TAMING HOLLYWOOD’S BADDEST BOY Read online

  Taming Hollywood’s Baddest Boy

  Published by Max Monroe LLC © 2020, Max Monroe

  All rights reserved.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Editing by Silently Correcting Your Grammar

  Formatting by Champagne Book Design

  Cover Design by Peter Alderweireld

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Author’s Note

  Dedication

  Playlist

  Intro

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Epilogue

  The Billionaire Boss Next Door Excerpt

  Intro

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Acknowledgments

  Taming Hollywood’s Baddest Boy is a full-length romantic comedy stand-alone novel.

  At the end, we’ve included an excerpt from The Billionaire Boss Next Door, a hilarious romantic comedy standalone from our best-selling Billionaire Collection.

  Now that you know, don’t seek reader revenge and sell false stories about us to the paparazzi when Taming Hollywood’s Baddest Boy concludes at around 90%. We’re not photo ready. ;)

  Also, due to the hilarious and addictive nature of this book’s content, the following things are not recommended: reading in public places, reading while doing the Macarena, reading while eating and/or drinking, reading while operating heavy machinery, and reading at your wedding while your future husband/wife is saying their vows to you at the altar.

  Happy Reading!

  All our love,

  Max & Monroe

  This book is not dedicated to the following things:

  Regina George

  Max’s neighbor’s fence

  The tree that broke Max’s neighbor’s fence

  The mean old lady that yelled at five-year-old Monroe in church for being too loud

  The Electric Slide

  The word gobbledygook

  Alarm clocks

  9 to 5, Dolly Parton

  Gypsy, Fleetwood Mac

  The Blower’s Daughter, Damien Rice

  Wish, Gabriel Rios

  Crowded Room, Selena Gomez

  Take Me Home, Country Roads, John Denver

  Blue Jeans, Lana Del Rey

  when the party’s over, Billie Eilish

  Crazy, Patsy Cline

  I’m On Fire, Bruce Springsteen

  God Only Knows, The Beach Boys

  You can find the rest of this book’s playlist right here, on Spotify!

  Billie

  Naked lumberjacks are all the rage. Or is it that they’re full of rage?

  I’m not entirely sure, but I think maybe, just maybe, it’s a little bit of both.

  Standing beside a hot tub outside of a rustic Alaskan cabin is a bare-chested, handsome-as-hell lumberjack of a man, and he is as naked as the day he was born.

  “Who the fuck are you, and what the fuck are you doing here?” the big, burly man with a scruffy beard and piercing blue eyes asks me brusquely.

  And holy hell, what a question that is.

  I started this journey in a meeting in LA, promising my boss the world, continued it with a plane, a car, a hike and kayaking adventure in a cold, rainy Alaskan setting, and in a highly unanticipated twist, I’m ending it in what must be an issue of Playgirl magazine come to life.

  And boy oh boy is the centerfold pissed…

  “Hello?” he questions harshly. “I said, who the hell are you?”

  As hard as it is, given his clothes-less state, I force myself to take a good, scrutinizing look at the rest of his face. I’m here for a reason, and with nothing more than a ramshackle convenience store owner named Earl’s vague instructions to go on, I can only hope that the here I’m at is the here I’ve spent days in a plane, car, and kayak looking for. In addition to a remarkably carved line on the inside of each hipbone, the angry man standing boldly above me has a strong jaw covered by a beard, a little scar above his right eye, miles of muscular, tanned skin, and messy, light-brown hair. I have to look a little closer to confirm my conclusion through the rolling waves of distrust and hatred coming off him, but when I focus hard enough, the star-quality glimmer in his eyes is undeniable.

  For the love of pancakes at a Sunday morning breakfast, it’s really him.

  Luca Weaver, Hollywood’s former baddest boy—the man I’ve nearly killed myself to find—is right in front of me, and he is naked.

  At my non-answer, his jaw turns to stone. “I asked you a question. Either answer it or get fucking moving.” I jolt at the rumble of his voice, but my feet do nothing to take me in any direction. I am rooted to the spot, utterly awed over the fact that I’ve actually managed something as impossible as finding Luca Weaver and all of my normal functions are rendered useless. He scowls, unimpressed with all the hard work I’ve put in—work that he obviously doesn’t know about. “You have five seconds before I come back out here with my shotgun.”

  “Uh…” I fumble, trying like hell to grasp the English language once again. I may be distracted, but on some level, I understand the importance of getting my shit together enough to at least prevent a shotgun from joining our little meet-and-greet.

  But my brain is bus-y. And slow.

  Because Luca Weaver looks damn good without any clothes.

  Eight years older since the last time he graced the covers of Hollywood gossip magazines, Luca is a man to whom time has been seriously kind. Either his genetics are just that good, or there’s some kind
of sexy voodoo in the Alaskan water.

  I mean…his penis is right in front of me, and I can’t find a single thing wrong with it. It’s straight and veiny and perfectly pink.

  “What’s the matter with you? You have a death wish or something?” he spits at the statue formerly known as my body. “This is private property.”

  His words are serious and firm, and it seems that maybe I do have a dream that’s reminiscent of the movie Fargo—fingers crossed there are no wood chippers nearby. Because for as much as I try, I can’t stop looking at my new phallic friend, even to form a few simple words.

  But, come on. Luca Weaver’s freaking dick is right there!

  It’s not hard, but still, it’s…big—so big it’s not even a dick.

  It’s a Richard. Sir Richard.

  King Richard, really.

  Shit, I’m in the presence of penis royalty, and I suddenly have the urge to curtsy.

  He is a lumberjack fantasy come to life. Instantly, my brain starts thinking about pine-scented flannel and chopping wood and giving a blow job… Wait…what?

  Stop being a moron and speak words!

  “Uh…so…you’re…naked.” Oh god, those aren’t the right words!

  He glances down, mutters something to himself, snags a towel from a few feet away, and wraps it around his waist. “I didn’t invite you here,” he says, his voice gritty with irritation—and maybe, a little with disuse. Which would make sense. It’s taken me an entire season of Running Wild with Bear Grylls to get here. I can’t imagine he’s having book clubs and dinner parties and gabbing with his pals on the regular.

  Towel adjusted and glorious goods hidden from view, he studies me with frigid blue eyes and a glare worthy of a scorned woman. I shiver.

  “I’m only going to ask you one more time. What in the hell are you doing here?”

  I fiddle with the edges of my shirt as I finally find my vocal cords. “I’m Billie…Billie Harris.”

  And I am in way over my head.

  Billie

  Three Days Earlier

  Give me coffee, and no one gets hurt. Give Charles Hawthorne coffee, and everyone gets their ass kissed.

  I suppose kissing of asses could be considered a good thing, but when it comes to Charles—my archnemesis at work—and his propensity to kiss the gluteal region of my boss, Serena, it could definitely be better.

  Speaking of, my phone lights up with a message from its spot in the cupholder, and I glance down to read the preview bubble as it populates.

  Charles: Serena, would you like me to bring you a coffee?

  Ugh. Both of us are vying for the same position—to be the right hand (wo)man to Serena Koontz, one of the biggest production company owners in all of Hollywood.

  And this is not some friendly competition turned rom-com where we fall hopelessly in love. This guy is a brownnosing, smug thorn in my side who sucks up to our boss so much his lips will eventually be permanently attached to her ass.

  Serena: No.

  She generally doesn’t even have the decency to include pleasantries when she shoots him down, but he never lets it discourage him. He’s tenacious. I’ll give him that.

  Charles: What about a croissant from that bakery you love so much? It’s on my way in.

  Serena: Have it here at ten. Morning meeting is pushed back.

  I shake my head at the new information I’ve just obtained from being a third wheel on their conversation. Considering their messages are inside our ongoing group chat, the eavesdropping is expected, but still. I wonder if anyone would have bothered to tell me about the change in meeting time if I weren’t spying on their messages like a voyeur?

  I tap my fingers on the steering wheel as “Wagon Wheel,” one of my daddy’s favorite songs, starts to blare from my stereo speakers, and I shift my mind away from workplace slights.

  There are a million and one memories to go with this song, and regardless of how I got the information, I just won an hour and a half of extra time.

  I roll down my window a crack and soak in all the glitz around me.

  Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive. There’s nothing like it. A well-dressed woman in a little white Porsche sits at a stoplight, and a black Ferrari is illegally parked in front of a Starbucks. The sun shines differently on fancy storefronts, and people walk around in outfits that cost more than my car—an almost comical contrast to the grassroots, country twang music filling my ears.

  But that disparity is one-hundred-percent me.

  Small town, country girl—who isn’t country at all—turned Hollywood.

  Well, trying to turn Hollywood.

  At the first available opening, I gas it up alongside my fancy vehicle counterparts and take a right turn onto Melrose. Alfred’s Coffee sits on the next corner, and despite Charles’s shenanigans with the fine brown liquid, coffee always beckons. And usually, it does it from Alfred’s. Only five minutes from work, the establishment on Melrose Avenue has become my favorite coffee spot in LA.

  It takes me a few minutes to find a spot to slip into, but when I finally do, my phone has vibrated in my cupholder another three times.

  Charles: Great! Can I get you anything else?

  Serena: Nope.

  Charles: Well, just let me know if that changes!

  I pick up the phone just as he’s sending one final message: a smiley face and thumbs-up emoji.

  Goodness gracious, if he keeps this up, Serena Koontz will be the first human being alive to give birth to a fully dressed man.

  I let out a deep exhale, type my own message, keeping it short and succinct with See you at 9:45, hit send, and head inside to Alfred’s.

  Maybe it’s to my detriment, but I refuse to play Charles’s ridiculous game. I don’t want Serena to ask me to be a permanent employee at her production company because I’m the best at fetching fucking coffee. I want her to want me on her team because she sees potential in me.

  Plus, if there’s one very important thing Charles doesn’t seem to understand, it’s that Serena doesn’t like to waste words. She started out as a successful screenwriter and producer in Hollywood and turned that golden talent into the successful company known as Koontz Productions.

  Basically, her work ethic makes Jeff Bezos look lazy.

  She’s an inspiration, and after working as a PA on her latest feature film, I’m hoping and praying she chooses to keep me under her knowledgeable wing.

  PA, or Production Assistant, jobs are generally temporary. When you work as a PA on a movie or a television series, once the project comes to an end, so does the work.

  It’s a rough cycle, to be honest, but it’s necessary. If I want to be a Hollywood producer, if I want to follow in someone like Serena’s footsteps, I need to work as many PA jobs as I can. The hands-on experience is quintessential to the career, and the amount you can learn under Serena is exponentially higher than almost everywhere else.

  Thankfully, a few weeks ago, after we wrapped up production on Red River—a dramatic movie that will release sometime next year—Serena sat Charles and me down and told us she wanted us to be a part of the next big project.

  It was seriously exciting news—kind of like finding a scratch-off on the ground worth thousands of dollars.

  And then…she dropped the nuclear bomb of reality checks.

  After this project, she’ll choose only one of us to mentor permanently. That person will get to move forward with her and her production company on future projects, and the other will be shit out of luck.

  To say the current state of my career is filled with a lot of unknowns would be a bit of an understatement, but big Hollywood dreams aren’t something that comes easily.

  It will take a lot of ups and downs. A lot of hard work and determination.

  Possibly killing Charles.

  You know, a lot of things.

  Coffee now in my sights, I push through the front door of Alfred’s, the aroma of coffee beans and vanilla slapping me right in the face.

  The plac
e is positively bursting at the seams with caffeine-addicted pod-people like me, making the place I take at the end of the long line seem miles away from the hustling baristas behind the sleek black counter.

  Utensils, cups, and plates clink, and the rhythm makes Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” start to play inside my head. If this were a coffee shop in a movie, this song would be playing on the soundtrack.

  Discreetly, I tap my right foot and bob my head a little to the music only I can hear and think of my momma.

  She always told me I would end up in Hollywood—that my strange mind was a gift. You see life like a movie, Billie, she’d tell me. One day, you’re gonna use that brain of yours to make movies of your own.

  But Momma was a bit of a dreamer when it came to this town. Being a budding actress herself who never quite made it out here to chase her dreams, she held out hope in a little section of her heart that my sister, Birdie, or I would be able to do it for her.

  “Next!” the barista at the counter yells, and my thoughts and the music in my head fade away when I realize she’s talking to me.

  Oh shoot.

  With an apologetic smile and an unnecessary glance at the menu above her head, I step up to the counter quickly.

  “Vanilla iced latte and a blueberry muffin, please,” I tell the pretty blue-eyed barista with wavy blond hair and insanely full lips. Her name tag reads Summer, and it’s oddly right. She looks like the beach on a bright, sunny day.

  “Anything else?” Surfer Girl asks, and I shake my head.

  “That’ll do it.”

  “Name for the order?”

  “Billie.”

  She grabs a cup and a Sharpie, writing B-u-d-d-y on the side.

  Buddy? Billie doesn’t sound like Buddy at all in the middle. Maybe all the high-tech espresso machines and their noise are getting to her hearing.