Stage Left (Bright Lights Billionaire #1) (2 page)

"What's wrong?" Charlotte put her hand on my shoulder.

"I got everything out. I dropped it off at Charlotte’s earlier. The landlord pulled up my name on her list and let me in, but watched me like a hawk.” My mom's voice was tight and filled with weariness.

Life just wasn't going to cut us a break, and why would it? It never had before.

Chapter 2

Ethan

"Smile. It makes you look human," Deza whispered as we walked toward the premier party.

"I don't want to look human. That doesn't sell movies." I glanced over at my agent and denied her the smile she wanted from me. The party was a week late thanks to a few fuck ups by some of the dip-shits we'd hired to help us manage my ever-growing list of things to attend. To say I was pissy would have been a massive understatement.

"Ethan! Ethan, over here! Please!"

"Ethan! I'm your biggest fan."

I turned and smiled, waving at the large group of women that had gathered outside the theater we'd rented out for the preview of my latest movie. It was staged to be the box office hit of the weekend. I wasn't so sure about it, but then again, I was forever critical of my skills. I needed to be. No one else was anymore.

"Hey guys. Thanks for the support." I forced myself to play the humble college frat boy that most of them believed me to be. A cute child star that now worked hard every day and prayed for a good wife at night.

Fuck that.

"You never fail to amaze me." Deza moved into the theater and glanced around at me. "You're always acting, aren't you?"

I nodded. "Yep. I'm honestly not sure who the real me is after all these years of being everyone but him. Whatever. Pays the bills."

"Pays the bills? You're the youngest billionaire in America." She reached over and brushed her hand over my chest, wiping something off my shirt. "Stop looking around. It's just us. No stalkers or annoying fans. Just a group of us from the cast and crew."

"And the large handful of VIPs you guys decided to invite." I cleared my throat and turned from her. "I'm going to take a leak. Get me a popcorn, no butter."

"Yes, your highness." Her tone was a quick indicator that she was in a good mood due to the massive number of great reviews we'd already received for the film. She and everyone else on the set was thrilled. Everyone but me.

I pushed the door open and walked into the bathroom, stopping by the sink and leaning in to study my face. The dark circles under my eyes were beautifully hidden behind a bit of concealer. Thank God for my new make-up artist. She had a calmness about her that left me actually asking for advice. No way in hell would I let anyone besides her and, of course, Deza know just how weary I was.

Everyone else could keep guessing how I was holding up. I wasn't. I needed a fucking vacation and a woman that could take a dick properly.

"Good luck with that." I turned and ran my fingers through my hair before ducking into a stall. My thoughts went to Vivian, the sexy little number they'd paired me up with for
Down Under
. She was a talented actress, but she'd worked hard to make her way to the top. From the whispers on the street most of her work was done on her knees or laying on her back.

"Stupid," I grumbled and walked back out, hating the fact that the time of working hard for success was basically over. The fact that sex sold was a lie, and it was one we were all choking on. Me included.

"Wipe that scowl off your face, handsome. These VIPs are here to see the happy side of you." Deza gave me a smirk and moved up next to me. She kept a good bit of space between us, which was smart. The press was hot to jump on any implications of romance that any of us gave off, so we worked hard to give them absolutely nothing.

She was a pretty woman, but much more of a sister figure in my life. She was a good foot and a half shorter than me, a petite thing, but a fireball nevertheless. Her dark skin and long black hair made her pretty to look at, but it was her personality that had me locked into a lifetime beside her. She was funny and didn't put up with my shit.

She was the only one.

"VIPs. That's almost a joke." I took the popcorn from her and walked to the butter machine, lavishing the snack in the greasy substance.

"I thought you didn't want butter. What the hell?" She walked up beside me.

"I didn't want
them
putting the butter on it." I glanced over at her. "Why are you so uptight? Who's coming tonight?"

"Darren Barthel. You know he's trying to win you over. To steal you from me. I hate that asshole." She shrugged, letting down her guard for a second before she tugged it back up and locked it down. "It's whatever."

"Nothing to worry about, D. You're stuck with me. You know that." I lifted the box of popcorn to my face and licked at the top of it, eating a few pieces like I had been since I was a kid. A few cameras snapped, and I offered them an award-winning smile instead of the 'back the fuck up' glare I had ready to show.

"Mr. Lewis." A young woman moved up in front of me, her suit pressed perfectly and white-blond hair back in a tight ponytail. "I'm Lucy from channel three news. We're going to be talking to you after the feature, but I was hoping that we could have a few minutes before."

"Absolutely not, Lucy. That wouldn't be very fair, now would it?" I lifted my eyebrow at her and smirked as her eyelashes fluttered.

"Right." She spoke, losing the volume to her voice, and I almost felt sorry for her. Every news station would be covering the release, and sadly enough they thought to send their best-looking female anchors to do the work for them. As if I thought with my cock and nothing else.

We moved past her and walked into the empty theater. I was an hour early for the event so that I could get settled in first. After dropping down into the seat of my choice, I extended my hand to get Deza’s phone. "Show me the hottest VIPs that are coming tonight."

She pulled up an app on her phone and handed it to me. "I think Alisa is the best-looking one, but I know you like pale white girls."

"They make me look more tan when we're fucking." I glanced over at her, hoping to shock her, but knowing that day was long gone. She'd been with me through my teenage years. She wasn’t going to even blink an eye. She'd accidentally walked in on me doing more women than anyone should be privy to.

I flipped through the sea of faces and stopped on one girl. "Oh nice. Who's this?" I handed her the phone as my cock twitched in my slacks.

"Oh shit. Wrong list." She pulled her phone closer as I groaned.

"Well, hell. What list is that? I want that girl to come sit next to me tonight." I gave her a sad, puppy-dog face as she laughed loudly.

"That stopped working after you hit puberty and turned into a whore." She handed me the phone back. "Choose quickly so I can get back in there and not have to answer a million questions about being your old lady. Shit’s getting old."

I laughed, loosening up a little now that it was just the two of us. I glanced at the phone and flipped through it, not finding anyone that piqued my interested like the girl on the last list.

"Who was she, D?" I took a deep breath and glanced back down at the phone.

"You don't wanna know." She moved to the edge of her seat, keeping her back to me. "Hurry up."

"You can't rush these things. If I choose the wrong girl, then the likelihood of me keeping it up during sex is-"

"All right. Give me the phone." She turned and pinned me with a hard look.

"Not until you tell me who the hottie was." I pulled the phone back and lifted my eyebrow.

"Pick a girl. They all look the same in the dark, Ethan." She stood up and extended her hand.

"This one is fine." I handed the phone back with a pretty blond smiling at the camera. She was right. I didn't care much about what she looked like. If the room was dark, I'd just imagine her to be the sexy thing in the first list.

"Good." She started to go, but I grabbed her wrist.

"Come on, D. Fuck. Don't make me ask again." My heart skipped a beat in my chest as she glared down at me. Something was up, and if I hated anything it was surprises.

"I'll tell you when I get back." She pocketed the phone and walked out, leaving me there wondering what the hell was going on.

She returned a few minutes later with the cute blond from the second list beside her. "Ethan, this is Amber Mills. She's a big fan of yours, and head of your fan club back in Seattle. She won these tickets tonight."

"Awesome." I stood up and dusted my slacks to get rid of the excess popcorn I seemed to be collecting there. I extended my hand, but the girl rushed me, wrapping her arms around my waist and giggling loudly. The sound made me want to cringe, but I locked my jaw and glanced up at Deza. It would seem that my 'date' for the event was going to be a choice I would soon regret.

"Oh my God. I'm totally in love with you." She squeezed hard, and I worked to pull her arms from me.

"That’s great. Sit down here and let me and Deza finish our conversation." I looked down at her. "And then you can ask me three questions. Any three you want to."

"Oh my God. Really?" She bounced on her feet.

Yep. No sex tonight.

"Absolutely." I reached out and grabbed her wrist, carefully moving her around me to sit in the seat on the other side of me.

The smile on D's face made my stomach hurt. The bitch was enjoying my pain, but then again, she always did.

"Oh my God. Ethan freaking Lewis just touched my arm." The girl dropped down into her chair as I turned my full attention on my agent.

"Spill. Who's the girl and what aren't you telling me?" I reached out and touched her arm. "D... come on, dude. You're my best friend. Fucking spill."

"All right. Fine." She sat down and let out a long sigh. "It's not my decision, and I know you're going to be upset about it."

"And? What is it?" I turned to face her as the girl behind me chattered nonstop. I prayed like hell she was talking to someone and not herself. My true concern was if she started to respond to herself. That was when I was bolting.

“Frank decided that he wants to bring more publicity beforehand to your next movie,
Down Low
." She flinched like I might slap her with my words.

"And? Stop being cryptic." Worry sprouted in my stomach, but I kept my cool as best I could. The bitch behind me was getting on my last nerve. I jerked around. "Hey. Slow down a little with the chattering. I need to have this conversation, so if you're really my number one fan, you'll let me do that."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She reached over and rubbed her hand down my back. "Go ahead. I'm just excited and when I get e-"

"Awesome. Pipe it down." I turned back to D, who gave me a 'behave’ look.

"He wants to have open auditions for the lead female in the film." She flinched as I responded loudly.

"Fuck no. We're not having anyone who has been in a toilet paper commercial, or played the lead in their school musicals coming in for auditions with me." I stood up and ran my hands through my hair. We'd tried that years ago, and it was a fucking nightmare. I still had a handful of crazy bitches from that audition stalking me. "No."

"It's not up to you." She stood up and tugged at the front of my shirt. "We're doing it, but it is a little different this time. And remember it's his movie, Ethan. We just star in it."

"Then tell him to find someone else. I'm not hosting auditions so a thousand women can come paw at me like I'm a fucking piece of meat. No." I leaned down and got in her face. "And you should have already known that."

"Don't go tough on me." She pushed at my chest a little. "We're having them submit their information and a vocal audition. We'll weed them out and then you can pick the top ten who actually get a live audition."

I started to calm a little. "When does this shit start?"

"The information is going out in the papers and all over the news tomorrow. I wanted you to enjoy the party tonight without this reaction." She waved her hands around.

"How do you have the girl's picture if this jacked up shit storm hasn't even started?" I dropped back down in my chair, a little more chill now that I knew it was ten women and not ten thousand.

"A handful of agents found out about it early. Her agent submitted her, but I'm not taking agent submissions. The actors have to submit their information themselves. And actually... I think the press leaked the information a day early. I need to check into it, but it's looking that way."

"Jeez." I shook my head and took a deep breath. When was Deza going to stop trusting the press? They'd been nothing but a thorn in our sides since we started on this journey. "Get the girl to submit on her own, then. She's someone I could create something with."

"How do you know?" Deza laughed. "You haven't seen her act or met her."

"Pull her up again." I glanced over to the girl beside me who sat quietly. "Want some of my popcorn, Amber?"

"Oh my gosh. You remember my name?" She beamed as I nodded and handed her my popcorn. I wanted to remind her that my job was to memorize pages and pages of lines, but I decided that getting a tongue lashing from D later would feel nearly as good as taking the annoying blond in the back and asking for a blow job.

"Here, and thank you for behaving." Deza handed me the phone. "And stop cussing so much. People think of you as the boy they would take home to meet mom and dad."

I laughed and snorted. "Is that a fucking joke? I play an asshole in all of my films."