Page 74 of Home to Me

Lauren had always been tall, and she’d never been with a man who could so easily pick her up and carry her.

She’d never even been with a man who’d even tried to pick her up and carry her.

Lauren was all for equal treatment and women's rights, and in some circles, she would even be considered a feminist—but she had to admit that being carried by this strong, tall man was one of the best feelings she had ever experienced. She knew she would remember this moment forever.

Maybe she was a fish who really did need a bicycle? That thought scared her.

She shook her head and nuzzled it deeper into Ben's neck. That was too complicated to think about right now. Best to just relax and enjoy the feeling.

He set her down on her porch and ran back to retrieve her bags. Rather than setting those down when he returned, however, he simply stood there, waiting for her to unlock her front door.

Oh lord, he didn’t think he was spending the night, did he?

Lauren started to panic. She didn’t know if she could do that. All the feelings she was having, she had to process. As much as she appreciated that Ben seemed to be overlooking the fact that she’d been a total bitch to him all day, she had to figure out how to prevent that from happening again.

Ben waited patiently as she unlocked the door and went inside to deactivate the security system, seemingly oblivious to the alarm bells that were clanging like crazy inside of her.

As she turned, opening her mouth to make her excuses, explaining how tired she was after traveling, he shut the door behind them and—in a flash—he had her pinned up against the wall.

He slowly lowered his head and gave her one of the slowest, sweetest, most torturous kisses she’d ever gotten from anyone. Before he was even ten seconds into the kiss, her legs felt weak and she was shaking with desire.

Lauren was just reaching the point of saying to herself, So what if he stays the night? Who's it gonna hurt? when Ben pulled away gently and said, “See you tomorrow. Last day of shooting.”

She stared at him mutely, and he smiled and told her to sleep well and dream of him.

As he left, Lauren closed the door behind him and finally found her voice. In a softly ironic tone, she said, “That shouldn’t be a problem.”

22

The last day of shooting.

It was fitting that it should be in Hope Falls and not on location. Hope Falls was where it had all started. The producers wanted the show to take its personality from Hope Falls. They wanted the small town to be what people associated with the show and Lauren could not be happier about their decision.

It almost felt like the last day of school to Lauren. There was a feeling of nostalgia in the air that Lauren hadn't felt since she’d done theater in college. This felt like closing night on a particularly magical stage production.

Lauren had no idea that she could get so close to these people in such a short amount of time. Normally, it took her months—well, let's be honest, sometimes even years—to form any attachments to people. That was one of the reasons she had come back to Hope Falls—it was a luxury to be around so many people she felt so close to, because there just weren't all that many people like that in the world.

But she’d become close to so many people on the set. Not just Ben, but the makeup and hairstylists, the wardrobe ladies, the craft services guy.

She knew about these people’s lives.

She thought maybe it was because, unlike in a normal job situation, so much of the time of being on a set was just hurry up and wait. There was a lot of downtime, and these people were all really passionate about what they did, plus they were smart and easy to talk to.

From the boom operator to the key grip, these people loved coming to work every day. That kind of passion and joy was contagious.

But a niggling doubt in the back of her mind told her that these were all justifications. Is it really just the unusual situation that prompted you to open your heart to these people so much more readily than you normally would have? Or is it that Ben has changed you, opened you up, and made you a better person?

Lauren fought the impulse to get a little misty as she realized that it was all coming to a close. Possibly forever if the pilot didn't get picked up.

They were finishing up their final shots around Hope Falls, and after today, the crew was going to pack up and leave.

Lauren was glad that the schedule was so hectic. Not only did it distract her from her ever more convoluted thoughts, it also naturally made it so that over the course of the whole day, she and Ben didn’t have even a second alone. She really wasn’t sure how to process all that was going on between them. She wasn’t even entirely sure that she liked the person she was around him.

Sure, in some respects, she felt like she’d grown—her increased capacity to connect with the crew was a perfect case in point. But then there were other things she saw herself doing, things like getting so upset about seeing him with the bikini-clad fans that she didn't even recognize herself.

Even take what she was doing right now—analyzing the living daylights out of a relationship and where it was progressing—that was evidence enough that a pod person had taken over her body.

Lauren always had the upper hand in relationships. She never lorded over the person, per se, but she sure as hell never let go of it either. If she felt the tables turning even slightly, she had no compunctions about cutting it off quickly and cleanly. She felt no more regret about doing that than she would have about snipping off a hangnail before it could develop an infection.

---