Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
The Polo Lounge was a historic venue located in the Beverly Hills Hotel that had hosted countless Hollywood events.
Sometimes, they were fancy soirees and benefits like tonight. Other times, they’d been drug-fueled parties thrown by rock-and-rollers who did God knew what within those storied walls.
Riley had heard that the hotel had even inspired the Eagle’s song “Hotel California,” but she didn’t know if that was true. She could believe it, though, with the place’s reputation.
Tonight, it was full of people dressed in their best, all hair and makeup done perfectly, as they mixed and mingled among the elite crowd. Music played softly in the background, but no one was there to dance. Most of the dresses wouldn’t allow it, anyway.
Rowan Keene was dressed for the occasion, but he retained a little bit of his bad boy image, wearing a black-on-black tux.
The jacket was a slim cut that was tailored to show off his corded muscles and tone physique.
It featured satin pink lapels. With no tie, his mesh shirt was unbuttoned to mid-chest.
He looked handsome but wasn’t really Riley’s type. A lot of women went crazy for him. Rebels never seemed to go out of style.
“You look wonderful,” she told him.
The compliment wasn’t returned.
Nodding, his eyes half-glazed, he just said, “You wanna make out or something?”
Nothing like getting right down to it, Riley thought.
Before she could reply, a photographer stopped in front of them, got on his knees, and said, “Smile.”
Riley did. Her ‘date’ did not.
She wondered if he was even aware he’d had his picture taken.
“Are you okay?” she asked after the photographer had moved on.
It took him a moment to answer. An empty smile accompanied the slow bobbing of his head.
“I’m good. So good.” He held out the D on the end of the word, giggling a little.
“Who drove you here?” she asked.
He didn’t answer right away, and Riley wondered if the question even registered. The long moment stretched on and only ended when Rita walked up and said, “You two look to be having fun.”
Riley shot her a glance that conveyed, “Seriously?” but didn’t actually call her out for the ridiculous comment.
“Rita, how did Rowan get here tonight?"
“Ooh! He drove his Ferrari. What kind is it again, Rowan?”
The man’s face lit up, but Riley didn’t know if it was because he loved his car or actually knew the answer to this question. “A SF90 Stradale. Badass.”
Riley knew nothing about cars, so the name drop didn’t mean anything to her.
“Okay, well we need to make sure he does not drive himself away,” she told her agent.
Rowan’s laugh was high-pitched, obnoxious, and wrapped around his words as he said, “You mean because I’m going to get shit-faced?”
Not because he was going to, Riley thought. He’d clearly already taken something.
“Rowan, I don’t think you should mix alcohol with… whatever…”
“Okay, who are you? The fun police?” Rita said as she laughed at her own lame joke.
“He could hurt himself. Or someone else,” Riley snapped.
The other woman rolled her eyes. “Would you just relax and have some fun tonight? Here, have a drink.” She grabbed a champagne flute from a server who walked by holding a silver tray of drinks and thrust it at Riley.
“You know I don’t drink anymore.”
“Just hold it. Please. We need you to be photographed—”
“You want the media to speculate about my sobriety?” Riley asked.
Rita’s mouth was open, but Rowan cut off the conversation by yanking the flute from Riley’s hands, downing it fast, and throwing the empty vessel down.
A few people looked to find the source of shattering glass.
“Someone will clean that shit up,” Rowan said. “I need… four more… of those.”
He hurried away, not bothering to say he was sorry as he bumped into people while presumably looking for more booze.
“Rowan!” Riley cried.
She shielded her face and blinked against the bright flash that assaulted her eyes.
“Get away from me,” she growled.
But the photographer just snapped another shot.
She thought of gently pushing him away but knew that was just what everyone wanted.
Riley Hartwell Has Meltdown at Party.
Riley Hartwell Assaults Photographer During Fight with Boyfriend Rowan Keene.
The gossip headlines pretty much wrote themselves.
And Rita seemed to be enjoying every moment of it.
“We have to watch him.”
“Stay on him. He’s your date,” Rita replied. With that, she turned around, scanned the crowd, and latched onto the first big name she saw.
With a sigh, Riley looked around too, and saw Rowan was standing at the bar with a crowd of hanger-ons gathered around him, probably pretending to be regaled by whatever he was saying.
“These are not my people,” Riley muttered.
Only they were her people. She was just as much a part of the industry as anyone else there, and she knew it.
Worried that she too was part of the problem, she looked around again until she found a private alcove set into one of the far walls. In the old days, it had probably housed a phone booth but now was bare.
A couple beat her to it, groping and kissing each other, so Riley diverted toward the outdoor courtyard.
The night air felt good and refreshing.
There were still plenty of people mingling out there, but it was a tad better. The lush greenery and trees were adorned with stringed lights. The Spanish Revival architecture screamed classic California, and Riley found herself liking the space.
She found a private corner, pulled out her phone, and checked her messages. What she found surprised her.
A missed call from Briggs!
Without even hesitating, she called him back.
After the second ring, his voice came on. “Hey.”
“Hi! I… saw you called.” Self-doubt washed over her out of nowhere. Maybe she should have thought of what to say before she called him.
But he’d called her first. That meant he probably had something on his mind.
Still, she prayed this wasn’t awkward.
“Yeah. Sorry to bother you.”
“You’re not bothering me!” The words came out so fast she’d nearly interrupted him.
Okay, so the call isn’t awkward, but you sure are, Riley.
“Good. I just wanted to apologize for taking so long to respond to your text today. I got caught up in work. But I made some good progress.”
“I can’t wait to see it,” she said. “No apologies necessary, though. I know you’re busy.”
“What are you doing right now? Athena is having movie night over here and I agreed to stay.” He chuckled. “Not my usual genre. They’re watching The Parent Trap. But it’s not bad.”
“The Lindsay Lohan version or the Hayley Mills one?”
“Lohan,” he replied. “The Mills version is so much better. I mean, you have Maureen O’Hara and Brian Keith. How can you beat that?”
“You can’t,” Riley admitted. “But I grew up with the Lohan one.”
“Yeah. I think a lot of the people here did. And hey, I might be older than you, but not that much! The original was well before my time.”
She laughed and wondered just how old Briggs was, but she didn’t ask him.
He was probably a decade or so past her. Maybe thirty-eight. Possibly forty, but not over.
Not too old for her at all, she told herself with a smile.
“I’d love to come. But unfortunately, I’m at a benefit. Though I don’t think anyone here actually cares about raising money for charity.’
“I gotcha. Sounds like one of those fancy Hollywood things.”
Riley hoped that didn’t bother Briggs. She never wanted to seem like a celebrity. People tended to act differently around famous people. Though she got the impression Briggs was always himself no matter who he was with.
“It’s boring,” she told him. “I’d much rather be watching the movie with you.” Realizing what she’d said, she quickly added, “And all the other Littles.”
“Wish you could be here.”
He didn’t seem worried about being too forward. But there probably wasn’t a hidden meaning to his words. Briggs was just a nice, friendly guy.
“Maybe we can meet up later this week,” he said.
Riley’s attention was drawn to a commotion ahead, and she looked to see Rowan storming through the courtyard, ranting about nonsensical things.
Seeing his key fob in his hand made Riley’s blood turn cold.
“I’d love that,” she said. “Briggs, I’m sorry but I have to go.”
“No worries. Have fun, Riley.”
She loved hearing him say her name. But right now wasn’t the time to think about that.
Rowan was about to do something potentially awful.
And it seemed that no one was willing to stop him except her.