Page 31 of Keep It

He pulls the door open on my approach but I shake my head and close it.

“Would you like one?” I ask, holding out the two bars.

His eyebrows raise. “Uh, okay.”

He takes one but waits for me to open mine before he does the same.

We stand quietly and gaze into the park through the tall gates, happily munching on ice cream.

“Do you like your job?”

Jaques looks at me, confused, and I wonder if he doesn’t speak English. Anya always speaks to him in French so it is possible.

“I love my job,” Jaques says in accented English. “It’s what I love to do.”

“Bet you get a lot of assholes in the back don’t you?”

“Sometimes,” he shrugs. “Sometimes they buy me ice cream.”

I huff a laugh as part of my ice cream falls off, hitting my palm before I catch it in my mouth.

When we’re done, I take his wrapper and throw it in a nearby trash can. He holds the door open for me and I meet his eye as I say “Merci.”

He sends me a friendly smile in return, “Back to the hotel?”

I wish I could ask to be taken straight to Anya, to turn up at her door and beg for forgiveness. Anything to see the disappointed look in her eye replaced with her familiar sparkle.

“Yeah, to the hotel.” I say, pulling my phone out of my pocket. I hover over her number, but instead I click on the browser and pull up a search.

“Hey Jaques, do you know of any good florists?”

Chapter 14

ANYA

I drag myself onto set the next day, bleary eyed and grumpy. The coffee I drank this morning is already wearing off and Claudette does not believe in travel mugs so it’s been a solid thirty minutes without a caffeine fix.

When I pass the burly security guard I greet him with a quiet “Bonjour” and he very enthusiastically responds. He must not have been here for the clusterfuck that was yesterday.

Shrugging it off, I head towards the craft table. Danny isn’t needed on set until noon but Sarah requested I be here for breakfast before picking him up. God knows why. To punish me probably.

When I get to the craft table I find an overflow of pastries, macaroons and the sweetest tarts. Standing at the end handing out croissants and biscuits, looking far too perky for a seven am call time, is Danny Covington.

I blink in surprise, convinced I’m still dreaming. But there Danny is, standing next to the caterer organizing treats and chatting to the crew.

Nothing at all like the man from yesterday.

Finally, he notices me staring at him. He smiles slightly and inclines his head. Passing the cheery crew I sidle over to him. He turns towards me and reaches under the table.

“I figured you’d be too tired to make it to the bakery this morning so I saved you some.” He hands me a cup of hot coffee and a little brown bag with a pain au chocolat inside.

I take both offerings silently. “What’s with the career change this morning?”

He gently touches my elbow, guiding me further away from prying eyes. “I thought a lot about what you said yesterday and you were right. I wasn’t thinking about it, everyone else who has to work longer and harder than me. And I wasn’t very nice.”

I raise my eyebrow.

“I was a stubborn prick,” he admits, a self-deprecating smile pulling the corner of his mouth. I smile into my coffee. “So I thought I’d do something nice for the crew. It’s not much but I wanted to do something.” A faint blush touches his cheeks as he dips his head.

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