The Shifter's First Bite, page 8
“More like notorious,” Zinnia said, making a face at her sister.
“At least you look hot.” Frankie waved the tabloid in front of Zinnia’s face. “Look at you. Your cheeks are flushed, and you have that contented look a woman gets when she’s been ridden hard and put away wet.”
“Frankie!” Zinnia’s cheeks flushed with heat and she wished more than anything she could just hole up in her house for the next two months until Reed’s show finished filming and all of the paparazzi left town. The only problem was that Reed would leave with them, and when that day came, she knew she’d be heartbroken all over again. Despite Reed’s assurances that he wasn’t going to let her go this time, she still feared her calls and letters would go unanswered once they were living three thousand miles away from each other.
It had been only twenty-four hours since the pictures had hit the gossip columns and newsstands. Her life hadn’t been her own since. She’d had to turn her phone off and sneak out in the middle of the night through the woods just to avoid the paparazzi who’d been camped out at the end of her driveway ever since Reed had walked out onto her porch and proclaimed that she was his girlfriend. He’d shut down any questions about Krissy, indicating to the press that they weren’t together and never had been.
Now there were articles in the same tabloids speculating about Krissy’s sexual preference and how she’d likely just been using Reed as a beard. Since Zinnia had seen Krissy and Holly together with her own two eyes, she suspected the rumors were true, but she hadn’t said a word to anyone, not even Frankie. Zinnia didn’t much care for the actress, but she wasn’t interested in getting in the middle of anyone else’s business.
“Come on, Zinnia,” Frankie said. “Can’t you just relax and enjoy this a while? It’s not every day a girl gets to sleep with Reed Sinhawk.” She fanned herself. “If I wasn’t already married to the love of my life, I’d probably hate you right now.”
Zinnia snorted out a laugh. “He mentioned that time you asked him out when you were ten. Remember that?”
Frankie placed a hand over her heart and hunched forward as if she were wounded. “How could I forget? I was devastated for weeks.”
The bell indicating someone had stepped into the shop sounded, and Zinnia heard her assistant Greta call out a greeting.
“Where’s Zinnia Franklyn?” an angry woman demanded.
“Uh oh.” Frankie slid off the counter and moved toward the door. “What did you do this time?”
“Beats me. Maybe it’s someone from the set who is angry she’s had to wait three days for these cookies,” Zinnia said, already removing her apron. “I guess I better go find out.”
But before Zinnia could even take one step, the back door flew open and clattered against the wall. Krissy stomped in. Her eyes were puffy and rimmed with smudged mascara. Her sleek hair had turned to a mop of frizz. And to top it off, she was wearing a white shirt with a mustard stain just over her left breast.
“Krissy?” Zinnia asked. “Are you all right?”
“All right?” she mimicked in an impossibly high voice. “‘Are you all right,’ she asked. Ha! Have you seen the latest gossip rags?”
“We did,” Frankie said calmly as she moved to stand next to her sister. “Everyone knows you can’t believe a word they say. Why are you so upset?”
Krissy glared at Zinnia. “It wasn’t enough for you that you had to steal my fiancé? You had to go around spreading lies about me, too?”
“Lies? I didn’t—” Zinnia started.
“I know what you think you saw back at the set,” Krissy said, stalking toward her with her finger out. “But what you don’t understand is that we’re actors. That’s what we do. And we’re damned good at it, too. Holly is—well, she was just helping me with a part. Got it?”
“Krissy, I didn’t say anything to anyone. Reed’s the one—”
“Reed would’ve never said anything to those vultures. I know him. You don’t.” Krissy glanced down at one of the finished cookies and shook her head in disgust. “You really are just an infatuated fan, aren’t you? Pathetic really. Well, you’ve had your two minutes in the spotlight with Reed. By this time next week, he’ll be back in my bed.”
“Back in your bed?” Zinnia asked, her stomach churning with the implication. Hadn’t Reed told her that he’d never even dated Krissy? Dating and sleeping together aren’t exactly the same thing, she told herself. She felt the blood drain from her face and had to clutch at the table to keep from losing her balance. She knew Reed hadn’t been celibate for the last decade. Considering his impressive skills, she was grateful for that. But she sure as hell didn’t want to know about his conquests, especially if they involved Krissy.
Krissy snapped her fingers and a small man wearing a green suit with matching green bowler hat hurried into the room. He stopped right in front of her and bowed as if she were royalty. “At your service, Miss Kimble.”
Zinnia and Frankie shared a quizzical glance. Who was this? Her own personal leprechaun?
“Give her the letter.” Krissy pointed at Zinnia.
“Yes, ma’am.” The leprechaun pulled an unmarked envelope from the inside pocket of his jacket and held it out. “Are you Miss Zinnia Franklyn?”
“Yes. Why?” she said.
“This is for you, courtesy of Mr. Sinhawk.”
“Reed sent me a letter?” she asked, gingerly taking the envelope. Instantly her blood ran cold. He’d sent a letter with Krissy? That couldn’t be good.
“It’s from his father,” Frankie said, a scowl on her face as she moved to stand protectively in front of Zinnia.
“What?” Zinnia asked, but she already knew. Her sister was a seer and must’ve just had a vision of what they’d find when they opened the letter.
Krissy craned her neck so that she could see around Frankie and gave Zinnia a cat-that-ate-the canary grin and said, “You’ve been served.”
Zinnia’s fist curled around the envelope, crumpling the paper. “For what?”
“Lying about me to the media. No one says shit about me and gets away with it. My future father-in-law is making sure my reputation isn’t damaged further. Reed will see soon enough how you’ve used him to sell information to the tabloids, and then he’ll come running back to me.”
“You little bitch—” Zinnia started, but her sister cut her off.
“I think you’ve made your point,” Frankie said, taking a step toward the actress. “Reed can make his own choices. In the meantime, please refrain from insulting my sister, or I’ll instruct my ghoul to haunt you day and night.”
“You’re lying,” Krissy said, narrowing her eyes at Frankie.
“Oh really? Haven’t you ever heard rumors of Heather Jean Mansfield?” Frankie asked her, referring to their fourth cousin twice removed. She’d died five years ago and had haunted Frankie’s bookshop ever since. When Heather Jean didn’t like someone, she did her level best to run them off and had acquired quite the notorious reputation. The truth was she was mostly harmless, but Krissy wouldn’t know that.
Unease flickered in Krissy’s eyes, but when she blinked it was gone, replaced by indifference. “Whatever. Let’s go,” she said to the leprechaun and then turned on her heel and stalked out. The little man ran after her, and a second later, they heard the bell chime on the front door, indicating they’d left the building.
“She’s insane,” Zinnia said.
“No doubt, but she’s managed to get Reed’s father on her side. I think you better open that letter,” Frankie said.
Zinnia glanced down at the envelope in her hand and felt as if she was going to vomit. Did Reed know what was going on? He couldn’t, could he? Surely he’d have warned her. The fact that she didn’t know the answers to those questions made a pit form in her stomach. She glanced up at Frankie. “How did I get myself into this mess?”
Frankie gave her sister a gentle smile. “I believe it was when you threw caution to the wind and allowed that hot man to give you mind-blowing orgasms.”
“Right.” And the fact was Zinnia didn’t regret her choice at all. She couldn’t. She loved Reed, and nothing short of him being in cahoots with Krissy would change that. She dug her phone out of her pocket and hit Reed’s number. It went straight to voicemail. Dammit, she thought and typed out a text.
I just had a visit from Krissy. Need to talk to you. Call me back ASAP. She hit Send and sighed when there was no immediate reply.
Frankie grabbed the envelope from her sister and tore it open. “Do you want to read it or should I?”
“You do it,” Zinnia said, bracing herself.
Frankie scanned the letter and swore.
“Oh gods. It’s really bad, isn’t it?” Zinnia said.
“Yes. There’s a letter from Reed’s father and his attorney. Reed’s father is paying his attorney to represent Krissy in a defamation suit. It says here he won’t stand for his future daughter-in-law to be humiliated by a gold-digging fan.”
“What the hell? I didn’t say anything to anyone about Krissy, and I’ve never taken a dime from anyone. The studio hasn’t even paid me for these cookies yet!” Zinnia cried.
Frankie reached out and squeezed her sister’s hand. “I’m so sorry, Zin. There’s a copy of a sworn statement from Krissy that says you threatened to go to the gossip rags and tell them she’s dating a woman if she didn’t stay away from Reed. She’s suing you for defamation of character for five million dollars.”
Zinnia’s world spun. “Five million dollars?”
Frankie just nodded.
“I could work for another hundred years and never even get close to that. Who are they kidding?” Zinnia paced around her work table, her fingers worrying her apron. “And that sworn statement is total bullshit. I never said a word about Holly to anyone. Not Krissy, not Reed, not the press. They must’ve found out from someone else who works on the set, because it sure as hell wasn’t me.”
“That’s true?” Frankie exclaimed. “Holy shit. Krissy has a girlfriend?”
“Uh… maybe? I saw her making out with a woman named Holly. I also managed to overhear them fighting about their relationship. So they might be girlfriends, but they might’ve also broken up. That’s hardly the point anyway. Who cares if Krissy is into women? The point is that I never said anything to anyone until this very moment.”
“The point is, dear sister, that if it’s true that Krissy was dating a woman, even if you did talk to someone, it can’t be defamation. Which means this lawsuit is an even bigger pile of shit than I originally thought.” Frankie strode over to where the last of the werewolf cookies were still sitting on their trays and started stuffing them into the box.
Zinnia, not knowing what else to do with herself, joined in, and the two of them worked in silence until the box was full.
Frankie stacked the three boxes, but before Zinnia could grab them, Frankie put her hand out. “Nope. I’m taking these to the set. Don’t you worry about a thing, big sister. I’m going to handle not just the cookies, but your Krissy problem, too.”
Zinnia narrowed her eyes. “What are you planning?”
“Just a little something that will take down that entitled little crotch scratcher a notch or five.”
Zinnia snorted and couldn’t help the laugh that followed. “You need to keep that to yourself. Reed told me that in confidence, and if that gets out, I really will be in trouble.”
“Yeah, I know. But when it’s just us, that’s gonna be her nickname forevermore.” Frankie grinned at her sister, tightened her grip on the cookies, and strode out.
Chapter Ten
Zinnia jammed the paperwork in her purse and headed home. By the time she passed the caravan of photographers at the end of her driveway, she was so pissed she was seeing red. How had they even known Reed was with her the other night?
The same way the photographer found us at the hot springs, Zinnia thought. Krissy had told them. There was no reason to believe Krissy hadn’t known where Reed was going after the shoot. He hadn’t made a secret of the two of them seeing each other. The question was, why? What was in it for Krissy to make her and Reed’s affair public?
Zinnia had no answers other than the actress was a terrible person. Once she was inside the house, Zinnia headed straight for her wine cellar. If ever there was a time for a drink, it was now. She sat down at the bar in her kitchen and proceeded to drink the afternoon away. Once she was two-thirds of the way through the bottle, her sister called to check in on her.
“Are you okay?” Frankie asked.
“Better now that I’ve made friends with a ten-year-old bottle of cabernet.”
“Oh no. You and wine aren’t the best combination when you’re in this state. Just try to keep out of the kitchen, okay? We don’t need you concocting another one of your revenge potions.”
“Hey, now you’re talking,” Zinnia said, wondering why she hadn’t thought of that already. Zinnia had excelled at creating potions in school. It was one of her talents.
“No. Don’t even think about it,” Frankie said. “Remember the last time you made one while drunk? You gave old man Parker a rash on his genitals because he told you your cupcakes were too lumpy.”
“He deserved it though, Frankie,” she slurred. “He was talking about my tits!”
“True, but I don’t think crafting a potion to curse the person suing you is a good idea. Promise me you won’t do that,” her sister ordered.
“Okay, fine. I won’t. Now why did you call? Did you need some cookies?” Zinnia asked, her head spinning from the wine.
“No. Never mind. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“Okay, hurry. Otherwise all of the wine will be gone.” Zinnia hiccupped into the phone and giggled. “Oops.”
“Oh boy. You’re a mess. Put the wine down and try to eat something. Okay?”
“Sure, sis. See you soon.” Zinnia ended the call, glanced at her empty wine glass and filled it again. Her body was warm and tingly all over, and she could barely remember why she was so upset. What was it again?
Krissy’s smirking face flashed in her mind. “Right,” Zinnia said to no one. “That buttface is trying to sue me.” She slid off her chair and stumbled over to her pantry. “I can’t let her get away with that.”
Her sister’s voice echoed in her mind… something about potions and giving old man Parker a genital rash. She giggled. “That’s exactly what Krissy deserves. Another genital rash.”
Unfortunately, she couldn’t recall the rash potion. But she did have something else in mind. Still giggling to herself, Zinnia started rummaging around in her cabinets, intent on making Krissy the perfect potion.
Reed glanced at the text from Zinnia and nearly came apart as rage filled him. It’d come in over an hour ago when he’d been in a meeting with the studio heads about the tabloid scandal. They were pissed because they’d been promoting him and Krissy as a happily engaged couple for the upcoming season, and all their marketing had just gone to shit. But he didn’t give two flying fucks what they thought. It wasn’t in his contract that he had to be dating or in a real relationship with his co-star. And frankly, he was damned tired of everyone telling him what to do when it came to his love life.
As soon as he’d walked out of the meeting, he’d taken a call from his manager who’d warned him about the lawsuit and the fact that his father was behind it. It was after that call when he first saw her text. He wanted to call her, knew she deserved as much, but he was far too angry in that moment. Instead he texted back. I just heard. Don’t worry. I’ll handle it.
There was no immediate reply. He waited a few more minutes then added a second text. Fuck the paparazzi. I’ll be there as soon as I can.
They’d decided to lay low for a bit until the photographers gave up on stalking her house, but after the day he’d had, he was completely over it. The press wasn’t going to keep him away from his girl for a moment longer than necessary. Neither was his controlling bastard of a father. He shoved the phone into his pocket and strode into the large Victorian’s parlor where Remington Sinhawk was holding a glass of scotch while reassuring Krissy’s father that the latest scandal would be dead and buried within hours.
“Reed, there you are.” Philip Kimble clapped him on the back. “It’s an unfortunate mess you seem to have gotten yourself into with that bakery woman. I can’t say I blame you though. She sure has a great ass on her, doesn’t she? I bet she’s a wildcat and crazy in the sack.” He leaned in and leered like only a sick fuck could. “The quiet ones always are. Next time be sure to choose someone a little more discrete. But don’t worry. Remington and I know how to handle the ones who talk too much.”
“What the fuck did you just say?” Reed shrugged the other man off and curled his own hand into a fist, ready to break the other man’s face.
Philip’s expression darkened, and a vein popped out on his neck as all his muscles tensed. “Don’t tell me you’re more into that little whore than you are my daughter. Because I’ll rip your head off if you embarrass her one more time.”
“Call Zinnia a whore one more time and we’ll see whose head gets ripped off,” Reed said with a growl.
“That’s enough,” Remington Sinhawk said, stepping between the two men. He turned to Philip. “If you want my help, you’ll stop provoking my son.”
The other man continued to glare at Reed, but when he finally glanced at Remington, he backed off.
“Reed,” Remington said, disappointment dripping in his tone. “What are you doing with that girl? Do you have any idea what this looks like to the public? They will turn on Krissy if she stays with a serial cheater. You know that won’t play well during the campaign.”
