SMITTEN
The Complete Starstruck Series
GEMMA BROOKS
COPYRIGHT 2015 GEMMA BROOKS
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the publisher or author. If you are reading this book and you have not purchased it or received an advanced copy directly from the author, this book has been pirated.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or, if an actual place, are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Cover by Felicia Burrows
Editing by H.L. Mayfield
DEDICATION
To JM – with every beat of my heart.
Gemma
OTHER BOOKS BY GEMMA BROOKS
Takedown
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DESCRIPTION
HUDSON
We didn’t have anything like her back home.
A bona fide head turnin’, heartbreakin’, small town girl approached me on a dare from her friends. Whiskey on her pretty lips and a sway in her hips, she lost all composure the second our eyes locked. And the moment I kissed her, I knew I had to get her out of that place. I had to take her home with me. One look in her eyes, and I knew we were on the verge of something amazing. All she had to do was trust me…
BRYNN
A bona fide smooth talkin’, expensive haircut havin’, fancy watch wearin’ movie star rolled into my little town to film a movie.
He said he wanted to show me the world. Take me under his wing. And he got upset when I questioned his intentions. But what could a big name movie star like him possibly want with me? A virtual nobody? It was hard to question his motives when his hands were all over my body and his lips were whispering all the right words, but I had to protect my heart. I had to be extra careful with this one. He was unlike any guy I'd ever met before, and he had the power to destroy me in one fell swoop.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is the remastered, novelized version of the STARSTRUCK series. If you have read the STARSTRUCK series, you have already read this book. Due to adult content, this novel is recommended for mature readers.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
THANK YOU
CHAPTER 1
Monotony had a name and it was Rock River. But on the rare occasion, exciting things rolled into town and kept my life from becoming intolerably dull.
“Can you believe they’re filming a movie at the Kaufman’s farm?” I asked as I took a sip of my whiskey sour, one finger hooked through my belt loop. There was a buzz in the air. Raw energy of sorts.
It was tradition every Friday night to meet up at the one and only bar in town for drinks. Whoever named the bar The Manhattan had an odd sense of humor. We were smack dab in the middle of the country, surrounded by miles and miles of Iowa cornfields.
There was never much to do around here. The closest city with an ounce of entertainment and nightlife was a solid two-hour drive from us, so most of the time we stayed local and made the best of it as we hung out with our own.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” Luke, said as he slipped his arms around my shoulders like I was his kid sister. “Not everyday something like that comes around.”
Luke and I had been best friends since we were in grade school, but the year I turned sixteen something changed. The annoying boy who used to chase me around with worms, the middle schooler who had a squeaky voice and a chin full of pimples, the guy who would roughhouse with me like I was one of the boys had suddenly turned into this strapping, gorgeous guy who made my heart flutter.
Almost overnight, the other girls took notice too and he became the most sought after boy in school, which I know didn’t mean much when you graduated with a class of fifty, but still. He was gorgeous, all 6’3’’ of him, and he was my best friend, which only made it that much harder to tell him how I felt.
A million times it was on the tip of my tongue and a million times, I clammed up. I couldn’t tell him how I felt, so instead I kept him close. We were practically inseparable, and all I could do was wait for him to someday love me back. So I ditched college and stayed in Rock River, never wanting to be too far from Luke.
It had been almost seven years since I first realized I loved Luke Summers. Over the years, I sat by as he dated and eventually dumped a handful of girlfriends, always hoping that I might be the next one, but it never happened. Through the sling of girls Luke had dated, I was always the one he came back to. He was my first love, even if he didn’t love me back in that way. I never gave up hope.
“So who’s in this movie they’re filming?” my best friend, Piper, asked.
“Um, you don’t know?” I said with a smirk. “Hudson Smith.”
His name rolled off my tongue, lingering like warm brandy. He was only one of the hottest A-list actors in Hollywood. I may have lived a boring life of isolation in the middle of Iowa, but I never missed an issue of Us Weekly.
“Hudson Smith?” Piper said as a grin spread over her face. “We should totally go drive around town some night soon and try to find him.”
“I’m game,” I said with a mischievous smile. There were many things we did in our small town to keep ourselves entertained. Driving around and looking for people was one of them.
“Brynn used to be obsessed with him,” Luke teased as he nudged me.
“Like insanely obsessed,” Piper added. “Poster on the wall obsessed.”
“I was fourteen, you guys,” I said.
“I’m getting another beer. You guys want anything?” Luke offered. It was rare that he’d offer. It seemed like someone was always waiting hand and foot on him, not the other way around.
I held my glass in front of Luke’s face. “Yes, please. And do I know you right now?”
“Take advantage of it while you can,” he said as he leaned over and pinched my arm. He smelled like sweet hay and musk from a day of working in the field.
The front door to the bar swung wide open, letting what was left of the daylight outside fill up our space for a brief moment. The men who entered were wearing mostly black. They definitely weren’t from Rock River. Every set of eyes in the bar honed in on the strangers as they made their way towards the bar and filled up every last available bar stool.
“Must be part of the film crew?” Luke mused.
“Duh,” Piper said as she turned around and quickly lost interest. “If it’s not anyone famous I could give two shits.”
“I don’t recognize anyone,” I said as I turned back away.
Within seconds, the front door swung open again and a single man stood in the doorway. I spun around to catch a glimpse and watched as a broad shouldered hunk of meat lingered. He peered around the room, waiting fo
r his eyes to adjust, and bee lined it for the bar where the other men were perched.
“Is that who I think it is?” I said as I squinted to get a better look. I’d stared at pictures of Hudson Smith a million times in the pages of my magazines, but I’d always heard celebrities looked different in person.
“No fucking way,” Luke said as he cocked his head and tossed back the rest of his beer. “Well, Brynn, there you go. Go make your move.”
“You’re not seriously going to talk to him, are you?” Piper asked.
I hesitated as I locked eyes with Luke. Never in a million years did I stand a chance at hooking up with someone like Hudson Smith, but when was I ever going to run into him again?
“Yeah,” he said with an entertained grin. “Brynn, go talk to him. I dare you.”
I studied Luke’s face, hoping to find a hint of jealousy or hoping he’d talk me out of it. Sometimes I felt like he liked me but was just afraid to tell me. This would’ve been a great time to tell me not to go talk to some other guy, but Luke was practically pushing me towards Hudson, giving me away like some cheap token to be had.
“You think I should?” I asked, directing my question at Luke and only Luke. “He might sweep me off my feet and you guys’ll never see me again.”
He laughed and tossed his head back as if that scenario couldn’t have been more farfetched. He was probably right. “Do it. Go for it. See if he takes the bait.”
Piper watched me intently, almost in disbelief that I was even considering it. Ever since we were kids, I was always the shy one of the group. Luke was the charismatic, magnetic one. Piper was the chatty, extroverted one. And then there was quiet little me, always content to sit on the sidelines while everyone else had all the fun.
“So, are you going to go chat him up or what?” she asked.
I glanced across the room, and my heart began to flutter. The idea of hooking up with someone like him was so far-fetched and unrealistic. He was probably used to gobs and gobs of fans approaching him, hitting on him, asking for his autograph and everything else. I wasn’t sure if I could handle being ignored or rebuffed by someone like Hudson, but then again, it wasn’t any kind of embarrassment that a few drinks couldn’t numb.
I took a deep breath and tried to muster up an ounce of courage. My drink was finally working its way through my veins, and I could feel my buzz turning into a slightly drunken state.
I can do this, I told myself. He’s just a person like anyone else. I have nothing to lose but a tiny bit of dignity.
“Are you sure I should do this, Luke?” I asked him one last time. I secretly hoped he would tell me not to do it, but I had a feeling I was just annoying him at that point.
“Yeah,” he said with a drunken laugh. “Stop waffling. Go for it.”
The fact that Luke didn’t seem the least bit jaded by my approaching Hudson Smith tore away a little bit at me. There were times Luke would give me a certain look or make a certain comment, and I was sure it meant something. Apparently it had all been nothing but wishful thinking on my end.
Over the years I’d tried dating a few different guys, but nothing ever lasted. They were never right for me. They were never good enough. They weren’t Luke.
“Here, finish this,” Piper said as she handed me her half-empty drink. “You look nervous.”
“Um, I am nervous,” I said as I swiftly grabbed it from her, downed it, and slammed it on the table. “Give me a few minutes.”
“What are you going to say?” Piper asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I guess I hadn’t thought about it.”
“Just wing it,” Luke said. “He’ll probably ignore you anyway.”
“Thanks,” I said to him in a sarcastic tone. “Way to make me feel less nervous.”
Luke let out the most annoying cackle, like he was way past drunk. He tended to overdo it sometimes, but I was used to it.
My body started to warm over, and I was feeling a bit more confident thanks to downing the rest of Piper’s vodka soda.
“Okay, I’m doing this,” I said. I reached down into my purse and strategically pulled out a tube of red Cover Girl lipstick. I slicked it on, rubbed my lips together, and fluffed my hair. I glanced over at Luke one last time who was just grinning and standing there waiting for the show to start.
In my heart of hearts, I knew I didn’t stand a chance in hell with Hudson. In my mission to try to give Luke a chance to admit he had feelings for me, I’d backed myself into a corner. There was no turning back. I had to go through with it.
Each step I took across the bar brought me closer to the stool where Hudson’s beautiful ass was resting. Even from behind, he gave me goose bumps. The way he sat with his broad shoulders slightly hunched over the counter, drink resting lightly in one hand, were enough to give me butterflies. The glint of a platinum and diamond encrusted watch shimmered under the faint, incandescent bar lighting.
As I approached, one of the men dressed in black edged in closer to him. I didn’t know if it was intentional or what, but I began to panic a little until he moved out of the way again. I had my shot. I had to take it.
“Excuse me,” I yelled over the loud music that pumped out of the speakers in each corner of the bar. I waited. Nothing. “Excuse me.”
I didn’t know if he was ignoring me or if he just couldn’t hear me. One of the guys sitting next to him clearly heard me because he spun around, then tapped Hudson on the shoulder and pointed towards me.
As if in slow motion, Hudson spun around in his stool, clutching a tumbler of amber colored whiskey in his hand. My knees began to buckle.
I expected him to give me a once over, to look me up and down, but he didn’t. His intense, dark brown eyes locked into mine, and I couldn’t turn away. My lips wanted to move, to say something, but I couldn’t. One look from Hudson put me in a trance.
“Yes?” he said as he finally broke the silence. He leaned back with his elbows resting on the counter behind him, the epitome of confidence.
“H-hi,” I stammered. I was off to a great start already. “I’m Brynn.”
“Hi, Brynn,” he said. The way my name rolled off his tongue sent my body reeling. “I’m Hudson.”
I smiled coyly as I searched for the right thing to say next.
“I just wanted to say welcome to Rock River,” I said. “I don’t know how long you’re in town for, but if you need anyone to show you around, I’m your girl.”
“Oh, yeah?” he replied, eyes steadily gazing into mine. “I appreciate that. Thank you, Brynn.”
I so badly wanted the conversation to continue, but I realized I hadn’t left it very open-ended. I lingered for a few moments, awkwardly, as he stared deep into my eyes.
“I, um, just need to order another drink,” I said as I flagged down the bartender. “Jack and Coke.”
The bartender mixed my cocktail as I stood and waited. Hudson still hadn’t turned back around. He was still facing me, staring at me, in the same relaxed position. I casually turned back to see what Piper and Luke were up to, but they were standing at their table watching like a couple of pathetic idiots enjoying their cheap entertainment.
The bartender sat my drink down, and as I reached over to hand him a five, Hudson grabbed my hand. His touch sent shivers down my spine.
“It’s on me,” he said with a smile and a wink. He reached down and pulled his wallet from his pocket, slapping a twenty on the bar and sliding it to the bartender. “Keep the rest.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said to him.
“You didn’t have to come over here and welcome me to your little town,” he said as he took a sip from his drink, his eyes never leaving mine. “But you did.”
I tried to study him, to take him all in. I was sure this would probably be the only time in my life I’d ever be within spitting distance of a bona fide celebrity, and he just happened to be one of the hottest men on the planet. Seriously. I think he was voted some magazine’s “Hottest Man of the
Year” that year. His hair was dark, cut a little short, and slicked with some sort of brill cream. His barely visible five o’clock shadow suggested he’d probably last shaved earlier that morning. His skin was smooth and flawless, and his lips were like two kissably soft pillows.
“So have you lived here your entire life?” he asked. “Rock River?”
“Yep,” I said. “Born and raised.”
“When they told us we’d be filming some scenes in Iowa, I wasn’t sure what to expect,” he said. “But so far your little town is very, uh, quaint. The people are pretty nice. Everyone’s been really welcoming so far.”
“Great,” I said. “I’m glad to hear that. How long are you in town for?”
“Just another week I think,” he said. “Depends on how quickly we get these scenes shot.”
“It only takes a week to film a movie?” I asked, confused.
He laughed, revealing the most dazzling smile I’d ever seen. It was even better in person than it was on a movie screen or in glossy pages of a magazine.
“No,” he said. “It takes a lot longer than a week. We just shoot some key scenes here. Everything else is shot on a sound stage back in L.A.”
“Oh,” I said, laughing sheepishly. “That makes sense.”
I lingered a bit more as my feet felt cemented by his presence. I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to go back to Piper and Luke who would ask me fifty million questions and giggle and laugh and make a scene. Hudson was seriously cool, and he was talking to me, and I didn’t want him to think I was just some pathetic fan.
“I work at the Brown Bag Diner,” I said. “It’s just off the south side of the square on Main Street. If you ever get hungry, we have pretty good nightly specials.”
I couldn’t believe I’d just said that. It sounded so lame.
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