Hollywood & Vine (51 page)

J
osie sped into the parking lot, her eyes lingering on the car waiting for Aubrey as she marched inside the building. She had no idea what she planned to do once she found her. The only thing clear in her mind was the need to let Aubrey know her time had run out.

However, Josie’s single-minded focus was obliterated the moment they came face to face. Josie dropped her eyes to the floor then worked her way up Aubrey’s form as she tried to control her breathing. Aubrey was the epitome of every guy’s fantasy. The fact remained, though, that no matter how pretty a package she was and no matter how many tricks she pulled, she was nothing more than a desperate, pathetic girl with a bruised ego and a sinking career.

The smile that split Josie’s face and the relaxed set of her shoulders was genuine when she came to a stop in front of Aubrey. Her smile grew when Aubrey staggered to a stop, her eyes wide with shock.

“Josie?” Aubrey’s voice was high and unsure as her eyes darted around the hallway.

“Can we talk?” The unassuming lilt to Josie’s voice caused Aubrey’s brows to furrow with confusion.

“Why?”

“I think it’s a conversation best had in private.” Josie tilted her head to the side, her eyes sliding to the crowd gathering down the hall.

Aubrey straightened her shoulders. “Of course.”

“Let’s go to the empty conference room down the hall.” Josie glided past Aubrey with her chin lifted and a small smile on her lips.

“Well,” Aubrey spat, her nerves causing her annoyance to spike. “What could you possibly have to say to me?”

Josie leaned against the table. Her expression was open, yet blank. When she spoke, her voice carried the same soft tone. “I’m sorry,” she exhaled.

Aubrey knew Josie’s apology was bullshit, but the part of her that was Hollywood-saturated, that believed Josie was beneath her, couldn’t help but feel smug. “Oh? Exactly what are you sorry for? The part where you ruined my chance with Anders or the part where you talked to the paps and made me look like a fool?”

Josie resisted the urge to grab Aubrey by the hair and slam her face against the table. Shaking her head, she pushed away from the table and relaxed her stance.

“Oh, Aubrey. How could I ruin a chance that never existed? Anders wanted nothing to do with you.” Josie smirked and clasped her hands hanging in front of her. “As far as making you look like a fool, well, you did that all on your own. After all, I’m not the one in bed with the paparazzi.”

Aubrey narrowed her eyes. “Who do you think you are? You don’t know anything about my relationship with Anders. You might have been sleeping with him but that doesn’t make you special. It makes you the same as every other trashy whore he’s fucked. You weren’t the one going out with him, the one he was dating. You were just some side piece of ass who couldn’t deal with it so you ran to the tabloids. It’s pathetic.”

“Pathetic?” Josie scoffed. “Do you want to know what’s pathetic? A washed-up has-been who had to convince studio executives to arrange a fake relationship because she couldn’t seduce the biggest manwhore in Hollywood. When that didn’t work, you resorted to hiring a pap to take pictures to make it look like you had. Even wasted, Anders wouldn’t touch you.”

Aubrey blanched. “What
―
”

“Oh, we’re not to the best part yet,” Josie interrupted, her voice dropping to a whisper. “The best part is that after you outed me, played the victim, and had me terrorized by paps, you still didn’t win. You’re still the same loser you were all those months ago. The only difference now is that it’s no longer a secret. I’m going to make sure of that.”

“You listen to me,” Aubrey hissed, embarrassment and rage surging through her. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. If you try to spread these ridiculous lies
―
”

“You’ll what?” Josie laughed. “Call Levi to stage more pictures? Good luck with that.”

Aubrey’s stomach dropped the moment Levi’s name left Josie’s lips. “You have no proof. Even if you did, no one would believe you.”

“You’re right,” Josie conceded. “In the scheme of things, no one would believe me. But they’d believe Anders. I wonder how he’ll react when he finds out what you’ve done.” She wasn’t sure where her sudden surge of confidence had come from, but it was there. So was her belief in Anders. Maybe it was because Levi had confirmed Anders had never cheated. Maybe it had been there all along. Or maybe it had surfaced over the last several months when he’d shown a different side of himself. No matter the reason, Aubrey no longer intimidated her.

Aubrey grinned. “Anders? He’s not going to help you. Do you think he’d ruin his career for you? I hate to think you’re that naive. After all, you two are over.”

“Are we?” Josie smirked. “It would seem without the help of someone doing your dirty work, you have no fucking clue what’s going on.” Walking toward the door, she smiled again. “I can’t wait for you to get what you deserve.”

Before Josie could pass through the doorway, Aubrey grabbed Josie’s arm and twisted her around. “You don’t walk away from me,” she spat. “Do you think you’ll win? This isn’t some fairy tale. In real life, peasants don’t become princesses.”

Josie wrenched her arm free and glared at Aubrey. “Don’t you dare fucking touch me. Just because I haven’t slammed your face into a door doesn’t mean I don’t want to. I just refuse to give a desperate bitch like you the opportunity to play the victim again. And for the record, you’re not better than me. You can’t hurt me, and you can’t beat me. And as much as you’re loath to admit, you’re jealous of me.”

“You have nothing I want.”

Josie’s smile was full of mischief and her eyes conveyed all of Aubrey’s fears. “Don’t I?”

Aubrey’s anger faded as the color leaked from her face. “You’re not still with Anders. He’s not that pathetic.”

“You seem to like that word, Aubrey. It’s a good one.” Josie nodded. “Pathetic. It suits you.”

Without another word, Josie glided out of the building and to her car. With shaky legs, she eased into her car and blew out a heavy breath. She had things to do at the studio, but the thought of remaining in the same building as Aubrey was too much for her to handle. She wanted to drag her into a crowd of paparazzi and throw her to the wolves. As good as it would have felt, however, she would have been no better than Aubrey. If there was one thing Josie was certain about, it was that she wanted to be nothing like that woman.

Josie reached for her phone, pausing when Aubrey emerged from the side door. Her eyes drifted shut when she remembered Aubrey was heading to San Francisco for the convention. The same one as Anders. Cursing again, she dialed Madison’s number.

“Hey you.”

“I need you to talk me out of doing something stupid.”

“I’m going to need a few more details before I make any kind of commitment. Would I be entertained if I allowed you to do said stupid thing? Because I’ll need to factor that in before I give you an answer.”

Josie rolled her eyes, but the smile in Madison’s voice kept her from snapping. Instead, she decided to get straight to the point. “I know who gave the paps my name.”

“You have my attention,” Madison replied, all playfulness gone.

“Meet me at my house.” Minutes after she walked through her front door, Madison appeared, breathless and wide-eyed.

“Are you okay? What happened?”

Josie laughed as she raised her eyes to Madison. “I don’t know what I’m feeling. This has been one hell of a day.”

“I can’t decide if I want you to start at the beginning or skip to the part where you tell me whose ass I’m going to be kicking later.” Madison eased onto the chair across from Josie, not a hint of jest on her face. Her expression caused Josie to smile.

With a heavy exhale, Josie recounted her conversation with Levi. To Madison’s credit, she managed to remain seated and quiet, only allowing a few choice words to pass through her lips. When Josie got to the part where she confronted Aubrey, however, Madison was on her feet.

“Where is she? Is she still there? I swear to God
―
”

“She’s gone,” Josie interrupted. “She left for the convention in San Francisco.”

“I knew it,” Madison spat. “I knew she was involved. I just had no idea that she’d take things so far. And Levi…” Madison shook her head. “I don’t know if I want to punch him or kiss him. I know you’re pissed. You have every right to be, but can you imagine if he’d never come clean? Sure, you and Anders are talking again, but that lingering doubt would have always been there. Now that it’s gone, well, I don’t know what I’m saying. I’m just glad you found out the truth. What are you going to do about Levi?”

“I don’t know. Honestly, he’s not important enough for me to worry about right now. All I can think about is Anders and how he’s going to react when I tell him.”

“Have you called him?”

“No. I can’t tell him something like this over the phone, not with Aubrey in the same building as him. I have no idea what he’ll do, but I can say without a doubt he’s going to lose his shit. I don’t want him to do something he’ll regret and damage his career.”

“You mean like slam Aubrey’s head into a desk?” A smile crossed Madison’s lips as she remembered Josie telling her how many times she wanted to do just that.

“Yes.” Josie chuckled. “Exactly like that.”

“You know, I’m both impressed and disappointed by your restraint.”

“That makes two of us.”

Madison laughed. “So what’s the plan?”

“As soon as he gets back, I’ll tell him everything. And not just about Aubrey and Levi. I’m going to put it all out there. If we’re going to be more than whatever we’ve been the last couple months, I want to know he’s all in. He’s going to have to jump with me.”

“Are you sure you’re ready for that?”

“I’m not sure about anything these days,” Josie admitted. “But someone once told me that sometimes I have to take chances, even if it scares the hell out of me.”

Madison hummed. “She sounds very wise.”

“I never said it was a she.” Josie grinned when Madison scowled.

“Yeah, yeah, be a smart-ass. It’s what you’re good at.”

They both laughed, but the light feeling only lasted a moment. Josie fidgeted with her hands. “What am I going to do about Holden?”

Groaning, Madison pushed her hands through her hair. “Let me take care of Holden. I’m not going to tell him anything about your plans with Anders. That’s your deal. But I can at least tell him what happened today. He deserves to know, but you have enough on your plate without having to deal with him too.”

“Thanks. I feel shitty for dumping that on you, but I’m not interested in talking to Holden about Levi right now. I need to focus on what I’m going to say to Anders.”

“When does he get back?”

“Not for a few days. He left earlier than everyone else because he had an interview this morning. I’m not sure about the rest of the convention, but he’ll be pretty busy while he’s there.”

“Why don’t you relax? Take a long bath and have a glass of wine. I’ll come back later and we can grab dinner.”

“That sounds kind of perfect. You’ll call me if anything comes up?”

Madison smirked and nodded. “Of course.”

Josie didn’t have to guess that Madison was fighting the urge to make a “that’s what she said” joke. “I’m both impressed and disappointed by your restraint,” she quipped.

“That makes two of us.” Madison giggled before looping her arm through Josie’s and pulling her up from the couch. “Go start your bath. I’ll call you later.”

Josie didn’t waste any time pouring herself a drink the moment Madison left. The tension radiating through her body was beginning to take its toll. Taking a long sip from her glass of wine, she decided to hold off on the bath and instead opened her laptop. It was unfair to look at pictures and videos of Anders when he didn’t have the same opportunity to see her, but she didn’t care.

After everything that had happened, she needed to see his face. She wanted a connection to him. It only took a couple of searches to find his radio interview from earlier that day. Leaning back, she pressed play, her breath catching when she saw him. He looked the same as always but different somehow. His clothes were immaculate, but scruff covered his jaw and dark hair fell into his eyes.

The questions from the DJ, as well as the callers who managed to get through, were mundane and typical. Just when Josie decided to close the video, the DJ’s question caught her attention.

“Anders,” he asked, “what was your favorite or most memorable part of filming?”

Josie’s fingers tensed around her glass as she waited for his answer. His face relaxed and a smirk tugged at the side of his mouth. He laced his fingers around his knee and cleared his throat before speaking.

“Well, they’re the same. My favorite and most memorable part of filming was on location in Arizona.”

Josie’s throat bobbed as the next question was asked. “Why Arizona?”

Anders shrugged and gave a lazy grin. “There was a lot of privacy in Arizona. I was able to act like a normal person without being harassed or having cameras shoved in my face. I remember our first day off. I went to these falls I found when I arrived. I spent the entire day there undisturbed.” His eyes flicked to the camera, and for a moment Josie felt as though he was looking directly at her. He turned his attention back to the DJ, and with a serious expression he said, “It was one of the best days of my life. I loved every moment.”

The DJ grinned and leaned forward in his chair. “How can you say that was the best part of filming?” he joked. “Aubrey wasn’t even there.”

With a bored expression, Anders looked across the expansion between them. When he answered his voice was dull, flat. “Exactly.”

Josie closed her laptop and set it on the coffee table. Grabbing her phone, she pulled up Anders’ name and sent a text that could either begin something new or break her into a million pieces all over again.

We need to talk when you get back to LA.

His response was immediate.

Is everything okay?

Josie wasn’t sure how to answer his question. Was everything okay? She wouldn’t know that until they were face to face, until they talked about everything. So she answered him as honestly as she could.