One Night with a Star (Second Chances Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

finished filming a few months back—but he was closer to Spence than to Simon.
    And then there was Jenny.
    Simon watched her, hands in his pockets, as he ambled up to the bar that had been set up on the south lawn. Jenny was magnificent in every way. The breeze had picked up, blowing the golden curtain of her hair across her back. She laughed with Spence’s sister, the two of them instant best friends. Best of all, she carried Daniel on her hip the way that some women carried a designer clutch. Daniel was part of her, a bonus, not a burden. His heart squeezed tight at the thought. His son.
    “What are you looking at?” another guest standing at the bar asked him.
    Simon blinked away from Jenny to take in the man. His tone was a shade too offended for a casual question. Still, there was no reason why he shouldn’t be honest.
    “Jenny,” he said. “The most beautiful girl in the room. Well, the lawn.”
    The man narrowed his eyes. “That’s my girlfriend you’re staring at.”
    Simon had the sudden urge to clench his fists and maybe put them to good use. He stood straighter, sizing up the competition. The man standing next to him was average height, average build, with close-cut hair and a weak jaw. His suit looked expensive, but it didn’t fit well. He held half a glass of wine like he was clutching a television remote. There was nothing about him that Simon couldn’t top on a bad day. So why the hell was Jenny with this bloke instead of him?
    The thought was ridiculous and unproductive. Simon smiled and held out his hand. “Simon Mercer.”
    “Yeah, I know. I’ve seen your films. Neil Brenner.”
    They shook. Neil’s handshake was like a vise. The man clearly felt he had something to prove.
    “Do you know Jenny?” he asked, even more on the defensive.
    “Yeah,” Simon admitted. “We met briefly last summer when Spence was staying here. I came up for a few days.” And that was the end of that story as far as he was concerned.
    “She never mentioned you,” Neil said.
    Simon shrugged. “I don’t see why she would.” Except that they had spent a fabulous night together which had resulted in the beautiful boy in her arms right now. Nah, not worth mentioning. Not to this charming specimen of humanity.
    “That’s not my kid,” Neil said, pivoting to lean against the bar.
    Again, the urge to punch the man.
    “No?”
    “No,” Neil said. “She won’t tell me whose it is.”
    “I see.”
    “Jenny and I have known each other since middle school,” he went on, “but we just got together in March. I think there’s something there.”
    “Do you now?”
    “Can I get you anything?” the bartender interrupted.
    Simon glanced at the man, seriously considering. A good, stiff drink was called for right about now, but he hadn’t dared touch a drop of alcohol since he started his soul-searching last summer.
    “Soda,” he said.
    “You don’t drink?” Neil asked him.
    “Not tonight,” Simon answered.
    Neil snorted a laugh as Simon took his soda from the bartender. “Not even after your buddy Spence paid for a full bar and wine that most of us couldn’t afford if we won the lottery?”
    How the hell had Jenny end up dating this first-class jerk?
    “Why should you care, mate?” he asked aloud.
    “I don’t,” Neil insisted. “It’s just the wasted expense of it all pisses me off.”
    “Is that so?”
    Neil glanced to him. “I’m an accountant. I think about these things. The money would be better used elsewhere.”
    “Ah.” Simon searched around, looking for someone, anyone else that he could talk to.
    “You know, the thing I can’t stand about you celebrities is that you treat the rest of us like we should be grateful that you show up places and treat us. Like we can’t be happy without you,” Neil started. “Like none of the rest of us are good enough and you know it all.”
    Simon arched an eyebrow. “Looks like you’ve been enjoying a little too much of that expensive wine