Page 7 of Down & Dirty (Holden Cove #1)

CHAPTER 7

CORY

S kylar Stone was a pill.

And not the fun kind.

Not the kind that gives you the warm and fuzzies, or helps take the edge off. No, she was the damn edge. Rubbing against me every time I came near her baby brother, as if I was going to do something to the kid.

In all the years I’d been riding, I’d never met an agent or handler so clearly—and openly—annoyed by my very presence. Little did she know the feeling had become mutual. The fun I’d had playing with her in the beginning had worn off. Fast.

I deserved a medal for staying civil in the face of her attitude. But there was more on the line here for me than she’d ever understand. Staying out of trouble on this team, and in the good graces of the coaching staff, were going to serve me a hell of a lot better than telling the pit bull to back down.

With a sigh of relief, I cruised out of the conference room, and away from her glare. It was one of the best times to be in southern California; crisp fall air slipping in after the heat of the summer and crunchy leaves pooling against the curb. The place had nothing on autumn in New England, but without a big break between seasons this year, I’d have to forego my favorite time of year back home.

I reminded myself of the cash carrot hanging at the end of this stick as I rounded the back of my truck, and spotted Ronnie in the far corner of the lot; he wasn’t alone. Jerry Conlon, the head of sales for one of the biggest energy bar companies in the country was with him and they looked entirely too chummy.

Ronnie knew better. Jerry and his team had been outspoken in their hopes to collaborate with OTM, but since nothing had ever materialized, it clearly wasn’t what management wanted. Our rider contracts had entire sections dedicated to outside endorsement deals, and for the most part they were banned. Bruce and I had been able to negotiate my lot of endorsements because they were so far removed from the moto world. But, something with CapCraze energy bars would have fallen squarely in the forbidden territory.

“Hey gents,” I said as I strode up to them. Ronnie smiled widely at me, but Jerry’s expression soured. He knew he was busted. “What’s the good word?”

“Jerry was just telling me about his parent’s lodge up in Tahoe. Sounds incredible.”

Jerry nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets. “You both are welcome any time.”

With a quick glance back at the building I confirmed we were still alone. “What brings you by Jer?”

“Quarterly meeting with Ezra and the rest.”

“Here to get shot down again, huh?”

I might not know Ronnie well, but I was warming up to the youngster. I took offense to the guy risking his spot on the team by trying to land him in the damn OTM parking lot. Ronnie’s expression narrowed as he picked up on the shift in tone.

“Just exploring options.”

I nodded, taking a step toward Ronnie. “Well, we wouldn’t want to make you late for your quarterly dismissal. ”

Jerry took the hint, giving me a slick grin. “Talk to you soon, Ronnie.”

As he walked away, I took a step back, trying to remind myself of the foolish risks I’d taken when I was Ronnie’s age. “Don’t be a fucking moron.”

Ronnie jerked back. “What? Nothing happened.”

I opened my mouth to speak and paused when I saw the doors to the lobby swing open and my favorite little pain in the ass coming straight for us.

“You better keep it that way. You know better than to even entertain conversations with a sponsor not approved by management.”

Ronnie crossed his arms over his chest. “We didn’t talk business, man.”

I shook my head as I started to walk away, the scrutiny on Skylar’s face like a repellent I couldn’t get away from fast enough. I looked back at Ronnie. “It’s all business, all the time, kid. Don’t ever forget that.”

Skylar’s gaze ping-ponged between us, as if she was trying to sort out what we were talking about. But I wasn’t in the mood to stick around for the two of them to hash out Ronnie’s latest near miss. From what I’d read up on the kid, I could understand why his big sis was around so much. He needed a handler.

The image of the two siblings getting into it made me chuckle as I put my truck in reverse and started for home. When my phone ringing cut off the country song that had just started to play, I tapped the button on my dash to take the call.

“Hey Bruce, what’s shaking?” My agent almost never called me, preferring a paper trail to keep track of our conversations, so my pulse hammered a little harder against my throat.

“Where are you?”

“You want GPS coordinates or what?”

He sighed loudly. “Cory.”

I huffed out a laugh even as my stomach got tighter. “Just left the shop. Was heading back to my rental for a shower. What’s up?”

“We’ve got a problem.”

He’d barely finished his sentence when my dash lit up with another incoming call. It was Cass. I sent it to voicemail, knowing she’d ream me out for it later.

“Cass is calling too. What’s going on?”

“I bet she is. She better have a damn good explanation for this.”

It was unlike Bruce to express any emotion at all, let alone the kind of frustration I could hear in his voice. And he knew better than to talk shit about Cass. She wasn’t just a business partner, she was a friend.

“Spell it out, Bruce.”

He grumbled something I couldn’t make out before his voice came through clear again. “Nicki Parsons was in a sex tape.” He let out an awkward chuckle. “Or several, it seems.”

“ What ?”

Nicki was the woman I was currently “dating.” She was a fledgling actress. And not exactly sex-tape material, at least not from what I’d seen the handful of times we’d hung out and worked together.

“Her face is currently being splashed all over every porn site and entertainment news channel known to man, and the headlines about it all point to her recent rise to stardom. On your arm.”

Fuck . I barely knew the woman. My arrangement with her had been the same as it had with every other woman I’d been linked to publicly for the last ten years. Each of them was looking for the same thing I was; good press and a good time. This was neither.

This couldn’t be happening.

“How bad is it?”

“Jesus, Cory. How bad do you think? Every damn article is littered with the images of you two out on dates at the Ivy, and Nobu, and walking hand in hand in Central Park. You’re practically this woman’s entire resume. And the Harmsch Watch Company is about as thrilled as you’d imagine to have one of their main spokesmodels linked arm in arm with a porn star. Especially when that arm features one of their damn watches in every shot!”

I grimaced. This was bad.

“You know we’re at the end of the three-year contract we signed with them. At this point, I’m not even sure if they want to see that through or just cut you lose early.”

“That’s bullshit. I didn’t make the damn sex tapes!”

“It doesn’t matter, Cory. You’re guilty by association. They’ve already called three times. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get them to keep you.”

My mind was spinning. A third of that contract had yet to be paid out. We had a magazine shoot next month. Even if this season was going to be my last, it wasn’t supposed to be the end of racing and my modeling deals, those were what I was counting on to carry me. If Harmsch was considering dropping me, no doubt the rest were too. I was going after this combo title to bolster these partnerships, losing them now would mean all this was for nothing.

“Can’t you get them to hold off? This will all die down. She’s a nobody, who cares about a sex tape with her in it?”

Guilt stabbed at me; Nicki wasn’t a bad person, and I had no doubt she was freaking out about this right now, worse than me. The poor woman didn’t deserve to have this shit splashed all over tabloids, even if she might have made some shitty decisions in her past. Who the hell doesn’t make stupid choices when they’re young?

“People care, Cory. You’ve always presented yourself as the refined side of an otherwise rough sport. An elevated potential. You know as well as I do, that image is a tenuous one. And something like this brings you right back down to earth.”

He was right, and I hated to admit it. My riding had given me notoriety, but it had been the combination of my success at a dangerous sport and my good looks that had opened doors. Being linked to a sex scandal like this would ruin all of that.

“What can I do?”

A rush of air filled the speaker and I could practically imagine Bruce’s exasperation. “See what Cass knows. Maybe there’s some angle to this we can use to distance you from Nicki. If nothing else, get her to send the press some other photos of Nicki to use. Some without you in them!”

“On it,” I said, hanging up before he had the chance to respond. I hit the button to call Cass and braced myself when she picked up. “I was on with Bruce.”

“You better have been, cause shoving me into voicemail for anyone else is grounds for fucking dismissal.”

I scraped my hand down my face as I navigated traffic back to my apartment. “Please tell me you have something to make this go away.”

“I’m not a magician, Cory. I can’t just snap my fingers and make my client’s horrible, career-ending, past decisions disappear.” She sounded exhausted. “I didn’t know, in case you were wondering.”

I wasn’t. Cass was one of the few people I trusted, and her livelihood depended on this as much as mine did...Well, maybe not quite as much. But still, it looked bad for everyone. Besides, she wasn’t like most of the vipers in LA. She actually cared about people and wanted to help them succeed. I had no doubt she was stung by this betrayal.

“Not for a second. What’s your game plan?”

“I’m still trying to sort out how this happened. Nicki making those tapes years ago isn’t a shock. The timing of their release is, though. She just nailed a massive audition. I refuse to believe this is all a coincidence. Someone’s been sitting on these for years, why now?”

“Not to sound like a self-centered asshole here, but I don’t care so much about how her past comes back to haunt her. I’m worried about us.”

Cass laughed ruefully. “You’re worried about you, stud.”

I started to cut her off, because that wasn’t true. I cared about how this affected Cass too, but she went on.

“You only have one real option here.”

“I’m all ears.”

“Problems that start with a woman, are typically best solved by a woman.”

I shook my head. “You can’t be serious. I already get enough shit for swapping girls every few months. Bailing on Nicki now would make me look like even more of a sleaze.”

“Maybe, maybe not. You can stand by your gal if you think you’ll win points for loyalty. But I think you need to reinforce how new you two were, how little you knew about her. Clearly.”

“Clearly. Are you saying you have someone in mind?” The idea of propping up another fake relationship felt wrong to me, but Cass was a strategy master. I should at least consider what she had to say.

“No. I don’t think it can be one of my girls.”

I balked. “You want me to find a woman on my own? Now ? In the middle of all this bullshit?”

“You’re a charming, handsome, successful motocross champion, Cory. I remember what those dimples could do to a woman. Don’t cry to me about not being able to use your looks here to land yourself a few real dates.”

“For fuck’s sake,” I muttered, pulling into the parking lot for my building. “You really think this is the best way to handle this?”

“Yes. Take a break from the models and actresses for a while. Go for a fresh angle. You can still be a high-class man, but now you have a heart of gold and good morals to go with it.”

I’d always hated it when she called me a “high-class man.” It sounded stupid, and about as far from who I really was as you could get. I was a backwoods Maine dirt slinger. That I’d been able to build up a fa?ade that convinced the world otherwise had been a miracle.

“You’re sure I shouldn’t just pair up with another of your clients? Give the tabloids more photos of me sans Nicki?”

“If you do that, then the press will take it as you not really caring about Nicki or the sex tapes. It’ll make you seem like the shallow, ladies’ man they’ve wanted to call you for years. And that cheapens you. But if you date someone less noteworthy, someone more wholesome, you can get space from the Nicki angle and give the haters pause.”

Wholesome . What the hell did that mean? Not famous, is all I heard Cass saying. And even though I still hated the idea of risking the reputation I’d built over the years, the prospect of having something to talk about with a woman beyond the latest fashion trends and who was sleeping with who in Hollywood held a sliver of appeal.

“So, do I have to get on those apps or something?” How the hell did people date these days? “How long does this have to go on for?”

Cass’s laugh sounded too lighthearted for the situation we were in. “I can hear your panic from here, Cor. Take a breath. You don’t need to actually commit to someone. Just date. Give it a few months of doing normal shit. Movies. Dinners. And not at the Ivy. Get fucking In-and-Out burgers and watch the planes at LAX. That kind of thing.” She paused, and I waited her out. “Just don’t let her fall in love with you, okay? We don’t need a tell-all about how you made promises and then broke them when you walked away.”

And we both knew I’d walk away. I had no interest in any relationship that wasn’t a three-way between me, my bike, and my mechanic. Especially if this was going to be my last year riding.

I closed my eyes, trying to imagine this working. “Okay. Charm them, but not too much. Should be easy.”

She laughed again. “Exactly. I know you can do it. And if you do it right, Bruce should be able to keep you from the black list. ”

I yanked the key from the ignition and settled heavily back into my seat. “Thanks Cass.”

“You’ll be all right, Cory. You’re not out of the game yet.”

I thanked her again and ended the call, staring out at the parking lot and the rusty brown hills beyond. I hoped she was right. Everything I’d worked for my whole life depended on it.