by Cara Dee
Unfortunately, she wouldn’t get to see him much tonight because she was having dinner with Judah, the male lead. Considering she was playing his sister in the upcoming weeks and they'd barely even spoken, they needed to get to know each other a little better.
They passed two trailers outside the entrance, and Noah was there, so they didn’t have to worry about clearance from security.
"You've been missed, babe." Noah hugged her tightly.
"Ditto—so much." She squeezed him back and smiled hugely. "I'm looking forward to meeting your Emma. How about we have dinner tomorrow, you, me, Emma, and Tennyson?"
He ended the hug and cleared his throat, appearing uncomfortable for some reason. "Yeah, uh… I mean, yeah." His gaze darted a bit. "Count me and Emma in, but you should probably talk to the boss first."
Oh, joy. "So he's testy with everybody, I take it?" Poor man. And he complained Sophie worked too much? Clearly, Tennyson fell into that category, too.
"Heh." Noah chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sure. Uh, so, we're taking a quick break now if you wanna talk to him. He's inside. Just follow the masses."
He was so strange. He'd dealt with Tennyson's temper at work before. Why this was different, she had no idea, but she decided to drop it and seek out her man. Lucy went for some coffee, and Sophie entered the grocery store and located Tennyson in a lit-up cereal aisle.
There was camera equipment everywhere, a handful of people milling around, and Tennyson was speaking to Judah and one of Brooklyn's girls.
Sophie waited. She nodded in hello to a few she recognized before they walked off for their break.
"I want it in your actions, too," Tennyson was telling Judah. "The look in your eyes is perfect for when you lean in. I could sense how close Rory was to losing control." He spoke of Judah's character. "I want to see more of that in your posture, how you move. When you circle your hands around her throat, we want to see all the contradictions. Touch her gently, but look murderous. Be whisper-soft, but sinister."
"I get it." Judah nodded and looked down, pensive. "Should I press up against her, too? Do I look around for fear that others will see me, or am I too focused on my victim?"
Tennyson rubbed his jaw, thinking. "No body contact. You hate these women. The only one you want to be affectionate with and close to is your sister. But you are very focused on them. You can flick your gaze a couple times, but once you get into the girl's private space, all you see is your next mission."
Judah nodded again, and they wrapped it up.
Sophie grinned as Tennyson turned around and spotted her, but to her confusion, his features tightened. There was no smile, no nothing.
A thought occurred to her, and it made her queasy: did he not want them to go public yet?
"Hi," she said, approaching warily. "Um, are we keeping us a secret?" It made no sense, and it saddened her if that was the case. But she'd respect it—in case he wasn’t ready.
She'd missed him so fucking much. Not jumping into his arms was all but impossible.
"No," he replied slowly, grabbing what looked like a call sheet from on top of the monitor. "You must have me confused with Josh, the man you actually do keep as a secret."
"What?" she asked softly. She didn’t like this abrupt distance between them at all. It threw her off-kilter.
"Are you going to pretend you don’t know what I'm talking about?" He looked up from the call sheet and grinned at her. "That doesn’t seem like you at all. Technically, you haven't done anything wrong; you were free to fuck whoever you—"
She gasped at that. "Excuse me?" Her mind spun so fast it nearly made her dizzy. It was too much, going from being over the moon with happiness. She was pregnant, for God's sake. She wanted to tell him, hug him, she'd missed him beyond words, she wanted them to spend a month in bed to catch up, she needed his strength… And then this. Fuck whoever—whoever she wanted, or what he'd intended to say. And Josh's name had been mentioned.
"Noah told me." Tennyson inclined his head and pulled out his phone. "He thought I knew already—that it was common knowledge."
"What is common knowledge and could someone shed some light on this for me?" Now she was getting angry. He was ruining her buzz.
Josh. Fuck. Josh. Fuck whomever… Noah told him. Josh…
"Oh my God." She covered her mouth with her hand, nauseated. "Oh, Tennyson. Oh, no, no. Please don’t think I'd go behind your back." Tears welled up in an instant as memories she'd honestly put behind her resurfaced. "I'd never betray you." She took a step closer, her stomach twisting painfully when he went rigid and took a step back. "Tennyson, you have to believe me. I haven't thought about—" She stopped herself.
She hadn't thought about Josh. Practically since he'd been a dick to her. She'd shut him out, and so much had happened right after. She'd gotten caught up in her dream—a dream that had come true. Finally being on the same page with Tennyson, and then the filming…
She sniffled and averted her eyes, discreetly wiping at her cheek. There were still a few people working near the cameras, and she didn’t want an audience.
"Can we talk about this in private?"
"When I get time," he answered tightly. "I have work now, and you have an appointment with Brooklyn."
It was like a slap to the face, but she wasn’t sure by whom. Him or herself. God, she regretted everything now. She felt stupid and desperate. She hadn't seen him in so long, and he was dismissing her just like that.
"I'm sorry," she choked out. "I didn’t know you wanted me. We weren't together, and I swear, Josh and I never—"
"What did I just tell you?" he snapped. "We can talk about this another time."
Sophie flinched and swallowed hard. "O-Okay." She turned and walked away, shaking, and struggled against the countless emotions bubbling up. Confusion—how had things gone so epically wrong so fast? Her brain couldn’t catch up. Fear—she couldn’t lose him. The thought caused more nausea to roll around inside her. Rejection—despite how little time she and Tennyson had actually been a couple, he had never turned her away. Ever. He'd always been there for her. Anger—she was pissed at herself.
Tennyson had said it himself, she hadn't technically done anything wrong, but technicalities could go fuck themselves. If she hadn't been so lost in their new relationship, perhaps she'd have been smart enough to hash it out with him before she'd jumped him.
She should've been up-front. She should have told him.
Right?
Near the exit, she spotted Noah and noticed he was already watching her come closer. He looked uncomfortable and resigned, and she made a beeline for him, needing answers.
She grabbed his arm and dragged him toward an empty part of the store—by the registers.
"Please tell me everything," she rasped out.
"First of all, I'm so fucking sorry, Sophie—"
She shook her head quickly. "You probably have nothing to apologize for whatsoever, but I need answers. What did you tell Tennyson, and, seriously, what is it Josh has told you?"
He stuck his hands into his pockets. "Josh told me you hooked up after your birthday party. Then you had a fight a few weeks later and broke up."
Sophie rolled her eyes and wiped away the tear that rolled down. "Unbelievable. So I'm guessing you told Tennyson I dated Josh for a while."
Noah squinted. "Um. I was drunk. I may have used the word hookup, too. But I thought Tennyson knew. Otherwise, I would've kept my mouth shut, I swear."
"I would've told him if I hadn't forgotten about it." Sophie frowned and looked down. "I guess I sort of shut Josh out of my life when he was an asshole. I don’t know. I just got swept away by work. And Tennyson."
"Did Josh do something, babe?"
Sophie didn’t wanna get into it, nor did she want to play the victim. "He expected more than I could give, and before it got ugly, I slammed the door in his face. We made out once." She faced Noah again. "I put a stop to it. End of story."
Noah wasn’t the kind o
f guy who pressed for details, but before she left, he advised her to just tell Tennyson everything. Considering he believed a lot more than kissing had happened, Sophie agreed. She would definitely tell him—when he saw fit to summon her.
Ugh.
She left shortly after that, and Lucy gave her privacy as they headed over to Brooklyn's temporary makeup studio. AKA, one of the trailers in the parking lot.
It was such a relief to see Brooklyn. They hugged for a long time, and though Sophie managed to get her feelings in check and not bawl like a baby, Brooklyn figured out something was wrong. So as Sophie got in a chair and one of Brooklyn's hair stylists got ready with hair dye, Sophie spilled the beans.
She didn’t have all the details yet, so she just told Brooklyn what she knew—exactly what had transpired between her and Josh, how much Tennyson knew, Noah's involvement…
"I wondered about you two," Brooklyn admitted, gently pulling down Sophie's cardigan to uncover the tattoo on her shoulder blade. "You and Josh seemed flirty during your birthday dinner—oh, girl, this is precious. I love the design."
"Thanks." Sophie managed a small smile. "I don’t need the cover anymore. It's all healed, and I spoke to the tattoo artist. As long as I keep it moisturized, there shouldn’t be a problem with the concealer."
"Understood." Brooklyn nodded. "We'll only need to cover it for the scene Judah rips off your shirt, though. Can I see the one on your hip?"
She stood up quickly to show her friend the infinity symbol with the feather and the word "Love." At that point, Brooklyn's assistant returned, and it was time to sit down again.
"Will this one need to be concealed?" Sophie held up her hand and parted her fingers to show the tiny "Family" ink.
Brooklyn hummed. "It'd only take a minute, so we might as well. Just in case." She grabbed the makeup case designated for Sophie and pulled out a small container of concealer. "Shauna, you can get started with her hair. Less shine than Judah but same color." She faced Sophie in the mirror. "When do you have your fitting for the pregnancy?"
Sophie dropped her jaw. "How did you know!"
"What?" Brooklyn's expression clouded with confusion, but then it cleared, and her eyes grew wide. "Get the fuck out! You're pregnant?"
"Well—" She blew out a breath, frustrated. "What the fuck else are we talking about? And what fitting?" If this pregnancy was anything like her first one, she wouldn't be showing for a while.
That was one of the reasons she shouldn’t have been disappointed to test negative the last time. It would've seriously screwed up her filming schedule.
"Tennyson changed the script. You didn’t know?" Brooklyn waved it off. "Moving on—we have to celebrate! How your man can even hold a grudge is beyond me. He must be ecstatic."
"He doesn’t know yet, so keep your trap shut." Sophie made eye contact with both ladies. "I was going to tell him everything today, but then this shit happened."
"So tell him anyway." Brooklyn raised a brow. "He won't be able to stay mad."
"That’s why I'm not doing it. I don't want him to forgive me because I happen to be pregnant. No way."
"Well, if you're gonna be all mature about it…" Brooklyn huffed and got started with testing all the products to make sure they fit Sophie's skin tone. "You know, now I'm curious. Why exactly is he mad? Is it because you didn’t tell him or because you were with Josh in the first place? 'Cause…he doesn’t really have a right to be angry about the latter. You were single."
Sophie looked down at her lap and twisted her fingers together. "I'm not really sure why he's mad—maybe a little bit of both? I don’t know." She exhaled heavily. "I don’t think I can go on technicalities here, though." She met Brooklyn's gaze in the mirror. "If Tennyson had met someone before we got together, I would've been jealous. And hearing about it from someone else? I don’t blame him for being upset."
"I get it." Brooklyn nodded. "But you have no feelings for Josh now, right?"
"I never had feelings for him," Sophie chuckled bitterly. "He was nice and attractive, and I had no idea Tennyson wanted me anymore. I figured it couldn’t hurt to open my eyes to others. Only, it didn’t work for shit. Kissing was fine, I guess, but you should've seen how I froze up when Josh mentioned sex. It made my skin crawl, and I sort of panicked."
Brooklyn opened her mouth to speak, but there was a knock on the door.
It was already partially open, but it opened farther, and Tennyson was standing there.
All the color drained from Sophie's face, and she wondered how much he'd heard. Judging by the tightness in his features, he'd definitely heard something.
"I forgot to give you the key card to our suite," he muttered. He set it down on a counter and then backed away. "Angela texted me. Kayden's sleeping in her room, but I'll pick him up once I'm done today."
"Okay. I have dinner with Judah…"
"I know." He nodded with a dip of his chin before he left.
Brooklyn let out a whistle and raised her eyebrows.
Sophie swallowed hard. "Yeah. It's bad, I guess."
"You'll work it out, hon." Brooklyn seemed confident. "You two are meant to be together."
Wanting to change the subject, Sophie waved that off and asked about Brooklyn and Asher instead. It had to be progressing well if Maliah was staying with Asher while Brooklyn was overseas, right?
"I love that bastard," Brooklyn confessed with a soft laugh. "Took me a month, then I was done for." Sophie aww'd at that. "He can be kinda awkward with Maliah, but as soon as boys are involved? Girl, Daddy comes out to play."
Sophie could definitely see that, and it made her wonder if Tennyson would be any different if they had a girl.
It made her yearn, and she hoped they could recover from this—soon.
Chapter 22
"Daddy…?"
Tennyson woke up the next morning to little fingers scratching his beard.
"I'm up, I'm up." He stretched out and rolled onto his back, placing an arm behind his head. Kayden took that as an invitation to straddle his chest. "Mornin', bug." Rubbing his eyes, he tried to shake the sleep that clouded his brain.
After work yesterday, he'd picked Kayden up from his nanny, and they'd watched Despicable Me together before Tennyson had given him a bath and gotten him ready for bed. And considering the shit going on with Sophie, he had crashed in the second bedroom with their son.
He assumed Sophie was sleeping on the other side of the wall. He hadn't been awake to hear her get back from dinner, and he wouldn’t be surprised if she never wanted to share a bed with him again.
"I'm hungwy." Kayden poked Tennyson's stomach. "Wheu Mommy?"
"I don’t know. Let's find out." He sat up and threw a squealing kiddo over his shoulder. Then he headed straight for the bathroom to take a leak and change Kayden's diaper.
Afterward, they headed to the living room area and noticed Sophie right away. She was on the phone, and Kayden barreled into her to hug her legs. Meanwhile, Tennyson struggled to stay away.
Her newly darkened hair hung in loose waves, still damp after her shower, and her robe wasn’t the big, fluffy kind they had in hotels. It was too short, showing off her lean, perfectly toned legs. She was barefoot, her gorgeous face free of makeup, and she wore a sweet smile for Kayden.
Tennyson shook his head grimly and sat down on the couch. His head was completely fucked. He was miserable, angry, confused, and torn.
"That's fine," Sophie said on the phone, combing her fingers through Kayden's hair. "No, I'm meeting the rest of the cast today, and I thought I'd take them all to lunch. I'm sorta the newcomer, you know? Just showing up in the middle of filming." She laughed softly. "Exactly."
She was so fucking sweet. Everyone loved her, and she wasn’t putting on a show, either. She genuinely cared. She absolutely hated hurting people, and it made all this a hundred times more difficult.
Tennyson had overheard her with Brooklyn yesterday. He'd approached the trailer while Brooklyn was stating that he had n
o right to be mad at Sophie for meeting someone new while she'd been single.
He'd listened in long enough to find out that Sophie hadn't actually slept with Josh—nor dated him. She'd panicked after kissing, but even so… Fuck. He wished he'd known sooner.
By finding out about Josh and Sophie now—when she and Tennyson were together—felt like an intrusion. Like Josh had broken in to what was only Tennyson's and Sophie's. Something that was fucking sacred.
But what could he do? He knew her. He'd seen the sheer grief and dejection in her yesterday. He'd heard enough while the girls had been talking in the makeup trailer. She was the best part of Tennyson. She didn’t have a malicious bone in her.
There was nothing to forgive. He only needed time to get over this goddamn jealousy. It churned like acid in his gut, and if he didn’t want to pass a fist through a wall—or Josh's face—he wanted to throw Sophie down and fuck her until the only name she knew was his.
"Okay, that’s great. I'll talk to you soon." She ended the call and picked up Kayden, nuzzling his cheek. "Good morning, baby. Did you have a sleepover with Daddy?"
Kayden giggled and offered a curious smile as he touched her hair. "Funny Mommy."
"Do I look funny?" She pretended to be scandalized. "Sounds to me like you wanna meet the tickle monster."
"No!" He covered his tummy with his hands and widened his eyes.
Tennyson couldn’t help but grin.
"Oh, I think so." Sophie walked closer to the couch. "The tickle monster's gonna get'cha!" She dropped Kayden on Tennyson's lap, and he pulled up Kayden's pajama shirt and tickled him until his laughter became breathless.
"Nooo!" Kayden wheezed through giggles.
Tennyson chuckled and stopped the assault.
"I'm gonna go get dressed," Sophie said with a hesitant smile. "I ordered breakfast for you guys, so I'll get out of your hair."
"Sophie…" The humor dropped like a brick. Possibly over Tennyson's head. 'Cause, damn, that packed a punch. "This is your suite, too."