. Or at least I don’t remember seeing you.
And obviously you would’ve seen me, since I gave the eulogy—”
“You’re Stefan’s twin brother.”
I blinked. “Uh, yeah.”
“I thought you were a ghost. I mean, I saw you on the street, and then here, and I thought you were haunting me because…”
He trailed off.
“Oh, good, food isn’t here yet.” Even as Julie sat, the server arrived with her drink.
“Just a few more minutes for the food.”
“Brilliant.” Julie pressed a hand to her flat stomach. “I’m starving.”
The server headed off.
Julie glanced between the two of us. “I thought you said this wasn’t a date…”
“It’s not.” Robbie and I both managed a smile as we’d said the words at the same time.
I pointed to him. “He knew Stefan.”
Julie’s gaze moved to him. “Oh, I’m sorry.
His death was so awful.” She grasped my hand.
“Brody was devastated. I mean, still is. And that horrible drunk driver—” She shivered.
“We were always careful before, but even more so now. I can’t believe it’s this far into the new century and people still think it’s okay to drink and drive.
That’s just wretched.” She frowned. “Oh, did you say how you knew each other?”
Robbie cleared his throat. “He was the new office manager at the dental practice where I’m the receptionist. He was sort of my boss.”
“But only for a few days.” I cocked my head. “He’d started that job, what, four days before he died?”
The man nodded.
I winced. “I think we invited the staff. Truthfully, I don’t know if anyone came.”
“Alrick and Maurice.” He offered a small smile. “One of the hygienists and one of the dentists. I…” He blinked. “I couldn’t do it.”
“Nachos with an extra side of sour cream.” The server, whose name I couldn’t remember, gave an extra-bright smile to Julie.
Ah, so that’s it. Yeah, I’d hit on Julie too if I thought she might be interested…
Julie, clearly oblivious, offered a grin. “Molly, you’re the best.”
The woman’s face fell. “It’s, uh, Polly.”
My friend, clearly embarrassed, winced. “Oh God, that was horrendous of me. I’m so sorry—”
“It’s nothing—”
“She was part of…” Shit, can’t say accident—
“An incident.” Robbie indicated Julie. “She’s discombobulated. But she doesn’t want to talk about it.”
“Oh right.” Polly brightened. “Well, I won’t say anything. If you need anything else, just flag me down, okay?”
“You bet.” Robbie gave her a charming smile that might’ve just charmed me as well.
“Thanks, Polly, you’re the best.” Julie offered the smile that had won her millions of fans.
Well, that as well as her dark villainous expressions.
Her character, Lyric, was an anti-hero. Stalking Cole’s Justice who sought to bring good to the world.
For six seasons, fans had been wondering would they, or wouldn’t they? Thus far, they hadn’t.
Once the server was gone, Julie let out a sigh. “Jesus Fucking Christ, could today get any worse?”
“You’re not dead. And it sounds like the cyclist isn’t going to die either.” I tried for a smile. “Not everything ends in tragedy.”
Julie snagged my hand in hers. “That was super shitty. What happened to Stefan.” Then she grabbed Robbie’s hand. “I’m sorry for your loss as well. And I’ll thank you for rescuing me with Polly. That was super shitty of me, and I’m so off my game.”
He offered her a smile in return. “Rescuing a damsel in distress? All in a day’s work.” He cast me a glance.
A glance that said this isn’t over.
No, I was pretty sure we were just getting started.