Chapter 6

 

Mary

 

I woke up, alone as usual in my bed. More sexually frustrated than I’d been in a long time.

The only cure for that was to reach down my pants or to head for my home gym. Since I was pretty sure I could hear Brain and Lance awake and in the kitchen, I decided the latter was a better idea.

I changed into a pair of yoga pants and a sports bra, pulling my long blonde hair into a bun as I padded from my bedroom to the kitchen.

I’d grown up with my parents in Connecticut in their historic home, with trips to visit relatives with their Upper East Side penthouses that, to me, just looked like old castles with all of their gold and chandeliers.

When I first got the job on Vamps in The City, I was still commuting from my parent's place, and after season one, I was able to buy my open-air penthouse with modern white everything and floor to ceiling windows that practically sparkled on the marble floors and white granite counter tops. This was completely different from the large, rustic mansion I shared with Eddie in Nashville that I knew I’d never go back to.

Brian stood behind the breakfast bar, his biceps bulging as he shook his protein shake. If the guy wasn’t so into Lance, I would take a pass at him. That is if he was into women and we didn’t dry hump for the camera to make a fake sex video.

“Headed to the gym before your brunch?” Lance asked, looking up from the iPad he had perched in front of him as he sat at one of the stools at the breakfast bar.

“You know about brunch?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow before opening my subzero fridge and grabbing a bottle of water.

Brian smirked, setting his shaker bottle on the counter. “Of course I do. I already messaged that PR douche to get the details too. I don’t know what you see in him and whatever this is going on with the two of you, but if I was your publicist, I don’t think I’d be suggesting dating and dancing in Brooklyn.”

I scrunched my nose. This was coming from the guy who agreed to make a fake sex tape with me to make Eddie jealous. Though to be fair, we were all pretty shit-faced, and I was super upset that Eddie wouldn’t come home with me to see my parents for Thanksgiving, or ever visited me in New York. Somehow that ended with all of us in Halloween costumes and seeing how good we could fake a sex scene.

None of us had drunk Fireball since.

“My love life is really none of your business, but if you must know, it’s for the press. And it was my idea. A fake relationship with a normal guy to improve my image,” I said, trying to stand straighter.

Lance let out a ‘hmph’ sound, barely looking up from the iPad. “Well, it’s getting some kind of press, because you’re all over social media right now.”

“What? Really?” I hadn’t even looked at my phone or all of my notifications. Pulling out the slim, smartphone from the pocket of my yoga pants, I searched my name to get millions of hits.

“Actress Mary James was seen dancing in the Brooklyn streets with a mystery man,” I read. “This is good, right?” I asked, looking between the two of them.

Brian shrugged. “I guess. We’ll see if anything comes of it.”

As if Murray knew we were discussing the new publicist, my phone buzzed with his number. I slid the phone up to my ear, answering the call as I stepped out of the kitchen and plopped down on the sofa. The gym and getting out sexual frustrations would have to wait. “Hey, Murray. See the news this morning?”

“Looking at a page now. I see you and the Instagram model went dancing last night. I thought it was just tapas?” Murray asked, his tone questioning.

“We did, and then he suggested dessert and one thing lead to another…”

“Are you sleeping with your publicist, Lourdes?” he asked, point blank. Murray only called me by my real name when he was especially pissed. Mary James was the name I was given when I got my first real acting job on the soap opera, using my middle name and my dad’s first name. Gone was Lourdes Stowe with the light brown hair and freckles and in came the dyed blonde with the fake tan: Mary James.

“I am not! I can’t believe you’d even think that! You knew that sex tape was a fake and the last person I’ve been with was Eddie.” I cringed inwardly, thinking of the fact that my agent knew way too much about my romantic life.

He sighed. “Mary, I’m just looking out for you and your career. If you need me to find another publicist for you, we can.”

“No. It’s fine. This can be a good thing. Everyone loves someone on the rebound, right? Getting my own Cinderella story?”

I could practically hear Murray’s sweat glistening off his forehead. “If this gets anything. Trending because you were seen dancing doesn’t exactly equal parts for you. I haven’t received any producer calls.”

“Yet. But there’s always hope.”

“For your sake, let’s hope there is.”

We said our goodbyes then I hung up the phone, tilting my head back on the couch.

“Murray not impressed by your dance moves?” Lance asked, stepping into the living room.

“I guess not… I’m going to work out and shower before my fake boyfriend gets here,” I muttered, heading down the hall to now work out my anger instead of horniness.

Hopefully, all of this wouldn’t just be a giant mistake.