Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Kids from backwoods Georgia don’t land scholarships to Yale, but I did, and striking it rich–like, billions of dollars rich–with my best friends after graduation should have used up my luck for a lifetime.
But luck struck again when I followed my passion into music. My career exploded, and now I get to travel the world, performing for thousands of raving fans every night.
When you get this lucky, you don’t get to want more, and you definitely don’t get to complain about the little things. My family, my crew, and my label are counting on me and I refuse to let them down. I pretend I’m fine, totally fine, Mr. freaking Fine… even when someone starts targeting me with a strange series of threats.
The only one who sees beneath the pretense is my gorgeous, strictly-professional bodyguard. Ryan keeps me safe and calm. He holds me when I’m terrified.
But even Ryan doesn’t see everything. He doesn’t know I want him. That I crave him. The man who keeps me together has no idea how much I want him to take me apart.
And I’ll never tell. Because there’s no way someone as strong and confident as Ryan could have feelings for someone as chaotic as me.
Nobody’s that lucky… not even Mr. Fine.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE
RYAN
Don’t let a bear’s aloofness fool you—they feel emotions deeply. They may act tough, wandering solo through the wilderness, but inside? They’ve got hearts as big as their appetite for honey.
—Bear Facts for Insomniacs, Episode 13
The moment I truly learned what hubris meant was the moment I first met Zane Hendley.
Correction, it was the day I first met Zee Barlo, Grammy Award–winning rock star, headliner of sold-out arenas around the globe, and one of the Sexiest Men Alive… according to People magazine. I didn’t catch a glimpse of the real man behind the public persona until later.
“He’s the new Taylor Swift, if Taylor Swift was a beautiful man instead of a beautiful woman,” Violet explained as we made our way into the record label’s Los Angeles recording studio for our first client meeting. I was still getting used to seeing my new boss in person instead of on a Zoom screen, and I noticed a sparkle in her eyes when she referred to her newest client. “And this is a super-cush assignment. You’re welcome.”
“You mean there are no actual threats to his safety?”
Her heels made a clip-clip sound on the marble floor of the large corporate lobby as we crossed to the elevator bank. “No, no. There definitely are. But they’re from rabid fans wanting a piece of him more than sociopolitical agents hell-bent on his destruction.”
I must have winced because Violet immediately apologized. “Shit, Ryan. I’m sorry.”
After a deep, calming inhale through my nostrils, I attempted a reassuring smile. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not. Here I am discussing assassinations when your previous employer is still lying in state. Are you sure you don’t want to go back to Ventdestine for the funeral?”
My memories of Asger Salling and the rest of the Ventdestinian royal family were a mixed bag. While I’d deeply respected the king for the entire twelve years I’d worked on his security detail as a member of the royal guard, and we’d shared plenty of friendly moments, I hadn’t truly been his friend. I’d been more like very friendly wallpaper.
I’d also been skeptical of the king’s prediction that he’d be a target for assassination because he’d sensed “the winds of fate whispering ill tidings around the palace”—the kind of claim that only someone in the tiny, superstitious nation of Ventdestine could make with a straight face—but as it turned out, I’d been wrong.
My decision to leave the royal guard and return to the US had happened well in advance of his assassination, and the security failure hadn’t had anything to do with me. In fact, I’d already been comfortably ensconced at my sister’s place in Montana when I’d gotten the news along with everyone else that the king of Ventdestine had been shot and killed during a PR visit to the royal naval yard.
I still felt partially responsible for it, though. Maybe if I’d taken Asger’s concerns more seriously, if I hadn’t let my feelings about his superstitions affect my assessments, I could have better prepared my replacement.
In my new assignment, I’d make sure there were no feelings involved whatsoever.
“I’m sure,” I said, clearing my throat as I followed her into the elevator.
Violet grinned as she jabbed the button. “Good. Because I can’t lie, I feel like if you went back for a visit, you might end up staying. The new king is so eager to have you back his head of security reached out to ask if I’d subcontract you to them. And the salary the guy offered was… substantial.”
“I know,” I said gruffly. “Kasper contacted me directly, too. But as I told him, I’m not interested in going back to Ventdestine. I’m ready for a new assignment, and like you said, this one sounds great.”