“Here,” Cori says, coming out of the room and then stopping in her tracks. “Jesus Christ,” she hisses, “how the hell are you still single?”
Brian looks over at us and laughs. “I take it this is Bad and Boujee enough?”
“Oh, yeah,” Cori says, and I watch her eyes as she gives him another once-over.
“Okay, are you done?” I snap. “Is the car here?” I look at my watch and see that it’s right on time.
“Yes.” She finally snaps out of her gawking and turns to me. “Let’s go.”
Brian walks over to the patio, making sure the door is closed. “I’m going to double check your bedroom.” He walks into my bedroom, and I look over at Cori, who’s watching his every move.
“I can’t get over how hot he is,” she says, looking at me, and I glare at her. “What?” She holds out her hands. “I’m allowed to look at your man.”
“He’s not mine.” I say the words that taste like sand in my mouth, and I watch him walk back out. “Are we good?”
“Yeah,” he says and walks to the door, opening it and waiting for us to walk out and then closing it behind us. We get in the golf cart, and he drives us to the front entrance where the car is waiting. We walk through the marble lobby and out the front door to the black SUV.
“Where is the driver?” I ask Cori, and she looks at me and then at Brian.
“I just assumed Brian would drive us.” I look at Brian who just nods and holds out his hand for the keys that Cori hands to him. He walks to the car and opens the back door for me. “I’m not sitting in the back. That’s silly.”
“Get in, princess.” His voice comes out gruff, and Cori pushes me, so I get into the back. He waits for Cori to get in and then slams the door.
“I didn’t mean for it to seem like he’s our chauffeur,” she whispers to me, and I watch him walk around the car and get in the front seat.
I lean in now. “Put your belt on, Kellie,” he says, starting the car.
“Brian,” I whisper, and he adjusts his rearview mirror, “let me sit in the front.” I wait for him to answer, and he doesn’t. He just takes off, following the directions to the restaurant, so I sit back in the seat, looking out the window.
“It won’t happen again,” Cori says from beside me, shaking her head. “I’m sorry.” I don’t answer her as I watch the scenery. When we pull up to the restaurant, I see that the paparazzi is already camped out. Brian turns the car off, then twists to look at us in the back.
“Don’t get out of the car until I open your door.” He gives the orders. “I’ll walk on the right-hand side to block the guys from stepping in front of you.” I nod at him, and the flashes are already going off. He gets out of the SUV and tosses the keys to the valet guy coming over, then opens the door. “Cori, come out first,” he says, holding out his hand. She climbs over me, grabbing his hand and stepping down on the foot step to the sidewalk. I hear my name being called now and stop for second, not sure I want to get out.
“Kellie.” I hear my name being called, but it’s Brian as he holds his hand out to me. I grab it, stepping down like Cori except, with Cori, he let her walk away. With me, he puts his hand around my waist, pulling me close to him, and I do the worst thing I could do. I inhale his smell. He slams the door to the SUV and then walks with me to the front door that is being held open by Cori. He shields me, and I’ve never felt safer.
When we walk in, his hands fly away from me. I still feel them on me, though, as Cori guides me to a table in the corner. I follow her, and Brian follows both of us. She stops at a table for four, and the girl gets up, coming to Cori. With dark brown hair tied on top of her head in a ponytail, she wears tight black leather pants, leaving little to the imagination, and a black lace long-sleeved V-neck shirt, totally see-through with a black silk bra under it. “Cori.” She comes closer, and I see her eyes are bright blue, her cheekbones high, and her lips are one step away from exploding. Kissing Cori on both cheeks, she looks over at me and smiles, and then looks behind me. I see it happen before my eyes, the look from friendly to viper. If you’ve been around as long as I have in Hollywood, you get to know the looks.
“Kellie,” she says, oozing with fakeness, “I’m Christina. I’m so happy we could set this up.” She air-kisses both my cheeks. Then she turns and walks to the other secluded table set for two in the corner. I didn’t look around the restaurant before, but it’s all beige with red roses on each table. “Henry,” she says to the man who is sitting at the table going through his phone. He looks up, and his blue eyes spot me. His lips curl up into a smile, and he gets up and comes to me. He’s wearing black dress pants and a white button-down dress shirt with his first four buttons open and the hair underneath coming out. His thick goatee tickles my cheek when he finally leans in and inhales me while saying my name.
“Kellie, you look lovely,” he whispers in my ear and then holds out his hand to me. I grab it and walk to the lone table set up in the corner. He holds out the chair for me, and I sit down, facing the table where Brian is now being hugged and kissed by Christina, who takes a little bit too long kissing his cheek. She points at the table, and I have to stop looking when Henry talks to me.
“So this is nice, right?” he says, looking at me. I look at him, though my attention is on the next table.
“Thank you so much for inviting me,” I tell him with a smile as the waitress approaches to introduce herself.
“Good evening,” she starts, and I watch her. She is wearing black pants with a white button-down shirt and a black tie. A white apron is around her waist. “My name is Felicia, and I’ll be your waitress tonight. Before I start you guys off with something to drink, let me tell you about our specials tonight.” I look at her and listen to the special of the night, but my peripheral vision is on the table where Christina is pouring herself and Cori some wine, throwing her head back and laughing. Brian is facing our table with Cori and Christina on either side of him.
“Thank you.” I hear Henry say and look back at him smiling. He waits for the waitress to go away and then leans back to grab his glass of whiskey or bourbon. “Do you want some wine? I ordered when we got here,” he says, taking the wine and pouring me a glass. “I heard you just started a tour.”
I nod, picking up the glass of water and taking a drink. “Yeah, I’m excited. I think they said something about thirty cities.”
“That must be hard not to wake up in the same place from one day to the next.”
“It’s a bit weird, but it’s a dream come true,” I tell him, and then my eyes fall to the sound of high-pitched laughter coming from the other table. I look and see that Christina has her head thrown back and her hand on Brian’s arm. It looks like her chair has moved closer to him.
“How long have you been singing?” Henry asks, and I force myself to look at him and pay attention to him.
“From what my parents said, I’ve been singing longer than I’ve been talking.” The waitress interrupts us, bringing us soup. “I didn’t order this.”
“The chef has taken it upon himself to send out a selection of dishes,” she says, and I just nod. “The chef special tonight is cream of squash and roasted red pepper,” she says, and I smile at her, thanking her. Grabbing the napkin and placing it on my lap, I pick up my spoon and scoop up a bit. I blow on it to cool it, and then the flavor just takes over.