Finding Chris Evans: The Royal Edition (11 page)
Read Finding Chris Evans: The Royal Edition Online
Authors: Jennifer Chance
Prologue
“I think we should bum rush the stage,” Ellie Mittelstadt said, flicking her blonde hair over her shoulder.
Harper Harrison eyed her best friend with skepticism. Then she checked out the stage with substantial doubt. It was a big area, a lot of speakers and equipment. Surrounded by six security guards. But apparently Ellie had cojones the size of their native Minnesota because she looked ready to cut through the crowd like Kylo Ren’s light saber through Han Solo.
“I’m not okay with this,” Harper protested. “We couldn’t even get backstage passes. We sure in the hell can’t just stroll up on the stage of Three Dog River and molest one of the band members.”
Though she wouldn’t object to a
little
molesting if she could get it. Chris Evans, aka Stryker, the tattooed lead singer, was hot with a capital H. “Besides, speaking of bums, mine is bigger than the average ass, so there is no way I can haul it, or really any of me, up there.” Harper was yelling because the music was blaring from the stage ten feet away and the crowd all around them was singing along to the hit song being performed.
“But he might be my destiny,” Ellie insisted. “I’m getting impatient. I can’t just stand here and wait for fate to happen.”
Harper kind of thought that was the point of fate- it happened. You know, like when it was supposed to. But she sympathized with Ellie’s frustration. Her best friend been pursuing men named Chris Evans all over northern Minnesota ever since a fortuneteller had told her she would marry a man with that name. It seemed like it could happen, because why not? But a rock star? Come on. Rock stars were gifts from the gods for supermodels. Not meant for social workers like Ellie. Or data analyst nerds like herself.
“Just throw your number up on stage. Hell, throw your phone up there and maybe he’ll call you,” she said, stumbling a little in her super cute wedges when the guy behind her bumped into her.
“Sorry,” the guy said, grabbing hold of her arm to steady her. He was a big bear of a man, tall and bearded, and she envied his flannel shirt. Flannel was warm and soft.
Why she had thought it made sense to wear nothing but a thin sweater with a plunging neckline to an outdoor concert in fall was beyond her. The weather had taken a serious plunge into fall. She was usually more sensible and prepared. Actually, that was a total lie. She was never sensible, as her mother had frequently complained. Common sense wasn’t really her thing. Her forte. Her jam. None of it.
But unlike her BFF she was not impulsive.
“No problem,” she replied to the guy, wishing she could curl inside his shirt, just for a minute. Fantasizing about bonfires and wool sweaters, she turned back to Ellie. Only Ellie was gone. “Oh, damn.”
Scanning left and right, she didn’t see her. When she finally spotted Ellie, her heart sank. Her best friend was in front of the stage talking to a bouncer, looking like she was haggling in the market for half-price fish. He was shaking his head no.
Fast walking, because she wasn’t running if a serial killer wasn’t chasing her, Harper glanced up at the stage. Stryker really was a sexy man, with a whiskey smooth voice, muscular arms, and jeans that were tight in all the right places. She was thinking the man must have made a pact with the devil because not only was he rich and famous that was no small bulge in his tight pants. Without warning his gaze landed on her and he winked.
He freaking winked.
Being graceful wasn’t her strong suit either and when she glanced behind her to see who he was really looking at- because there was no way it was her- she tripped in her wedges. She bounced off a skinny guy to her left, who gave her a mighty heave-ho, and then she crashed into the security guard. That might have been the end of it, except she tried to brace her fall with the barrier railing, and the whole thing pulled down. Onto the guard. Who fell on her.
Much like her butt, he wasn’t small.
So when he came down like a dairy cow tipped and landed on her arm, she heard and felt the crack of her bone at the same time. Having extra pounds, a little cushion for the pushin’ as her ex had lovingly teased, failed to do its job. She let out a cry before she could even fully process what had happened.
That hurt.
She tried to roll out from under the bouncer but he wasn’t moving.
The smell of beer and sweat wafted over her and she saw Ellie’s horrified face hovering over the back of the groaning guard. He was trying to stand up by pushing off her stomach. The sexy singer Stryker hit a particularly sexy note and she would have laughed at the absurdity of it all if she weren’t in so much pain. Not only was her arm screaming, the meaty hands pressing into her gut did not feel particularly fabulous.
A second security guard hauled the first guy off of her, much to her eternal gratitude.
“I think,” she told Ellie breathlessly through the pain, “that this would be considered an epic fail.”
Two hours later she was getting her broken arm set by a chatty doctor when Chris Evans, aka Stryker, a bona fide freaking rockstar, strolled into her cubicle in the emergency room.
It was a good thing there was medical staff within reach because Harper just about went into cardiac arrest.
A Note From Jennifer
Writing this novella series was so much fun, and I remain deeply grateful to the other authors who’ve made this journey unforgettable: Erin McCarthy, Jennifer Bernard, Erin Nicholas, Elizabeth Bemis and Lizzie Shane. Each of their stories features a Chris Evans worth falling in love with, and I hope you enjoy them all!
For additional adventures in the country of Garronia, where you can discover more about Kristos and Ari, Dimitri and of course Queen Catherine, check out my modern royals series Gowns & Crowns, starting with
Courted
.
About Jennifer Chance
Jennifer Chance is the award-winning author of the contemporary romance Rule Breakers and Gowns & Crowns series. A lover of books, romance, and happily-ever-afters, she lives and writes in Ohio. She’s also urban fantasy author Jenn Stark, whose Immortal Vegas series is now available; and YA author Jennifer McGowan, whose Elizabethan spy series Maids of Honor is also available. She really, truly, loves to write.
When she’s not at work on her newest book, you can find her online at
http://www.jenniferchance.com/
, on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/authorJenniferChance
and on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/Jenn_Chance
.
Finding Chris Evans Miniseries
The 9-1-1 Edition
by Erin Nicholas
Chris Evans, aka Captain America to his co-workers, knows what he wants: to lead the best EMT crew around, save lives…and have everything done his way. He’s learned firsthand what can happen when he’s not hyper vigilant, so running the show has become his superpower.
If only he could manage Brittney McNemara as well as he handles everything else. She’s the best EMT he knows-and the most exasperating woman on the planet. Where Chris is serious, Britt is scattered. Where Chris is cautious, Britt is carefree. Where Chris is by-the-book, Britt is rebellious. Despite their intense attraction, they’d never work as a couple.
Or could they?
When Britt gets hurt on the job and temporarily loses use of her thumb, she needs someone to be her left-hand man. Chris, ever the hero, volunteers. Little does he know that Britt’s passion for fun masks a need to care for others that rivals his own. And that now the woman who’s been driving him crazy at work is about to drive him even crazier-in her kitchen, in her bedroom, and on a paint ball field.
Forget the Friend Zone. Chris is about to enter the Fun Zone.
Because sometimes even a superhero can’t help but fall in love.
The Hollywood Edition
by Lizzie Shane
Trina Mitchell finally has her life back on track. Fully focused on her first semester of med school, she isn’t looking for the love of her life. But a little no-strings fling with hunky contractor Christian Evans? Now that feels like a gift from the gods. Until she learns her humble contractor is actually the star of a popular home improvement show—and completely out of her league.
Chris has been building his brand as a celebrity contractor and he’s this close to all that hard work paying off in the form of a big primetime gig, but only if he carefully protects his image as a TV heartthrob—which means absolutely no romantic complications allowed. Not even the one girl he can’t seem to get out of his mind.
Love is a distraction neither of them has time for, but when Trina learns their one magical night together is going to have some very real consequences—in around nine months—she needs to find Chris again, stat.
In love and renovations, nothing ever goes as planned. But with a little help from fate, this might just be the perfect time to build their happy ever after.
The Hotshot Edition
by Jennifer Bernard
