Chapter One
Mackenzie
I open the front door, ready to mock my best friend Brooklyn for turning up early for once. We’d planned to meet at the Portobello Road market in half an hour and spend the morning checking out the vintage jewelry, but the words lock in my throat as Will Hamilton gives me his bone-melting, knee-knocking smile.
“Hey, Mac.” His smoldering voice wraps around me like a velvet caress, setting off flutters in places that have no right fluttering. At least, not when it comes to Will, the guy I’ve known for most of my life, and who just so happens to be my brother Lucas’s best friend.
His close-cropped dark hair is a lot shorter than it used to be, and his deep brown eyes are still as annoyingly seductive as ever. I attempt to find fault with the stubble that darkens his jaw, but no such luck, as it’s sexy as hell and twice as addictive.
Against my better judgment, my gaze slides south. The rugby shirt he’s wearing is completely ordinary, but somehow it manages to enhance the rock-hard muscles of his spectacular chest.
It’s not spectacular.
Yes, it is.
For goodness sake stop drooling, Mac.
“Hi.” Frantically, I try to figure out why he’s here. But I don’t have a clue, when he knows Lucas is in Madrid.
A wary expression flashes over his face. “Didn’t Lucas phone you?”
“No.”Should I invite him in?I pull the door open a little wider, and after giving me a doubtful glance, he steps into the hall. “What’s my brother done now?”
“Nothing. He asked me to pick you up.”
Even my sarcastically wired brain can’t come up with an instant response tothat. My blank gaze clearly tells him I don’t have the faintest idea what he’s talking about.
“Atomic Fire was in a bus crash,” he adds. “We need to go see them.”
“Ah, shit.” Atomic Fire isthehottest boy band, and Lucas and their manager are good friends. I first met them nearly a year ago, when they were one of the warm-up bands at a huge charity concert. They were the hit of the night, and Atomic Fire took off like a rocket.
They’re also the headline act for the charity event I’ve spent half the year organizing. My stomach churns, and I steel myself for bad news. “Are they hurt?”
“Just a few bruises, but Jake broke his leg.” Relief rushes through me that it’s not more serious. Not that broken bones are any fun, but at least they’re fixable. And it could’ve been a lot worse. Jake Myers is the lead singer—at least he didn’t damage his voice. “Surprised you didn’t know about it. It’s all over social media.”
“I haven’t been online today.” Now that I know the boys are out of danger, my brain races ahead. Four years ago, Lucas and his teammate, Jax, set up the Rainbow Star Foundation to help grant wishes to sick kids and raise money for children’s charities, and every year I’ve organized the Christmas fundraiser. Since Will’s also involved in the charity, him turning up on my doorstep now makes more sense. Except it doesn’t. Because there’s still three months until Christmas, which should give Jake enough time to recover.
Unless there’re some complications we don’t know about? God, I hope not.
I’ve no idea why my brother thought it was a good idea to send his best friend to let me know instead of a text message, but there must be a reason. “What’s the problem?”
“Jake’s convinced his career’s over. And that includes pulling out of the fundraiser. He’s not listening to the other guys in the band.”
Pulling out?
I don’t even want to think about it. And not just because of the logistics of trying to rejuggle everything. Atomic Fire’s fans will be gutted.
“We’re missing something here. Jake broke his leg. Why does he think his career’s over?”
“I don’t know. Lucas said the only one Jake’ll talk to about it is you.”
“All right.”
He raises his eyebrows in mock shock at my response. “Thought you were going to shoot the messenger. I would’ve bet on it.”
“Good job you didn’t, then.” The words are out before I even know it, and a warm glow fills my chest. I can hardly remember the last time we had a normal conversation—the way we used to, before things went sideways.
There’s still something I don’t get. “Why did Lucas phone you and not me?”
