“I know I usually talk a lot about what’s going on in my life,” she paused. “But lately I haven’t been because it’s tricky when your life isn’t just about you anymore.” She tried for another brave smile. Little did they know she was talking about her baby, not her used-to-be-fiancé. “I’ll be sure to tell you more as soon as I can. You know how it is.” She gave them a conspiratorial wink. “But right now, let’s talk about this lip gloss that I just discovered…”
Somehow she made it through the six-minute video—six-minute lengths seemed to get the most views—and shut off the camera with a sigh.
What a phony. And she’d have to edit out all those awkward pauses where she was teetering on the brink of tears.
She’d have to tell them all sooner or later but first things first. She needed that damn book to sell. Her mortgage was too big, and her finances had been teetering on the brink of disaster ever since she’d taken it on.
She’d felt like such a superstar when she got that big advance that it had seemed like everything would be smooth sailing from there on out. Then she spent the advance on her condo and reality had set in. She found herself struggling to pay the high maintenance fee on top of the mortgage. She’d put the place on the market six months ago and even lowered the price twice, but so far no one was interested.
The tears she’d been holding back spewed forth and made a glittery highlighter-laden trail over her carefully contoured cheek. “I need to talk to someone. Like, really talk to someone.”
Most of her New York friends were all busy, successful career people whom she mostly networked with. She wouldn’t even call them friends, really. Her high school and college friends were either back at home in Virginia or spread out across the country at their various jobs.
Asia had always been her shoulder to cry on. She still lived back at home and no doubt ran into Serena’s mom at the supermarket from time to time. Serena’s mom had no idea that her daughter’s engagement had ended more than six weeks ago.
“If I don’t talk to someone I’m going to lose my mind.” Saying it out loud convinced her that it was true. Wasn’t talking to yourself the first sign of madness?
She picked up her phone and scrolled for Asia’s number, wishing she’d kept in touch more regularly.
“Hello.” Asia’s sweet voice soothed her. And terrified her. Was she finally about to tell someone, anyone, other than Sandro the truth?
CHAPTER TWO
“Asia, hey, it’s me, Serena.” There was an awkward pause. “Serena Raines.”
“Serri! I don’t believe it. I was beginning to think I’d never hear from you again. I do try to keep up with you on social media, but it’s not easy because you’re so busy. My goodness, you’re everywhere. And I already have a preorder in for your new book. Maybe I’ll finally manage to figure out how to snag my own Mr. Right.” Serena battled the emotion rising in her chest. “Hey, Serri, are you okay?
Serena couldn’t hold back the choking sobs. The sound of her oldest friend’s voice—and the realization that she, like everyone else, now only knew the glossy, scented, pearl-highlighter-dusted version of her—made emotion crash through her. “I’m not okay. Not at all. Do you have time to talk?”
Asia listened patiently and mercifully without offering any banal advice, while Serena sobbed out the story of her broken engagement, her Christmas holed up in the Georgia sea islands—which led to her chance encounter with Sandro—
“A prince! He sounds yummy.”
“Oh, trust me, he is. Except that it doesn’t end there.”
“Seriously, Serena? You break up with one gorgeous, wealthy man and start dating a prince? And you expect me to be sympathetic? You’re too much, girl.”
“We’re not dating.” She sighed. “In fact, he’s very publicly dating someone else.” Then she screwed up her courage. “And I’m pregnant with his baby.”
The silence was deafening.
Serena wondered if the line went dead. “Did you hear me?”
“Are you sure?”
“You should see the amount of plastic sticks I’ve peed on. I told him this afternoon, and he was really nice about it.”
“What’s really nice? Did he offer to marry you?” Her friend’s voice had dropped an octave to her famous scolding tone.
“No. Don’t be silly. He’s a prince. And like I said he’s dating Maya Dunham.”
“Maya Dunham! Are you kidding? I love her. She had me weeping buckets last week.”
“You’re not helping. So obviously there’s no future for me and him, and I need to figure out how to do this on my own. If I can’t even manage to tell my parents, how am I supposed to tell all my subscribers? I feel like such a fraud. But I can’t afford to do anything to derail this book release.”
Asia sighed. “I hear you. I can’t believe Howard cut and ran. What a jerk. I never liked him anyway.”
“You never met him.”
“I didn’t like the sound of him from your online posts. He sounded like an annoying perfectionist. I think you’re much too good for him.”
“Not according to him.” Damn, it felt good to talk about this instead of sobbing over it in private. “He said he couldn’t stand living in a social-media fishbowl.”
“You’re better off without him.”
“Not that I have a choice.”
“I’d love to see his face when you show up all over social media on the arm of a prince.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Hey, you’re going to be giving birth to a prince. Your child will be royal. How about that?”
Serena’s gut clenched. “Don’t get carried away. They might not even acknowledge the baby. They’re snooty European royals, and I’m a black American.”
“You can prove paternity with a DNA test.”
Serena shook her head. “That’s not the direction I want to go with this at all. I don’t want to prove anything. I don’t want to count on anyone. I just want to make sure I earn enough money to support this baby, and right now this means putting my energy into the book tour.”
“What kind of tour?”
“L.A., New York and Chicago. Three morning television shows. Nine radio shows. And bookstore signings. The publisher considers it a big honor. I can’t say no.”
“Damn. I hope you don’t get morning sickness.”
“Me too.”
Her first tour stop was Los Angeles, where she was booked on a local morning magazine show. Despite the one hundred plus videos she’d uploaded to YouTube, she’d never been on a real television show. She felt like tossing her saltines and wasn’t sure if it was morning sickness or stage fright.
Sandro had texted her twice to ask how she was doing and both times she’d responded, Fine, thanks. She wondered if Maya Dunham was lying next to him while he typed. So it came as a horrible surprise when she showed up to the studio green room—which wasn’t green—and found Maya Dunham sitting there, waiting to go on the show before her.
“Hi, I’m Serena,” she said bravely, working hard to keep her face expressionless.
Maya looked slowly up from her phone. “Can I help you?”
“Uh, no. Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt you.” Wow. Nice. And she always played such sweet girls in her movies.
“Oh, you’re not.” Maya tucked her phone away. “I’m not thrilled about being up this early. My publicist is making me be here.”
“Mine too,” she said conspiratorially, suddenly feeling a sense of kinship with Maya. “But I suppose I should be grateful for the publicity. I’m promoting a book.”
“Oh.” Maya looked disappointed.
“Congratulations on your Academy Award nomination,” she said brightly. She wasn’t going to be bitter.
“Thanks.” Maya pulled her phone out.
Serena drew in a slow breath. She’d been dismissed. No tears, though! Pregnancy was wreaking havoc on her emotions, but she’d spent way too much time on her makeup this morning to ruin it.
I’m having your boyfriend’s baby. That would be a conversation starter.
Mercifully the production assistant came for Maya and took her into the studio.
She could text Sandro right now. He clearly wasn’t with Maya. The silly thought made her laugh. Not that it was any of her business whom he was with. He might have dated her if she’d given him a chance.
Which she hadn’t. She was way too wary of rejection for that. If she’d known she was already pregnant it might have made sense to take the risk, but now it was already too late. He’d moved on.
“Can I get you a coffee?”
“No, thanks. I’m nervous enough already.” She smiled at the young PA. “Some water would be great, though.” What if her mouth dried out and she couldn’t speak? What if the soles of her new shoes were so slippery that she skidded across the studio as she entered? What if her mind went completely blank and she found herself staring at them all like a moron, her mouth opening and closing like a fish?
“Serena?” A deep voice jolted her from her train wreck of thoughts.
Sandro?
A glance up confirmed that it was him. Panic surged through her on a wave of nausea. “What are you doing here?”
She’d asked the question as a reflex. She knew the answer and regretted asking as soon as the words were out of her mouth. He looked breathtakingly gorgeous, as always, in a black sweater and dark jeans. How did he manage to wear jeans and still look unmistakably like a prince?
“I’m here to pick up Maya.” He looked apologetic. “We’re heading straight for the airport.”
“Going back to New York?” Again she asked it just to fill the air with words while her panicked brain struggled with his presence. His movements were none of her business.
“Yes.” Again, he looked rueful. As if it was rude of him to go back to New York without her. Could he be any more adorable? Damn him. “Her movie is opening there tonight.”
“Great.”
“I am here for you, you know,” he said softly.
The PA burst in with a bottle of water. Serena took it with a rushed thanks and gulped some down. But the PA didn’t leave. She started gathering up a plate and coffee cup that Maya must have left there and rearranging some magazines on the coffee table.
Serena racked her brain for something genuine to say if the PA ever left, but instead she stood there, muttering to someone over her headset, then she beckoned for Serena to enter the studio.
Serena nodded stiffly at Sandro, put down her water and followed. There was no point comparing herself to Maya Dunham. Maya was a famous actress, and Serena only applied highlighter on YouTube videos and pontificated about how to find Mr. Right when she’d really only been engaged to Mr. Wrong all along.
She pinned a bright smile to her face as they headed toward the set. She could see Maya laughing, looking glamorous in her tight white jeans and white mohair sweater that perfectly set off her shiny red hair. Suddenly she felt frumpy as heck in the skirt and sweater that had looked so chic in the changing room at H&M.
Focus! Clapping surprised her, and she peered around the partition and saw the studio audience. Terrifying. And now Maya was marching toward her, looking right past her as if she weren’t even there. Maya smiled her brilliant, red-lipsticked smile, and Serena turned (a huge mistake) to see Sandro standing behind her, waving to Maya from the open door of the green room.
Serena wished the floor could open up and swallow her, but instead the PA prodded her toward the set and she stepped out into the hot studio lights, blinking, prepared to make up nonsense about how to find Mr. Right for an audience of strangers who had no idea she knew less about that subject than any of them.
“How did you know when you’d found the one?” the heavily made-up female host leaned toward her.
Serena racked her brain to think of why she’d decided to marry Howard. She could no longer remember. “Something inside me just…sparkled.” She smiled, recalling the fluttering feeling she’d had in her stomach when Sandro first kissed her. “Everything was different.”
“Sounds like the infamous chemistry.”
“That always gets me into trouble,” chimed in the younger and rather sexy male host.
Me too.
“Chemistry is just the beginning.” She tried to conjure her talking points. “There are more important things to consider—do you share the same goals? Will you enjoy the same lifestyle? Will your families get along?”
All reasons that things could never work out between her and Sandro.
“So instead of letting ourselves be swept away by chemistry, you’re saying that you should put the brakes on until you figure out the other stuff,” said the female host.
“For a lasting, long-term relationship, yes.” It wasn’t bad advice, was it? It hadn’t worked out for her—not yet anyway—but it still made sense. She wasn’t actually lying to people.
“So when is the big day?”
She froze and tried to force a shaky smile to her lips. “We haven’t actually set the date yet. There’s just so much to plan!” She hoped her voice didn’t sound too squeaky. “When you’ve waited for Mr. Right, there’s no harm in waiting a little longer to get everything perfect.”
Okay, that sounded stupid, but luckily the male host jumped in with some platitude and held up her book.
Job done! They went to a commercial break, and she staggered off the stage, hoping she hadn’t humiliated herself too badly or said anything that would come back to haunt her when she finally revealed the truth about her broken engagement.
Sandro and Maya were gone. Phew! Normally she wasn’t the kind of person to go nuts and say something like, “Sandro, only seven and a half more months until our baby is due!” but with the pregnancy hormones she wasn’t exactly in her right mind so she was glad not to have the temptation.
New content three times a week. Serena whipped out her phone and videotaped a vlog about her talk show appearance, glad of the opportunity to reveal genuine emotion and raw nerves and share an honest moment with her viewers. She didn’t mention Sandro—or Maya Dunham, whom she might have been thrilled to meet just a week ago, before she knew about her relationship with Sandro.
She headed to a bookstore and vlogged some more while standing in front of her book on the shelves. It was kind of a thrill seeing her book there on the new releases shelf next to some of her heroes. She even stood to the side and watched someone come in and pick it up and flip through it. She was ready to offer to sign it if they took it to the register, but they put it back and picked up a book called Decorating with Wicker.
What would have happened if she had agreed to go for coffee or dinner with Sandro? The chemistry between them was undeniable. Maybe he’d have ditched Maya Dunham and swept her off her feet.
Until his royal family freaked out about him dating a black girl and she got unceremoniously dumped. In public.
Definitely not worth the risk.
Her phone rang. It was the publisher’s publicist congratulating her on the morning’s appearance and telling her she now had a radio interview early that afternoon at a studio in downtown L.A.
At least they’re happy, she thought. She was unwrapping a sandwich at a table in the bookstore coffee shop when a pretty girl of about eighteen came up to her. “Excuse me, are you Serena Raines?”
“I am.” She looked surprised. She rarely got recognized by fans. But then she rarely went out on the street in the kind of full makeup she did for her videos, either. “Would you like to join me?” Why not be generous and welcoming?
“Wow, thanks! I’ll just get myself a coffee.” The girl looked genuinely thrilled. As if she were a real celebrity like Maya Dunham. Serena was congratulating herself on having “made it” in at least one new way when her phone rang again.
Howard. Her gut clenched.
“Hello.” She glanced about, hoping no one was listening.
“Serena, what’s going on?”
“What do you me
an?” She kept her voice very calm and level. She didn’t want Howard to accuse her of being overemotional. She’d heard enough of that for one lifetime.
“I got a call from a journalist this morning asking me what it feels like to be Mr. Right.”
Her blood chilled. “What did you tell them?”
CHAPTER THREE
“I told them they had the wrong number, but obviously that won’t work for long. Why are you telling people we’re still together?”
She inhaled a shaky breath. “It’s just this book…Waiting for Mr. Right.” She glanced about, hoping no one had overheard. “You know they gave me a big advance for it, and I spent it on the apartment.” That she had once hoped to share with him. “So I really need to put everything behind this launch so it will hit a list and make them feel they got their money’s worth.”
“You don’t need to do that. They can’t get the money back.”
She’d been told that before. Still…it was embarrassing to have a book called Waiting for Mr. Right to come out and have everyone know you were still waiting.
The pretty girl—with perfect hair and eyebrows to die for—sat down in front of her with a steaming cup of pumpkin-scented coffee.
She had to get rid of Howard. “Uh, I need to go. I’m sorry that happened.”
“But what about when it happens again? Maybe then I’ll just tell them the truth.”
“Not yet,” she breathed through a smile at the girl. “Please. Give it a couple of weeks.”
“A couple of weeks.” She heard one of his dramatic sighs. “Okay. I suppose I can do that. But I’m seeing someone else now, so anything longer than that would be awkward.”
I’m seeing someone else. The thought fogged her brain and sent pain dancing along her nerves. How? They’d only been broken up a few weeks.
You already slept with someone else. Why wouldn’t he? The girl’s worried expression jerked her back to reality. “I really appreciate it.”
Howard hung up in his usual brusque style.
“Is everything okay?”
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