Page 83 of Take 2
“You’ll be running Hollywood. Why do you think I’m trying to secure my place on your good side?” He winks, and my shoulders relax.
I drop my forehead onto his chest and wrap my arms around his waist. Forget being on my good side, what I need is for him to beon my side.Which he is, unwaveringly. Still, Rafael being lovely about all this doesn’t mean that’s how it would always be. I don’t want Hollywood to know me as Preston Greene’s girlfriend. He’s confident I’ve already made my own name for myself. I’m not so sure. Even though I’ve been doing this longer, he’s got notoriety I don’t.
I love having his arms around me, but I cannot live with people thinking he carried me to an Oscar.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Consciousnessseepsintomeslowly like the sun peeking over the hills at Villefranche-sur-Mer. I stretch and curl up, then blink my eyes open when I realize I’m alone. My emotions tangle into an ambiguous knot that settles in my chest. Waking up without Preston is not my preference, but I’m secure enough about him not to freak out over it. Except, feeling secure about him makes me spiral anyway, in a prime example of my ridiculousness. Because I shouldn’t feel much of anything toward whatever I have with him. It’s nice for now, but in a week, we’ll be back in LA.
LA is the killer of relationships.
Enjoy the moment.
I roll over and grab my phone from the nightstand to tap my first notification.
I Love Fucking Preston Greene: Went to the gym. Be back soon and we can get brunch? If you’re my gf today that is …
One more week of digging myself into my grave. There’s really no denying that’s what I’m doing. Life in LA won’t accommodate this. At least I’ll be too busy to be depressed. Removing all this from real life is actually perfect. I can box it all up and toss it into the Mediterranean on my way out.
In the meantime … I’ve gotten what would usually be a year’s worth of sex in a week and a half. The benefits of this trip will certainly outweigh the fallout.
I shower and dress to give me motivation to go out for brunch when Preston gets back instead of jumping him.Already showeredis a flimsy reason, but something is better than nothing. When he walks into his room, and I look at him over my laptop screen from my signaturekeeping-my-chiropractor-in-businessposition on my stomach, the fact that I don’t pay the water bill here slithers through my mind. What’s an extra shower?
His eyes rake over me. “Good morning.”
“Good morning.” I rest my chin on my hand and admire his gleaming arms.
“I need to take a shower.” It’s said as an excuse.
“Yes, you do.”
Rather than the bathroom, though, he walks over to the desk and opens his laptop. He leans over it instead of sitting. “Are you checking out my ass?” he asks without looking back at me.
“Obviously.”
He snickers at his computer. “Hope I give you enough pleasure in the bedroom to make up for the hell I pushed you into with Rafi. Asks my opinion on a couple of shots and sends me a jumble of raw footage I can’t even sort through.”
“Have you written any movies that you just hand over and get to wait and be surprised at the screening?” I ask as I roll off the bed. “I think this is better.” I slip around him and into the chair. “What are you looking for?”
“Yacht shots.”
“Looking for an excuse to get back out on the water?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him.” Preston straightens up. “Whatever, he can wait.”
“I’ll see what I can find while you’re in the shower.”
“Thanks.” He kisses the top of my head and disappears into the bathroom. My heart skips to a pop beat at the chaste little show of affection. I need to calm the fuck down.
Raw footage kind of looks like trash compared to the final product of a movie. Colors are flat, background noises sneak in, and unusable footage hasn’t been trimmed off. It’s amazing what editors do to mold stuff like this into masterpieces.
It’s probably more than he needs, but I move a few files into a folder together. Less to sift through should be a little helpful. I click into a folder calledMontageand find another bundle of raw clips and one longer piece. Do they already have a preview in the works?
I open it, and my skipping heart comes to a screeching halt when a long shot of the Mediterranean swings to …me.
That’s me sitting at the back of the yacht with my feet swinging off the deck. Then Preston comes into the frame, and the way I look at him makes goosebumps pop up all over my skin. We look like romantic leads as every glance, smile, and blush plays in HD.
I watch as he kisses me. His hand slides into my hair, he pulls me close, butwhy is this on film?
