Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“So have you seen Freyda Inc. yet?” he asked, angling his head and gazing at me with eager interest.
He was referring to Fred Maurren and Ayda Warner, the duo rivals of our company. Since I’d returned to Hollywood, I’d heard through the grapevine they were rumored to have hired the pap who got pics of Jace and myself to leak to Glitz & Glam. I wouldn’t have put it past them, of course, since surely they were as bitter as I would have been had the shoe been on the other foot. Although, neither Elliott nor I would have ever stooped so low as to have leaked those kinds of pictures to the press, but being that Fred and Ayda were friendly with the CEO of Glitz & Glam and other unsavory media outlets—from which their own careers were born—it didn’t shock me when I heard the rumors.
Carter and I made our way around the gala before I ran into a potential client, one Elliott suggested I offer my information to. We chatted for some time, and he asked if I’d be available when he returned from his tour.
As soon as he went on his way, I pulled out my phone.
“Give that to me,” Carter insisted.
“What?”
He held out his hand.
“I can put it in my calendar, Carter.”
“You’re going to put it into your personal calendar, but I can put it in our shared calendar and pull up the dates when he’s back in the States, so that we’re all on the same page. You can take ten minutes to do this, or I can do it in two.”
I relinquished my phone, knowing perfectly well he could do it better.
“Spanks you very much,” Carter said. “Oh, wow. Still on Grindr? I would have thought your new boyfriend wouldn’t be okay with that.”
“Oh shit. We did discuss we should not see others while this is going on. We’re exclusive, but only by necessity. You think I’m going to risk DMing some guy so that they can send my cock pics to Glitz & Glam?”
“I can see that headline now: Lil’ Donnie Gibson’s…not so little.” He winked.
“What would you know about Lil’ Donnie Gibson?”
“Dax, I’ve seen you in jogging pants. Come on. But even before that, you know I’m a very good judge of character,” he said, stressing character in a way that there could be no confusion about what he really meant.
“Whatever. Just go ahead and delete that app while you’re in there, will you?”
“All over it,” Carter said. “Ooh, and your man just sent you a message!”
“What does it say?”
“‘Looking forward to seeing you, Hollywood.’”
“Oh, that popped up earlier. I just haven’t opened it yet.”
I was playing it cool, but the fact that Jace would be landing in LAX in a few days for his first major photo and commercial shoot of the campaign excited the hell out of me.
“Playing hard to get, are we?” Carter asked.
“Carter, if you ever have a man like Jace Kruse interested in you, I suggest the only place you be hard is in your pants.”
“As always, I like your style, Mr. Munro.”
I scanned the room briefly, checking out my periphery, when I noticed Fred and Ayda across the room. “Freyda Inc. at one o’clock,” I muttered.
He turned.
“One, not eleven,” I corrected.
“Oh, yeah.” As soon as he fixed his line of sight, they spotted me, and Ayda, sporting a smile nearly as white as the dress she wore, headed our way.
“Donnie Gibson!” she shouted as she and Fred approached.
“Freyda Stinks!” I said as I extended my hand to keep their usual hug-attack at bay.
Ayda was persistent, though, and took my hand before offering her usual hug, and Fred responded in kind.
“Such an incredible gala, isn’t it?” Ayda asked. “And you must feel like such a celebrity all of a sudden.” The way she beamed, it was as though she was flaunting the fact that she was responsible for my new celebrity status.
“Those paps,” Fred added. “What jerks, huh? It’s funny, isn’t it? One day you’re expired milk and the next you’re chic cottage cheese.”
“Well, I’m sure you can’t fault your good friend for sharing them with the world.”
I loved a good gala. Nothing like a little game of kiss-kiss-kill-kill.
“Donnie, I hope you’re not insinuating that we would have had anything to do with what happened,” Ayda said.
“Ayda, we’ve known each other long enough—you must know my name is Dax.”
“I’m only teasing,” she said, batting at my shoulder in a way that grated on my fucking nerves. “Dax, paparazzi run after stories about new celebrities all the time, even in sad cities like Fever Falls.”
“If you insist. But, oh well, I suppose I still have the winning account, so I shouldn’t be bitter.”
“That’s right, Lil’ Donnie,” Fred said. “You just go and be the biggest Lil’ Donnie in the world.”