Page 37 of The Fake Family Deal

My mind runs blank on excuses. “I mean, that would be great,” I stammer, then let myself smile. “It would be great to spend some more time with you.”

He leans in to kiss me again, and his grin brushes over my lips. His hands fall to my hips as if he’s about to start sliding lower and lower, and even though I want him to dip his fingers into my pants, towards the heat growing in my core, it’s a terrible idea right now.

“Ellis,” I giggle, kissing his throat and pushing him gently away. “Let’s wait. Let’s go out for dinner, and then we can do whatever we want.

He kisses me once more and says, “Deal. But you can’t stop me from imagining what I’m going to do with you later.”

I moan. It would be so easy to let him take me to bed, to sneak away and quickly release the tension inside us, but we’ve only just gotten on the director’s good side, and we have work to do. I let my hand linger on his chest for a second, then duck away from him.

Together, we emerge back out to the crew as if we’ve been doing nothing. I’m sure everyone knows what’s happening, but nobody says anything. This is how we’ve been behaving all week, sneaking moments together, barely able to keep our hands off each other, like we haven’t spent the last two weeks stepping on each other’s toes.

It’s getting less and less subtle, too. Yesterday, we excused ourselves during the lunch break and tiptoed off to the bedroomwhere we spent ever so slightly too long “resting.” The thrill of trying to be quiet made everything even more intense than usual.

After, even though I redid my hair and made sure my clothes were straight, every time anyone looked at me, their eyes seemed to be telling me that they knew, and they were judging us in the worst way possible.

Screw what they think, though. For a change, I don’t really care. I’m actually happy. I’m actually living my life and not worrying about a thing.

Best of all, Lila is happy too. She and Ellis are getting on better than I ever could have dreamed. He’s so gentle with her, and she seems to trust him completely. I guess if her baby instincts are telling her that he’s a good person, I can let myself trust him too.

But all of that doesn’t stop it being embarrassing that the makeup designer pulled me aside this morning so she could cover a hickey on my neck with foundation. I thought I was too old for this kind of behavior. But being here with Ellis has breathed new life into me.

The afternoon hours drag by. Ellis and I keep sharing glances, making gestures and comments to each other that have very little room for interpretation. He wants me.

Ellis Whitlock actuallywantsme.

As soon as the crew pack up and leave, Ellis’s babysitter arrives. Jane is a Korean woman in her sixties with a severe smile but gentle hands. She takes Lila into her arms, and Lila immediately beams at her. Lila’s not always very trusting, but seeing her relax at once sets my mind at ease.

“I’ll be right back,” I say as Ellis fills the babysitter in. This is our first real date, so I want to look nice. I don’t feel like going all out, and I don’t have an entire wardrobe here, but I settle on one of my nice, flowing blue dresses that I haven’t had a chance to wear yet.

When I step out, Ellis’s eyes grow wide, his pupils dilating as he takes me in. I run my hand through my hair and smile. “Let’s go?”

Ellis’s driver takes us to the restaurant, and we manage to get seated in a secluded corner where nobody else can stare at us. We put in our orders, Ellis orders an expensive bottle of wine, and we toast to each other.

This moment is perfect.

But it’s a dream that’s racing towards an end.

I reach out to take Ellis’s hand. “What are we gonna do when this is over?”

“What do you mean,over?”

There’s that look again, the confused teddy bear, the cogs spinning in his mind as he tries to put the pieces together. I squeeze his hands. “I mean, you and me. When filming is done, are we still going to beyou and me?”

“Let’s not think about that now,” he says, squeezing my hands in return then lifting them to his lips to kiss them, and I dissolve all over again. I can’t think of anything at all but him. I’m utterly weak for him.

The fact is, being with Ellis makes me feel special. I’ve had other men in my life, but none of them have ever been permanent.Especially since Lila, I haven’t had the time or patience to eventhinkabout going out with anyone.

That, and it’s kind of hard to attract someone when you’re a single mother of a nine-month-old baby.

But Ellis doesn’t seem to care about any of that. I mean, here he is, holding my hands in this exclusive, expensive restaurant, giving me some of the most intense bedroom eyes I’ve ever seen. God, he even hired a babysitter to come last-minute just so we could do this.

Just so we could spend a handful of extra time together away from the prying lenses of the cameras or the judgmental stares of the crew. Because he wants to be with me.

In moments like this, I can almost believe that he does, and I can admit to myself that I really do like him.

In fact, I think I might almost love him.

The conversation moves on, and I more or less manage to forget my concern, but even as we walk out of the restaurant hand in hand, there’s still a tiny nagging voice in the back of my mind that’s whispering that this will all be over shortly. That as soon as the cameras leave, Ellis is going to forget all about me.

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