Can love be ignited under her disguise?

Lexxi Rock is a fiery pop / punk rock singer and guitarist -- and billionaire, thanks to her father's oversight. She's grown tired of Los Angeles, the limelight, the isolation, her image, and her lackluster romantic life, most recently tarnished by smoking hot country star -- and cheating bastard -- Wilkes Barracks.

When her father suddenly becomes ill, she decides to temporarily leave it all behind. Anxious about the unwanted paparazzi and media attention that would follow her right back to her home in Tucson, Arizona, Lexxi takes a drastic, unprecedented step to hide from them all.

There's only one wild card she did not count on. Lexxi has no idea that her father's neighbor, and scorching hot firefighter, Sebastian "Bash" Sullivan, knows exactly who she is, and plays along with her ruse to get close to her.

Bash is the one reason she's tempted to blow her cover, but can she trust him? Will her disguise work for long enough to nurse her father back to health? Can Bash save her when disaster strikes?

Excerpt

Alexandra had been wrong about so, so many things, and so many people.

Like Wilkes.

The bastard.

“Ugh!” she groaned painfully, taking a pillow and dragging it over her face.

She didn’t bother turning on the TV. She knew what would be on all the mainstream gossip networks. It was hard to believe that after more than a year of dating her, the seemingly wholesome, dreamy-eyed cowboy had the capacity to be this cruel. It wasn’t that he had cheated on her with starlet Lydia Daniels. No, that fact had its share of initial embarrassment, but what got her in the gut was he had orchestrated the breakup just for the media hype. It meant he had likely been dating her for the same reason.

Just thinking about it made her want to throw a full-fledged tantrum, and crawl into a hole to wallow in depression and angst for a few months. She had never stooped to that level in her career or dating history. Yet here she was, with another broken heart, now that the fantasy of what she thought was a decent relationship fell apart.

“This is ridiculous,” she huffed.

She swiped the waves of purple hair out of her face and sat up. It was time to get over this. She was determined not to spend yet another evening sulking. If she took an objective look at what had happened, she had to acknowledge she was turning into a drama queen. Her best friend would agree.

Grumbling at the realization, she dug around for her smartphone in the ridiculously large bag she referred to as a purse. What she needed was straight up girl talk. The only problem was her best friend was stuck in some small town, filming an upcoming movie. She had been out of touch for the past three weeks. Alexandra had tried phoning her all morning, just like she tried all of last night. Still, it didn’t hurt to try face-time with Vivienne again.

“Please pick up,” she begged, listening to it ring.

She gnawed at the corner of her nail, staring at the wall as she waited. Just before she gave up again, Vivienne answered.

“Hello, darling.” She had a characteristic flare for the dramatic, and Alexandra loved it.

She squealed with excitement at finally connecting with her best friend, whose face now filled the screen. Twenty-six-year-old Vivienne Reese was from London, England. She had a roasted chestnut brown complexion from head to toe, jet black hair, gorgeous bedroom eyes, a button nose, and plush, full lips. In a word, stunning, and was proudly every bit the diva the media had made her out to be. Her fans adored her for it.

“Viv!” Alexandra shouted. “I’ve been trying to call you forever, you lousy phone-answerer. Where the hell is your assistant to take my calls when I need you, woman? I mean for Christ’s sake.”

Alexandra watched as Vivienne placed her iPhone in a cradle and padded around Studio F. She was in house slippers and a red silk robe, smoking a slim cigarette.

“Darling, it’s the heat! Oh yes, lovely. I’m in the middle of this place that’s desert on one end, and swamp on the other. I’ve got a pack of sexy-as-sin wild boys on set with me, and I am loving the view, let me tell you! But I can’t believe this sun hasn’t fried every component in this expensive piece-of-shit phone. Ahhh, who am I kidding? It’s the hottest set in the most scenic corner of the States imaginable.”

She picked up the phone and turned it in another direction to show Alexandra the green screen. Standing in front of it was one of Vivienne’s supporting characters. At one corner, several sexy male actors were lining up for what Viv told her was take seventy-five of a fight scene.

“Darling, these guys are sizzling hot, but it’s all a big, fat, wicked sham! Not one of these hunks are straight. Not even one! This has to be what purgatory is like, I swear!” She paused, lowering her tone a few octaves. “How are you, my dear? How is the Grammy’s sexiest musical couple?”

Alexandra took in the entertaining scene on her phone. Viv was swatting away the makeup artist who began to refresh her face, and pulled herself from the hair stylist tugging at rollers in her thick, black hair. After Viv broke free, she gave the finger to the frowning script coordinator who pointed at the cigarette she still had in the other hand. She furrowed her brow and puffed on the cigarette again in defiance.

“Haven’t you heard?” Alexandra whispered. “Wilkes was cheating on me—with Lydia Daniels. I dumped the bastard.”

Vivienne gasped, flinging her manicured nails up to her pouty lips, her eyes widening in shock. “You’re kidding, right? I mean, Lydia Daniels? That two-bit, no-talent twat? What a step down, darling.”

“See? Without you around, my life has become a cesspit of despair.” Alexandra wailed with theatrics to match Vivienne’s tone, and the two giggled together. “Anyway, I really need to vent.”

About Bella Love-Wins

I live a little north of Toronto and dream of moving to the small town of Grimsby, Ontario one day very soon. Once I move out of the city, I would love to have a Shih Tzu and 2 cats as pets and practice kids. I love writing action-packed, steamy romance stories about new adults and characters in their mid-twenties, sometimes from wealthy families. I love my female characters to be strong, and my men stronger, with a vulnerable, sometimes broody side.

I love to laugh. I think it should be a law to laugh every day. Pink is my strength and my weakness. The color, not the artist.

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