(Love Is..., #6)
by Cassie Cross
ebook
Published October 8th 2020
Skye McLane is Hollywood’s newest It Girl. Between the film offers flying in and the ever-present awards buzz around her, Skye seems to have everything, until pictures of her heartthrob boyfriend cheating on her are splashed all over the internet. Heartbroken, Skye just wants to focus on her work and lick her wounds in private, but her publicist has another plan.
His name is River Holloway.
River’s a rising star with a penchant for finding trouble wherever he goes. He has a new movie coming out and some career-making deals in the works, but River’s getting the wrong kind of attention after a couple of fights captured by the paparazzi. What he needs is an image rehab, and his publicist thinks Skye is just the girl who can give it to him.
America’s newest sweetheart and a bad boy in need of a little TLC seems like the perfect recipe for some positive press. It’s strictly a showmance with a pre-determined expiration date, until a trip to a tropical paradise leaves them shipwrecked, and their time alone together makes them realize that their feelings might not be for show after all…
Excerpt:
“I want to set you up with one of Keith’s clients. He has a tendency to get in bar fights, and you have a tendency to go on sad little ice cream dates with your friends.”
My eyebrows scrunch together. Sad little ice cream dates? I don’t pay her 15% to put down my comfort food preferences. “Listen—”
“I think you two would look great together, and nothing sells more than a bad boy changed by the love of a good woman. And he’d dote on you, you’d become the next hottest ship.”
“The next hottest ship?” I ask, wondering how on earth she even knows that word.
“Absolutely.”
“You think the way for me to move on in the public eye is to get involved in a…in a showmance?”
Claudia and Keith answer simultaneously. “Yes.”
“You want me to fake date someone for publicity,” I say, like some kind of idiot who can’t completely grasp the concept. It seems insane, but Claudia’s insane ideas have always had huge, positive effects on my career.
And, if I’m honest with myself, I know she’s right. I had gained some steam from being the wronged woman, but now, three months later, Cam and Angelica are still together and I’m still going to Salt & Straw with Kendall on Saturday nights.
Maybe a showmance isn’t the worst idea.
“Who is it? Who do you think should be my fake boyfriend?”
Keith looks through the glass doors behind me and motions for someone to come in.
The air in the room swooshes as it does, and I give myself a moment to calm down. I put Gigi on the cushion next to me, then stand up to meet my fate.
Only I’ve already met him.
“You?” I ask, completely stunned as I stand face-to-face with Wall of Muscle.
“Me.” He laughs, and it makes my knees kinda weak. “I’m River,” he says, offering his hand.
I want to kiss him again, and that’s how I know that faking anything with this guy is the first stop on a road to disaster for my heart. I should say no, I should ask if there’s anyone else. I should pretend I have a stomach ache and vacate the premises.
Instead, I take River’s hand. This tingling warmth rushes up my arm when his skin touches mine.
“I’m in big trouble,” I whisper. My brain’s filter is completely gone.
The corner of his mouth quirks up. “What?”
I clear my throat. “I’m Skye.”
“Skye,” he repeats, like a prayer. “It’s good to see you again.”
My eyebrows scrunch together. Sad little ice cream dates? I don’t pay her 15% to put down my comfort food preferences. “Listen—”
“I think you two would look great together, and nothing sells more than a bad boy changed by the love of a good woman. And he’d dote on you, you’d become the next hottest ship.”
“The next hottest ship?” I ask, wondering how on earth she even knows that word.
“Absolutely.”
“You think the way for me to move on in the public eye is to get involved in a…in a showmance?”
Claudia and Keith answer simultaneously. “Yes.”
“You want me to fake date someone for publicity,” I say, like some kind of idiot who can’t completely grasp the concept. It seems insane, but Claudia’s insane ideas have always had huge, positive effects on my career.
And, if I’m honest with myself, I know she’s right. I had gained some steam from being the wronged woman, but now, three months later, Cam and Angelica are still together and I’m still going to Salt & Straw with Kendall on Saturday nights.
Maybe a showmance isn’t the worst idea.
“Who is it? Who do you think should be my fake boyfriend?”
Keith looks through the glass doors behind me and motions for someone to come in.
The air in the room swooshes as it does, and I give myself a moment to calm down. I put Gigi on the cushion next to me, then stand up to meet my fate.
Only I’ve already met him.
“You?” I ask, completely stunned as I stand face-to-face with Wall of Muscle.
“Me.” He laughs, and it makes my knees kinda weak. “I’m River,” he says, offering his hand.
I want to kiss him again, and that’s how I know that faking anything with this guy is the first stop on a road to disaster for my heart. I should say no, I should ask if there’s anyone else. I should pretend I have a stomach ache and vacate the premises.
Instead, I take River’s hand. This tingling warmth rushes up my arm when his skin touches mine.
“I’m in big trouble,” I whisper. My brain’s filter is completely gone.
The corner of his mouth quirks up. “What?”
I clear my throat. “I’m Skye.”
“Skye,” he repeats, like a prayer. “It’s good to see you again.”
Cassie Cross is a Maryland native and a romantic at heart, who lives outside of Baltimore with her two dogs and a closet full of shoes. Cassie’s fondness for swoon-worthy men and strong women are the inspiration for most of her stories, and when she’s not busy writing a book, you’ll probably find her eating takeout and indulging in her love of 80’s sitcoms.
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