Moonlighting with the British Rock Star
A Georgia Moon Romance
Cindy Roland Anderson
Copyright © 2020 by Cindy Roland Anderson
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Content Editor: Valerie Bybee
Cover Design by Valerie Bybee
Cover Photo by Luke Dusenbury Photography
Cover Model: Nicole Anderson Harbertson
Moonlighting with the British Rock Star
She needs a temporary fiancé.
He needs a new image.
No one was supposed to fall in love.
Trying to get out of her evil stepsister’s engagement party, Josie claims to be secretly engaged and can’t make it home. But when the engagement party turns into a wedding, Josie only has a few days to find a fiancé or admit she was lying. Things get more complicated when her wealthy employer tries helping and brings home a temporary fiancé for Josie to take to the wedding.
There’s only one problem…
He’s Colin Wilde.
The British rock star with a bad rep looking to change his ways.
You’ll love this fun contemporary romance that will make you swoon, laugh, and cheer for happily ever after!
For Taylor Hart. Thanks for channeling Ester Dean and staying up way too late to help me write the lyrics for Colin’s song. Love you so much!
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
Colin’s Song
Free Book
About the Author
Also by Cindy Roland Anderson
Chapter 1
Josie
Lies. No matter how well they are executed, the truth eventually comes out. Josie Sinclair knew better than to tell a lie, especially a whopper she’d told her stepsister. Scarlet had been in one of her moods, and her passive-aggressive comment about Josie’s lack of a boyfriend had stung. Especially since Scarlet was the reason Josie no longer had a boyfriend. More accurately, Josie no longer had a fiancé. Scarlet seemed to forget that part.
Pride had gotten the best of her, and Josie blurted out that she did have a boyfriend. Technically, the false declaration should be considered self-defense. Or maybe more like self-preservation. Josie still remembered the elongated silence following her bold statement. It had been so satisfying to have the upper hand. That is until Scarlet demanded to know the boyfriend’s name.
Josie hadn’t quite gotten that far and panicked. The next thing she knew, Josie was telling her stepsister she was engaged, but they wanted to keep things on the down low until they were ready to make it public.
The ploy had worked beautifully. It also gave Josie added benefits she hadn’t counted on. Having a secret fiancé was the perfect way to get out of so many distasteful things like going home for Scarlet’s engagement party.
Leave it to Scarlet to find the one thing that would force Josie to come home.
“Josie, if you keep scowlin’ like that you’ll have a permanent eleven carved right between your eyebrows,” Mrs. Dalton said as she stood in front of the full-length mirror. “By the way, those eyebrows need some work. I’ll see if Niles has time to fit you in for a wax when I get my hair colored next week.”
Working as Shelby Dalton’s personal assistant for the past year, Josie was comfortable confiding in her employer. Still, admitting why she was scowling would be so embarrassing.
Even though her insides were twisting into a thousand knots, Josie did her best to relax her face. “Niles terrifies me,” she said. “Besides, you know he doesn’t like servicing the help.”
“Leave him to me, sweetie.” Shelby turned around, so Lettie, her personal stylist, could zip up the dress. “What’s got your panties so twisted anyway?”
“Scarlet asked me to be one of her bridesmaids.”
“Not her maid of honor?” Shelby asked indignantly. “Shame on that girl.”
Josie stifled a sarcastic reply and slipped her phone back into her pocket. Shelby Dalton, former first-runner up to Miss Georgia and the trophy wife of mega-billionaire James Dalton, would believe that not being asked to be her sister’s maid of honor was a slight.
“I’m not upset about that,” Josie said with a shrug. “Trust me, the last thing I want to do is help Scarlet plan her wedding.”
“But I thought I heard you tell her that you’ve always dreamed of being her maid of honor?”
“I did tell her that.” Josie picked up the expensive camera Shelby let her use and walked over to snap a few pictures of her employer getting ready so she could post them to her fashion blog. “I knew if Scarlet thought I wanted to be her maid of honor, then she’d never ask me.”
“I do not understand your family at all,” Shelby said, managing to look natural while posing for the pic. The thirty-eight-year-old mother of two looked like a superstar. She’d fit right in with the crowd of celebrities she and her husband would rub shoulders with this evening in Nashville.
“Neither do I,” Josie said, feeling her phone buzz inside her pocket with another incoming text. She’d have to answer Scarlet eventually or Monica—her stepmother—would start harassing her too. Her daddy was already brow-beaten enough since his second wife wore the pants, shirt, and tie in the family.
At least her dad didn’t seem to care if Monica and Scarlet ran the household. Truthfully, Warren Sinclair had checked out long before he married Monica Graham. Josie had only been thirteen when her Mama passed away. Warren’s grief took him down hard, and Josie was the one who had to take over as the responsible member of the family. She’d learned how to grocery shop, plan meals, do laundry and make sure her daddy had an ironed shirt for work. While they weren’t wealthy, they’d had plenty of money, so at least Josie didn’t have to get a job. She kept her grades up while simultaneously running the household until her dad slowly came back to life.
However, instead of spending time with his daughter, he’d thrown himself into his work, often leaving Josie home alone for weeks. Their lives had fallen into a functional pattern until Josie was sixteen and her dad came home from a business trip with a new wife and stepdaughter in tow. Without any kind of warning, her father introduced Josie to her stepmother and new sister.
Josie’s life hadn’t been the same since.
She’d tried fitting into the new family, but the Graham women were like a whirlwind of Southern crazy. Monica was a dance mom, a pageant mom, and a cheerleader mom all rolled into one. She had one goal in life, and that was for her daughter to be the best. At everything.
Scarlet was well…Scarlet. Josie had been excited about having a sister until she found out Scarlet was exactly like the stereotypical stepsister only she wasn’t ugly by any means. No, Josie’s stepsister was packaged in a gorgeous body with flawless fea
tures, thick blonde hair, and more talent than Miss America and the runner-up’s combined. Scarlet’s voice was incredible, and she had goals of becoming the next Carrie Underwood.
“Well, look on the bright side,” Shelby said as Lettie helped her put on a pair of Gucci shoes that cost more than Josie’s last paycheck. “You won’t be in charge of anything like planning the bachelorette party.”
“True.” Josie snapped a few pics of the shoes once they were on Shelby’s feet. “But there is still one very big problem.”
“The colors she picked clash with your coloring?” Shelby asked, turning around to pose for another picture.
As a matter of fact, the colors did clash, but she figured Scarlet purposely chose a shade of purple that looked horrible with Josie’s complexion and dark brown hair. That was beside the point. The real problem was her lack of a fiancé.
“Um,” Josie hedged, “Scarlet wants my boyfriend to be part of the wedding party.”
“Your boyfriend?” Shelby asked. “I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.”
“I don’t.” She lifted one shoulder up and gave her employer a sheepish smile. “Scarlet was being particularly vengeful, talking about Zane and how bad she felt about our break up and worried that I still hadn’t found anyone else. In a moment of weakness, I told her that I have a boyfriend.”
Josie appreciated the sympathetic look her employer gave her. She and Shelby were friends but not really friends—Josie was more of a modern-day companion. She did everything from keeping up with Shelby’s fashion blog, planning parties, running errands and finding worthy charities for the Daltons to support. Basically, she was paid very well to follow Shelby around and assist her like a live version of Alexa.
“Just tell her y’all broke up,” Shelby said as the stylist handed her a matching clutch purse to go with her shoes.
“Yes, I could do that.” Josie moistened her lips, not sure if she wanted to share with her boss how pathetic she was. “Except, I told her I was also engaged.”
Shelby’s eyes widened. “Engaged?”
“I know.” Josie bit her bottom lip. “It just came out and now I’m stuck because there is no way I want to tell her that I’m no longer engaged.”
Shelby clicked her tongue. “Well, sweetheart, at least you have until the summer to either find a real fiancé or break up.”
“Right,” Josie said, wishing she would have kept all of this to herself. “That’s the other thing I didn’t mention. Scarlet’s getting married next week.”
“Is she pregnant?” Shelby asked in a hushed voice.
Yikes. Josie hoped not. The thought of her selfish stepsister and her creepy fiancé procreating sent a chill down her spine.
“Not that I know of.” Josie took another picture of Shelby as she explained how Scarlet might be selected to be a contestant for the new season of The New Voice of Country Music, a talent show started by country star Phillip Jacobs and his business partner and singer-songwriter Chase Nichols. “The other two candidates both have interesting backgrounds that are relatable to the audience and are popular with the viewers. One is a pediatric nurse for special needs children. The other one is a music teacher at an inner-city school in Atlanta. They have thousands of followers and are getting more votes than Scarlet. She needed an edge, so she and my stepmother decided getting married for The New Voice of Country Music streaming viewers was one way to show them all up.”
“My goodness,” Shelby said, “they’re not messing around, are they?”
“No, and it gets even better. Chase Nichols is also from Mitchel Creek, so naturally, he and his wife are coming to the wedding. He’s already a local celebrity in Georgia, and Scarlet and Monica want to capitalize on that.” The knots in Josie’s stomach tightened. “Chase and Phillip are both big on families. Scarlet needs me there to present to the nation, as well as the record label, that she comes from a loving, functional family.”
Pity flitted across Shelby’s pretty face. “Well shoot, honey, you’ve really stepped in it.”
Yes, she’d stepped into a deep pile of doo-doo, and she didn’t know how to get out of it. Scarlet and Ford, her manager and now fiancé, didn’t want to take any chances on having a rift in the family to alter the outcome. Truthfully, Josie doubted either one of them cared if she took part in the wedding. Ford Foster was as slick as his name sounded. He was counting on his future bride winning the contract.
“I want to see Mama first,” a little voice sounded just before the door flew open. Legend, the Dalton’s overly rambunctious youngest child, rushed toward his mother. At five, the little boy was particularly street savvy and constantly getting into trouble.
“Stop right there, young man,” Lettie said, stepping in front of her employer.
“Yes, ma’am,” Legend said, looking behind him over his shoulder. “I got here first,” he said to his older brother Phoenix as he entered the room.
“I didn’t want to be first,” Phoenix said. “Miss Sue asked us not to run, and I listened to her.” The seven-year-old eyed his little brother with a combination of annoyance, smugness, and a hint of admiration.
“Sorry, Mrs. Dalton,” the slightly overweight nanny said as she entered the room. “They wanted to see you before y’all left for Nashville.”
“Thank you, Miss Sue.” Shelby crouched down and pointed to her cheek. “Come give me some sugar, sweet boy.”
Legend was adorable and smart, but he was not sweet. That boy turned any normal activity into something dangerous. The one and only time Josie had filled in for the nanny had almost ended with Legend in the ER, and Josie in the mental hospital.
“Mama,” Legend said after kissing her on the cheek. “You look like a princess.”
Okay, so maybe he was a tiny bit sweet.
“Thank you, baby,” Shelby said. Then she motioned for Phoenix to come over and kiss her on the other cheek.
Legend stuck his tongue out at his brother and then stuck his foot out to trip him when he walked by. His sweetness had only lasted a few seconds.
“When will you and Daddy be home?” Phoenix asked after kissing his mother on the cheek. “You promised we could make sugar cookies for Valentine’s Day.”
“We’ll be home tomorrow, sweetheart,” Shelby said, standing up to pat him lovingly on the head. “I’ll have Miss Josie pick up the supplies.”
“I’m on it,” Josie said, giving the little boy a thumbs up. She was already taking supplies to the New Beginning Center for the families living there so it would be easy to add in a few more for the Daltons.
Phoenix smiled and walked back over to hug his nanny. Shelby was a good mother when she was home, but it was Miss Sue who did everything else. She lived in a large suite on the same floor as the boy’s rooms, and she went with the Daltons on every vacation. Although unconventional, the Dalton family dynamics were much more functional than Josie’s. She wished she would’ve had a Miss Sue in her life after her mother passed away.
“All right, boys,” Miss Sue said, taking each of them by the hand. “Let’s go have our movie night.” She looked at Josie. “The boys are watching The Princess Bride, and you’re welcome to join us.”
“That is so sweet,” Josie said. “But I’ve got a lot of work this evening. Maybe next time.” She did have a lot of work ahead of her tonight, but that wasn’t the reason she declined the invitation. The movie was once her favorite until Zane and Scarlet ruined it for her.
Even though it had almost been a year since the incident happened, it still hurt to think about it. Josie had finally convinced her fiancé to watch the iconic show. Of course, Scarlet didn’t want to be left out and had invited herself to join them. She was supposed to bring her boyfriend, but he had something else going on that night. Halfway through the movie, Josie had to take an emergency call from Shelby about a charity they supported and Josie managed.
Twenty minutes later, Josie came back to find Zane and Scarlet making out, which also included Zane’s wandering hands and a
lot of unladylike sounds coming from Scarlet. Josie had remained calm on the outside, clearing her throat to alert them of her presence. On the inside, another part of her soul was dying, leaving nothing but a shell of her former person.
Zane’s stupid expression made her angry. He apologized and tried telling her it wasn’t what she thought. She answered him by removing the engagement ring and chucking it at his head. She’d hated the ring and not because the diamond was so small it couldn’t even be considered a chip. She’d learned that the ring was a cast-off Zane found in his mother’s jewelry box.
But it was Scarlet’s face that hurt the most. Her sister’s triumphant smile was like a hand had reached inside Josie’s chest, plucked out her heart, and then squeezed the life out of it. Scarlet had finally succeeded in taking everything away from Josie.
Josie never wanted to go home again—and she hadn’t—not even for Christmas or her daddy’s birthday.
“If you change your mind,” Miss Sue said, “you know where to find us.”
The nanny escorted the boys out just as James came in to get his wife. He stopped to admire Shelby, giving her a low whistle of approval. “You are going to be the most beautiful woman tonight,” he said, walking over to give her a quick kiss on the mouth. Mr. and Mrs. Dalton had a good marriage, even though at times it seemed like they lived separate lives with Mr. Dalton going in one direction and Shelby the other, but it seemed to work and they were devoted to one another.
The couple posed for a few pics, which Josie would post to Shelby’s blog and Instagram account. Josie often accompanied the couple to different parties or charity events so she could get pictures of them to post in real-time. She had really hoped she was going with the couple today since the event in Nashville attracted so many big country music stars. Although Josie loved all genres of music, she was a huge country music fan. Phillip Jacobs was by far her favorite, but she also loved Laney Loveland and Callie Stewart-Carter. Shelby said that the artists were scheduled to sing, along with Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, and Jake Owen. Shelby threw around a few more names that tempted Josie to beg her employer to let her tag along.
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