Total pages in book: 15
Estimated words: 13908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 70(@200wpm)___ 56(@250wpm)___ 46(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 13908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 70(@200wpm)___ 56(@250wpm)___ 46(@300wpm)
A wise man does at once what a fool does at last.
I am that fool.
Two months ago, I let the girl of my dreams slip through my fingers because I was too slow and cowardly to make my move.
Penelope Burton was the best assistant I ever had. I valued her work, respected her opinion, and treasured every moment in her company.
Her honeyed voice and southern accent brightened my days.
Her smile warmed my heart.
And those luscious curves drove me to distraction.
As much as I wanted to drag her to the nearest altar, there was too much at stake. She’s too young, I’m too old, and the scandal could ruin my career. I convinced myself I should wait for the right time, and my delay cost me dearly.
Desperate for my Penny, I call in favors and forge schemes. For the first time in my life, I throw caution to the wind and become the man Penny needs.
Scandals be damned.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Prologue
Tyson Lord
Three Months Ago
I hate being idle. Despite being fresh off a multi-Oscar win for Lust & Other Problems, I need to get back to work. My producing partner, Marsha Klein, brought me the script for Pirate Among Us and insisted we produce it. The Lord Brothers have produced fifteen movies and two television series in the last ten years. My slightly younger brother, Tyler, handles TV production. My youngest brother, Terrence, does something for this company, but I couldn’t tell you what that is because he’s never at work. Never.
I’m not strictly a producer; I’ve been known to act. I’ve won awards for it, but lately, it hasn’t been my passion. I slid into making the movies because I was disappointed by my experience with my last co-star three years ago. Hannah Lyon, a French starlet, was just rising then. Now, she’s at the top because she rode my good name through the fucking mud to get there. She’s not a bad actress, but a bad human being. Not only was she a diva on set with outrageous demands like she’d only work without extras on set or only Evian water to drink and some kind of crazy filtered water for the shower in her trailer, she tried to ruin my career. It didn’t quite work, but with carefully doctored photos and well-placed lies, there will always be doubt. I don’t go a single day without being reminded of her and her lies. The press refuses to let it die down. Nothing lives this long except for this.
We’ve had two years of a hard-hitting disease, a fucking war in two countries I’ve never heard of on the Iberian Peninsula, baby pandas being born, shit any and everything that should be getting press, but instead, it’s all Hannah Lyon, poor little actress, all the fucking time. She’s nothing more than a fucking spoiled child who never heard the word no. She claimed that I fucked her and made her promises. Promises of fame and fortune and my name. I didn’t fucking do that. I wouldn’t do any of that with a woman like her. Everyone else in the whole fucking world thinks she’s beautiful and perfect, but I know she’s a fucking monster.
Since I moved to LA from Ohio, brothers in tow, fifteen years ago, I haven’t touched a woman.
Hell, I didn’t do that in Ohio, either. If you had the parents and the grandparents my brothers and I have, you’d know not to waste your seed nor energy on the woman you weren’t absolutely made for. A woman who wasn’t made to be your wife. There for, I’m thirty-five years old, and I’ve never fucked a woman. Never done more than kiss as required for a movie. This isn’t public knowledge, of course, but whenever the need arises, I’ve got a perfectly good hand to fuck. It’s enough for now.
After reading the script Marsha brought me, I knew it was a winner. Maybe not an award winner, but women of all ages are going to love it. It’s basically romantic porn set on the high seas after what appears to be a devastating loss for the heroine. Fuck, I think men will even enjoy it. It’s that good. We’ve been doing auditions for two weeks now, and the only roles not cast are the leads. There are two callbacks and one new audition for Audrey, the female lead. I am not impressed with the callbacks, but I don’t say anything until the second of them leave the room.
“They were not right,” Marsha says.
“No they were not. The first one was abysmal. What the hell accent was that?” I ask.
“Posh Cockney, maybe. Awful, just awful. Let’s see what this one does.”
“Who is it?” I ask, picking up the last resume on the table.
“Stacee Beaufort. Relative newcomer. She might actually be too young for the role, but she’s good. She’s only twenty-two, twenty-three in May. She has three feature film roles, none starring, two made-for-television movies that she starred in, and several guest spots on TV shows. One Golden Globe nomination for a TV movie and two Primetime Emmy awards for guest starring roles. One on Bleary Manor and the other on Peak Season.” Marsha continues to list her accolades while we wait for her. She’s late. Bleary Manor is a British show about a debutante finishing school set in modern times. It’s pretty good.
I’ve seen most of the episodes with my mother. It’s her favorite show. She still lives in Akron. My father passed away ten years ago now, but Mom refuses to move. She loved him so fucking much she barely leaves her house now. I run her household from LA. I visit her several times a month, and if I’m not with her, Tyler or is. I’ve tried to get her to move out here for years, but have had no luck, so we do what we have to do to ensure her happiness. For now, she’s content with living in a mausoleum-esque shrine to my dad, but I know that can’t last forever.