Page 74 of Behind the Scenes

A few hourslater, he approached Alexis’s building and saw a few photographers milling around the front entrance. Good. If those vultures were there, that meant Alexis was there too.

He walked toward the glass front doors and smiled at the grey-haired man waiting just inside them. Chambers returned the smile as he welcomed him into the lobby. “Gorgeous morning, isn’t it, Mr. McKary? Good to see you again, sir.”

“Good to be back, Chambers.”

As cool as he’d sounded talking to the doorman, as soon as the elevator doors closed, Hunter’s heart began beating like a jackhammer. It felt like there wasn’t enough air in that small space. Checking his look in the mirrored doors, he took a deep breath to calm himself.

Going to see the woman you loved shouldn’t be so hard, except he hadn’t called her before he decided to drive the five hours to see her and they hadn’t spoken since she left.

Fourteen days and three hours ago.

That was longer than some Hollywood stars’ marriages lasted. That thought made his stomach twist into a tight knot. Even worse, he began to wonder if she’d moved on. The life of a movie star happened fast. Maybe she’d met someone already. Maybe she turned for solace to one of her bodyguards.

Maybe he should just turn around and go back to Virginia. He reached out to push the down button, but he didn’t catch it in time and the doors opened to the penthouse. Hunter looked out and saw no one. Had she left to make a film? Was that why the apartment sounded so silent?

The doors began to close, and along with them his chance to be with Alexis again, so he quickly stepped out and looked around for any sign of her. In all the time he spent there, he’d never heard it so quiet.

As disappointment set in that he may have missed her before she left to go on location, he walked down the hallway that felt so familiar now that he was back. He pushed open the door to the room that had been his bedroom and saw she still hadn’t changed it back to her office. Looking in, he saw it just as he’d left it that morning when they drove away to go to the estate.

Somehow, the fact that she hadn’t changed it made him feel good. True, she may have been too busy with everything else in her life, but that didn’t matter to him. That she’d kept that reminder of him around gave him hope.

He continued down the hall to her room as his heart began slamming into his chest again. Holding his breath, he knocked lightly on her door and listened for her to reply.

And then she did.

“Come in and I hope you were able to find that cherry soda at the store! I’m dying for a taste of home.”

Hunter slowly pushed the door open and saw her sitting on her bed with a script in her lap and a half dozen others spread out around her. She looked as beautiful as always. Her blond hair hung past her shoulders and framed her face perfectly. She wore a pair of jean shorts and a pink t-shirt, and her long, tanned legs were crossed in front of her as casually as usual.

This was the Alexis he fell in love with.

She looked up expecting Lauren, and for a moment, he didn’t know if he saw surprise or hurt on her face. She stared across the room at him, as if she didn’t believe her eyes, and then she tossed the script aside and jumped up off the bed to run to him.

“Oh, my God! It’s you! I didn’t think I’d ever get to see you again,” she said as she began to cry.

Pulling her to him, Hunter held her tightly. Nothing else in his life had felt as right as when he stood there holding her in his arms.

“I couldn’t keep going on just doing what I always did, so I left Project Artemis. I know I should have talked to you about it, but I guess I just let my heart do all the thinking for me.”

She stepped back from him and shook her head. With tears in her dark eyes, she said, “That’s crazy! Did you do that for me, Hunter?”

He nodded. “For us. I want us to be together. One of us had to give up our job, so I did it. I guess if you tell me you’re not that crazy about me anymore, I’m going to look pretty stupid right now. And if I have to go back to the estate, I’ll never hear the end of it from Gideon and Xavier either.”

Throwing her arms around his neck, she squeezed him to her. “Not crazy about you? I love you, Hunter. I just can’t believe you’d give up all that for me.”

“Of course I did.”

He leaned back and smiled. “I love you, Alexis. The last two weeks have been hell, and then last night, I just realized I didn’t want to keep living without you, so I did it. I quit and I drove directly here hoping you wanted me as much as I wanted you.”

Alexis cradled his face and smiled as tears rolled down her cheeks. “No man has ever cared as much about me as you do, Hunter. I’ve missed you so much. I can’t believe you gave up everything for me.”

“I would have died for you, so giving up my job isn’t anything compared to that.”

“So now you’re going to be thrust into the limelight since being with me means press and paparazzi all the time. Can you handle that?”

Hunter nodded, never more sure of an answer to a question in his life. “Yeah, I can handle it. Just promise me one thing?”

“Anything.”

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