Page 28 of And I Love Her

He needed to be careful. He was accustomed to taking the lead and being protective, both with the young starlets he agreed to accompany to parties and especially with his mother and sister.

His protectiveness toward Pam had intensified when she told him she was pregnant. Not only was Jake determined to keep his sister out of harm’s way—and that also meant out of the public eye—there was no way in hell he would let anything happen to his soon-to-be-born nephew.

But he couldn’t let his instincts take over with Callie. He needed to keep things between them firmly inold acquaintanceterritory.

The movie was definitely a good idea. A couple of hours sitting in a dark theater meant he wouldn’t have to look at her or talk to her. He wouldn’t find any more little things that he liked about her.

After buying their tickets, he stepped aside to let her precede him into the theater. He followed her in, nostalgia sweeping over him at the smell of buttery popcorn and the sight of the concessions stand. On closer look, however, he saw signs of age—the old patterned carpet was frayed, the lobby benches worn, and several lights around the classic movie posters were broken.

“I can’t remember the last time I was here,” he said. “Must have been when I was a senior.”

“Gus and Martha Mortimer still run it.”

“The Mortimers? Really?” Jake chuckled with remembered affection for the older man who not only owned the theater but was an encyclopedia of film knowledge. “Gus gave me my first job when I was fifteen. I ran the camera up in the projection booth.”

“They still have the summer film festival too.” Callie accompanied him into the short line of customers waiting to buy popcorn. “You should stop by and see them.”

Pleasure filled Jake at the thought—and died just as fast. He pretended to study the list of concessions when Callie settled her hand on his arm. She leaned in so close he caught a whiff of her scent—something warm and sweet, like peaches.

“Can’t you seeanyoneelse from back then?” she whispered. “Gus and Martha won’t tell.”

Jake shook his head. Yeah, he could trust the Mortimers—but the more people who knew the truth, the more risk he was taking. He’d have to wait until this whole mess was over and done with. Then he’d come back here as Jake Ryan with nothing to hide, and he’d definitely visit the Mortimers then.

He’dcome back. Maybe he’d even see Callie again.

“Who else knows you’re here?” she asked, her voice still low.

“My agent and my mother.”

“How is your mother, by the way?” Her expression turned both gentle and inquisitive. “She used to come into Sugar Joy at least a couple times a month. She was always so friendly.”

“She’s good, thanks. She works in the costume department at the studio. I keep telling her she doesn’t have to work, but she loves it. She won’t even think of retiring.”

“My mom feels the same way.” She smiled wryly.

He couldn’t tear his gaze away from her beautiful eyes—a deep, rich brown with a ring of black around her irises.

“What about your sister?” she asked. “She was younger than you, right?”

“By four years. She married a bank manager a couple of years ago, and now she and her husband are expecting their first child.”

“How wonderful.” Callie smiled, her eyes lighting up. “You’re going to be an uncle.”

“Yeah. I’m pretty excited.” He suddenly wanted to tell her the whole story of the paparazzi mess and why he’d ended up back in Bliss Cove. But then he might cave and tell her everything else about why he’d asked her out in the first place—even if the “deal with your mother” reason was becoming increasingly irrelevant.

“I’d be excited, too,” she said. “If I were going to be an aunt, I mean. Not that there’s any chance of that happening anytime soon.” She faced forward, but not before he caught a glimpse of longing in her eyes.

“Why don’t you think you’ll be an aunt anytime soon?”

“Oh, Aria is in a new relationship, and Rory is steadfastly single.” Callie explained. “She’s planning to return to her IT work soon, which means she’ll leave Bliss Cove again. Neither of them is interested in settling down. Not in the near future, at least.”

“What about you?”

Her features tensed. “What about me?”

“Are you interested in settling down?”

“Iamsettled down.” She slanted him a glance, her voice light. “I have an excellent tenure-track career, an IRA, mutual fund investments, and I own my own house. If that’s not settled down, I don’t know what is. Are you getting popcorn?”

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