Page 36 of Breaking the Alpha
Nodding, she took a step back to avoid clinging to him like a spider monkey.“Remember to text me when you land.”
“Remember to text me when you get home,” he replied with a wave before he put his ball cap on and joined the scads of people lining up to be scanned and searched.
She waited until he was out of sight, then waited a little longer.
For a woman who spent more than a decade doing her best to need no one, she sure was unhappy with the knowledge that she’d be returning to a silent, empty home.Though River’s presence wasn’t necessary, it was comforting knowing that if a raccoon managed to break into her kitchen, she wouldn’t be alone in trying to capture it and release it outside the town’s limits.
Frowning, she fired off a quick text to him.
Would you help me catch a raccoon if one broke into the house?
His response was immediate.
Is it rabid?
She smiled.
No.
Then yes.
Satisfied with his reply, she left the airport and drove home.
*
River pointed atthe baggage carousel while Jodie stood impatiently near the airport exit.Her short blue-black hair stood out amongst a sea of blond as she tapped her wrist.He shrugged as he pressed his phone to his ear to drown out the noise surrounding him.“I’ll call you back once I’m done with this meeting with my agent and I’m settled in my hotel.Make sure you lock the doors and I’ll text you Birch’s number in case you have any problems.”
Angelina laughed, her voice significantly more relaxed than it had been at the airport hours earlier.“I think I know how to handle a few nights alone.”
“You worry about me flying, I worry about you being home alone.Fair’s fair.”
Once they’d said their farewells, he fired off his brother’s number to her and walked to the baggage claim, hauling his suitcase out and following Jodie out the door to her waiting car.
“Snap a picture of the tarmac as we leave,” she instructed without a hello, her sky-high heels bringing her eye to eye with him.“Your followers will want to know you’re here.”
Doing as she said once they were away from the loading zone, he uploaded a photo and tagged the location while avoiding the comment sections of his recent posts.“I’m doing the shoot Monday and Tuesday.Wednesday is auditions.Thursday I’m finalizing the divorce at the lawyer’s office.Why aren’t I flying out until next Sunday?”
“Networking, River.”Jodie turned her attention to merging into the relentless freeway traffic.“You’re going to spend Friday at a few select hotspots to boost your visibility.Saturday is a day-long music event down at Venice Beach.You look good wet, so expect to be in the water.”
By the time Jodie had hauled him in and out of a new ‘it’ restaurant for dinner, grumbled over his need for a haircut, and gloated over the superior action his social media posts were garnering over Windy Leigh’s, he was dragging his feet into his hotel room, wanting nothing more than a shower and Angelina’s voice.
But this week, work needed to come first.
He ran through his new workout app, pushing himself for close to two hours, then messaged Birch to ask him to thank Jocelyn’s parents again.
Physically exhausted, he showered off and checked his photo shoot instructions.He groaned when he realized he would need to shave tonight to ensure he had the scruff they required in the morning.
It was almost eleven when he collapsed into bed and rolled onto his back before tapping Angelina’s number and smiling for the first time since he’d left Epson when she answered.
*
If anything wasgoing to sour River’s mood more on Tuesday night, it was the text buzzing his phone to life as he trudged down the hall to his suite.
He’d spent twenty-two of the past forty-eight hours completing the shoot Jodie booked thanks to the drive to and from the site, which had added another eight hours.The oils, powders, and makeup the stylists had used still had him ready to jump out of his skin, and the sand from the beach location that morning was still embedded between his toes.
And then there were the women.
Most of the people he worked with treated him like a commodity, which he technically was.A few were friendly, fewer still were actually nice.But there was always a handful of older women on those shoots who circled him like sharks circling a rowboat.They were bolder than the younger women on site.These were women who’d been in the business for a long time and knew how to play the game.
