by Alexa Aston
She was sleeping well in her new place. No gunshots going off at crazy hours or arguments heard through paper-thin walls made her feel like a new woman. With no commute, she decided to go for an early morning run around the estate. Shep joined her and Cassie decided to make it a daily routine. Running gave her thinking time and released stress. Lately, she’d been too busy trying to do her job and Manny’s to work in a run, not to mention her neighborhood wasn’t safe enough to indulge in a three-mile jaunt. Too many hookers and junkies to dodge along the sidewalks.
Cassie looked forward to her day. She wanted to run a few ideas by Becky Bloss before her afternoon meeting with the American Cancer Society regarding the upcoming charity event. She’d enjoyed her phone conversation with Rhett’s PR person her first day on the job. Becky seemed efficient and had Rhett’s best interests at heart. Maybe she should ask Becky to attend the meeting with her. They could grab a bite to eat beforehand.
She set the scripts down on the kitchen counter. She’d made notes in the margins for Rhett, but she’d also typed up a synopsis of each script and shared her thoughts on both screenplays and the character he would play if he agreed to terms. Cassie heard the kitchen door opening and turned to find a smiling Mimi entering.
“Good morning, Cassie.” Mimi set her purse and tote bag down on the kitchen table. “It’s good to see you.”
“Come on in, Mimi. Did you find where to park? How is your suite?”
“Everything’s lovely, but my first priority is to explore this kitchen. I’m a bit like a kid in the candy store. I can’t wait to familiarize myself with everything.”
“Let me help you move your things in first. Then you can spend all day getting to know your kitchen.”
“Oh, you are a dear.”
“You have too much to do, Cass. I can help Mimi move in.”
Breck had entered the kitchen. He wore a satisfied look that screamed he’d had hot sex last night. She wondered if Jolene lurked behind the kitchen door, ready to make a mad dash back to the gatehouse.
Breck made his way over to Mimi. “Breck O’Dell, Ma’am. I’m at your service and intend to be your new best friend. Especially if you know your way around mashed potatoes or apple pie.”
Mimi blushed. “Cassie warned me you were a charmer. And please, it’s Mimi. Ma’am was my grandma.”
“A hungry charmer, Mimi. If I unload and bring in your stuff, would you consider—”
“You name it, Breck. Omelet. French toast. Pancakes.”
He broke out in a huge smile. “Then come on, Mimi. Let’s get this show on the road.”
“See you two later,” Cassie told them. “I’ve already eaten and have tons to do.”
Cassie went to her office, Shep trailing behind her, and decided to check e-mail first. As she did, the phone rang and Becky’s name popped up.
She answered, “Hi, Becky. I was about to call you.”
“Rhett is not returning my texts or calls. Did you know Rhett was involved with Randi James, Cassie? What is he thinking? Randi James makes the Wicked Witch who poisoned Snow White look like a candidate for sainthood. I thought Rhett had more sense than to let a tramp like that hitch her wagon to his star.”
Cassie’s gut flipped over. How had Becky learned about Randi and Rhett? “I’m clueless, Becky. What are you—”
“Have you seen Rhett today?”
“No.”
“Call up the People website.”
Cassie did as Becky asked. There in living color was Randi feeding a reluctant-looking Rhett bites of sushi. Then a few more shots of the two leaving the restaurant came up in the next frames. Rhett looked uncomfortable and wore a scowl. Randi wore next to nothing and glowed.
“They put it on their website yesterday and let me know just now that it’ll be their cover this week. I’ve got to talk to Rhett ASAP, before they go to press. He shut the door on me when I told him about the pictures but I think it’s important to give him a chance to clarify the relationship and remove any speculation for the article. Have him call me right away, Cassie. I need to issue a statement. Maybe a joint one. I wonder who reps Randi.”
“I’ll track him down, Becky. I guarantee he’ll call you right back.”
Cassie hung up, a sick feeling washing over her as she studied the pictures in front of her on the computer screen. Randi looked like a Christmas package gift-wrapped from Saks, shiny and sleek and utterly gorgeous. Cassie didn’t know a man alive who wouldn’t want to open that pretty package. If she had learned one thing in Hollywood, though, it was that looks are deceiving. After making Randal James’ acquaintance, Cassie knew what a vile woman resided within the model.
It still bothered her that Randi interested a man like Rhett.
Cassie punched the intercom, hoping Rhett might still be in the house.
He answered immediately. “What’s up?”
“You need to call Becky. Now.”
Rhett hesitated a moment. “I will. Soon.”
“I said now, Corrigan. It’s important and she’s frantic. Do it.”
“Are you my mom? That’s the only person who tries to boss me around these days.”
“Meet me in my office.” Cassie turned the intercom off and stewed. He would come, she knew, but he wouldn’t be in a good mood.
Thirty seconds later, Rhett appeared. Shep rose to greet him but Rhett ignored the dog. Cassie couldn’t read the look in his eyes and made the decision to go on offense.
“Call Becky. You’ll be on the cover of People this week. She needs a statement from you.”
“I’ll call her when I feel like it,” he snapped. “She’s my publicist and will do what I say. Besides, I hired her to keep my name out of the news. She’s fallen down on the job.”
Cassie bristled at his tone. “Don’t take out your problems on the hired help, Corrigan. We’re just doing our jobs. You need to be responsible now. You chose to go out in public with your girlfriend. That means you have gone public with the relationship, no matter how out of the way you thought this little sushi bar was. You need to find out how Randi would like the two of you to handle it. A joint statement would probably carry more weight anyway.”
Rhett’s eyes flashed in annoyance at the idea. “She’s out of the country for a couple of weeks on a shoot,” he said impatiently. “Left last night. I can’t reach her.”
“Then you’ll need to handle it. Do it now before it explodes in your face and you have control of the narrative. And be nice to Becky.”
“I’m always nice,” he smarted off as he turned and left the room.
Cassie couldn’t help but have hurt feelings at his curt tone. She hadn’t liked the way Rhett spoke to her. She supposed this was her first taste of male diva behavior. Everything had gone smoothly until now. For a first crisis, it would have to involve Randi. Just her luck. At least Becky would handle the fallout on this one. Cassie wouldn’t have a thing to do with it.
At least knowing she had a couple of weeks with no more run-ins with Randal James was a nice consolation prize.
◆◆◆
Rhett went to his bedroom and called Becky, who was thrilled to hear from him so quickly. They ironed out a cryptic statement that was a brief response and wouldn’t satisfy the public’s thirst at all. It wouldn’t need to. The pictures would be discussed on radio and talk shows and message boards across America. Rhett would be the butt of Fallon and Colbert jokes and winks from Seth Meyers and dirt in every entertainment blog on the planet.
All for a woman he didn’t even like anymore. If he ever had.
It figured that just when he was ready to end things with Randi, the inevitable would happen. His numbers would surge with men who’d like to jump Randi’s bones. They’d plunge with women who felt threatened by Randi’s earthy sex appeal and think she’d taken Rhett off the open market.
Most likely, it would mean good business for the movie opening on Christmas Day. Fireball was predicted to do record business this holiday season. The new gossip
would bring out the crazies and busybodies as well as the action fans to the box office. The whole situation depressed Rhett.
Of course, Irv Stromberg would be ecstatic. His agent would look ten years younger the next time Rhett saw him, all because of the wild publicity that would surround this incident.
Suddenly, Rhett remembered Randi saying she needed to go back in and change purses as they were leaving for the restaurant. She hadn’t liked the way the one she was carrying looked with her outfit. They were already getting in the car so he’d waited there. Rhett suspected Randi had gone inside and called or texted some paparazzi. She already knew where they were going and couldn’t obviously contact them in front of him. When she returned outside, she still carried the same purse. Rhett hadn’t even questioned it because Randi’s fashion whims drove him up a wall. He figured she’d changed her mind and decided the purse was fine after all.
What the little bitch had changed was his life with the stunt. Rhett determined that wasn’t going to happen. He would show her who was in charge. Taking a deep breath, he reined in his anger. He’d taken it out earlier on Cassie and she hadn’t deserved it. It wasn’t her fault he had a slutty girlfriend who craved publicity.
Rhett looked over at the scripts he’d found in the kitchen and thought he’d see what Cassie had done with them. He grabbed them and went to his favorite chair in his bedroom. It had a perfect view of the back yard and plenty of light came through the windows.
Both her summaries impressed him. She captured the essence of each script in two pages. She’d also done a character study for both roles he might play, addressing the strengths and weaknesses of each part and giving reasons why he should and shouldn’t consider the scripts.
Rhett already had read both screenplays so he simply focused on Cassie’s margin notes after that. She had keen insight into story and character. She should probably be his agent instead of Irv.
A couple of hours had passed for his temper to cool so Rhett walked back to the office. This time, he greeted Shep, ruffling his fur and baby talking to the mutt. Cassie’s eyes remained focused on the computer screen as she typed away, ignoring him.
He was hesitant to interrupt her. She had to know he was standing there, though.
“Uh, I found the two scripts you left. Thanks for looking over them so quickly. I read your notes. They were right on target. You’re a good judge of character and writing.”
Cassie stopped and looked at him. In a very professional tone, she said, “I’ll be happy to do the same for any scripts you give me. Now, if you don’t have anything else to discuss, I have some finishing touches to put on this PowerPoint for the charity proposal.” Her eyes returned to the computer screen.
“Cassie.” Rhett paused, waiting for her to look at him. She didn’t, so he walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“You know I’m sorry. This whole situation with People got under my skin. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
“Not a problem, Corrigan,” she said, her voice quiet. “I’m sure if my private life was spilled across the Internet, I’d have a burr up my butt, too.” She looked at him, a grin tugging at the corner of her mouth.
Rhett sensed things were back to normal between them and reluctantly removed his hand from her shoulder. “When are you meeting with the ACS people?”
“This afternoon at two. I’m about to leave as soon as I finish this last slide.” Cassie went back to work like an efficient worker bee.
“I’d like to go with you.”
She stopped what she was doing. “That won’t be necessary. We’ll only be in the preliminary stages. I have several ideas to toss out. I’ll get their feedback. We’ll confirm the date. No sense you getting involved so early in the game when I can handle it.”
“I want to go.” Rhett stared at her. “Seriously. I’m not doing anything this afternoon other than stopping by to see Carreen. I’ve wanted you to meet her anyway. Let’s grab some lunch, head to the meeting, and then swing by Carreen’s on the way home.”
Cassie thought a moment. “Mimi started today. In fact, Breck already weaseled breakfast out of her before her suitcase was through the door.”
He shook his head. “She can get settled while we’re out and provide dinner tonight. What do you say?”
CHAPTER 14
Cassie thought how normal Rhett’s childhood home looked as they drove by, almost like hers in Waco. The tan stucco he pointed out to her seemed an average size in a typical, blue-collar neighborhood. She realized that although Rhett might live in a multimillion dollar home now, his roots were humble.
“We’d stop in and see Mom, but today’s mahjongg. You do not want to be around that group of women. They are competitive, gossiping, margarita-swirling mamas, and nothing comes between them and their game. You can meet Mom some other time.”
Rhett continued down the block and turned right. “Carreen’s only a mile away. Mom loves being near her two grandkids. She probably changed as many diapers as Carreen and Bob did. Maybe more.”
“She sounds great.”
He smiled. “She is. I’d buy her a new house and have her shop on Rodeo Drive if I could but she doesn’t want to leave the neighborhood. Says she grew up with these women, all of them having babies together, learning to cook and sew together, bonding over divorces and deaths and God knows what else.”
Rhett eased the car into the driveway of a one-story ranch. A nativity scene, complete with scattered hay under the figures of the holy family, sat in the front yard. Santa and his reindeer rested atop the roof. A fake snowman stood in the corner with a large sign proclaiming “Merry Christmas from the Gormans”.
Cassie took it all in as she climbed out of the car. “Wow. Carreen must really like Christmas.”
Rhett nodded. “It’s her favorite holiday. Mom always did things up when we were kids. We didn’t have a lot of money but she’d put money away starting in March. Even though there were four of us, we each got more than we deserved. Carreen’s the same with her kids. Loves ‘em to death and spoils ‘em crazy.”
When they got to the front door, Rhett slipped a key into the lock.
“If she’s resting, I don’t want to disturb her. The chemo’s been rough but the doctor says her chances are really good. We’re staying positive.”
They walked in and he closed the door quietly.
“Rhett? Is that you?”
“Yeah, Carreen. I’ve got Cassie with me.”
They entered the den. Carreen Gorman reclined in a La-Z-Boy rocker, a plaid throw over her lap. She had the same gray eyes as her brother. Her face was thin and her complexion pale. She wore a bandanna tied around her head. Cassie supposed by now Carreen had lost all her hair.
Rhett bent and kissed his sister’s cheek. “Brought you some company if you feel up to it. This is Cassie Carroll, my new assistant. The one I told you about.”
Carreen held out a hand. Cassie took it gently. “I’m so happy to meet you, Carreen. I want you to know I’m just a temp. When you’re strong enough, Rhett wants you back. I promise not to mess things up too much until then.”
Carreen smiled wanly. “Anyone who can put up with Rhett for more than two days in a row is good in my book.” She looked at her little brother. “Actually, he’s pretty easy-going and almost always does what you tell him to do. If he doesn’t cooperate, let me know. I have a few tricks that make him toe the line.”
“I think we’ve come to an understanding,” Rhett informed her. “Cassie will do most of the work and I’ll take all of the credit.”
They laughed and Cassie saw the strong bond reflected in the telling look between the two siblings.
“Rhett, could you do me a favor?”
“Anything, Sis. Other than get you a spread in next month’s Playboy. I don’t think Bob would approve of that.”
Carreen sighed. “You couldn’t have landed me one six months ago when I had hair, Rhett. I’ve always been too flat and too bony.”
�
��What do you need?”
“I haven’t been hungry in ages but I was thinking about orange sherbet right when you came. That sounds like it would taste so good. Or maybe rainbow.”
Rhett pulled out his keys. “I’m on it.” He looked at Cassie. “Would you like to keep Carreen company while I’m gone?”
Cassie looked at Carreen. “Do you mind?”
“I’d like that. It’ll be nice to talk about adult things other than my treatments. Or spelling words. I swear if I have to call out one more spelling list this week, I’ll go mad.”
“I’m a great speller so we can put those lists aside.” Cassie glanced at Rhett. “Go do the sherbet run, Corrigan, and don’t take all day.”
He shrugged. “See? She’s as bossy as you or Mom. Maybe worse.”
“Then you won’t be out of shape by the time I come back,” Carreen retorted.
Rhett asked Cassie, “Do you want anything?”
“Surprise me.”
He waved and left the women alone.
Cassie looked at the tray table filled with multiple pill bottles, magazines, and a glass. “I see your water’s almost empty. Can I get you more to drink?”
“No, I’m fine. I just wanted some alone time with you. I thought if I sent Rhett on an errand, it would make things easier.”
“I see,” she said, though Cassie had no idea why Carreen Gorman would want to talk to her alone.
“Rhett tells me you totaled his car.”
She grimaced. “I guess that’s the first thing he said about me?”
Carreen shook her head. “No, he actually told me he’d hired an assistant that was more organized than I am.”
“I doubt—”
“Take that as a compliment, Cassie. Rhett’s not easily impressed. For him to
tell me that speaks volumes.” Carreen grinned. “Then he told me about the car.” She laughed weakly. “I wish I could’ve been there.”
Cassie groaned. “It was probably the worst and best day of my life. To have creamed the car of the biggest star on the planet and have it burst into flames was not my finest moment. Especially when I was on the way to a job interview and I looked a hot mess. Fortunately, it turned out well. Rhett offered me work instead and then my roommate and I moved into his gatehouse, too. I can’t tell you what a difference that has made in my life. As if I’d died and gone to heaven.”
