Hollywood Playboy (Hollywood Royalty 1)

Cassie is there the minute I step off the elevator, and I notice we are dressed the same. “Sorry about the mix-up. It was done at the last minute,” she says. I just nod, then when I see Ryan, I head over to talk to him.

“Ryan,” I say to him, and he smiles at me, grabbing my hand and slapping me on the shoulder.

“We just got the latest projections in, and it’s safe to say the buzz is all over this movie,” he says, and I know the only thing going through his mind is the amount of money that will be coming in.

“We should get seated.” Ryan turns and starts walking toward the doors to the breakfast event. “I took care of the Jessica thing,” he says, leaning in quietly, but I don’t know what thing he’s referring to. If only he would have just given in at the beginning and not invited her. I sit down, and I’m half-ass listening to what he is saying since I’m sure Cassie is taking notes and will fill me in. Until I hear a little chatter around me after something he says. Looking up, I see the projection board and the dates of the tour with a journalist assigned to a premiere. I look around, seeing everyone whisper to each other, and then look back. Every day is spoken for but Paris, which means they know which journalist is left off the list. I look at the table where they are seated, and she sits there with her back straight looking like she doesn’t fucking care. My foot moves up and down, and Ryan finally says, “Here is to the best press tour you’ve ever seen.” Everyone claps, including myself.

I lean over to Cassie. “Why was that list made public?” I ask her, and she just looks at me.

“What list?” she asks, stopping to clap and then moving to the side when a waiter puts a plate down in front of me. “This is your special meal. Everyone else is getting the buffet,” she says, and I look back to see that everyone has gotten up and is making their way to the back of the room where the buffet is set up. My eyes roam the room for Jessica, but I don’t see her anywhere. “What’s the matter? What are you looking for?” she asks me, and I don’t know why, but something stops me from telling her. I don’t get a chance to talk to her because she gets up and goes to stand in line. Ryan pulls out the chair next to me and sits, and it’s just the two of us at the table.

“I didn’t know you would be making the plans known in such a public way,” I say to him, picking up a water bottle as he bites into his eggs.

“We kept it private long enough. It was time to tell the press,” he says, nodding and chewing. “Besides, some of the reporters complained about not knowing about their wardrobes,” he says, rolling his eyes, “so we had to let them know what and where they would be.”

I laugh, shaking my head, knowing full well who those journalists were. “Everyone was whispering when the red carpet list came out.”

“I can imagine so,” he says, cutting into a piece of breakfast sausage. “It’s a smack in the face. She knows it, you know it, and now, everyone else knows it.”

“I just . . .” I want to tell him that I didn’t mean for it to be like that, but I stop talking when Cassie returns.

“It took seven people to understand that I wanted wheat bread and not white,” she complains. I remain quiet while everyone around me eats, and then I’m summoned to go take a picture in the corner right in front of the big movie poster. I walk over to it with Cassie by my side. “This should last about two hours, give or take, and then you’re off till about three-ish, but we’ll need to go over your schedule for tomorrow.” I just nod at her and then shake the photographer’s hand.

“I’m Henrik, nice to meet you,” says the man with a camera hanging from his neck. “If you want to get right there on the white X in the front of the pictures, I will start.” I walk over to the middle and stand there while he takes my picture. I look over and see that Cassie is now speaking to Yamina and Yolanda.

“We are going to take a group shot,” Henrik says, and then he turns to look at Yamina and Yolanda. The two of them turn and start ushering the journalists toward me. The men wait for the women to walk ahead of them. I see Erin, Ella, and Evelyn come in first and two of them stand beside me, followed by Autumn and Kendall. I’m waiting for Jessica, but I don’t see her. I see Jim, Jonathan, Jack, and Peter come in and stand on the outside. Henrik comes over and starts moving people, pulling Ella, who glares at him, from my right and replacing her with Jack. He counts the heads and then turns to look at the girls. “There is one missing.”