Page 113 of One Life to Loathe

“Okay.” I dragged a hand through my hair. “How do I tell her? Do I go upstairs and knock on her door and blurt it all out?”

“No way.” Daisy looked appalled. “It’s grand gesture time.”

“Grand gesture time?” I looked to Jax for help.

“You need to give her everything she wants in a way that she can’t question it,” Jax explained. “I think that means you have to do it on set or something.”

“You mean in public,” I realized.

“You hid yourselves away,” Daisy volunteered. “That was what you needed at the time. Now, though, you have to bring your relationship into the light.” She leaned close. “If you tell her everything she wants to hear in front of an audience she’s more likely to believe it.”

I thought about it. “I don’t want to do it on the set,” I said finally. “That’s too … weird. Besides, Bethany and Sylvia ruin everything they touch right now.”

“You should probably talk to Miles,” Jax said. “Make him know you’re not leaving. Commit to that decision before you do anything with Sam. That way she’ll know you’re serious.”

Daisy snapped her fingers. “That right there is very good.”

A plan was starting to form. “Sam and I have a night shoot tomorrow … although I’m not sure how that will go given the fact that we knocked off early today. I’ll do it then.”

“Where is your night shoot?” Daisy asked.

“The cemetery.”

“Luckily for you, Sam will think that’s a romantic setting. I like it.”

“I’ll talk to Miles first thing in the morning,” I said. “I’ll commit to the show for its duration. Then I’ll make plans for tomorrow night.”

“Tell Miles what you’re going to do,” Daisy said. “Something tells me he’ll help.”

“Yeah.” I thought about it. “Although, he did try to date her.”

“I don’t think he put a lot of effort into that,” Daisy said. “Tell him the truth. He’ll understand. Then get your head in the game. You need to be prepared to stand strong, because her first instinct will be to cut you loose for your own good. She’ll turn herself into a martyr.”

“She will,” I agreed. “It’s going to be a fight. I have to prove that it’s okay for her to have faith in me.”

“She wants to have faith in you, Leo,” Daisy said. “Trust me. That’s what I saw that first day on the tour. The other thing I saw was that you wanted her to have faith in you. At the time, you just didn’t realize it.”

“I want her to believe in me more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life,” I agreed.

“Well, then make it happen. You have the tools at your disposal. Now you just need to go big.”

“Then that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

28

TWENTY-EIGHT

Iignored Daisy pounding on my door for three hours the next morning. I didn’t have to show up to shoot until five o’clock, so there was no reason to venture outside of my room. That meant I could hide away for the rest of the day … and that’s exactly what I intended to do.

I told Leo that when I had to give him up it was going to hurt. I didn’t blame him. I knew it was going to happen. He was far too talented to miss out on big opportunities forever. I wasn’t angry that he got the job. I was angry that he hadn’t told me. At least if he’d warned me, I could’ve prepared myself.

Or, more likely, I would’ve found a way to pretend I was okay with it.

Leo deserved every happiness. He was a good man. Sure, he hid under a hard outer shell sometimes, but that was learned behavior from his childhood. It was hardly surprising. At his core, Leo was not just a good man but a great man.

I was really going to miss him.

“Well, well, well,” a voice said from somewhere in my room, causing me to jerk up my head. Daisy stood at the end of the bed, a keycard clutched in her hand. She didn’t look happy.

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