A New York Kind Of Love

“Now I’d like my flat back,” he said, looking at the people buzzing around. He used his normal charming tone of voice, but there was no mistaking the underlying steel beneath.

Kitty huffed but didn’t argue. She was good at reading when he was tired of the show.

“Fine, but at least go over the itinerary before the end of the week.” She grabbed her bag and pulled out a thick folder, which she handed over to him. “It took a while, but I managed to dig up a picture of the winner.”

He flipped open the folder to find the photo. A woman with thick, dark hair and clear reddish-brown skin, wearing a conservative navy suit, stared back. Her lips were curved in a cool smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Kitty should have known better than to expect this woman to scream. She didn’t look the type. He frowned and studied her professional demeanor; he wouldn’t have expected her even to enter the contest.

“Where did you get this picture?”

“She used to be the chief nursing officer at East Houston Regional Medical Center. It was her employee ID photo.”

“She’s no longer there?”

“No, left two years ago. Something about an illness in the family. I couldn’t dig up a more current picture. Can you believe she doesn’t have a profile anywhere?” Kitty said it as if the idea of going without an online presence was akin to going without electricity.

“Some people prefer their privacy.” He looked away from the picture to eye Kitty. “If she’s not online, how did you dig this up?”

“I can’t have you going out with a person with a rap sheet, Irvin, really. Before we called and confirmed her as the winner, I did some digging.”

He glanced at the pinned-together woman in the picture. He doubted she would appreciate the probe into her life before being confirmed as the winner. He smirked. Well, she’d better get used to it. She’d be a pseudo celebrity while spending the weekend with him. Still, he felt a pang of regret for the digging, no matter how necessary it might have been.

“If you’ve got enough information to know she’s not a criminal, no more researching into her past.”

“For now,” she said. She turned to the group. “Okay, people, let’s get out of Irvin’s way.”

The lot of them packed up their phones, tablets and other gadgets. With waves, well wishes and another reminder from Kitty to review the itinerary, they were gone. He relished the silence for a few minutes. It seemed like a hundred years since he’d had an entire day of silence. He couldn’t imagine a day in the future when he would.

“Full mouths shouldn’t complain,” he could hear his mother saying. It had been her way of telling him to shut up whenever he tried to say something about the beating she would take for stealing money from his dad just to put food on the table.

He pushed the uncomfortable memories aside. His mouth was full. If the lack of quiet or personal time was a side effect, then he wouldn’t complain. His mother had endured far worse. She might not be around to enjoy the perks of his celebrity anymore, but childhood lessons died hard.

He flipped through the script and found the standard love scene. It had a full back shot. Kitty would love that. If she had her way, her number one client would go shirtless in every scene and have at least one back shot in every movie. It made her job of promoting him so much easier.

He tossed down the script in disgust. Full mouth. Full mouth. Don’t complain.

Still, he checked his phone and silently hoped for a call from Kevin about his script.

There was a knock on the door. If it was Kitty returning to tell him another thing for the premiere weekend, he would lose his mind.

He checked the peephole, relaxed and opened the door with a smile. “What on earth are you doing here?”

Dante Wilson, the R & B star with a fan base as big as Irvin’s, grinned from the other side. “I’ve got time before my concert tour and decided to come early for your promotional weekend.”

Irvin shook his head and stepped back so his friend could walk in. “Why do you need to be here for my weekend?”

“Kitty thought it would be good to show off your high-profile connections as you become the highlight of this woman’s life,” Dante said. “Her words, not mine. Jacobe is coming up from Florida.”

“Brilliant. I haven’t seen Jacobe in weeks,” Irvin said.

Jacobe Jenkins was the starting center for the Jacksonville Gators. The twenty-eight-year-old had been drafted at the end of his freshman year of college, let the easy money and women go to his head and started his professional basketball career as a wild party boy. Irvin and Dante had met him about a year ago at a party and become mentors for the young man. He still partied, but he wasn’t getting into any foolish trouble anymore.

“But you didn’t have to come early.”

“It wasn’t just for you. I met this model who’s doing a show here this week.”

That made more sense to Irvin. “Can I get you a drink?”

“You know you can.” Dante shut the door behind him. “You drinking?”

Irvin shook his head. “I’ve had my one for the day.”

“Kitty didn’t push you to have two?”

Irvin laughed. “Kitty always tempts me to have two. But two leads to three and...”

He went to the bar to fix a whiskey for Dante and a cola for himself.

Dante crossed the living area to stare out over the skyline. The living definition of a pretty boy, he looked younger than his thirty-two years in designer jeans, white shirt and tie with a gray vest. Whereas Irvin was growing weary with the celebrity life, it was all Dante knew. He was the son of music legends, had grown up in front of the camera and enjoyed the fame that came with being a star.

“You should sell me this apartment,” Dante said when Irvin came over and handed him his drink.

“You shouldn’t get your hopes up,” Irvin said and took a sip of the cola.

“One day I’ll convince you.”

“I doubt it.”

Dante chuckled and lifted the glass. “Are you going to bring her here?”

“Who?”

“The winner of the contest.” Dante gave him a sly look. “Are you going to show her all that New York has to offer?”

“You know I don’t bring women back here. It’s the one place where I can escape, when Kitty’s not around, at least.” They both chuckled at that. “Besides, I doubt I’ll get a half hour alone with the woman. Kitty will have every appearance scheduled and I’ll just show up, do my charming smile, sign an autograph and then come back here to blessed silence.”

“Pity.”

“Not at all. This isn’t a sleazy way to shag some woman. I can go for a ride without going through this much trouble. It’s to raise money for the foundation.”

“I’m just saying it wouldn’t hurt to have a little fun out of it. Obviously if she entered, she’s interested in you.”

“I’m not taking advantage of a fan just to get my kicks. Besides, I have more important things to worry about than showing her a good time.”

As if summoned, his phone chimed again. He rushed across the room to where he’d left it on the bar. Disappointment stooped his shoulders as he read the email from Kitty, reminding him to check the itinerary. With a swear, he dropped the phone back onto the bar.

“What’s got you so worked up?” Dante asked.

“I’m waiting on a response about my screenplay.”

“You finally sent it off. Good for you. You know it’ll get picked up.”

“I don’t want it picked up because of who I am. I want it picked up because it’s a good story.”

“Who cares why it’s picked up as long as it is? You worked on it for over a year. Push your weight around in Hollywood and get it made.”

“That’s not the way.”

“It is the way. What’s the point of all this fame if we don’t put it to good use?” Dante spread his arms to encompass the spacious area.

“I’ll wait and hear before I make a decision about pushing my weight around.”

“Who did you send it to?”

“Kevin Lipinski.”

Dante cringed. “He’s the toughest producer out there. And he hates screenplays from superstars. Are you trying to kill your writing career before it starts?”

“If he says yes, then I’ll know it’s good. If he says no...he’ll at least give me a reason why he doesn’t like it.”

“And tear you to pieces in the meantime. There’s nothing that guy likes better than to put celebrities with inflated egos in their place.”

Which was exactly why Irvin had sent it to him. If he had any chance of getting behind the camera, this was the test. If Kevin liked his script, Irvin planned to barter and plead to direct it. He’d earned his money and his fame, repaid his mother the debt he owed before she passed away, and now he was ready to move behind the camera. He loved Hollywood, loved the satisfaction of bringing a story to life and the pride when it was done well. But he could experience all those things without being the half-naked guy on-screen. It was his one shot to keep the security he had now without many of the headaches.

“I don’t have an inflated ego to burst,” Irvin said.

“You say that now, but wait until his comments come back.”

Irvin drank his cola to swallow the sinking feeling that Dante might be right.

Chapter 3

“I don’t have to go,” Faith said, twisting a pair of underwear in her hands.

Virginia Logan rolled her wheelchair across the threshold into Faith’s room. She shot Faith the same “are you crazy” look she’d given her when Faith was a girl and asked to stay out past her curfew. Except now the left side of her scowl drooped a little. It was still a vast improvement from the complete loss of motion and feeling Virginia had had on that side right after the stroke.

“Have you lost your mind, child?” Virginia asked in the softly slurred voice that still held a lot of her old spunk. “You deserve this vacation and a dozen more like it.”

Faith tossed the underwear in the bag. “I don’t deserve anything. I should stay. I could have filled in for one of the nurses who needed off this weekend. I’m so close to paying off the credit card, it seems foolish to lose twenty-four hours of overtime to hang out with an actor and party.”

“There’s nothing wrong with enjoying yourself when the opportunity arises.” Her mama wheeled closer and reached out her hand. Faith took it and squeezed. “You gave up a lot moving back here from Houston to take care of me and your dad. As much as I hate that you had to sacrifice so much, I’m also grateful.”

“It was nothing. Especially after what Love did to you two.”

Virginia sighed and let go of Faith’s hand. “It’s time for you to stop feeling guilty over what your sister did.”

“I know, Mama, but we’re twins. I should have sensed that she was capable of taking advantage of you.”

Virginia laughed and patted Faith’s arm. “This is real life, not some sci-fi movie. Just because you’re her twin doesn’t mean you can read her mind. There was no way any of us would have sensed that Love would get caught up in drugs or steal our money and skip town while I was in the hospital.”

“But shouldn’t I have realized that something was wrong with her? Heard it in her voice, or had some clue that she could be so heartless?”

“Your sister isn’t heartless, Faith. She’s sick. Thank the good Lord she finally agreed to go to rehab.”

Faith turned away from her mama. She walked over to the closet and calmly took down a few sundresses for the trip. She wanted to scream at her mama’s insistence on trying to find the good in Love. Despite years of dealing with Love’s fight against addiction, when she’d wiped out their parents’ savings the day after her mama suffered a stroke, Faith considered that the end of her relationship with her sister. Her parents had worked hard to build up their nest egg for retirement. Her mama had worked as a schoolteacher and principal for twenty years. Her dad had been a superintendent at a delivery company for years until he was flung from his delivery truck four years ago in an accident and broke his back in three places. Thankfully he could walk, but the injury prevented him from working. Her mama had taken care of him before her stroke.

Faith couldn’t forgive Love for stealing from their parents. Who were already struggling after her dad’s injury. From what her mama said, Love had got away with all of their savings. Savings that would have gone a long way toward helping pay the ongoing medical bills and retrofit the house to accommodate her disabled parents. All things she’d depleted her savings to pay for and worked hard to continue to pay for.

“Love isn’t sick, Mama. She’s a junkie,” she said, not bothering to hide the contempt in her voice. She walked back to her suitcase and tossed the dresses inside.

Virginia took out the dresses and started folding each of them. “Don’t hate your sister.”

“After what she did, it’s hard not to.”

“Family is family, and she’ll always be your sister. I know it’s hard for you to understand how she let drugs take over her life, but she wants to get better.” Virginia placed the folded dresses in the suitcase. Then she gave Faith a direct stare. “And when she’s out, we’ll do what we can to help her. Right?”

Faith looked away to zip her bag. That was a promise she couldn’t make. This wasn’t Love’s first stint in rehab. She’d believed her sister once before, and less than a year later, her sister had betrayed their parents.

“If you’re not going to talk me out of going, then I guess I’d better go catch that plane,” Faith said instead.

Virginia sighed but didn’t push.

Faith took her overnight bag from the bed. “I’ve made dinners for every night and they’re in the freezer,” she said.

Virginia shook her head and chuckled. “I know, Faith.”

“And Marie said she’ll check in on both of you every day. I’ll keep my cell phone with me the entire time. If anything happens—”

“Nothing is going to happen, and there isn’t much you can do from New York anyway,” Virginia said.

“You’re right. I should stay.”

“Child, come on and quit fussing. Everything will be fine.” Virginia turned her wheelchair around and left the room.

Faith followed her mama to the front of the house. It had taken most of the past two years to retrofit the house with wider doorways, bathroom handrails and other changes to make life easier for her parents. After Love’s grand theft, Faith had offered to move her parents to Houston, where she had the salary to take better care of them, but they’d refused. They’d both lived in Laurel County all their lives and didn’t want to move. If they insisted on staying, then Faith insisted on making sure their house was worth staying in.

At the front of the house, they went out into morning air, already warm and humid for early June. Marie sat on a white porch rocker, talking with Faith’s dad. Jimmy Logan and Marie were both laughing, probably at a joke that Marie had made. Her friend was always good at making her parents laugh.

“Well, I guess I’m set,” Faith said.

The smile on Marie’s face fell. “You’re going wearing that?”

Faith ran a hand across the sleeveless lavender top and jean shorts. “What’s wrong with my outfit?” Faith asked. “I’m going to be on a plane all morning.”

“And when you get off, you’re meeting Irvin Freeman. I knew I should have come over and picked out your outfit.”

Jimmy placed his hands on the walker in front of him and stood. “She looks beautiful just as she is.” He shuffled over to her. “You have a good time up there. Don’t worry a bit, and take dozens of pictures for me and your mom, okay?”

She smiled and leaned over to give him a hug. “I will, Daddy.”

“Let’s get you to the airport,” Marie said.

“Did I tell you where the spare key is?” she asked Marie. “And don’t forget that I called in my daddy’s prescription and it’ll be ready later today. I left the money—”

“On the kitchen table,” Marie cut in, rolling her eyes. “I know. You’ve told me and your parents a dozen times. Just go and have fun and quit worrying about things here.”

“But I just want to make sure—”

Marie took her arm and pulled her toward the steps. “We got it. Wave goodbye to your parents.”

Faith couldn’t wave because she had to grab her bag as Marie dragged her by her other arm down the porch. Her parents waved and grinned as if they enjoyed watching Marie pull her away.

“Call me if you need something,” she said to them.

“You just have a great time, child,” her mama called back.

Her parents looked so happy for her, she thought as Marie drove off. She’d have to try to enjoy herself for their sake, at least. Truthfully, a small part of her was excited about going to New York and not having to worry about how much an item cost or how much the meal was before ordering it. She missed that part of her old life, but she didn’t reflect on it too often. She’d done what she had to do, and there was no need to relive memories of a past that wasn’t coming back.

As they pulled away, she couldn’t help but take in the wheelchair ramp that needed replacing and the patch on the porch roof that leaked during hard storms. There was still so much to do, so much to fix. Since Love had robbed them blind, fate had kicked in to make sure everything that could go wrong did, including the house. She should stay at home, tending to those items, not travel to New York to party. No telling what bad luck fate had in store for her for going on this trip.

* * *

Hours later, Faith rolled her overnight bag off the plane, into LaGuardia Airport. She moved with the crowd toward the exit, anticipation and nervousness making her hands slick on the handle. She’d traveled around the South and West a lot, but she’d never been to New York. Even though she hated leaving her parents, this trip was giving her the opportunity to see the city, something she wouldn’t have ever done on her own.

On the plane ride, she’d convinced herself to find the silver lining in winning the contest. Since she’d got the call that her mama had had a stroke and arrived to find out that her sister had stolen all of their money, she didn’t put a lot of trust in luck.

But she refused to become one of those angry, bitter women who couldn’t appreciate things. Since her family had practically pushed her out the door to come, she would make an effort to enjoy herself and the city. She even admitted that it might be slightly cool to meet Irvin Freeman. However, she doubted the star wanted to spend the entire weekend playing tour guide. She could definitely suppress any eye rolls or sarcastic remarks if he did turn out to be a stuck-up snob during the few limited interactions she was likely to have with him.

She hoped.

She found her way to the pickup area of the airport. The instructions she’d been given said a car would be waiting for her. She only hoped she could find it in all of the activity.

A cameraman, a photographer and a guy holding a large sign with her name on it were the first people she saw. No problem recognizing her ride.

A woman with a bright red streak in her black hair stood next to the sign guy. She was dressed in a black suit that hugged her body so closely it had to have been custom-made for her. She fired off directions to the men. She must be the one in charge.

“Hi, I’m Faith Logan,” Faith said, walking over to the group that was getting the attention of everyone in the departure area. “I guess you’re my ride.”

The woman in the suit stopped talking and spun to face her. The smile on her face flickered for a second, about the same amount of time it took to do a quick inventory of Faith’s hair and outfit, before she got her features back in order. Faith wasn’t sure what that was about, but this woman probably made her living sizing people up in one look.

“Faith Logan, welcome and congratulations! I’m Kitty Brown, Irvin’s publicist and your host for this weekend,” she said in the cheerful voice Faith recognized from the phone call.

The photographer lifted his camera and pointed it in Faith’s direction. Kitty shook her head and motioned with a finger for him to lower it. “Not now. We’ll get a shot of her meeting Irvin instead of coming off the plane.” She turned to Faith with another big smile. “And we’ll get you just right for the introduction.”

“I really don’t need anything extra just to meet him,” Faith said, not liking the implication that she was somehow not ready to see the guy. Granted, she had hoped to put on a little makeup—lip gloss and some mascara—and even change into one of her dresses. But the way Kitty came across, it was as if Faith hadn’t spent the past few hours on a plane with an hour layover thanks to engine problems.

“Nothing extra,” Kitty said, “but we can...freshen you up a bit. We don’t have a lot of time. Your plane was delayed, you know.” Kitty said it as if Faith had some part in that. “So instead of the elaborate wardrobe, hair and makeup session we planned, we can go with a few changes for the photo shoot. We’ll save the major makeover for before the club tonight.”

“If the photo shoot is me meeting him for the first time, why do I need to change clothes?”

Kitty stopped in the middle of turning to the rest of the crew to raise her eyebrow at Faith. “Well, we can’t shoot you in that outfit.”

Faith bet that eyebrow and disdainful tone made people quake, but she had worked for one of the meanest hospital administrators in Houston. She’d been raised in the South, where an older woman could throw shade so fast and easy you wouldn’t realize she’d called you a bitch until two weeks later. Kitty didn’t intimidate her.

“What’s wrong with my outfit? Look, I’m willing to go with the flow, but I will not be insulted. Not my clothes, hair or anything else. If you wanted a starlet type, you probably could have picked one, but you didn’t. You chose me. So you’re getting me.”

The corner of Kitty’s mouth rose in a cynical smile. “A random-number generator chose you, not me. But I know how to make do with what I’m given. The offer wasn’t given as an insult—it’s part of the weekend. Makeover and photo shoot with Irvin. Don’t you remember that in the itinerary?”

“I haven’t read the itinerary,” she admitted.

Something very close to relief came across Kitty’s face. “No wonder you aren’t very enthusiastic. Just wait until you hear about all the fun I have in store for you. Prepare to be pleasantly surprised.”

Kitty slid her arm through Faith’s, as if they were old friends, and headed for the door. With a wave of her hand she indicated that the rest of the crew should follow, before diving headfirst into a speech on how lucky Faith was.

Faith tried to summon up the small amount of enthusiasm she’d felt on the plane, but Kitty barely gave her a chance to think, much less absorb it all. Plus, the woman wouldn’t take a breather so Faith could call her parents and let them know she’d arrived. It was unlikely that anything catastrophic had happened since that morning, but she would have felt better checking in. However, as Kitty kept up the chatter out to the limo and on the ride to the city, Faith gave up hope of calling until they reached their destination. She couldn’t help wondering if Kitty’s constant chatter was her punishment for going on this trip.

Chapter 4

Irvin flipped through the pages of the latest Men’s Health magazine as he lounged on a sofa in the Manhattan studio of photographer Rafael Sims. Kitty was late, which was very unusual for her, but he wasn’t in a rush. The photo shoot with him and the winner should take about an hour, and his only afternoon plans were to not check his emails every six minutes. He wasn’t doing too well with that. Rafael had helped distract him for a few minutes with idle conversation until the photographer had got a call. Irvin glanced at his watch; five minutes had passed since he’d last looked. Which meant he might as well check his phone again.

He put down the magazine and picked up his mobile. As expected, there were no emails from Kevin Lipinski. He would have been better served leaving his mobile at home. He tossed it back onto the glass table in front of him and picked up the magazine.