Dear Heart, I Hate You

“One more,” he said as he kissed my neck from behind, and I took another. Damn it, if this guy wasn’t going to be the death of me somehow. “You liked our kissing pictures from Boston.”

“Of course I did. I’m a girl,” I said without thinking.

He stepped next to me and took my phone from my hand as he kissed my lips tenderly, but with determination.

“Now I have to fix my lipstick again,” I complained halfheartedly when he pulled away.

“You’re going to have that problem all night if you don’t just leave it off,” he said with a smirk, so I reached for the tube and plopped it into my clutch.

“Ready?”

“Ready,” he said.

I looked him up and down, liking what I saw.

“I still can’t believe you’re here.” I got all giddy again, as if this was somehow a dream I’d wake up from.

Cal chuckled. “I can’t believe I get to meet Tami.”

Shit. I prayed she wasn’t wearing her pink contacts as I typed out a text and told her we were on our way.

Hollywood Nights

Jules

I headed the car toward Tami’s house, not only excited because I was taking Cal to Hollywood, but also at the thought that he and Tami were finally meeting. I assumed they’d hit it off, but Tami could be a real ballbuster, and it would seriously suck for me if she hated him.

I glanced at Cal in his suit, his hair perfectly messed up in spikes, and decided he looked dapper. Stupid word, but it fit. Tami was going to love him.

“So, tell me everything I need to know about tonight.” Cal settled into the passenger seat, his hand resting on my thigh, as usual.

“The guy who owns the club is Ron. He’s one of my clients, and I’ve known him for years. He owns a handful of nightclubs in the area, all super successful. I don’t know much about his background. I think his mom might have been an actress at some point, but I don’t know for sure. What I do know is that all of his clubs are popular with celebrities, and are usually the clubs you see people stumbling out of in the tabloids.”

“Is he a nice guy?”

“Really nice. Pretty normal, just super involved in his businesses and making sure they’re successful. But you’ll like him. He’s not a dick at all. I can’t say the same for whoever else might be there tonight.”

I shook my head. While celebrities were usually fairly normal people, some were total assholes with huge egos and bad attitudes.

“What’s tonight’s event about?”

“I think Ron said that some actor was starting his own line of tequila, so it’s a promotional party for that, and maybe someone’s birthday. I don’t know exactly, to be honest. Whenever Ron invites me, I come because his parties are usually really fun, but they’re also good for networking. Ron introduces me to everyone. He’s great about that.”

Cal nodded his head slowly, as if lost in thought. “That’s really cool that he does that.”

I reached for his hand on my thigh and squeezed it. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he takes you around too,” I said before stopping short. “If you want. You can take out-of-town clients, right?”

A slow smirk appeared. “Yeah. I have clients all over the country. But that would be great, Jules. Thank you.”

I shrugged. “Not a problem.”

Knowing Ron, he would happily introduce Cal to anyone who might need his services. It was a long shot, since most people would most likely be set up already in the financial end of things, but you never knew what could happen. Plus, if I could help Cal, I wanted to. I knew he’d do the same for me.

Tami lived below Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. And while we could technically walk to the club from her place, I knew we weren’t going to.

As I pulled into her short driveway, I looked at Cal. “We’re here.”

“Cool place,” he said as he glanced at the lighting in her yard. “Does she own it?”