Raising Hell Read Free Page B

Harlen, then handed him a dollar. “You miscounted the change,” she said.
    The elderly man’s face split into a wide grin. “You’re a good girl, Lila. A real good girl.”
    When Carrie didn’t say a thing about the letter over lunch, Lila thought she was off the hook. But that illusion shattered as they stepped off the elevator and paused in front of the double glass doors that led into the Kelley-Hart reception area.
    “So?” Carrie demanded, staring pointedly at Lila’s tote.
    Lila stopped, hugging the tote to her chest, and feeling as gangly and awkward as a startled doe. “So?” she repeated.
    “Come on. Stacey I can understand, but aren’t you going to clue me in?” She turned so that her back was to the door and Stacey couldn’t see what they were talking about. “I’m dying to know what’s in the letter.”
    “Me, too,” Lila admitted. “But at the same time, I’m not.”
    Carrie lifted one brow, but otherwise didn’t say a word.
    “I just mean, what if it’s bad?”
    “It won’t be bad.”
    “Yes, it will,” Lila said. “They don’t send good news in a letter.”
    “Well, if you already know it’s bad, then what’s the big deal? Open it, toss it, and be done with it. You’ll find a modeling gig sooner or later. Tannin isn’t your last shot until the end of time.”
    As to that, Lila wasn’t so sure. As to opening the envelope…
    She rocked a little on the balls of her feet. “They don’t normally send good news in a letter. So it’s probably a reject. But so long as I don’t open it, I can pretend it’s a request to come in for a photo test. Or maybe a tax form, so they’ll have it on file when they send me on my first job.”
    “You’re delusional,” Carrie said. “I love you, but you’re delusional.”
    “I like to think of myself as charmingly naive.” She sucked in air, then nodded. “But you’re right. I’m being ridiculous. I might as well get it over with.” She settled herself on the small settee in the elevator lobby. And then, with Carrie sitting beside her, she reached into her tote and pulled out the envelope. She met her friend’s eyes, then slid her finger under the flap. Using her thumb and forefinger like pincers, she tugged out the letter, unfolded it, and began reading.
    She didn’t have to read far. “We regret to inform you” followed the salutation, and Lila didn’t even bother finishing the letter. Just handed it off to Carrie with an “I told you so.”
    Her friend took more time, her eyes moving back and forth over the page, her brow furrowing a little bit more with each line of text. “I’m sorry, Lila. But you’ll find an agent eventually.”
    Lila lifted one shoulder in an exhausted shrug. Would she? Right at the moment, she didn’t much believe that.
    “And they seem to really like you,” Carrie said, still playing the supportive friend. “They just don’t have a use for you in their stable right now.”
    “Just as well,” Lila said, with a faint smile. “I don’t want to be a horse, anyway.” What she wanted to do was yell and scream and curse. But Delilah Burnett had been raised better than that. Somehow, this was all part of God’s plan. At least, that’s what her daddy would say. And, honestly, maybe that was true. The dream had brought her to New York, hadn’t it? Maybe that was enough?
    The elevator dinged, and Lila turned toward the doors, grateful for the respite from the thoughts smashing around in her head. The doors slid open and she heard Carrie release a slow breath.
    Half a second later, Lila knew why. The man stepping off the elevator looked like some sort of demigod. Beautiful in the way that angels are beautiful, but utterly masculine, too. With near-black hair, tousled in a devil-may-care manner that seemed sexy rather than sloppy. A chiseled chin, like something carved by Michelangelo. A hint of a beard, as if he shaved religiously every day, but still couldn’t control the wildness within.
    He