Power (The Keatyn Chronicles Book 9) by Jillian Dodd

and start a family. We've both put our lives on hold for these movies. Me more so than you.”
    “Are you thinking of settling down with Jennifer?”  
    “Uh, no. Maybe I could meet a cute little wine wench?”
    “I don’t even know what that is.”
    “Me either. I’ve never dated a normal girl.”
    “You have dated your fair share of crazies.”
    He swats me on the shoulder. “I meant normal as in not in the industry, not that they were crazy. I’m talking no models. No actresses. And definitely no makeup artists from the movie set. I will never date one of those again. What a flipping disaster that was. Part of me can’t wait for this movie to be over, just so I won’t have to look at her lying, cheating face every time I need powdered.” He gives me a smirk. “You know what, you might be right. She was crazy. I mean, who in their fucking right mind would cheat on Knox “The Sexiest Man Alive” Daniels?”
    “No one, Knox.” I laugh. “No one. You know what? There are some normal people coming to the wedding. Quite a few of the women do work in the wine industry, although I would avoid the term wine wench .”
    “I’m supposed to go to the wedding with Jennifer.”
    “Have you had the talk yet?”
    “No. I was going to last night, but after the Parker Hudson interview, she was so damn happy I couldn’t. Speaking of that, did you and Vanessa have anything to do with his sudden change of heart?”
    I pull up a photo and show him my phone.  
    “Holy shit,” he says, as he turns the phone sideways and starts blowing it up. “Shouldn’t have done that.” He laughs and covers his eyes. “Where did you get this?”
    “I have good friends.”
    “Sander?”
    “He is one such good friend.”
    “I can’t believe you used to date him.”
    “Are you kidding me? He was the perfect boyfriend; he loved to shop, knew designer labels better than I did, and never, ever looked at other women.”
    “Fuck. You probably did love that. So it all makes sense now.” He kisses my cheek and looks at the photo again. “I’m sure glad we’re on the same side, sugar.”

Dawson’s beach house - Malibu
    DAWSON

    I twirl Harlow around on the beach then drop her into the sand as Ava skips through the water.
    “What would you think about going over to the Santa Monica pier tonight? They have a Ferris wheel and music and lots of fun places to have dinner.”
    “Is Vanessa coming with us?” Harlow asks as we walk back toward the house.
    “No. I thought you’d want to be alone with Daddy. Just the three of us.”
    “We think it would be more fun if she came with us,” Ava agrees. The girls stand next to each other, arm in arm, smiling up at me.  
    “Well, since it’s a rarity that you both agree on something, I guess I should give her a call.” As I grab my phone off the stairs, I catch them high-fiving each other behind my back.
    “What was that all about?” I ask, crossing my arms in front of me and giving them my sternest look.
    “Um, nothing,” Ava says, unconvincingly.
    “Girls, don’t lie to me.”
    “Uncle Cam promised us money if we could get you to spend time with her,” Harlow admits.
    “How much?”
    “Twenty dollars,” Ava says softly.
    “Each!” Harlow exclaims, only to be punched in the arm by her sister.
    “You can never keep a secret,” Ava says to her.
    “Tell you what,” I say, stepping between them. “I’ll give you each twenty dollars right now if you’ll sit down and talk to me honestly about Vanessa. Do you really want her to come with us?”
    Ava grabs my hand and pulls me down on the step next to her. “It’s okay with us if you have a girlfriend.”
    “Yeah, you’re not getting any younger, Daddy,” Harlow says, plopping down on my lap.
    “And she’s really pretty,” Ava adds.
    “And nice,” Harlow says. “She rubbed my face while that silly Knox told us a bedtime story. And Grandma says you are getting old. And someday we will go off to college and you