Free Hollywood & Vine by Olivia Evans

Just tell me when and where.”
    “El Conquistador’s at seven?”
    “Sounds perfect. I’ll see you guys then.”
    After Madison left, Josie settled onto her couch and grabbed her laptop. There was no better way to kill time than browse a few fashion sites. The idea backfired when the first site she opened had a picture of Anders at the top of the page. One click led to two, and before Josie realized it, she’d landed on a gossip site featuring pictures of Anders in a very compromising position.
    Across town, Anders stared at the same images. His jaw ticked with annoyance as he clicked through the pictures. He swore under his breath and closed the laptop, not wanting to see proof of his stupidity all over Perez Hilton, Hollywood Life, and TMZ a second longer.
    He stared at his phone, his thoughts shifting to the last text from Josie. He wondered if she figured out it was him. He didn’t know anything about her private life, but if she treated her other one-night stands like him, he doubted she exchanged phone numbers—or maybe she did. He groaned and fell back on his chair. This was why he didn’t do relationships. This was why he kept things simple and impersonal; the alternative was too much damn work.
    Still, no matter how tempted he was, and even though the entire situation drove him crazy, he couldn’t walk away from the challenge Josie presented. He debated texting her again, but every doubt in his body said no. He should wait until he saw her so he could control the situation, read her facial expressions, and see firsthand if she suspected it was him. With a resigned sigh he threw his phone on the table and flipped on the television. He’d see her tomorrow. That would be soon enough.
    Even in his mind he knew that was bullshit.
    Later that evening, Josie pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot and grimaced, realizing she was late. Doing a quick check of her makeup, she stepped into the warm evening air. She hadn’t meant to be so late, but she’d spent more time getting ready than expected.
    Once inside, Josie spotted Madison, who gave her a long look before waving her over. It was a domino effect from there. Josie cut her eyes to Holden to gauge his reaction, but Holden was staring at Philip, who was looking at Josie like she was something to eat.
    “That’s your sister?” Philip asked, his eyes fixed on Josie as a sexy smile stretched across his face.
    Holden hummed in response.
    “Hey, Josie.” Madison gave Josie a questioning look, but didn’t press when Josie subtlety shook her head.
    “Maddie.”
    “There you are.” Holden rose from his chair and gave her a hug before turning to Philip who also stood.
    “Philip, this is my sister, Josie. Josie, Philip.”
    Philip wrapped his hand around Josie’s and dipped his chin but kept his eyes on her. “Hello, Josie. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
    Josie’s knees buckled when he spoke. His thick French accent made the greeting sound indecent. “Hi.” She cleared her throat and tried to ignore the way her own voice sounded high and off-pitch. Holden tugged Josie back, breaking the contact between the two.
    “Do you want a Corona?” Holden asked, eyeing Philip as he eased back into his seat.
    Josie shook her head. “Margarita on the rocks. Tequila shot on the side.”
    Josie smiled at Philip and ignored Madison’s kick to her chair. She wasn’t in the mood to answer questions. She didn’t want to admit how much it bothered her to see those photos of Anders with his face buried between some girl’s breasts. She wondered how he could expel so much energy chasing her and still hook up with random girls. She couldn’t understand why he wasted the effort on her when it was obviously so easy for him to find girls. Her fists clenched. The reason was obvious. It was a game to him.
    As much as she liked being chased, it wasn’t worth how it made her feel when she saw those pictures. She felt discarded and small, unimportant. Nothing was worth