Hollywood House Call

Ten



She’d hidden long enough.

Callie hadn’t lied when she told Noah that he didn’t need to worry about her and to have his normal life with his friends over. This was his house and she was his guest.

But Noah’s best friend was the hottest actor in Hollywood and here she looked like Frankenstein’s project gone awry.

Callie took a deep breath and smoothed down the simple backless sundress she’d snaked up over her body. But she’d be lying if she tried to pretend she didn’t love wearing Noah’s soft cotton shirts, because even though they’d been laundered, they still had the very sexy masculine scent of his cologne. And once when he hadn’t been looking, she totally turned her nose straight into the collar and took a long, deep inhale.

Just because she was battered and vulnerable didn’t mean she didn’t still have needs, emotions and a craving for the man.

Callie moved down the wide hallway leading to the patio doors off the kitchen. Before she stepped outside, she stopped to admire the fine scenery the two men on the patio made. They were opposite in so many ways, yet both of them were so sexy that a woman couldn’t help but notice them.

Noah had that dark hair, sultry smile and bedroom eyes. Clichéd as it sounded, the description fit him perfectly. The man always had those heavy lids that screamed Do me, baby.

Max, on the other hand, had that messy dark blond hair that never quite seemed fixed but worked for him and his carefree ways. He was quick to smile and always flashed those dimples. He’d starred in so many films recently, Callie would be fooling herself if she didn’t admit she was jealous of his string of luck.

No. She was not going to let her thoughts ruin Noah’s company or his day. She was a guest. She didn’t have to stay out and socialize the whole time, but she did owe it to Noah not to sit inside and pout like a child.

She pushed the door open and stepped out onto the warm stone patio. She hadn’t bothered with shoes since she was just going to be by the pool.

“I hope you like your steak still mooing on your plate,” Max said with that signature smile. “Noah here likes to barely get them warm before he pulls them off.”

“You’re just cranky because Abby had to cancel at the last minute and you’re dateless.” Noah flipped the large hunks of meat and closed the grill lid. “I’ll have you know I have had those on there for ten minutes.”

Callie smiled. “I’d prefer mine to be dead and not still bleeding.”

Max laughed. “Take yours off and leave mine and hers on. I’ll man the grill.”

Noah turned to his friend, using his tongs as a pointer. “No one mans my grill but this man.”

Laughing, Callie moved to the steps of the pool and eased down onto the top one to put her feet into the refreshing, cool water.

“I’m sorry about the movie, Callie.”

She jerked her attention to Max, who was also coming to sit on the top step with her.

“Thank you. It’s been…hard to digest.”

Max nodded. “I imagine. I can’t compare my experience to yours, but I was turned down for a role I wanted once. It was the one role I knew would really launch my career.”

Intrigued, Callie shifted to face him better. “Really?”

“I was overlooked because of my height.”

Callie knew Noah was taller, but she’d never thought of Max as short by any means.

“Your height?”

“The producer wanted someone well over six foot and I’m just at six even. I didn’t figure a few inches would make a difference. Apparently, I was wrong.”

Callie extended her legs and swirled them around the water. She hadn’t known how Max got started in the industry. He seemed to have just exploded onto the screen.

“Looking back, I’m thrilled I didn’t get that role,” he went on. “That movie ended up tanking in the box office and the part I would’ve played was cut out except for a few scenes.”

Callie rested her feet back on the smooth step and leaned back onto her good hand. “Wow. I had no idea.”

His eyes met hers and Callie could easily see why all the ladies swooned over him.

“Every actor has a story, Callie,” he told her with a soft smile. “We don’t always jump straight into stardom, and we fight to get where we are. And if Anthony Price wanted you in this film, I can guarantee you he will look at you again.”

Callie shook her head. “I’m not so sure.”

“I am,” he told her with confidence. “I know Anthony and he’s a great guy. They have so many makeup artists and tricks they can pull to make that scar disappear.”

If only it were that easy….

“But I’d have to go into a casting call looking like this,” she told him. “That’s a strike against me.”

“Perhaps,” he agreed, resting his muscular arms on his legs and leaning forward. “But your acting skills will override any scar. They’ll see your talent and know any good makeup artist can fix that.”

More hope bloomed within her and she so wanted to believe every word he was saying.

“If you two are done, these steaks are officially dead,” Noah called from the other side of the patio.

Max came to his feet, extending his hand to help her up, and smiled. “He gets grouchy when I tell him how to cook.”

Callie laughed. “If you hadn’t, I would’ve.”

“Fine, then,” Noah mocked as he set the platter of meat on the patio table. “Next time you two know-it-alls can make me dinner while I sit by the pool.”

Callie shrugged. “Fine with me, but I’m not a good cook, so you’re just punishing yourself.”

Max laughed. “Yeah, well, I’m an excellent cook. That’s how I was raised. My parents own a large chain of restaurants on the East Coast.”

“And how are you still single?” she joked, taking a seat.

Max threw her a smile. “I’m having too much fun.”

Noah served the steaks and brought out some potato salad and drinks. Callie was thankful for this break in her new daily life of worrying and wondering about her future. Not only was this a great distraction, the uplifting words from Max really made her feel as if something in the future could open up for her. It might not be for a while, not until after Noah performed surgery or whatever he had in mind, but at least there was that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel and it was calling her name.

* * *

The following week brought Callie even more happiness. The stitches were out and her first microdermabrasion treatment was over. Callie hoped to God she was on the road to recovery.

She’d stayed at the office because Noah had a few patients to see and Marie had needed to leave early to get her granddaughter to a doctor’s appointment. So here she sat in the receptionist’s chair like she had so many times before. Only, all those other times she hadn’t been so self-conscious.

Marie had simply hugged her and with tear-filled eyes declared how happy she was that Callie was back and looking beautiful. Callie knew the woman was just being kind and Callie didn’t correct her about being “back.”

Noah was finishing up with the final patient and Callie couldn’t wait to get back home, or to Noah’s home, where she felt safe, all tucked away from Hollywood’s critical eye.

When the phone rang, Callie swiveled around in her cushy chair and picked up the receiver.

“Dr. Foster’s office.”

“Hello, my name is Mary Harper and my son, Blake, has an appointment next week. I was just calling to see if there were any cancellations before then.”

Callie pulled up the screen with the appointments and scanned through. She knew Noah’s schedule was pretty tight considering he’d taken off so much and had cut back on his workdays to be home with her, but she looked, anyway.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Harper, but I don’t see any. Is there any way I can take your name and number and we can call you if something opens earlier?”

The lady on the other end sighed. “That would be wonderful. Blake is so anxious to see the doctor. He’s afraid to go back to school until his face and arm are better.”

Callie knew this must be the ten-year-old boy Noah spoke of a couple weeks ago. The little boy who’d been burned. Noah was doing this appointment as a favor to a client. She knew he didn’t usually take on children or burn victims, though not because he wasn’t capable. Noah was one of the top surgeons in the country, but he tended to specialize in breast augmentations, face-lifts and other enhancement procedures on women.

Callie glanced at the screen again, feeling even guiltier for keeping Noah from helping this boy who had such high hopes. Callie understood those hopes.

“Mrs. Harper,” Callie said, “could you bring Blake in tomorrow at five?”

“But I thought—”

“I think one more patient at the end of the day won’t overwork Dr. Foster too much, and since this is the consultation, it won’t be a long appointment.”

Mrs. Harper burst into tears and instantly Callie teared up. “You don’t know what this means to us,” the woman said. “Truly. You don’t know how thankful I am you can fit him in sooner. I just want my son to have a little hope. We’ll be there.”

Once Callie hung up, she added the last appointment. If she had to come to the office herself and stay by Noah’s side then she would. There was no way she could sit in Noah’s lavish home being babysat by the doctor when he was needed here so much more. There was a boy afraid to go to school, afraid to see his friends, all because he was imperfect.

The irony was not lost on her and she prayed the young boy would find the courage to go back to school, even if his scars couldn’t be healed.

When the last patient came out, Callie was all ready to take her chart and file it. Thankfully, the woman didn’t have a co-pay, so she breezed right on out the door. When the busty blonde had checked in, Callie had had her head down looking at another chart, so she’d bypassed the whole awkward situation of seeing beauty staring her in the face.

God, she didn’t know how long she could continue to work here. There was no way she could dodge all the beauty that came in and out the door.

Once the client was gone, Callie locked the front door and set the alarm for the front of the building. After turning off the lights for the waiting room and shutting down the computer, she went to Noah’s office.

“You ready to go?” he asked her as he shut down his own computer.

Callie nodded. “Yeah.”

He glanced up at her, his brows drawn. “Something wrong?”

“I just got off the phone with Mrs. Harper. Blake will be here tomorrow at five.”

Noah shook his head. “His appointment is next week. I’ll be home with you tomorrow afternoon.”

Callie crossed her arms over her chest. “No. Tomorrow at five you and I will both be here. If you can’t leave me at home to take care of myself, I will come with you. He needs to be seen. Needs to know that there’s hope for him.”

Noah crossed the room and stood within inches of her, making her tilt her head to meet his eyes.

“Of course there’s hope,” Noah told her, cupping her cheek. “I plan to do everything I can for him. I can’t imagine how he must feel. He’s been away from school for so long, first because he needed to stay away in case of infection and now because he feels he would get made fun of. His feelings must be all over the place.”

Callie nodded. “I know they are,” she whispered.

Noah stroked her smooth, unmarred cheek and laid a gentle kiss on her lips. “You’re amazing, Callie.”

“Why?”

“To stay here, to come back tomorrow in order to help a young boy. You just amaze me over and over.”

Callie shook her head. “Noah, if I can help this one boy have something to cling to, something that will give him the inspiration to believe that he’s the same kid with or without the burns, then my staying here is totally worth it.”

“He’s the same kid, huh?” Noah asked with a slight grin. “Sound like something I told you before?”

Callie shook her head. “This is a kid, Noah. I’m not the same person now. Something changed in me, something I’m not sure I’ll ever get back.”

Her heart clenched when he pulled her against him, careful of her shoulder, and lightly touched his lips to hers.

“You’ll get it back,” he murmured against her mouth. “We’ll get it back.”

How could she not cling to his strength, his faith? How could she give up when Noah was giving all he had for her?

Callie knew that if a little boy had faith, and Noah had this grand amount of confidence, she should feel the same. Fate might have taken her off her path, but she was on a new path now, and the decisions she made would alter the next course she took.

* * *

Callie waited in Noah’s office while he had the consultation the following day with Blake. She didn’t want to see the young boy, didn’t want to be reminded that people had worse problems than her. She knew that. She even felt guilty for her self-induced pity parties. But she just couldn’t see Blake, though she was eager to hear Noah’s prognosis.

Thankfully, Marie was heading up the reception desk and Callie could hide back here. She didn’t want to be out front again for a while, though now that her stitches were out and the bandage off, she didn’t feel as much like Frankenstein, but she still had a sling and a long, red scar on her face.

Callie glanced at the clock and wondered what her parents were doing. She hadn’t told them about the accident. She still didn’t want to, but they were her parents and she’d always prided herself on her honesty.

She pulled her cell from her pocket and resigned herself to the fact she’d probably be having one of the most depressing phone conversations ever.

Her parents’ phone rang and she tightened her grip on her cell.

“Hello.”

“Mom?”

“Callie? Darling, it’s so good to hear from you.”

Her mother’s smile sounded in her tone and Callie could picture the woman standing by the stove cooking, as she often did.

“I didn’t expect to catch you home, Mom. Are you not working today?”

Erma Matthews sighed. “Well, they had to cut my hours back at the grocery, so I’m only doing single shifts now.”

Callie closed her eyes, rubbed her temple and eased back in Noah’s cushy leather office chair. “I’m so sorry, Mom. I assume since the phone is back on you got the money from the account.”

“Yes, honey. Thank you. I just hate you’re spending your hard-earned money on us. Hopefully, your father will find something soon. He’s actually got a job interview in two days at a factory about an hour away. It would be a commute, but the pay is even better than what he was making before the layoff.”

A sliver of hope slid through her. “That’s wonderful, Mom.”

For a moment, silence entered their conversation. Callie toyed with the dark buttons on the brown leather chair, knowing she was going to have to come clean.

“Mom, I need to tell you something and I don’t want you to worry.”

“What’s wrong? Are you all right? You can’t tell a mother not to worry and expect her not to, Callie.”

Callie swallowed and eased forward in the chair, resting her elbow on the desk while holding the phone to her ear on her uninjured side.

“I was in an accident a couple weeks ago. But I’m fine,” she quickly added. “I have a broken collarbone and I had some stitches, but I’m fine.”

“Good heavens, honey. Why didn’t you text your brother and have him tell us?”

Shame. Humiliation. Risk of sounding like a failure.

“I didn’t want you all to worry. But because of the timing of the accident, I won’t be able to fulfill my role in the Anthony Price movie I told you about.”

“Oh, honey.” Erma’s tone softened and Callie imagined that tilt of the head most mothers got when they felt a twinge of regret. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I know how much you wanted that.”

Wanted? No. She craved it, ached for it.

“There will be other roles,” her mother assured her. “What’s meant to be is what will happen.”

“Listen, Mom,” Callie said, trying to hold back tears, “I’m at the office and I need to go. I just wanted to touch base and let you know what was going on.”

“I’m so glad you called. I love you so much.”

“Love you, too, Mom.”

Callie disconnected the call, calling herself all kinds of coward for not disclosing the full extent of her injuries. But she just couldn’t. She’d left her mother with the hope that there would be more roles, more movies. But the reality was there probably wouldn’t be.

A moment later, Noah stepped into the office and hung his lab coat on the back of his door. Without a word he moved to the desk, opened the side drawer and pulled out his keys.

“I’m ready.”

Callie watched as he walked out the door and turned to head out the back way.

Um…okay. Apparently, something was wrong, but since he was already walking away, she couldn’t ask.

She nearly chased him out the back door and into his car, which he had already started. After getting in and barely having time to put on her seat belt, she glanced over.

“I assume Marie will lock up?”

Noah nodded and maneuvered into traffic.

“Would you like to tell me what happened to make you so upset?”

“No.”

He didn’t look at her, didn’t elaborate, simply drove toward his home. Callie knew when to keep her mouth shut, though she hated that he was obviously at war with himself and it didn’t take a genius to figure out it more than likely had something to do with the young boy he’d just had a consultation with.

Callie only prayed that the boy and his mother hadn’t left on the same upsetting note that Noah had.

By the time they pulled into his garage, the tension was thick and Callie thought it best if she just went into the house. If he wanted to talk, he would. Though she wasn’t counting on it. He was closed off when it came to anything personal.

Before she could grip her door handle, he turned off the ignition and slammed his palm onto the steering wheel with a loud thump.

“Damn it.”

Callie sat still, waiting to see if he was going to open up and vent.

“I don’t know if I can do this, Callie.” Noah stared straight ahead to the white garage wall. “I can’t work on that little boy and not get attached.”

Callie bit her lip, not wanting to interrupt.

“He sat there looking at me with all that hope in his eyes and I want to deliver on promises his mother has made to make him well again. I want to be the hero he seems to think I am.”

Callie reached over, touched his arm. “Then what’s stopping you?” she asked.

“What if I fail?”

Noah turned, meeting her gaze. And there was that pain she’d seen a glimpse of before. Now it was raw, no longer hiding, and he wasn’t trying to keep it under control.

“I refuse to fail another person, Callie.”

Another person? Who had he failed before?

“Noah—”

He got out of the car and went into the house, slamming the door as he went. Callie sighed and rested her head against the leather seat. The man was going to break. If he didn’t open up soon, he was going to shatter, and then all of his secrets, all of his feelings, were going to be laid open for all to see and there would be nothing he could do about it. She prayed that he’d let her help, but he was too stubborn, too strong-willed.

Ironically, some of those qualities that annoyed her she could relate to all too easily.