Meet Cute
Page 17
“You’re my heart.”
The smile she gave me patched over all those empty spots, filled me with so much joy and hope that I didn’t care about my father and all the answers I didn’t—and probably would never—have.
My childhood had been a mess. My parents hadn’t been good.
Those were facts.
But I had something more now.
I had Tammy and Maggie and Aaron, Eden, Pierce, and Artie. I was building a family that was my own, one that was healthy, that I could rely on.
And whatever happened with the man who’d fathered me wouldn’t change any of that.
Because my family had my back.
And while the giant gaping holes inside me weren’t completely gone, they were getting smaller, filling in, and I knew that eventually they might disappear altogether.
Until then?
Tammy’s lips found mine.
I had this, had her.
And that was so much more than enough.
Epilogue
Talbot, Six Months Later
“We don’t have to do this,” I said when I felt Tammy trembling next to me.
We were standing backstage, listening to the rumble of voices just beyond the curtain of the daytime talk show that saw millions of viewers a day. It was the feel-good capital of the world, the one telling everyone to be kind to each other, and it was the perfect place to get the real story out.
It was also part of Maggie’s plan.
Tammy swallowed hard, looking fucking beautiful in the slacks and button-down that she’d picked out from the rack of clothes Maggie had brought by the house that morning. Her hair was down, flowing in a shining sheet beyond her shoulders, and the makeup people had made her approach supermodel beauty.
She’d probably say I was biased.
And I supposed I was.
She was fucking gorgeous made up like this, and also amazingly beautiful with her hair pulled back, nothing on her face.
I was whipped.
After six months. Well, it had really only taken a few days before I’d gotten to that state. Okay, no, I suppose I’d been lost for her from the moment she’d started stripping down in front of me in that tiny, walled garden. Regardless of the exact timing of this woman stealing my heart, these last months had been the best of my life. As the cliché went, I fell more in love with Tammy every day, and life was smooth and easy and peaceful, especially since we spent the vast majority of our time in Darlington.
Now, however, with her terrified and looking pale enough to topple over, I took her hand, started tugging her back toward the green room.
We didn’t need to do this.
It took a few moments before she realized what was happening.
“What are you doing?” she said, dragging her heels, scrabbling at my hold.
“You’re terrified. You don’t want to do this.” I wrapped my fingers around her wrist when she slipped free. “So, you’re not doing this.”
“I’m fine,” Tammy said, breaking my hold. “I told you, I want to do this.”
“I’ll go out and talk to everyone.”
She lifted her chin. “It’s my charity,” she said, moving beyond the bemused production assistants in the hall. “So, I’m the one talking about it.”
“Tam—”
A girl with a clipboard stepped forward. “We’re ready for you both.”
I lifted a finger, took Tammy’s hand again. “Just a second.”
“Of course, Mr. Green.”
“Tammy,” I began, leaning over to whisper in her ear.
“I love you,” she whispered, “but if you don’t let me do this, so help me God, I will make you play Munchkin with me.” A beat. “Twice.”
I shuddered, not because the game was bad. It was actually really fun—except when someone was playing against Tammy, who took absolutely no quarter and destroyed me every single time.
It was on our banned games list.
Along with Uno because of my tactics—since I was a master with the Skip and Draw Four cards.
I looked forward to adding to the list, because it would mean more time together, more memories and moments with our family and friends and just each other. But right now, I didn’t want Tammy to do something she didn’t want to do.
“I’m just—”
“Looking out for me,” she whispered. “I know, baby. But I need to do this.”
“Mr. Green?” came a tentative voice, more urgent now.
Tammy took my hand this time and led me to the stage entrance. “We’re ready,” she said.
A moment later, the music blared, and we walked out to greet the host, to wave at the cheering audience, to talk about our relationship and my movies, and, most importantly, to tell everyone about the charity that Tammy had started.
WorldCare.
Whose first goal of operation was to connect kids with caring adults. Next would be the isolated elderly.
Such a simple concept, and so perfectly encapsulating this woman.
Later that week, when we were back in Darlington, cuddled on the couch as we watched the show air, and WorldCare’s website crashed from all the donations, Tammy glanced at me with tears in her eyes and just whispered my favorite phrase of all time, “I love you.”
And I’d be damned if I could find any holes inside me.
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Love, Camera, Action
Dotted Line
* * *
Action Shot
* * *
Close Up
* * *
End Scene
* * *
Meet Cute
Love, Camera, Action
Did you miss any of the other Love, Camera, Action series books? Check out excerpts from the series below or find the full series at http://elisefaber.com/LoveCameraAction
Dotted Line
Love, Camera, Action #1
Get your copy at books2read.com/DottedLine
Olivia
The cold voice hit my spine before I made it to my chair.
“What did you say?”
Cole McTavish.
A tall hunk of a former hockey player, all muscled thighs and towering height, with a face that would have been classified as beautiful if not for the several-times-broken nose, the jagged scar along his jaw, and the small, smooth one bisecting his left eyebrow.
Further that, he was about as opposite from me as anyone I’d ever met.
Relaxed, always ready with an easy smile, Cole never raised his voice—at least off the ice. On it, he’d been a terror, a virtually unstoppable force who’d fought when needed and didn’t back down from protecting a teammate.
I’d also been his agent while he was playing.
After he’d retired, I’d transitioned him over to Devon, who’d helped him refine his brand for post-playing opportunities. Now, he was the face for a few hockey companies and one well-known corporation that sold watches. Though, to my and the rest of the female populace’s dismay, he’d turned down the swimwear ads.
I’d been with him in the locker room enough to know what was under those flannel shirts and jeans.
It was definitely billboard worthy.
Lane started to push by him, but Cole grabbed his shoulder and stepped into my office, forcing Lane back.
Devon Scott trailed them in, a stormy expression on his face.
I glanced at my boss and shook my head, silently telling him I’d already handled it, but Dev shook his head firmly back at me. Which was when I realized that what Lane had said must have been worse than I’d thought. Normally, Devon would never get involved in an argument between my employees and myself unless I asked him to.
Which I didn’t.
Since I handled my own shit.
“Tell her what you said.”
My gaze
flashed to Cole and his darkened face. “It’s—”
Emerald eyes locked onto mine, sparking fire. “Tell her,” he said, and Lane must have realized exactly how deep of a pile of shit he’d dived into because when I broke Cole’s stare to glance at my assistant, his face had gone pale.
I rested my hip against my desk. “I don’t need to hear it. Lane, get the file.”
Devon crossed his arms. “Tell her,” he said. “If you’re man enough to mutter it under your breath, you’re man enough to say it aloud.”
Lane shook off Cole and spun to face me. “Fine,” he snapped. “I said that you’re such a fucking bitch.”
My lips curved and I huffed. “Okay, great, thanks. Now, back to work.”
Lane’s jaw fell open.
A curl of amusement crept onto Dev’s face.
Cole appeared even more infuriated.
Lane somehow went paler. “Wh-what?”
“I’ve got a ton of work,” I told him, “and you say bitch like it’s a bad thing.” I transferred my gaze to Cole and Dev. “All of you are acting like it’s the worst insult in the world.” I laughed. “Believe me, I’ve been called worse.”
“It’s unacceptable,” Dev said, and I loved the guy for it.
But this was also the way of the world.
Most men despised strong women. We were told to smile or look happy or be fine with the scraps they tossed our way. If I’d had an issue with men calling me a bitch, I would have quit this male-dominated field ten years ago when I’d been a lowly assistant like Lane and my boss had been a lot worse than a bitch.
But I hadn’t.
I’d put my head down, got my shit done.
And I’d learned to not give two craps when a man thought I was a bitch.
Because it had become my anthem.
When I negotiated my client to have equivalent perks in their contract, I was a bitch.
When I demanded a different client have access to the same off-season training as the rest of the team, I was a bitch.
When I secured a bonus that was similar to the rest of the big names on the roster, I was a bitch.
So, fine.
I was a bitch.
Great. Congrats. Moving on.
—Get your copy at www.books2read.com/DottedLine
Action Shot
Love, Camera, Action #2
Get your copy at books2read.com/ActionShot
Artie
“A lady doesn’t give away her secrets.”
Stormy gray-blue eyes went hot. “I bet I can convince you.”
My pussy clenched. Straight up, right then. With a single look. Uh-oh. “I don’t date children.”
He laughed. “I’m twenty-two. That’s hardly a child.”
“Pierce. I’m thirty-seven.”
“So?”
He meant it, too, I could tell.
“So, I don’t date people who work with me.”
His laughter burned a hole straight down to my middle. “I think we’ve quite established the fact that we’re not going to be working together.”
He had a point. And the stink knew it, given the way those hot eyes traced me up and down.
“Eat your pasta,” he ordered huskily. Normally orders from men pissed me off, especially men who were many years younger than me, who deigned to think they had a right to give me orders, but there was something about Pierce’s gaze, heavy with approval and desire, that made it less annoying and more . . . promising.
I lifted a brow. “And if I don’t?”
“I’ll just have to—” He broke off and waggled his brows, making like he was going to grab my plate.
I lifted my fork threateningly.
He laughed, went back to his own entrée. “Thanks for lunch.”
My carefully constructed bite of pasta fell onto my plate. “I thought we’d established you were paying,” I said and when he did nothing more but chuckle and then smolder at me again, before continuing to devour his lunch, I knew I was in trouble.
Then deep shit when he snagged the waiter and handed him his card.
And then falling down into a crevice of even deeper shit when he gently tugged my ponytail out from underneath the collar of my jacket when I slipped it on.
Between the table and front door, I considered my options.
At the front door, I made a decision.
I took his hand and pulled him over to my car.
—Get your copy at www.books2read.com/ActionShot
Close Up
Love, Camera, Action #3
www.books2read.com/Closeupef
Eden
Smiling to myself, I reached into my purse for my keys then promptly dropped them to the ground.
Ugh.
I bent—
“I know that ass.”
A gasp of outrage on my lips, I straightened and whipped around, ready to tell off the arrogant bastard who’d dared—
Damon Garcia.
Photographer extraordinaire and—
He grinned.
Man who still wanted to get into my pants.
Now, I wasn’t a prude. I slept around enough to have been called a whore by more than one publication. It wasn’t like my activities between the sheets were more than most men in Hollywood, but because I was a woman, it was noticed and frowned upon.
I just couldn’t bring myself to care.
I practiced consensual, safe sex.
If we both were attracted to each other and it was safe, then I didn’t hesitate to go for what I wanted.
Maybe that made me a whore.
Maybe I didn’t care what other people thought about me.
But Damon?
Damon, I didn’t sleep with.
Damon, I didn’t fuck or kiss or touch.
Because I knew if I allowed myself a taste, I would never have enough.
I was frozen in place when he bent in front of me and picked up my keys, extending them toward me. That was when I made my first mistake. My fingers brushed his as I took them back. Heat exploded up my arm, my stomach went tingly, and my voice was breathy as I asked, “What are you doing here?”
“I live here now. Well, not the hospital—I’m visiting a friend—but here in town.” He smiled, and that paired with the news of him being in L.A. hit me hard upside the head. So hard, it knocked my common sense loose and allowed me to make my second mistake.
Because I didn’t run after I’d said, “Oh, that’s great.”
My third came when he asked, “Want to grab a drink tonight and catch up?”
To which I said, “Yes,” instead of “Absolutely not.”
My fourth?
Well, my fourth came when I finally gave in to the draw that was Damon Garcia and woke up naked in my bed beside him.
And then he wouldn’t leave.
—Get your copy at www.books2read.com/Closeupef
End Scene
Love, Camera, Action #4
www.books2read.com/EndScene
My cell vibrated just as the minister declared, “You may now kiss the bride.”
Slipping out of my chair as Eden and Damon locked lips, but before they vacated the altar, I sprinted down the aisle and toward a tree, hustling behind it.
Only five people were currently not on Do Not Disturb.
Eden—who was currently otherwise occupied.
Three additional equally important clients. All of whom were either in attendance—and Pierce and Artie were not likely to be on the phone as they watched the bride and groom get hitched—or on the opposite side of the globe—and Talbot was probably sleeping.
The last was my father.
Who never called unless something was on fire, someone was bleeding out, or an asteroid was heading toward the planet.
I glanced at the screen, not realizing how much I’d been hoping it was Talbot with some earth-shattering crisis until I saw “Dad calling” flashing across the surface. “Shit,” I muttered, swiping a finger and bringing it up to my ear. “Hi, Dad. Everything
okay?”
“It’s not Dad.”
Hot then cold. Goose bumps on my arms. The past shoving its way firmly into my present because his voice was ice, and it broke my heart.
Aaron.
My ex Aaron.
My ex because I’d left.
—Get your copy at www.books2read.com/EndScene
Also by Elise Faber
Billionaire’s Club (all stand alone)
Bad Night Stand
Bad Breakup
Bad Husband
Bad Hookup
Bad Divorce
Bad Fiancé
Bad Boyfriend
Bad Blind Date
Bad Wedding
Bad Engagement
Bad Bridesmaid
Bad Swipe (June 28th, 2021)
* * *
Gold Hockey (all stand alone)
Blocked
Backhand
Boarding
Benched
Breakaway
Breakout
Checked
Coasting
Centered
Charging
Caged (April 12th, 2021)
Crashed (July 27th, 2021)
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Breakers Hockey (all stand alone)
Broken (May 24th, 2021)
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KTS Series
Fire and Ice (Hurt Anthology, stand alone)
Riding The Edge
Crossing The Line (March 22nd, 2021)
Leveling The Field (June 14th, 2021)
* * *
Love, Action, Camera (all stand alone)
Dotted Line
Action Shot
Close-Up
End Scene
Meet Cute (April 5th, 2021)