Beneath the Glitter: A Novel (Sophia and Ava London) Read Online Free Page A

that just because he’d been bad once didn’t mean he was bad. Someone who would help him, not punish him. Someone who would support his making a fresh start. A real one. Someone who would care about him, not just how he looked in pictures. Maybe this time could be different.
    And now we’ve gotten to the penance part of the hangover, the voice-over in his head said. Let’s see how fresh your start is when cocktail time rolls around .
    “Shut up,” Liam said.
    “What?” the girl asked. Both she and the dog were staring at him, looking a little shocked.
    Oh crap, he must have said that out loud. “Nothing,” he stammered. “I was just—I mean I was—well—would you like to go out sometime?”
    The girl glanced behind her, then put her hand to her chest and said, “Me? Are you talking to me?”
    “Yes,” Liam said, laughing (again!). This girl was good for him. “And I’m not just talking. I’m asking for your number.”
    The words took a moment to filter into Ava’s brain. Liam Carlson was asking for her number. LIAM CARLSON WAS ASKING FOR HER NUMBER! Be cool, no big deal, act like LIAM CARLSON!! famous people NUMBER!! ask you out MINE!!! every day—
    “Oh man, I should have realized,” he said. “Of course you have a boyfriend. That was—”
    “No, oh no, I’m totally single,” Ava rushed to assure him one second before remembering that you weren’t supposed to announce you were single because it frightened guys off. The word “boytox” drifted through her mind, but as Liam raised one eyebrow the way she’d seen him do in half a dozen movies, boytox became a distant memory. “My number. Sure. Okay,” she said, studying one of Popcorn’s ears and trying to sound nonchalant as though movie stars WHOSE NAME SHE’D ONCE WRITTEN ALL OVER HER NOTEBOOK IN SHARPIE were always asking her for her number. Had she said that out loud? A quick glance at him told her she hadn’t. “But I don’t have anything to write with.”
    Liam looked around, crooked his finger at a woman in black with a massive bag standing impatiently next to the Spots Miracle Eyewash booth. “This is Tana, she’s my publicist,” he said when the woman joined them. “Tana, meet—I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.”
    “Ava,” Ava said, putting out her hand.
    “Ava,” Liam repeated, making it sound like it was covered in caramel. “That’s a nice name.”
    Tana smiled at Ava and then, speaking through the smile in a tense voice said, “Liam, we’re here to work to support the shelter and the adorable animals, not socialize, remember?”
    “I was just telling Ava about how I’m thinking of getting a puppy.” He was talking to Tana but his eyes held Ava’s the whole time. “Do you have a pen? I need to get her number. Ava says she’ll let me spend the day with her puppy Popcorn.” Eyes still on Ava’s, he reached out to scratch Popcorn’s head again, and their fingers brushed.
    Ava’s heart stopped and her mind went completely blank and she lost feeling in her entire body.
    Then suddenly it all came flooding back and Tana was holding a pen toward Ava and saying to Liam, “Great, hon. Now if we could—”
    Ava put Popcorn down to scribble her number on the flyer she’d been handed when they walked in.
    When she handed it to Liam he said, “I’ll text you tonight.” Then he’d taken two steps backward, still looking at her with his goofy heart-melting smile, given a little wave, and turned and disappeared after Tana into the crowd.
    Ava was still staring after him when she became aware of something whipping at her ankles and, looking down, she saw that it was the end of Popcorn’s leash.
    Everything seemed to go in slow motion then. Her mind registered that she must have dropped the leash as the end of it moved just beyond her grasp. She saw Popcorn, a tawny ball of fluff on a direct course for the curb and the five lanes of traffic on Third Street beyond it. She heard a desperate voice—her