Page 1 of Claim to Fame

Chapter One

“It has to be you.”

Ethan Hart took a sip of his beer and considered the woman across the booth from him. AK Wild—Angie—was one of the most successful indie romance authors on the market. She also happened to be an old friend, so when she’d called him three years ago and asked for a favor, Ethan hadn’t been able to say no.

He hadn’t expected that favor to take on a life of its own.

“Why me?” he asked.

“Because you’re Slade Hardcastle! You’rethevoice of all my books. Why should this one be any different?” He opened his mouth to speak, but she held up her finger. “Weren’t you a dragon for Halloween in first grade?”

“No.”

“I distinctly remember a cardboard dragon head with construction paper flames. You were born to play this part.”

“I think that’s a bit of stretch,” he said rolling his eyes.

“Don’t pretend you don’t love it. I’ve had three author friends contact me this week alone trying to get in touch with you for projects.”

“I turned those down,” he said.

“I know. You’re in demand, Ethan. And I demand you narrate this book.”

Ethan glanced at the excerpt Angie had handed him.

I unfurl my wings so that she may look upon them. The heat of her fingers as they trace the membrane sears through me, heating my blood. I need to claim her, to make her mine. To mark her as the dragon duke’s mate.

It was a departure from Angie’s typical medieval romances, and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t intrigued by the challenge of voicing a dragon...

No one back in Aster Bay knew Ethan Hart moonlighted as Slade Hardcastle, spicy romance audiobook narrator. It was his secret, and he intended to keep it that way. But with each new book he narrated, the risk of someone finding out about his alter ego grew.

“C’mon. What’s a few dragon shifter sex scenes between friends?” A slow grin spread over Angie’s face. “Besides, who knew your talent for accents would be so useful outside of tormenting Mrs. Kemp during history class?”

Ethan threw his head back and laughed. “That was one time.”

“I’ll pay double your fee,” Angie said.

“It’s not about the money.” Though the money was nice. Ethan had been setting aside all his earnings from the audiobooks in a college fund for his granddaughter, Julie.

“Then what’s the problem?”

Ethan scraped his hand over his jaw. “It’s just me at the vineyard now, Ang. I bought Mom and Dad out last year so they could move into some fancy independent living facility in Florida.”

“That’s great.”

“It is. But the vineyard is their legacy, and they built that legacy on a wholesome image. Did you know my mom used to scoop ice cream in Sugar Grapes during the summers and that’s how she met my dad?”

“I did. They used to tell that story to anyone who would listen. If I didn’t write historicals, I’d work it into a book somehow,” Angie said, leaning back in the booth.

“Everyone knows that story, and now Nuthatch Vineyard—a place built on the idea of family—has been taken over by a single guy in his forties.”

“You can’t honestly be telling me you’re worried about sullying the family business with my smutty books?” Angie shot him a look that said he better think carefully about his answer.

“I love your smutty books. You know that.”

“Then what are you trying to say?”

“I don’t know.” He ran his hand over the short hair at the back of his neck and sighed. “I guess I worry about what would happen if word got out.”

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