Page 58 of Wrapped in You

"On second thought," Sophie said, "why don't you give me the keys?"

Josiah looked confounded. But after a little more probing, Sophie convinced him it was a great idea. "Do you see Randy back there at that table?" she asked. "Go over there and hang out with him. He'll get you something to eat. Okay?"

Josiah skipped through the film set. Sophie held his truck keys with freezing fingers. Above them, the clouds hadthickened, and snow began to swirl, melting across her cheeks and dotting her hair.

Sophie went around to the driver's side, where she was hidden from the cast and crew. Through the wind, she overheard the assistant director telling everyone to "set up" again.

"Inexplicably, it seems that the catering service will be taking care of this, um, disturbance?" The assistant director spoke through a microphone. "Show biz is full of surprises, folks. Set up quickly, now. Let's get this shot!"

Suddenly, there was the crunch of feet coming closer. Sophie froze with her hand on the handle of the driver's side door.

Who was coming? Was it Josiah, here to take back his truck?

Derek Brownlee whipped around the side of the truck and stood, gasping for breath, his hand stretched across the dark blue paint. His eyes were tender and wounded.

"What the heck?" he asked, offering her a smile that took her breath away.

Sophie tried to laugh. She tried to smile. But she just looked up at him, eyes filled with questions.Why did you pull away from me?But she couldn't say it aloud.

From where they stood behind the massive truck, nobody could see them.

Nobody could possibly know.

Suddenly, like something out of a dream, Derek bent down and pressed his lips to hers. Sophie's knees gave out, but he wrapped his arms around her and held her aloft. Snow continued to swirl down from the heavens. And for a beautiful moment, it felt as though they were the only two people on a snow-capped earth.

And then, the assistant director's microphone blared. "Brent? We've lost our actor… Brent?"

And Brent howled from somewhere, "I'm coming! I'm wounded, remember?"

Derek and Sophie tittered with laughter. Their kiss broke. But the magic hadn't faded. Sophie felt exhilarated. She felt brand-new.

But then, Derek hurried around the truck and back to set. Overwhelmed with adrenaline, she heaved herself into the driver's side, turned the key in the ignition, and drove to the nearest free parking spot. All the while, AC/DC played on the radio, and her ears rang.

The best kiss of my life.

But where had it come from?

Chapter Eighteen

Sophie struggled to get through the rest of the workday without going insane. Every time she heard Derek say "Cut," or "Can you do that a little differently, Natalie?" or "Let's talk about the stakes of this scene, gang!" Sophie fully swooned, remembering the kiss, the way his arms had wrapped around her and the snow had swirled around their perfect love.

Had it really happened? Was she just imagining things?

No, it had happened. She could still feel his lips upon hers. She could still feel the warmth where his hands had clutched her waist.

Love was a strong word. She knew that. But it was the only one she could think of to capture the tremendous yearning in her heart.

Because of the kiss, Sophie was especially bright and happy with the cast and crew. At lunchtime, she cracked jokes and teased, flipped burgers, added cheese, laughed, and smiled. Josiah was still there because he'd fallen in love with movie magic too, and she put him to work, reminding Randy and herself to pay him for his labor when the day was through. Josiah took it in stride, grateful to do something with his hands.He said many times, "What you people do is genius! Don't let anyone tell you differently!"

When he said that again to Mike, Isaac, and Beck, Mike grabbed his shoulder happily, like a brother might, and said, "Josiah? You're doing wonders for my mental health. I'm going to need you to come back to California with me and give me a pep talk every morning."

To this, Josiah chirped, "I'm ready to go!"

It was a huge surprise to Sophie that Derek didn't swing by the catering table for lunch. She'd anticipated him, even set aside the biggest burger patty. She'd imagined how they might look at each other now that they'd finally kissed—their eyes full of secrets and hunger for future kisses. But as soon as the assistant director called for lunch, Derek disappeared into his trailer and didn't come out until Natalie and Brent were ready to set up again. Sophie watched him move through the cast and crew and willed him to look back at her, to give her a sign that he was thinking about her. But already, he was talking to Natalie, and the assistant director was calling for everyone to "take their places."

Sophie felt it like a smack.

He has a job to do, Sophie reminded herself as she cleaned up after the lunch rush and prepped for midafternoon snacks and dinner.And he doesn't want a big scandal, either. We'll find time to talk about it later.

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