Chase Me (Broke and Beautiful #1)(62)

“You can take your hand off my ass now.”

He laughed near the top of her head, his hot breath on her forehead making her cringe. But he didn’t remove his hand. Instead, he yanked her closer. She could feel his arousal against her belly, and it made her panic. “No time for this whole playing-hard-to-get act, Roxy, I have another meeting after this.”

She pushed against his chest. “Let go.”

Finally his touch left her backside, but only so he could grip her forearm. She flinched as his fingers dug into her bicep. “What, you like it rough? No problem.”

When he leaned in to kiss her, Roxy’s balled-up fist connected with his nose, creating an extremely satisfying crunching noise. He stumbled back with a high-pitched yelp, blood already beginning to pour from his nostrils.

“Ah! What the f*ck?”

She shook her hand out, wincing at the resulting pain. She’d swung Jersey-style, which meant hard. God, it had felt good. Not just to take out her frustration and anger on the person who’d caused it; she’d also gotten herself back in that moment. She might have had some weak thoughts, some temporary confusion, but when it had come down to it, she’d been better than this. Better than him.

Part of her wanted to stand there and watch him stumble around in pain a while longer, but she needed to get the hell out of there. He hadn’t backed off when she’d asked him to, and that scared her. She’d thought he was just another sleazebag using his status to get her onto the casting couch, but she’d been wrong. He was potentially much worse than that. She wasn’t going to stick around and find out.

First, though, a parting shot was in order. “Hey, *.” She waited until he looked at her through squinted eyes. “There isn’t a role on this planet worth your disgusting hands on me. You can take it with you straight to hell. Have fun continuing to rip off Wes Anderson, you second-rate piece of garbage.”

She only caught a glimpse of Johan bristling over the insult as she exited the room and strode down the hallway. When she heard his footsteps pounding after her, she started to jog, heart beating out of control in her chest. A few more feet and she’d be outside on the busy sidewalk.

Before she could reach the door, he grabbed her arm. “If you tell anyone about this, you’ll be laughed at. Just another actress making shit up to get on camera the easy way.”

“Let go of me,” she demanded, twisting free. He grabbed for her again and managed to snag her shirt, ripping several buttons free and tearing the material. Even he looked a little stunned over what he’d done, and she used his distracted state to yank the door open, stumbling out onto the sidewalk.

Right into Louis.

The events of that morning flew right out of her head, and relief swamped her. He looked so perfectly familiar and solid, standing there in his work clothes. She didn’t think twice about throwing her arms around his neck and holding tight, inhaling his scent greedily. His body felt rigid, though. So unlike him. He took hold of her wrists and tugged her away, his gaze tracking down her body with what appeared to be leashed rage. Slowly, he extended his hand and traced the edge of her ripped shirt before his attention locked on Johan, still standing behind her in the doorway.

“I’m going to kill you,” Louis growled, his body vibrating against her.

Johan’s voice sounded muffled, as if he was still holding his bleeding nose, but his voice was mocking. “Whatever, man. Rehearsal’s over. Just take her and go.”

Louis moved like lightning to get past her, landing a punch in Johan’s face before she’d even fully turned around. Johan stumbled back into the office through the doorway, and Louis followed, hands clenched at his sides. “What did you do to her?”

Johan stomped a foot. “Dammit. My nose is definitely f*cking broken.”

“Answer me.”

“Nothing. She hits harder than you do. Calm down.”

“Calm. Down?” Louis twisted the front of Johan’s shirt in his fist. “I’m going to break more than your nose if you touched her.”

Johan actually looked bored by the line of questioning. This definitely wasn’t the first time he’d been on the receiving end of a right hook. Disgust snapped Roxy out of her stupor. She put her hands on Louis’s shoulder and tried to stop him from entering the building, but he wouldn’t come. Behind her on the sidewalk, people were stopping to check out the commotion. She had to get Louis out of there before someone alerted a cop. “Louis, let it go. He’s not worth it. Nothing happened.”

He turned, looking at her as if he wasn’t really seeing her, eyes bright with temper. “How did your shirt get ripped, then?”

She didn’t want to lie to him, only wanted to get as far away from Johan as possible, but that hesitation gave Louis what he needed. He balled his fist and gave Johan another two shots to the face.

In a burst of energy, Johan managed to get free, falling back a step when Louis lost his grip. “You called me, Louis. I could have hired any actress in this f*cking town. This was a favor.”

Louis stiffened. His hands fell to his sides as if a string had been cut. Roxy’s mind raced, trying to decode what Johan had said. A favor? How . . . how did Johan even know Louis’s name? The answer hit her with the force of a battering ram. Oh, Jesus, no.

“What did you do?” she whispered.