B01EU62FUC (R)

LAZY LOVE

KIRSTEN OSBOURNE

Unlimited Dreams

Contents

Copyright

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Epilogue

Also by Kirsten Osbourne

About the Author

Copyright © 2016 by Kirsten Osbourne

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

INTRODUCTION

O
n the surface, Valerie Dobson has the perfect life. She’s the star of a popular syndicated drama. She has a loving boyfriend of eight years. Everything she touches turns to gold. But underneath her beautiful exterior, lies a beautiful soul with secrets.

Jesse Savoy has been in love with his lovely co-star since the day they met, and if not for her boyfriend, he’d have begged her to marry him years before. As soon as her relationship fizzles, he drags her off to Vegas for the marriage he desperately wants. Will her fears of intimacy keep her from having the marriage they want? Or will they be able to overcome them together?

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CHAPTER 1

 J
oAnn Larson clutched the shoulders of Dr. Dylan Drake as he kissed her passionately. She was perched at the very edge of her counter, legs spread, with Dylan standing between them, his hands under her button-up work shirt. Without thinking, one leg wrapped around his waist, and she moaned softly.

“I need you, Jo. Let’s go to your bedroom.”

The words were like cold water was dumped over her head, and Jo took deep gulping breaths to reorient herself. “I’m not ready, Dylan. Not yet.”

Dylan groaned, resting his forehead against hers, his eyes closed against the intensity of emotions. A thin sheen of sweat covered his face. “It’s always ‘not yet’. When?”

“I have to set a good example for MaryBeth. I’m her role model.”

Dylan stepped back, running his fingers through his already mussed hair in obvious frustration. “She’s twenty-one. What difference does it make?”

“We’re not married. You know how much that matters to me.” Jo slid off the counter and walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist, resting her cheek against his shoulder. There was a huge disparity in their height, and she felt tiny in comparison.

“I do know how much it matters. I also know I’ve asked you three times, and there’s always some reason you’re not quite ready. When will you be ready, Jo?” Dylan kept himself rigid as he waited for her answer.

She sighed. “I don’t want to cross a line with you we can never get back across. You’re my best friend. I don’t want to lose what we have.”

Dylan turned in her arms, looking down into her upturned face. He cupped one cheek with his hand. “I told you I’d wait, and I will. Just don’t make me wait forever.” He kissed her one last time, before heading toward the door. “I’ll be here in the morning to check on the mare and new foal.”

“Thanks, Doc,” Jo said, a slight smile transforming her face.

Dylan closed the door behind him, and Jo stood still for a moment until the director called out, “Cut!”

Valerie rubbed her hand over the back of her neck, surprised at the sweat she found there. She got more worked up from the short kissing scenes she and Jesse did on set than she did from an hour make-out session with Curtis, her boyfriend of eight years. Of course, she hadn’t let Curtis kiss her much in months. She didn’t feel the kind of passion for him that she did for her co-star, Jesse. What was wrong with her?

She looked over at the director, Steven, and nodded. “We done for the day?”

Steven nodded. “You two almost lit the cameras on fire with that last scene. I don’t know how you do it.”

Valerie shrugged, ignoring her body which was still burning from the embrace. “We’re actors. It’s our job.” It was then she noticed Curtis standing a few feet behind Steven. She walked to him, trying to keep the annoyance from her face.
What’s he doing here? How did he get around the ‘no visitors on set’ rule again?

Curtis took her hand and kissed it, giving the impression he was madly in love with her, which he always did, in public. “I’ve missed you. I hope you don’t mind me flying here to surprise you.”

She did mind. More than she should. “No, I don’t mind,” she lied. “Let’s go to my trailer.” Looking at his face, she could see Curtis was angry. Again. He must have seen the kiss. The kiss she had to do for her job that was written into the script.

She held his hand as she led the way around the cameras and out the door of the ranch house to the trailer that was set up for her use. Valerie was the star of
Lazy Love,
a show that was making all her dreams come true. As she opened the door to the trailer, she couldn’t help but remember the audition for the show.

She’d been a green girl, just in from Iowa State University, sure she’d set Hollywood on fire with her talent. After only two auditions, they’d paired her up with Jesse. He’d read the role of Dr. Dylan Drake, small town veterinarian, while she’d read for the role of JoAnn Larson, heiress and debutante, whose father had died unexpectedly, leaving a ranch in her very soft hands.

Valerie had felt like she was made for the role instantly, and Jesse’s reading of Dr. Dylan had inspired them all. Four years later, they were both still playing their roles for the prime time drama.

She turned and looked at Curtis, readying herself for the fight she knew was about to come. Moving as far from him as she could without being obvious, she leaned casually against the wall, trying not to look afraid.

“Why? Can you just tell me why?” The anger on his face changed him from a handsome man to ugly. This was the face she was used to seeing, not the face he showed the rest of the world.

Valerie shrugged, keeping her uncaring mask in place. “I guess I’m just good at my job.” She knew he wanted to know why the passion between her and Jesse was so intense, and she couldn’t even fake it with him. She’d tried to break up with him multiple times in the past, but he’d always gotten angry, scaring her, so she’d left their relationship as it was. The one thing she wanted more than anything else on earth was to leave their relationship in the past.

“No one is that good. I kiss you, and I can feel the ice forming around your lips. He kisses you, and the passion that emanates off both of you has the crew wiping the sweat from their faces.”

Valerie continued to stare at Curtis, not knowing what to say to him. The truth—that she had no feelings for him—would only anger him more. She couldn’t work with bruises on her face. No amount of make-up could fix the damage he would do.

“Why don’t you kiss
me
that way?”

She closed her eyes for a moment, but she knew it was time. What could he do there in her trailer? There were people all around them. Jesse’s trailer was close enough he’d hear her scream. She prayed he’d be there in time. “Because I don’t have any passion for you, Curtis. I think it’s time for our relationship to be over. I don’t love you.”

Curtis picked up a vase from the table beside him and threw it at her, hitting the wall just next to her head. “We’re not over!”

The door crashed open, Jesse’s eyes blazing. “Oh, trust me. You’re over. Get off this set. She’s done with you.”

Curtis glared at Jesse, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. “What gives you the right to interfere with my relationship with Valerie? You’re just her boyfriend in the show. She’s not yours in real life!”

Jesse shrugged. “She may not be my girl in real life, but she is my friend. I don’t let people throw things at my friends.” He opened the door to the trailer pointedly. “Get out.”

Valerie looked back and forth between the two men, hoping they wouldn’t come to blows. She knew Jesse was strong, but Curtis was huge, a good four inches taller than her co-star. She didn’t want to think about what could happen. And neither she nor Jesse needed the negative publicity that would come from a fight.

Curtis looked at Valerie. “If I leave now, it’s over between us. And I’ll make sure every newspaper in the country prints the story of how we broke up because you’re frigid. How you can’t stand for a man to touch you when a camera isn’t on you.”

Valerie glared at him. “Fine. Get out. I never want to see you again.” He was giving her an out, and she’d take it. Getting away from him was a higher priority than her reputation.

Curtis stormed toward the door, and Jesse made sure he closed it after the other man. As soon as the door was closed, Valerie sank down onto the couch and buried her face in her hands, sobbing. She wasn’t upset about losing Curtis. No, she was glad he was gone. It was what the tabloids would print. She’d been called Valerie the Virgin for so long she was ready to scream. Now they would have even more fodder. But to be rid of Curtis was worth it.

Jesse sank to the couch beside her, his arm going around her shoulders. “Val, you don’t need him. He’s worse than being alone.”

Valerie nodded, sniffling indelicately. His touch made her feel safe, and she rested her head against him, thankful for his tender care. “I’m glad he’s gone. I just—I just—”

Jesse looked at her, confusion on his face. He’d never understood how someone as beautiful and sweet as Valerie could be with a douchebag like Curtis anyway. “Just what?”

“I don’t want to see how Valerie the Virgin wouldn’t put out, so he had to dump her. I don’t think I can stand it. What’s wrong with having morals?”

Jesse nodded slowly. “The windows were open.”

Valerie stared at him for a minute and then it dawned on her what she’d said to Curtis. “You heard everything?”

“Yes, I did. Does it really matter to you if you’re accused of being frigid? Because as we both know, you’re not.”

She sighed. “I don’t know why, but it does. It’s not true! I’m so sick of reading lies about myself in the tabloids.”

“So don’t read them.”

“If I don’t read them, then I’m blindsided when asked about them in an interview. When my mother calls. Something always happens, so I read them and I keep up on the gossip.”

“Marry me then.” Jesse kept his face impassive and his eyes steady on her face as he made the suggestion. He couldn’t let her know how very much it meant to him.

“What? Are you crazy?”

“Look, we know we have passion between us. Heck, the whole cast and crew is breathing heavy after we film a scene like we did today. We genuinely care about each other. Why not?” His mind raced for further arguments, because he had to make the most of this opportunity. He couldn’t see her dating another man again. It would tear him apart.

She stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. “I’m not sure that’s a good reason to marry. I mean, we’ve never even kissed with no cameras rolling.”

Jesse grinned the dimpled smile that had millions of women tuning in every Tuesday night and swooning over him. He reached to her, one hand cupping her cheek as it had so many times before, but this time—it was real. It wasn’t for the cameras. It wasn’t for anyone but her.

Valerie’s heart beat faster, pounding out a rhythm that almost hurt within her chest. His lips were as familiar to her as her own, because she’d kissed him regularly for four years, but this was different. There were no cameras, no other actors, and most importantly, no directors telling him how to kiss her. This time it was just them. And she wasn’t sure if her heart could survive it.

“If I can prove to you that kissing is just as good for us off-camera as it is on, will you marry me?” His mind raced as he tried to come up with a good reason for her to marry him. The entire time he’d known her, she’d been tied to Curtis, and he wasn’t going to let this magic opportunity slip by him. No, Valerie, his co-star and the woman of his dreams, was about to be his if it took everything inside him to make it happen.