Not Famous in Hollywood (Not in Hollywood Book 1) (12 page)

“I bet you were a stubborn one” he chuckled
again.

Hearing the
door opening behind us, Griffin slammed me back up against the
wall. This time there was no foreplay and no coaxing. He hooked my
leg over his hip and slammed his mouth down on mine. Using his
tongue against the seam of my mouth I relented and he swooped in as
if determined to taste every part of me.

“
Room’
s free if you want it dude”
I heard Adam Hendricks say.

Next thing I
knew my other leg was hooked up and I was carried into the room,
the door was shut and I was pressed against it. I felt fingers at
the buttons of my top and cold reason came rushing back in. I
pushed back against his chest.

“Stop” I gasped. “What are you doing?”

“
Just trying
not to get caught this time” said Griffin breathing
heavily.

“What are you doing here?” I asked trying
really hard not to notice or acknowledge that despite everything
else there was a part of him that was really enjoying this
moment.

“I came to see if there was anything I could
pick up during the memorial service.”

“I thought it was a funeral.”

“
There
wasn’
t a body” he said.

“
Why
wasn’
t there a body?” I asked.

“At the last moment I presented information
to the lieutenant and he believes that there may be reason to view
this as a homicide. The coroner kept hold of the body for more
tests.”

“
But if
there’
s no funeral” I said, “why all
this? They could have just canceled and waited for the body to be
available.”

“Looks like the show had to go on.” Griffin
shrugged.

I’d got momentarily distracted. That movement
reminded me that I was currently pinned to the door with my legs
wrapped around the lean hips of a man that I was really not very
fond of.

“Are you planning on letting me down” I asked
as I tried to wriggle myself away from him.

I looked up and got caught by the way his
eyes darkened. I flushed as I realized what I was doing and the
response that I was inciting in him. Okay, bad move. I stopped the
wiggling and waited for the under pressure detective to calm
himself down, although by the feel of him it was going to take a
lot of calming. I dropped my legs and he stepped away. I tried
desperately to stop my hands from shaking as I discovered that a
couple of buttons had managed to come undone in our little effort.
Although from the way he was looking at me they might not have come
undone by themselves.

“
So what was
that all about” I said while tucking the ends of my shirt back into
my very sensible pants.

“I needed to keep my face hidden” he said.
“I’m not supposed to be here.”

Great. He had virtually guaranteed I would
not be sleeping tonight from frustration as I replayed those kisses
in my mind, and from his perspective I was performing the same
function as a balaclava. Wonderful.

“So making it seem like I was the type of
person to make out at a wake seemed like a good idea” I said,
cringing as I realized I had been making out at a wake.

“No, just an added bonus” he said
smirking.

Yeah, that was why I hated this guy.

“
Anyway” he
said. “Considering the people who saw you were the brother and
fiancée of the deceased and they had just been having sex in this
room, I don’t think they are able to hold the high ground on this
one.”

I stopped.
“I’ve got to say, I didn’t see that one coming. I thought she was a
lot more innocent than that.” I shrugged. “Of course innocent in
this town is relative, it just means you haven’t released a sex
tape yet.”

Griffin made some kind of noise as if he was
choking.

“Are you okay?” I asked wondering why I was
concerned.

“Fine, fine” he said clearing his throat.
“Just not expecting you to start talking about sex tapes.”

I raised an
eyebrow at him. “Just a general comment. Not planning on starting a
whole discussion on it. So if you don’t need me to act as a human
Richard Nixon mask I assume I’m fine to leave” I said.

I needed to go home. I also needed to wipe
the last ten minutes from my memory and I had a feeling that was
going to take a bit of time. I wondered if cold showers really
worked. No guy had ever managed to get me this worked up over just
a kiss before, so I was in uncharted territory.

Opening the door Griffin peeked out. “The
coast is clear, you should be okay now.”

Slipping past him I’d almost made it out when
a hand grabbed my elbow.

“I’ll be seeing you later sweetheart” he said
huskily, and then let me go and headed in the opposite
direction.

I shivered
involuntarily. I was so in over my head with this one I couldn’t
even see where the problem began. Heading downstairs I heard loud
voices with Eleanor’s voice rising over the top of them. I raced
down the stairs to find Eleanor and Emily at it again. Luckily this
time security had got between them in the form of the biggest man I
had ever seen. He even made Jorge look normal. Actually he looked
kind of bored standing between two tiny women like he knew he had a
job to do but he couldn’t believe it had come to this. Adam
Hendricks had his arms around Emily Saunders as she screamed
obscenities at Eleanor. Once again I’ve got to say that the woman
was surprising me. The creativity behind some of those insults was
more than I thought she was capable of. Of course all the insults
flying followed the same home wrecking slut, no talent whore, kind
of topic, but they were creative. Slipping behind Eleanor I stood
next to the publicist and leaned over.

“What’s happening this time?” I asked.

“What the hell am I supposed to do about
this?” the woman snarled.

When the
publicist is stumped you know the situation is bad, because one
thing I have learned about these people is that they are eternally
optimistic. No matter how bad a situation, they are able to spin
the press in a positive way. When your publicist gives up you know
you are in trouble. Eleanor’s manager was trying to pull her away
and seemed to be earning his hefty fees for once. After the last
time I was not getting involved in this situation. I knew that
Griffin was prowling around the building somewhere and I already
owed the guy three months. There was no way, especially after that
scene earlier, that I was going to risk extending my period of
servitude.

Eventually we
managed to get Eleanor into the limo and the manager, her publicist
and I just looked at each other with the same expressions our
parents must have used when we messed up badly.

“Rehab” the publicist blurted out.

The manager
and I looked at her. Eleanor ignored her completely and continued
to drink champagne out of a bottle. Inwardly I chuckled. This was
going to be good.

“
Exactly
where do you think you are going with that thought?” I asked. “Or
are we just brainstorming and throwing words out to see what
works.”

“Hear me out” she said. “Eleanor has gone
through a traumatic situation. Ryan died on her just as he realized
he had made a terrible mistake. That she was his one true love. He
called her to beg her to give him another chance. She went to see
him and they talked all night about their dreams for a future
together and how they could deal with the situation without hurting
Emily.”

This woman
was wasted in public relations, she should be writing screenplays,
very fictional screenplays.

“She witnessed the tragic death of her one
true love.”

She was warming up to the story, I could see.
Real life had no part in this and I could see the manager was
getting hooked in as well.

“The last two days have been terrible for her
so she is exhausted and needs time to heal. We put her in one of
those rehab places for a few days so she can deal with her
grief.”

“
Not trying
to rain on your parade” I said, indicating the woman who was still
drinking out of the champagne bottle as we discussed her impending,
and I’m guessing, involuntary entry into rehab. “Is she actually
going to have to take part in a detox program? If she is I’m not
liking your chances.”

“
Oh of course
not. I know just the place for her. It’ll be more of a holiday for
her. She can have everything she wants, she’ll just be away from
temptation.”

“
The
temptation to smash her fist in Emily Saunders’ face” I
said.

“
Yes that
would be it.” The publicist was nodding enthusiastically, obviously
hoping that the rest of us could also see her vision.

“That is a perfect idea” the manager said
beaming.

The
self-congratulatory smiles were interrupted by a soft snore coming
from the other side of the limo. Eleanor Channing had fallen asleep
while we had been discussing her future, her hand still firmly
wrapped around the neck of that champagne bottle.

The next
morning I was woken up by my cell phone. I couldn’t believe it.
After bundling Eleanor up and getting her settled into the Happy
Valley Relaxation Center, I had been sure that I was about to get
my first decent sleep. For a full week Eleanor Channing was no
longer my problem. She was the problem of the insanely happy people
at the relaxation center. Considering how cheerful those people had
been when we rolled up at two in the morning with a decidedly
annoyed Eleanor Channing, there was no way there weren’t any happy
pills in that place. There was a part of me that really wanted to
ignore the phone but it kept on going. Knowing my luck Eleanor had
staged a jail break from the center and I was going to have to hunt
her down, fugitive style. I wallowed in that fantasy for a while,
but as with all my fantasies at the moment Jake Griffin turned up
and made the whole thing feel way hotter. Grabbing the phone I put
it to my ear.

“Hello” I croaked.

“Good morning sweetheart” Griffin’s voice
came through and every nerve ending in my body went on high
alert.

“Why are you torturing me Griffin?” I
groaned. “What did I ever do to you?”

“You gave me a black eye sweetheart” he
said.

“And I am in hell because of that. Do you
really need to add a paper cut with lemon juice to my already over
the top punishment?” I asked.

Griffin chuckled. What that deep voice did to
me. I didn’t know how I was going to last for three months without
jumping on him and wrapping my legs around him and, oh yeah, I
already did that. I was in so much trouble.

“Just wondering when we are going to have our
next date” he murmured.

“Not for a week.” I relished telling him.

“
Why not?” he
asked. “I thought Eleanor Channing was much more social than
that.”

“
Oh she is” I
assured him, “but as of last night, or rather very early this
morning, Eleanor Channing checked herself into a relaxation center,
to deal with the trauma of losing the love of her life so
tragically.”

“You are kidding me aren’t you?” Griffin
said.

“
Nope” I
answered. “You’ll be able to read all about it on her website and
social media where she’ll assure her fans that she is strong but
just needs some time to heal.”

“
Okay”
Griffin said.
“You still have access,
maybe you can just go yourself.”

“Oh honey.” See I can do sarcasm as well.
“Without Eleanor Channing I am nobody. None of these people are my
friends, none of them even know my name. I may be able to get you
into a book club but that is the extent of my social life.”

“
What about
your friend, Crystal, I’m sure she’d be able to help.”

“Crystal doesn’t like you very much” I said.
“I really don’t see her helping you at all. Maybe you should do
some actual police work for the next week. Who knows you may be
able to solve this case without me.”

I know, I was
being a bitch and normally I try very hard not to be a bitch. I
don’t like women who think being a bitch means being strong, but
Jake Griffin put me on edge. Last night had made me think about
things I hadn’t thought about in a long time. Things which weren’t
possible, so if being a bitch made sure they never happened again,
then that was what I was going to have to do. There was silence for
a second.

“I’ll do that” he said quietly.

I was about to apologize. I don’t like making
people feel bad. It’s really not who I am.

“I don’t think you’re a nobody” he said and
hung up.

Great, now I
really felt lousy
. The phone rang
again.

“Look I’m really sorry” I said.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

I stopped and tried to change gears.
“Jennifer, is that you?” I asked.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she repeated.

“Tell you what?” I asked.

“I just got paperwork from Eleanor Channing’s
attorneys about the skin reaction she had. She’s suing me.”

Oh hell. What kind of a boneheaded move was
Eleanor making this time?

“
Look
Jennifer, I knew nothing about this. I’m really sorry but there is
nothing I can do about it.”

“Could you come out and talk to me?” she
asked. “I just need to get a bit of an idea about what is going on
and why she is doing this.”

“
Jennifer, I
really don’t think that is appropriate” I said. “I still work for
Eleanor and if she is suing you I can’t talk about it.”