Hidden Hollywood

“Ciao,” Jake said.

“Ciao,” Josh muttered, his lip curling.

Jake turned to watch her go, unable to take his eyes off her curvy ass. A hard jab hit him between the shoulder blades. “Ow!”

He whirled, about to return the hit to his scowling brother, when Josh stepped out of reach and moved across the bar to help a customer.

Jake read the card Hailey had given him, puzzling over what a Love Junkie did. Was that part of her “arrangement” with Josh?

“So what’s the arrangement?” Jake asked once Josh finally moved back to his side of the bar.

Josh didn’t bother replying. Just straightened up, tucking used glasses away.

The next logical thought hit him with a jolt. He leaned across the bar and lowered his voice, “Are you a…male hooker?”

Josh moved to the other side of the bar without a word. Fuck. He couldn’t believe it. Was he that hard up for funds for his dream bar?

Jake tried to get the details several more times, but Josh kept his mouth shut. Jake finally gave up and contented himself with watching the Sox game. But his curiosity over the strange interaction between Josh and Hailey got the better of him. He had to know what the deal was. He waited until Josh closed the bar and headed to the back parking lot to bring it up again. In a roundabout way.

“Why do you call Hailey a princess?” Jake asked.

“Why do you care?” Josh said with no real heat. He slid into his black Miata convertible.

Jake got in the passenger seat. “She’s pretty. I might give her a call next time I’m in town.”

Josh started the car and muttered under his breath, “Ass.” He peeled out of the lot.

“So you don’t like her, or you do? I can’t tell.”

“Drop it.”

This Hailey thing just got more and more interesting. And troubling. Why was Josh being so close-lipped about it? What had he gotten himself into?

“Is she an actual princess?” Jake asked once they’d parked at the large Victorian house across town, where Josh rented the first-floor apartment.

Josh got out of the car and slammed the door. Jake kept up with him, their strides equally long-legged. “You messing with royalty?”

Josh shook his head and unlocked the door of the house and then the door to his apartment. He tossed his keys in a bowl by the front door and crossed to the long beige sofa with a chaise lounge on one end. Josh flopped on the sofa, stretching across the length of it. Jake took the chaise lounge and shoved his brother’s feet away so he could stretch out too.

“You’d better not be doing anything illegal,” Jake said.

“Shut up already. Geez, you’re worse than Mad with all your questions.”

“Just tell me if you’re a hooker,” Jake said, half-joking. Really, it was an absurd thought. Neither of them had ever had any trouble getting a woman. “That’s all I need to know before I go to the authorities.”

Josh snorted. Their dad was a retired cop. “I’m not a hooker. More like a paid gentleman escort. No sex.”

Jake jackknifed up and stared at his brother. “You’re kidding, right?” Except Josh looked dead serious.

Josh closed his eyes. “I just do it to mess with her.”

Jake was thoroughly confused. “You take women out for money to mess with a princess?” And no sex? What was the point in that?

Josh opened his eyes. “She’s not a princess. Think about it. Why would a princess be hanging around a bar in the burbs, talking to me?”

“You tell me.”

“I just call her that because she’s like a princess.” He tilted his nose up. “Above the riffraff.”

“Because she’s beautiful?” Jake guessed.

Josh threw an arm over his eyes. “It’s her fancy designer dresses and her attitude.”

Jake hadn’t noticed an attitude. She’d seemed okay to him. Whatever. If Josh wanted to mess with her and she kept rising to the bait, maybe that was just their idea of a good time. Though he couldn’t remember his brother acting so strange before. Usually he was outrageously charming with women, and then once they did the deed, he lost interest. He had to wonder how long they’d been playing this game.

“You want some of that scotch?” Jake asked.

Josh lowered his arm. “You have to ask?”

He headed to the kitchen, where he’d left it, and poured them both a couple of tumblers. He returned to the sofa, where Josh was now sitting up, smiling at his cell phone.

“What?” Jake asked.

Josh shoved his phone in his pocket. “She just texted me that she’d like to skip the cash for this date and give me brownies instead.”