by Brenna Ash
Second Chances
Hayden Wagner is a box office legend living the dream when a spiteful blogger threatens to take away everything he’s worked for.
Sunny Burns is the anonymous host of “The Scoop by Jules”, a fan blog documenting Hayden’s every move. And the woman he left behind.
When she starts painting Hayden in a negative light his career takes a hit. To get out of the spotlight while the rumors cool down, Hayden returns to his hometown of Pebble Harbor where he works to identify the blogger.
And runs into Sunny. Their passion reignites. But can Sunny forgive his past mistakes?
And will Hayden be able to forgive her betrayal so they can finally have a Second Chance?
Second Chances
Brenna Ash
Copyright © 2016 Brenna Ash
Pebble Harbor Publishing
Published by Pebble Harbor Publishing of Florida. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. With the exception of excerpts for reviews, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
Email
[email protected]
Cover Artist
Wicked Smart Designs
Editor
Stacy Juba
Digital Formatting
Seaside Publications
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.
Dedication
To my husband, Tom, my very own second chance. I couldn’t have done this without you and your ongoing support.
I love you.
Acknowledgements
My road to publishing has been long and I’ve met some wonderful people along the way. The willingness of romance writers to support new authors and to offer advice never ceases to amaze me. I’ve learned so much and made awesome, lifelong friends.
There are three people that I’d like to personally thank as they have been instrumental in getting this book to see the light of day.
Andrea Snider – My soul sister. Your unwavering support has kept me from giving up more times than I can count. You’re always there to help, whether it’s with brainstorming, reading the many drafts I send your way, or to talk me off the ledge, no matter what time it is, day or night. For that, I thank you more than words can ever say. Love ya, girl.
Diane Amos – My mentor. Your sage advice has made me a way better writer than I was before I met you. Your honesty to tell me like it is, even when I didn’t want to hear it, was exactly what I needed. Thank you.
Nina Pierce – The woman with all the answers to the hundreds of questions I asked. Thank you for your patience.
Special thanks to MRW and STAR. Your cheers of support mean so much to me.
Table of Contents
About Second Chances * Dedication * Acknowledgements * Taking Chances (Coming 2017)
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
About Brenna Ash * Copyright
Chapter 1
The Scoop by Jules
MORE TROUBLE FOR WAGNER
I've just learned that Hayden Wagner has been fired from his latest project. Word has it that once again his ego got the best of him. He's been showing up late to the set and arriving drunk.
The first time it happened, the director handed down a strict warning. His agent worked overtime to make sure her client kept his role, but after numerous delays leading to extra expenses, the director had enough and kicked the hottie off the set.
Now, not to worry, he's got another project lined up, so you'll be seeing those baby blues on a screen near you shortly. But one has to wonder. Will he keep getting parts if he doesn't change his attitude?
Until next time,
Sparkly Dreams!
***
Hayden slammed the lid shut on his laptop.
“Sparkly Dreams,” he muttered under his breath. What kind of sign-off was that? Clearly, it was a girl writing the blog. The page sported the name 'Jules', but he doubted that was her real name. The blatant lies she posted almost guaranteed an online persona. Maybe Jules was short for Julia or Juliette? He had no clue but he intended to find out.
While he paced the length of his bedroom, his bare feet sank into the plush gray carpet. Hayden stalked past the California king-sized bed he hadn't bothered to make. A myriad of throw pillows were piled high in the corner. He snatched them one by one and threw them across the room. The act did little to calm his rising blood pressure, but at least he hadn't put a hole through the wall.
Why would anyone want to deliberately ruin his career? He didn't claim to be a saint, but there were far worse people in the business than him. Hayden had always thought of himself as one of the good guys. This blogger obviously thought the opposite. Something had to be done to stop the damage. This post wasn't welcome news and not what he wanted to be greeted with first thing this morning.
Lord only knew where she was getting her information. It wasn't true. Either she was making up stuff for reasons unknown, or someone was feeding her a bunch of crap and she wasn't vetting her sources. If she was, 'Jules' wouldn't be posting half the shit he'd read.
Hayden grabbed his cell and called his publicist. He silenced the news he hadn't been listening to as he waited for her to answer. Hayden shoved his hand in the pocket of his black sweatpants, looking for that all-too familiar crutch and swore under his breath, remembering he'd quit the cancer sticks. Normally he didn't miss them, but during times like these, a long draw on a cigarette would do the trick.
“Anna, she put up another post,” he barked before the woman even had time to finish saying hello.
“Hello to you, too, Hayden.”
He blew out an exasperated breath. “Sorry, I'm just pissed off. Is there anything we can do to take that bitch down?”
“Bitch? You know who it is?”
“No. But the way she signs-off on each post, it has to be a woman.”
“We'd have a better chance of getting the blog shut down if we had a name. We could send out a notification to the hosting company, but even then, I'm afraid there's not really anything we can do. Free speech and all.”
“Can we go after the blog itself?” Frustrated, Hayden walked out the French doors that led to the in-ground, mosaic-tiled pool. The morning sun reflected off the blue water. A sharp contrast to his dark mood. Normally, he'd be tempted to take a swim. Instead, he paced the length, weaving in between the loungers flanking each side.
“The blog isn't its own entity. There's nothing we can really do from that standpoint.”
“But what she's saying? Everything she's posted the past couple of weeks has been a complete lie.”
“I know.”
“Then do something, dammit. Look,” Hayden took a deep breath and blew it out. “I'm not trying to be an ass, but you're my publicist, isn't this what I pay you to do? Handle this kind of stuff?”
Hayden heard her sigh on the other end of the line. He could picture her flipping her blond ponytail over her shoulder as she tried to come up with a solution. Was he being a jerk? He understood some things were beyond her control and expertise, but this could hurt his career. Who knew what the hell the blogger would come up with next?
“I
know it's upsetting, Hayden. But we just need to ride it out and see if she gets tired of you and moves on to someone else.”
“I can't imagine why she's focused on me. If this keeps up, people will start talking. And you know as well as I do, that once they start, they don't let up. I don't want this to begin costing me jobs. You can't let that happen. This is my life.”
Anna sighed. Again. “Look, I think you're overreacting just a bit---.”
“Overreacting? Are you kidding me? She's defaming my character. How else am I supposed to react?”
“Hayden,” Anna said with a soothing tone to her voice. “You need to calm down. Other than some bullshit story, nothing she's posted has done any damage. Her blog is pretty much the equivalent of a gossip rag, but it holds even less weight.”
Hayden strode back into his bedroom, the A/C assaulting him, and headed toward his spacious, state-of-the-art kitchen. He needed coffee. “So, we're just going to wait until she writes something that does?” Hayden ran his hands through his blond hair. “We can't do that. I won't let you do that. And if that's what you're thinking then you can take a damn hike.”
“Hayden, c'mon. You can't be serious.”
“I am. Fix this. Now. Or you can look for someone else to represent.” He ended the call and threw his phone on the granite counter top. Good thing it was in a military-grade case, otherwise, his smartphone would've been in pieces.
Why couldn't things ever be easy? He'd worked his ass off to get where he was. Hayden didn't need some no-name person with an agenda targeting him for no reason. Something needed to be done about it. He just didn't know what to do, or how to go about stopping this person.
But he'd figure it out. And whoever it was would regret the day they took him on.
Chapter 2
Sunny Burns sat behind her mahogany desk and stared at her laptop screen, re-reading the email she'd received earlier. It was from the same person who had given her the last few tips. She stared at the phone number at the bottom of the email, after the only name listed: Sharon. Sunny had spoken to the woman before, but had no real idea who the person was outside of their brief conversations or how she was obtaining these bits on Hayden. That's what she needed to find out. The sudden negative slant of her tips was curious.
With a sigh, she punched *67 and then the number into her phone and hit 'send'. She hoped Sharon would answer. So she could put in her due diligence in asking about how she came into the information. At least that would cover her ass in case anyone decided to sue her for libel or defamation.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Sharon? This is Jules from 'The Scoop by Jules'.” Sunny hadn't given her real name to Sharon in any of their previous interactions and didn't feel the need to start now. Since Sharon had contacted Sunny via her blog address, she recognized the name.
“Yes?”
“If you have a moment, I just wanted to ask you a few questions regarding the email you sent earlier.” She paused. Waited for the go ahead.
“Sure. I've got a couple minutes. What do you wanna know?”
Sunny couldn't identify any distinguishing features from Sharon's speech. She sounded like every other twenty-something that watched too much Keeping Up With The Kardashians and read every celebrity magazine published.
“Great. Could you tell me again how you know Hayden Wagner?” Sunny grabbed her notebook and pen to jot down Sharon's responses.
“We dated briefly.” Sunny rolled her eyes at the proclamation. That would be on point with the various articles she'd read about Hayden's love life.
“For how long?”
“Almost two months. We saw each other every couple of days.” Sharon loudly chewed gum as she talked. Sunny could hear the smacks every few words. So annoying and rude. “But once I noticed he liked betting a little too much for my liking, I had to put an end to it. I'm not into that, ya know?”
Sunny bit her tongue to stop a sassy retort. This girl was a real trip. “Did you go with him to any casinos?”
Sharon laughed. “What are you, like sixty? He did all his betting online.”
Oh, she was a winner all around. Sunny could picture the appeal. “Okay. How do you know he's losing a lot of money?”
“Duh. His team choices suck.”
Sunny pictured her staring at her hot pink fingernails, cracking her gum, completely bored with their whole conversation. Apparently her parents never taught her manners. If she weren't so interested in finding out where Sharon got her information, she would teach her a lesson or two in humility.
“So, he's into sports gambling?”
“Yeah. He'll be broke soon if he keeps at it. He didn't pick a winning team the whole time we were together.”
“Interesting.” Sunny had such a hard time picturing Hayden as a gambler. When she'd known him, he had no interest in betting. His mother dabbled in it when they were younger and it drove him nuts. She couldn't afford to put food on the table, but she'd manage to scrounge up money to bet on something that would 'solve all their financial problems'. Hayden used to talk to Sunny about how upsetting it was to watch DeeDee waste what little money they'd had to live on.
“Anything else?”
Sunny snapped back to attention. “I'll send over my usual waiver, can you sign and scan it and then send it back to me?”
“Are you going to use my name in the post?”
“I can leave it out if you'd rather.”
“I would. I don't want a bunch of people contacting me about him. You're the only one I'll send my information to.”
“Why?” Sunny couldn't imagine her reasoning. She didn't pay for stories or articles. There were other publications that would. And a hearty sum for dirt on someone as famous as Hayden. So why her?
“'Cause your blog is dedicated to Hayden. You only cover him. Shows dedication. I like that.”
She wasn't sure if she should be grateful at that remark or worried. “Okay, well, thank you. I'll send over the waiver. I appreciate your time.”
As Sunny disconnected, emotions tumbled through her. She was glad she made the call, but disappointed that Hayden's reputation of being a playboy in Hollywood was true. She'd known all along, really. She'd followed his career ever since he'd left her ten years ago. But a part of her hoped it was all innuendo and rumor.
She'd known Hayden a long time before that. They'd grown up together. He lived next door to her and her parents. Sunny knew him well. Probably better than anyone else.
Well, obviously that was no longer the case. During those years they'd been together, she never imagined him leaving her right before college graduation when she thought she was pregnant and needed him the most. But that's exactly what happened. They'd planned to spend the rest of their lives together. Until that morning when he left to make it big in Hollywood without so much as a goodbye. Left her to fend for herself and their baby. Luckily, the pregnancy was just a scare and she didn't have to raise their child on her own. Even after all these years, the pain was still there, still raw. To think he could just leave her like that, after all the talk about their future lives. She'd been so angry back then.
The emails he'd sent her and the voicemails he'd left, did nothing to ease her pain. Most of them she'd deleted without reading or listening to them. But she'd read a few. Could sense his pain through his words, but that gave her small comfort. She wanted him to hurt like she'd hurt. His pained voice on his messages that she'd listened to provided the same comfort. Sunny had never returned any of them. Just watched from the sidelines as he'd succeeded in his goals. She'd been reading about his accomplishments for years now. His first big break happened in a weekly series, where he became an instant heart-throb featured on the cover of all the teen magazines, and plastered on every teenage girl's bedroom walls.
Sunny couldn't blame them, really. Hayden was beyond handsome with blond hair and blue eyes, and when he smiled a single dimple appeared in his right cheek. He was hot as hell. And as the
years passed, he'd only gotten better looking. Working out and eating right had definitely paid off because he was all rippling muscles and six-pack abs, right down to that v that drove her crazy, dipping down near his hips.
The salty scent of the ocean air wafted in through the open window in her office. The curtains were closed since the morning sun would have blazed on her desk, blinding her. Sunny got up and walked to the window. The sun had come up enough now that she could open them and see the world outside without needing sunglasses to work comfortably. Before getting back to work she needed more caffeine.
In the kitchen she refilled her coffee mug and selected a chocolate croissant from the brightly-colored bakery box sitting on the counter. She'd stopped at Gino's Bakery on her way home last night. She couldn't pass by without stopping. Her taste buds wouldn't let her. She was obsessed. They made the best pastries ever, almost as delectable as Hayden.
Sunny sighed. She really needed to stop thinking about him that way. He might look good, but he was a jerk. A selfish jerk who'd taken her heart and stomped all over it like it meant nothing. Now, he was on the other side of the country living the high-life and she was still in their hometown. The one they said they'd settle down in after college.
“Stop!” she berated herself. She couldn't keep doing this. Obsessing over her past wouldn't change anything. What happened, happened. Period. It was time to get over it.
Oh, God, how Sunny wished she could. She'd give anything not to care, to be able to move on without allowing his betrayal to control her emotions, and ultimately her happiness. But she wanted him to hurt as much as she had, so Sunny sat at her desk, opened her browser and studied the latest email from her source again. It mentioned his gambling and claimed Hayden was in financial trouble. Even after the conversation she had with Sharon, she still found it a bit hard to believe. He had to have made a lot of money over the years. After the weekly series ended, he graduated to movies and now he was headlining, so no doubt he was making an awesome haul on each one.