Rampage (A Night Fire Novel Book 4) (7 page)

“Hello.”

“Hello gorgeous.”

“Hey you made it through the nightmare.”

“Yeah.” he chuckled.

I pressed the button.

“Come on in.”

My mobile rang, my mother. Here we go. Goose had gotten up to look out the window, the absolute pandemonium that had erupted because Evan had turned up.

“Can you let him in, I need somewhere more quiet.”

“Sure.”

I wandered into the kitchen, hoping that it might be more quiet than the entry.

“Hey ma.”

“Hello darling. Dinner tonight, bring him along.”

“Sure.”

“You know the rules.”

“Yes.” I groan. “No takeaway.”

It had been this way for years yet she seemed to think that she needed to constantly remind me.

“There are fans outside our gates.”

“You're kidding?”

“Sadly no.”

“You should see the ones here.”

“Have you upped your security?”

“Yeah. The place is crawling with them now. The fan girls are a little intense.”

My mother chuckled.

“Fan girls always are. I myself got a little crazy over John Lennon.”

As I surveyed my back yard through the kitchen window, I could see how crazy fans could get. Two guards who had been roaming the back perimeter had caught her seconds after she dropped to the ground. The back fence was pretty high and I would have thought that it would be a deterrent but clearly not.

It also didn't matter that to get to my back fence, she would have had to trespass through the neighbors yard as well. How she got past his two nasty pooches I'll never know. I didn't know the neighbors, I knew he was a musician of some sort. He was rarely home, I'd seen a woman on a few occasions. If fan girl made her way past the frothing pooches and the security then she was clearly good at sneaking.

A head appeared above the fence line, one of the guards from the neighbors house. He was talking to my guards, I wondered if they had warned the surrounding properties to be extra vigilant.

I could hear Evan walking up the steps, a feint murmur of a conversation.

“I have to go ma, Evan's here.”

“Okay, see you at six.”

I walked the entry, the scene before me was a little strange. My brother being begrudgingly nice, sizing up his new brother-in-law. And his friend. Okay, so Jaxon clearly is smitten. Or horny. One of the two.

“Mum said dinner's at six.”

He nodded and then opened the door.

“I'll drop Jaxon off at Seph's.” he kissed me on the temple. “See you later.”

Jaxon gave me a smirk and then took his bags and followed Goose out of my house.

“Yeah, see ya.”

The second the door was shut I was swept up into Evan's arms being swung around. I laughed and leaned down to kiss him.

“Did ya miss me?”

“Of course.”

“Did you want a tour?”

Evan shook his head, his eyes lowered over my shirt to the tight top that revealed my cleavage. He bit his lip with a smirk. Without a word, I took his hand and gave him a tour of my bedroom.

Chapter Ten

When I woke an hour later sprawled out across my bed I thought that I had finally found perfection in my life. Except that I hadn't discussed the possibility of this new role with Evan. I wondered how that would go down. Probably not too well.

I hedged on discussing with him, not wanting to burst the blissful bubble I had found myself in. As I rolled over, the clock blared at me, almost like it was telling me to get up and make the dish for tonight. I knew what my mother required of me, a casserole. And now that we had two extra guests, I would have to make a larger serve. Excellent.

Leaving Evan to his post sex slumber I dressed and made my way to the kitchen, fetching everything that was required.

I was up to my eyeballs in meat when my mobile rang, Devlin. Damn it! Now I knew I should have spoken to Evan about the role, now Devlin would be ringing about it and would want an answer. With a big sigh I cleaned my hands and answered the call, this wasn't going to be fun.

“Hello.”

“Hello Harmony. I have the update for you.”

“Oh.”

“It is confirmed, you have been officially named as the lead contender for the role opposite Heath Miller.”

“Okay.”

Not good. He was one of Hollywood's leading men and an all-round hottie. This was not going to wash well with my new husband, I knew it.

“So when I say that you have been named as the lead contender Harmony it's against two other women who aren't really suited to the role. In fact one of them is mid production, the movie cuts into the time for this one. Basically what I am saying is that this role is yours.”

“Oh.”

I don't think I had any other words, I was shocked.

“So, I've had the script couriered to you, it should be there before dark. It's all vampires and that sort of shit, apparently they like your new hairdo and it sits well with the character's style.”

I said nothing, vampires. Huh.

“I'm sure you will give it a good going over tonight, but the basic plot is that you're the vampire that chases after the hunky guy who is from the wrong side of the tracks, you know all that bad boy shit. But you've been betrothed to some son of an important family and a war breaks out, blah blah blah.”

I could imagine him waving his hand around dismissively as he sat in his overpriced, over the top office.

“Have you had a chance to speak with hubby about the scene?”

“No.”

He made a disgruntled noise.

“Well Harmony, this isn't the time to be delaying on this, the studio wants an answer today. Like I said, if you are serious about this versatility nonsense then don't pass this up.”

I could hear noises from the stairs, Evan was probably searching for me.

“Okay, I'll call you back.”

“Within the hour please Harmony.”

“Sure.”

I hung up the phone and saw Evan standing at the archway, watching me with a gorgeous grin.

“You weren't in bed when I woke.”

“I had to get dinner done.”

My fingers fumbled as I put the phone down, now finding that I was getting more and more anxious. Nervous. Worried. I began to continue with the dinner, trying to distract myself from the important issue, which was stupid, I knew I had to deal with it, I knew I had to give Devlin my answer within the hour.

“Harmony, what's wrong?”

“I've been offered a role, an action movie.. vampires or some shit.” I shrugged.

“That is awesome, it's what you want right?”

“Yeah, sort of.”

He frowned, the grin was still there but a little subdued.

“So what's wrong?”

“There's a love scene.”

Instantly the happiness dropped from his face.

“The management says it's pretty full on, but it's only one scene, few minutes long though.”

He said nothing which wasn't good, I knew it.

“The male lead is Heath Miller.”

His jaw dropped and then clamped shut, a frown joined it.

“Say something.”

“What's there to say? This is what you wanted, isn't it?”

“Everything but the scene.”

“Can you make them write it out?”

“Probably not.”

He frowned, one that I had never seen before. This wasn't going well.

“Are you going to accept the role?”

“Management says that if I'm serious about the versatility thing then I should, without hesitation.”

“So where does that leave us, me? Watching my wife fuck another man for the whole world to see?”

“Evan.” I frowned at him as I breathed out the word. “It's just kissing.”

“It's not just kissing Harmony. I don't want another man on you, touching you. How would you feel if a groupie came on to me, did the shit that you're talking about?”

I said nothing.

“Come on Harmony, tell me.” his voice grew a little angrier. “Tell me how you would feel if you had to watch another woman kissing me, putting her hands on me, pretending that she was fucking me.”

He waited patiently but got no response, I had nothing. He was right, I wouldn't want to see it, so why should I make him watch it? I could feel the sadness creep through me, I begged my mind to hold the tears back.

“You know what? Just do as you please because clearly the marriage vows mean shit to you.”

Evan turned and stalked out of the kitchen, I heard nothing until the door slammed shut, the sound of his car starting and then tearing out of the place.

As the tears finally broke free, I slid down the cabinets and sat on the cold tiled floor. I had everything and it was gone. How could I do this film with his words flying through my mind? I knew the answer easily, I couldn't.

Pain and sorrow filled me, I wanted to find Evan but he needed to cool down. An odd thought crossed my mind, I didn't even know his phone number. I couldn't call him to say how sorry I was.

With the pain of regret and the taunts of how stupid I had been over the past few days echoing through my mind, I reached for the bottle of red wine on the counter. Drown my sorrows and hope that he comes back.

“Harmony?”

The sound of my sister calling out roused my senses as I heard the door click shut.

“Evan? Hellooo?”

On went the kitchen light and Jaxon was standing at the entry door, looking down at me.

“Seph, in here.”

He picked up the empty wine bottle and dumped it in the bin as Seph entered the room.

“Harmie, what are you..” she frowned at the view of the bench, the food still as it was when Evan left.

“Did you forget what time dinner was?”

Jaxon found another bottle beside me and picked it up, putting it into the bin with the other one, not before the two exchanged glances.

“Mom was worried because you didn't turn up on time... what's going on? Where's Evan?”

“Gone.” I chuckled, another bottle appearing.

“Okay.” she sighed taking the bottle from me. “Enough of that I think.”

“Gone where?” Jaxon asked.

He sat on the floor in front of me. Maybe he was concerned that things were going wrong or maybe he was concerned that his friend was missing.

“Who would know?” I shrugged. “S'not impressed at the love scene.”

“Who could blame him?” Seph raised an eyebrow.

“What love scene?”

“Harmie's been offered a role with a love scene.”

“Oh.” he said dryly.

His speech about facades and reactions, truth and lies was ringing in my ears. I had screwed this up royally and I didn't listen to him.

“Have you accepted the role?”

I shook my head, knowing that I didn't call Devlin as he requested and ignored all of his calls.

“I want the role but not the scene.” I slurred out.

“Okay, I'll deal with this, you find Evan.”

“On it.” Jaxon stood and walked from the room with his phone in hand.

Seph huffed at the kitchen and the food on the bench, now it had gone hard and crusty. Somewhere in the haze I heard Seph muttering about the mess, I passed out.

I woke in the morning, my head pounding with yet another hangover. You would think after so many of them, I would be used to them. If only.

My bed was empty and it saddened me, I knew it was a nightmare of a situation, he hadn't taken it well at all. I wondered how other couples in Hollywood coped with love scenes.

As I yawned I rubbed my tired eyes, when they opened I saw all of Evan's stuff was still here, he had just left without bothering about any of it. I got out of the bed, the note book that was poking out rousing my interest. My head thumped as I padded across the carpet, taking the book from the bag. Pages upon pages of drawings, his tattoos, all of it amazing. Then there was the final page, on it was my name, beautiful script letters, intricate weaved pattern around the words, delicate flowers, vines and leaves.

All it did was make me cry. He wasn't here because I screwed up, big time. I should have said that I didn't want the scene, I should have told Devlin that. Even after just a few short days together he meant more to me than my career, I would give it all away for him. After all, that was the idea of running away with him.

I had blown him off with the thoughts of actually accepting the role, he would see it as me wanting to stay in LA to complete the movie and therefore I wouldn't be running away with him. It was what I had said to him, that I was coming back to deal with the mess that was the vacation, sorting it all out. He probably expected to return to Las Vegas within a few days.

“Do you remember what I said about being a forever girl, queen bee?”

Jaxon's sudden appearance scared me, making me jump. I put the book back into the bag and looked at him, wiping the tears.

“Yeah.”

“Forever girls don't let other men touch them, same for their partners. He vowed instant faithfulness to you the very second you smiled at him. To him that means everything, no touching, no kissing, regardless of whether it has meaning or not. The tough guy facade doesn't bode well with this new problem.”

“Where is he?”

“Went home.”

“Home?” I croak out barely containing the tears.

Jaxon shrugged as he leaned on the door frame. It appeared like he had slept reasonably well, though there was something about his persona that I couldn't pick. No doubt this nonsense with Evan and I was causing him some kind of grief. They seemed to be rather close, almost like brothers.

“Well, it's like his sanctuary. It is where he finds his peace away from all the shit. When his world caved yesterday where else would he go?”

“I would have preferred he stayed and talked to me.”

“Yeah he doesn't work like that. Question is, what are you going to do about it?”

He walked away without another word and in that moment I knew what I had to do. Hungover or not, I was leaving to find Evan.

Within the hour I had packed a very large bag of all of my things. Well actually, several bags. In fact the trunk of my car was rather full, as was the back seat. Jaxon gave me the address and I was on the road.

Seph and Jaxon were going to remain to empty the fridge and ensure that everything would be right for while I was gone, who knows when I was planning on coming back? I certainly didn't know.

Halfway through the journey my phone rang, Devlin.

“Hello.”

“You never rang Harmony.”

“I know and I am sorry but I'm still dealing with the aftermath.”

“Aftermath of what?”

I wriggled on the seat, trying to make the pain of sitting for too long go away. No such luck.

“He didn't take it well.”

“I see. Is it the movie plot or that scene?”

“That scene.”

“I thought it would be.”

“I can't accept it with that scene Devlin, I'm sorry but love scenes are out. I know you said to accept this new found versatility and this role but I can't go from zero to one hundred just like that and quite frankly Evan means more to me than any movie role.”

Wiping the tear away I tried to remain dignified rather than a blubbering mess.

“I thought you might say that, and to be quite honest with you Harmony we do tend to agree with you. As you know we have tried to maintain a certain level of purity with our stars and this scene would just blow it out of the water. That's not to say that we wouldn't want you to do something like this, we would just prefer that you didn't.”

Oh. Wow. Hmm...

“That's why I dealt with this problem yesterday. I told the studio that if they wanted you they had to write the scene out completely, that there would be no love scene if they wanted Harmony Ro.. sorry are you going by Roberts still?”

“No, Cooper now.”

“Excellent. He may not be of the old Hollywood but he is of reasonable moral standing. I am glad he made a stand about this scene.”