Home Matters (A Ripple Effect Romance Novella, Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

thought Olivia Pembroke would look good all lit up on a marquee. She knew I was going to be a big star when I grew up.”
    He huffed out a laugh. “You, and about a few thousand other pretty faces in this town.”
    Olivia shot him a withering look. “What’s your point?”
    Pete shrugged. “Why waste your life chasing what will likely amount to no more than two minutes of fame when there are nobler causes out there worth pursuing?” He almost sounded genuine. “After all, love and fame can’t live in the same place.”
    Olivia’s hands curled into tight, angry balls. Who did this man think he was to lecture her on the nobility of her ambitions? The most infuriating man she’d ever met, that’s who. “Says the man who was obviously born to clean toilets.” Taking a step closer, she faced him straight on and planted her fists on her hips. “And just a tip, Socrates . The next time you go all philosophical on a girl, and you expect her to take you seriously, try not using movie quotes to prove your point.” She slid him a superior glance. “Like I wouldn’t recognize a line from Country Strong .”
    Pete moved closer as well. Their noses were barely inches from touching. She could actually feel his breath on her face, and for some unconscionable reason, she found the sensation oddly tantalizing. Then he opened his mouth to say something else. But before he could get a word out, a voice from the near distance interrupted.
    “And, that’s a wrap!”
    Olivia jerked toward the casting director. “What?” she questioned, though she knew full well what “that’s-a-wrap” meant. “I’m sorry, but unless I’m mistaken, we haven’t begun shooting yet.”
    The director rolled his hand through the air. “Yes, well, we’ve seen all we need to,” he said, his attention already diverted to the phone his assistant was handing him. “Thank you for coming down today, Olivia. We’ll be in touch.”
     

     
    Olivia’s gaze seesawed between the two doors. The once familiar stick images indicating one entrance for women, the other for men, were currently as indecipherable as piecing together how a screen test—one that had begun with such promise—could have taken an abrupt turn toward unimaginably wrong, and without warning. How her once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to prove she had talent, to show herself and the world she hadn’t squandered her youth in pursuit of some unattainable dream, that her adult life so far hadn’t been a farce—a folly—had been spent in the blink of an eye? Gone forever.
    “See, I told you,” Pete’s voice accosted her from behind. “You were in the men’s room.”
    Olivia spun to face him, murder in her eyes. “Get away from me.”
    “Hey.” Pete raised his hands and took a step back. “What did I do?”
    Olivia stuck a finger in his face. “You ruined everything.”
    Pete circled his hand around Olivia’s, carefully removing her finger from his nose. “How’s that?”
    Olivia yanked her hand away and stabbed her outstretched finger to her temple. “Are you slow or something? My screen test, you moron,” she practically yelled. “You came in all smarmy, a-and ‘you look like Tinkerbell—’”
    “I never specifically mentioned Tinkerbell—”
    “Got me all fired up… hostile-like, in front of the director,” Olivia interrupted. She wasn’t interested in his clarifications. “No way will the show sign me now.”
    Pete shook his head like she couldn’t be more wrong. “Are you kidding me?” he said, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “That’s what they’re looking for—tension and drama. If we can create it organically— like we did —then the show comes off more authentic. Viewers eat it up.” He took Olivia by the shoulders, captured her gaze in his. “We gave them exactly what they wanted.”
    She hated to admit it, but his hands were strong and reassuring against her trembling body. “So, you were helping me?” She blinked up at him, wishing