Taken (9 page)

Authors: Audra Cole,Bella Love-Wins

Chapter Seventeen

“Here you are,
Mrs. Hart
,” Brandon says, handing me a cup of coffee. I smile at his special emphasis on the word “Mrs” and take the cup.

“Is everything on time?” I ask. We are sitting in a private lounge at the LAX airport, waiting for our first class flight to Bora Bora, to start our two week long honeymoon. The studio was so happy with the way the show turned out, they rewarded us with an extra week off from Brandon’s filming schedule. I couldn’t wait to get away from everyone and everything, and bum around the beach for two solid weeks.

Heaven.

Brandon pulls up the airline app on his phone and nods. “Yeah, about another half an hour and we will board.”

I smile and lay my head over onto his shoulder, snuggling close and breathing in his scent. My phone rings and I swipe it out of my tote bag.

“Hey Ash!”

“I know…I know…you’re on your honeymoon, and I promise I’ll leave you alone, but I had to tell someone!”

“What?” Her voice was excited and hyper sounding. But then again, she always sounded kind of like that.

“It’s big news! Like, really big!”

“Ash, honestly, just tell me already!”

“You’re never going to guess what happened today,” she squeals over the phone.

“You’re right, I’m not. So how about you just
tell me,”
I say, doing my best to remain patient.

“I just got done signing the contracts to co-design a line of jewelry with Frank Watson!”

“Who?”

“Oh Charity, honestly, pick up a magazine sometime,” she says and I can practically hear her rolling her eyes. “Frank Watson is one of the most famous jewelry designers in Hollywood! His pieces are all over the red carpet. We’re talking big stuff, Oscars, Emmys, Grammys. All of them! And he wants my help to design a new line!”

“Woah, Ash! That’s incredible.”

“I know!” She lets out a cheer. “But that’s not even the most exciting part. I’m going to be living in LA while we design together, so I’ll be there for the next three months at least! And then, Frank said…oh my gosh, I just called him Frank! Anyway, he said if it’s successful, there is a chance we would launch a new store together!”

She’s talking so fast that it’s hard to follow, but I do my best.

“So thank you thank you thank you!”

“For what?” I ask.

“The whole reason he even contacted me is because he saw the pictures of you wearing my jewelry from the wedding and ‘fell in love.’ His words. Not mine.”

“That’s amazing, Ash. I’m so proud of you.” I beam at her wonderful news, happy not only for the opportunity she has, but also knowing that my best friend would be living in LA!

Ashley is still talking a mile a minute. As I sit back in my chair listening, I can’t help but think, Ashley might be ready for Hollywood…but is Hollywood ready for her?

Brandon motions to me that it’s nearly time to go, so I wrap up the call and hang up the phone.

“I think we’re going to have another house guest,” I say to him.

He groans. “What? Charity, I thought we just got rid of all our unwanted house guests.”

“Well this one’s not entirely unwanted,” I say. He cocks his eyebrow at me and I laugh. I catch him up on what Ashley had told me over the phone.

“Frank Watson? Wow.”

I wrinkle my forehead. “How on earth do you know this stuff?”

He laughs and shrugs. “Come on, Mrs. Hart, we got a plane to catch!”

The End

>>>
Click
here
to get on Audra’s reader list for promotions, updates and other books by Audra Cole
<<<

>>>
Click
here
to get on Bella’s reader list for promotions, updates and other books by Bella Love-Wins
<<<

Please give ‘Hooked’ a Review!

Did you like Hooked?