Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Finally, Whitley crashed into my apartment and forced me to get ready. She all but threw me into the shower. I wasn’t happy with the situation, but I loved her to death. We’d met at UCLA in the same sorority and reunited when she went to medical school in the city. Now she was one of the best up-and-coming plastic surgeons in Manhattan. Even Katherine was going to see her. Not that I had any idea what kind of treatments Katherine could need when she was already one of the most beautiful women I’d ever met in my life.
“Are you done?” Whitley groaned from my bare living room. “You don’t even have Netflix set up. What kind of animal are you?”
I stepped out of the bedroom and held my hands out. I wore a skintight hot-pink dress that buttoned around my neck and had a deep slit all the way to my navel. The dress flared to my knees, and I wore white pumps with them. “Acceptable?”
“Hot as fuck,” Whitley said. “Damn, girl, you look like an A-list celeb.”
“A little too Hollywood then?” I said with a fake laugh. “Should I go put on something black?”
“It’s the color of the city. But no, you should never fit in when you can stand out in that.”
“Thanks, Whit.”
I grabbed my purse and followed Whitley downstairs. We walked outside, and Whitley barely had time to hold her hand out for a cab when a man rushed forward with an enormous camera and took my picture.
I blinked stars out of my eyes as shock overtook me.
“Anna Hutch! What are your thoughts on the pictures of Josh and Celeste in bed?” the man asked.
“Get out of her face,” Whitley said, trying to get between me and the photographer.
“Anna, did you know that Josh was cheating on you?”
“No…no comment,” I said. Then I found my publicist voice. I straightened and shot him a cool look. “I have nothing to say to you. Except that my name isn’t Anna Hutch.”
Then I strode away from the paparazzo who had somehow found me and into the awaiting vehicle with Whitley close behind.
I’d kept it together for the photographer, but my hands trembled as we sped away. I’d dealt with the paparazzi for years. In LA, I knew half of the people who stalked my clients for pictures and information. We worked together, rotating favors and exclusives. But here in New York, I wasn’t that well acquainted with them. Court wasn’t being hounded by the press anymore, which left me time to plan other things rather than dealing with the bloodsucking leeches.
I certainly hadn’t been prepared to deal with them personally rather than professionally. Of course, when I had gone out with Josh, paparazzi had followed us and taken our picture. But I was used to that. They hadn’t infiltrated my life in New York yet. Not until today.
“Fuck, what a douche bag,” Whitley spat. “I can’t believe he just got up in your space like that. You should have used some of your jiu-jitsu skills to put him in his place.”
“He was just doing his job,” I said, trying to cover my unease.
“Yeah, well, he can go do his job elsewhere.”
“I know a lot of them back in LA. They’re just normal people, trying to make a living. I had to work with them for Poise, and of course, they followed Josh around.”
“The whole thing disturbs me. Like…how rude to ask about your relationship with Josh.”
I laughed softly, relaxing as the shock wore off. “I’ve never seen you worked up like that, Whit. I didn’t think anything ruffled your feathers.”
“I don’t like invasions of privacy. I have lines. That’s one of them.” She grinned at me. “I know I’m a ball of ridiculous behavior and riotous energy most of the time, but no one messes with my friends.”
I squeezed her hand. “Thanks.”
We made it to Sparks without incident and found Katherine and Lark already waiting for us at a VIP booth.
Katherine Van Pelt was a force to be reckoned with. She was one of those people who always got precisely what she wanted. At first, I’d thought she was aloof and disingenuous, and then I realized that was the front she put on. She cared deeply for the people who were important to her… and no one else. Which made her come off as callous and frigid to outsiders.
But she had a smile on her red-painted lips when she saw me. “English, you made it.” She kissed my cheek.
“Hi, Katherine.”
And then she arched an eyebrow at Whitley. “And what tornado are you bringing us today?”
She laughed and pressed an uninvited kiss straight onto Katherine’s lips. “I’m the tornado, of course. But I’m sure you want to hear the latest.”
“Your dating endeavors entertain me greatly.”
“Oh, another Whitley exclusive,” Lark said with a laugh. “Should be interesting.”