Hollywood Divorces / Hollywood Wives: The New Generation by Jackie Collins

night.’
    ‘Why?’ Evan said, frowning. ‘He’ll probably turn up with some brain-dead bimbo.’
    ‘Who cares?’ Nicci said, crossing lanes, barely glancing in her rear-view mirror. ‘It’ll give me a chance to get to know him.’
    ‘If you’re serious, put together a group. There’s no way I can take Brian on his own.’
    ‘Like who did you have in mind?’
    ‘Is Saffron seeing anyone?’
    ‘Well…she’s met some new stud, and there’s a gay guy she hangs with. Maybe I’ll tell her to bring him.’
    ‘That’ll go down well with Brian,’ Evan said with a short, brittle laugh. ‘He’s homophobic, you know.’
    ‘Brian’ s homophobic?’ she said, totally startled by this new information. ‘In this town? In his business?’
    ‘You got it.’
    ‘How do you know?’ she said, cutting off a truck as she exited the freeway.
    ‘I’m his brother, remember?’
    ‘Oh, yeah,’ she said, almost rear-ending a small van.
    ‘Jesus, Nicci,’ Evan said, clutching onto the dashboard, ‘has anyone ever told you that you drive like a maniac?’
    ‘All the time,’ she said, with a quick smile.
    ‘Maniac or not, I missed you,’ he said, patting her on the knee. ‘And I love you.’
    ‘You too,’ she responded automatically.
    How nice it was to find a man who could actuallyexpress his emotions. She couldn’t imagine Brian being able to do that.
    ‘I know, I’m irresistible, aren’t I?’ Evan said, with a big, goofy grin.
    ‘Let’s not get carried away,’ she answered, grinning back. ‘There’s love and then there’s irresistible. You come somewhere in the middle.’
    Evan laughed. ‘It’s good to be home,’ he said.
    And Nicci sped off along Sunset, still thinking about Brian.

Chapter Ten
    T he first thing Lissa did when she opened her eyes on Thursday was check to see if Gregg was home.
    Yes, he was there, asleep on the far side of their California King custom-made bed.
    She gazed across at him for a moment, remembering how in the early days of their romance she’d loved watching him sleep. He always slept naked, but now she couldn’t stomach the sight of his hairy balls and limp cock.
    She experienced a brief Lorena Bobbitt moment before throwing a sheet over him. Then she hurried into her bathroom and put on her yoga clothes. Her private instructor was arriving soon, and after an hour of uplifting yoga, she planned on spending the rest of the day rehearsing for her upcoming Vegas show.
    Last night she’d realized it was about time she started concentrating on work again. Gregg had been slowing her down, filling her with self-doubt. Now she had to get herself together, remember who she was and what she’d achieved.
    Over the last six months Gregg had taken great pleasure in constantly calling her stupid and dumb, while picking on everything from her clothes to her choice of scripts and songs.
    Too bad for him she was so resilient, a true survivor.
    When Gregg was history there’d be no more men coming into her life, spending her hard-earned money and telling her what to do. She wanted to enjoy more time with her friends and Nicci. Lately she’d been lamenting that they weren’t as close as they should be. Nicci was getting married soon, and it certainly wasn’t too late to become more involved.
    Once Gregg was gone, she had big plans.
     
    Somehow or other Carol ended up spending the night. Michael hadn’t intended for her to stay, but one thing led to another and before he could think about it she was in his bed.
    He made love to her automatically. As far as he was concerned there was no passion left in their relationship, the sex was a series of going-through-the-motions moves, and he was pissed at himself for not ending it sooner.
    The sad truth was that if he finished with Carol, he’d be alone again, and sometimes spending time with the wrong person was better than being alone. He also realized that if they broke up, he’d probably start with somebody new, leading to the