Beneath the Glitter: A Novel (Sophia and Ava London) Read Online Free
Author: Elle Fowler, Blair Fowler
photographed laughing and he’d grinned at the right places in other people’s stories but he hadn’t laughed, not for real, since …
Well it had been a few months. But it felt like a lifetime. And now here he was, standing at this ridiculous PR event his publicist Tana had ordered him to attend, actually having a nicer time with this girl than he’d had in any VIP room in a long time. It didn’t hurt that she was really cute, but it wasn’t just that. There was something about her, she seemed sweet and untouched—
God, always with the clichés when you’re hungover on vodka, a voice in his head said, and it was true, although usually the clichés ran to “man, I’ve never felt this bad before” and “I’m never drinking again.” But this was different, because with this girl, they didn’t seem like clichés. It was in the way she looked right at him, not trying to be coy, and in the tentative smile that played around her full lips which any other girl in Hollywood would have used for a come-hither pout. She wasn’t posing. She was just—adorable.
The lips started to move and he realized she was saying something, asking him what he was doing there.
“Damage control,” was how Tana had described it when she’d stalked into his bedroom the previous day at the ungodly early hour of 12:45 and pulled the sheets off of him.
“Remember me?” she’d said, her Louboutin heels clicking against the gray stone floor his designer had convinced him would make his bedroom feel like “a soothing Zen sanctuary.” Apparently the designer had never heard what a $1700 stiletto sounded like when tapped by an angry publicist against a stone floor. “The woman you pay a lot of money to keep you off the cover of People looking like this?” She held up a photo of him being carried out of a nightclub between two bouncers.
Glancing from it, to the T-shirt he’d still been wearing in bed, he had frowned. “Hey, that was last night.”
“Yes,” Tana said in her sweetest voice. Which was bad. She only sounded sweet when she was angry. “Let me read you a few snippets: ‘Bystanders say that Carlson was “so out of it he was pawing everyone in sight.” At least one female server at the club said she was considering pressing charges for assault with a deadly weapon.’”
“That’s ridiculous,” he told her, starting to sit up but stopping halfway when his head protested. “I wouldn’t do that. You know it. Besides, I’ve never had a weapon. What did she say I assaulted her with?”
“Your breath probably, if it was anything like it is now. It doesn’t matter because I’m having the story killed.”
“But?” Liam said. He’d learned early on that there was always a but.
“But they’re going to have the exclusive on Liam Carlson’s fresh start. You had your little ‘getting wrecked at nightclubs in the wake of a bad breakup’ fun, now it’s time to grow up. I don’t care what you do in your personal life but your image is mine and you have one chance to save it.”
Both his mind and his reflexes were working a little slowly so she nearly hit him with the LA Times when she tossed it on the bed. He rolled away from it, wincing at the pain in his head. “What do you want me to do with that?”
“Find a county fair. Kiss babies. Starting tomorrow I don’t care what you do as long as it involves either animals or babies. Baby animals would be even better. You don’t have to like it, just look like you do.”
Which was how he’d ended up at the Pet Paradise or whatever it was the next day, as part of his image reboot. Show up, have a few dozen pictures taken, and head for the nearest bar.
But now, looking at this girl, he felt something spark inside of him. Something strange and unfamiliar. Maybe this didn’t have to be just an image reboot. Watching her laughing and fending off licks from her puppy while she tried to discipline him, he thought she looked like someone who would understand
Well it had been a few months. But it felt like a lifetime. And now here he was, standing at this ridiculous PR event his publicist Tana had ordered him to attend, actually having a nicer time with this girl than he’d had in any VIP room in a long time. It didn’t hurt that she was really cute, but it wasn’t just that. There was something about her, she seemed sweet and untouched—
God, always with the clichés when you’re hungover on vodka, a voice in his head said, and it was true, although usually the clichés ran to “man, I’ve never felt this bad before” and “I’m never drinking again.” But this was different, because with this girl, they didn’t seem like clichés. It was in the way she looked right at him, not trying to be coy, and in the tentative smile that played around her full lips which any other girl in Hollywood would have used for a come-hither pout. She wasn’t posing. She was just—adorable.
The lips started to move and he realized she was saying something, asking him what he was doing there.
“Damage control,” was how Tana had described it when she’d stalked into his bedroom the previous day at the ungodly early hour of 12:45 and pulled the sheets off of him.
“Remember me?” she’d said, her Louboutin heels clicking against the gray stone floor his designer had convinced him would make his bedroom feel like “a soothing Zen sanctuary.” Apparently the designer had never heard what a $1700 stiletto sounded like when tapped by an angry publicist against a stone floor. “The woman you pay a lot of money to keep you off the cover of People looking like this?” She held up a photo of him being carried out of a nightclub between two bouncers.
Glancing from it, to the T-shirt he’d still been wearing in bed, he had frowned. “Hey, that was last night.”
“Yes,” Tana said in her sweetest voice. Which was bad. She only sounded sweet when she was angry. “Let me read you a few snippets: ‘Bystanders say that Carlson was “so out of it he was pawing everyone in sight.” At least one female server at the club said she was considering pressing charges for assault with a deadly weapon.’”
“That’s ridiculous,” he told her, starting to sit up but stopping halfway when his head protested. “I wouldn’t do that. You know it. Besides, I’ve never had a weapon. What did she say I assaulted her with?”
“Your breath probably, if it was anything like it is now. It doesn’t matter because I’m having the story killed.”
“But?” Liam said. He’d learned early on that there was always a but.
“But they’re going to have the exclusive on Liam Carlson’s fresh start. You had your little ‘getting wrecked at nightclubs in the wake of a bad breakup’ fun, now it’s time to grow up. I don’t care what you do in your personal life but your image is mine and you have one chance to save it.”
Both his mind and his reflexes were working a little slowly so she nearly hit him with the LA Times when she tossed it on the bed. He rolled away from it, wincing at the pain in his head. “What do you want me to do with that?”
“Find a county fair. Kiss babies. Starting tomorrow I don’t care what you do as long as it involves either animals or babies. Baby animals would be even better. You don’t have to like it, just look like you do.”
Which was how he’d ended up at the Pet Paradise or whatever it was the next day, as part of his image reboot. Show up, have a few dozen pictures taken, and head for the nearest bar.
But now, looking at this girl, he felt something spark inside of him. Something strange and unfamiliar. Maybe this didn’t have to be just an image reboot. Watching her laughing and fending off licks from her puppy while she tried to discipline him, he thought she looked like someone who would understand
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