A Beautiful Star (Beautiful Series, Book 5)

by Lilliana Anderson

  "A couple of days ago. After we saw dad's video."

  "Well, what if he didn't get it? Maybe he's travelling or he's so busy working that he hasn't even checked his phone. What if he has a new number now? It's been a year. You have to try with more than just a text, Sandra. Then, if it still doesn't work out, at least you'll know you tried everything in your power to make it right." She stands up and takes the laptop off the kitchen bench over to the table and opens it up as she takes a seat in front of it, opening up the browser and typing into the search box. "I'm going to find out exactly what time that premiere of his is, and we’re going down there," she decides.

  "To do what exactly?"

  "I don't know, we’ll take a megaphone or hold up a giant sign. We’ll do something to get his attention. This has to be done."

  "No mum, I really don't think this is a good idea," I say shaking my head emphatically.

  "No yourself, Sandra. I'm not letting you do this. I'm not letting you just throw your chance with him away. Love is worth the pain, sweetheart. You have to try."

  I raise my hands as if to argue but instead, I drop them against my thighs in a slap as I let out a sigh. "Fine," I concede. “We’ll show up with signs.” It’s then that a soft knock sounds at the front door.

  "Are you expecting someone?" Mum asks.

  "It's probably Lisa. She said she’d call or drop by this week. Which reminds me – Marcus Bailey said to tell you ‘hi’."

  Her face scrunches up in confusion. "Why in the world would he want to say hi to me?"

  "He's obviously into pushy old chicks," I joke, laughing at her open-mouthed expression as I pull the door open.

  "Hey,” I say cheerily turning toward Lisa with a smile. Although my smile drops and my mouth hangs open–it's not Lisa.

  "Hey."

  Forcing my mouth to close, I look up at Jonathan, and I swear my heart stops beating and times stands still for just a moment.

  He's here.

  Right in front of me.

  In real life.

  My eyes drag over his face, drinking in every tiny detail, and everything is just as familiar to me as it was before. His hair is a little longer now, but other than that, he’s still the same beautiful man that forced his way into my life a year ago. And being around him, he still makes me feel exactly the same.

  "I got your text," he says, holding up his phone as evidence. "I was on a plane and didn't… I wanted to respond in person."

  "And?" I ask slowly, my heart thumping against my chest as I wait for him to give me some sort of a sign that tells me it's okay to jump into his arms, because right now it's all I want to do.

  "And, my response is, I meant it when I said I'd wait for you. I love you, Red. No amount of time apart is going to change that."

  Tears well in my eyes, and I tell myself that this is it, this is my sign, but I don't move. I feel as though if I move then this moment will shatter like fragile glass, exploding around us and ruining this moment.

  "Oh for crying out loud kiss her!" my mother yells from the back of the house.

  Stepping closer, Jonathan looks down at me with a grin. "Will you slap me or throw a strawberry at me if I do?" he asks, as he slides his hands around my waist and pulls me up against him as he lowers his head, positioning his mouth near mine.

  "I promise," I say in a whisper. "No slapping. No strawberry throwing. I promise to just become yours forever. If you'll have me."

  "I want nothing more," he responds, lowering his mouth to mine and taking my lips in his, with a soft gentle kiss that slowly builds until it becomes all encompassing, and the world begins to spin as I wrap my arms around his neck, holding on for dear life as I feel myself falling down the rabbit hole with this man. I know that now he's returned my heart will be lost to him forever and after missing him and regretting this past year without him, I wouldn't have it any other way.

  Slowly we pull apart, foreheads together, bodies shaking.

  “I love you, Jonathan," I whisper.

  "I love you too, Red," he says, brushing his lips against mine again as my mother appears beside us, holding out her phone as she smiles. But she’s not looking at us, she’s looking at the screen instead.

  "What are you doing?" I ask.

  Sniffing, she wipes at a tear that’s falling from her eye before she answers, "This is so beautiful. I'm recording your reunion. The world will want to see this, you know. And I'm sure it will make me a fortune. Imagine how many countries I’ll be able to see living off the profits!"

  "Oh my God! You can't do that, mum!" I yelp, reaching out to snatch the phone from her hands.

  "Stop! It's my retirement plan," my mother yells, dodging my grip.

  Pushing away from Jonathan I give chase to my surprisingly sprightly mother. "Give it to me!" I yell. "You can't profit of your own daughter."

  Finally seeing the logic in my argument, she stops fighting me and hands me the phone. All the while, Jonathan stands in the doorway laughing at the two of us.

  "Wait. You're not going to delete that are you?" Jonathan asks as he sees me tapping at her screen.

  "Of course I am," I respond, my thumb hovering over the delete button.

  He holds his hand up to stop me. "Don't. Please. That's the moment the rest of our lives together began. You can't delete that."

  Lowering the phone I meet his eyes. "You're right," I agree. "But you are not to post, share or sell that footage to anyone," I tell my mother as I hand her back the phone. "Alright?"

  Taking the phone from me and holding it against her chest she nods and smiles. "I promise." And from the cheeky look in her eyes, I wonder if she was ever planning on selling it, or if she was just trying to stir me up for being such an idiot and pushing Jonathan away in the first place.

  Reaching out, Jonathan takes my hand and pulls me against him, wrapping his arm around me possessively. "Can I steal your daughter away for a while Mrs Haegan? We have a bit of catching up to do," he asks, although his eyes are on me the entire time, filled with hunger and longing. And in this moment, I’m pretty much willing to go anywhere he asks me to.

  “It’s Madz, please. And sure, keep her. She’s a big stick in the mud these days anyway.”

  Turning toward her, I see the smile in her eyes as I give her a raised-browed, unimpressed look as Jonathan pulls me out of the door.

  “Have fun you two,” she sing-songs, as she closes the door behind us and Jonathan leads me to his car, opening the passenger door and then capturing me in his arms and kissing me passionately in the street.

  “God, I’ve missed you so much,” he murmurs against my lips, kissing me again, and again.

  “I’m missed you too. I should never have told you to go. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you away.”

  “I was always going to wait for you, Red, for as long as it took I would wait. I knew I couldn’t push you, so I did what you said, I went and played that role. I did the best I could and I waited until you reached out to me. And finally,” he pauses, brushing his fingers down the length of my blonde hair. “You did, and I got here as soon as I could.”

  “You came home because of the text?” I ask, a smile breaking over my lips as I realise.

  “I made it clear when I signed the contract that the moment you called me, I’d be dropping whatever I was doing and coming back to you.”

  “And they agreed to that?”

  He shrugs and smiles. “Sure they did. I’m a bit of a something you know?”

  “So, I hear. But you’re everything to me.”

  “And you’re everything to me. It’s why I’m here. I couldn’t wait to see you.”

  Kissing me again, he lets me in the car and gets into his side, and holding my hand, he drives us to his apartment in Pyrmont.

  "I want you to come to the Premier with me next week," he murmurs, as he pulls me through the front door of his apartment and wastes no time in pulling my shirt over my head, pushing me up against the door, his hands cupping my breast
s as he kisses my neck and pushes himself against me. His hard cock, driving me to distraction as I crave his body in mine.

  "Yes," I gasp, his skilful hands kneading my breasts and tweaking my nipples, causing me to whimper and moan, my body coming to life beneath his touch.

  "And I don't want to be apart from you again. I need you with me every night, Red. You need to stay with me," he whispers, dragging my pants down my legs and freeing his cock before he lifts me off the ground, pinning me between his body and the wall.

  "Yes," I cry, as he moves his body against me, his firm hips grinding against my naked core as he teases me with his long shaft.

  "And I need to be inside you. One night has been my torture for a year of dreaming about your sweet wet entrance just waiting for me to come inside. I need you, Red. Right now." And with the word 'now', he pushes inside me, causing me to gasp out my final answer, "yes!" Just as his mouth closes over mine, his tongue demanding in its movement against mine as his hips thrust in and out, pumping inside me as his strong arms hold me against the wall. Together we move, gasping, moaning, groaning, moving toward a speedy release from a year’s worth of pent-up orgasms.

  "Oh God!" I yell, my body erupting around he is as he growls out his own release and moans against my chest.

  "God, I've missed you so much" he murmurs. "So. fucking. much."

  Kissing me passionately he wraps his arms around me and walks me into his bedroom, lying us both onto his bed and slowly moving inside me again, still hard, still ready.

  "I'm going to make up for every moment we missed. We won't be leaving this bed for a while," he promises.

  "I don't want to leave. I'm exactly where I want to be. You are my home and wherever you are is where I belong. As long as we’re together, the rest will work itself out."

  Reaching up, he brushes his fingers against my cheek, causing my eyes to close as a surge of pure joy floods my body.

  “And my home is with you, Red, and no matter what happens in life, we go through it together from now on. Deal?”

  “Deal,” I agree, sliding my fingers through his hair and pulling him down to kiss him zealously, ready to lose myself in him until we’re both too exhausted to move. Then I want to sleep and then I want to do it all over again.

  We have a whole year to make up for.

  Chapter 30

  Six months later and my life has gone from sad and lonely to filled with hope and joy. First of all, I’m working again. Both Naomi and Lisa were kind enough to insist on exclusive stories that were told only to me, and in turn, they recommended me to acquaintances and once word got out that I was Jonathan Masters’s girl friend, then suddenly, I had access to stars who were usually fairly media shy and wanted to tell their story to someone who would report the facts.

  My mother didn’t sell the video of Jonathan’s and my reunion. Instead, she burned it onto a DVD and she keeps a copy of it in the same folder as the farewell DVD from dad. She says it’s her way of showing him that I listened to his words of wisdom because she knows that he’d be happy and proud of the openhearted woman I’ve become.

  She’s moved into a small flat that she barely spends any time in, as she is too busy travelling the world doing whichever tour tickles her fancy. But she seems to be happy and that’s more than I had hoped for in the aftermath of dad’s death.

  Life without Jonathan was truly miserable for me. Even before I even knew him, I wasn’t happy, and I was trying to live my life as safely as possible so that I didn’t get hurt. But he showed me how love. Patience and devotion can survive anything and in turn, I’ve wholeheartedly given him my trust, and I can’t see a future without him in it.

  That’s not to say we’re planning to get married. Both of us agree that perhaps that isn’t the best idea with Jonathan’s track record. But we are unequivocally committed to each other and living together in Jonathan’s Pyrmont apartment. Although I do travel with him whenever he needs to fly to the States for various meetings, premieres, and, like tonight, I’ve flown in with him because we’re attending the Oscars where he’s been nominated for Best Actor.

  “And the Oscar goes to…..”

  I clutch at Jonathan’s hand, my heart thumping in my chest with nerves as I wait for the announcer to read his name.

  As all actors do, Jonathan has been saying that it’s an honour just to be nominated for his role in the thriller, A Wanted Man, although I know how much he wants this. He feels that it was his best work by far, and after seeing it, I’m inclined to agree.

  After reading the script and then seeing the movie, the transference from script to screen was simply amazing, and Jonathan outdid himself. Before my eyes he had managed to cease being Jonathan and transformed himself into the character so well, that I found myself completely believing he was this tortured man called Cory Dunlop.

  His fingers squeeze mine as his eyes stay glued to the podium, a professional smile fixed upon his face for the sake of the cameras that are watching with the eyes of the world. I squeeze his hand back, knowing how nervous he really is as the pause before the announcement seems to take forever.

  “Jonathan Masters, for A Wanted Man,” she smiles, and the opening theme music pumps through the speakers as everyone cheers and Jonathan just looks at me with his eyes wide open.

  “We won,” he says, like he can’t believe it.

  “You won,” I smile, taking a hold of his face and kissing him in congratulations.

  “Go and get your bloody award,” my mother says from beside me, causing us both to laugh as she smiles proudly along with Jonathan’s parents who all stand and hug him before pushing him to go up and accept his award.

  “Holy shit,” he says as soon as he gets in front of the microphone, clapping his hand over his mouth when he realises that he swore. “I’m sorry! I’m just so shocked. There are so many fine actors here today, and I really didn’t think it was going to be me. But thank you. Oh wow, thank you.”

  He then goes on to thank all of the important people who took part in the film’s creation, before coming to his family. “Thank you to my parents for putting up with me and not getting so embarrassed by my antics that they disowned me. Thank you to Madz, who gave birth to the sole reason I took on this role in the first place, and thank you to my beautiful partner for life, Sandra, who pushed me to push myself and gave me a reason to become a better man than I was before I met her. This is for you, Red,” he says, holding the golden statue in the air as the music begins to play and he’s guided off the stage.

  “Wow,” my mother says. “That was really something. When are you planning on marrying that boy?”

  “I’m not, mum. Not every love story needs to end with a wedding, you know.”

  “Isn’t that how you get to your happily ever after though?”

  Looking at my mum, I smile, thinking about how happy her own marriage was and how I thought I’d never find a love like she shared with Dad. When I’d made those comments, little did I know, that my own epic love story was already taking place and that I had already found my great love in the form of down to earth movie star named Jonathan Masters.

  “No mum, you get to your happy ever after by finding your soul mate. And that’s exactly what I did.”

  The End…or is it?

  Next in the Beautiful Series, Brad’s story in A Beautiful Taste.

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  Books by Lilliana Anderson

  The Confidante Trilogy

  Confidante: The Brothel

  Confidante: The Escort

  Beautiful Series

  Too Close

  A Beautiful Struggle

  Phoenix

  A Beautiful Forever

  Commitment

  A Beautiful Melody

  A Beautiful Rock

  Devotion

  A Beautiful Star

  Entwined
Series

  Our Hearts Entwined

  Our Lives Entwined

  Drawn Series

  Drawn

  Drawn 2 – Obsession

  Drawn 2 – Redemption

  Fire & Lies Trilogy

  Partners

  Played (December 30)

  Paid (February 2015)

  For information on upcoming releases visit

  www.lillianaanderson.com

  About the Author

  Lilliana Anderson

  Bestselling Author of the A Beautiful Series, Alter and the Confidante Trilogy, Lilliana has always loved to read and write, considering it the best form of escapism that the world has to offer.

  Australian born and bred, she writes New Adult Romance revolving around her authentically Aussie characters as well as a biographical trilogy based on an ex-Sydney sex worker, named Angelien.

  Lilliana feels that the world should see Australia for more than just it's outback and tries to show characters in more of a city setting.

  When she isn't writing, she wears the hat of 'wife and mother' to her husband and four children.

  Before Lilliana turned to writing, she worked in a variety of industries and studied humanities and communications before transferring to commerce/law at university.

  Originally from Sydney's Western suburbs, she currently lives a fairly quiet life in suburban Melbourne.

  Visit my website at www.lillianaanderson.com

  Connect with me :

  For updates or to ask questions/ send comments,

  you can contact me at lillianaanderson@live.com.au

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  Thank you so much for taking the time to read my work. I hope to have a very long writing career, producing books and characters you’ll come to love.