worry. I didn’t ask her. She won’t be wearing it.” Disgust filled him. “Stephanie’s going places. Without me. You can have her.”
With that, Wynn strode from the bedroom, passed a shocked Becky, and out the door.
CHAPTER 1
Scarlett Corrigan swept her hair into a ponytail and grabbed her keys and coffee travel mug as she headed out the door. This was the first time in two weeks she’d had the energy to do something unrelated to work. A nasty case of food poisoning had knocked her flat on her back—when she wasn’t vomiting. Still, she’d worked on various case files from bed. Once she returned to her law firm, she came home exhausted each night, too tired to work out.
Today, though, the beach called her name. She and Keely were set to compete in a local volleyball tournament. Scarlett finally felt physically strong enough to enjoy teaming with her best friend and taking down some competitors. She looked forward to catching up and hearing how filming was going on Keely and Mac’s latest movie. They’d started shooting the Breck O’Dell screenplay over three weeks ago. She and Keely had constantly traded texts but this would be the first time they’d seen each other since the rom-com shoot began.
As she headed along the PCH, Scarlett thoughts turned to tonight’s dinner. It was time to end things with Chaz Weston. They’d met at a bar association meeting a couple of months ago. Chaz was confident, charming, and boyish, even at forty. With killer schedules, they’d only seen each other sporadically, which suited both of them.
Until now.
At thirty-four—soon to be thirty-five—Scarlett knew she’d arrived at a crossroad. For ten years, she’d been consumed by her legal career, dating casually because she had too much she wanted to do before settling down. Besides, LA was a town where most men sported a Peter Pan complex, never wanting to grow up and assume responsibilities. She’d been fine with that.
Until she wasn’t.
Kids hadn’t been on her radar. She was fine being Auntie Scarlett to her nieces and nephews and spoiling them crazy. Then, one by one over the last two years, her friends all married and started having kids. It really struck her when Keely and Mac wed six months ago. Keely was growing in demand as an actress and hadn’t been looking for love when, out of nowhere, Mac Randall appeared and they fell for one another. The looks those two gave each another gave Scarlett goosebumps. She wanted a man to look at her the way Mac did Keely. She wanted to feel loved and have someone to share her life with, all the ups and downs and in-betweens. Moreover, out of the blue—she wanted kids. Badly. Mac and Keely were trying and Scarlett knew, any day now, they would announce they were pregnant.
Maybe she could be a single parent. Every good man in Hollywood seemed to be taken and Scarlett knew most of them, thanks to being Rhett Corrigan’s little sister. He was Hollywood’s best-known and highest paid actor. His closest friends had married women Scarlett became friends with. Dash DeLauria, Knox Monroe, and Breck O’Dell were all like big brothers to her. They seemed to be the only decent men in the entertainment industry. Since she focused exclusively on entertainment law, she would know.
Turning on her blinker, Scarlett pulled off the highway and into Keely’s drive. She punched in a code and the gate opened. The beefed-up security had been Mac’s idea after their wedding. The paparazzi problem in California only seemed to grow and after what her friends had been through with that nut job Finn Jarvis wanting to kill Keely, Scarlett couldn’t blame them for taking additional steps to protect themselves.
She got out of the car and tapped at the front door. Mac answered, pulling her into a bear hug.
“Hey, Scarlett. Good to see you. Come on in.”
As she stepped inside, Jax greeted her. The basenji raised up on his hind legs and did a ballet pirouette before dashing over to lick her hand.
“Good boy, Jax.” She ran a hand along the dog’s coat.
Mac closed the door. “Come on, Jax. We’re going for a run.”
Scarlett followed him into the living room, with its spectacular view of the ocean visible through a wall of glass.
Keely waved from the sofa, a mug in her hand, and patted the cushion next to her. “Come here, you.”
Scarlett hugged her friend and sat next to her, setting her tote down and propping her feet up on