Home > Hot as Heller (Aster Valley #3)(9)

Hot as Heller (Aster Valley #3)(9)
Author: Lucy Lennox

“Exactly. Think about your actions and the way you treat people. Actions have consequences.”

Finn’s head bobbled as I pulled down the driveway to Rockley Lodge. He’d mentioned staying at one of the chalets, so I took the turnoff to head farther up the mountain property.

“Yes, sir,” he said, sounding both exhausted and annoyed now. “I appreciate you so much.”

That was sarcasm. I made a grunt of surprise.

“In fact, I’m grateful someone like you is here to help me see the error of my ways. My mom wanted to come, but she was offered a chance to join Stavros Pagonis on his yacht instead. So now I have you here making sure I behave just right. So. Fucking. Grateful,” he ground out.

I threw the SUV into park behind the chalet with the McLaren. He must have ridden to the bar with someone else.

“Seems you’re sobering up,” I said. “Or maybe you’re still shitfaced if you can mouth off to a cop without blinking an eye.”

He finally turned to me with steel in his eyes. “I’m not drunk enough to miss the fact you’ve found the one person in a group of, what? Five other cast and crew, who you’re convinced is responsible for not leaving. Well, you know what? I wasn’t driving. And also… also… I was trapped in that booth. I told them I didn’t want to go out. And then I told them I didn’t want to stay.” As he spoke, Finn’s voice got louder and more belligerent. “And then I told them I wanted to go home!”

He threw open the door to the SUV and lurched out, almost landing flat on his face. I hurried around to help him.

“Careful,” I murmured, grabbing his elbow.

He sniffed. “I didn’t want to go out.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him why he didn’t want to go out. What had the phone call been about that had upset him to the point of becoming almost blackout drunk? But then I reminded myself he was a spoiled actor whose problems were most likely tied to not getting a role in a film rather than anything life changing.

“Well, you did. And actions have—”

He finished the sentence with me. “Consequences. Thanks, Sheriff Daddy. Now kindly fuck the fuck off.”

Finn stumbled to the front stoop where he crawled up the two stairs and then lay down on the welcome mat. I stepped forward to help him into the cabin but then stopped myself.

If he was going to tell me to fuck the fuck off, then he could sleep on the damned welcome mat for all I cared.

I turned and got back in the vehicle wondering how long it would be before the first hints of sunrise would sneak over Rockley Mountain. I radioed in my status and told Janine I would be coming in late today.

When I pulled into my own driveway, all I could think about was returning to my bed for a few more hours of sleep, but when I walked up to the front porch, I realized that wasn’t in the cards.

Tessa, my friend and next-door neighbor from LA, sat curled up on one of my rocking chairs. Her big belly was hidden by a hoodie sweatshirt, but I saw the evidence of the pregnancy in the fullness of her face.

She was beautiful.

“Oh honey,” I said, reaching out to shake her awake. “What happened? Why’d you leave LA?”

As soon as she woke up and saw me, she burst into tears.

 

 

4

 

 

Finn

 

 

Being the lead actor on a fairly big-budget film came with many perks, and right now, the luxury trailer I was in was the one I was most grateful for.

I lay back on the sofa and groaned. The cold compress the makeup assistant had given me felt like heaven over my eyes.

Kix wasn’t quiet as he rifled through my fridge for a drink. I bit back the desire to tell him to get the hell out of my trailer. He only had access to a shared trailer with a few of the other cast members who had smaller parts, and if I mentioned it, he got angry. I’d learned back in high school that Kix’s tongue got even sharper when he was angry.

“That firefighter dude had a nice fuckin’ dick,” he said. “Except he kept asking me about you, so I told him I’d get you to agree to a three-way later.”

I pulled off the cloth and glared at him. “Not happening.”

The idea of sharing dick with Kix made my stomach crawl. He was a player and didn’t seem to discriminate much when it came to taking it from strangers. Which was fine but not really my speed. My speed was more like glacial cornball “making love” speed. The kind that meant I pretty much never had sex. Ever. And I for damned sure had never had a three-way.

Kix wouldn’t know that, though, because I did a very good job of making myself fit in.

“And anyway, I’m here to work. No more nights out,” I grumbled. “That was a colossal mistake.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Kix said before throwing himself into a nearby chair and spilling some of his water on the floor. I put the cloth back over my eyes.

“This is going to be a big release, Kenny,” I said, forgetting the stage name he’d picked when we were preteens. “I have to nail this part if I want Nolan to offer me the—”

“Save it,” he snapped. “I don’t want to hear another thing about that damned period drama. Besides, how the hell do you expect to nail your part if I hadn’t kept you out late enough both nights to watch a real cop in action?” He snorted out a laugh.

I thought of the gorgeous but very frowny sheriff who’d driven me home.

Declan. I’d heard the bartender call him by name the other night. Sheriff Declan Stone.

“I can nail my part,” I muttered. “It’s not a problem.”

“That’s not what I heard.” He sang the snide comment in an annoying way. I didn’t want to take the bait, but I had too much riding on this project to ignore a comment like that.

I whipped the cloth off and sat up. “What did you hear?”

Kix was tossing a water bottle in the air and catching it. “Lina overheard Nolan complaining to Shelly something like, ‘I asked for the Rock and you gave me a pebble.’ And then he supposedly said, ‘Chip Clover himself would make a tougher cop at this point.’”

My skin prickled with embarrassment. “That doesn’t even make any sense. I am Chip Clover. Chip Clover was me. If Chip would make a…” I let the complaint trail off since it was stupid. “What do they expect me to do?”

The idea they would have cast me without thinking I had enough talent to pull this off didn’t make any sense. If I couldn’t pull off this role, then why hire me for it?

“Don’t worry about it,” Kix said, tossing the water bottle up again. “I’m sure he was talking out of his ass. And why do you even care? You’ll get paid your millions regardless of how well it does.”

That was patently false. But it wasn’t about the money. If Nolan didn’t think I had acting chops, he was never going to give me a shot at the Shakespeare.

I needed some advice. “Hey, I have a call with Iris in five minutes. Would you mind finding another place to hang out while I talk to her?”

He rolled his eyes but got up from the chair. Before opening the door, he turned back to me. “You’re a good actor, Finn. Don’t listen to that blowhard Nolan, okay? He’s an asshole, desperately trying to stay relevant, and everyone knows it. You’re going to be great. Just maybe… take some asshole lessons from someone. You’re too nice to portray an angry cop. You need to find your spleen and then spray it at everyone.”

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