Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
But to find out she cared for Jay Malone, the hotshot agent who had spent the last fifteen years boasting about which top model he was currently dating, had made his blood boil. He and his brothers had planned to teach Jay a lesson one way or another. But then Jay had gone and shocked them all.
Jay Malone had written a romantic comedy.
Jay Malone, who famously never even put his actors in romances, had gone and written one. Co-written, it turned out, with their sister.
And the shocks just kept landing. The minute Jay had left his brother’s house, Arch had started reading the screenplay aloud. Obviously, all of them had figured it would be terrible, something they could have a good laugh at, but after a couple of pages, Arch had stopped reading the lines in a bad falsetto and started reading it with feeling. The way a professional would do a table read.
Even with only one voice doing all the parts, Damien found himself swept up in the story. At first, he’d thought it was because Arch was that good of an actor, but then he realized Jay and Erin were actually that good as screenwriters.
At the end of the first act, Arch put down the phone and looked at all of them grouped around him in an astonished circle. “He meant it. It is a love letter to Erin.”
“And one from her to Jay,” Nick had said, stunned. Silence had fallen as the brothers took in this new fact that reshaped their world. Those two most unlikely people were in love. Then Nick added, “I guess we have to be okay with it.”
Arch read on, not aloud anymore, but skimming ahead, chuckling a few times, shaking his head. Finally, he glanced up. “And damn, it’s good. I think the lead could be perfect for Smith.”
Damien had been so shocked he couldn’t believe his ears. “You seriously think this movie could be made?”
“Oh, yeah. And it could be big.”
Nick pondered the question. “You want Smith to play Jay?”
Arch shook his head. “It’s not Jay, it’s every guy who’s ever fallen hard for a girl he thought was just a friend. It’s a classic storyline, but they’ve made it feel completely fresh. It’s one of the best scripts I’ve read in a long time.”
While his brothers adjusted to the idea of Erin and Jay, it took Damien some time to process things. He’d always felt extra protective of his youngest sister, but what did he know about love?
He still wasn’t convinced later that evening, when he walked to Arch and Tessa’s for the screening of their Scottish wedding video.
His entire family was gathered together and the smell of freshly popped popcorn filled the air. Crystal Lopez came forward, glanced behind her when he walked in, and laughed, holding up her watch. “See? He’s here just in time. Like he always is.” She was wearing a white summer dress and her black hair hung loose around her shoulders.
He hadn’t been certain whether Crystal would show up tonight or simply send the recording along, but he was happy to see her here. He was always happy to see Crystal. She was one of his oldest friends, and probably the reason he’d made it in the music business.
“It’s true,” Jay said. “Crystal said you’d be here.”
“Fashionably late,” Arch grumbled.
He lifted his own watch, which changed to 7:00. “Hey, I’m right on time.” He was never early, never late. He couldn’t stand waiting around, but also never wanted to keep others waiting, so he’d developed an uncanny ability to arrive exactly when he was meant to. Crystal knew that, even if his own family didn’t.
Crystal brought out red-and-white striped popcorn tubs and began to fill them with the fresh popcorn. It was a nice touch, Damien thought. She was good at her job as a wedding planner, as well as a good friend to his family. She and Erin had gone to school together and, based on the way Jay and Erin were cozied up, Crystal would be planning another wedding before too long.
Arch was already talking to Jay like they were best friends again, even though Jay had an arm slung around Erin’s shoulders. Seeing it made Damien uncomfortable. Everyone was treating Jay as though he was already part of the family. Even Buster and Buzzy had welcomed his dog Nelson into their pack, and the three of them were sitting like three statues watching Crystal, obviously hoping for popcorn.
Crystal wove around the Davenports, handing out the boxes of popcorn, and then they all gathered in front of the enormous flat-screen TV to watch the wedding.
Damien took a seat as far from Jay as he could get, and then squished up next to Mila to make room for Crystal beside him on the couch. It was a squeeze, and he was aware of Crystal’s bare thigh pressing against his. Beneath the smell of popcorn, he caught her scent, spicy and elusive.