Stand-In Star Read Online Free Page A

front of them, he heard the breath leave Holly’s lungs.
    “You live here?”
    He knew from the tone of her voice that her eyes would be wide and her mouth likely gaping open. It was the standard reaction he got whenever he brought a woman new to Hollywood back here. Locals were accustomed to the glitz and glamour and realized that most men in the area had properties twice the size and twice as elaborate and luxurious as his.
    But truth was he still got a kick every time he pulled into his driveway. It had been over fifteen years since he’d escaped the hovel of his father’s home but he never forgot. Every time he came home, every time he took a photo, every time he dated a fabulous woman, he thought about what his life could easily have been. It was this memory that drove him.
    “Yep, this is me.” And he pushed his foot onto the accelerator, cruising the car into his open garage.
    * * *
    Holly didn’t wait for Nate to walk round the car and open her passenger door. She was positively certain he wouldn’t and she’d be left sitting in the car like the unwanted guest she obviously was. It wasn’t that he’d said anything downright rude or directly stated that he didn’t want her here but his tone, the way he held himself, his mostly short sentences and his reluctance to chit-chat spoke volumes.
    Getting out of his car, she shook her head—it wasn’t worth trying to decipher his reasons for inviting her. Her own motivations for accepting were shocking enough. But she couldn’t lie to herself. Although the masses of people waiting to snap her photo had been daunting at first, she had every faith she’d have been able to handle the attention once she’d gotten her head around it all. She’d have handled it differently than Daisy would have, but she’d have held her own.
    Yet something about Nate had her wanting to go with him.
    She’d accused him of possibly being a crazy psycho but perhaps she should point the finger closer to home. She fancied the pants off him…that was the problem. It was purely physical of course, but some insane fantasy inside her sick little head had her imagining that he’d offered her a room in his house so she could spend her week perving on his tight behind in those delicious fitted jeans. Much like she was doing now while she trotted along behind him as he took her suitcase up the vast entry stairs two at a time. Offered her a room because on some level he felt the same about her. Hah! She wiped her mouth in case of drool.
    They got to the top of the stairs and the door opened before Nate slipped his key into the lock.
    “Well, this is a pleasant surprise, Nate. I thought you were at the office this afternoon.”
    Innately nosy, Holly peered around Nate’s broad frame to see a small, plump, rosy-faced, middle aged woman with a feather duster in her hand.
    “Change of plans,” Nate replied, his voice so much warmer than whenever he spoke to Holly. “But I’ll be out of your hair in a few minutes and Holly won’t get in your way, will you.” He turned back to face her but his tone indicated his words hadn’t been a question.
    “Of course not.” She offered him a smile that felt like it would split her face in two.
    But if she’d expected an introduction to the pint-sized woman, she was sorely disappointed. Instead, he ordered her to, “Follow me.”
    Not taking kindly to being ordered around but at the same time not feeling in much of a position to refuse, she skipped along behind, trying to focus on her surroundings—his gorgeous house and very tasteful art—rather than on the man himself. His place was massive. Granted, he was a large man with an even larger presence, but surely he didn’t live here on his own?
    They swept through a living area bordered with wrap-around, chocolate-brown, suede couches that looked as if they’d been custom made to fit the room, and floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked a sea-green swimming pool and then, in the distance, a