by Dee J. Adams
“She’s here too. In serious condition, but she should pull through.”
“I’m glad...” Julie’s voice came from the door and Troy gingerly turned his head. “I’m glad I had cruddy aim, but hate that it took four bullets to slow her down.” Leaning against the door frame, wearing a hospital gown with her arm wrapped in thick white bandages and tucked into a sling, she watched him.
“Does this mean you’re not mad at me anymore?” That was really the only thing Troy wanted at this point. A clean slate with her.
She moved in slowly and sat next to him, her hip connected with his. This close, he got a look at the bruises on her neck and jaw and wished she had shot Carrie Ann fatally. “Since you’ve taken not just one, but two bullets for me now, it would be hugely bitchy of me to be mad at you.”
“True,” Zach murmured behind her and Troy scowled at him.
Julie chuckled. “It is true.” She adjusted his sheets, then met his gaze.
Floored at the emotion he saw in her eyes, Troy vowed then and there to never fuck up as bad again. “You know, I’m the one who has to say thank you now. You saved me this time.” He remembered seeing Carrie Ann’s gun aimed straight at his chest, and Julie flying through the air to tackle her just as the shot rang out. “Thank you. See, I knew you were tough.”
She canted her head to the side and gave him her quirky smile. “Two more times and we’ll be even.”
“Bite your tongue,” Troy said. “I’ll be happy with a nice quiet life after this.” His throbbing head testified to that.
“I don’t know how quiet it’s going to be,” Julie replied. “But I’ll take the press over a bullet any day of the week.” She ran her thumb over his jaw in a tender caress. “I think we should start over. From now on, when it comes to my safety I’ll listen to you.”
“And from now on, I won’t keep anything from you,” Troy promised.
“I can live with that.” Julie took his hand and linked their fingers. “I figured something out while you were in surgery.” At his questioning eyes, she continued, “Remember the night I called you? The day of the luncheon?” she specified. “I spent the afternoon with Drew and Cal. Drew fixed some iced tea that tasted nasty. He must have drugged me. I remember Cal falling asleep first, but she could’ve been faking it. I don’t know. My point is that Drew had time to mess with my car.”
“I remember you had a headache,” Troy said.
Julie nodded. “I felt like I had hang—” Her phone rang and she fished it out of the sling. “It’s Ari. We’ve been playing phone tag. He left a message that they need me in wardrobe fittings in a few days.” She shook her head. “I can’t do this movie.” She pressed the talk button, but Troy snatched the phone out of her hand and disconnected the call. “What are you doing?”
“What do you mean you can’t do it? I thought you wanted this role more than anything?”
She nodded. “I do, but I’m not leaving you here alone.”
Her words stunned him. “You’d give up the role of a lifetime for me?”
“Well. Yeah. It’s just a movie. You’re what matters to me. I’m not going to leave you in a hospital and fly across the country to work when you need me.”
It hit Troy like a two-ton wall. The love he felt for this woman filled him full. That she would sacrifice something she’d lobbied so hard for, just to be with him, gave him a sense of completion he never expected.
There was no way in hell he was going to let her give up her dream for him. That could crush their new relationship faster than the bullet that hit him. He didn’t want resentment or guilt. He wanted honesty.
He took her hand, looked into her bluer-than-blue eyes. “Go make your movie. I’ve got Zach, and I’ll probably be out of here in a few days. Don’t say no to this because of me. That would make me feel like shit.”
Her brows quirked together and she shook her head. “I don’t like it. Look, if I’ve learned anything in all this, it’s about what’s important. You are important to me. I don’t want to neglect you.”
“Do you plan on retiring just because you met me?” he asked.
She canted her head. “Well, no, not retiring, but I can be choosier about the roles I take and how often I work.”
“So be choosy. After this role,” Troy said. “Look, I’m going to have to learn to share you with the world. I get that. We may as well start now. Go make your movie.”
Her beautiful smile crept on her face. “Are you always this bossy?”
He grinned. Didn’t matter that his head was splitting or his gut was on fire, he loved looking into her sparkling eyes and seeing her emotions. “Pretty much, yeah. I just do a good job of keeping it under wraps.”
“Ha. Not really.” She held out her hand. “Gimme that. I need to call Ari back and tell him I’ll be there for the fitting.” She took her phone and found his number. “There’s a real good chance he’ll get a look at me and fire me. I’m so bruised and scarred, I’m not sure makeup is going to cover me.” She lifted the edge of her hospital gown and showed him where the stitches on her thigh had been removed. “They took the old ones out here, and put new ones in here.” She pointed to her arm. “Basically, this whole movie thing might be a moot point.”
“He won’t fire you. You’re...” he was about to say America’s Sweetheart, but caught her warning look, “...golden,” he said instead. She was also his heart and soul.
One month later
Julie stepped into the entryway of her new gated home in Beverly Hills and dropped her suitcase. The sprawling one-level house didn’t differ too much from her old ranch-style house with the exception of all the land. She had a big front yard and a bigger backyard, complete with park-like grounds, a pool and tennis court. She’d only seen the place from the pictures her mother and Abbey had sent, but she’d fallen in love with it.
Elena, Abbey and Troy had overseen the move while Julie had been shooting the film on location in Chicago. The twenty-one-day shoot had been the most aggressive schedule she’d ever worked. Back-to-back sixteen-hour days had fried her brain. She needed to recharge.
Troy had wanted to pick her up from the airport, but a last-minute problem with a client had held him up. Abbey had a callback for a part in a dance movie and instead of bothering her mother, Julie had called Fido and he’d picked her up. Solo. It was a little anticlimactic to the whirlwind of the past month.
Julie sniffed the air. Garlic. Something smelled really good. She kicked off her shoes and padded slowly toward the kitchen, checking out her new home and mentally cataloguing the furniture she’d change. “Hello? Is someone here?” she called. The three people she trusted most had a key.
A tiny bud of apprehension wiggled in her stomach as she thought about Cal, but she shoved it aside as she peeked around the kitchen door. The huge kitchen had black granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and an enormous center island. The kitchen table sat in the far corner flanked by two glass walls and French doors opened up to the nearby pool. Two tall, white candles flickered on the table, but the best sight stood in front of the oven.
Wearing faded jeans and a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, Troy checked something in the oven before closing the door. His smile destroyed her.
He whipped off the oven mitts and met her in three long strides. “Surprise,” he said, wrapping her in his arms. She squeezed, but not too hard. He was still tender. “God, I missed you.” He pulled back, ran his hand through her hair, and she leaned into his palm, loving his heat. His mouth came down over hers in a soft, deep kiss that curled her toes. Their tongues mated, danced, retreated and met again. Every cell in her body burned hot and alive as his hands roamed her curves, up, down and back up again. Troy backed off and leaned his forehead against hers. “I can’t keep kissing you without an exact replay of our first encounter.”
She’d never forget the way he’d pushed her against the front door and kissed the bejeezus out of her. “As I recall, I kind of l
iked that,” Julie whispered against his mouth.
“Yeah, I did too. But pretty soon we’re not going to be alone.”
Julie’s eyes snapped open. “We’re not?”
“No. Your mother and Abbey are coming over any minute. They miss you and want to be here when you go through the house. I actually thought you were one of them.”
“Oh.” Talk about a disappointment. “So, no hot sex on the kitchen counter?”
Troy grinned. “Rain check?”
“Absolutely.” Julie leaned up to kiss him, but stopped. “Hey, wait a minute.” She looked beyond his shoulder. “You cook?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Don’t you?”
She snorted. “Not if I can help it.” She brought him down to her mouth for another smoking hot kiss. “I am so turned on with that news.”
“Knock, knock? Anyone home?” Elena’s voice carried into the kitchen and Julie groaned.
“Told ya,” Troy said at her lips before giving her one last quick kiss. The kitchen phone rang and he grabbed the receiver. He noticed the caller ID as he started to hand it to Julie. “This is weird. Yeah?” he said, taking the call. He put a finger up as he took a few steps away.
Elena and Abbey walked in together and Julie counted her blessings. Her mom, her man and an employee she loved. Considering everything she’d been through, she couldn’t complain. She walked through her house for the first time, loving it on sight. The house fit her perfectly. Four spacious rooms, each with its own bathroom, hardwood floors throughout, and most important, a giant-ass gate that surrounded the whole property.
After her twenty-minute tour, the phone rang again. “This is for me,” Troy said, picking up the receiver in the living room. “I’ve got it,” he said into the phone. “See you in a sec.” He hit the button on the phone that controlled the front gate. “Hope you don’t mind, but I needed Blake to drop off my cell phone. I left it at the office.”
“I don’t mind. He should stay for dinner as long as he’s here,” Julie said.
“You sure you don’t mind? You just got home.” Troy took her hand and linked their fingers. Every inch of him was strong, solid and all hers.
“Not a problem for me,” Julie said, loving the way his thumb caressed the inside of her palm. He sparked flames and made all her hot spots hotter.
“Um... I’m just going to run to the bathroom. Be back in a sec,” Abbey said. She disappeared before anyone got a word out.
Elena chuckled. “I hope she doesn’t hide in there through all of dinner.”
“Something I should know about?” Julie asked.
“Abbey and Blake have a little game of cat and mouse going. Abbey does not want to be caught.”
“She told you this?”
Elena nodded. “In a roundabout way.”
Julie lifted an eyebrow as something occurred to her for the first time. “Is Abbey gay?” she whispered.
Laughing, Elena shook head. “No, honey. She’s not gay. But there is definitely something she’s not telling us. Whatever it is, it’s something obviously very private and very personal. She knows we’re here for her if she wants to talk.”
A car engine shut down outside and Troy opened the front door for Blake. Julie had only met him briefly before she’d flown to Chicago for the film. He was as cute as they come, built solid with stunning blue eyes and handsome smile. Why would anyone run from him?
After a round of hellos and an introduction to Elena, Blake looked around expectantly. “I saw Abbey’s car out front. Is she here?”
Julie filled in the noticeable moment of silence. “She is. She just ran to the bathroom. She’ll be right out. Blake, I hope you’ll stay and join us for dinner.”
Blake glanced at Troy, obviously seeking silent permission, which he got by way of a nod. “Sure,” he said, with a quick smile. “Smells really good.”
“Good,” Elena said, moving toward the kitchen. “Give me a few minutes to set the table and we can eat.”
Julie gave Abbey another five minutes before she softly knocked on the bathroom door. “You okay in there?” she asked quietly.
The door cracked open and Abbey’s doe eyes looked back at her. “Is Blake still here?” she whispered.
“He’s staying for dinner.”
Abbey knocked her head against the door frame.
“Did he do something to you?” Julie asked. “Should I toss him out of my house?”
“No!” Abbey whispered fiercely, her head shooting up, her eyes wide. “He didn’t do anything. He’s really nice. I just...” She shook her head. “I can’t explain it.”
Can’t or didn’t want to? Julie sighed. “He seems adorable to me. Come on out and have some dinner. That’s an order.” She almost never used the boss card, but now seemed like a good time.
Abbey followed her into the kitchen where Blake’s cool glance at Abbey belied nothing. “Well, I don’t know about you all, but I’m starving,” Elena said. Matchmaker that she was, she put Abbey next to Blake at the circular table, and by the look on Abbey’s face, she was going to catch hell for it later tonight.
“Hi, Abbey,” Blake said quietly as they all sat down.
“Hello.” Abbey barely looked at the poor kid. What the hell was that about? Everyone noticed his not-so covert glances at Abbey except for Abbey. Unless she’d become a better actress than Julie thought.
During bites of the best lasagna she’d ever tasted, Julie answered questions about the movie and got the scoop on Abbey’s recent auditions and callbacks.
“Is there anything new with Carrie Ann and Drew?” Julie asked. She’d stopped referring to her as Cal a month ago, after she’d shot her four times. That day had changed her whole way of thinking about her best friend. She’d waited most of the night to ask because the subject still made her stomach cramp.
“Carrie Ann is finally out of the hospital,” Troy said as Abbey and Blake helped Elena clear the table. “Her infection cleared up and she was moved to jail until the trial.”
“She doesn’t need jail, she needs treatment. Mom, I want to make sure we cover the bills her insurance doesn’t, okay?”
Elena shook her head as she rinsed the dishes. “It’s not your job to pay her bills. I don’t care if she was your best friend—she tried to kill you.”
“I know, but I can’t just abandon her. Or Drew. They need help and I’m all they’ve got.”
“You won’t be able to do anything if they’re found guilty and go to jail,” Troy said.
“Maybe not, but if they end up in a mental facility I want to at least see to it that they can be together. Can we work on that?” she asked Troy.
“Sure. I’ll see what I can find out.”
“And Allen’s mom? Is she doing okay?” Julie had not only covered Allen’s funeral costs, but she’d sent his mother a whopper of a check. Allen had saved her life at the cabin just as Troy had done on the red carpet, and she wanted to make sure his mother didn’t suffer financially because of the loss. Nothing could bring back a son, but not having to worry about money certainly made life a little easier.
Julie reached across the table and took Troy’s hand. “Dinner was perfect. Thank you. How did you know I love Italian food?”
Laughing, Elena closed the dishwasher door. “He’s a P.I. How do you think he found out?” She raised her hand. “He asked me.” She glanced at her watch. “Okay, this cleaning detail is done for the night. Abbey, let’s hit the road. My show starts in thirty minutes.”
“I guess I’ll be going too,” Blake said. “Thanks for dinner.” His mood had gone from somber to downright surly, but he’d been trying his best to hide it. Not much got by Julie though, including Abbey’s cold shoulder to the guy. Blake practically flew out the door and Elena and Abbey followed close behind.
Julie shut the front door and found Troy watching her from the hallway, his eyes hot and smoky. He checked his watch and she did the same. They had approximately four-and-a-half days before she had to be in New York City
to start filming her next movie. God, she’d missed him. Missed his big hands, his sexy eyes, and his hard body. She’d spent all her downtime talking to him via text, email, Skype and phone. It was a hell of a way to start a relationship.
“We need to talk,” she said. She had to know before it went any further that he could handle everything that being with her entailed.
“Okay. Sounds serious.” He seemed oddly relaxed as he took her hand and led her into the living room. They sat on her comfortable sofa and he kept her sweaty hand in his. “What’s on your mind?”
Where did she start? She’d had nothing but time to think about how they were going to make this work. He was so intensely private and her life was so freakishly not.
“After Lucas and I broke up I dated a couple of guys,” she said.
Troy just looked at her, his expression unchanged.
“And,” she continued, determined to get this out, “I couldn’t give them what they wanted. I couldn’t give them a quiet dinner out without interruption. I couldn’t give them a normal home life when I was working crazy hours out of town for months at a time. These last few weeks were nothing compared to a big budget film. One of those could keep me out of town for months on end.”
Troy nodded, his face somber. “You’re telling me this because...?”
“Because, I want you to understand what you’ll have to give up to be with me. You’ve waited for me this whole time, and I know we’ve talked and it’s been as good as it can be for a long-distance relationship, but...” She shook her head because she’d been through this before. She hated messy and didn’t want this budding love with Troy to get messy.
“You’re forgetting one very important thing,” he said. Julie waited, her heart full and ready to break if he agreed that the distance was a deal breaker. “What about the perks of being with you?” His gaze softened. “What about the way you make me laugh and the way you make me a better man? What about the light you put in my life just by being you? As long as we have a home together, somewhere where it’s just us and the press or producers or well-meaning friends can’t intrude, then I don’t care what happens if we’re out to dinner or a movie.” He rubbed her knuckles with his thumb. “I’m not those other guys you dated. I’m not looking to compete with you. I know I have to share. I’m on board because I love you and that means I deal with...” He searched for the word he wanted.