The Director (Hollywood Nights) by Cara North Read Free Book Online Page A

compliments that meant
a lot to her. Alex didn’t pull any punches. He couldn’t fire her. She was his
project. He had to make her a star if he wanted to take over the family
business. The Harvey Agency was the crème de la crème of talent agencies. They
represented some of the highest earning actors in Hollywood. Harvey had not
taken on a new client in years.
                Then he found her, and he saved her.
She was his last project he told her. He needed to believe Alex could do more
than manage those already established. He needed to know the Harvey legacy
would carry on when it was his son’s turn to run the show. What better way than
to take a nobody wanting to be a somebody and make her a star? Alex had been
ruthless. He had created a 12-Step program not unlike the ones used in
addiction rehabilitation. He said a lot of famous people become addicted to a
variety of things.
    Shay wasn’t famous, but she was
addicted to a considerable amount of things. Among the ones she discovered was
self-hatred and self-destruction. Those were the hardest two to accept, but
once she did, they were the easiest to work on and overcome. The hardest to
overcome was the addiction to shopping. Things had become her drug of choice, high
priced fashion labels to be specific. She had blown through most of her
inheritance trying to look like she was already successful rather than figuring
out how to be successful.
    Shay finished her tea and picked
up the script. The rehearsing should help her keep the lingering thoughts of a
certain already famous person out of her head.

 
    ***
               
    As the days passed and the auditions were over, Shay found herself
disappointed that Jed Gunner had lied. He said he wasn’t giving up easily, yet
she hadn’t heard from him. It was her first exercise in controlling the impulse
to make herself feel better in the absence of acceptance. She didn’t shop.
Instead, she organized everything she had ever bought into sections and
categories in the main bedroom of her modest home. It took almost a week to
complete the task.
    The next day…

 
                Shay was returning from a jog when
she noticed the car. She slowed as she approached her building and the man
sitting on the stairs leading to her front door. She was torn between anger and
excitement. She was mad at him because this was the first time she had seen him
since he dropped her off at the break of dawn and said he wasn’t giving up. He never
called her.
                She came to a stop in front of him
and he stood. Jed Gunner was six foot some odd inches tall with wide shoulders,
a muscular but not bulky chest, long lean legs, and stunning blue eyes that
made her heart melt just looking at them. He had two cups of coffee in a
carrier in his left hand. He said, “I couldn’t wait any longer.”
                “Wait for what?” She started
stretching as though he were not there. Her body ached from the run, but it was
aching in all new places at the sight of him. It was unreal the effect he had
on her.
                “I was hoping to catch you going in
or coming out of work. I have been waiting morning and night, but you never
showed up. Yesterday, Jonas came back to work so I had a real reason to be
there. I realized a little too late that they were just starting the second
film…”
                “I’m not there for another week or
so.” She looked at him. She believed him. He was blushing under all that hair.
“I’m not sure how I feel about this.”
                “About what?” he frowned.
                “About being stalked by a
celebrity.” She smiled. She had missed him. Insane as it felt, she did actually
miss him.
                “If it is any consolation, I’m
apparently not very good at it. I remembered that you wanted to keep it a
secret and realized too late everyone I knew to get the number from was