Beautifully Stolen - Charity Parkerson Page 0,2

let this man-child get underneath his skin. People were never nice for no reason. With Brett, people usually hoped to use him to get famous, since that was his forte. Brett could film a houseplant and find a way to market it all the way to acclaim. He didn’t know why he was this way. Brett had simply always been good at putting the perfect spin on things and placing it on display in the exact spot it belonged. He could find an audience for anything. While doing what he loved brought him immense satisfaction, it also brought fake people into his life in droves. Men rarely met him accidentally and they were genuine with him even fewer times than that. He supposed that was why he had enjoyed Wrecker’s company so much. Wrecker was already famous and had never wanted anything from him beyond the carnal. It was a catch twenty-two, to be honest. While Wrecker had only wanted sex and nothing more, Brett wanted to be wanted for more than what he could do for someone’s career. There was no in between. No one who wanted nothing from him wanted him for him.

No doubt Roman was no different. Brett hadn’t quite deciphered Roman’s game yet, but he would. Since meeting Roman nearly a year ago, the guy hadn’t stopped flirting. At Johnny’s first and only live event, Roman had point blank confessed he intended to fuck Brett. In truth, if Brett thought for a second that was all there was to it, he would hop in Roman’s bed so fast, it would make the man’s head spin, but something didn’t feel right. There was something else in Roman’s eyes when he looked at Brett. Almost a greediness. Brett didn’t want to find out Roman’s secrets the hard way. So he kept the guy at arm’s length. A weekend together might finally solve the mystery of Roman, and Brett looked forward to the challenge. It wasn’t like he had anything better holding his attention. He had time for this.

Two

California had its good points. In fact, Roman had lived here once upon a time. In his early twenties, he had moved to L.A. for six months and did a stint on a soap opera. His character had only been temporary. He had known from the beginning they intended to kill off his character in the show. That six months had broken him from any more dreams of making it big. While he knew selling the sight of his body wasn’t something he could do forever, at least he got to be himself when he wasn’t working. In those six months of acting, Roman had been on stage twenty-four seven. No matter where he went or what he did, he had to be someone else. He had to mind his reputation every second. Roman lived with a fake smile permanently etched on his face. By the time he moved back to Aspen, he was so tired of smiling that he hadn’t done it again for nearly a year. It was like the life had been sapped from him. The first time he had smiled again for real, he had sworn to himself that he would never fake it again. If he was unhappy, Roman changed his circumstances. He refused to feel that way even one more time. Maybe that was why he was so obsessed with Brett.

Everyone knew Brett Sanders in L.A. Yet, no one did. His ability to turn everything he touched to gold was envied by all. People practically spoke about him in whispers. Brett was small but fierce. He dressed like a supervillain and stood out everywhere he went. The guy had the most beautiful dark blue eyes Roman had ever seen. They were also the saddest. Brett was exactly like Roman had been in L.A.—fucking miserable. Maybe no one else saw it, or hell, maybe it was just that no one else cared. Either way, Roman saw, and he couldn’t stop finding excuses to be near him. This time, though, Brett had called him. Roman could be thick sometimes, but he wasn’t dumb. Only a stupid man would miss his chance at a weekend with Brett.

At the airport, Roman fully expected Brett to back down and only send a car. In fact, once he grabbed his luggage, he started searching for a sign with his name. He had zero expectations of seeing Brett’s face waiting.

“You cut off all your hair.”

Roman spun at the yelled words behind him.