Crashing Into Love

by Melissa Foster

  He licked his lips.

  “God.” She sank back down to the bed. “It’s a good thing Trish isn’t paying me, because there is no way my brain is going to function today.”

  They somehow made it out the door without falling back into bed, and several hours later, Fiona was still hot and bothered. She was talking with Patch away from the closed set while Zane, Trish, and Jake were filming a bedroom scene. A closed set meant that only critical staff were allowed to watch.

  “Did you hear the rumor about Zane and Jake?” Patch asked.

  “Which rumor would that be?” Fiona had no idea what he was talking about, but the set was ripe with rumors about everyone, so nothing would surprise her. She wasn’t worried about hurtful rumors about him and other women. They’d come too far for that. She trusted him just as she had when they were teenagers. Even more so now that he’d made such immense changes in his lifestyle for her.

  “They’re being cast for the film at Sugar Lake. Well, Zane’s being cast for the lead and Jake does all his stunts, so…Will you be there?” Patch shifted his chin, sending his dark hair off his forehead for a brief second; then it fell right back in place.

  “Um…” Will I? She had no idea.

  “Okay. I’ll take that as an undecided. Sorry, Fiona. I thought you two were a sure thing. At least that’s what Jake’s told everyone.” Patch nodded toward Jake and Trish, who were walking across the lot toward them. “I guess filming wrapped.”

  “Wait, Patch. Who is everyone?”

  Jake waved and then touched Trish’s arm. They stopped to talk, and Fiona wondered what he was saying to Trish if he’d told everyone that they were a sure thing. They were a sure thing, but she still wanted to know who everyone was.

  Patch laughed. “Who is everyone? The guy alerted the media. Who do you think everyone is? I’d be surprised if anyone didn’t think that.”

  “Oh, right. Sorry. I thought you meant he was telling individual people.”

  “It’s Jake Braden. He says one word to the right person and the world knows. Honey, you were his the minute the paps took your picture.” Patch glanced at Jake and Trish. “Secret meeting, I guess. I better go find Zane. He probably needs his water. If I ever make it big, remind me not to make my assistant get me water. It’s so demeaning.”

  “See you later, Patch.” Her cell phone vibrated. She withdrew it from her pocket and read the text from Shea. They scheduled the postfilming dinner. Do you want me to get you a dress? What would she do without Shea? She texted her back quickly as Jake and Trish approached. Sure. When is it? Thanks!

  Her reply sounded far more excited than Fiona felt. She watched Jake approaching, his dark eyes locked on her like he couldn’t wait to have her in his arms, and all she could think about was that when filming ended, their time together would also come to an end.

  “Hey, babe.” Jake put a hand on her lower back and kissed her cheek.

  “Hi. Hey, Trish.”

  Still dressed from her closed scene, Trish wore a silky robe tied at the waist. Fiona knew she was wearing lingerie beneath for the bedroom scene that was to be rudely interrupted by a fight scene. She looked beautiful in full makeup with her chestnut hair tousled. She didn’t even look nervous anymore. She was a natural actress, and Fiona was glad to see that she’d gotten over her Steve Hileberg nervousness. Heck, Trish seemed to be a natural everything.

  “Hey, Fi,” Trish said. “We just heard about the postproduction actors’ dinner. I’m going to ask Shea to get us dresses again.”

  “She just texted me and asked if I wanted a dress. So she’s already heard, I guess.” Fiona hooked her finger in the pocket of Jake’s shorts. “Do I get to be your date?”

  “Who else’s date would you be?” Jake raised a brow. “Of course, babe. Trish? Do you want to come with us?”

  “No, thanks. Actually, I have someone I want to ask.” Trish tugged on the tie of her robe.

  “You do?” Fiona felt her eyes widen. Trish hadn’t said anything to her about having a crush on anyone.

  “I just decided two minutes ago. I think I’m going to ask Clark.”

  Fiona and Jake exchanged a look. “Clark? As in Clark Kent? From my work?”

  “Yeah. Why not? I mean, he and I always get along, and I think he’d really enjoy it.” Trish must have caught the surprise in Jake’s eyes. “What?”

  “Clark Kent? You’re bringing Superman?” He laughed.

  “His name isn’t really Clark Kent,” Trish explained. “It’s Clark Taver, but Fiona and I jokingly call him Clark Kent because he looks like him—dark hair, nicely built, with thick black glasses.”

  “I never even knew you liked him like that,” Fiona added. “In fact, I didn’t know you were in touch with him beyond when you came to visit me.”

  “I don’t like him like that.” Trish rolled her eyes. “We keep in touch via email and Facebook. We were chatting about the movie and he was asking all sorts of questions about the set and what it’s like.” She shrugged. “I thought it might be fun for him to go, and since I don’t have a real date, why not? It’s Clark. It’s not like he’ll try to get me to sleep with him or anything.”

  “Cool. I think that’s really nice of you.” It was just like Trish to do something like that. She was always thinking of others.

  “I have to go to the little girls’ room.” Trish pointed to one of the buildings. “I’ll catch up with you afterward.”

  “So, I guess Clark isn’t a love match,” Jake said as he settled a hand on her waist and kissed her neck, sending a shiver straight to her toes. “Not like us.”

  “He’s a really nice guy, and they do get along really well, but I’d never put them together as a couple. He’s not exactly my boss, but he is a superior. It’s not like they could really have a relationship anyway. She’s always jetting off for filming.” As she said the words, she realized that Jake probably was, too. She really needed to think about how this relationship would work long-term, but she didn’t want to think about that now. She was in a good mood, and she liked the happy wave they were riding.

  “That’s true, and from what she told me, her agent told her she’s now an even hotter commodity.” Jake furrowed his brow.

  “Yeah, she told me that this morning, too.” Fiona was happy for Trish, but thoughts of leaving Jake to go back to work weighed heavily on her mind, despite her efforts to push them away. She needed a distraction.

  “Trish also said that you asked her if I could have Friday and the weekend off. She might have to film Saturday.” She cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. “What do you have up your sleeve now?”

  Trish came out of the building across the lot and headed toward them.

  “I figured we’d go to Fresno and spend some time on your turf.”

  “But why Friday?”

  “Because I want to see where you work, and I didn’t think we could do that Saturday. Trish said it was okay, unless you’d rather not.”

  “I’d rather. I’m just…surprised. My work isn’t very interesting.”

  “Everything about you is interesting. For two years I listened to you dream about becoming a geologist, and I’ve never forgotten the look in your eyes. When we were at the museum I saw that look again. I want to see you in that world, Fi. You’ve been in my world for weeks. It’s time for me to visit yours.”

  “Okay, but you may be highly disappointed.”

  “I doubt that. It’s part of you, so how could I be anything but interested?” He kissed her again. “I’ve got to catch up with Zane, but let’s meet at my trailer. Does six work?”

  “Perfectly.” She watched him walk away. “Mm-mm-mm. That man is yummy.”

  “You two fell hard.” Trish grabbed Fiona’s arm and dragged her toward her trailer. “Come on. I need to change. You’re supposed to keep me on track, not ogle the hot stuntman.”

  “I can’t help myself. So it looks like we’re going to Fresno this weekend.”

  “So I heard. He loves
you, Fi, so much.” Trish closed the trailer door behind them.

  “Yeah,” she said just above a whisper as she lowered herself onto the cloth bench while Trish went into the bedroom to change.

  “My agent thinks I’m going to get a bunch more leading roles in great films, and look at you and Jake. Can you believe how fast our lives are changing?” Trish hollered over her shoulder.

  “No. It’s crazy.” Crazy and wonderful and almost too good to be true.

  A few minutes later Trish came out of the bedroom in a pair of white shorts and a yellow tank top. She flopped on the bench next to Fiona.

  “I just checked and Shea texted me, too. How does she find out about these things faster than we do?” Trish set her cell phone on the table.

  “Maybe your agent called her because she wanted to make sure you got the press you deserved. It’s a whole different world than mine is, isn’t it?” Fiona fiddled with Trish’s phone.

  “Night and day. This is so far from journal articles, mineralization, and geochemistry that it must blow your mind.” Trish rubbed her hand over her butterfly tattoo, which they’d been covering up with makeup on the set.

  “I guess in some ways acting and geology are the same,” Trish said. “In your job you’re just looking at different types of relationships and models. In the entertainment business, we’re working on emotional relationships and symbiotic couplings of characters. So they’re different, but on some level they’re still similar.”

  “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.” Fiona laughed. “What am I going to do, Trish?”

  Trish kicked her feet up on the other side of the bench. “What do you mean? You’re going to go back to Fresno and show off your hunky boyfriend, tell Clark I said hello, show Jake your adorable house, and then come back here and pretend to be my assistant for the next few weeks until we wrap. Then we’ll go to a fabulous party.”

  “And then?” Fiona got up and paced.

  “Then…” Trish watched Fiona, her eyes widening with understanding. “Oh. Then. Well, haven’t you and Jake discussed anything about what happens after he’s done filming?”

  “He films longer than you do. I think he’s set to be here for a few weeks after we leave, and no. We haven’t really said anything other than what you already know.”

  “That the two of you are having wild, passionate sex and are too in love to spend a single night apart. I’ve got that part.” She smiled at Fiona and rose to her feet. “Talk to him.”

  “Duh, but what about my promotion?”

  “What about it? You knew about the promotion when you came here, and you said if you and Jake got back together you’d happily leave that behind and find something else in LA. Have you changed your mind?”

  “No. Definitely not. But…I know it’s early in our relationship and everything, but he hasn’t said anything about me not going back to Fresno. Now he wants to go there, and it makes me wonder if he’s thinking we’ll have a long-distance relationship or something.”

  Trish pulled a soda from the fridge and handed it to Fiona, then cracked one open for herself. “Since when are you afraid to speak your mind? Ask him.”

  “It feels funny to do that. Like I’m rushing our relationship, or—”

  “Rushing your relationship? You blew the guy on the side of the road.” Trish sipped her drink. “That crossed a huge line for you. You’re in uncharted territory, and I don’t think you’re rushing a darn thing. For you to do that, it’s gotta be pretty serious, don’t you think? Besides, you aren’t exactly a new couple. You’ve got history. That counts for something. And the way he eyes you, you know he doesn’t want you to be with anyone else. I think you should just ask him.”

  Ask him. It sounded so easy, so why did it feel so difficult?

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  AS JAKE DROVE into Fresno Friday afternoon, he felt the weight of Los Angeles fall away. There really was a different feeling that came over him when he left LA. Before he and Fiona got back together, he’d felt the opposite. Leaving LA had brought more stress than relief. Going home to Trusty had become a double-edged sword that he needed to recover from, rather than visiting home to recover from his chaotic life. And now, as they drove down the wide streets of Fresno and he reached for Fiona’s hand, he relished in the freedom of leaving LA behind.

  Fresno was nestled in the south Central Valley of California, not a far drive from LA, but a world away when it came to the environment. Fresno felt like any other busy town, while LA felt like a world in and of itself—bigger than life with expectations to match.

  “Does it feel good to be back?” he asked Fiona.

  She looked sexy in a short summer dress that stopped just above her knees and a pair of strappy sandals, gazing out the window. “Feels weird, like I’ve been gone a lot longer than a month.”

  “Is this the first time you’ve gone away for so long?” He followed her directions toward her office and tried to imagine Fiona living there—without him. They’d spent so much time together that he was having a hard time imagining her anywhere else but by his side.

  “I’ve been gone for a few weeks at a time for work, but this feels different. Maybe because you’re coming back with me, or because there’s a promotion waiting for me when I get back. I’m not sure.”

  He’d been thinking about her promotion a lot lately, and as much as he wanted to be with Fiona, she’d already given up so much in order to give them a shot at being together. The idea of asking her to give up even more seemed tremendously selfish, and he was trying to break the mold of selfish Jake.

  He decided not to address the promotion just yet. He was looking forward to seeing Fiona in her element. He was proud of how much she’d accomplished, and he knew from talking with Trish how much her coworkers respected her.

  “Turn left here. It’s that glass building.”

  Jake parked in the lot beside the building and opened the car door for Fiona.

  “Did you call and let them know we were coming?” He didn’t know exactly why he wanted to see her in her office so badly, but Jake trusted his gut, and his gut told him that this was exactly where they needed to be today.

  “Yeah, I left my boss a message.”

  The building felt clinical, with low-pile carpet and wide, silent hallways. The walls were white, with pictures of dig sites, rocks, and fossils. They took the stairs up to the second floor. He purposely gave her space to decide what was appropriate for public displays of affection in her office. He didn’t reach for her hand or stand too close, and when she reached for his hand he was glad he’d let her make the choice.

  “You’re about to meet a bunch of scientists, so be ready for reserved personalities and serious discussions.” She hesitated at the door, and he could tell she was nervous.

  “If you’re nervous, I don’t have to go in. As much as I want to see you in action, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

  “You’re not. I’m just…” She pressed her lips together and pressed one hand to his chest, inhaling deeply, then blowing it out slowly. “Jake, I’m a scientist. You’re going to see me in scientist mode, and I haven’t really thought about the difference until just now. The people in there know me as a scientist, not a dirt-bike-riding girl.”

  He ran his thumb over her lower lip and whispered, “Then I guess we shouldn’t fill them in on all the dirty things you like to do.”

  She smiled, and he knew his effort to ease her tension was working.

  “I love you for your intelligence as much as the rest of you, Fi. I knew you were a brainiac when we were kids. How many teenage girls spent their lunch periods in a science lab? I’m an engineer, remember? We’re made for each other. We can work hard, play hard, or, I’m realizing, thanks to you, we can just chill and enjoy each other. Have a little faith in me, babe.”

  “Sometimes I forget that you know the real me.” She smoothed nonexistent wrinkles out of her dress, then pushed open the doors.

  A blond receptionis
t with a pixie haircut and big blue eyes looked up from behind a computer and smiled. “Fiona. I didn’t expect to see you for a couple weeks, but I’m glad you’re here. Did Paul get ahold of you this morning?”

  Fiona shook her head. “No. Deirdre, this is Jake Braden. Jake, this is Deirdre, our office manager.”

  “Nice to meet you, Deirdre.”

  “Hi, Jake.” She turned her attention back to Fiona without as much as a second glance at Jake, which Jake wasn’t used to. He was surprised to find that he was thankful for the lack of attention. Fiona was the star in here, and he loved seeing her as such. “Your article on the validity of fossil records was accepted to Science Daily. Paul’s really excited.”

  Fiona’s eyes widened in surprise. “It was accepted? Are you kidding me? Oh my God. This is huge.”

  “Definitely not kidding.” Deirdre spoke in a calm, even tone, as opposed to Fiona, who looked as though she might burst, with wide eyes and excitement coming off of her in waves.

  “Congratulations, babe.”

  She threw her arms around his neck and laughed. So much for keeping a lid on public displays of affection.

  “This is huge,” she said as she led him through a set of double doors and into a large laboratory.

  Jake had expected to see a bunch of nerdy people sitting around in lab coats looking through microscopes, which was ridiculous given that Fiona was anything but nerdy. Instead, the laboratory was filled with computer monitors, cumbersome equipment that looked like microscopes on steroids, elemental tables hanging on the walls, and shelves of resource materials.

  They passed a large spectrometer, rounded a corner, and went through another set of doors. Three men turned as they walked in. A tall, dark-haired man’s eyes locked on Fiona.

  “Fiona. Did you hear?” He closed the distance between them, holding his hands out. Fiona took his hands in hers.

  “Yes, Paul. I can hardly believe it.” Her smile hadn’t faltered since she heard the news.

  “Believe it.” Paul nodded. “As always, you hit your mark. I’m so proud of you.”