Read Online Not a Fairy Tale: HarperImpulse Contemporary Romance by Romy Sommer - Free Book Online

you don’t have to live with the pain. A hip replacement is nothing to be ashamed of, and you’ll still have a full range of movement afterwards. Without pain.”
    “Will you please keep your voice down?” He glanced past Juliet to the closed door of the guest bedroom. “Have you ever heard of a stunt man with a hip replacement? It’ll take months before I’m back to normal. Months of sitting around, unable to work. And if word gets out that I’m no longer fit, no one will hire me.”
    “You always knew this job was going to have a limited lifespan. What did you think you were going to do when you got older?”
    He hadn’t. He’d lived every day as it came and not spared a thought for the future. “I’m still young,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of good years ahead of me. When I can’t cope anymore,
then
I’ll reconsider the surgery.”
    “Please don’t wait too long. The better shape you’re in when you have the surgery, the quicker you’ll recover.”
    He rolled his eyes. “Is the lecture over yet, Sis?”
    She sighed. “I don’t want to see you any more damaged than you are already.”
    They’d been having this same argument for more years than he could remember. “I know you want what’s best for me, but I’m not a kid anymore. You need to butt out and let me make my own decisions. And you can tell the others that, too.”
    “So your decision is to turn yourself into a glorified fitness trainer for a few weeks? Why? Forget training her. Just get her out your system and move on, the way you usually do.”
    He shook his head. “It’s not like that. She’s not like that.”
    Juliet shrugged. “If this is really only about training her, then you need to be realistic, Dom. She might have passed the cream test, but she’s still a spoiled celebrity. She’s never going to see this through. As soon as the going gets tough, she’ll be gone. Is she worth damaging your body further?”
    “How about I let you know?” He loaded fresh strawberries, yogurt, and a generous handful of granola into the blender and switched it on, its roar drowning out any chance of further conversation. Finally taking the hint, Jules closed her magazine and hopped down from her stool. “I’ll see you on the flip side.”
    The kitchen door had barely closed behind her when Nina emerged from the guest bedroom. Not a coincidence, he was sure.
    The sweatpants were gone, replaced by tailored trousers and a white frilly blouse that dipped dangerously low between her breasts. He swallowed and forced his gaze higher. She’d done her hair and make-up too. She was back to being Nina the Movie Star again, not the vulnerable woman he’d walked on the beach in the dark with last night.
    She slung her bag over her shoulder. “Thank you for helping me out last night. I really appreciate it.”
    At least she hadn’t forgotten to thank him.
    She shifted awkwardly, as if there was something more she wanted to say, and cleared her throat. “About what I asked you last night…I don’t want you to feel pressurized. You can say no.”
    Had she overheard his conversation with Jules? He was man enough that he didn’t want a beautiful woman to see him as weak or feel pity for him. He kept his expression neutral and nodded.
    “But will you consider it? If you change your mind, here’s my private number.” She held out a piece of paper with a phone number scrawled on it and he took it silently.
    “Goodbye then,” she said and headed for the door.
    “Meet me at 25 Degrees at 12 tomorrow.”
    She paused mid-stride.
    “It’s a day later than we intended, but it’s as good a place to start as any. No promises yet. I need to see what you’re capable of before I agree to anything,” he said.
    The smile she threw him was almost enough to knock him off his feet. A man could definitely get used to being looked at like that.
    “And wear comfortable clothes; clothes you don’t mind getting dirty in.”
    Then she was gone, leaving