Page 1 of Love Unwritten
CHAPTER ONE
Ellie
“Unbelievable.” Being a glutton for punishment, I continue scrolling through the article on my computer, ignoring the way my stomach tightens with every line of betrayal.
America’s sweetheart and world-renowned folk-pop star Ava Rhodes is expected to release her sophomore album this summer with MIA Records. The record label first discovered her during an open mic night at a local Los Angeles bar, where Darius Larkin found the future breakout star singing a cover of “Lies and Stolen Lullabies.” Later that year, Ava released her critically acclaimed debut album, Looking Glass, which skyrocketed her career and won a Grammy.
The journalist goes on to boast about Ava’s successful first album, which shot her to stardom and won Album of the Year. It was an album I helped cowrite, although the public doesn’t know since my name was never listed in the production credits.
The dull pain in my chest returns, all thanks to the invisible dagger Ava embedded in my back a year ago.
“Everything okay?”
I look up and find myself pinned in place by a pair of rich brown eyes. The color and deep undertones might be warm and welcoming, but the man they belong to is anything but.
After working for Rafael Lopez as his son’s live-in nanny for eight months, I thought I would’ve gotten used to his intimidating gaze, but it still holds the same power over me now as it did when I first met him.
Objectively speaking, my boss is handsome. With a face that belongs on a magazine cover, a deep voice that drips with quiet authority, and enough height and muscle mass to make me—the town’s resident tall girl—feel small and dainty, he checks every box.
Hot single dad with more emotional baggage than London Heathrow Airport during Christmas? Check.
Brilliant tech billionaire who teamed up with his cousin to create Dwelling, the most popular real estate app on the market? Painfully cliché yet impressive nonetheless, so check, check.
A philanthropist with a life mission to find and rescue mistreated animals before fostering them in his backyard barn? Triple check and triple threat.
In fact, I could spend the next thirty minutes listing Rafael’s redeeming qualities, but nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, would make up for his biggest con.
He is my boss.
Whatever silly spark of attraction I felt toward him since we were teenagers no longer mattered once I was hired as his son’s nanny. While it was difficult at first to ignore the way my heart raced whenever my old high school crush looked at me, it only took a few encounters to ruin the fantasy I’d created in my head about the lonely Lake Wisteria single dad.
My change of heart has nothing to do with his post-divorce wardrobe change and the lumberjack aesthetic he has maintained for the last two years, but rather the rugged personality that comes along with it. I can deal with an ungodly amount of flannel shirts and picking up after Rafael’s dusty cowboy boots, but I draw the line at his constant scowls and insistence on making me feel like an outsider despite working for him for nearly a year.
He shifts in place on the other side of the kitchen island, casting a shadow over the marble countertop. “What’s wrong?”
I jerk back. “Why are you asking?”
He scratches at the thick, short beard that covers half his face and neck. “Does it matter?”
Kind of, seeing as he has never bothered asking me before. So rather than open myself up to being vulnerable, I stick to the status quo.
“I’m fine.” I shut my laptop with a surprising amount of self-control.
“If you’re going to lie to my face, then at least look me in the eyes while doing so.”
“I am not lying.” I drag my gaze away from his.
“Good try. Now do it again without breaking eye contact. That ought to convince me then.”
An image of me wrapping my hands around his throat flashes before my eyes. I’m not a violent person, but something about Rafael always brings out the worst in me.
His eyes narrow. “Are you picturing my murder again?”
“In graphic detail.”
“Poison?”
“Asphyxiation.”