The Menace
A Romantic Comedy Novella
When Javier Rodin a.k.a. ‘The Menace’ is
injured on the last day of filming his latest movie he is taken to St Mark’s
hospital. Other than a small bump on the head and the fact that his crazed fans
have shredded his clothes in an effort to get a piece of him as a souvenir, he
is fine. Exhausted, he readily takes the doctor up on his offer to rest for a
couple of hours in a recently vacated room. Known worldwide for the series of
brutal action movies he stars in, women continually throw themselves at him
expecting him to fulfill their ‘take me’ fantasies. And he’d willingly done so
for a while. But that had quickly become old. What he wanted was something
real, a little conversation with someone who recognized he was an actor not the
character he portrayed, and some soft, slow, sweet lovemaking. But with a face
as brutally scarred and recognizable as his, he knew he wasn’t likely to get
it.
Millicent Riley, is a natural born
optimist, despite the day to day challenges being dyslexic often provides. The
daughter of newspaper magnate Vincent Riley and sponsor of the Riley wing at St.
Mark’s hospital, Millie thoroughly enjoys her volunteer work there. She is
cheerful and easy going, and the perfect candidate to chat with patients and
put them at ease. Assured that coma patients can hear, she is sent to talk to
the comatose patient in room thirteen, it turns out to be her lucky number,
because that patient has already been transferred-and in his place is ‘The
Menace’ who is simply trying to take a nap.
Though he’s annoyed at the interruption at
first, Javier soon realizes that Millie may be the very best thing that has
ever happened to him. She’s sweet, she’s cute, she’s sensual and she is going
to be his. And while Millie may think she is a plain Jane, Javier disagrees, he
thinks she is adorable and can’t wait to get to know her better. Fortunately
for him, Millie is convinced that the hulking brooding Javier is the sexiest
man she’s ever met.
But when Millie’s self-absorbed father
tries to set her up with his young co-worker, will Javier allow him to derail
their budding romance?
