Title: Heartbeat (Hollywood Hearts Book 3)
Author: Brenda Williams
Genre: Contemporary Romance/ Romantic Suspense
Release Date: December 4, 2017
GOOD GIRLS DON'T KISS AND TELL. UNLESS THEY'RE CAUGHT IN THE ACT...
Twenty-one-year-old Chloe Kemp knows it’s not easy growing up in the celebrity spotlight. Unlike other child actors, Chloe’s determined to hold onto her squeaky clean reputation. So far that’s been easy because she really is as sweet and innocent as the media portrays.
Until a video of her in bed with the lead singer of a famous rock band is released online. Only nothing happened. Not that anyone will believe her…
Nor will anyone believe she was in bed with the wrong rock star. Chloe’s fallen for drummer, Gabriel da Silva, and she’s heartbroken she’s ruined her chances with him. Or is it possible he’s fallen for Chloe’s sweetness?
When Chloe is sent incriminating images, it becomes apparent someone is following her with the intention of ruining her reputation as well as her relationship with Gabe. If Chloe wants her career to survive, and a shot with Gabe, is it time she grows up and trusts her heart?
We
lay back and I listened to the water lapping at the hull as we floated
along. The yacht tipped as we were pulled down gently into the swell and
the motion caused me to slide toward Gabe. As we bobbed up again I
realized we were so close that all I had to do was reach out my pinky to
stroke the back of his hand. I lay there paralyzed, my heart in my
throat, while I willed myself to have the courage to reach out that
fraction of an inch to touch him.
Then, in a movement so smooth it felt like it was the most natural thing in the world, Gabe twined his fingers through mine.
“Do you like it out here?” he asked.
I
nodded, trying to ignore the way my fingers tingled and my hand
throbbed from our contact. “I love the sense of freedom,” I managed.
“Tell me about it. All those hours I clocked up? Coming out here was like therapy when the band made it big.”
The
yacht rolled over another large swell and shifted us so we were pressed
together. “You don’t like the fame?” I asked casually, even though my
arm against his made it feel like my whole body was on fire.
Gabe
put his other hand behind his head and I did my best to avert my eyes
when his T-shirt rode up and revealed a tanned, taut strip of his
abdomen.
“Do you?”
His question caught me off guard. “Huh?”
His mouth quirked like he knew what I’d been thinking. “Do you like the fame?”
“I wouldn’t say I like it, but I’m used to it. You’re not, are you?”
“A bit more now. At first, being out here on this yacht was the only place I still felt like myself.”
“Gypsy Hour’s popularity happened quickly, didn’t it?”
“Not according to Levi and Johnnie. They were doing gigs and cutting singles for almost seven years before I met them.”
“Hang on. Weren’t you always in the band?”
“Nope.
And I thought you were a fan.” He nudged me gently with his shoulder.
“Levi approached me one night when I was playing at a gig. Back then I
was in a few different bands and played around LA regularly. He told me
their drummer had just left. Something about a difference of opinions
with Johnnie if you can imagine that.” His wry grin told me he could
imagine exactly that. “Anyway, a few months later one of our singles
made it big and I was officially in a famous rock band.”
“Wow. I had no idea it was like that for you.”
“Right place, right time.”
“It’s always like that with fame,” I told him. “Too often success comes down to that one lucky moment.”
Gabe
propped himself up on his elbow but didn’t let go of my hand. Those
beautiful gray eyes regarded me seriously. “You really believe that?”
“Absolutely.”
“But you’ve been working at acting since you were a kid.”
“Yes,
I have, and I’ll keep working hard, but the thing I learned early on
was luck plays a huge part. Mama’s connections got me started easier
than most. It allowed me to pick up a few commercials when I was kid.
What people didn’t see were the hundreds of auditions I went to for
television pilots that I didn’t get. And the one I did get? I got the
part on School Daze
because the director had been on the crew for one of the commercials
I’d done. Simple as that. I wasn’t necessarily more talented, cuter, or
more professional. I was just lucky.”
“That doesn’t bother you?”
“No, why would it?”
“Because don’t you want it to be your hard work that got you there?”
I
looked down at our hands and my pale skin against his tanned
complexion. We were so different, in more than just our looks. Fame had
always been part of my life but it was new to Gabe and I sensed in him
an unease that I was only just beginning to understand.
“When Gypsy Hour made it big you didn’t feel like you deserved to be there, did you?” I asked him.
Gabe shrugged and cast his eyes to the horizon. “Maybe.”
“But you had been working hard—in other bands. If you hadn’t, Levi wouldn’t have seen you and approached you.”
He let out a deep sigh. “Yeah, that’s true, I guess.”
I
took in his profile. He had a regal quality that I liked. Unlike
Johnnie, who was all bravado, Gabe’s confidence was quiet, but maybe a
little less self-assured than I had first thought.
“How old are you?” I asked.
My question seemed to break Gabe out of his reverie and he met my eyes. “Twenty-eight. Why?”
“And how long have you been drumming?”
“Since I was eleven.”
“So you’ve been playing drums for . . . ” I did the math in my head. “Seventeen years. I’d say that makes you very experienced.”
“More experienced than you.”
Oh boy. Those few words changed the tone of our easy conversation into something a whole lot less easy, and I swallowed.
https://open.spotify.com/user/1266029906/playlist/4ibORIYCSuhxIJ3nz7WXqN
Belinda Williams is a marketing communications specialist and copywriter who allowed an addiction to romance to get the better of her. Her other addictions include music and fast cars. Her writing hasn’t paid for a Lamborghini just yet, so she’ll have to settle for her son’s Hot Wheels collection and writing hot male leads with sports cars. Belinda lives in Sydney, Australia.
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