Hollywood Flirt - Alexa Aston
PROLOGUE
Five years ago . . .
Sydney Brown gazed at herself in the mirror. The high neck ivory Victorian bridal gown was the complete opposite of the white satin slip dress she’d been married in when she was seventeen. That slinky gown with a low plunging neckline had fit her spur-of-the-moment Vegas wedding to Craig Thompson in a 24/7 wedding chapel a block off the strip. Craig was all about spontaneity and living in the moment.
He’d also been twenty-five years older than Sydney—and an actor friend of her director father.
A part of her still missed Craig. He’d been the fun guy hanging around the house when she was growing up. The one who’d tried to help her cope with the death of her mother from breast cancer. The one she called to get her out of scrapes when she hit her rebellious teenage years. Sydney wondered if their marriage would have lasted—or for how long—if Craig had lived. A drunk driver crashing into their sports car four months after their quickie wedding kept the answer from her. She’d put Craig in the ground and never looked back.
She studied her reflection, wondering if her first husband would have recognized her if he caught a glimpse of her now. Craig had insisted on no prenup so Sydney was set for life. That’s what marrying a Hollywood legend who invested wisely did. The paparazzi proved relentless, though, and her reputation as The Wild Child only added fuel to the fire.
So, she’d disappeared.
Sydney chopped off her long, signature auburn locks and dyed her hair a mousy brown. She started wearing brown-colored contacts to hide her luminous green eyes and donned ginormous glasses that covered most of her face. Her only makeup was a light lip gloss, worn because her lips had a tendency to crack if not protected. Baggy jeans and oversized sweaters hid her figure. She even petitioned to have her name legally changed, though she couldn’t part with Sydney. Her mother had chosen her daughter’s name and it was the only link to the beautiful woman who’d died far too soon. Sydney willingly gave up her famous last name of Revere and escaped Hollywood, choosing Brown as her new surname. A name as bland and drab as her new hair.
She didn’t regret her choices. They enabled her to attend college anonymously in the Midwest and live a fairly mundane life. She didn’t date or make friends. Instead, she soaked up everything her professors offered, especially in her writing and literature courses.
Still, she wanted to get as far away from Sydney Revere as she could. Today was another step toward becoming a normal, obscure person. Marrying Wakefield Warren Marshall IV, from an old east coast family, would take her a world away from her Hollywood roots. They’d met the first day of Yale Law School. Both had jobs waiting for them at prestigious New York firms once they said their I dos. Sydney would settle into life as a tax attorney, while Wake would work in the real estate arm of his new law firm. She and Wake planned to have two children and she’d make sure they were christened with traditional names. Their kids would attend good schools. They would never give their parents a moment of trouble—as she had.
Wake was perfect in every way, from his stodgy name and background to his boyish good looks and intelligence.
The only thing lacking was love. For the second time, Sydney was marrying a man she didn’t love. Despite formerly being known as The Wild Child, Wake was only the second man she’d ever slept with. So much for Hollywood’s gossip rags.
She closed her eyes, trying to draw from the inner reserve of strength that she always depended upon. “I can do this,” she told herself. “In a few minutes, I’ll be Mrs. Wakefield Warren Marshall IV. I will be a typical, average, married woman with an everyday job. I will come out of my hermit’s cave and make friends. I will never be the subject of a tabloid TV story. I’ll never set foot in Hollywood ever again.” She prayed her little pep talk would see her through the candlelight ceremony.
Sydney exhaled a long breath and opened her eyes. The stranger she’d become eight years ago stared back at her. She hated to admit it but she looked unsure. Frightened. And unhappy. Sydney practiced her smile until she thought she could pass for happy. She would defy anyone who didn’t believe that she was ecstatic as