Dear Reader,
Liam and Grace are the first characters Iâve written about who havenât come from the void of my own subconscious. They came to me as part of a massive outline the editors unleashed on a gaggle of us writers to give life to. So I didnât make them, but I do believe I made them into the twisted little monkeys I do so love writing about.
I dearly love an âolder brotherâs best friendâ storyline, and all the angst that comes along with it. But I also got to run with another favourite combo of mine: girl-next-door and super-unattainable and damaged hero. Or, as it actually is here, girl-next-door and junior high crush becomes high school first love, becomes subject of the most humiliating night of her life, becomes the celebrity crush whose image she canât avoid, becomes⦠You get the picture.
Hope you enjoy the rideâand if you like the glimpses of secondary characters whoâve made it into these pages check out their books in The Hollywood Hills Clinic series!
Amalie Xo
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CHAPTER ONE
âNOW FOR THE hard part...â Liam Carter muttered, hauling himself out of the deeply comfortable chair in James Rothsbergâs office at The Hollywood Hills Clinic.
âThe hard part?â James asked, politely rising in tandem with him.
Why had he said that? James didnât need to know how shaky his plan was.
âWalking,â Liam said, offering an explanation he knew James would believe.
âI can get you a wheelchair and have you wheeled down to the treatment rooms...â
âNo.â He raised a hand, laughing a little. Limping and still upright, even with pain, trumped being wheeled around. âNo, I can make it.â
Liam hadnât seen Grace in six years, and heâd damned well make her re-acquaintance on his feet. No matter how much it hurt.
He tested his balance and found it before he found the appropriate expression to conceal the pain.
James rounded his desk, hand outstretched to shake. âDonât be surprised if Grace insists on crutches.â
Even without his desire to save face with Grace, if anyone saw him in a wheelchair or on crutches, word would travel, and the people he spent ninety-five percent of his life making happy would begin to question his suitability for the project.
Liam mustered a smile and shook the offered hand, then turned toward the door. âIâm sure weâll work something out. Grace always was good at creative problem solving.â In their amicable past, the one that had ended for them that one night. The one heâd never have James know about, the land where nothing ever suddenly exploded. One terrible...and amazing night.
There had been plenty of great years before hormones had become involved, but the punctuation on that sentence assured their first meeting in years would be anything but normal.
For someone who lied for a living, doing so off script always left a bad taste in his mouth, so he left it at that. It had to be Grace...
Minimizing his limp as much as possible, Liam exited the office and made his way to the elevator heâd been directed to. The Hollywood Hills Clinic lived up to its reputation of clean, modern elegance, not that he could really appreciate it right now.
Two days and the best splint money could buy hadnât even put a dent in the pain that radiated up his leg with every step. Liam would swear his ankle hurt more now than the day heâd sprained it. But despite the pain and the all-looming discomfort, the prospect of seeing Grace Watson again still had him moving a little faster.
How would the years have changed her? Would he find her still the slender, athletic girl sheâd been, light on curves but with quiet, supple strength? Maybe he was nervous for no good reason, and time apart couldâve extinguished that youthful spark between them. It might not even come up.
Through Nick, he knew that Grace had worked in professional sports, helping athletes keep fighting fit. She could help him. He just had to convince her. Pretend their last meeting had never happened. They were both fully adults now, and adults ignored unpleasant things all the time in order to keep things cordial.