Italian Escape with Her Fake Fiancé Read online

  Their made-for-the-media match...

  ...is about to turn real!

  Musician Daisy Mulligan thought the Italian cottage she was anonymously gifted would be the perfect place to hide from the limelight and focus on her music with rock star Jay Barwell. Until their peaceful retreat is hijacked by a media storm claiming their working relationship has been sealed with a diamond ring! With the headlines spiraling, both realize the chemistry they’ve been fighting is anything but fake!

  A Fairytale Summer!

  Can the magic of friendship lead to love?

  Once upon a time...

  Jessica, Daisy and Aubrey left a Copenhagen music festival as lifelong friends after coming to the rescue of an adorable dog and his eternally grateful owner. What they didn’t realize is that they’d also left the festival with...

  ...a fairy godmother

  CEO Vivian Ascot has watched over the three women ever since their extraordinary act of kindness. And it saddens her to see how they’ve gradually lost sight of their dreams over the years. So, this summer she anonymously bequeaths each of the girls a special gift to nudge them toward...

  ...happy-ever-after

  They just need to find the courage to believe that each of Viv’s gifts could bring them a lifetime of happiness—and to embrace fun and romance along the way!

  Discover Jessica’s story in Cinderella’s New York Fling by Cara Colter

  Read Daisy’s story in Italian Escape with Her Fake Fiancé by Sophie Pembroke

  Both available now!

  And look out for Aubrey’s story in Dream Vacation, Surprise Baby by Ally Blake

  Coming next month!

  Dear Reader,

  Writing can be a lonely occupation—you spend a lot of time sitting alone in a room dreaming up possibilities. That’s why I love it so much when I get to work with other writers to create new worlds and characters and romances together!

  Working with Ally and Cara on the A Fairytale Summer! series has been a delight from start to finish. I’m so thrilled that you get to enjoy the adventures of our girls—Jessica, Daisy and Aubrey—as their lives are changed by a self-styled, real-world fairy godmother who thinks she knows exactly what they each need to be happy. But even a fairy godmother can’t predict the path of true love!

  With lots of love and a sprinkling of summer magic,

  Sophie x

  Italian Escape with Her Fake Fiancé

  Sophie Pembroke

  Sophie Pembroke has been dreaming, reading and writing romance ever since she read her first Harlequin as part of her English literature degree at Lancaster University, so getting to write romantic fiction for a living really is a dream come true! Born in Abu Dhabi, Sophie grew up in Wales and now lives in a little Hertfordshire market town with her scientist husband, her incredibly imaginative and creative daughter and her adventurous, adorable little boy. In Sophie’s world, happy is forever after, everything stops for tea and there’s always time for one more page...

  Books by Sophie Pembroke

  Harlequin Romance

  The Cattaneos’ Christmas Miracles

  CEO’s Marriage Miracle

  Wedding Island

  Island Fling to Forever

  Wedding of the Year

  Slow Dance with the Best Man

  Proposal for the Wedding Planner

  Newborn Under the Christmas Tree

  Road Trip with the Best Man

  Carrying Her Millionaire’s Baby

  Pregnant on the Earl’s Doorstep

  Snowbound with the Heir

  Second Chance for the Single Mom

  Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.

  For my partners in summer fairytale fiction, Ally Blake and Cara Colter

  Praise for

  Sophie Pembroke

  “Carrying Her Millionaire’s Baby by Sophie Pembroke is witty, sexy and wholly satisfying. The fast-paced plot unfolds beautifully and I was engrossed...! Highly recommended.”

  —Goodreads

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Hired by the Unexpected Billionaire by Susan Meier

  PROLOGUE

  TALENT IS A funny old thing.

  Some people have a talent for business, others a talent for mimicking accents or a talent for baking. Some have a talent for music—for creating it, playing it, sharing it with the world.

  Like Daisy Mulligan.

  I’m a music lover myself and, as head of the Ascot family fortune, have been able to indulge that love through events such as the Annual Ascot Music Festival and the new Ascot Music Awards. No one queries an old lady like myself meddling in modern music—they just assume I’m in it for financial reasons. Which is partially true, I suppose.

  But money is something I’ve never been short of, and since I took over the family business I’ve only made more of it. And that financial security is something that gives me the ability to make the most of my talent.

  I’ve never met another person with the same talent as me. I don’t even know if one exists. It’s certainly not something one talks about at the dinner table. Whenever I raised it with my mother I was told to be quiet, to stop being fanciful.

  But at seventy-six, after almost a lifetime of study, I can confirm that my talent is, indeed, very real.

  I know what people need.

  Not what they want—which is a very different thing, and something they’re far more likely to tell you up front, in my experience—but what they need.

  And there’s no way for me to shut that knowledge off.

  As you can imagine, crowded places and large gatherings can be rather wearing, full of people subconsciously blasting me with their deepest needs. But this planet is full of people, so I’ve had to learn to cope with it.

  And sometimes it gives me an opportunity to do something with my talent, too.

  My talent and Daisy’s talent collided at the Annual Ascot Music Festival in Copenhagen two years ago, when my beloved dog Max escaped. I twisted my ankle, and three lovely young ladies came to my rescue: Jessica, a Canadian, sat with me and fetched tea, while Daisy and Aubrey—British and Australian respectively—chased down Max and brought him home. Then the three girls took me to hospital and generally took care of me, making me laugh and keeping me entertained so that what could have been a terrible day turned into one of the best I’d enjoyed in a long time.

  Three strangers, with far more important places to be and things to do, took time out from enjoying the festival to look after Max and me.

  And I wanted to return the favour.

  I kept track of them via social media, to be certain that my first read of their respective needs stayed constant. Then, when the time was right, I acted.

  Jessica was first—a job offer in New York that, unplanned by myself, also led to romance.

  Aubrey, poor dove, fell sick after we met, but now she’s well again I know just what she needs too. Adventures are on the way for her!

  But Daisy...

  Daisy took a little more time to be sure. Since we met at the festival in Copenhagen her star
has only risen. She’s becoming a big name in her own right, touring the world and delighting fans with her music.

  But that first feeling I had—the first need I sensed—has stayed constant.

  She needs a home—something I suspect she hasn’t had for a very long time. One that is entirely her own: her sanctuary, her refuge.

  So I’ve given her the old house in Italy. I suspect it’ll need some work, but that’s intentional. After all, how much value do we place on things we don’t have to work for? Making that house a home will be her responsibility and, knowing Daisy, she’ll appreciate it far more believing that she’s earned it. In fact, if I gave her, say, a pristine villa in Spain, she’d probably run a mile.

  This house will take love and effort and care.

  But I know that it will repay her.

  A home, after all, is one of the greatest treasures we possess. Well, a home and someone to share it with, perhaps. But love is firmly outside my remit and my experience.

  I have my doggie companions, and they are home enough for me.

  But I confess I’m intrigued to see what Daisy will make of her new home...

  CHAPTER ONE

  JAY BARWELL LOOKED out into the stadium, squinting against the lights to try and make out even the front row of the audience. He was losing them. He could tell that much, even if he couldn’t see them.

  All those adoring fans who’d trailed around after him whenever he was out in LA or London or Dallas with Milli. Those loyal followers who’d been listening to Dept 135’s music practically since he and his brother Harry formed the band. The casual listeners who heard them on the radio and found themselves humming along, who’d come to a gig to see if they were as good live.

  He was losing all of them.

  The band could feel it too, he knew. Harry’s guitar riffs sounded tense, somehow, and Nico’s beat on the drums wasn’t as crisp as it should be. Even Benji’s bass guitar was just off, somehow. And Jay knew it was all his fault. He was off his game, had been ever since Milli walked out on him.

  He needed to pull it together. He needed to put on a show—one worthy of the ticket price these people had paid to see them play.

  Jay just wished he knew how.

  He was too far inside his own head, that was the problem. Too caught up in his own failings to be good at anything. Maybe Harry had been right, maybe going out on such a long tour so soon after the break-up was a bad idea. But Jay had been sure it was what he needed—a distraction from the rest of his life falling apart. From the discovery that all the things he’d thought he had were fake all along.

  The song wound to a close, going out with a whimper rather than a bang. There was applause, of course, but it felt more polite than genuine.

  Jay turned to the side of the stage and saw Daisy Mulligan, their support act, watching with a frown, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. She was young, new on the circuit, technically still star struck by them all—and yet even she could obviously tell something was off tonight.

  If it had been one bad gig, Jay might have written it off—every band had an off night now and then, right? But this whole tour seemed to be one bad gig after another, and he just didn’t know how to fix it.

  At least the next item on the set list was a duet. He and the guys had met Daisy at a festival in Copenhagen a couple of years before, where she’d ended up onstage with them singing one of their bigger hits, ‘With You’, adding harmonies and a whole new level of meaning to the simple love song. When she’d agreed to come on tour with them as their support act, Jay had suggested they add the duet into the set list. Which was just as well, since night after night it seemed to be the only song that got a genuine response from the crowd.

  Picking up her trademark mandolin, Daisy crossed the stage to join him.

  ‘You okay?’ she murmured as they took their positions, her words masked by the cheers from the auditorium. They’d already heard Daisy play once tonight and, unlike Dept 135, Jay had to admit that the young singer-songwriter was having a stellar tour. At least the label would be pleased about that much, he supposed. As long as she could continue to keep her notorious firecracker temper in check.

  ‘Fine.’ He shook his head. ‘Let’s do this.’

  The difference was obvious the moment the music started. With Daisy onstage beside him, he could focus on her rather than the crowd. He felt the chords vibrate through him, the high counterpoint Daisy played on her mandolin cutting through their more usual riffs.

  She caught his eye as they both took a breath, ready for the first words, and for the first time since they’d last sung together the night before, Jay felt centred. Ready. As if he was where he needed to be.

  These days, he seemed to be living for these few minutes when he managed to lose himself in the music again, in a way that had been eluding him ever since Milli left. Since he’d realised that what he’d thought was true love was actually all just another performance.

  The crowd could obviously feel it too; a hush fell over them as Jay and Daisy sang, the harmonies rising and soaring above their heads. Jay felt the tension start to leave his shoulders. Hopefully they could finish this gig on a high, if he could keep this energy going into their finale number, next.

  Maybe he wasn’t completely washed up at thirty.

  He’d leaned in closer as they sang, he realised, and so had Daisy. There was so much emotion in the words, in the music, that it felt natural. They were singing a love song, after all.

  She smiled up at him, her eyes dancing, and he realised—not exactly for the first time—that she was gorgeous. Big green eyes under dark hair, her petite form meaning she barely came up to his shoulder.

  Perhaps it was that revelation, or perhaps just the relief that the crowd were back on side, that this song at least sounded good. Whatever the reason, as the last notes faded away Jay wrapped an arm around Daisy’s waist and held her close, while the crowd cheered in a way they hadn’t since he’d stepped onto the stage.

  He leant closer, meaning to murmur his thanks to her. But then he got caught in those eyes, in the cheers, in the atmosphere. And before he even knew what he was doing, Jay pressed his mouth to Daisy’s—the brief kiss sending the audience into ecstatic cheers, and his body into the sort of reaction he hadn’t felt in months.

  It was only as he pulled away and watched the dazed look fade from Daisy’s eyes, instantly replaced with a more familiar flashing anger, that he realised how much trouble he was going to be in when he got offstage.

  * * *

  The sound of the crowd still rang in Daisy’s ears as she stepped off the stage two nights later—and into her own personal hell.

  ‘Daisy! That was a great gig. You must be so pleased. Do you think you and Jay will celebrate together later? Will you join him back onstage for an encore? Off the record, can you confirm anything about your relationship?’

  No. Because there is no relationship.

  She could tell the damn reporter that, but Daisy knew from experience she wouldn’t believe her. And why would she, after that bloody kiss Jay had planted on her after their duet in Philadelphia, two days ago?

  He’d apologised afterwards, of course, muttering something about trying to put on a show for the crowd—and Kevin, their manager, had been thrilled. Photos of the kiss had been all over the Internet in a matter of hours, and sales for the remaining nights of their tour had seen a sudden surge with all the speculation about their supposed relationship.

  The truth, it seemed, didn’t matter so much in situations like this. Another thing to learn about being an almost celebrity.

  Daisy knew it was all just an act. But knowing that didn’t stop the buzz of connection that had hummed through her like a melody when Jay had kissed her...

  The reporter was still waiting for an answer. Daisy yanked her thoughts back to reality and belatedly found some words for her. />
  ‘Yeah, it went well. Great crowd out there tonight.’

  That much, at least, was true. Unlike all the rumours about her and Jay.

  There were more questions—there were always more questions, and too many reporters asking them. Daisy had never imagined anybody being quite so interested in her life offstage. Hell, she’d never imagined them being that interested in her music onstage. But ever since that festival in Copenhagen, life had generally been beyond her wildest expectations and dreams.

  Copenhagen had given her more than her career though. It’d given her friends too. Not just Jay, and the rest of his band—Dept 135—but also it was where she had met her two best friends in the world. Two women she’d spent mere hours with in person, on that one day at the festival when they’d helped an old lady, Viv, and her dog, and ended up hanging out the rest of the night.

  They might not have seen each other since that day in Denmark, but they’d stayed in touch. In fact, Jessica and Aubrey had been a lifeline for Daisy in the months that followed, as her whole world turned upside down when fame came calling.

  They’d had their own issues too. Aubrey had been seriously ill, although finally seemed on the mend, and ready to take on life on her own terms again. Jessica, meanwhile, had just been offered an exciting job opportunity in New York.

  While Daisy had everything she’d ever dreamt of. She was performing nightly on a world tour, singing her own songs, playing her own instruments, supporting one of the biggest bands in the world. And if you believed the media, she was also involved in a wild romance with Jay Barwell, voted world’s sexiest man three years running.

  Of course, that part was total fiction, one that had been doing the rounds even before the infamous kiss. Daisy happened to know that Jay was still totally hung up on his ex-girlfriend—American popstress Milli Masters. She suspected that was the real reason he’d kissed her—to show Milli he was over her, even if he wasn’t. Daisy could understand that, and could live with the rumours to a point—after all, she owed Jay a lot.