Body Double: Girls on Film celebrity novella

By Josie Baker

A sporting celebrity, a tropical island, and the role of a lifetime - what could go wrong?

Actress Keira Fox has finally landed her big break and she can't wait to prove to her parents she made the right career decision.

It should be an easy job, but... then she meets her boss, Aryan Nadar, and is knocked for six. He's far from the spoiled celebrity she expected, and his touch sets her body alight. But when she discovers Aryan is hiding something, Keira wonders if he is as respectable as he seems, or if she's been bowled by his lies?

Sinfully sexy Aryan Nadar, ex-cricketer and potential heir to his family's international tech company, needs a woman for the weekend. Not just any woman, but an actress who looks enough like his estranged fiancé to convince his father he is still engaged. The future of NadarTec depends on a convincing charade, because if there is any doubt Aryan hasn't changed his gambling and womanizing ways, his younger twin brother will become CEO. And Ravi's secret plans to misuse the company for his own benefit would break their dying father's heart.

Problem is, Aryan wants the feisty Keira in his bed like he's never wanted a woman before, and he knows he mustn't start a relationship with her before he can tell her the real reason he hired her... 

Until he's named CEO no-one can know his secret.

Can Aryan resist the tantalizing allure of the talented actress?

Body Double is a standalone novella.

Contains adult themes and sex scenes - recommended for 18+ readers

• Language: English
• Publisher: Exposed Publishing
• Release date: Nov 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9780995365322

Josie Baker

Sharing sensual discoveries...

Book preview

Chapter One

Holy cow! Keira muttered and shook her head in disbelief. She glanced up at Jude, the glaring blue Californian sky outside the window the perfect backdrop for her agent’s white suit and immaculate, straightened blond hair. "This is some gig, but I’m not sure I understand. You’re offering me an assignment that involves a weekend at a six-star island resort in Mexico with a ‘mystery’ celebrity–and it’s an acting job?"

Don’t look at me like I’m pimping you out, Jude replied, frowning. I assure you the job is above-board. Legal have done a thorough check on the date and location details, and the job is legit.

Okay, so spill. Who is the client?

Jude pushed her frameless, designer glasses higher on her nose. Aryan Nadar.

Aryan Nadar, the hottest guy in the media right now? Keira asked, her breath quickening at the prospect of rubbing shoulders–but no other part of her anatomy–with the gorgeous, ex-star cricketer for India. Not NadarTec? His family’s company was famous for the right reasons. NadarTec was the international industrial tech and robotics company, where as Aryan Nadar was most recently famous for being one of the most lusted-after bachelors on the planet. These days he was no longer sportsman or bachelor.

The client is the man himself. Lucky you. Jude raised an eyebrow, obviously envious.

For good reason, and until a month ago, Keira would have jumped at the opportunity to do more than admire Aryan’s brooding, athletic beauty from a distance, which she did whenever he graced the pages a gossip magazine or on TV. Opportunities for ogling came thick and fast since injury had forced him to give up his place on the Indian cricket team and he’d become the media’s favorite bad-boy.

Um. He’s about to get married. Keira narrowed her eyes at her agent. The assignment seemed more questionable by the minute, but what was it her horoscope had said this morning? ‘Embrace an unusual opportunity, it may yield rewards beyond expectation’.

He is, so your virtue is safe. Jude agreed with a sigh.

Keira wasn’t so sure. With Aryan’s reputation, she wouldn’t be surprised if he would be open to having a fling. But for Keira, nothing was more important than proving she could make it as an actress. Even sampling the delights Aryan’s Victoria Secret model ex-girlfriend had shared in a tell-all interview. She would not risk her professional reputation, even for someone as hot Aryan. Especially now he was engaged.

Right. Well that’s a relief, she said with a sigh. The timing really sucked. Her fantasies would stay exactly that.

Jude glanced at her slyly and smirked, tapping a beige shellacked nail on the desk. Although… the terms of the confidentiality agreement you are about to sign would protect if you ignored the agency policy against engaging in sexual relations with a client. Unfortunately though, if you did, I must not hear about it.

Keira cringed at Jude’s implication that she had permission to behave immorally. Don’t worry, you know me. Professional to the letter. Now, tell me more. About the assignment, I mean. She trusted her agent professionally, even though she didn’t agree with her morals.

The basics are outlined in the contract, and if you accept the job you will be briefed on the details when you’re in transit. It’s your decision, but the fee alone will make your toes curl.

Keira arched an eyebrow and glanced at the figure on the cover letter of the contract Jude slid over the desk toward her.

Shivers. You weren’t kidding. Even though her father had blocked her access to the family expense account, Keira wasn’t exactly desperate for the money, but... A paycheck like this will give me the breathing space to focus on going after high-profile jobs. I wouldn’t have to accept all those small, dead-end jobs just to keep the bills paid. She didn’t need to tell Jude she was desperate for the exposure a job like this would provide. Exposure indicated success, and success would prove she had made the right decision.

And stick it to dear daddy, Jude added, as if he’d read Keira’s mind.

Of course. Keira grinned. Her father had made it clear he didn’t believe she could make it as an actor, and would soon come begging for her place in the family company. The prospect of validation–and proving him wrong–filled her with warm satisfaction. I live for the day the high and mighty William Fox has to eat humble pie.

She picked up the paperwork and flipped over the cover letter. Most confidentiality agreements came down to pretty much the same thing… don’t gossip about what happens behind the scenes or repeat anything she might learn about the client. Keira skimmed over the wording. The agreement was longer than usual, but it had a stamp to show the legal department had vetted and approved it. If Aryan was organizing the assignment and not an employee, the job was probably for some top-secret product launch for his family’s International tech company. Now, that would make her a household face.

What the hey, Keira shrugged and fished the Montblanc pen her mother had given her for her last birthday from her handbag. Even discounting the intriguing horoscope for Aries this morning, no matter what the job entailed she couldn’t resist the opportunity to meet the ‘it’ guy of the moment, the man every woman with a pulse lusted after.

Aryan is gorgeous, Jude sighed as she watched her client sign the agreement.

Keira glanced up and caught the predatory look on her agent’s face. Knowing her penchant for celebrity lovers, Aryan’s engagement wouldn’t have stopped Jude. The more unattainable, the bigger the prize.

He is attractive, yes. Keira kept her tone noncommittal, even as a recent image of Aryan in dress shorts and polo shirt flashed across her mind. She subtly used the contract to fan the heat from her cheeks. Everything about Aryan Nadar was hot–his dusky skin… the designer beard on his strong jaw… his elegant, straight nose… the way his dark hair waved seductively back from his forehead, just long enough to caress his collar. All a sure sign meeting him would most likely shatter her fantasy. And he knows it. Celebrities, models, actors, the rich–they’re all the same. Keira shrugged off her self-indulgent crush, certain he would prove to be the same as every other handsome man she’d ever met.

You do know you are part of that equation, right? Jude grinned.

More than most people would know, Keira replied with a sigh. Jude was the only person at the agency who knew Keira’s family were one of the most powerful yet secretive in LA. She slid the papers back across the desk. Now, spill it. Tell me what you can about the job–in a nutshell.

You look like Chloe Thompson. You’ll be playing her for the weekend. Jude’s level blue gaze pinned Keira to her seat.

Are you kidding? Keira tried to picture the girl who, a month earlier, had broken hearts all over America when Aryan announced their engagement. A regular girl who had worked at Walmart before the shock announcement. No one expected the celebrity playboy to give up his bachelorhood for the likes of Chloe Thompson. She was just one of so many other slim, beautiful twenty-somethings. Is that it?

Jude nodded.

I guess we do look a little alike, Keira admitted. Around the same height and figure, similar length blonde hair, although Keira generally wore hers up in an attempt to avoid being pigeonholed.

With her resemblance to Chloe in mind, the possibilities unfurled in Keira’s imagination. It could be for a joke–a very expensive one. Aryan’s twin, Ravi, could pass for his brother if you didn’t look too closely, and with Keira as Chloe’s look-alike, it could be a double-vision scenario.

Or… maybe Chloe was unwell, and Aryan needed a stand-in.

Or… perhaps they wanted her and Ravi to play decoys while Aryan and Chloe sneaked off somewhere secret. To elope?

Keira stood and paced to the door and back to Jude’s desk, excitement making her fidgety. Being a decoy for the celebrity wedding of the year would put Keira firmly in the spotlight once the world found out. Whatever the job entailed; it had to be good for her career.

Don’t look at me like that. Jude smirked and held up her hands, palms up as if to contain Keira’s excitement from infecting the composed calm of her all-white office.

Like what?

Jude took her glasses off, folded them, then placed them on the table as she leant back in her white leather office chair. Like you’re an addict, and I’ve just offered you hit.

It sounds like this could be my big break. Just saying it out loud made her pulse race.

I thought you’d be excited, Jude leant back in her chair with a self-satisfied smirk.

Spot on. What do I need to do?

"Should be easy for you. For three days and two nights you will act like Chloe Thompson. You will be Chloe Thompson."

Do you know why? Keira took a swig from her water bottle to ease her suddenly dry mouth.

"You’ll have to ask the man himself. When. You. Meet. Him." If Jude was trying to hide her envy, she failed miserably. Keira could almost see the tinge of green beneath her agent’s California tan.

Standing, she handed Keira a charge card and an iPad. "There’s $15,000 credit on here to buy yourself some appropriately expensive bikinis and resort wear. Aryan’s publicist has compiled a look-book so you can match Chloe’s style. On Friday morning you’ll have your hair cut like hers and get some tips on how she wears her makeup. Meanwhile, you need to study as much footage of Chloe you can get your hands on. Make the world believe you are her."

Thanks Jude. Keira took the card and iPad, her skin prickling with anticipation. I’ll keep you posted. This was her chance to justify her career choice–with the bonus of wardrobe expenses. It might only be for a weekend, but this was why she had given up her privileged lifestyle and her family–to follow her dream and build a career that enabled her to become someone else. Although normally that someone would be a fictional character.

Better start calling me Chloe. Keira gave Jude a grin and turned to leave. She no longer saw the sterile white office, already caught up in visions of golden sands, waving palm trees and a half-naked ex-cricketer.

Chapter Two

Keira’s decision to trust in her horoscope was confirmed when the hair salon she was directed to was the same high-end salon her mother, and many