“I got twenty-five packs,” Cori says to her, and her face almost drops. How much honey mustard does one person need? Kellie looks from Cori to me with a serious look on her face.
“You are shit out of luck if you think I’m sharing.” She grabs the bag with the sauce and opens it, looking inside.
“She doesn’t mess around when it comes to Chick-fil-A.” Cori tries to hide a smile. “Also, I didn’t know if you were a grilled chicken or a regular deep fried one.”
“If you say grilled …” Kellie says. I look over at her, and she has one sauce open and is dipping a chicken bite. “We should end this right now.”
Shaking my head, I laugh. “I’m good with whatever.” Pulling out a chair, I sit down while I watch Kellie dip another piece of chicken in the sauce. Cori sets a wrapped sandwich in front of me with waffle fries. “I don’t want any fries.”
“Ugh,” Kellie says, shaking her head. “You’re missing out, Brian.” I unwrap my chicken and see that I got the grilled one, and I don’t mind. I eat it without anything. Kellie doesn’t talk; she just eats and sounds almost as if she’s humming. “What time is it?”
“You have time for a one-hour nap, and then I have someone coming to do your hair and makeup,” Cori says, and Kellie nods. I don’t say anything and neither do the girls. Kellie gets up, grabbing a water bottle. Opening it, she drains half of it.
“That was the best meal I’ve ever had in my life,” Kellie says, and Cori laughs, looking at her.
“You’ve had meals at Michelin-starred restaurants, and you pick Chick-fil-A?” She gathers the garbage, cleaning up the table.
“I’m just a simple country girl at heart.” She grabs her own garbage and tosses it in the bag as she gets up. “Now it’s time for me to take a nap. Starfish style.”
Cori and I watch her walk back inside, and I look at Cori. “Where is this dinner again? What should my wardrobe be?”
“Bad and Boujee,” she says, and I grab my phone. “Are you googling Bad and Boujee?”
“Pretty much.” Answering her honestly, I say, “Did you know it’s also a slang word and means high class ballin’?” I shake my head. “What time do I need to be ready?”
“Reservations are at eight.” She walks inside, and I get up and follow her. “We are leaving here at seven thirty.”
“Wait, isn’t it a date?” I ask her, confused, and she nods her head. “Then why isn’t he picking her up?”
Cori laughs, tossing the stuff in the garbage. “Brian, this is Hollywood. The only time he picks her up is if it’s for an award show or they are in the same house.”
“Good to know,” I tell her, and she grabs her bag and walks out of the cottage, slamming the door behind her. “I guess chivalry is dead in Hollywood,” I say to myself, going into my own room and getting ready for the spectacle to come.
Chapter Nine
Kellie
I close my eyes while the glam squad adds the finishing touches to my makeup. We are in my private bathroom while she does my face; the hair lady just left. When the woman stands away from me, I open my eyes and see what she’s done. She has done more of a smoky eye than I usually do, making my green eyes pop. My long blond hair is curled perfectly. “Thank you so much.” I get off the chair and step into the bedroom and find Cori sitting on the bed with my outfit laid out next to her. She gets up, and I see she is wearing a long-sleeved black one-piece dress with a thin gold belt around her waist.
“I have two outfits,” she says, “but I like the pants better.” I look at the leather skirt combo, and I agree with her. Pants will be more comfy. Nodding, I grab the silk pantsuit and step into it, pulling it up over my hips and putting my hands through the arm holes. It goes up to my neck in the front, but once you turn around, my whole back is open. I tie the gold belt around the waist and then walk to the long mirror, taking in my whole look. The pants are tight around the ankle, so I grab my black shoes with the strap across the toes and tie around the ankle. “You need to add bracelets and stuff.” I nod at her, going to the choices that she put on the dresser. I grab the five gold bangles and also the matching watch. “Perfect.”
“Yeah, I’m ready to go,” I tell her, grabbing my Yves Saint Laurent black purse in my hand and walking into the living room. Cori walks over to Brian’s door and knocks.
“We are ready when you are.” She looks at me. “You forgot earrings,” she says. My hand goes to my ear, and I realize she’s right. “I’ll get the diamond ones.” She goes back into the room to get my diamond earrings when Brian’s door opens, and he steps out. I’m not sure I’m ready for it, and I just stand here. He walks out in black dress pants that mold to him, his hand fastening the cuff at his wrist of the deep purple dress shirt buttoned up to the middle of his chest. The collar is open, showing you the smooth skin underneath, and his hair is perfectly done. I may be going to dinner with the hottest actor in Hollywood tonight, but he’s fifty times better looking.
“Here,” Cori says, coming out of the room and then stopping in her tracks. “Jesus Christ,” she hisses, “how the hell are you still single?”
Brian looks over at us and laughs. “I take it this is Bad and Boujee enough?”
“Oh, yeah,” Cori says, and I watch her eyes as she gives him another once-over.
“Okay, are you done?” I snap. “Is the car here?” I look at my watch and see that it’s right on time.
“Yes.” She finally snaps out of her gawking and turns to me. “Let’s go.”
Brian walks over to the patio, making sure the door is closed. “I’m going to double check your bedroom.” He walks into my bedroom, and I look over at Cori, who’s watching his every move.
“I can’t get over how hot he is,” she says, looking at me, and I glare at her. “What?” She holds out her hands. “I’m allowed to look at your man.”
“He’s not mine.” I say the words that taste like sand in my mouth, and I watch him walk back out. “Are we good?”
“Yeah,” he says and walks to the door, opening it and waiting for us to walk out and then closing it behind us. We get in the golf cart, and he drives us to the front entrance where the car is waiting. We walk through the marble lobby and out the front door to the black SUV.
“Where is the driver?” I ask Cori, and she looks at me and then at Brian.
“I just assumed Brian would drive us.” I look at Brian who just nods and holds out his hand for the keys that Cori hands to him. He walks to the car and opens the back door for me. “I’m not sitting in the back. That’s silly.”
“Get in, princess.” His voice comes out gruff, and Cori pushes me, so I get into the back. He waits for Cori to get in and then slams the door.
“I didn’t mean for it to seem like he’s our chauffeur,” she whispers to me, and I watch him walk around the car and get in the front seat.
I lean in now. “Put your belt on, Kellie,” he says, starting the car.
“Brian,” I whisper, and he adjusts his rearview mirror, “let me sit in the front.” I wait for him to answer, and he doesn’t. He just takes off, following the directions to the restaurant, so I sit back in the seat, looking out the window.
“It won’t happen again,” Cori says from beside me, shaking her head. “I’m sorry.” I don’t answer her as I watch the scenery. When we pull up to the restaurant, I see that the paparazzi is already camped out. Brian turns the car off, then twists to look at us in the back.
“Don’t get out of the car until I open your door.” He gives the orders. “I’ll walk on the right-hand side to block the guys from stepping in front of you.” I nod at him, and the flashes are already going off. He gets out of the SUV and tosses the keys to the valet guy coming over, then opens the door. “Cori, come out first,” he says, holding out his hand. She climbs over me, grabbing his hand and stepping down on the foot step to the sidewalk. I hear my name being called now and stop for second, not sure I want to get out.
“Kellie.” I hear my name being call
ed, but it’s Brian as he holds his hand out to me. I grab it, stepping down like Cori except, with Cori, he let her walk away. With me, he puts his hand around my waist, pulling me close to him, and I do the worst thing I could do. I inhale his smell. He slams the door to the SUV and then walks with me to the front door that is being held open by Cori. He shields me, and I’ve never felt safer.
When we walk in, his hands fly away from me. I still feel them on me, though, as Cori guides me to a table in the corner. I follow her, and Brian follows both of us. She stops at a table for four, and the girl gets up, coming to Cori. With dark brown hair tied on top of her head in a ponytail, she wears tight black leather pants, leaving little to the imagination, and a black lace long-sleeved V-neck shirt, totally see-through with a black silk bra under it. “Cori.” She comes closer, and I see her eyes are bright blue, her cheekbones high, and her lips are one step away from exploding. Kissing Cori on both cheeks, she looks over at me and smiles, and then looks behind me. I see it happen before my eyes, the look from friendly to viper. If you’ve been around as long as I have in Hollywood, you get to know the looks.
“Kellie,” she says, oozing with fakeness, “I’m Christina. I’m so happy we could set this up.” She air-kisses both my cheeks. Then she turns and walks to the other secluded table set for two in the corner. I didn’t look around the restaurant before, but it’s all beige with red roses on each table. “Henry,” she says to the man who is sitting at the table going through his phone. He looks up, and his blue eyes spot me. His lips curl up into a smile, and he gets up and comes to me. He’s wearing black dress pants and a white button-down dress shirt with his first four buttons open and the hair underneath coming out. His thick goatee tickles my cheek when he finally leans in and inhales me while saying my name.
“Kellie, you look lovely,” he whispers in my ear and then holds out his hand to me. I grab it and walk to the lone table set up in the corner. He holds out the chair for me, and I sit down, facing the table where Brian is now being hugged and kissed by Christina, who takes a little bit too long kissing his cheek. She points at the table, and I have to stop looking when Henry talks to me.
“So this is nice, right?” he says, looking at me. I look at him, though my attention is on the next table.
“Thank you so much for inviting me,” I tell him with a smile as the waitress approaches to introduce herself.
“Good evening,” she starts, and I watch her. She is wearing black pants with a white button-down shirt and a black tie. A white apron is around her waist. “My name is Felicia, and I’ll be your waitress tonight. Before I start you guys off with something to drink, let me tell you about our specials tonight.” I look at her and listen to the special of the night, but my peripheral vision is on the table where Christina is pouring herself and Cori some wine, throwing her head back and laughing. Brian is facing our table with Cori and Christina on either side of him.
“Thank you.” I hear Henry say and look back at him smiling. He waits for the waitress to go away and then leans back to grab his glass of whiskey or bourbon. “Do you want some wine? I ordered when we got here,” he says, taking the wine and pouring me a glass. “I heard you just started a tour.”
I nod, picking up the glass of water and taking a drink. “Yeah, I’m excited. I think they said something about thirty cities.”
“That must be hard not to wake up in the same place from one day to the next.”
“It’s a bit weird, but it’s a dream come true,” I tell him, and then my eyes fall to the sound of high-pitched laughter coming from the other table. I look and see that Christina has her head thrown back and her hand on Brian’s arm. It looks like her chair has moved closer to him.
“How long have you been singing?” Henry asks, and I force myself to look at him and pay attention to him.
“From what my parents said, I’ve been singing longer than I’ve been talking.” The waitress interrupts us, bringing us soup. “I didn’t order this.”
“The chef has taken it upon himself to send out a selection of dishes,” she says, and I just nod. “The chef special tonight is cream of squash and roasted red pepper,” she says, and I smile at her, thanking her. Grabbing the napkin and placing it on my lap, I pick up my spoon and scoop up a bit. I blow on it to cool it, and then the flavor just takes over.
“So how long have you been acting?” I ask him between spoonfuls of the soup.
“I got lucky on my first day in town,” he says, taking his napkin and wiping his mouth when he answers me. “I ran over Steven Spielberg’s foot with my luggage.”
Now it’s my turn to throw my head back and laugh. “No way.”
He smiles at me, and the smile would melt anyone’s panties except mine. “Yeah. I said I was sorry, he looked me up and down, and the next thing I know, I have an audition in the morning.”
“That’s a great story,” I tell him, and for the rest of the night, we get to know each other. He gets up at one point, excusing himself to the bathroom. I look up at the table and see that Christina is almost in Brian’s lap; her chair has definitely moved. When I see that he also gets up and goes to the bathroom, I put my napkin on the table and walk over to Cori.
“Hey.” She smiles at me, and I can see that it’s a forced smile. “I’m a little beat.”
She just nods her head. “Sure thing. I’ll tell Brian as soon as he gets back.”
“Oh, that is too bad,” Christina says, her eyes a bit glazed over. I see that the bottle of wine is turned upside down in the bucket in the middle of the table.
Henry comes back out followed by Brian who sees me standing by the table. His eyes look right to left. “Is everything okay?” Henry asks when he stops next to me, his hand going to my lower back.
“Yes.” I smile at him. “I’m just a bit tired.”
“Are you ready to go?” Brian asks, and when Cori nods, he raises his hand to gesture for the waitress. “Can I have my car brought around?” He smiles at her, and she just melts, making me roll my eyes.
“Why don’t we give you guys a moment to say goodbye?” Christina says, standing and going over to Brian and holding his arm. “And we will meet you at the front door.” She wraps her hand around his arm, and he turns to walk to the front door.
“I really hope we can do this again.” Henry looks at me and leans in to kiss my cheek. “Would it be okay if I got your number?”
“Yes, of course,” I say to him while we walk out. “I’ll have Cori give it to Christina.” He holds my arm as we walk out the door, and then he bends to kiss me. I turn my head at the right moment, and he gets my cheek, and the paparazzi captures it all. I turn to walk to the SUV where Brian stands with the door open. I step in, and he closes the door right after me.
“That was hands down the most uncomfortable date I’ve ever been on,” Cori says, and Brian gets in the car. He starts the car, then honks his horn, telling the paparazzi he is going to leave, and then pulls away.
“I want double pay,” Brian says from the front of the car. “Tomorrow, I’m calling Hunter, and I want to be paid double for tonight.” I look into the front and see his eyes in the rearview mirror watching me while Cori laughs.
“I usually don’t agree with him, but he honestly deserves it.” She tries to hide her laughter.
“No more fucking dates,” Brian hisses from the front, and I look at him, not sure what is going on, and then look at Cori.
“She was trying to give him a hand job at the table. I thought he was going to explode.” She covers her mouth with her hand, and he just glares at her.
“What?” I shriek. “Did you let her take your dick out?”
“Are you insane?” Brian now says, and we pull up to the hotel. He parks the car, tossing the keys to Cori, and doesn’t say anything. He almost charges into the lobby and then out the back to the golf cart. No one says anything while he takes us to the cottage. We pull up, and I walk to the door.
“See you tomorrow,” Cori says, going t
o her door. I open our door and step in, tossing the key on the table in the middle of the living room and tossing my purse on the sofa. I sit down, putting one foot up on the table to untie my shoe at the ankle.
“So let me get this straight,” I say while Brian walks over to the fridge and grabs a water bottle to drink. “You want me to pay you double for getting a hand job from a girl?”
“I want you to pay me double for putting up with that bullshit and not telling her to fuck off and ruining your date.”
“Don’t pretend you didn’t like the attention.” I put my other foot up on the table, repeating the action. “You could have walked away.”
“I was busy watching to make sure you were okay,” he says. I look up at him.
“Still didn’t look like you were that upset about it,” I tell him, bending to pick up my shoes and walking toward my room.
“What’s the matter, princess?” I stop and turn around at the way he says the name. “Pissed he didn’t invite you back to his house?”
“Yeah.” I shake my head. “I really wanted to fuck his brains out.”
“Not too late,” he says. “I can always sneak you into his house. God knows, it wouldn’t be my first time.” I don’t answer him, knowing it’s a low blow. If only he knew that I never actually slept with Steven. “Let me know if you change your mind.”
He walks away from me and slams his bedroom door, leaving me staring at the closed door and cursing him all the way to hell.
Chapter Ten
Brian
I slam the door behind me, then look up at the ceiling. I listen for a second, getting my head together, and then I hear her door slam. I know I should walk into my room and wait for tomorrow, but I can’t, so I turn around and storm out of my room to her door and knock. Not lightly like a normal knock but I pound on it. I don’t know what I’m expecting, but it isn’t the minx who swings open that door looking at me with anger and rage. It’s fucking hot, and her hair is now everywhere.
Hollywood Princess Page 6
