Oak trees cast a net of shadows on the paved path as I walk faster to beat the tears threatening to fall. Who ever decided flowers were the symbol of grief was a genius. The sadness lurking in the petals of fresh flowers adorning the graves is immeasurable. People can’t let go. I can’t, as I trudge through the vast grounds, carrying my goodbye in my pocket, to the plot now laid with fresh grass.
Crouching down, I peel back the corner and slip a birthday card underneath the sod. So many things left unsaid. So many wrongs never righted. They will be, though. If I have to say yes to Gabriel Prince, so be it.
As I sit and stare at the marble marker, time passes without understanding my world will never be the same.
“Clem,” a familiar voice calls out behind me. The prodigal Prince has returned. Should’ve known Ronin would show up today. He wasn’t sitting with the family, so he must’ve been on the fringes like me.
From my spot on the ground, I glance over my shoulder at the diluted version of Gabriel I haven’t seen in years. The brothers have the same dark eyes, but everything else is different. Where Gabriel is control, Ronin is chaos. Slightly mussed hair, scruffy jaw, and a perpetual pout all make the expensive suit he’s wearing seem like he’s playing dress up.
He steps closer and glances down at the marker.
“Fuck,” he mutters, sliding his hands in the pockets of his slacks. “I didn’t know your sister died.”
There’s a lot of things he doesn’t know. No one knows. And I’ll make sure they never find out.
BRIDE and GROOM (The Deceit Duet) releases the Summer of 2019.
But you can preorder now for a special price:
Preorder BRIDE now!
Preorder GROOM now!
Sneak Peek PLAYBOY
Chelsea
“I just heard,” my friend, Gidget, sympathizes, rushing through the door of the dressing room on the set of Skittle Skattle Doo.
I remove my Dodgy the Dog costume and blink back the tears. “It’s ok.”
It’s not, but what else can I say? I’ve just been let go from a small production of a kid’s show. I can’t even make it as a dancing dog. You may think I’m being a bit over dramatic, but I’m an actress. It’s what I do. While I've been told I have the poise and grace of a young Audrey Hepburn, I have all the luck of a broken horseshoe.
Although, I don’t feel very graceful in this furry dog suit I’m currently wearing. Big floppy ears. Bushy tail. You get the picture.
“I know. Don’t give up, though. You’ll land something even better than this crap show,” Gidget, the choreographer of this ‘crap’ show, says. She's always good at pep talks.
“I’ve only been here, what, like two months?” I pull up my jeans, and toss a t-shirt over my head. “I really thought when I came back here from Texas, I’d land the first role that came my way.”
“This town has a way of spitting people with real talent out.” She grabs my costume and places it neatly on the rack.
“Well, I need something to pay the bills,” I tell her, throwing my blonde hair in a ponytail.
“You know, you should try modeling. Lots of big stars start out modeling.”
“Hmm, my brother does have a friend who works at a magazine,” I say. “But, no. No way.”
“Which one?”
I raise a brow. “Bunny Hunnies.”
Gidget steps closer. “Wait, Bunny Hunnies? Chelsea, you should definitely think about that.”
“Really? I don't know if posing in a men’s magazine will help my career.”
She pulls out her phone from the back pocket of her skinny jeans. “Look,” she thrusts the phone in my face, and I see a picture of a shirtless guy with a ton of muscles, “that’s Wayne Craig. He’s a huge Instagram star...aaaand…he models for that magazine.”
I take the phone and swipe through a few of the pictures. “Well...”
She cuts in, “And June Dellaway got her start in that magazine.”
“Shut up,” I say. June is only the biggest sensation right now. Oscars. Red carpet. The whole nine yards.
“Listen, all I’m saying is, it can help you with money. You need an agent if you’re ever going to make it. Hell, even my dog has an agent,” she says, glancing at the pictures of Wayne one last time before putting her phone away.
“Yeah, agents are expensive.” I sit down in the lone folding chair, feeling a bit defeated.
“You should have Declan call that friend of his and get you in.” She points her finger at me.
Well, that’s the problem. The ‘friend,’ Jonah Marshall. I’ve had a crush on him since day one of meeting him. When Declan brought him home after baseball practice, my heart was a goner.
Soft brown eyes, dark messy hair. He was every young girl’s fantasy, and I was ‘rugrat,’ Declan’s little sister. Even so, my crush only intensified the older I got.
By the time I was sixteen and madly in love, my parent’s dropped a bomb on my brother and I.
Divorce.
I hate that word.
It’s ugly and upended my life.
I was whisked away to Texas to live with my mother while Declan, already in college, stayed in LA with my father.
But I’m back now in La La Land. Los Angeles. The city of my birth. Population 3,792,621. Two thirds of that are trying to land the same roles I am. And I’m ready for my big break. Since I just lost this job, maybe I will try my hand at modeling.
But, there’s no way I will let Declan call Jonah.
No, if I’m going to make it in this city...I want it to be based on my talent. Not for who I know.
In a city full of big sharks and vicious piranhas, I’ll be the little fish that swims against the current.
Sounds good, right?
Well, wish me luck, or break a leg. Whatever saying works best for you, because none of them work out very well for me.
Jonah
“Did you get the prints over to marketing so the models can sign them for the meet and greet?” my overbearing boss Glenda asks.
“When have I ever failed you?”
She rolls her big, brown eyes, and I give her a slow wink.
Did I mention I'm a flirt? Kind of goes with the territory, I guess.
“Today there's a new model starting, so be nice.” She smiles, showcasing a bit of an overbite.
“I'm always nice.”
Glenda narrows her eyes at me, and I crack a smile.
“Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of,” she mumbles under her breath, thumbing through a few pictures of a previous shoot in a folder in her hand.
I swing my legs off my desk, where I was comfortably perched taking my mid-morning break, and check the lens on my Nikon. She’s my baby, and I treat her well.
“Oh, and no long lunch today. The shoot is at two pm sharp.” She pivots on her six-inch heels and glides from my office with the sophistication of a former model turned editor-in-chief. The last title is thanks to her husband, owner of Bunny Hunnies. Lucky break. In this town, sometimes it's not what you know but who you know.
But I don't need luck. I've got the dream job.
I stretch my arms over my head and stand. Chattering people pass my door on their way out to the shoot, so I grab my satchel, throw in my camera, and send a text to cancel lunch with my friends. Every Wednesday the four of us, Declan, Booker, Ethan, and myself, meet up. We’ve been best friends since high school, and ten years later, we’re still the four horsemen. That was the name of our band in high school. And no, we don’t play a single instrument.
It was more karaoke in Ethan’s garage.
We thought we were the shit, though.
“Hi, Jonah,” a few of the models walking into the Falcon building call out to me.
“Looking good, ladies.” I wink and they giggle and smile.
I know you’re thinking it. Have I slept with them? I’m not one to announce every girl I bang, I keep my sex life private, but, no, I don't mix business with pleasure. Zanna, Lyla, and Maria are off lim
its, no matter how much they try to tempt me.
I jump in my Jeep and head down to Venice Beach. Traffic is a bitch, but I finally ease into a parking spot and settle in to glimpse at the crashing waves. Living in LA is like living on a different planet. It’s perfect weather all the time, ideal for photo shoots on the beach.
I spot the production crew down by the shore setting up, so I hop out of my Jeep and slip inside Hank’s Franks, a local diner, and order a burger.
“Thanks, Gary,” I say to the man behind the counter when he hands me my bag of food. Ah, food. Real fucking food with grease and fat. This is what I need.
I step outside and chomp down on my burger while I watch the crew set everything out along the beach. My eyes zero in on the model. She’s far away, but even from here her body’s bangin.’ She’s not as tall as the other models and curvier.
Long blonde hair. Skimpy little pink bikini. Today’s going to be a good day.
I finish off my sandwich, wash it down with a Coke, and head over before I lose the best light of the day.
“Jonah, over here,” Tim, the shoot coordinator yells. “Meet Chelsea.”
I drop my bag near the set and fish out my camera.
Her back is to me when I walk over, and I get a great view of her sweet ass barely covered by her bottoms.
She turns around and my jaw drops. Beautiful blue eyes I’ve seen countless times before stare back at me. Eyes I’ve known since I became best friends with her brother, Declan.
“Chelsea Sincock?” Fuck. Her last name suddenly takes on a whole new meaning. To say I'm shocked is an understatement. I was staring at her ass. At Declan’s sister’s ass. When did she grow up? I haven't seen her since their parents divorced and she moved to Texas with her mom at sixteen. Eight years ago. Declan mentioned she moved back a few months ago, but I had no idea she was modeling. How could he forget that detail?
“Oh my God, Jonah.” She rushes over to fling her tanned arms around my neck. Her nearly naked body presses up against me, and I shake off how good it feels.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
She releases her hold on me. “I’m the new model, obviously.”
“Like hell you are.” She can't model for this magazine. I hit the brim of Tim’s ball cap as he ogles her. “Stop staring.”
“Let me have your attention,” I call out to the small crowd of set designers, makeup artists, and other crew workers. “No one’s allowed to stare at her.” But me. “This is my best friend’s little sister.”
Chelsea throws me a stunned glance. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
“Nice to know you’ve matured since last I saw you.”
She’s angry, hands on her curvy hips, and it’s cute. Cute in a kid sister sort of way. Because that’s all she is to me, a kid sister.
“Nice to know you have, too,” I shoot back. The tone comes out all wrong. Sounds a little husky and sexual. Her body has definitely matured, and that’s the problem. The pink triangles of her bikini barely cover her breasts. Does Declan even know?
He’d shit a brick if he knew. I need to tell him.
“Let’s get started,” I shout, yanking the cap off my camera and lining everything up for the shoot.
Chelsea gets into position, and I focus on her through the lens. The breeze lifts her blonde tresses, exposing the perfect symmetry of her face. High cheekbones, pert nose, full lips—my camera loves her. Now to figure out what to do with her. I want her in the water with the waves crashing over her body.
“Ok, make your way over to the shore. Dip your toes in.”
She crosses the sand, and her tiny pink tipped toes dip into the waves rushing up the shoreline.
She shivers. “Oh, that’s cold.”
Her smile is perfect, and I snap a shot.
“She’s gorgeous,” Tim whispers next to me.
“Don’t look at her,” I warn over my shoulder. He thinks I’m joking but I’m not. I scan around at all the crew men's eyes gawking at her. “Guys, no staring,” I remind them.
They laugh off my warning like it’s some big fucking joke.
I really need to tell Declan. This is not ok. When she was younger, Declan and I would look after her when the kids would bother her. And now, a sense of over brotherly something or other is kicking in.
But, the more I aim my camera at Chelsea, the more I forget she shouldn't be here. She’s a natural at this. The sun kisses her skin, making my shot even better.
I loosen up, get into it—moving, shouting demands—and she follows every cue.
It’s one of the best photo shoots I’ve had in a long time. Some of the other models have to be prompted to even smile. Most times, they won’t react unless I say something to get them going.
But not Chelsea. No, she’s really good.
Doesn’t change my mind, though. I’m still telling Declan.
“Get all the way in the water,” I direct, standing so close I’m almost right over top of her, snapping photo after photo. She does as told, and the shutter snaps furious and fast through every pose...
Stretched out on the wet sand, the frothy water rushing over her toned stomach.
Snap.
On her knees, beckoning with a seductive smile on her face.
Snap.
The waves crash at her back, and she loses her balance.
Snap.
She rises from the ocean.
Snap.
I drop my camera and rush forward, throwing my hands over her tits. “Cover your fucking eyes,” I shout. “There's been a wardrobe malfunction.”
Continue reading for FREE with Kindle Unlimited!
Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank you for reading this book. I had a lot of fun while writing this romantic comedy and getting to know Vin and Addison.
This book is different from my other books and I really hope you enjoyed it.
Thank you to Paula for helping to bring this book together and give Addison a voice.
Thank you to all my supporters, readers, bloggers, and anyone else who helps get the word out about my books.
I truly appreciate it.
As an indie author, your support means everything to me. Please consider leaving a review as that’s the best way to help new readers find my books. Thank you.
Thank you for reading.
About the Author
Logan Chance is a USA Today and Top 20 Amazon Bestselling Author with a quick wit and penchant for the simple things in life: Star Wars, music, and smart girls who love to read. He was nominated best debut author for the Goodreads Choice Awards in 2016. His works can be classified as Dramedies (Drama+Comedies), featuring a ton of laughs and many swoon worthy, heartfelt moments.
Also by Logan Chance
The Playboy Series
PLAYBOY
HEARTBREAKER
STUCK
LOVE DOCTOR
Mafia Standalone
TAKEN
The Sex Me Series
DATE ME
SAVE ME
STUDY ME
BREAK ME
The Boss Duet
THE BOSS DUET
Sexy Standalones
WE ALL FALL DOWN
GRAHAM
The NewlyFEDS Page 17
