No Matter What (9 page)

Stepping up onto the porch of her home - because that’s what it was now, home, the U.K. nothing but a distant memory - she threw her shoes down on the decking and leaned back against the wall, looking out to sea again.
 
The first surfers were starting to arrive and she smiled as she remembered Kenny’s first attempt to get her on a surfboard.
 
She’d go give him a call, see if he was up yet.
 
They had a photo shoot together later that morning but he had a habit of not using alarms and sleeping in for everything, especially if he’d been out the night before.
 

He’d been out on a few dates with a young Spanish actress lately so she hadn’t seen him for a couple of days and she felt a strange stab of jealousy as she pushed open the French doors and went inside.
 
She’d thought it hadn’t bothered her.
 
Reece had taken her out to dinner and she’d had a few of her new friends over, but she suddenly realised she missed Kenny.
 
More than she’d thought she would.
 

She left the doors open behind her – she liked to hear the sounds of the beach as the day progressed – glancing at Kenny’s guitar propped up in the corner of the small living room, his leather biker jacket draped over the back of the chair.
 

Sitting down and leaning back against his jacket she closed her eyes and pulled her knees up.
 
She’d give him a few more minutes then call him.
 
For the time being, though, she was quite happy where she was.

***

He was bored of her now.
 
Anna was young and extremely pretty with the hottest Spanish accent but she was doing nothing for him.
 
She’d left quite early that morning, probably sensing he wasn’t in the mood for conversation and he wasn’t.
 
Not with Anna, anyway.

He flung himself back onto the bed, throwing his arms up above his head, staring at the ceiling.
 
He hadn’t seen or spoken to
India
in days and that didn’t feel right somehow.
 
They spent so much time together that not seeing her for even just a couple of days now felt alien to him.
 
Still, he’d be seeing her soon, at the photo shoot.
 

He smiled to himself at the thought.
 
It was going to be one of those black and white wearing-not-a-lot-of-clothes shoots and the thought of seeing
India
like that, well; he couldn’t deny he wasn’t going to enjoy it, could he?
 
He had a feeling Reece would be hanging around again though.
 
He kept such a close eye on
India
that half the time Kenny felt as though he should be asking his permission before they did anything or went anywhere.
 
He’d sorted her out with a house, an agent, a management team, made sure everything was done for her.
 
Kenny couldn’t quite work out what was going on there but he figured Reece must feel some kind of responsibility towards
India
, he being the one who’d brought her over to
L.A.
in the first place, completely changing her life.
 

He jumped out of bed and started looking for something to throw on amongst the pile of clothes on his hotel room floor, still thinking about
India
as a sudden stab of guilt washed over him.
 
India
didn’t know about his
Malibu
hideaway, he still hadn’t told her.
 
There was still something stopping him from letting her in somehow.
 
From letting anyone in.
 

As he pulled on his jeans and ran a hand through his black hair he knew that he was still keeping up this image, still putting up that barrier that stopped anyone from seeing the other side of him but that’s the way he wanted it, for now.
 
That part of him was just too sacred to open up to anyone else, even
India
- his beautiful best friend.
 
Even with her he still couldn’t find it in him to expose that part of himself.
 
Maybe he never would.
 
Did that make him weak?
 
Or just scared?
 
Or were they the same thing?

He looked in the mirror, running his fingers over the stubble on his chin, squinting at his slightly bloodshot eyes.
 
He was going to get shit from the make-up team today.
 
He looked like crap.
 

The ‘phone ringing gave him the distraction he needed and he turned away from the mirror, picking up the receiver.
 
“Hey.”

“Kenny?
 
It’s
India
.”

She always knew which hotel he used and the fact she always knew where to find him made him smile.
 
He liked that.
 

The sound of her voice made him smile even more and he sat down on the edge of the bed, suddenly feeling that today was going to be a good day.

***

Reece needed something to help him sleep.
 
Another night of lying awake had just ended, but despite the overwhelming feeling of tiredness he still couldn’t close his eyes and rest.
 
There was too much going on in his head.

The last few months had gone better than he’d ever expected but that wasn’t coming without its fair share of problems.
 
The ‘phone calls and letters, they were just part of it and he knew that if he’d just conceded - well, that had never been an option.
 

Lying in bed was pointless so he got up, grabbed a quick shower and called
India
to make sure she was ready for the ‘photo shoot.
 
Engaged.
 
She was probably on the ‘phone to Kenny.
 

Reece poured himself a cup of black coffee and took it outside by the pool.
 
She cared far too much about that man, more than he thought she should.
 
She was at the start of an exciting new career and he didn’t think she needed the distraction of Kenny Ross, even if they
were
just friends.
 
He’d seen no evidence to the contrary but then he wasn’t with her twenty four hours a day.

He took a sip of coffee and looked out across his vast surroundings – the large kidney shaped pool set against a backdrop of palm trees and other exotic plants, with the most amazing view of the ocean.
 
He loved it here, but something had always been missing and he’d never really known what it had been, not until a few months ago.
 

Closing his eyes he leaned back in his chair, letting the warm, early morning sun hit his face.
 
This wasn’t going to be easy; none of this was going to be easy and to avoid one hell of a mess he was going to have to tread very carefully.
 
In the meantime, though, he was doing just fine.
 
Keep it on an even keel and everything would work out ok.
 
And that’s just what he intended to do.

***

She was going to be huge.
 
She was going to be one of
Hollywood
’s biggest stars, that was a given.
 

Michael Walsh was watching through the final cut of the movie, and with the premiere now just a day away it had gone right to the wire, but he’d wanted to make sure it was right, and it was more than right.
 
It was sensational!
 

 
‘Rock Stars and Demons’ was going to be a hit, no doubt about it.
 
Michael couldn’t have wished for a better start to his directorial career.
 
India Steven was incredible!
 
She’d been a risk but she’d paid off, big time.
 
Watching her up there on the big screen, it felt as though she’d been doing it for years, she was a natural, and when she and Kenny were together it was electric.
 
The chemistry was so obvious it practically jumped off the screen.
 
He couldn’t understand why they’d never got it together but it was something he’d far from encouraged and never wanted to see happen.
 
He’d spent many a time telling
India
that getting involved with co-stars spelt trouble – he’d had first hand experience of that – and she’d always told him there was nothing going on.
 
He believed her.
 
She was a special girl.
 
This movie was going to propel her to A-List status overnight and he just hoped that it wouldn’t change her.
 
He wanted her to stay just the way she was.

He closed his eyes briefly as an image of Kenny and
India
in a pretty explicit love scene filled the screen.
 
He couldn’t watch it; he couldn’t watch someone else touching her like that, someone else’s hands on her.
 

He remembered the sick feeling he’d had in the pit of his stomach the day they’d filmed that scene, and even though Kenny and
India
had taken it all in their stride he still had no idea how he’d got through it.
 
He couldn’t get her out of his head, couldn’t let a day go by when he didn’t think about how to stay close to her, how to keep her in close proximity and he couldn’t help but feel envious of Reece Brogan for having found a way to do all of that and more.

She was consuming every waking minute of his days, at night she invariably invaded his dreams, and he had two choices here.
 
He could either get this movie done and dusted and move onto the next project, leaving
India
to get on with her life.
 
Or he could do his utmost to make sure she stayed a part of his.

He looked back at the screen, at a close up of her face, Kenny Ross behind her, kissing her neck, stroking her shoulders.
 
And that’s when Michael realised he had no choice at all.
 
He wasn’t letting
India
go.

CHAPTER 8

Kenny sat on the window sill of their Hollywood hotel room, watching through the slightly open bathroom door as
India
stepped out of the shower, a small white towel wrapped around her tanned body.
 
With her damp blonde hair loose around her shoulders and her skin all wet, Kenny felt more than a little hot under the collar.
 
He knew he should look away but he couldn’t stop himself.
 
Something about her just drew him in.
 
Her confidence was growing by the day and she was fast turning into this amazing young woman, someone that Kenny was fascinated with.
 
In more ways than one.
 

He finally decided to move away from watching her, just incase she saw him, and walked over to the window, looking out but not really taking notice of anything in particular.

It was the night of the premiere and everyone was here, including
India
’s brother Terry and her friend Charley.
 
From the second
India
had introduced him to Charley she’d done nothing but smile and flirt with him, despite the fact she was, apparently, very much attached to Terry.
 
Kenny had found it a touch unsettling but it wasn’t like it was something he hadn’t come across before.
 
He just found it hard to believe that she and
India
were friends.
 
They both seemed so different.
 
India
was all blonde hair and natural beauty whilst Charley, who was undeniably one hell of a good looking girl, was someone who Kenny could only describe as slightly obvious.
 
She wore far too much make-up and her clothes were too revealing but, if she was
India
’s friend, he’d make sure he was nothing but nice to her.
 

Her brother was another matter, of course.
 
Terry could only look at Kenny with something bordering on total contempt but Kenny had expected nothing else.
 
He had a long way to go to prove his worth to
India
’s big brother, and maybe it was pointless even trying.
 
Let them all think what they wanted, what did he and
India
have to prove anyway?
 
Nothing was going on.

He turned around as she walked out of the bathroom, all damp hair and unmade up face and he thought he’d never seen her look more beautiful.
 
She was only wearing underwear too – a black bra and matching bikini briefs - a testament to how comfortable they felt with each other, yet today he felt slightly flustered as he watched her move around the room, stopping in front of the mirror to towel dry her hair.