All-American Princess (The Glitterati Files Book 1) Read online

  Like I said… unnerving.

  “Don’t pretend you don’t know the effect you have, Ho-down Jack.” She pursed her lips in disgust as she waved a hand in my direction. “All dark and brooding, I bet you can have any girl you want in Mayberry, am I right?”

  I didn’t respond. There was no way to answer that without sounding like an ass.

  She smirked, and this time, she was the one edging closer into my space. “I’m guessing you’re bored with this sea of vanilla, though, aren’t you? You secretly love the fact that two hotties moved into the hovel upstairs.” She had to tilt her head back to look at me, but she still managed to be looking down her nose. “Well, guess what? My sister is off-limits. She’s way too good for you. She’s smart, funny, and wickedly cunning beneath that sweetheart image you seem to love so much.”

  I shook my head, not sure whether to laugh at her spunk, be annoyed by the fact that she thought I wasn’t good enough, or kiss her senseless for protecting her sister like that.

  I didn’t want to like that about her, but there it was. The girl was tough, and despite her bad attitude, she was actually loyal to her sister.

  But that conversation with her sister, whatever was going on between them and whatever the reason they were here… that was the reminder I needed that this girl might be loyal, but she was also dangerous. She was playing a game, and I needed to know the rules.

  “I’m not the threat here, Hollywood Barbie.”

  She wrinkled her nose up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  I leaned in closer. “I don’t know what your plan is with Brandon—”

  “I don’t have a plan,” she interrupted. Her lips curved into a sexy smirk. “Unless you count trying to get him into my bed.”

  Jealousy shot through me so fast and fierce, it overrode reason. One moment, I stood there frustrated but sane, and then the next… I lost it.

  Pulling her into my arms, I kissed her.

  Hard.

  I kissed her like I was drowning and she was air, crushing her soft body against mine. Her soft lips parted for me, and she let out the sexiest little moan I’d ever heard before kissing me back.

  This was heaven. This girl in my arms, all passionate heat mixed with a softness she couldn’t hide and something so intoxicatingly heady it could be a drug. My tongue swept into her mouth, and she let me claim her, explore her, as she wrapped her arms around my neck and held me tight.

  A sound in the woods behind us had me pulling back slightly, my lungs struggling for air as I took in her dazed, heavy-lidded eyes and the way her lush pink lips were swollen from my kiss.

  Holy hell, this girl was stunning.

  Breathtaking.

  She was mine.

  She gave her head a little shake, and I watched her lick her lips and draw in a deep breath. She was just as affected as I was… the thought would have been more satisfying if she didn’t instantly turn her head, as if seeking out Brandon in the crowd.

  “He’s not for you, Princess,” I said.

  “Don’t call me that,” she snapped. But her voice lacked heat. She sounded distracted. Confused, even.

  I still had my arms around her, and I moved them up now to grasp her arms and get her attention. “He’s not for you,” I repeated.

  “How do you know?”

  “Because he’s nice,” I said. “He’s a good guy.” I met her stare head on. “You’d eat him alive.”

  Instead of being insulted, she surprised the hell out of me by flashing me a wicked grin. A genuine smile that made her eyes dance with laughter. “That might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  I shook my head. “You’re crazy.”

  She opened her mouth to interrupt but was distracted by the sound of twigs snapping nearby. Lila jerked out of my arms as we both turned to see Amber hovering nearby, an apologetic wince distorting her pretty features.

  “I’m so sorry to interrupt, I’ll just, uh…” She looked around like she didn’t know where to flee.

  “You didn’t interrupt anything,” Lila said just a little too quickly.

  Amber flashed her a grateful smile and held out a little black purse—the one Lila had left in my truck when we’d gotten here. “I saw you and Brandon earlier and I thought…” She trailed off with a shrug as she took a few steps forward to join us. “I thought maybe you’d want Brandon to give you a ride home, and maybe Jack could drive me, so I took the liberty of getting your stuff for you.” Her eyes darted between the two of us and embarrassment was written all over her face. “But if I read this all wrong…” She slapped her free hand over her eyes. “Oh no, I’ve gone and stuck my foot in my mouth, haven’t I?”

  “No,” Lila said quickly. “You read it right the first time. Brandon’s the one who should be driving me home tonight.”

  Amber and I both stared at her. Amber was the first to break the shocked silence. “Oh. Um. Okay then, here’s your purse.” She reached over to give it Lila but fumbled it at the last moment. We all watched as it flipped upside down, the contents spilling out over the twigs and rocks at Lila’s feet.

  She cursed under her breath as Amber apologized, and then all three of us were on our hands and knees picking up the lipstick tubes, credit cards, and keys that had spilled. Amber picked up one of the credit cards. “Oh wow, I’ve never seen a black Amex before.”

  Lila went to snatch it out of Amber’s hands, but Amber pulled it closer to her face. “Delilah Devereaux,” she read. “What a pretty name.”

  Devereaux.

  Devereaux?

  The familiar name echoed in my skull as I stared at Lila, who’d frozen at the mention of the name. Devereaux. I knew the name well, but my knowledge didn’t come from reading gossip columns or knowing a thing about the entertainment world. I remembered the name from eight years ago when Brandon and his mother returned from Hollywood and buried his dad.

  The only time I’d ever heard Brandon’s God-fearing mother curse was when she’d uttered that name. After that, I only heard it uttered in whispers. It was a name surrounded by secrets and shadows and all the things that went bump in the night.

  But that was the kid in me talking. I wasn’t that kid anymore, and while I might not know all that Lila’s father had done to hurt my friend and his family, I knew enough to know that the family was not to be trusted.

  The three of us crouched there in a thick silence until I finally pushed to my feet and tugged Lila up alongside me. “You’re coming with me. Now.”

  Amber started to protest as I half dragged Lila with me toward my truck, but I turned around to cut her off.

  “Brandon will give you a ride home, Amber.” I looked down at the daughter of the man who’d ruined my best friend’s life. “Lila and I have some things to discuss.”

  Eight

  Lila

  In actuality, very little discussion occurred on the way back to town.

  Other than a few terse questions, which I declined to answer, we drove in silence. Cold silence. I risked one glance in his direction when he’d come to a stop and opened my door.

  Still a gentleman, apparently, even if he did hate my guts.

  And make no doubt about it—it was hatred in his eyes when they met mine.

  I looked away and never looked back.

  But that look—that was what made me shiver as I curled up in the corner of the tattered old couch the next morning and frowned down into my black coffee as my sister stared at the top of my head. “So, let me get this straight. You kissed the wrong guy?”

  I flinched. But she wasn’t done. Dropping her head into her hands, she let out an exasperated sigh that made me shift in my seat from shame, guilt, and irritation. I hated when she pulled the responsible big sister routine. As if she’d always known that I’d mess this up.

  But then again, I needed her to be the responsible sister right now and tell me what to do. She shook her head. “I can’t believe you told him your name.”

  “I didn’t tell hi
m,” I said for the twentieth time. “He found out.”

  Tess gave me a weird look. “Right. Okay, fine. Here’s what we’re going to do. I’ll call Daddy—”

  “No,” I said quickly. The end of my life flashed before my eyes. “Please, Tess, don’t tell him.”

  Her expression was sympathetic but pained. “I don’t see how else you can salvage this situation. If we tell him now, he can come up with another plan and—”

  “No!” I uncrossed my legs and leaned forward, my hands gripping the mug. “Please, Tess. Don’t make me regret telling you.”

  She tilted her chin down and looked at me over her glasses in a schoolmarm sort of way. “Like I wouldn’t have found out?”

  I rolled my eyes. Yeah, okay, Tess was almost always twelve steps ahead whenever it came to Daddy and his schemes. She was his right-hand man—his words, not hers. I don’t think she loved being referred to as a man.

  Or as his right-hand.

  It was that sort of relationship that had her stuck living at home and going to a school not of her choosing while the rest of her friends went off to college and formed lives of their own.

  She heaved a sigh. “He’s going to call…”

  “I know.”

  She bit her lip. “I’ll try and buy us some time.”

  I nodded, some of my former despondence lightening at the fact that I wasn’t about to face my father’s wrath. Not yet, at least. “I’ll make this right.”

  “How?” she asked.

  I met her gaze and tried not to flinch. How? I’d sort of been hoping she would tell me. I swallowed. Jack knew, Amber knew… there was no doubt in my mind that one or both had already told Brandon. There was no beating them to it to come clean the way I’d planned. There was only one thing left to do.

  Beg.

  “I’ll go see Brandon today,” I said, getting up from the couch, ready to burst into action. “He’s a nice guy. Understanding and sweet. If I can get him to talk to me, I can explain how—”

  “How the guy who made his father’s life hell has a job opening for him?”

  I ignored her sarcastic tone and stuck my hand out. “Car keys, please?”

  She grabbed them from the makeshift dining room table, which was currently being used as a place to drop crap since we didn’t have things like end tables and chests of drawers.

  Not that we’d need furniture. We wouldn’t be here that long. I still had one week before this turned mission critical. School here in Pinedale might start up on Monday, but my school still had another week of summer vacation. A solid week before I’d either have to head home with my tail between my legs and accept my punishment or start making excuses for why I was skipping school when college applications were looming.

  “Hey, Lila,” she called after me as I headed to the bedroom to change.

  I turned back and saw her chewing on her lip again. Another sure sign that she was scheming. “I got a lead on another angle,” she said slowly.

  “Wow, I love it when you talk in mysteriously vague statements,” I deadpanned when she failed to continue.

  She gave me rueful smile. “One of Daddy’s sources told us that Brandon and his family might be having money problems.”

  I blinked. “Sources?”

  Tess ignored that, and I let her. She and Daddy could have their cozy little secrets. I wanted no part of that world. Just get me the guy who would land me the role, and I’d have everything I needed in life, thank you very much.

  Actually, at this particular moment, I would have even settled for having my old life back. But there was no going back to life as I knew it if I failed my father. He held all the power in our family, and even if I was willing to walk away from the starring role of a lifetime that would finally give me some power of my own, I wasn’t naïve enough to think Daddy would let me come back home as if nothing had happened.

  If I went back now, I’d be a failure.

  Daddy didn’t accept failure.

  Tess looked like she might clam up, but instead, she hurried on, “I still need to do some more digging, but it’s a solid lead. They might be having money problems, and you can use that.”

  I nodded. Money problems. I could totally use that.

  A little while later, I climbed into our rental car and saw my phone light up with texts from my friends.

  Evie: Traci says you got sent off to a fat farm.

  That Evie—ever the diplomat.

  Evie: It’s not true, right?

  This was followed by about ten laughing emojis.

  Hilarious, Evie.

  Siobhan: Why are you being so secretive?

  They were drunk. It was evening in Europe, and they’d clearly been drinking.

  I tried to dismiss the texts, but they were having too much fun.

  Siobhan: Marcus says you’re in AA because you overdosed after he dumped you.

  I threw the phone out of my hand with a snort of disgust. Please. If anyone had been dumped it was him. But Marcus was there and I was here, and everyone knew that the truth meant nothing if you couldn’t sell it. I was going to kill Marcus when I got home. As if he would ever break up with me. Bad at kissing and boring as all hell when we went out, I didn’t even know why I stuck with him as long as I did.

  The mere thought of kissing had me clenching the steering wheel as I battled a wave of memories from the night before.

  That kiss.

  Jack might’ve been an egotistical, judgmental jerk, but he definitely knew how to kiss.

  I gave my head a shake as I put the car in gear. It hadn’t been hard to get Brandon’s address. Tess had it ready for me by the time I’d pulled my bedhead hair up into a ponytail and thrown on some clothes.

  Nothing flashy today. I’d left the sexy stuff behind in lieu of something that would hopefully put Brandon at ease and convince him that I’m not the big bad wolf everyone seemed to think I was.

  After driving past endless pastures and more nothingness than I ever knew existed, I came to the gate that marked the turnoff for his family’s ranch. The dirt road up to the main house seemed to stretch forever, and the more I drove, the more my belly twisted into knots.

  All of the confidence I’d had the day before shriveled up in the face of last night’s debacle. Nothing had gone according to plan. Well, it had for a little while there. For a few hours, between the stupid lakeside prank and the hot kiss that should never have happened, Brandon and I had bonded. Truth be told, I’d even enjoyed myself.

  Sure, a lot of it was an act, but being a happy-go-lucky simple girl around Brandon was shockingly easy. Maybe because he was simple. Not simple as in a simpleton. He definitely had brains. We’d talked books and movies and what degree he wanted to pursue in college.

  Not acting.

  But I hadn’t expected him to come right out and declare he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps. That would’ve been too easy.

  We’d talked, and we’d laughed, and for a little while there, it had seemed like I’d had this in the bag. A few more nights like that one and I could reveal my secret—gently and in my own way. I could’ve made him see that an epic return to L.A. with a bona fide Hollywood heiress on his arm could help him obtain all those things he’d said he wanted. A few seasons on the show and he could go to the college of his dreams. He could travel the world like he’d said he wanted to do, and all while making sure his mother and the ranch were well cared for.

  I pulled up beside his house, clinging to the hope that Tess was right and he might not have money. Fingers crossed he was desperate enough to hear me out.

  I wasn’t a total ogre. I would never relish someone else’s struggles. But if he and his mom really were strapped for cash? That would be freakin’ awesome news for me.

  My surge of excitement was dashed. The truck I’d pulled up beside? I knew this truck. I’d ridden in this truck.

  I opened my car door.

  “What do you think you’re doing here?” Jack’s voice hit me before I’d
managed to get one foot out of the car.

  I sighed, steeled myself and my features, and then clambered out with as much grace as possible for an old jalopy like this one. We have to fit in. That was Tess’s annoying logic when she’d rented the oldest piece of junk she could find.

  Fitting in. That had been my plan too, and look how well that had turned out. One day in and I’d gotten us outed.

  When I turned to face Jack, I found him standing in front of the main house.

  Shirtless.

  My mouth went dry, and the August air scorched my lungs. Holy freakin’ cow, this guy was ripped. He had the body of my dreams. Tall and lean, with muscles that were sculpted but not bulky. His skin was tanned and glistening with sweat.

  His gaze raked over me. “Seen enough?”

  I tried to swallow, but my throat was made of sandpaper. He was beautiful. Maybe I could convince him to play the rancher hero in Daddy’s reboot.

  The idea came and went in a heartbeat because by the way he glared at me? I’d take my chances on Brandon. This guy would never give me a second chance.

  Hell, he hadn’t even given me a first chance.

  “I’m here to see Brandon,” I said.

  “He’s not here.”

  I glanced over his shoulder in time to see a curtain in a window flicker and fall back into place. “Seriously?” I said, pointing toward the window. “You’re going to try and tell me he’s not here?”

  “That’s his mother,” Jack said. His tone went beyond condescending. Maybe I’d been wrong to warn him off Tess. The two of them could sit around being judgy and patronizing together. With their combined powers of condescension, they could take over the world.

  His sharp glare scanned me from head to toe. “She doesn’t want to see you either.”

  I drew in a sharp inhale at the barely barbed slight.

  “Do you have any idea what your family did to them?” he said.

  No. But I could imagine. I took a step toward him and toward the house. “That’s why I’m here. To make it up to them.”