Mr. Hollywood (Celebrity #1) (5 page)

“
Z,
so help me if you don
’
t call me the minute you get this,
I will hunt you down and shoot you myself. The studio is on my back this
morning, as well as the media, thanks to your little drunken display last
night. I need to speak with you immediately. Your future depends on it! Call me
now!
”

Drunken display? What the hell was she talking about?

Hurriedly, I typed my name into the search bar and
several article headlines immediately came up.

“
Z
McCartney Disappears from the Kodak Theater at Premiere!
”

“
Z
McCartney Viral Video Tells What He
’
s Really Been Doing!
”

“
Hollywood
’
s Finest at His Not So Finest!
”

Clicking one of the links, I watched in horror as
someone captured me coming out of a club, stumbling, as I attempted to walk
with my arms around two girls .
 
.
 
. the two I
’
d found in bed with me this
morning. Well, that was good, wasn
’
t it? I
’
d stuck to the original two. There
’
d been nights I
’
d woken up in a room full of people
after a party, and I had no idea who I
’
d slept with, only knowing that I
’
d slept with someone
—
or lots of
“
someones,
”
depending on the party.

This wasn
’
t so bad.

The video kept rolling though, giving me a sinking
feeling. Jaw clenched, I watched as I pushed one of the girls against the wall,
the one who wasn
’
t Stephanie
—
kissing her heavily as my hand drifted
lower, hiking up her short skirt.

“
Oh.
Em. Gee! I swear he
’
s going to do her right against the
wall!
”
an overly excited female voice said
from behind the camera.

“
Get
a room!
”
Someone else shouted and more
people started crowding around, jostling whoever was holding the camera.

Another voice started belting out,
“
Bow chicka wow wow!
”

Nerves tightening, I forced myself to continue
watching as I ravished this woman, grateful when the tape finally clicked off.
Skimming the rest of the article, I read that the video in its entirety was not
available due to its extremely graphic nature.

“
Well,
fuck!
”
There was no doubt about it. I
’
d made a really big mess of things
this time and I was definitely in a whole lot of hot water.

Pocketing my phone, I still didn
’
t call Penelope. If things were
already this bad, there was nothing I could do about it, so as far as I was
concerned, my top priority was a shower, a nap, and maybe a couple more lines
of coke before I addressed the shit hitting the fan.

“Watch the Shocking
Viral Video that has Hollywood Superstar, Z McCartney, in Trouble with the
Law!”

~
Hollywood Grapevine
~

Chapter Two

Z

Feeling as if my head was going to split open, I sat
slouched in a rather comfy leather chair in some executive office. Glancing
briefly around, I wasn
’
t sure if I
’
d ever been in this room before,
but really, I didn
’
t care. A fistful of my hair was
clenched in one hand, as I listened to the ranting coming at me full force from
Penelope, interspersed with comments from my agent, Luke Hayward, and my
lawyer, Mike Larson.

“
I
don
’
t think you
’
re understanding just how serious
this is!
”
Penelope continued on.
“
Some big changes are going to need
to be made!
”
Whenever she was upset with
me like this, it seemed as if her voice got higher and higher until it reached
an octave only dogs could hear. Driving a nail through my skull sounded more
appealing.

“
If
we can even recover from something like this,
”
Luke
muttered, his tie askew and the top button of his shirt undone. I
’
d never seen him this ruffled
before. Apparently things were bad
—
worse than I
’
d thought.

“
We
also have legal issues to address with the police. They
’
re wanting to press charges for
indecent exposure,
”
Mike added, staring at me as
if I
’
d committed the most heinous of
crimes.

“
The
studio is wanting to get you into rehab.
”
Penelope
’
s eyes were glittering with anger.
I wasn
’
t surprised. She didn
’
t like cleaning up my messes.

“
Whatever,
”
I growled out, irritated by the
whole subject.
“
I do not need to go to rehab.
Seriously? One strike and I
’
m out
—
just
like that?
”

“
One
strike?
”
Penelope
’
s eyes widened so big, I feared
they might actually pop out of her head.
“
What about the girls you snuck into
your trailer on set so you could party with them
—
remember?
You missed your call time and people had to come looking for you, but you were
so strung out by that point they had to put shooting off for a day. Or what
about the time they had to have a medic come give you an IV to help flush out
the damn hangover you had? Or the time you left set in the middle of filming
for no reason at all?
”

“
I
had a reason,
”
I mumbled, remembering the
cute redhead I skipped out to party with.
“
It just wasn
’
t a very good one.
”
I
’
d
gotten in so much trouble I
’
d even been docked pay. It sucked,
too. She wasn
’
t even that good of a fuck.

“
The
point is, you
’
re making bad choices and it
’
s plain to anyone watching that you
are sinking fast and you need some help.
”

“
Hey,
I still got their damn movie filmed, didn
’
t I? I did a good job and finished
the product on time. This scandal is just more publicity for their film. They
should be eating it up.
”

“
Except
that you just portrayed a recovering addict and then basically thumbed your
nose at everyone while you went out and participated in the same behavior. It
’
s a bit insulting, if you ask me.
”
Penelope
’
s hands were on her hips and she
was glaring at me like I was a child.

Damn, she was hot when she was mad. Too bad I thought
of her as more of a sister than a fling. Not that she
’
d give me the time of day. Penelope
never crossed lines with her clients. She made that very clear from day one. I
’
d respected that and never made a
pass at her. In fact, she might be the only woman I saw on a regular basis that
I
’
d never had a sexual relationship
with. It simply wasn
’
t in the cards, and I was okay with
that.

“
Well,
fine. Tell them to walk away, then. I
’
m finished making their film and I
’
ll be ready to start shooting for
the new one next week.
”

“
That
’
s the problem. There is no new film
next week,
”
Luke jumped in, not a hint of
humor in his eyes.

“
What?
”
Now I felt my panic level rising.
Something was wrong with the film? Was the studio angry? Had the project been
put on hold? I
’
d never had anyone cancel me
before. Surely they wouldn
’
t start now over something as dumb
as public sex. Would they?

If they wanted my attention, they had it.

“
It
’
s not your current studio who is
asking us to send you to rehab, it
’
s the one producing your next
movie, Trident Pictures. They
’
ve put production on hold until you
receive at least six weeks of rehab therapy. If all goes well and a doctor
signs off to clear you for work after that time, they will hold everything for
you.

“
However,
if you don
’
t get a clean bill of health from a
licensed medical professional, the studio is going to recast the role and sue you
for breach of contract. If you don
’
t want this to turn into a massive
ugly disaster, then I suggest you take this gift they
’
re offering, and do as they ask.
”
He tossed a thick file at me.
“
These are some of the facilities
they
’
re recommending. They also sent
over personnel folders in case we wanted to tailor the staff to our liking. You
can look through those and see if any seem appealing to you, but choose one,
because you
are
going.
”

Jaw clenched, I stared at the file on the table in
front of me. Folding my arms, I refused to look at it. I could be just as
stubborn as anyone else. No one could force me to do anything I didn
’
t want.

“
We
also have someone coming from the police station in a few minutes to talk to
you about the indecent exposure charges,
”
Mike added, glancing at his
Rolex.
“
We
’
ll
do what we can to get those removed
—
or reduced
—
by showing the judge you
’
re willing to go to rehab. That
should help a lot.
”

“
But
I
’
m not willing to go to rehab,
”
I growled, growing more pissed by
the minute.

“
Well,
then you better damn well get ready!
”
Penelope snapped, her eyes
flaring as she placed her hands on the table, leaning over it toward me.
“
At some point, you need to grow up
and start being the responsible one around here! People are counting on you for
their paychecks. You need to be reliable or you will sink to the bottom so fast
that you
’
ll never get booked for another
role again. Don
’
t believe me? Look at all the
people this industry has taken out before you. You can probably find most of
them in the cemetery. Are you ready to join them? Or are you going to meet us
halfway and try to help us all out here? This is your future, Z
—
your choice, right now. What
’
s it going to be?
”

Darting between their three faces, I could see the
seriousness of the situation reflected in their eyes. This was all so .
 
.
 
. stupid. I could almost hear a
collective sigh of relief as I reached for the thick file in front of me and
opened it. Slowly, I flipped through the pages, trying to figure out a way to
get out of all this drama and please everyone, too. I had no intention of
voluntarily going to rehab. There had to be some other way.

One particular thing in the file jumped out at me,
causing me to do a double take
—
something that could actually save
this horrific day. Staring at the smiling face of the beautiful girl in front
of me, it seemed as if my heart was skipping beats.

She looked almost exactly the same
—
gorgeous, stunning, perfect. Even
dressed in a pair of pale yellow scrubs with her hair in a ponytail, she was
prettier than any starlet who
’
d tripped their way down the red
carpet. I couldn
’
t force myself to look away. She
seemed so .
 
.
 
. fresh, and so .
 
.
 
. real. I
’
d been surround by illusions and
grandeur for so long that I almost forgot what it meant to feel real. Unbidden,
memories and longing flooded me, causing excruciating pain
—
pain I frequently tried to bury.

Immediately, I wanted a drink. I was pretty sure no
one here was going to bring me one.

But wait. Maybe this was a sign. Could I do this? For
her? Did I dare? It would be a huge risk, but my life was going nowhere at the
moment. It only took a second to make my decision.

“
Fine,
”
I ground out, feeling completely
emotionally depleted.
“
But here are my terms.
”
I pushed the filed toward the
center of the table.
“
I
’
ll
go to the facility where this girl is employed, and she is to be one of my
nurses.
”

Luke grumbled.
“
Are you kidding me? This isn
’
t a fucking dating service. It
’
s rehab. Pick another place.
”

“
If
you want me to go to rehab, it has to be this facility, with this nurse, or no
deal.
”
I stared hard at them, flashing my
negotiator face, knowing they would take my threat seriously. I
’
d proven in the past just how
stubborn I could be.

The three of them quickly conferred with each other in
lowered voices, as if I weren
’
t sitting two feet away and could
hear every word. I didn
’
t care. Staring at the face in the
picture, my thoughts were hundreds of miles away, back on a farm in Montana.
All the old hurt and feelings I constantly tried to repress flooded back to the
surface, and instantly, my first reaction was to find a way to suppress it.
When it came to Aubrey, my wounds ran deep
—
too deep for me to ever repair
them, even though I wished it were possible with nearly every breath.