New Release!
A Beautiful Star
by Lilliana Anderson
Come outside, Red. Your chariot awaits.
The text pops up on my phone the next morning.
Me: I’m not even ready. I’ll catch the train.
Jonathan: I’ll wait.
Getting out of bed, I tell myself to take my time, to make him wait because it’s kind of stalkerish that he’s here anyway. Maybe if I take too long, he’ll leave… He doesn’t. And trying to get ready slow doesn’t work either. I’m ready and out the door a good ten minutes before I usually am.
“Are you watching my house?” I ask, leaning through the window of his white Mercedes sedan to talk to him.
“There’s a possibility that I hired security to keep an eye on your house while you were gone. And it’s likely that said security saw your car in the driveway and let me know about it.”
“So you’re paying someone else to stalk me? That’s just lazy.”
He shrugs. “I’ve got too much money for my own good.” Flashing me that million-dollar smile of his, he leans across the car and pushes the door open for me. “Get in. I’m driving you to work.” “Don’t you have a job of your own to do or something?” I ask, as I slide into the plush leather seat and buckle myself in.
“I’m in between roles right now,” he explains as he does a U-turn in front of my house and aims his car toward the city. “So, really, I’m all yours.”
“That’s very comforting,” I deadpan.
“Isn’t it?” he grins, teasing me and loving every moment of it.
"You know, being woken up to a text from you is becoming quite a common occurrence." I say after a while.
"What can I say? I think about you a lot, and when I think about you, I want to talk to you. But, I settle for texting because I don't want to be a huge pain in your arse." He explains.
"You are a huge pain in my arse," I state flipping down the sun visor to check my appearance in the tiny mirror.
"Well, just imagine what a pain it would be if I called you every time I thought about you instead holding back and only texting when I really have to. So really, I'm doing you a favor here." I run my fingers under my eyes making sure my make-up is blended properly as I smile at his answer.
"You look fine. Relax," he says, glancing at me quickly.
"I am relaxed," I counter. "I was just checking I got my make-up on properly because someone rushed me this morning."
He glances at me again. "I would have waited for you all day if I had to," he states letting a beat of time pass before changing the subject. "So, what was really in that box?"
"Ah, now I get why you showed up this morning."
"What? Friends are allowed to be interested in the things other friends get off their boyfriends." "He's not my boyfriend. We’re just seeing each other. And you and I don't quite fit in the friend category yet."
"Really? Well, this is awkward…" He pulls down his bottom lip in this crooked way that makes me laugh at his silliness.
"You're incorrigible. But if you must know, the box contained a cupcake."
"A cupcake," he repeats. "And did you like the cupcake?"
"I did," I state.
"So that's what the girls go for these days, cupcakes?"
"Well, it worked well for me."
"Cupcakes and not flowers?"
"Flowers work too."
"Just not when they’re from me?"
"Well, it is a little odd getting flowers from your friends when you aren't sick, and it isn’t your birthday."
"I thought we weren’t friends.”
“I don't know what we are, Jonathan. Let's not try too hard, or put a label on it. I’m obviously not going to get rid of you. So, let's just… be two people, hanging out, ignoring all the shit of the world without pushing for some kind of relationship–friendship or otherwise. Do you think you can do that?" I ask, as he turns the corner and double parks to let me out in front of my work.
"Yeah, I can do that," he says as I open the door to quickly get out so he doesn't get a parking ticket.“I’ll see you at lunch.”
A driver hits the horn behind us, and I hold up one finger to say we won’t be long as I lean back in. “What?”
“I’ll be in the city all day. So I’ll meet you for lunch. It’s what friends do, Red. Get used to it.” He reaches across the car and gives me a wink as he pulls the door shut and takes off, leaving me a little dumbfounded as I step back from street to let the traffic go past. The man from the car behind flips me off and yells at me to get off the fucking road. It snaps me out of the weirdness that Jonathan seems to evoke and I return the sentiment before heading into my office building to start work and try to ignore the clock as time creeps toward lunch.
Beautiful Star Synopsis:
When Jonathan decided to help Lisa, he was trying to atone in some way for his past sins. He certainly wasn't expecting to be pulled into a night full of hiding out from the press with a journalist called Sandra Haegen, and almost being choked to death by a rockstar in love with his ex. When Sandra decided to help Lisa by feeding Perry, she was just trying to be a good person. She also wasn't expecting to spend the night hiding from the press. Even more so, she wasn't expecting to spend the night with one of Australia's hottest young actors, Jonathan Masters. She also wasn't expecting to save his life. And that's just the beginning. From there, these two must find a way live with the past and look to the future - no matter what the personal cost.
Lilliana Anderson Bio:
Bestselling Author of the Drawn Series, the Beautiful Series, 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.
Enter Lilliana's giveaway!
I find the description very interesting!
ReplyDeleteI have not read it yet, but I really want to. The book is so interesting.
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