Throb (2 page)

Finally home after a fourteen-hour day that ended even worse than it started, I call Helen and ask her to have someone pick up my brand-new Mercedes from the repair shop in the morning. Three days old, and I was rear-ended while I waited for the light change, already ten minutes late for my first meeting because of yet another problem with the elevator in my building. I eventually walked down forty-two flights, thinking the morning couldn’t get any worse. Damn was I wrong. Miles’s visit came next.

I hop in the shower, allowing the steady stream of pulsating water from the shower massager to work its way into my tightly knotted shoulder muscles. I’m just letting out a deep breath, finally starting to relax, when the doorbell interrupts. “Goddamn it,” I growl, grabbing a towel and heading to the door. Somebody better be dying.

Lou, the night doorman, stands holding a package. “A courier dropped these off for you today. I missed you come in. Must have been on my bathroom break. Sorry about that, Mr. Montgomery, the bladder isn’t what it used to be.”

“No problem, Lou. Thanks for bringing it up.”

“Also, you had a visitor before you got home tonight. She wasn’t on the list of approved visitors and you didn’t answer the buzz, so I sent her away.” Lou pauses. “She wasn’t happy.”

“Did you get her name?”

“Didn’t need to. It was that actress, Tatiana Laroix.”

Perfect. I’ve tried the nice route, but she just won’t take a hint. “Thanks, Lou. You did the right thing.”

“That’s one beautiful woman, even at my age, ya can’t help but notice that one. Hope you don’t mind me saying so.”

“You’re right there. She is beautiful.”
And damn crazy too.

I change into some sweats and take a look at the package.
Mile High Productions.
Great. I can’t think of a more appropriate way to end this crappy day, reality TV.

I grab a beer, take a long draw and slip the DVD in. The first ten minutes introduces half of the women. The method is interesting enough, although the responses fall flat. The host, who I’m actually pretty impressed Miles was able to score, is a well-known name. Each girl is on screen for a minute as he plays word association with them. Great concept, predictable answers. By the sixth woman who associates the word
profound
with the lyrics of Macklemore, I’m done. Maybe tomorrow, things won’t seem so bleak.

Friday is appointment-free day. My father passed the tradition down to me, and it makes the day before the weekend something I look forward to. It’s the one-day that Helen keeps clear. No appointments, no conference calls, no lunches, no meetings. It’s my choice, all day. This week I need it more than ever. I do my morning run at the studio lot, knowing Miles is going to be shooting some promo work for
Throb.
I decide I’ll drop in unannounced and check out what’s going on.

I’m surprised to find the lot empty, so I head over to security to see what Mile High has planned for the day.

“Hey, Frank.”

Frank Mars is sitting in front of a dozen security monitors, alternating between flipping cards on his desk and studying the video feed. Same uniform, same mustache, same cigarette behind his ear—even though he quit twenty years ago. He looks a bit more seasoned, more salt than pepper in his thick mane, but he hasn’t changed all that much since I was a kid.

Frank’s been our head of security as far back as I can remember. He was also a standard in my father’s poker foursome, along with the CEO of a rival movie production company and one of the lighting grips. Every other Friday night, I could always find them in the empty studio hangar with a card table and a few cases of beer. Walking into that room, no one would ever know that two of the players were rich, powerful, Hollywood execs and the other two were average guys on their payroll.

“Cooper! Where you been hiding, kid?” Frank stands, shakes my hand, and slaps me on the back.

“Busy. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“A while? Last time you were down here Grip hadn’t even retired yet.”

“Grip retired?”

“Going on two years now.”

Two years?
The thought scares me. I would’ve guessed the last time I was here was more like three months ago. “Damn. I can’t believe it’s really been that long. You still have your Friday night games going?”

Frank pats his chest, hand over his heart. “As long as my ticker keeps going, that game will be around.”

“Grip still playing even though he’s retired?”

“Winter months. Summers, his wife drags his ass to Arizona. Their daughter lives out there now, got two grandkids too.”

“Still rotating Dad’s chair?”

“Yes, sir. No one man can fill that chair. Hey, why don’t you join us tonight? We were going to ask Ted over in finance to play, but that guy always takes my money.”

“Are you saying I won’t take your money?”

Frank laughs. “You got your father’s good looks, you didn’t get his poker playing abilities, kid.”

“Might have to take you up on it, just to kick your old ass, Frank.”

“You do that.” He smiles, the creases on the sides of his eyes deepening. “Eight o’clock?”

“Why not. Hey, do you know where Miles is? I thought he was shooting a promo here today.”

“He’s shooting on location, down at a beach in Malibu.”

Figures—any chance Miles gets to throw a girl in a skimpy bikini. “All right. Well, I’ll be back later to take your money, old man.”

“You keep telling yourself that, kid.”

It’s eight on the nose when I return to the studio lot, looking forward to sitting in on one of my father’s favorite pastimes. Frank’s setting up the card table and Ben is packing a cooler with Heineken.

“What? You think you’re rich or something? Heineken? What happened to Budweiser?” I call out, walking toward Ben with a case of Bud in tow.

“Only your old man drank that shit.” Ben Seidman, the founder and CEO of Diamond Entertainment, clasps my hand as he takes the case. Diamond Entertainment is the second largest movie studio in Hollywood—second to Montgomery Productions, of course. Ben also happens to be one of my father’s oldest friends and my godfather.

“He drank it because it’s good. Not like that imported shit you’re packing in there.”

For a few minutes the three of us catch up and reminisce about some of the old card games. I’m glad I came tonight. A night with these guys is just what I need. Good memories, cold beer, no talk about the looming union strike aging me prematurely.

I crack a Bud and clink the bottle with Ben’s before taking a sip. Budweiser tastes like crap. I’d much rather be drinking the Heineken that Ben’s drinking—or a Stella from my fridge at home—but I’11never admit it to him. Some things are just part of tradition. “Where’s Grip?”

“Couldn’t make it tonight, wife’s sister had cataract surgery, so he took her up to Seattle to see her or some shit.”

“Ted filling in?”

“Nope.” Frank grins.

“Who’s playing the fourth?”

“Her.” Frank motions to the other side of the room, where a woman is carrying a case of beer. A case of damn Stellas.

“Hey, Frank.” The woman smiles and I almost drop my beer. And it’s not just because she’s drop-dead gorgeous. I can’t believe Frank’s letting a woman play.

“Really?” I say incredulously.

Frank smiles knowingly. “Really.”

“Never thought I’d see the day.” I shake my head.

“What?” The beautiful woman directs her question at me.

“You’re a woman.” I smile, shrugging my shoulders.

“I am?” Eyes wide, feigning surprise, she looks down and playfully pats her body. “Oh my god. I am.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“So a girl can play?” She’s petite, maybe only 5’4, the top of her head barely reaching my chest, but she squares her shoulders and dares me to respond. Oddly, I feel a little twitch in my pants when she challenges me.

“I don’t know, can you?” I decide to stop backpedaling and go on the offense, wanting to see her push back more.

“I can. Can you?” She arches one brow. Damn, it’s sexy. Another twitch.

“Guess you’ll find out,” I tease.

“All right, you two,” Frank breaks in. “Kate, this is Cooper and Ben.” She shakes my hand; her skin is so smooth and soft. Long, blonde, wavy hair loosely frames her pretty face. Unlike most women around this place, it’s almost makeup-free. A hint of pink color and gloss on her lips picks up the lights above. The way it reflects and shimmers has me staring at her full lips a bit too long. It’s an effort to drag my eyes away.

“Do you work at the studio? I haven’t seen you around,” I say curiously.

Frank speaks up before Kate. “Ben, smack this kid in the head, he’s forgetting the rules already.”

I actually did completely forget. No mention of work at all. It was my father’s favorite rule. After the studio started to take off, this hangar was the only place he could really relax and forget who he was for a while. Normally I’d love the rule too, but I find myself eager for a little background on the sexy woman tugging my errant cock from its self-imposed hibernation.

Kate smiles and shrugs.

Half an hour into the card game, she tosses a straight flush down on the table, just as I’m about to reach over my three aces and sweep the pot.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Again?” I lean back and slump in my chair, defeated.

She smiles and pulls the heaping pile to her side of the table.

“Where’d you learn to play like that?” Ben asks her.

“My dad.”

“Dad’s a poker player, huh?”

“Ever hear of Freddy Monroe?” she asks casually while stacking her chips.

“Five-card Freddy? Sure. He always wore those diamond four-leaf clover cufflinks. He took the Texas Hold ’Em World Championship three times.”

“Four,” Kate corrects. Then adds sheepishly, “He’s my father. I’m a St. Patrick’s Day baby. He had the cufflinks made when I was born.”

Ben laughs and throws his hand in the air, looking at Frank. “You invited a shark to play with us?”

“I was playing solitaire one night when she was in the studio late. We played a few hands of rummy. She beat me twenty-two hands in a row. Figured I’d see if it was beginner’s luck.”

“It ain’t beginner’s luck,” Ben guffaws.

Two more hands and Ben and Frank fold again, leaving just Kate and me. My cards are shit, but I like the way she pushes back every time I raise the ante, so I just keep throwing good money after bad.

After my last raise, Kate brushes her thumb over the worn chip she’s kept at her side all night, looks down at her pot, then back to me, studying my face. I return the challenging stare. Her blue-green eyes squint ever so slightly as she tries to read what I’ve got sitting face-down on the table. For a second, she drops her gaze and lingers on my mouth before returning to my eyes. I have no idea what she sees, but something makes her smile. It’s slow and confident and she arches one eyebrow before she pushes her chips in. “Call.”

I don’t take my eyes off her as I turn over my pair of twos. She smirks, then turns over a pair of threes. Ben and Frank laugh their asses off and decide we need a short break, one long enough for me to “pull my head out of my ass.”

The two men disappear to the men’s room, leaving just Kate and me sitting at the table. Leaning back in my chair, I ask. “How did you know?”

She shrugs and smiles. “It’s all about reading people.”

“So you can see what I’m thinking?” I lift my beer to my lips and take a slow draw without breaking eye contact.

“Sometimes.”

“What am I thinking about now?” I try in vain to keep a stoic face, but the corner of my mouth tilts up to a dirty grin.

She shakes her head and walks to the restroom smiling, leaving me watching the sway of her ass.