Page 86 of Stone Promises

I laugh out loud, prompting Cole to look at us quizzically.

Fuck. I’m hard as a rock. I can’t wait to get my girl home.

~ ~ ~

It’s difficult for me to sit across the table from Hayden and Noreen without a huge shit-eating grin thinking of what Mal and I were doing just an hour ago. What we were doing in the shower. What we were doing in the pool under the waterfall. My life is playing out like the best romantic film ever made. Better. Because the drama—it’s all done. Over. In the past. We have only good times ahead. What we’re doing now is just the very beginning of the rest of our lives. And I want it all with her. Marriage. Kids. Side-by-side burial plots. Everything.

“Have you even heard a fucking word I’ve said, douchebag?” Hayden asks when the girls get up to use the restroom.

“Uh, yeah. You were talking about tomorrow’s scenes,” I say. I have no fucking idea.

He laughs, shaking his head. “You truly are pussy-whipped, my friend.”

I follow Mal with my eyes before responding to him. “If there’s a better kind of whipped, please tell me,” I say. “Maybe you should try it sometime.”

“Um . . . no,” he says, taking a swig of beer. “I’m perfectly happy doing casual. And so is Noreen. So don’t go putting any ideas into her head with your sickening tales of young love.”

“Hey, if Noreen is good with how things are, why rock the boat?” I say.

“Exactly,” he says. “And speaking of rocking the boat, has Courtney been causing you guys any trouble? She really does seem different. Do you think it’s an act or something? I mean, I didn’t want to say anything earlier when the girls were here, but she was trying to extract an invitation to dinner.”

“Thanks for not inviting her,” I say. “Part of me feels bad that she isn’t hanging out with us. Doesn’t leave her many options, you know. But no way in hell do I want to be put in the position of having dinner with my old girlfriend and my current one at the same time. It was bad enough being strong-armed into taking her climbing with us. It was terrible, man. Courtney had no experience whatsoever and I had to keep helping her. She might just be trying to be friends, but there’s enough crazy in my life, I can’t take the chance of her hurting Mal in any way.” I frown thinking of that afternoon. “I’m afraid it ruined rock climbing for Mallory and that was supposed to be our thing here.”

“Well, I hate to tell you this, buddy, but if Mallory is planning on being on set this Friday, anything having to do with rocks, Sedona, or even this film, might be ruined for her.”

I nod reluctantly. This Friday we’ll be shooting the obligatory sex scene of the film. Even action films need to have one. Keeps the female fans happy or some shit like that. But this scene, it’s going to wreck Mallory. Even if she’s there, watching how technical and non-sexual it really is, it will have a lasting impact on her and that upsets me.

I think of what she did for me today. How she took a bad experience and made it into a good one. Maybe I can do the same for her. And suddenly it becomes clear to me. I pull out my phone and send a text to Kendra and then John, the AD I’ve become good friends with over the past month of production. I set the wheels of my plan in motion.

“I swear I just saw a light bulb go off over your head, dude,” Hayden says.

“What’s that about a light bulb?” Noreen asks behind us.

“Nothing,” I say, shaking my head so only Hayden can see it. “It’s just so dark in here, I can barely read the dessert menu.”

“You want dessert?” Mal asks, rubbing her stomach. “I don’t know where you boys put it all. I’m stuffed.”

Our waiter comes over and puts a drink in front of me. I’ve already had my limit, so I’m not sure why he brought one when I didn’t order it. “From the ladies at the bar,” the waiter says.

I look over my shoulder and see three women huddled together, smiling and taking photos of our table. I’m glad it’s dark in here; they won’t get a very good shot. I raise the drink to them in thanks and then I put it in front of Mallory. Mallory smiles and takes a slow drink of it. Then she looks over at the girls, one of whom very blatantly raises her middle finger at her.

Hayden and I laugh while Mallory downs the rest of the drink. “Why don’t good looking babes ever sendmedrinks?” Hayden asks. He looks at Noreen in question, motioning to me. “It’s always this asshole. He’s not even as hot as I am, right?”

Noreen stares him down and then points at her chest. “If you wantthisgood looking babe to go home with your egotistical ass tonight, you’d best stop calling other women good looking babes.”

I see commotion in my periphery and look over to where the three women were at the bar. About halfway between them and us, Cole is holding back two of the unruly and obviously drunk girls. “The drink was for you!” one of them yells at me. “Not that ugly bitch!”

The restaurant falls silent as Cole and the manager politely escort them to the front door. Before they are out of earshot, I hear Cole say, “Next time, best stick to asking for an autograph or a picture, Miss.”

“I love Cole,” Mallory says. “He needs a raise. I didn’t even see them get up from the bar. He must have been watching them the whole time.”

“That’s why he’s the best,” I say.

“It must be hard for him, you know,” Mal says, watching the door as he comes back in and resumes his perch at the end of the bar. “He probably doesn’t have any time for a girlfriend. He has to follow you around all the time and be at your beck and call.”

“I’m sure it is hard, but the pay is good,” I say. “And they rarely do it for more than a year or so, taking long breaks between clients. Sometimes—like Cole did before I hired him exclusively—they work for multiple people on an as-needed basis. That allows bodyguards more time for a personal life because they can control when they work.”

“Still,” Mal says. “Maybe we should work on getting him a girl.”

---