Page 45 of Outside the Lines
“Good.” Anna glanced at her watch. “Break time’s over for me.” Her shoes clipped a fast pace out of the trailer. She was followed by the head of pyrotechnics, but the art director lingered.
He pulled out a card and handed it to Simon. “Look, if you have any free time— If Ian says you’re good, then you’re good.” Then he too, was gone.
Simon stared at the business card and flipped it over in his hands. “Shit.”
“Hey, you okay?” I asked. He seemed a little green around the edges.
Simon fingered the card. “I want this. But I love End o’ Earth.” He took his wallet from his back pocket and slipped the little rectangle inside. “I need to think about it.”
I could imagine. I’d not had anything on my plate whenWolf’s Landinghad called, but I knew friends who’d agonized over their career choices. And this was Simon’s store we were talking about—not any old job. “If you want to talk it over . . .”
He took a breath. “Not right now.” His smile was small, but real. “Have I told you lately that you’re amazing?”
Warmth flooded through me. Not lust—no, this wasn’t hot passion but a mix of heady happiness and flickering hope. “Not in the last few hours.”
A bigger grin, and he pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around me. Comfortable. Familiar. “Ian Meyers,” he said. “You’re absolutelyamazing.”
My chest hurt and the corners of my eyes. No one, not a single one of my lovers, had ever said those words, not the way Simon had. Hebelievedit. No lie in his soulful blue eyes. “Thanks.” My voice was a mess. “You are, too.”
A lackluster response, but maybe he didn’t care because he held me tighter. No kissing, no groping. This wasn’t the frenzy of lust we’d had before.
Nope. This was love, and I was doomed.
Simon drove me back to End o’ Earth and we were both damn quiet in the car. My mind churned, flitting from lust to fear to anger at myself for having gotten into this mess, to sadness because eventually I was going to lose Simon. I’d never had him, to begin with. From the very start, he’d been on loan. I couldn’t be mad at Lydia. Hell, if she’d been a guy, I’d have suggested a threesome.
Though in some ways we’d done that, even if we hadn’t all been in bed together. I scrubbed my face.
“You okay?” Simon spoke softly, his concern so evident, so loving.
I should say something. Maybe break it off now, but I didn’t want to. I hated lying. Did anyway. “Yeah. Tired. I think the past week is catching up with me.” Well, that waspartlytrue. My stomach twisted.
He didn’t say anything and remained focused on the road. Soon, we were parking behind End o’ Earth. He shut off the car, and we both climbed out. I met his gaze and the worry was still there. I hoped he didn’t ask how I was again, because when he looked at me like that, I couldn’t lie.
“Gonna come in?” He nodded toward the shop.
This time, the truth came out. “No. I think I need to go home and decompress for a while.”
He studied me. Maybe he saw through to the despair I was trying to hide. “Do you want me there at the shoot tomorrow?” Those were the words he used, but I swear his tone said,“Are you breaking up with me?”
My lungs and head ached. I had no way to process the pain and hurt buried in Simon’s voice, except IknewI didn’t want him upset. “Of course I do!” I wanted Simon to see the end result of all his hard work. He deserved to be there. I took his hands in mine. “Please come tomorrow.”
His smile undid me every time. This one was no exception. That flip in my chest, that zing down my limbs. He gave my hands a squeeze. “Pick me up at the shop? Still need to check with Lydia, but I’m a hundred-percent sure it’s fine.”
“Of course I can pick you up.” My fear slid away. If I stared at Simon, at those deep eyes and that lovely grin, all the what-ifs vanished. “Is seven okay? It’s a busy day for you.”
“Oh yeah. All the hard work’s done in the morning. By evening, the new comic rush has petered out.”
“Seven it is.” I stepped in and kissed him. Like always, the way he opened to me, those little noises, the warmth of him set my heart racing and lit my nerves. Simon wrapped his arms around me. We fit together like two puzzle pieces, his body molding to mine. Perfect. Always so right—until we parted—which we always did.
Simon stepped back. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
It was a ridiculous thing to do, but I grabbed his hand and kissed his knuckles like some kind of weird-ass knight. “Tomorrow.”
I didn’t think his grin could get wider, but I was wrong. Our hands slipped apart, and he backed toward the door to End o’ Earth. I gave him a wave and headed around front to my Mini, still stuffed with my supplies and tools. I should take them back to work.
Wolf’s Landing. My job.
But End o’ Earth had started to feel like home, just like Simon had started to feel like my boyfriend, not a friend with benefits.
