Damage Control

by Jae

  “You look incredible.” Steven gestured at her. “Divorced life certainly seems to agree with you. I heard you recently joined the club of divorcees.”

  “I did, although I can’t quite match your platinum membership,” she said, earning her laughter and applause from the audience.

  Steven clutched his chest. “Ouch. At least my exes still love me…and my alimony payments. So, what was your divorce like? The War of the Roses?”

  “No, I’m happy to report there were no run-over sports cars or crashing chandeliers,” Grace said. Well, for a moment, Nick had looked as if he wanted to drop a chandelier on her when she’d told him about her and Lauren, but in the end, he’d told her to do whatever made her happy.

  “But I hear there’ll be chandeliers in your next movie,” Steven said. “Can you tell us a bit about it?”

  “It’s a historical adventure drama called Like Diamonds. Shooting will start next week, and I’m very excited about it. I’m playing Abigail, the daughter of a rich banker in nineteenth-century England. She’s raised to be just a beautiful ornament in his house, but it turns out she’s really good at stealing diamonds.”

  “So she’s a kleptomaniac?” Steven asked.

  “More like a female Robin Hood.”

  Steven nodded. “I see. So who’s playing your Maid Marian…or should I say Mario?”

  “No one. There’s no love story in this one, just great action scenes, rich historical details, mixed with a bit of social criticism.”

  “No love story?” Steven widened his eyes comically.

  Grace shrugged. “I’m ready to branch out a little. Don’t get me wrong; I still love the romantic movies I’m known for, but I’d like to explore more diversity in my roles.”

  “So it’s not that you’re fed up with love stories, now that you’re divorced?”

  “Not at all. In fact…” She took a deep breath. “I’m living my own love story right now.”

  Steven leaned forward. “Ooh, do tell! Who’s the lucky guy? A fellow actor?”

  “Actually…” Grace clutched the armrests with both hands. Her heartbeat thrummed in her ears. She looked toward the audience, seeking Lauren. Their gazes locked. The connection centered her, reminding her what really counted in her life. She took a freeing breath, turned back to Steven, and said with a smile that wasn’t the Hollywood kind, “She’s a screenwriter.”

  For a moment, Steven’s cheerful grin wavered. He blinked rapidly. “Did you just say…she?”

  Grace swallowed. “Yes, I did.”

  The ensuing silence probably lasted for just a second, but to Grace, it seemed to go on forever.

  Then all hell broke loose. The audience cheered and applauded. Someone was booing, though, and for some reason, that voice seemed so much louder than the others.

  “This isn’t a publicity stunt or a joke because the tabloids kept making up stories about you and Jill Corrigan, is it?” Steven asked.

  Marlene had told her a question like that would be coming. “No,” Grace said, more calm now. “Jill and I really are just friends. Best friends. This isn’t a publicity stunt. It’s the real thing.”

  “Wow.” Now Steven’s wide-eyed gaze was real. “I didn’t see that coming.”

  “Neither did I, Steven,” she said. “Neither did I.” When she and Lauren had first met, she hadn’t even been sure if she wanted to hire her as a publicist. Never in a million years had she thought she would fall in love with her. But now, just seven months later, she knew one thing with crystal clarity: nothing would ever be as important to her as Lauren, not even her career.

  She looked toward the first row, where Lauren gave her a tremulous smile. Grace smiled back, and even though the cameras were rolling and probably millions of people were watching, she didn’t have to act for once. No matter what the future would bring, she looked forward to spending it with Lauren.

  If you liked reading about these characters, you might want to check out Departure from the Script, the first book in Jae’s Hollywood Series, which tells the story of Grace’s friend Amanda.

  ABOUT JAE

  Jae grew up amidst the vineyards of southern Germany. She spent her childhood with her nose buried in a book, earning her the nickname professor. The writing bug bit her at the age of eleven. For the last eight years, she has been writing mostly in English.

  She used to work as a psychologist but gave up her day job in December 2013 to become a full-time writer and a part-time editor. As far as she’s concerned, it’s the best job in the world.

  When she’s not writing, she likes to spend her time reading, indulging her ice cream and office supply addictions, and watching way too many crime shows.

  Connect with Jae online

  Jae loves hearing from readers!

  E-mail her at: jae@jae-fiction.com

  Visit her website: jae-fiction.com

  Visit her blog: jae-fiction.com/blog

  Like her on Facebook: facebook.com/JaeAuthor

  Follow her on Twitter: @jaefiction

  OTHER BOOKS FROM YLVA PUBLISHING

  http://www.ylva-publishing.com

  Departure from the Script

  Jae

  ISBN: 978-3-95533-196-2 (mobi), 978-3-95533-197-9 (epub)

  Length: 52,000 words (240 pages)

  Amanda isn’t looking for a relationship—and certainly not with Michelle.

  She has never been attracted to a butch woman before, and Michelle personifies the term butch. Having just landed a role on a TV show, Amanda is determined to focus on her career.

  But after a date that is not a date and some meddling from her grandmother, she wonders if it’s not time for a departure from her dating script.

  Under a Falling Star

  Jae

  ISBN: 978-3-95533-239-6 (mobi), 978-3-95533-240-2 (epub)

  Length: 91,000 words (369 pages)

  Falling stars are supposed to be a lucky sign, but not for Austen. The first assignment in her new job—decorating the Christmas tree in the lobby—results in a trip to the ER after Dee, the company’s COO, gets hit by the star-shaped tree topper.

  There’s an instant attraction between them, but Dee is determined not to act on it, especially since Austen has no idea that Dee is her boss.

  Good Enough to Eat

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  ISBN: 978-3-95533-243-3 (mobi), 978-3-95533-244-0 (epub)

  Length: 64,000 words (223 pages)

  Robin is a vampire who wants to change her eating habits. To fight her cravings for O negative, she goes to an AA meeting, where she meets Alana, who battles her own demons.

  Despite their determination not to get involved, the attraction is undeniable.

  Is it love or just bloodlust that makes Robin think Alana looks good enough to eat? Will it even matter once Alana finds out who Robin really is?

  Bitter Fruit

  Lois Cloarec Hart

  ISBN: 978-3-95533-213-6 (mobi), 978-3-95533-214-3 (epub)

  Length: 50,000 words (224 pages)

  Jac accepts an unusual wager from her best friend. Jac has one month to seduce a young woman she’s never met. Though Lauren is straight and engaged, Jac begins her campaign confident that she’ll win the bet. But Jac’s forgotten that if you sow an onion seed, you won’t harvest a peach. When her plan goes awry, will she reap the bitter fruit of her deception? Or will Lauren turn the tables on her?

  Barring Complications

  Blythe Rippon

  ISBN: 978-3-95533-192-4 (mobi), 978-3-95533-193-1 (epub)

  Length: 77,000 words (374 pages)

  When a gay marriage case arrives at the US Supreme Court, two women find themselves at the center of the fight for marriage equality. Closeted Justice Victoria Willoughby must sway a conservative colle
ague and attorney Genevieve Fornier must craft compelling arguments to win five votes. Complicating matters, despite their shared history, the law forbids the two from talking to each other.

  COMING FROM YLVA PUBLISHING IN SUMMER 2015

  http://www.ylva-publishing.com

  Don’t Be Shy

  A Collection of Erotic Lesbian Stories

  Volume I & II

  Astrid Ohletz & Jae (editors)

  A collection of short stories that focus on the sensual, red-hot delights of sex between women and the celebration of the female form in all its diverse hedonism.

  You’ll find intimate encounters between strangers, couples playing out their most titillating fantasies, one-night stands, and stories featuring slow, sultry weekends. Are you up for toys, hot sex, and fun?

  Don’t be shy.

  All the little Moments

  G Benson

  Anna is focused on her career as an anaesthetist. When a tragic accident leaves her responsible for her young niece and nephew, her life changes abruptly. Completely overwhelmed, Anna barely has time to brush her teeth in the morning let alone date a woman. But then she collides with a long-legged stranger…

  Deliberate Harm

  J.R. Wolfe

  US soldiers Portia Marks and Imma Thoms found love during the second Iraq War, after Imma, a combat surgeon, saved Portia’s life from a roadside bomb. Immediately inseparable, the two of them returned to civilian life engaged and followed Portia’s postwar dreams to Zimbabwe, where they brought humanitarian aid to the struggling nation. But when Imma is arrested on false charges and executed for trying to escape prison, Portia returns home to Chicago bereft, numbing her grief by day with work and by night with alcohol.

  Until one night, Portia is stopped by a stranger in the street who tells her that Imma actually escaped death and has been on the run ever since. But before Portia can find out anything else, the man is killed before her eyes.

  Unable to dismiss the chance that Imma may be alive, Portia turns to two old friends from her Army days, now in the CIA, to help her find out the truth. Her search leads her to Zimbabwe, then to South Africa, and finally to London. Along the way, she stumbles upon plots within plots involving not only the People’s Revolution—a radical terrorist organization—but also the CIA and a mysterious Russian crime syndicate.

  When Portia discovers that the People’s Revolution has a dirty bomb that they plan to set off at a highly public event somewhere in London, her search for her fiancée becomes a race against time.

  Damage Control

  © by Jae

  ISBN (mobi): 978-3-95533-369-0

  ISBN (epub): 978-3-95533-370-6

  Also available as paperback.

  Published by Ylva Publishing, legal entity of Ylva Verlag, e.Kfr.

  Ylva Verlag, e.Kfr.

  Owner: Astrid Ohletz

  Am Kirschgarten 2

  65830 Kriftel

  Germany

  http://www.ylva-publishing.com

  First edition: April 2015

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.

  Credits

  Edited by Nikki Busch

  Proofread by Gillian A. McKnight

  Cover Design by Streetlight Graphics