Free Not Famous in Hollywood (Not in Hollywood Book 1) by Leonie Gant

your
lawyer.”
    Great, just another humiliation to add to my
already lousy day. I sat there stony faced unwilling to answer.
    “ I know him
and I know it hurt him to see you like that. He’s a good man, we’re
just in an untenable position right now. I’m kind of hoping that
you are strong enough to deal with it.”
    The door
opened as Reggie and Griffin walked back in. I searched Griffin’s
face for any hint of the softness that Ramos was talking about. No,
nothing there. When he looked at me all I saw was a granite hard
jaw and ice in those green eyes. No nice guy there at all. A piece
of paper was placed in front of me. I looked expectantly at Reggie.
He didn’t seem as happy as I had hoped he would be.
    “Trudie, this agreement provides you with
immunity from the police assault charge if you agree to provide
Detective Jake Griffin with the cover as your boyfriend for a
period of three months” Reggie said.
    “Months” I spluttered, “but I thought it was
only supposed to be a few weeks.”
    “The charge is a serious one” Griffin
interrupted. “It was felt this was a more equitable
arrangement.”
    Definitely no nice guy there. I signed the
paperwork reluctantly but I knew I had no options. Once signed I
figured Griffin would at least show some sign of his victory but
his face gave no indication that he was feeling anything.
    As Reggie and I got up to leave Griffin
turned to me. “I want to be invited to everything that you have a
plus one invite to” he said.
    “ I’ ll call when they happen but it
is generally last minute” I said.
    “ Doesn’t
matter, this case is a priority now. I’ll look forward to your call
sweetheart.” He winked at me and sauntered away.
    Reggie didn’t
even look at me once as we made our way to the car. I didn’t say a
word until we were well clear of the station.
    “He called me sweetheart Reggie” I said
through gritted teeth.
    “Yes he did” Reggie replied.
    “Are you trying not to smile?” I asked,
noting that he seemed to be fighting the curl on the corner of his
lips.
    “ A little”
said Reggie. “I know you’re not happy about this situation but why
don’t we chalk it up to a character building exercise.”
    “You think I need to work on my character?” I
asked.
    “I’m not going to win, regardless of what I
say today am I?” asked Reggie.
    “ No
you’ re not” I said. “I am in a truly
annoyed mood and I don’t need reasonable discussion. I need you to
say, ‘you are right Trudie, he’s an evil lowlife Trudie, you are by
far the better person Trudie’. If at any time you wish to veer from
that script you should just remain silent” I said feeling a little
bit resentful.
    “Silence it is then” said Reggie, and so it
was all the way back home.
     

Chapter Nine
    I
hadn’ t even made it through my front door
when my cell started ringing. It was Eleanor’s management again
demanding to know where I was. Once again I had to explain that due
to the actions of their client, I had spent most of the day as a
guest of LA’s finest.
    “Never mind that” he interrupted. “We need
you to go back to Bliss and find out what was in the products they
used for Eleanor today.”
    “Why do we need to know that?” I asked.
    “ Eleanor’s
had a slight reaction to something that was used today. She’s still
at the hospital but they don't know what it is.”
    “ What kind of
reaction?” I asked hoping my voice showed an appropriate level of
interest and concern.
    “ At this
stage it just looks like a mild skin irritation, but if she’s
allergic to something we need to know what it is. We can’t risk her
having reactions when she’s working.”
    “ It’s too
late to go tonight” I said knowing that he expected me to go back
to the spa after hours to demand answers from an empty building.
“I’ll go first thing in the morning.”
    Dropping my bag on my couch I walked straight
into the shower to wash away what had turned out to be a