Beautiful Secret (Dirty Hollywood Book 1) Page 4

  “You wanted to speak to me?” I ask, still hovering in the doorway.

  She nods. “Come in,” she says. “Take a seat.” She motions toward the couch she was just sitting on.

  I glance back over my shoulder, at the now dark and practically empty lot, before turning back, my eyes roaming over Julia Harris’ trailer.

  It’s clean and already homey looking. A vase of fresh flowers on the table, a crime novel and reading glasses nearby. Photos line a shelf at the back, pictures of kids of various ages and what I’m guessing are friends and siblings. Her assistant is in several of them too and it’s obvious, despite their working relationship, that the two of them are close.

  “Can I get you a drink?” she asks and when I turn back to her, she’s watching me, a wary look on her face. I shake my head, but she immediately adds, “I’m having one. I’m guessing you could use one too?”

  She’s right, I could.

  I nod. “Okay, thanks.”

  She returns the nod before turning to the small kitchen area and opening the fridge. “Beer okay?” she asks, without looking at me.

  “Thanks, that would be great.”

  She pulls two bottles of pale ale from the fridge, opening them both before handing one to me. “Cheers,” she adds, clinking her bottle against mine.

  “Cheers,” I reply, unsure about what exactly is going on right now.

  “Please, have a seat,” she says again, gesturing to the couch.

  We both sit down, as far apart as we possibly can be without either of us falling off. I watch as she takes a long pull on her beer, almost as though she needs the time or the alcohol or maybe both before she actually starts talking to me.

  I take the opportunity to do what I should have done earlier.

  “I’m sorry about last night,” I say, taking a quick sip of beer. “I was a dick and totally inappropriate and I shouldn’t have said those things to...”

  “I get it,” she says, cutting me off.

  “What?” I ask, beer halfway to my mouth.

  She smiles now, the first time she has since I was an arsehole to her. “I said, I get it,” she says, shrugging. “Well, I mean, I didn’t, but then Ava explained it to me and now I do,” she adds. “And I’m also sorry.”

  I shake my head, confused. “Sorry, but I’m really not sure what’s going on here?”

  Julia laughs at my confusion and it’s so unexpected that for a second I’m not sure how to respond. Or why a sudden shiver runs down my spine at the sound, at the way her eyes light up when she glances at me. She turns on the couch now, so she’s facing me and tucks her legs beneath her.

  “Sometimes I forget who I am,” she starts, waving a hand around.

  “You do?” I ask, still confused and sure I’m coming across like a total moron right now.

  Smiling, she continues. “Yeah, I do. You have to realize, to me, I’ve always just been Julia Harris, girl from Chicago who enjoyed drama at school and thought she might star in a couple of movies that no one ever watched.” She pauses, takes another sip of beer. “Ava reminded me this morning, that actually, Julia Harris is a bit more than that.”

  I chuckle. “Yeah, that might be a bit of an understatement,” I say, “You’re kind of a big deal, in case you hadn’t realized.”

  Julia nods. “I know, but for me, I still feel like the same person I always was. And sometimes I forget that who I actually am makes people feel kinda weird. So, I’m sorry if I didn’t realize that.”

  “It’s me that owes you an apology,” I say. “I made some assumptions and they were really unfair. I shouldn’t have been so rude to you last night.”

  Julia shrugs. “Apology accepted,” she says. “I’m just glad we could clear this up,” she adds.

  “Me too.”

  I watch as she gets up and grabs two more beers from the fridge, handing me one without asking if I want it. I take it though, because really, not only do I want it, I kinda need it.

  “So, Aiden,” she says, smiling as she sits down again. “You never answered my question about being glad we’re filming here?” she says, reminding me of the moment when I switched from being a so-called normal person to a total dickhead.

  I return the smile. “Yeah, I am,” I say. “I don’t get back here as much as I’d like these days, so it’s good to be back on my old stomping ground.”

  “Do you have family here?” she asks.

  I nod. “Yeah, I do. My brother’s here in London, I’m actually staying with him. But my folks are down in Devon. I’ll probably go and visit them at some point.”

  Julia smiles, but it looks sad.

  “What about you?” I ask, turning the questions back on her. “Do you get home to see your family often?”

  She reaches for her beer. “Not really,” she says, taking a sip. “Not as much as I’d like anyway. Ava’s my family most of the time,” she adds, her eyes moving to the photos at the back.

  My gaze stays on her, on the sad look on her face as her eyes move over the pictures and everything they represent, all the things I imagine she feels she is no longer part of. “You’re lucky,” I say. “To have her.”

  Julia nods, turning back to me, the sad look gone now. “Yeah, I am. She’s fantastic.”

  “Where is she now?” I ask. “I haven’t seen her all day.”

  Julia flashes a smile. “I gave her the day off,” she says.

  I cock an eyebrow. “The day off?” I ask. “Even though we’ve only just started.”

  She shrugs. “Yeah, but there’s nothing for her to do, so I figured why not go and see London, actually have some fun while she’s here. She’s recently broken up with her boyfriend, so I figure it might be good for her to go out, see the sights, maybe meet someone new.”

  I stare across at her, once again surprised at how different she is to what I expected.

  “But,” she suddenly says. “That does mean I’m kinda stuck.”

  “Stuck?”

  She bites her bottom lip. “Any chance of another lift home?” she asks, a hopeful smile on her face.

  An hour later, I’m walking into my brother’s flat, a bag of Chinese take-away in my hand.

  “Hey,” my brother calls out from the kitchen.

  “Hey, grab some beers, I’ve got dinner.”

  Marcus walks into the living room, two beers in his hands, one of which he hands to me.

  He disappears again to grab some plates, while I unpack the boxes of food. When he comes back into the room, we both take a seat and wordlessly start piling up our plates, before sitting back and eating.

  Eventually, he turns to me. “So, how was work?” he asks.

  I shrug. “Okay,” I say, shoveling a spoonful of food into my mouth.

  “Anymore run-ins with the famous movie star?”

  I reach for my beer, take a sip as I nod, but say nothing.

  “Hang on,” he says, putting his plate on the table. “Care to explain?”

  “Not much to explain,” I say, still eating.

  “Bullshit,” Marcus scoffs, kicking my foot. “Tell me what happened.”

  I take another couple of mouthfuls, stalling as I try to work out what to say. There’s no point bullshitting, Marcus will see right through it. The bonus of being identical twins is we always know what each other is thinking. The downside is we always know when the other one is lying too.

  Eventually, I put my plate down and sit back, beer in hand. “We had a chat,” I start, “about what happened last night. We both apologized and that was that.”

  “That was that?” he scoffs, clearly not believing me.

  I glance at him. “Yeah,” I say, as though it’s no big deal.

  He eyes me warily. “Yeah, I think there’s more to the story,” he says.

  I exhale, for once, annoyed that he can see right through me. “Fine,” I concede. “I had a couple of drinks with her in her trailer, we chatted, we apologized, and then I gave her a lift home again.”

  Marcus practically spits his mouthful of beer across the room. “You did what?”

  “You heard me,” I say.

  “Jesus,” he exclaims. “D’you hook up with her?”

  “No!” I say, even as his question immediately plants a very intriguing and tantalizing thought in my brain. Shaking my head, I turn to my brother. “I did not hook up with her,” I say emphatically. “Give me some credit.”

  Marcus chuckles. “What, don’t tell me you wouldn’t even consider it?” he asks. “She’s pretty fucking hot.”

  “Marcus!”

  “What?” he asks, mock surprise in his voice.

  “She’s…she’s…I don’t know, kind of my boss,” I say, as though that explains everything.

  He grins now, an evil look on his face as he says, “Technically she’s not,” he says. “Geoff is, but even if she was, you gotta admit, it’d be kinda hot. For so many reasons.”

  I shake my head, finishing off my beer before standing to grab us some more. “You are hopeless,” I say, walking into the kitchen.

  “Don’t pretend you wouldn’t do it,” he shouts from the living room. “Or that you haven’t thought about it either!”

  I grab two beers from the fridge, but don’t go back into the living room straightaway. Leaning against the kitchen bench, I twist the cap off one and take a long pull on my beer, my mind wandering back to the moment I watched Julia do the exact same thing in her trailer.

  I’ll admit, it was hot, even as I was busy trying to work out what it was she was going to say to me about the way I’d treated her. But as distracted as I was, I was still also human.

  And a guy.

  Who very much appreciated a beautiful woman, sipping on her beer and completely oblivious to how attractive she really was.

>   And something about sitting in her trailer, chatting with her about our families had all just felt so natural and normal, as though we really were just two people getting to know each other.

  The car ride back to her place had been the same, me finally asking her about whether this was her first trip to London, then filling her in on all the places she needed to visit when she admitted it was.

  “God, how is it I got you so wrong,” I mutter to myself, as I grab my brother’s beer and head back to the living room.

  Marcus grins as I walk in.

  “What?” I ask, sitting beside him.

  “I think she might like you,” he says.

  “You don’t even know her,” I reply.

  He shrugs. “No, but I do know all the things you’ve told me about working with these movie stars,” he says. “Most of them wouldn’t give you the time of day, much less care what you thought about them,” he adds. “But this one, she seems different.”

  “She is,” I admit.

  His smile widens. “Yeah and the fact she cares that you know that, also means she likes you.”

  I shake my head. “You’re an idiot, you know that?”

  “No brother, that’s you,” he says, turning back to the TV. “Most definitely, you.”

  Chapter Five

  Julia

  “How was your day off?” I ask Ava as we sit in my trailer waiting for my call time. I swear this is the first set I’ve been on that is actually on time. And even though I’ve asked her the question, my thoughts are elsewhere, suddenly consumed with wondering if it will be Aiden who comes to let me know they’re ready. Talking with him last night was the most normal I’ve felt in a long time outside of hanging out with Ava.

  “Did you hear me?” Ava calls in a singsong voice. Her head is cocked to one side and she gives me a look that tells me she’s been talking and I’ve been doing anything but listening.

  “Yeah,” I say, without thinking and Ava laughs a little and shakes her head.

  “You did not,” she teasingly admonishes, but there’s no animosity in her tone, it’s playful and not only is it me that’s feeling differently, it’s clear Ava had an amazing time on her day off.

  “I didn’t,” I admit, feeling like a jerk for not listening to her and now asking her to repeat herself. “So what happened?”

  “I guess I should be asking you the same thing?” she says, shooting me a questioning look.

  “What are you talking about?” I’m playing dumb and while I might be a good actress, I’m a terrible liar in real life.

  Ava looks around our tiny trailer as if she’s checking to see if anyone is within an earshot or if there are any open windows. She knows the drill by this point; anything that is overheard is usually turned into gossip and spread for the world to hear.

  “You opened the door to the trailer at least three times now and looked out,” she says, pointing an accusing finger at me with a smile on her face. “You are not that timely of a person, Julia, so something’s going on.”

  “Nothing’s going on,” I quip back, rolling my eyes and looking away from her.

  “You’re lying,” she playfully accuses. “And I’m going to guess it has to do with that production assistant that drove us home the other day.”

  I practically gasp out loud as I attempt to control the fact that my face is growing hot. If I were in front of a mirror right now, I can pretty much guarantee my cheeks would be a lovely shade of pink.

  “Why would you say that?” I ask, trying to sound appalled, but it comes out more breathy and ridiculous.

  Again Ava laughs. “Because if things hadn’t gone well, you’d have been bitching to me about it all morning and you’ve been nothing but spacey and quiet.” She gives a curt nod of her head like she’s got me all figured out.

  “Whatever,” I say, attempting to blow her off and change the subject. “How about you tell me how your day went?”

  But just as I’m about to get the details, a knock comes on my trailer door and my heart begins hammering against my chest in a way that is totally foreign to me. I have no idea why this guy is causing my body to respond this way. We had two conversations: one was insulting and the other was just a quick let’s have a drink and chat.

  “Miss Harris,” the voice calls and defeat washes over me like a cold shower. The voice is not Aiden’s and as much as I’m relieved, I’m also disappointed.

  “Feeling a little let down, huh?” Ava says, giving my side a little pinch as she walks around me to open the door.

  “Yeah, a little,” I answer back, admitting something I can’t believe I just said out loud.

  Shooting runs longer than expected and it’s after eight when I finally make it back to my trailer. I had texted Ava about an hour ago telling her she could leave since things were running late. She in turn scheduled me a car, reminded me about a party I’m supposed to attend tonight and had a dress delivered to my house. Somehow she managed to take care of all of this and get herself back to her hotel room before I even make it back to my trailer.

  Unfortunately I wish she were there because right now I have my co-star Brandon hot on my heels and wanting to see if I want to run some lines or something. He’s far too handsy for my liking.

  “Sorry, Brandon,” I call over my shoulder as I quicken my pace, “I’m…” he cuts me off, his hand reaching out to stop me as it wraps around my wrist.

  “So,” he says, his voice dripping with insinuation already, “I was thinking we could go to the party together. Pick you up in an hour?”

  Parties like this, the cast is expected to attend and it is totally frowned upon should I not show up, so I can’t possibly tell him I won’t be going.

  He steps closer and tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear. Now I totally get it, he isn’t used to being told no, he isn’t used to being turned down. He’s Brandon Madden, and any girl within a hundred mile radius would be clambering to be me. But I have no interest in him and for some reason, he’s the type of actor who mistakes our kissing on set for something more, like I’m interested in him because our lips touched more times for it to even be something other than sexual.

  He runs his hand down my arm, and while I have no attraction to him, I at least don’t find his advances as creepy as some of my previous co-stars. This career brings out the worst in people, and even more so, expectations that people owe them something.

  Brandon thinks it’s expected that we attend this party together because we play love interests. He also thinks because I’m currently playing his unstable druggy wife that I also personally need saving.

  “So what do you say? Meet you in the lobby?”

  “Lobby? Lobby where?” I ask, confused by his question, because honestly I’m not even listening. I watch as Aiden walks out of Geoff’s trailer, a stack of papers in his arms and cup of coffee balancing on top. He looks like he’s in for a long night.

  “The hotel?” Brandon states, as he seems to be growing annoyed with my lack of enthusiasm.

  “Oh, I’m not staying there,” I reply shaking my head, but my eyes are still focused on Aiden as he talks with Geoff. He’s taller than I realized with dirty blonde hair and deep brown eyes, and I feel myself smile as I think about his accent. It was far more noticeable yesterday when we were chatting in my trailer. I can tell it’s something he’s tried to lose given that a neutral accent is preferred in the industry. Take it from the Chicago girl who went through far too many voice coaches.

  “Well, tell me where you’re staying and I’ll pick you up,” Brandon replies with insistence.

  “You can’t,” I spit out, silently shaming myself for telling him I’m not staying at the Savoy.

  “Why not?”

  “Because I’m… because I’m going with Aiden,” I say and Aiden’s name comes out far louder than I intend and it signals him to look at me.

  I wave awkwardly and he begins walking over to where Brandon and I are standing.

  “Who the fuck is Aiden?” Brandon asks, distaste dripping from his lips as he narrows his eyes at me.

  It takes everything in me not to roll my eyes at Brandon’s comment. Of course he doesn’t know who Aiden is because it is way too below him to even condescend to think about him, let alone learn his name.

  “I would be Aiden,” Aiden says as he walks up behind Brandon who whips around to look at who he’s up against.