AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Probably a SEAL. They’re everywhere.”
“—and now he works for the government.”
“Doing what?”
“I don’t know. When I asked, he got kind of cagey and turned the question back around on me.”
“Maybe he’s a spy.”
“That’s what I said!”
Savannah gave her a cautious smile then started sanding the bar again. Peeking sideways, she asked, “Is he cute?”
“He’s a tall, bronzed god with 6-pack abs and dark blue eyes.”
“You think everyone is tall,” Savannah said with a chuckle.
“Everyoneistall, but he’s extra tall.” At barely 5’3”, Harper felt like a munchkin standing next to Ryland. A full head and shoulders above her, he towered over her. The guy had to be at least 6’2”. She squeezed her thighs together. Tall guys always turned her on and Ryland was no different.
“I thought you swore off men,” Savannah reminded her innocently.
She had. After Patrick kicked her out, she didn’t have anywhere to go and wound up living in her car for a month. Harper supposed that was partly her fault for being so damn stubborn. She could’ve come down to San Diego sooner. But, in her mind, leaving L.A. meant giving up on acting, and she hated the idea of letting her dad down. Everything she’d been doing was for him.
It was the main reason she’d stayed so long and tried so hard. She wanted to make him proud. Imagined him smiling down on her and bragging to everyone, “That’s my Harpsichord,” his special nickname for her.
Truthfully, she never liked much about the city. It was too big, too crowded and too dirty. People weren’t friendly, especially in the business, and the amount of competition she faced for one stupid job was overwhelming.
Harper had doled out far too much money during the last year pursuing a dream which, when she really dug down deep and acknowledged it, was barely hers. The monthly rent for her apartment was outrageous, her car insurance doubled, gas prices tripled and then there were all the costs associated with acting—headshots, classes, meetings over lunch or coffee. The entire fiasco turned out to be a money pit and the little cash she’d gotten after her parents died burned up fast. Once it was gone, she felt like a fool. Another Hollywood failure who was no closer to success than she’d been when she first moved there.
And then the guy she’d been dating, the one who invited her to live with him after she lost her apartment, broke up with her. He’d kicked her to the curb so fast her head had spun. Of course, she’d been hurt. Not devastated about losing him, but more so by the way he’d done it…the things he’d said…
“I’m just not attracted to you anymore, Harper.”
His cold words still echoed through her head.Wow.Talk about a punch to the gut. Her ego was still bruised.
“You have to admit, what little spark there was burned out a while ago.”
She’d only been dating the actor wannabe for three months, but the fact he’d started dating some D-list actress the day after dumping Harper still stung.
He’d kicked Harper out and moved Chloe in all in less than twenty-four hours.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, his parting words were an added low blow. It wasn’t enough that he made her feel unwanted by him; he made her question things that would make her unwanted by anyone.
“And, c’mon, the sex was only okay. We both know it. But you’ll get better.”
True, she didn’t have much experience and Patrick was only the second guy she’d slept with, but his callous remark was beyond insulting. It was hurtful. He made it sound like it was all her fault she’d never had an orgasm with him. Like she was bad in bed. She certainly remembered him having orgasms, so it couldn’t have been that bad.Jerk.
Harper’s first sexual partner barely counted. Less first-time bliss, more drunken college fiasco. He’d been so wasted the experience barely lasted a few minutes. Just a few grunts, pumps and done. Not one romantic memory about that encounter and she’d been in no hurry to do it again. But Patrick had been nice, cute. He approached her and started chatting while in the waiting room during a casting session. L.A. was a lonely place and she enjoyed their conversation.
At twenty-five, she was not innocent or naive, but she lacked experience and was curious, so she agreed to go out with him. Their relationship wasn’t very exciting and he certainly never gave her butterflies, but she had to give herself credit for trying.
“It’s over, Harper. You’re going to have to find someone else to mooch off of because I’m done playing Sugar Daddy.”
His cruel words ringing in her ears, she’d packed what few possessions she had left—she’d already sold most of them—and moved into her Prius. It was the lowest point of her life. But she pushed herself to still go out on auditions, lived on ninety-nine cent Del Tacos, washed up in the park bathroom and refused to call her sister for money.
A month later, without a single acting job to her credit, and down to her last twenty dollars, she decided to leave L.A., drive to San Diego with her tail between her legs, and hope Savannah would hire her to work at the restaurant.
Of course, her sister had welcomed her with open arms—just like she knew she would—and helped her start to get back on her feet. The entire humiliating experience was behind her now, but it was a lesson she couldn’t allow herself to forget.
