Sugar and Spice_ An L.A. Candy Novel - Lauren Conrad [21]
Braden answered on the first ring. “Hey, I was just about to leave my apartment. Are you—”
“Braden!”
“Jane, what’s wrong?”
“These paparazzi are following me in their car. They keep hitting me from behind to try to make me get out of my car or something, and—”
“Where are you?”
“Sunset. I’m almost at Vine.”
“Okay, here’s what you do. . . .”
Braden told her to drive directly to his apartment, giving her the exact directions. “Once you get to the back of my building, go down into the parking garage,” he finished. “I’ll text you the security code. They can’t follow you in there. And then come up the elevator to my apartment.”
“Okay,” Jane replied shakily.
Hanging up, Jane did as Braden had instructed her, thankful that the gridlock had eased up enough for her to proceed down Sunset. In the rearview mirror, she could see the black SUV following, trying to edge into the lane next to hers so they could photograph her through a side window. She increased her speed, then made a sharp turn onto El Centro without using her signal. The SUV managed to keep up, but barely—now there were several cars between them. Good.
Five minutes later, she reached the back of Braden’s building. She entered the security code, the gate opened, and she drove in. Ten seconds after the gate closed, she heard a car screeching around the corner. She parked quickly between a couple of minivans and waited, craning her neck to see the action on the alley.
The black SUV cruised by slowly and didn’t stop. There were probably several parking garages on that alley, and the two guys would have no clue which one she had driven into, or if she’d simply kept going.
Jane grinned triumphantly. Ha!
After making sure that her back fender wasn’t damaged (it wasn’t), Jane went up the elevator. She took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm down. She was fine. Her car was fine. Now she just wanted to put the whole thing behind her so she could enjoy the evening.
Upstairs, Braden opened his door before she could even ring the bell and scooped her up in a fierce hug. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” he demanded.
“I’m fine,” Jane reassured him. “Thanks so much for the escape route. It totally worked.”
“I should probably just have told you to call nine-one-one.”
“I thought about that, too—except, that’s probably what those guys wanted. To get pictures of me talking to the police, all upset.”
“God. Okay, well, come on in. You could probably use a drink.”
Jane followed him inside and realized that she had never been to his new apartment before. The last time she had been in Braden’s home was before Christmas, when he lived in Jesse’s gorgeous, sprawling house on Laurel Canyon, and she would run into him in the mornings sometimes. She was often dressed in one of Jesse’s big white shirts, and Braden usually only had on pajama bottoms. Which had been pretty uncomfortable.
“Nice place,” she remarked. “I love your decor. It’s very understated.” She grinned and bumped him lightly.
Braden laughed. “Yeah. I haven’t gotten around to buying much furniture.” He walked into the small galley-style kitchen and opened the fridge. “Beer? Wine? Soda?”
“I’d love a glass of white wine, if you have it.”
“Coming right up.”
Jane sat down on the blue futon sofa that along with a cluttered brown coffee table and a tall chrome lamp were the only furnishings in the living room. Braden joined her a moment later with two glasses of wine, elbowing away a pile of dog-eared scripts, copies of Variety, a half-empty bag of Doritos, and Clue.
“Sorry about the mess, I wasn’t expecting company,” Braden apologized. “So. How’ve you been?”
“I want to know about you first,” Jane insisted. “Tell me about your movie! I’m so happy for you!”
“Thanks. It was totally last-minute. My agent called me a few days ago and said that Addison Preston was shooting an action movie and that one of his actors had dropped out because of a conflict. I read for the part yesterday, and he offered it to me last night. Crazy, right?”
“Last night? Wow, are you even packed?