His L.A. Cinderella. Trish Wylie
Praise for
Trish Wylie:
‘Trish Wylie…pen[s] an unforgettable romance that’s hilarious, tender, heartwarming and absorbing from the word go. Trish Wylie gets better with every single book she writes, and readers looking for a romance that is funny, exotic, enthralling and simply irresistible to put down ought to put THE MILLIONAIRE’S PROPOSAL at the very top of their list!’
—Cataromance.com
Trish also writes for Modern Heat™
‘Charming, romantic and fabulous, HIS MISTRESS, HIS TERMS is another novel by Ms Wylie with keeper stamped all over it.’
—Cataromance.com
There he was: the infamous Will Ryan.
Pathetically, her palms felt clammy. Though that could just be the horrible cold she’d picked up on her way to California, she supposed…
But, truthfully, Cassidy Malone couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so nervous or so self-conscious. Or so completely incapable of fooling people into thinking she was more self-confident than she actually was. She really needed the latter if she was going to stand a chance of working with Will. And if she couldn’t do it in the land of make-believe, then where could she?
Do you ever wish you could
step into someone else’s shoes?
IN HER SHOES…
Modern-day Cinderellas get their grooms!
Now you can with Mills & Boon® Romance’s new mini-series brimming full of contemporary, feel-good stories.
Our modern-day Cinderellas swap glass slippers
for a stylish stiletto!
So follow each footstep through makeover to marriage,
rags to riches, as these women
fulfil their hopes and dreams…
This month step into Cassidy’s shoes
to find out if this L.A. Cinderella
meets a movie-star-gorgeous prince in:
HIS L.A. CINDERELLA
by
TRISH WYLIE
TRISH WYLIE tried various careers before eventually fulfilling her dream of writing. Years spent working in the music industry, in promotions, and teaching little kids about ponies gave her plenty of opportunity to study life and the people around her. Which, in Trish’s opinion, is a pretty good study course for writing! Living in Ireland, Trish balances her time between writing and horses. If you get to spend your days doing things you love, then she thinks that’s not doing too badly. You can contact Trish at www.trishwylie.com
HIS L.A. CINDERELLA
BY
TRISH WYLIE
For my new friend Lisa from Warner Bros. Studios
for the behind the scenes tour.
CHAPTER ONE
THERE he was: the infamous Will Ryan.
Pathetically, her palms felt clammy. Though that could just have been the horrible cold she’d picked up on her way to California, she supposed…
But, truthfully, Cassidy Malone couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so nervous or self-conscious. Or so completely incapable of fooling people into thinking she was more self-confident than she actually was. She really needed the latter if she was going to stand a chance of pulling off the deception of a lifetime. And if she couldn’t do it in the land of make-believe, then where could she? If she just didn’t have this stupid cold to add to everything else. Who flew halfway across the planet to a place twenty degrees warmer than home and ended up with a cold? She felt awful. So much for the theory that she would feel more confident away from home, where nobody knew her…
But therein lay her immediate problem. Because the man making his way across the beautiful lobby of the Beverly Wilshire knew her all too well. A decade ago he’d known every inch of her body intimately, and had held her heart in the palm of his large hand—the same heart that now jumped in joyous recognition and then twisted in regret at how comfortable he looked in their surroundings.
Cassidy was incredibly jealous of that.
Will didn’t so much as bat an eyelid at the white marble, the large chandelier, the carved wooden elevator doors or the polished brass and black accents. I belong here, his confident stride said silently. But then Cassidy couldn’t remember a time when there’d ever been a place he hadn’t had that air of self-assurance. He’d always had a way of carrying himself that practically dared people to say he was somewhere he didn’t belong.
That confidence, and the hint of potential danger if pushed, had added to his potent sexuality from the very beginning as far as Cassidy was concerned. Add boyish good-looks and a smile that could genuinely melt female knees…He’d been the flame and she the moth. But to see him so at home in a place where she felt so very lost…Well, it just widened the already cavernous gap between them, didn’t it?
Ridiculously, it hurt. When it really shouldn’t have. Not after so long…
His bright green gaze sought her out and brushed nonchalantly from her head to her toes and back up again, forcing her to suck in her stomach and silently pray that he couldn’t see any sign of the foundation underwear she’d struggled her way into. Like every woman Cassidy knew, every inch counted in times of crisis—even though she had absolutely no idea where those missing inches had been relocated to. With any luck Will would keep their meetings to places where there was air-conditioning, so she stood a better chance of not passing out in the California heat and the thin air of Los Angeles. Restricted circulation plus bunged-up nose didn’t exactly give her a head start…
Mentally she crossed her fingers.
‘Cass.’
He held out a ridiculously large hand when he got to her, and for a second Cassidy looked down at it with an arched brow, as if confused by what she was supposed to do with it. They were shaking hands? Like complete strangers? Really?
Okay, then.
Surreptitiously swiping a clammy palm on her hip, she placed it in his; the heat of long fingers curled around her cooler ones, sending another jolt of recognition through her veins to her heart. Good to know her body hadn’t forgotten him either. She tried to think professional thoughts. It wasn’t easy. But she had to work with this man.
Will let go of her hand somewhat abruptly. ‘Recovered from your flight?’
‘Yes. Thank you. I think it’s easier this way than going back.’
‘Happy with the hotel?’
‘How could I not be?’ She glanced around, but couldn’t stop her gaze from shifting back to study him. Still boyish. He hadn’t aged a day. How was that fair?
Will nodded, and glanced around him the way she had. ‘It has a history firmly tied up in Hollywood. Dashiell Hammet wrote The Thin Man here. Elvis lived here while making movies at Paramount, and they’ve had everyone from members of the British royal family to the Dalai Lama stay at one time or another.’
‘That’s nice.’ Inwardly she rolled her eyes as the words slipped off the tip of her tongue. Eloquent, Cassidy. Way to go. But, however foolish she felt, it was nothing in comparison to how stunned she was by his coolness. It was like talking