Page 85 of Let Me Love You Anyway
Never meet your heroes, unless your hero is Chase Cooper. He’s beautiful, like the goddesses themselves chiseled him out of marble. Jamie rolls his eyes when I giggle, but it’s not my fault. It’s not every day your favorite Hollywood crush is kissing your hand like you're a princess.
“He’s said nothing but nice things about you, Mr. Cooper,” I say with an unsteady voice.
“Chase. And in that case, they’re definitely all lies.”
“Alright, quit ogling my girl, you fucking troll. Why are you here, man?”
“My agent made me come. Tommy’s dickhead dad is marrying some equally rich woman and there’s talk they’ll open a movie studio. I told her this was a waste of time and how much of a prick Tommy is, but she sent someone to make sure I’d be here—and be seen.” He waves to a woman across the room who is twice his age and glares at him. He says it all with a smile, as if he’s saying the nicest things about everyone. “They wouldn’t even let me bring Pongo because that lovely woman is allergic to dogs. I think I hate her.”
“A movie studio?”
“Chase Cooper?” A loud voice interrupts us from across the room, calling attention to our little group. “Itisyou!” A man around our age, in a full tux and slicked-back blonde hair, heads toward us with his arms outstretched as if he’s welcoming the masses. I can already tell he’s a smarmy weasel. He even looks like the guy from American Psycho. I half expect him to tell us he’s got video tapes to return.
“Yeah, you know, so Tommy boy here can try his hand at acting, since he sucks at everything else,” Chase says under his breath. He’s still beaming, but even I can see it’s totally fake. He leans in by my ear and whispers, “Watch this, he fucking hates being called Tom.”
Chase steps forward to take Tommy’s hand, matching his loudness as he says, “Tom Halpine, what a surprise. I thought you were in China working on that big real estate deal? How’s your dad taking that hit? I heard it was in the billions!”
Seeing the sneer that Tommy tries to hide almost has me doubling over with laughter, but I keep it all inside. They shake and I notice Chase wipe his hand on his pants after he lets go and takes a step back. I think I’m going to like Chase once I get over the fact that he’s the guy who plays my favorite superhero. It helps that he’s in a suit and notTHEsuit. It also helps that I’m already madly in love.
“Wait, is that? You brought Barton? Wow, you’re looking…yeah, anyway.” He oozes money and hair gel. He doesn’t even bother to shake Jamie’s hand. Dick. His voice drops and has a slight hint of annoyance when he addresses Jamie. He never actually talks to him, more like at him. “What in the hell are you doing here, man? I hope this isn’t about the grant email last week. Damn shame. I really thought you’d have me beat by now.”
“Guess it just wasn’t in the cards,” James gives him a tight-lipped smile that drops quickly when Tommy turns his attention to me.
“Chase, I didn’t realize you came with such radiant company. Are you going to introduce us?” His eyes rake over my body and he has the nerve to lick his lips.
“I’m James’s girlfriend, Alexis.” He holds out his hand, but I just tuck mine around Jamie’s arm.
“Alexis? That’s a lovely name for a lovely woman. I’m Thomas Halpine.” He leans in, “But I hope you’ll call me Tommy when you scream it in my bed later.”
I laugh. Not a polite, soft laugh or a chuckle, but I straight up laugh in his face. “Not for all the money in your daddy’s bank account, little boy.”
I feel the squeeze on my hip and catch the corner of James’s lip twitch up.
“Feisty! I like it. James, good luck holding onto this one. Hopefully, it works out better than the last, but when it doesn’t, I have no problem picking up what you can’t handle.” He pulls his lip between his teeth and I’m certain I’m about to throw up as he stares at me. “When you change your mind, I’ll be more than ready to ruin you when you come begging for it.”
I feel the muscles in Jamie’s arm tense, but I keep a firm grip on his arm. This isn’t the time or the place to throw punches. Tommy tries to talk to Chase, and I lean into Jamie’s ear and whisper, “Your name is the only one I’m screaming tonight, my pretty pool boy.”
Somehow, Chase finally gets Tommy to leave, joining a boisterous crowd where he wastes no time at all, grabbing the ass of some skinny young thing with dollar signs in her eyes.
“What a douche,” I mumble.
“I like her, Jimbo,” Chase laughs, then ducks down a hallway, saying something about avoiding his handler.
“Jamie! Lexi!” Dani yells out as she drags a surprisingly good looking guy over to us. “Raf has another opening next week! I told him I have an artsy friend, and he wants you to be in it! If you are cool with that. He just needs to see your work. Do you have pictures of it or anything?”
“Minor correction,” the guy who must be Raf beams as he holds a hand out to Jamie. I like him more than Tommy boy already. “Now that I see who she’s talking about, it would be fucking awesome if you wanted to show with us next week. Your shit is fantastic, man. It always has been. I hope there are no hard feelings after Steve and I.”
“Yeah. I mean, uhm, no.” Jamie shakes his head. “No hard feelings.” I’m grinning up at James like he’s made of stars and he looks a little stunned, rubbing the back of his neck as he answers, “Uhm, tha-thanks. Really. I’ll see if I have anything and get back to you if that’s alright.”
“Fantastic, man. Have you done anything recently? I caught the piece you did for that studio a year or so ago. Seriously mind-blowing. I haven’t seen much of you since, though. Working on something big?”
“No, it’s been, uhm, slow. Haven’t really been able to do much on a canvas recently.”
“That’s right! I’ve seen your photos. It’s a mixed bag kind of show—bring those, too.” He pulls out a card and hands it over. “Oh, bro, sorry to hear about your dad. He was an inspiration and the times he talked at the art school, his message really got to me.”
“Thanks. It’s nice to hear that now and then.” He flashes me a bright smile as Dani and Raf head off to find more champagne. “Okay, maybe he’s not that bad of a?—”
“Jamie,” Chase’s voice is a low grumble of panic as he hurries toward us, grabbing Jamie by the arm. “We need to leave. Now!”
