Page 78 of Playboy Billionaire

He flushed and shrugged his shoulders, “Awkward.”

She hugged him and said, “You’re just going to have to live with my displays of affection. You should be used to it by now.”

“We’ll hit you up after this scene,” Griffin said.

“Places everyone, action!”

Bryan grabbed Sydney’s hand and pulled her along. “Faster!” he said. She lost her balance and tripped, nearly falling. He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her to his side as he pushed them forward. Glancing over his shoulder he spied two men coming towards them, guns drawn.

“There’s two more, they’re close. The next boat on our left is mine. We don’t have time to fuck around Syd. Jump on.”

He helped her onboard then untied the boat, throwing the rope inside the craft. He revved the boat and backed out before gunning the motor full-throttle, heading to open water. He couldn’t afford to look behind them.

“Sydney, can you see what’s happening?”

“Oh my God! They just threw someone off their own boat and they’re coming after us.”

His face grim, he said, “Hang on. I’ll lose them.”

He turned sharply and changed directions breaking all the rules as he went full speed in the no wake zone. He swerved around other craft, barely missing them as he and Sydney ran for their lives. The speed was dizzying, and Sydney had to hang on for dear life to keep from being thrown from the boat as it zig-zagged dangerously. Bryan’s hands gripped the wheel tightly and the wind whipped around him, almost taking his breath away.

As shots rang out, he yelled, “Get down now!”

Sydney hit the floor of the boat, crying and screaming at the same time, “We’ll never make it. My husband is too powerful. We may as well give ourselves up and be done with it.”

Yelling over the noise of the craft and the wind, he said, “Easy for you to say. You’ll return to your gilded cage, but at least you’ll still be alive. I’ll be wearing cement shoes at the bottom of the ocean. Fuck that. Too late to turn back now.”

“If you slow down enough for me to jump out, I’ll do that. They’ll pick me up and you can keep on going. Please Bryan. I can’t bear to see you killed. I love you,” she said, sobbing as more shots rang out.

“We’re in this together. I love you too, only you.”

The stunt man and woman who were doubles for Griffin and Penelope pulled up to take over for the rest of the scene and subsequent crash. The next scene would have some dazzling acrobatics with the boat jumping across land and landing safely back in water with a crash scene at the end. Way beyond what the studio would allow Griffin to tackle.

Griffin’s stunt advisor Jeremy had coached him for the chase scene they had just shot, and he was beaming at Griffin. “You were just like a pro. Damn dude!”

Griffin idled the motor to talk with them before the shooting continued. Penelope went to stand behind Griffin placing her hands on his shoulders. They hung out for a few minutes talking and laughing while the boat with the camera operators prepared for the next scene. The helicopter hovered over them waiting for the cue.

The camera crew signaled they were ready for action. “Break a leg,” Griffin said as Jeremy sped away. Penelope sat in the seat next to him and propped her feet up on the dash lifting her face to the sun.

“Heaven,” she said.

Griffin said, “I’ll take it slow on the way back.”

“You were incredible. It felt like we were shooting a Bond film.”

“It could be addictive.”

He looked so relaxed, with his designer shades and graceful movements. She’d never witnessed him off balance or awkward, all of his biomechanics were smooth and confident. Penelope couldn’t take her eyes off him. He was fit and tanned, strong and capable, and he was her lover. She was in deep…almost over her head if she were being honest with herself. Today was even more poignant because it was their last scene together.

She sighed. It was time to have that talk with him. It wasn’t fair to keep him shut out. She had neatly compartmentalized her life, but she was no longer comfortable keeping secrets from Griffin. She didn’t know when it had happened, but they had somehow passed an invisible line…into what she wasn’t sure, but it was no longer in the casual zone.

Taking a deep breath, she dove in, “Um Griffin, I have something important that I need to talk with you about. How about dinner tonight?”

“What’s up?”

“I really don’t want to discuss it now. I’d rather be alone, drinking some wine, just the two of us. Okay?”

“Sounds rather mysterious, is everything okay?”

---