Page 5 of House of Desire

It never bothered me she went for Alec. I knew I wouldn’t be able to offer her everything she deserved.

But feeling something again. Even if it was just a flicker.

Made me remember I’m still alive.

I put her back down on her feet and make a decision. Or really let an impulsive thought take over.

“Is Alec around here?” I ask.

“He’s taking a nap. They had a day of reshoots at two in the morning and then wrapped about an hour ago. He mumbled something about making a daytime thriller next time as he tumbled into bed. Dinner is in an hour and he’ll be up by then for sure,” she says, smiling up at me, the freckles on her nose having grown in number. “You’re welcome to join us. I think Lorelei is stopping by.”

“Next time. What did you need me to come by for?”

“Let me show you,” she says, wrapping her arm around my bicep and leading me out to the pool.

They have the wall of window doors pushed open, allowing the outside and inside to meld together. That was Charlie’s request and has been increasingly popular with every build Mitchel and I have done. Moving toward the left side, I see the daybed she had me custom build slanting slightly to one side.

“So, Alec and I might have been a little acrobatic the other night and I don’t know what happened, but all of a sudden it just dropped on one side.”

I get down on my knees and look around. If she needs to me to fix something, that’s what will happen. Pushing pieces this way and that, I find the problem.

“It looks like you guys shifted it off the base just enough to drop it. It’ll be easy to fix and I’ll stop by this weekend with better tools and anchor it so it doesn’t happen again.” I straighten up and jostle her with my elbow, teasing, “I wasn’t expecting Cirque de Soleil, but I see that was an oversight.”

Her blush is pretty as she smacks my arm.

“I see you brought in the best to fix the bed,” Alec says as he saunters out, kissing Charlie firmly.

His hair is tousled and there are bags under his eyes, but he seems happy. The movie he’s finishing up has a lot of potential and Charlie and I can’t wait to see it.

He sticks his hand out for me to shake, which I do, as he settles his arm around her. I remember when Brittany used to lean into my side as Charlie is doing right now and it strengthens my resolve once more.

Without any buildup, I jump in. “Hey. Are they still looking for a lead on House of Desire?”

Charlie’s mouth drops open in utter shock. A fair reaction.

“Um, what?” she asks, but I ignore her.

He looks at me, almost a bit skeptically. “It’s funny you ask. They were going to reach out to their choice for lead this week. I could give my old boss a call. I know they’d jump on this chance, so you need to be positive.”

“If it’s not too much trouble,” I say, rubbing my quickly reddening face.

My legs itch to run from the scrutiny with which he looks at me until finally he says okay, and begins dialing a number. Ringing immediately sounds from the speakerphone as we wait.

“What, Alec?” The woman’s voice is harsh with the demand the second the call connects. I immediately note the difference in his body language. His spine is straighter, his face more closed off. He’s wrangler Alec right now.

“Parker is interested in being the lead for House of Desire,” he says simply.

“Are you shitting me?” the woman asks. “Last time we asked, I believe he said ‘I’d rather stand in the middle of I-5 naked’.”

“I want to do it,” I say, cutting in. “Can you make it happen?”

“I’ll make the call. They’d rather you than this other guy, anyway.”

She hangs up abruptly and I turn toward Charlie.

“What brought this on?” Charlie asks, her hand touching mine, her brow wrinkling.

“Sharon told me I should get back out there, so that’s what I’m doing,” I tell her.

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