Free Taming Hollywood’s Ultimate Playboy by Amalie Berlin

resolution. His parents were dead and gone, so there couldn’t be any peace from that corner, but David and Lucy had been the only real parental figures in his life.
    And Grace...he could make things right with her. He could make their tentative friendship a real friendship again. Talk it out. Maybe it was time to talk it out now that she’d grown comfortable enough to yell at him. That had to be some kind of sign.
    He just had to think about what to say, make sure that he planned it out and didn’t do anything to make things worse between them.
    Tomorrow. He’d think about it tomorrow. Tonight he’d eat, do whatever she told him to do, and tomorrow, when some of the pain had abated...

CHAPTER FIVE
    â€œW HAT   TIME   ARE we taking off?” Liam asked, leaning back in his seat with the foot rest raised.
    The private jet loaned to him by the studio had all the bells and whistles, and none of the executives—both of which he was thankful for. The circle of people in the know was already large enough between his crew, Grace, and Tom—who’d been sworn to secrecy about the ankle situation and seemed happy to go along with the ruse.
    â€œWe’re supposed to take off in fifteen minutes.” Miles’s voice came from the seats behind where he and Grace sat.
    Grace had the ice back on his foot, and she’d managed to get another couple of diuretics from James. Liam looked up at her. “Shouldn’t I take one of those swelling pills again?”
    â€œNot when you’re flying,” she said, settling into the seat beside him.
    Despite the understanding they’d reached last night, she still didn’t look happy with him or being there.
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œBeing dehydrated on a flight increases the chances of a blood clot forming. Really, you should be drinking more water right now, especially since your mobility is lessened—you can’t get up and walk around much, and you can’t put weight on that ankle to flex the muscles well enough to—”
    â€œBut I’m not dehydrated right now. I’m just overly hydrated at the ankle. And our window between when we arrive and when we have to get ready is small.”
    â€œI know. We’re doing the best we can.”
    â€œI’ll risk it.”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œGrace, it took three hours last time to get the swelling to go down.”
    â€œI know, but we’ll just have to try and make it work. Maybe keeping your leg elevated on the flight will help it.”
    â€œIt’s not that elevated.”
    â€œYou can lie on the floor after takeoff and put it on the seat again if you want to.”
    â€œIt takes an hour to kick in. You want me to compromise on things? You have to compromise too, Grace.”
    Shouldn’t she be happier with him now? She knew this wasn’t just about ego.
    â€œI will, when it’s not life-threatening levels of dangerous.” Her mouth said yes, but the shake of her head made him doubt she meant it. “Just relax for now. You have a long flight, and I know you didn’t sleep well last night. Maybe you can sleep now that the worst of the pain has passed.”
    â€œI doubt it.”
    â€œWell, I have a way to pass the time if you’re all done fighting,” Tom, the middle-aged stylist, snapped at Grace, and pointed to the front of the plane. “I need a few pictures of you.”
    Grace made a face. “Liam sent you a picture yesterday and I’m here in person today. Have you deleted the picture already?”
    â€œNo, but that was one angle, and it was from behind. I was flying blind on what your chest was like until I met you last night.”
    â€œAnd now you’ve seen it.”
    â€œHe saw your chest?” Liam asked, frowning dramatically, wanting to cajole her out of her glowering a little. “That hardly seems fair. I’m the one footing this shopping expedition.”
    â€œHe