The Wrong Billionaire’s Bed - Teaser the Third!
Each day until October 15th, I’ll be posting a teaser of The Wrong Billionaire’s Bed. Here’s the newest part!
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Audrey hadn’t relished asking [her boss] for the favor. Logan knew she was twins with Daphne; he’d met her at a rather unfortunate dinner party once. Most people didn’t know she had a twin, and Audrey didn’t volunteer the information. She’d learned the hard way that the conversation usually went in one of three directions:
Scenario one: Oh, my God. You’re related to Daphne Petty? The Daphne Petty? The singer? Can you get me her autograph? Free tickets? A visit to my kid’s birthday party?
Scenario two: Daphne Petty? Really? You don’t look anything like her. She’s so thin and glamorous. You’re . . . not.
Or Scenario three: Daphne Petty? You poor thing. Is she really like that?
Scenario one was simply annoying, but she’d learned to deflect it a long time ago. No, she couldn’t get free swag/tickets/CDs of Daphne’s latest. No, she couldn’t have Daphne show up at someone’s birthday party. She kept business cards of the manager of Daphne’s fan club and handed them out when pressed.
Scenario two was irritating, but again, she’d learned to deal with it a long time ago. Stage Daphne dressed in wild, colorful outfits and thick makeup. She never left her car without six-inch heels, a thick fringe of fake eyelashes, and her hair dyed some trendy shade. She’d gone Hollywood thin years ago at her label’s suggestion (though secretly Audrey suspected drugs more than a healthy diet) and it was just another way that Audrey no longer looked like her twin.
Audrey’s hair was straight, smooth, and a pale orange-red that hadn’t faded when childhood did. Her skin was still lightly freckled, which was only obvious when she didn’t wear makeup. She never wore much, either because it would have looked out of place with her conservative business suits. And she was several sizes larger than Daphne. Where her twin had been a svelte size two, Audrey was soft, curvy, and just this side of plump. She didn’t wear false eyelashes or six-inch heels. She looked like Daphne, but only if one squinted hard and compared photos.
She was used to being insulted about her looks and being asked for favors. But worst of all was scenario three: the pity. The look she’d come to recognize all too closely in the last two years. The look on someone’s face as they recalled one of the more recent tabloids with Daphne’s escapades splashed across them, her stints of jail time, her public fiascos, the rumors of drugs, alcohol, men, and excess. The train wreck that bright, wild Daphne Petty had become.
And Audrey hadn’t been able to do a thing about it. She’d stood by, helpless, as her headstrong twin pushed her away and embraced all that her fast-paced lifestyle had to offer.
It was killing her. And that was why Audrey hated the pity more than anything else. Because she desperately wanted to do something about it, and now she had the chance. Daphne had called her last night at three in the morning, crying, from the back of a squad car. She’d called Audrey instead of her handlers, and though she’d been in LA instead of someplace that Audrey could have actually helped out with, her sister’s misery had broken her heart.
Daphne was reaching out to her. She wanted help. Not rehab, she said, because that would be all over the tabloids and she’d already been to rehab twice, without success. Just a chance to get away and reconnect with her old life, with Audrey’s assistance. This time, Daphne swore, it was going to be different. This time she’d leave behind the drugs and alcohol, if Audrey would just help her. She didn’t trust anyone else.
And so Audrey had promised to help. She’d go away with her twin. Put her life on hold and come to Daphne’s aid once again. She’d soothed her weeping twin on the phone, and then quietly contacted Daphne’s management about the most recent visit to the police station. Like most of Daphne’s incidents, they were able to make things disappear and Daphne was released from custody and flying to New York in the morning.
And then Audrey would start the slow process of finding Daphne again. Hopefully.
Mirrored from Jill Myles Dot Com.