Free The Director (Hollywood Nights) by Cara North Page B

stay away than for me to
tell them to go away.”
    “You’d do that?” She was shocked.
In a world where she would never think of telling someone interested in her
career to go away, it was hard to understand how he could do that.
    “Yeah,” he said with a laugh.
“I’ve done that. I’m entitled to sit down and eat. I want to catch up with
someone without being interrupted to say hi to someone else. It’s rude.
Hollywood has no manners unless you demand them. I don’t like half of these
people. They are fake, greedy, and could care less about these organizations.
They care about being here, being seen here. It is part of the gig, I get it. I
just don’t like it.”
    “Oh,” she said with a gulp of
self-consciousness. She as suddenly wishing she could go back in time and take
back the time she interrupted an actor to tell him that he did amazing in a
role. She said it because she thought he would like to know that fans liked his
work. He was in his late sixties and the role was edgy. He seemed to appreciate
her comment. Then again, he was an actor.
    “I’m going to grab something to
drink. Can I get you anything?” he asked. “Hey, I see that look. What is it?”
    “I’m just re-thinking some things
I thought about being a celebrity,” she admitted. “Your life is nothing like I
thought it would be.”
    “That makes two of us,” he
grunted.
    It was only a matter of time
before Jed was pulled away from her long enough for Frankie to find her and
pull her aside to ask, “When did this happen?”
    Frankie frowned at her.
    Shay shrugged. They took a seat
at a nearby table.  
    “He’s not stable, Shay.” Frankie
looked at her with such a worried expression Shay realized she was genuinely concerned.
“Jonas doesn’t even know where he was this past year. I don’t want you to get
hurt. I can’t hate him, he’s my brother-in-law.”
    Shay extended her hand across the
table and Frankie took it. She was glad to have her back. “I know where he’s
been for the past year. I don’t know what he’s hiding from his family, Frankie,
but he isn’t hiding anything from me.”
    Frankie looked up and to the
right and smiled. Shay knew Jed or Jonas was walking up behind her. It turned
out to be both. Jed took a seat on the bench next to Shay and Jonas moved
around to sit next to Frankie. Shay let Frankie’s hand go. Jed had straddled
the bench when he sat, so he faced Shay instead of Frankie and Jonas.
    He leaned in and whispered, “You
okay?”
    She looked at him and smiled. She
nodded.
    He leaned in close again and
said, “I’m tired. And annoyed. And you look terrible so I want to take you away
from here…”
    “Did you just say she looks
terrible?” Frankie and her English professor ears heard all. At least Frankie
was offended on Shay’s behalf. “Why would you say that to her? Shay? Why would
you let him say that to you?”
    “Frankie,” Jonas called her name
quietly.
        Jed
groaned and said, “Not that I owe you any explanation for what I say to her,
but I was told not to call her beautiful, even though she is the most exquisite
thing I have ever seen. So I tell her sarcastically she looks terrible and she
smiles. I don’t ask why you answer the door in your underwear and popping a
ruler at my baby brother, so don’t ask why I say what I say to her.”
    “Jed!” Shay and Jonas both said
at the same time. Frankie blushed. Shay looked from Jed to Frankie and said,
“Frankie!”
    Frankie’s shoulder lifted and she
said, “Touché.”
    Jed placed his head on Shay’s
shoulder facing away from the table. He wrapped his arm around her and
squeezed. Shay knew he was at his social limit. “Call me when you have an
afternoon free, Frankie and we can catch up. I think we need to go now.”
    She started to get up and he
moved too. Frankie and Jonas gawked. She was slightly amused by it all. He
barely said goodbye to them as he slid his fingers through hers and led them
towards the