Impossible Glamour (21 page)

Sophia flashed me a cockeyed look and pressed the phone to her ear.

Warmth flushed my cheeks. Nope, definitely not copping to any sort of action with Webber. Sophia cooed into the phone, speaking for Daddy and setting up a lunch meeting for herself with Worldwide’s President of Production. She was such a Legend.

“So, doll, what’s this I hear about all this new action?”

I coughed. “Action, Daddy?”

“Dean Talbot mentioned that you were considering a different residency. Maybe not surgery?” He tilted his head and looked over the top edge of his glasses. “I thought you loved surgery? Wanted it since undergrad.”

“I do. I mean, I did…I…” How to answer these questions without sending Daddy’s heart rate shooting toward the moon? “I’m not sure anymore.”

“Squeamish?”

“Exactly.” Not of blood or guts or knives but of one doctor who made me feel like a giant pile of dog doo.

“And what about Webber?”

“Webber?” My voice rose two octaves and I cleared my throat.

“Isn’t his mom in the hospital too?”

“Oh, right. Yeah, I did know that.” I crossed my arms over my chest and sat on the side of Daddy’s bed. “I guess she has Alzheimer’s, right?”

“Damn sad,” Daddy said. He set the TV remote on the bed. “She was a great lady. One of the best character actors I ever knew.”

“Webber’s mom was a character actress?”

“Yep. And he could have been better than her from what I hear.”

“Webber?” I tilted my head. “The same Webber Connor that is your agent was an actor?”

“Exactly right, babe. Left it all. Stopped the whole show when his mom got sick. Started in the mailroom at CTA. Wanted the steady work with benefits. Knew one day he’d be taking care of his mom. One of the reasons I gave him a shot. He may be young, but he’s dedicated and sincere”—Daddy looked over the rim of his glasses at me—“and doll, you have to know after watching me and Rhett and Sophia in this biz, a lot of people populating the Industry aren’t long on dedication or sincerity.”

“Never would have guessed that about Webber.”

“He’s got some depth. For an agent.” Daddy lifted the remote and pointed it toward the giant TV screen. “Wouldn’t want one in the family, but he’s good to have around. So what’s going on with Webber’s mom?”

“Guess she punched her nurse? Knocked loose a tooth.”

“What the hell? That woman had a backbone of steel but never knew her to get violent. Damn, that disease is the worst.”

“I think maybe they’re releasing her today.”

His gaze met mine. “I’m surprised you know all this.”

“We talked the other night after we were with you. Remember, you told me to get some dinner with Webber.”

“Riiiight.” Daddy tapped his finger against the remote. “You plan on seeing him again?”

“Who? Webber?” I scrunched my eyebrows tight. “Daddy, are you kidding? Webber is Webber. He’s like a kid brother that hangs around. He’s your agent. And Rhett and Trick’s agent. Why would I see Webber again”—I lifted my shoulder—“except, you know, if he came by to see you or there was a family thing he was invited to, or—”

Carlyle, daddy’s nurse, walked into the room. “Mr. Legend, it’s time.”

Saved. I wasn’t much of an actor, and from the look on Daddy’s face he was getting a little bit suspicious of my going on and on and on about Webber not being important in my life.

“Bye, Daddy.” I bent forward and planted a kiss on his now-smooth cheek since Carlyle had shaved him. Daddy smelled fresh like soap and clean sheets. “I know you must be much happier here at home.”

“Oh yeah, doll. Nothing like sleeping in your own bed.” He squeezed my arm. “Plus now it really feels like home with your mama sleeping in it too.”

What the hell? I froze a smile onto my features. I couldn’t even begin to understand what that was about. Their relationship was too much for me to process. I promised to stop by tomorrow, and Daddy told me to concentrate on my rotation. Ha! I wasn’t even sure I had a rotation to attend on Monday.

I rounded the corner and trotted down the stairs, slipping my phone from my pocket. Hmm, nearly eight and no Webber? Maybe his mom got released.

“What the hell is going on?” Sophia stood at the bottom of the stairs, hip cocked with one hand on it in the familiar
I’m the bossy twin and I’m going to force you to tell me what I want to know
stance. She’d presented me with that body language since we were four years old when I’d attempted an appendectomy on her Miss Hollywood Barbie.

I brushed past her. “Sophia, please, some of us have things to do other than our hair.”

“Obviously, by the looks of that mess on your head.”

My hands flew to my ponytail bun. Not my best look, but I’d slept with a man last night and showered, gotten ready, and gotten my ass to the hospital. What had Sophia accomplished?

She leaned forward. “I want to know what is going on with you and Webber,” she hissed.

“Nothing is going on.”

“Liar,” she singsonged. “I know for a fact Daddy told you to go to dinner with him, and then you didn’t come home last night.”

Heat flamed my face. “How? What—”

“Trick and I were at the hospital just after you and then I had to go by the town house for a jacket I wanted. You and Drummond were both missing.”

“I…I got home later.”

“Another lie, because Trick and I stayed there.”

“At my house?”

“Technically my house too, until the wedding. You never came home, so what exactly is going on?”

“Nothing.” That I was telling my sister about. She’d love to have this bit of gossip to hang over my head or tell Mama or Daddy or Rhett or Amanda or Sterling for no other reason than to embarrass me.

“Whatever is going on, I’d end it, because if Daddy finds out—”

“What? I’m a grown woman, what can he do?”

“Fire Webber.”

My blood chilled. “What? Why?”

“Why?” Her brows knitted and she cocked her head to the side. “Seriously? Because you’re his precious little brainiac, that’s why. He doesn’t want you slumming with an agent. You’re supposed to become a Nobel laureate prizewinner or whatever the hell it is. You are expected to marry up. How do you not know these things? You’re smart—don’t you know that Daddy has expectations of us all?”

My heart beat a frantic rhythm in my chest. “He’d fire Webber?”

“In a heartbeat. And probably kill anyone else for even looking at you sideways. Don’t you get it? You are not to settle for anyone in the Industry, you are going to be the Legend that proves we all have brains.”

“Whatever.” I slid past my sister, but an uncomfortable feeling churned in my belly.

“Okay, don’t listen to me,” Sophia called. “Just saying, if this gets out, it won’t be good for anyone and especially not for Webber’s career.”

Webber

“I’m out,” I said and threw my suit jacket over my arm. What a fucking day. I’d been chasing my schedule since I walked in the door, plus I’d slid in an afternoon break to take Mom home and get her settled. “I need to make a couple of personal calls in the car, then we’ll roll calls.”

I hadn’t checked in with Ellen. Not a call I would do in the office because Dick Munch was privy to all my calls. That I was seeing Ellen Legend wasn’t a rumor I wanted circulating through the halls of CTA. Pretty sure that Steve would slice and dice Big Boy if he knew what was going on between me and his little girl.

“You heading to L’Ermitage now?”

I stopped and spun on my heels. “What the fuck is at L’Ermitage tonight?”

“Webber, dude, don’t you check your schedule? I put it in our shared calendar, I e-mail you updates, I text—”

I held up my hand. “Okay, whatever, I get it. You’re awesome at CYA. Just tell me what the hell is on my calendar tonight, because I have some personal plans.”

“Selena. L’Ermitage. Eight p.m.”

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath.

“She wanted a Friday night so your schedule was free on Saturday.”

“Cancel.”

“Dude, you
cannot
cancel. You’ve rescheduled this like three times. The partner vote is next week. What the hell?”

I hated it when Dick Munch sounded just like me.

“Fine,” I said. “Call her assistant and leak it about my mom.”

Dick Munch’s eyes widened. “Dude, really?” He lowered his voice and leaned toward me. “I mean, Selena might be a man-eater but I hear the meal itself isn’t half bad.”

I rolled my gaze toward the ceiling. “This isn’t about Selena. This is about something…personal.”

“Okay, right. The guy who eats, sleeps, and lives his whole life for agenting has something personal to deal with.”

“Uh, my mom?”

“Oh, so you’re serious? This really is about your mom.”

“Fuck no,” I said. “You idiot. I’m using my mom as an excuse, which I absolutely do not want to do, but I have something personal that I need to take care of. Tell Selena’s assistant about Mom and how this drink at L’Ermitage is not an overnight.” I backed away from Dick Munch and toward the elevator. “Do it now.”

He saluted and turned back to his computer and phone. I hopped on the elevator and slipped my phone from my pocket. Seven thirty-eight. No messages from Ellen; no surprise there. Damn, I needed to pull my life together if I was going to be able to keep Ellen, and I wanted to. I really, really wanted to. What a new fucking feeling for me, to actually care if a woman other than mom was happy or not.

I could text, but I wanted to hear her voice. I pressed her number. Straight to voice mail. Ouch! Was she pissed that I hadn’t called?

“Hey, babe. I have a work thing for a couple of hours. Hope the invite is still good. Planning on bringing Agnes and heading to your pad around ten if that works for you. Let me know.”

Damn. Had I already messed up with Ellen?

*

“Webber, I’m so sorry to hear about your mama.” Selena reached out and pulled me into a hug. Her hard softball-boobies pressed against my chest.

“Thank you.” The bigger the secret, the faster it traveled in Hollywood.

“I ordered you a drink.” She ran her hands over her hips. The black dress could put her at a cocktail party, a premiere, or a gentleman’s club. Nothing left to the imagination. “Whiskey neat.” She sipped her wine. “I know you like things neat.” She lifted an eyebrow. The bar at L’Ermitage was quiet and the lights dim. She leaned toward me and pressed her hand to my thigh. “You know what I do when there is stress in my life?” Her lips were bright red and close to my ear.

“Tell me.” I grabbed a handful of hot wasabi peas from the bowl on the table.

“Fuck.”

I leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs. “That’s a good one.” I tossed a wasabi pea into my mouth. “You know what works for me?”

The hand traveled farther up my thigh.

“Running,” I said. “I love to run when I’m stressed out. Really takes the edge off.”

“It’s your heart rate, your sweat, the endorphins that are released with the physical exercise.”

With each word, her breasts heaved against her dress. Damn. Most men would have swept her into their arms and shuffled her up to a room by now. She was randy as hell and ready to go. And here I sat, trying to find the best way to extricate myself from this woman without losing my chance at becoming partner.

“Endorphins are pretty amazing.”

“Let me help take your mind off your mother,” Selena said. “I keep a room here, just upstairs.”

I leaned forward and took a sip of my drink. Right-o. Not what I had on the agenda for tonight. But how to get out of this?

“Selena, I can’t. Tonight just won’t work for me. I have to make certain Mom is good.”

She stiffened and the hot look in her eye shifted. “Webber, you’ve been putting me off for weeks. Believe me when I tell you that I do not chase men.”

“Yowza! Selena, I know.” My eyes traveled over her. “You are a smokin’ hot woman. I get it. But right now, this time in my life, just isn’t the right time for me to get involved with anyone.”

Her lips pressed tight. “Does that include Ellen Legend?”

My heart bounced against my ribs. What. The. Fuck. That thing about secrets… But how would—

“Because from what I hear about Steve, if you were to get involved with that daughter? You might as well forget about keeping Steve as a client.”

An oily feeling slithered through my gut.

“And if you lose Steve, most likely you lose Rhett and Dillon and Trick too. That’s the highest-paying portion of your list, isn’t it?”

I pulled at the knot of my tie. Why did Selena think I was involved with Ellen? How would she know?

“Lose your list, lose your job, lose all that in-house care for your mom.”

Those big brown eyes didn’t look so lovely anymore. Instead, they were cold like a viper that was ready to strike. Damn. I didn’t do well with this kind of conflict. Sure, I’d fight for a client and what they needed in their contract, but when it came to this, what Selena was shoveling? She was a partner at CTA, and right now with one call to Steve and El Jeffe she could pretty much sink my career.

“Ellen and I are friends.” I shrugged my shoulder. “How can we not be? I’m practically part of the family. Around all the time. Then when Steve-o got sick, well… We’ve seen a lot of each other lately.”

Selena sipped her wine. “Really? Sleepover buddies?”

My stomach churned. This was just too weird. Was she watching my place? Had my office bugged? How could she even know who was at my house? I couldn’t get into this, not here and not now. I glanced around the bar. A well-heeled crowd of heavy hitters had trickled into the bar.

“Thanks for the drink,” I said.

She didn’t stand. She was ice-cold now.

“Don’t forget, Webber, the partnership vote is next week. I expect to get some time alone with you before then.”

I knew what that meant. Giddyup, cowboy, or sayonara, sucker. I decided. Either go hip-deep with Selena or kiss my partnership good-bye. Well, hells bells. How could I do the dirty with Miss S when my heart was held by Ellen? I couldn’t. But I wasn’t about to have that conversation with Selena here and now. I had all weekend plus two days to sort out just exactly what the hell I was going to do.