When Stars Align

Chapter 1

© 2022 by Sara Leanne Adams

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Warning: this book contains sexual content not suitable for persons under 18 years of age.

This is a three chapter excerpt. The full book will be published on Inkitt. 

Grove
My private jet lifted off the ground, heading north out of the city. It was early June, and Los Angeles was under a thick layer of smog amid soaring daytime temperatures in the nineties.
"I hate the cold," I grumbled as I watched my beloved city disappear from sight.
"It's not cold in Canada in the summer," Gentry sighed without looking up from her tablet.
"Bullshit, it's not."
"It's eighty-nine degrees in Toronto today, Grover."
Yes. My parents actually named me after a furry blue monster from Sesame Street.
And why did they do that?
Because they let my sister pick out my name.
Who lets a six-year-old name a baby?
I was the youngest of five. A late in life oops. My folks were in their early forties when I was born. They didn't have a great track record with birth control.
Mom got pregnant at sixteen, pumping out three kids before her twentieth birthday. She got her tubes tied, and there were no more babies until she was thirty-five. Apparently, tubes can grow back together. Gentry was their first and only daughter. And spoiled rotten. Hence, the reason she was allowed to name me when I made my surprise appearance six years later.
"That's great," I muttered. "But what's the temperature in butt fuck Idaho, which is twenty hours north of Toronto."
"You have to stop using that phrase."
"Why?"
"Because Lana Lush is from Idaho. She'd probably find that offensive."
"I don't give two fucks what some potato farmer finds offensive."
"She wrote King of the Castle."
"So what?"
"She's going to be on the set."
"Why?"
"I don't know, Grover. The producers value her input, I guess."
"That's ridiculous, and you know it!" I barked. "Nobody does that. She didn't write the script. There's no reason for her to be there. She sold the rights. That's the end of her involvement."
"I have to side with Grove on this one," Issac said, smoothing out a crease in his pants.
Issac was my personal assistant. He didn't always take my side, but he was with me one hundred percent when it came to taking this awful movie role.
"That's because he pays you to agree with him," Gentry said.
"That couldn't be further from the truth," Issac huffed. "I'm not convinced this is the best choice of roles for Grove."
"I'm an action star."
"It's time for you to try some different genres," Gentry said.
"I do other types of movies, Gen," I sighed. "I've done adventure, murder mystery, war movies, and I even did a historical film."
"And now you're starring in a romantic drama."
"It's a chick flick," I snorted.
"It's not a chick flick, Grover."
"There's all kinds of gratuitous sex," Issac said.
"That doesn't make it a chick flick," she said. "And there is a great story."
"The casting is terrible."
"Really?" she laughed, glancing up from her tablet with a smirk. "The male lead is a grumpy hermit. I think you're perfect for the role."
"I'm not a hermit."
"You're grumpy."
"Only because I'm being forced to make a movie I have no interest in making."
"Okay then," she snorted. "Because you're normally a ray of fucking sunshine."
"I'm a pleasant guy," I protested. "Issac? Am I a grump?"
"You can be prickly and standoffish."
"I'm allowed to have bad moods."
"You signed on for this movie," Gentry said. "Do you want it to be a box office flop?"
"It's going to be."
"People are going to see it because you're in it. You're one of the most famous movie stars in the world. And you're going to throw yourself into the role, just like you would for any other movie."
"I hate this stupid beard," I whined, scratching at the thick hair that covered my jaw.
"Do you want to wear a fake beard that has to be glued to your face? That's a lot of extra time in the makeup chair every morning."
"I don't want that," I said. "That's why I've spent the past several months growing this rat's nest."
"And imagine trying to do kissing scenes with a fake beard?"
"I don't want to do any kissing scenes."
"You better get over that," Issac said. "There are tons of kissing scenes in this film. And I use that term loosely. Not to mention your co-star is totally wrong for the part."
"Exactly," I muttered. "Twila Winston can't pull off a sweet, innocent girl."
"She might surprise you," Gentry said.
"I highly doubt it."