Page 93 of Second Act
“If he has a problem with our activities, he can take his new salary and move out,” Hugh shot back as he turned on the broiler. Then his face clouded over. “Actually, I have some bad news. It’s supposed to snow in DC day after tomorrow, so Bryan is moving the shoot there to catch the weather. That way they don’t have to make artificial snow and it saves a lot of money. I have to leave tomorrow night to be there in time for the first scene.”
Jessica’s fizz of happiness took a hit but rebounded. “Won’t you have to return to New York after that to finish up whatever you didn’t get done here?”
“Unfortunately, we can handle it all on a soundstage, so we’ll move on to Miami after DC. But I’ll get back here before we head to Florida.”
“I could use a few days in Miami,” Aidan said before he held up his hand to forestall any comments. “I know, I have a job, so I won’t be going there until my first vacation days kick in.”
Jessica was glad for Aidan’s interruption, because it gave her a moment to absorb the prospect of Hugh’s imminent absence. “Miami is only a three-hour flight away,” she said. “How long will you be there?”
“Miami is a short stint, only three days, weather cooperating, but I’ll work out a way to get back here when it ends.”
“Because then you go where?”
Hugh grimaced. “Prague.”
The fizz died. “Well, you’ll have to finish filming sometime.”
“It’s going to be another couple of months,” he said, running his palms up and down her arms as though she were chilled and he was warming her up. “I’ll fly back as often as I can.” His expression lightened. “There is one guaranteed trip home from Prague. Gavin’s getting a major writing award, and I’ve been tapped to present it to him. The studio’s PR people loved all the promo angles for that, so they insisted on a three-day hiatus in my shooting schedule, allowing me to fly back to New York for the ceremony. Will you come as my date?”
“Can I wear scrubs?” she ribbed him.
“And diamonds.” He smiled down at her with such tenderness that her heart flipped.
It occurred to her that he hadn’t suggested that she drop everything and join him on set. Some people might be upset by that, but she understood that he was being respectful of her own wall-to-wall commitments. “Maybe once Riya gets settled in, I can sneak away for a weekend or two myself. After all, I’ve never been to Prague.”
Hugh’s face lit up like a Broadway stage. “I’d like that very much.” He leaned down to give her a kiss filled with gratitude. “And now, allow the creative genius room to work.”
“Holy shit!” Aidan exclaimed, staring at his phone.
He was sitting at the kitchen table in plaster-dusted jeans and an Iowa State T-shirt, having just finished his wallpaper stripping for the day. Only one wall remained covered with old, awful paper. Aidan intended to finish it over the weekend, and he planned to help Jessica with refinishing the woodwork after that. In fact, her brother had reinspired her to work on her house.
At the moment, though, Jessica was putting together dinner for the two of them without enthusiasm. Hugh had been gone for less than twenty-four hours, but she felt hollowed out without his presence. Being in the kitchen made it worse, since she had such vivid memories of his sexy dance moves while he cooked.
“What is it?” she asked to be polite.
Aidan glanced up with an odd, dismayed expression on his face. “Sorry. Nothing important. Just a stupid video. I’m gonna go wash my face. I’ve got plaster dust in my eye or something.” He nearly bolted out of the kitchen.
Jessica went back to slicing mushrooms for the gravy to go with the chicken breasts baking in the oven. She hadn’t expected to missHugh this much. After all, she’d had a very full life before he came into the picture and it hadn’t eased up, despite the addition of Riya. Yet the hours plodded by, even when she was busy, because there was no hope of seeing Hugh at the end of the day. Texts and phone calls were no substitute for the intensity of his gaze, the heat and solidity of his body against hers, or the way the air seemed to scintillate with his unique charisma.
She drizzled olive oil in a pan and tossed the mushrooms in. As they began to soften and brown, Aidan walked slowly back into the kitchen, stopping right beside her with his phone held out. “Jess, you’re not going to like this, but I think you need to see it. Just remember it’s Meryl Langdon, not Hugh, saying this stuff.”
“What are you talking about?” She gave the mushrooms a stir with the spatula before taking the phone. It was paused on a video clip of a typical talk show set with a host and a female guest seated on high stools. The banner across the bottom of the screen read “Around DCwith guest Meryl Langdon.”
She turned off the stove and hit the play button.
“So you’re filming the next Julian Best blockbuster in DC for the next few days,” the host said. “How does it feel to be the new love interest of the world’s hottest spy?”
Meryl tilted her head back, showing the perfect line of her throat as she gave a sexy laugh. “Fabulous, of course. Who wouldn’t want to do love scenes with Hugh Baker?”
“I hear the on-camera chemistry is scorching. How do you handle that off camera?”
“Hugh is the consummate professional,” Meryl said with a demure smile as she tossed a long, shining lock of auburn hair over her shoulder. “But you don’t get heat like that onscreen without a genuine spark. At the beginning of filming, there was definitely something...but...” She shrugged.
Smelling blood, the host leaned forward. “But an old love has come back into his life, hasn’t she? How does that make you feel?”
“They share memories of a time when they were younger, less jaded, so it’s hard to compete.”
Jessica gasped. Meryl was trying to compete with her for Hugh? He’d never mentioned any romantic interest in or from his costar.
