Chapter 3 | Kitten-3
874 Words
“Nice to see you're back on the saddle,” Jamie Kilborne said.
Mason looked away from the women chatting animatedly over lunch three tables away and faced Jamie. He frowned, annoyed at his cousin's knowing smirk. “It's heartening to know my personal life matters so much to you, Jamie,” he said.
Jamie shrugged. “I'm a married man. You can't blame me for trying to live vicariously through you.” He took a sip of his Bellini. “Teagan's great — don't get me wrong. And I love my kids. But I rather miss the thrill of the chase sometimes.”
Jamie had arrived at the apartment around noon with an entire catering staff for the party. While the staff was busy prepping for the evening, Jamie and Mason decided to have lunch out. They were in a very new, very exclusive Italian restaurant in West Hollywood. The food was decent, although not as authentic as Mason would have liked.
“The chase, my dear cousin, is vastly overrated. You're lucky you're not in any danger of sleeping with any of the psychos out there.”
“Ah, you mean Cassandra Thorne.” Jamie chuckled. “Messy, was it?”
Mason shook his head and took a swig of his beer. “It was a disaster.” At Jamie's raised eyebrow, he added, “I'm not talking about it.”
“Oh come now. Throw me a bone here.”
“Jamie, please. When a woman stoops so low that she steals a man's clothes and—”
“You mean your pants.”
"Not talking about it." Mason nodded toward his left. "Lauren Burke is finally out of rehab, I see."
Jamie turned to look. "Oh yes. Her agent's been hounding me for months, trying to get her a part in the YA novel adaptation I'm making."
“You're not interested? She's quite talented — despite her penchant for the occasional blow.”
“Hmmm.” Jamie grinned as he watched the rather listless young woman in sunglasses sip her latte. “An unfortunate choice of words, Mason.”
“Christ, Jamie. She's eighteen.”
Jamie raised his hands in surrender. “You brought it up, not me.” His eyes darted to his left and he broke out into a wide smile. “Rachel!” he said, pushing his chair back as he stood up.
A tall, svelte brunette in a loose midriff-baring sports shirt, cropped jeans, and sunglasses walked up to him and shook his hand. "Jamie," she said, beaming. "So good to see you." Her eyes fell on Mason and she gave him a dimpled smile.
“I didn't know you were in town.” Jamie seemed reluctant to let go of her hand. “Weren't you at the Colburn twins' birthday party?”
“I took the red-eye from JFK right after. Had to be at the agency office at nine a.m.” She took off her glasses. “Didn't get much sleep. I look like an absolute hag.” She stole a glance at Mason, who didn't bother to hide his appraisal.
A model, by the looks of her. Black, straight hair flowed like silk over her shoulders. Her exposed midriff showed sun-kissed model-perfect skin. On her high block heels, she stood at almost the same height as Jamie's six feet frame. From where he sat, Mason couldn't fail to notice the spectacular curve of her backside.
“Absolute nonsense,” Jamie said. “You're as beautiful as always.”
“Thank you.” She fluttered her eyelashes shyly. “You're ... having lunch?”
“Yes, we were. Apologies, this is my cousin Mason.”
Mason stood up and offered his hand. She took it and smiled at him.
“Mason Kilborne,” he said.
“Oh my. You're British too,” she said, her eyes widening in surprise. “I'm Rachel Amsler. So nice to meet you. I'm here to grab lunch with a couple of girls from work.” Her eyes were the color of dark, wet leaves. The way they gazed up at him, there was no mistaking her interest. “Are you in the business too, Mason?”
He grinned. “Unfortunately. Are you an actress, Rachel?”
She laughed. “One day, I hope. Until then I'm just a plain old model.”
Jamie cleared his throat. “Are you free tonight?” he said. “I'm throwing Austin Linney a birthday party at Mason's apartment.”
“Well,” she said, reluctantly turning away from Mason back to Jamie. “I do have a shoot tonight. Some hotel thing. But it would have been so nice to meet Austin, I'm such a huge fan.”
“That's too bad, but if you're not—”
“What about tomorrow night?” Mason cut in. “Dinner?”
“I'd love to,” she said. “Uhm...” She looked awkwardly back at Jamie.
“Just the two of us,” Mason said.
“It's a date then.” She flashed her dimple again. “I should give you my number.”
Mason unlocked his phone and handed it to her.
“You don't mind, do you?” Mason said after Rachel had left.
“Why would I mind?” Jamie was still staring at her back as she walked toward her table on the far corner of the restaurant. “It's not like I was going to ask her out or anything. It's not that I'm bitter you can seem to get any woman in L.A. with a crook of your finger.”
“You shouldn't. Your wife is lovely. Also, I sometimes crook my finger at women outside L.A.”
Jamie c****d an eyebrow. “You're lucky I'm shackled, mate. I may be forty-five, but I could still give you a run for your money, pretty boy.”
Mason chuckled. “I don't doubt it.”
He turned to look at Rachel. She was talking to a friend but she paused when she caught his glance. She smiled back, waving her hand.
- Writer
