Talia Truman is a managerâs worst nightmare. A former child star, Talia traded in her braids and became a smart-mouthed party girl with a penchant for bad boys and even badder decisions. (Usually involving alcohol.) With a massive movie deal on the line, however, Talia needs to keep herselfâand her purple thong pantiesâout of trouble. But sex-addiction rehab? Definitely not her ideaâ¦
Unfortunately, being stuck in rehab with emerging country music star Matt Skylerâaka The Most Delicious Man Talia Canât Haveâis testing Taliaâs newfound chastity. All she wants to do is fall off the wagon and onto Matt. But Matt isnât exactly the bad boy she thought he was. In fact, Talia is starting to suspect that this cowboy might secretly be a total gentleman. And worse still, she likes that.
Now, under the blinding glare of the paparazzi, this not-so-bad boy and trying-to-be-good girl must choose between their reputationsâ¦and who they really are.
Contemporary, sexy stories for sassy women
Cosmo Red-Hot Reads from Mills & Boon
www.millsandboon.co.uk/Cosmo
First and foremost, this book is dedicated to my editor and all-around wonderful person, Ann Leslie Tuttle, for believing in me since day one.
Next, Iâd be remiss if I didnât thank my spirit guide, Allison Lyonsâthe world needs more people like you. Also, a huge thank-you to my best friend/critique partner Mary Williams for helping me every step of the way, and to my lifelong bud Marissa Zimmel for helping to inspire the Nashville setting and letting me pick her brain.
Dear Reader,
When Mills & Boon announced its partnership with Cosmopolitan magazine for the Red-Hot Reads program, I immediately knew I wanted to write something for them. Iâve always wanted to write from the point of view of someone in Hollywood, one of the most high-stakes industries out there. Famous or not, I think we all feel the pressure of other peopleâs expectations in our day-to-day lives. Iâm hoping that everyone can take a cue from how former child star and current party girl Talia Truman learns to tell people to shove their opinions of her and how she lives her life where the sun donât shine⦠It may take the dashing budding country music star Matt Skyler a few times to learn this lesson, but youâll soon find that Taliaâs more than up to the task.
This is a story about living your life on your own terms and never changing for anyone. I think that every Cosmo girl can vouch for that. Happy reading!
xoxo,
Zoey
Chapter One
The moment I squint my eyes openâafter being temporarily blinded by the hot LA sunâI realize two things: my entire body feels like itâs developed that pinkish pre-sunburn tint and there is something most definitely in my mouth. The sad part is that this isnât nearly the first time this has happened to me.
I attempt to sit up and immediately lose my balance, the mattress below me feeling like itâs made out of gelatin. The movement sets off a lightning storm of pain in my skull and a wave of nausea hits me. I know that if I took a Breathalyzer test right now, it would probably burst into flames.
Groaning, I swat my hand around in front of my face and find my mouth after a few tries. My fingers grip whatâs been between my lips for God knows how long. I lift a hand to my forehead to shield out the sun and inspect it. Itâs a party horn, with orange and green stripes, like one youâd blow on New Yearâs Eve or at a little kidâs birthday party, except this one is flaccid and sagging like it has given up, the paper damp and disintegrating. And thatâs when I notice that my foot is wet, tooâbecause Iâm lying on a large plastic float in the middle of my pool. I look down and see that my foot is dangling off the edge of the floatâso neon green it makes my head hurt more when I look at itâskimming the surface of the water.
Then it all comes back to me. The party celebrating my big upcoming role. My first big movie role in a little over a year. Last night, my house was full of peopleâtall, thin, glamorous people. The movers and shakers of Hollywood. Drinks sloshed onto the cement deck around my pool as everyone danced, the bass of whatever the DJ was playing perpetually thumping in my ears, people trying to shout compliments at each other over the blaring music, their voices getting exponentially louder as they got drunker. Now, the place is barrenâthe hundreds of clear plastic cups strewn across the patio the only evidence that something took place here last night. All is quiet except for the unmistakable crackling of a turntable left on, recordless. And Iâm here alone, on top of a raft twirling in lazy circles in the hot sun. I catch a whiff of chlorine and my stomach churns again. My mouth tastes like cigarettes...and I donât even smoke. My first thought is,