Page 2 of The Grumpy Actor

That voice doesn’t belong to Lily because her mouth doesn’t move, and she clearly doesn’t possess a deep baritone.

There’s a familiar edge to the voice I don’t want to acknowledge. The heat emanating from the intimidating figure behind me explains the shocked look on Lily’s face.

My breath hitches in my throat as I turn around and I’m forced to stare up into a deep blue gaze. I fight back a gasp.

I’d recognize those eyes anywhere. The hoodie, hat, and face mask he has on don’t exactly give him the anonymity he must be seeking.

After seven years, Liam Ryder is standing in front of me, and he looks every bit as shocked as I feel.

“Oh my God! It’s Liam!” Lily squeals behind me. “She doesn’t mean it. Sophie isn’t exactly crazy about movies.”

Liam doesn’t pay attention to Lily’s words. His eyes are fixed on me, shining with deep-seated shock and curiosity.

My hand subconsciously slides through my brown curls, and I wish for the first time in a long time that they were even a little bit manageable.

But I’m so not trying to look good for Liam right now. I’d just prefer not to look like a country bumpkin for our first meeting after seven years, especially when he looks like a Greek god and the last time he saw me, I looked my worst—heartbroken, red-faced, puffy-eyed, and pleading with him to give me a reason why we needed to end things.

I cringe, hating how vulnerable I’d been back then and how I can still vividly remember that day when I swore I was over Liam and everything to do with him.

Even though all I can see is his eyes right now, I know Liam has only grown more handsome over the years.

My insides riot as I stare into his eyes. Just like back then, when I was a naïve college freshman, I find myself lost in those deep blue eyes…eyes that are suddenly devoid of the earlier shock I saw in them.

Tension curls through my body as my throat runs dry.

What do I do? What do I say to him?

The silence between us as we stare at each other gets awkward, and I can feel Lily hyperventilating behind me.

“Uhm, what’s going on here?” Lily asks breathily. “Do you guys know each other?”

Oh, Lily, you don’t want to know.

Liam wrenches his eyes off me for the first time and turns to Lily. “No, we don’t.”

I almost gasp as those words slip out of his mouth.

“I’m just surprised to hear such a passionate criticism of my work from a stranger,” Liam says flatly. “Let’s just say I’m used to people praising me. So don’t blame me for trying to figure out what kind of creature she is.”

Creature? I scoff. Great, I’m acreatureto him.

Lily chuckles, slipping her hand around my waist. “Oh, believe me, I sometimes wonder if my best friend is from a different planet. I’m a really big fan, Liam.”

“Great to know. Got to go.”

Liam breezes past us without waiting for a response. All I can do is stand there in shock as I try to process what just happened.

When I woke up this morning, I thought it would be another normal, boring day in Surfside Haven. But now everything has changed. My ex-boyfriend, who’s a freaking celebrity actor, is in town for the foreseeable future, and he just pretended not to know me.

I can’t imagine anything worse than this happening to me.

My pretty normal world is getting ripped apart all over again by Liam Ryder.

“Okay, what was that?”

“What was what?” I reply to Lily absentmindedly.

She steps in front of me, a mischievous smirk on her face. “Don’t feign ignorance. There was some kind of tension between you and Liam. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you guys had some kind of relationship. But then, where would you have met a celebrity?”

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