The Unreal Boyfriend by Miranda P Charles
Captured by Love Series
Release Date Nov. 30, 2017
How can Derek be with the woman he loves when he has to stay with the one he doesn’t?
Derek McCarthy won’t rest until he proves that his cunning uncle was responsible for his father’s death. But due to their frosty relationship, the only way he could get into his uncle’s properties to search for the evidence that could expose his well-respected uncle’s crimes is to keep pretending that he and the daughter of his uncle’s business partner are in love. But his feelings for his friend Bernadette Luna keep getting stronger, so when an arrangement with his girlfriend-in-name-only enables him to date Bernadette, he grabs it with both hands. Unfortunately, he is soon faced with a heart-breaking choice: risk his uncle discovering his ruse and destroying the evidence, or risk losing Bernadette forever.
Should Bernadette follow her heart or listen to her head?
Bernadette Luna has been secretly in love with Derek McCarthy for ages. When Derek finally shows his attraction to her, she is ecstatic. He is truly the man of her dreams. But when she discovers that Derek might be keeping secrets from her, she has to make a decision: follow her heart or listen to her head. Problem is, her heart has misled her many times before, especially when it comes to Derek.
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Exclusive Excerpt
Derek stared at Bernadette, his mind still in a jumble. He couldn’t believe the outrageous plan Holly had dropped in his lap. How could he ask Bernadette to help cover up his supposed relationship with Holly to throw off a paparazzo? This was a totally different ball game than earlier in the day with the caterers.
He had no idea how to start explaining. He was too embarrassed even to tell Bernadette what Holly had done.
“Lexie overhead what Holly said to the pap outside,” Bernadette said.
His gaze flicked to Lexie, then back to Bernadette. So Bernadette already knew? Why was she smiling, then?
Tension left his body at Bernadette’s countenance. She wasn’t mad, thank God.
“Holly obviously thought I’d be okay with it again,” Bernadette said.
He smiled apologetically. “Sorry, Bern. Holly said it was the first thing that popped into her mind. She did ask me to apologise to you in the text she sent me, and said she hoped you wouldn’t get angry. But, you know what? We don’t need to do it. This involves sections of the media who are not easy to handle. It’s not fair on you.”
“So what are we gonna say if the guy approaches us for confirmation of our… relationship?”
He shrugged. He hadn’t thought that far yet.
Bernadette copied his shoulder gesture. “I’m happy to help.”
He blinked at her. “Really?”
“Could you imagine what would happen if that pap decides to sell the photos?”
“Well,” he said with a heavy sigh, “I suppose gossip rags will check me out and dig some facts about me.”
“Yup,” Bernadette said dryly. “They’ll probably follow you around in the hopes of seeing Holly with you. What if they track you down when you’re showing a mansion for sale to a star much bigger than Holly Stirling?”
Derek pressed his lips together. That was a big reason why he and Holly hadn’t gone public with their supposed relationship. His biggest businesses came from recommendations from his high-profile clientele, who loved that they were able to inspect various properties with him without the media sniffing out anything. Paparazzi following him around would totally kill the reputation he’d painstakingly built, and worse, they might discover even more things he definitely didn’t want known. Still… “I can’t ask this of you, Bernie.”
Bernadette pursed her lips. “If the paps believe I’m your girlfriend, will they still be interested in you?”
“Of course not. As long as they don’t find out who some of my clients are.”
“Precisely. And I doubt we’d have to pretend for too long. We’d only need to validate Holly’s words with some acting here and there.”
His heart thudded harder. What would pretending to be Bernadette’s boyfriend entail? Hold hands with her in public? Hug her? Maybe even give her kisses on the lips?
He couldn’t help his smile even though the last thing he needed was to have a photo of him being sweet with Bernadette plastered all over the news. The repercussions of that would be much worse. His Uncle Ross was bound to see something like that.
About the Author:
Miranda P. Charles is the author of more than eighteen steamy and stirring contemporary romance novels.
She prefers to spend her time in front of her laptop, putting into words the love stories that play in her head. Don’t get her started with reading a great book, though, because she has the tendency to not put it down until she gets to the last page.
She does have a life outside of books. Mostly, that consists of bonding with family and friends or going on romantic trips with her awesome husband (who, thankfully, puts up with her hermit-like daily routine). Oh, yeah, there’s also the housework. But she really wishes someone else could do that for her so she could get back to her books!
She lives in the beautiful city of Sydney, Australia.
Miranda would love to connect with you!
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