The Accidental Diva Read online

  “I don’t know. I guess…I can’t think of anything I’d like to do more than be your Good Witch.”

  “Are you sure?

  “Surely.”

  Jay kissed her sweetly.

  “More please.”

  He kissed her again, and it was all settled.

  “You smell like hot dogs.”

  “Told you I can’t get enough of a good thing.”

  “Jay?”

  “Billie?”

  “I’m still going to London.”

  “What?” Jay’s face completely fell. “I don’t get it.”

  “But I’ll be back. I’ll be back in, like, six months. They want to promote me here. Paige is moving to Italy.”

  At first he just looked sad. And then he smiled. “Congratulations. I mean it.”

  “Does this change things?”

  “Never. We’ll make it work, we’ll make it work.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I never been to London, I could visit.”

  “Yeah! For, like, weeks. And we could write romantic love letters…”

  “Renee was talking about me getting exposure in London and Amsterdam. We could travel, stay at hostels and shit…”

  “Or we could stay at fancy hotels and get Du Jour to pay for it.”

  Jay’s eyes twinkled. “Hustlin’ and hookups.”

  “It’ll be perfect.”

  “Yeah.” Jay paused and nodded, taking it all in. “Yeah. It’ll be perfect. We’ll be perfect.”

  “That German tourist seems to think so.” Billie nodded toward an older gentleman in lederhosen who’d been filming the whole thing. His wife waved a tiny American flag and gave them the thumbs-up sign.

  “That’s gotta be good luck,” said Jay.

  “Um, one more thing.”

  “What?”

  “Pandora stays home, okay?”

  He laughed and wrapped her up in his arms.

  An hour later, Billie floated back up to her office on wings of love, humming “Reunited” the whole way. All was right with the world.

  acknowledgments

  Endless thanks to my agent, Mary Ann Naples, for believing in my manuscript enough to shop it around during her fifteenth month of pregnancy; and to my brilliant editor, Jennifer Hershey, “The Cherry Girl,” for totally, totally getting it.

  Thanks to my idols, my little sisters—Devon, the coolest girl in the room, and Lauren, the sassiest. I’m beyond blessed to have such supportive, loving, brilliant, and snuggly girls in my corner.

  Miles of gratitude to my parents, Andi and Aldred. When I was fifteen, I confessed to my “Christ, I’m depressed” journal that I was an incurable nerd—I didn’t want to party with kids my age because I always had more fun at home, watching The Thin Man and What’s Up, Doc? with my parents. Thanks to Mommy, the man of the house, and Daddy, the man in the mirror, for making my world so special and rich and magical. Never mind that, as a result, I became a total social misfit.

  And finally, thanks to my best friend and best inspiration, Lola Oguinnake. If it wasn’t for her shut-up-and-do-its over the past ten years, I’d have never written a word. For a thousand reasons, this is as much hers as it is mine.

  about the author

  Tia Williams had a fifteen-year career as a beauty editor for magazines including Elle, Glamour, Lucky, TeenPeople, and Essence. In 2004, she pioneered the beauty blog industry with her award-winning site, Shake Your Beauty. She wrote the bestselling debut novel, The Accidental Diva, and penned two young adult novels: It Chicks, and Sixteen Candles. Her novel, the award-winning The Perfect Find, will be adapted into a Netflix film starring Gabrielle Union. Tia is currently an Editorial Director at Estee Lauder Companies, and lives with her daughter and husband in Brooklyn.

  What’s next on

  your reading list?

  Discover your next

  great read!

  Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author.

  Sign up now.