Page 84 of Heart Set on You

“Oh, thanks. I appreciate your vote of confidence,” I joke, sitting up on my bed, shifting to cross-legged. “I’ll have you know I don’t even like cats.”

“Whatever you do, do not tell Ellie that.”

“Why not?”

“She has a crazy, unhealthy obsession with everything cats,” he says with a shrug, dragging his hand through his thick brown hair.

“That must go over well with Liam.”

“It’s Ellie, so he deals. She has him wrapped around her little finger.”

I watch Miles cover a yawn with his hand. His hair is sticking up in a million different directions. His hazel eyes shift from playful to sleepy. And then he smiles, a lazy smile that I’ve seen so many times before. It’s so unmistakably Miles. “You look tired.”

“I am. It’s been a long week. Too many early mornings. Georgia has me working like a dog. I think I’ve slept a total of eight hours over the past two days. Exhibit A: it’s 2 p.m. here and I’ve already been hard at work for nine hours.”

Innuendo is all my brain takes from that. Honest to God.

“You should get some sleep. I need to go anyways. Cole and Cara and the kids are probably here already.”

Miles shifts on the bed, settling in under the duvet, his cheek resting on the pillow. His eyelids flutter closed for a moment and I admire his full, dark eyelashes fanning over his cheeks. “Talk to me for a minute,” he says sleepily. “I don’t want to say goodbye.”

I smile. “You are going to fall asleep.”

“Most likely. That’s the point. Then I really won’t have to say goodbye. I like hearing your voice. Keep talking.”

“What am I going to do with you, city boy?”

“I could think of a million different things you could do with me.”

Two minutes later, as I’m telling him about the photos I took for a neighbor, he falls asleep to the sound of my voice.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Miles

Georgia is trying to kill me. Over the next few days she has me scheduled for two photoshoots, a meet-and-greet and a quick trip to New York for a watch campaign I’ve been asked to rep. I don’t remember what it’s like to sleep in. Hell, I don’t remember what it’s like to get more than 6 hours of sleep a night. Although I’m exhausted, both mentally and physically, the upside of being this busy is that I don’t have time to obsess about missing Rylee. Sort of.

We talk and text as much as we can, usually at night when we have a better chance of not being interrupted. She talks about looking for her own place, but I didn’t think she’s really looking. She enjoys living on the farm and spending her days with her grandparents. At some point I know she’ll find her own place, and that will make her move feel more permanent. That’s not something I like to think about. As long as Rylee is staying at her grandparents’ place I can tell myself she might change her mind about staying in Deer Lake.

“I think it will work,” Georgia says, looking at my schedule.

It’s 7 p.m., the end of another very long day, and the two of us are in my hotel room not too far from Central Park. I suggested that we order room service, too tired to go out. I’m flopped on the couch in jeans and a T-shirt while Georgia sits in the armchair beside me in her usual business attire. Dress pants, a white silk blouse and a pair of modest heels. For as long as I’ve known her, she’s never not in work mode.

“It will only work if it doesn’t get in the way of my trip to see Rylee. You have those dates blocked out, right?” I sound like a dick. Those dates are months away but it’s her gran’s birthday and I would like to be there for it. Georgia is incredible at her job. She absolutely has the dates blocked off.

“Yes, Miles,” she says, giving me her best do-you-think-I’m-a-total-idiot face. “Do I need to remind you this isn’t my first rodeo?”

“I’m sorry. I know you’re on it. Ignore me, it’s been a long day. Any word from ActionFlix?” I’m still waiting to hear about the role I auditioned for.

“Not yet. You know I will call you as soon as I hear anything.” I force a half-hearted smile while removing my new watch, dropping it on the side table. I rub the red mark on my arm that it leaves in its place and try to stifle a yawn.

I love being an actor and I plan on doing it for as long as I can. At this point I honestly can’t imagine doing anything else. I’ve made over 15 motion pictures, always eager to start filming, never dreading the long days on set. But lately all I feel is exhausted. I feel like I’m a million miles away watching as Georgia fills my calendar like a giant game of Tetris.

I do my best to answer her questions, albeit not well, and we finally finish my schedule. I have a fitting for a new designer that wants to work with me, a bunch of interviews and my personal trainer is booked every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the next three lifetimes.

It’s been one month of missing Rylee. One month of phone calls, texts and video chats, wishing I could feel her skin against mine and inhale her summer scent.

I look up to find Georgia staring at me, clearly waiting for a response to something I missed entirely.

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