Hollywood star Hailey Ross returns to her hometown of Starling Bay, feeling like a fish out of water.
But on meeting Jackson Miller, a security guard at the local mall, things suddenly become even more awkward.
When Hailey left over a decade ago it was with great relief. The gawky teenager was suddenly discovered by a talent scout and when Hollywood beckoned, she left Sleepy Starling Bay behind her.
Jackson has always lived in Starling Bay, a place where nothing much happens, not even at the local mall where he works as a security guard.
He doesn’t understand, nor care for, the townspeople’s fascination with the movie star diva.
Until he ends up working for her. And that’s when everything changes.
Sparks fly.
Emotions rocket.
Tensions simmer.
Because when uptown girl meets small town guy, life is most definitely not a bed of roses.
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Hailey Ross opened her gold cosmetic mirror and checked to see if her lipstick needed touching up. She turned her head to the left and right, frowned at the sight of newly formed fine lines on the corners of her eyes, and checked to see if the red matte color on her as yet naturally full lips was fine.
She was starving; the few slices of cucumber and lettuce she had had for brunch had done nothing to appease her hunger and her stomach gurgled while Val, her publicist and agent, feasted on eggs Benedict and salmon slathered over with a creamy looking butter-colored Hollandaise sauce.
Inside, she was salivating, as well as slowly dying a little each time Val lifted her fork to her mouth. Hailey looked away, choosing to focus on the potted palm trees dotted around the shimmering blue pool at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
“Bruce will go with you,” Val announced.
“I don’t need a bodyguard. I’m going back to my hometown. Nothing ever happens there.” It simply wasn’t necessary. She only ever needed bodyguards for large crowds and at events like movie premieres where prestigious jewelers loaned her glitzy and ridiculously expensive pieces of jewelry.
“You’re taking Bruce and that’s that. No buts.” She was about to protest further but she knew that when Val put her foot down, there was usually a good reason for it. Hailey’s insides slumped. The timing was lousy. She had her eyes on a few meaty movie roles she had auditioned for. There was also the fact that she didn’t relish the idea of returning to Starling Bay, a place she had long ago put behind her.
The release of her latest movie, the third in her successful Monica Martins franchise, had been delayed by six months due to a horrific helicopter crash involving the director and several members of the cast. Luckily, she hadn’t been aboard the flight. The director’s life had hung in the balance but he was now on the long road to recovery. The movie had finally released and the premiere had taken place in LA last month.
Unfortunately, she now had to attend a second movie premiere in Starling Bay.
To compound matters, one of the TV networks had signed to produce a documentary covering her life story from her years as a gawky teen with humble beginnings in the small town she had grown up into where she was now, a Hollywood A-lister. This also had been delayed. She had been secretly hoping that the TV network would hold off on the documentary, but they seemed as eager as ever for it to go ahead. There was no way out of it. She had to return to her hometown.
She hated the thought of her bodyguard tagging along with her. Bruce would stick out like a sore thumb with his sinister-looking dark suit and shades. She tried once more to appeal to Val. “It’s really not necessary for Bruce to tag along.”
“You can drop him once you’ve finished filming the documentary and the premiere is over.”
“But it’s only in Starling Bay!”
“It’s a condition of the studio, Hailey. Please don’t keep going on about it.”
“What is it?” Hailey asked. Val was holding something back. “Is it the letters? Did they start up again?” In the last few months, she had been receiving letters from one particular fan. These weren’t like the types of letters she was used to—friendly and full of admiration. This fan professed his undying love for her and got angry about the villains in her movies. Val had obviously been concerned about it enough to beef up the security at the main events.
“No. They haven’t started up again.”
“You’d tell me, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course I would tell you.”
It was normal in her line of work to attract a fair share of weirdos; it was part of the package for being in the public eye, for taking on the sort of acting roles she did where she was eye candy. Curves and long legs. The Monica Martins action movie franchise in which she played a feisty heroine on various quests in remote parts of the world had propelled her to another level of fame. Too bad her outfits consisted of the shortest of shorts and skimpy tops. No man in a similar role, save for Tarzan, would be expected to wear such skimpy clothing in such harsh places and climates. It seemed to be only the women who were expected to wear such things—another reason for her wanting to move away from these cheesy roles and look for something more serious.
Her security detail had been beefed up in recent months and while Val had refused to show her the letters—not that she had particularly wanted to see them—the extra protection wasn’t something she welcomed.
“Then there’s nothing to worry about.”
Val set down her silverware and shifted her shades further along her head. “There’s absolutely nothing to worry about, but the studio is going to give me grief if I let you go alone. Just take Bruce, pretend he’s invisible and enjoy your visit.”
Hailey snorted. Returning to Starling Bay after so many years didn’t feel like an enjoyable visit. “I’ll be bored sick in no time.” Her life back then, as a tall and skinny teen, had been boring in comparison to her life now. She had towered above others at school and had found herself the center of unwanted attention from boys. At the age of thirteen, a TV scout discovered her during his visit to Starling Bay. A photoshoot followed, and then she got a bit part in a TV commercial. Not long after that she was lucky enough to try out for a children’s TV show. With her sparkling blue eyes, blonde hair and charming smile, it was enough to get her the role. When the bright lights and glamor of Hollywood had beckoned, she left.
But returning to that same small town was a different matter. Now she was afraid of not fitting in, of causing a commotion, of old memories from a less pleasant time resurfacing.
On the flip side, she was still recovering from the exhausting post-release and publicity schedule, appearing in TV shows in order to promote the movie. In that respect, maybe spending some time in a small town wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
“Oh, and you have a signing event at the local mall. I’ll deal with the management there and have the appropriate merchandise sent over.”
“What merchandise?” Two events to deal with were bad enough, and now Val was adding a third.
“Monica Martins swag, I’ll put something together with the marketing department. You just have to look pretty and sign autographs and be nice to your fans.”
“I’m always nice to my fans.”
Val tapped her finger thoughtfully on the long stem of her glass. “I’m just wondering …”
Hailey braced herself. Val could come up with some hairbrained ideas sometimes. “Wondering about what?”
“Whether we should have Big Rock show up to surprise you.”
She clenched her jaw tightly. This was the second time in as many weeks that Val had brought up Big Rock, her friend and a former child star whom she had known from her first TV show. He was quickly climbing the ranks of Hollywood royalty thanks to his huge summer blockbuster hit. The name had stuck because he was a huge guy of Herculean proportion, and he’d been called Rock in the teen show. His real name was Rick Moretti. She was happy for him and his success, especially because it had been long overdue, but she was also aware that the studio liked to put people together in the hopes of driving fans wild with false rumors. “Why?”
“It’s good publicity. You guys have been seen out and about.”
“We’ve been catching up. We know one another. We have friends in common.”
“You certainly photograph well together,” Val remarked.
She balked at the idea. Val had been after her to do more publicity stunts with Rick ever since a photo taken at an awards show—when she had presented him with an award—had gone viral. Because they knew one another, their chemistry that night—both when she kissed him on the cheek to give him the award, and at the after-party later—seemed to have caught a mood. They looked good together; there was no doubt about that. Big Rock was tall, like her, but dark-haired and muscular. He was handsome in a rugged way, with dark brown eyes and an attitude. The media had gone wild. While she could see how they were a celebrity magazine’s dream couple, there was no chemistry, not that anyone would have noticed. Surface level was all that counted in Hollywood.
It was never anything deeper, but ever since that night, Val had started suggesting that she and Big Rock do some publicity stunts together, or accidentally show up at the same bar and restaurant where, magically, paparazzi would be waiting.
She had been horrified by the suggestion, and though Val hadn’t said it in such direct terms, Hailey was all too aware that a fake romance could help with the buzz of publicity.
Hailey didn’t like the idea of that and she did not want any part of this. “No. Please don’t bring that up again.”
“Okay, fine. But I would love to spend a week in Starling Bay,” exclaimed Val, sliding her sunglasses onto her face again. “It’s such a pretty little place.” Val had visited Starling Bay when she had a week’s vacation time to use up. She had gone with her boyfriend and come back in love with the town.
Hailey folded her arms and stared at the sunshine reflecting off the calm surface of the swimming pool. She couldn’t deny that. It was a pretty place, but LA was home. Palm trees and sunshine. Poodles and high heels. Cocktails under glittering night skies. Sometimes, when the pace got to be too much here, she took off to her second home in Santa Monica. Not bad achievements for a twenty-four-year-old. She was super successful and hugely popular, for now—while her latest movie was riding high on its new release ratings, but unless her next one did well—and the one after that, and the one after that—she would be forgotten in time. She would still be rich, though not as famous, and over time she would definitely be forgotten.
“I’ve booked you a suite at The Grand Hotel. It’s busy and central, but it has the standard of luxury you’re used to.”
“I don’t want busy.” She wanted to avoid fans and forget the disadvantages of fame.
“I could rent you one of those delightful houses by the bay, or you could stay in one of the condos at Forest Heights, a luxury development. I think it’s too far. Central is best. I’ll feel better knowing that you’re in the heart of the town center.”
“Why don’t you come out with me?” Hailey asked.
“Because I’m working on your behalf here.”
Hailey sat upright in her chair. “Be sure to let me know the moment you hear back about the schoolteacher audition.”
Val sipped from her glass of sparkling water and made a face. Hailey knew it wasn’t from the sharp taste of too much fizz. “Monica Martins makes you rich. Getting that schoolteacher’s role will confuse your fans.”
“Julia Roberts managed it.” She had her heart set on the role. It would be so different than the roles she currently had.
“But Pretty Woman made her, and Pretty Woman she’ll be for life.”
“She doesn’t care,” Hailey protested. “She’s made her fortune, and now she can play whatever parts she wants.”
“Julia who?” Val cupped a hand to her ear.
Life in Tinseltown could be fickle. Maybe a visit to someplace more laidback was the thing she needed.