Always Be Mine: Sweetbriar Cove: Book Nine

by Melody Grace

  “Great.” Dash looked relieved. “So, let me tell you about it . . .”

  He launched into his pitch for the movie, and Lila listened carefully, pausing to take notes. It sounded like a great story, an action-thriller with a juicy role for the female lead.

  “I won’t just be hanging out in a low-cut dress, seducing the hero?” she checked—before realizing she might have offended him.

  But luckily, Dash laughed. “Nope, not in this one. I’m sick of those movies, too,” he added. “I promise, this character can hold her own. She’s a part of the team, not just window-dressing.”

  Lila let out a breath of relief. “It sounds great,” she said slowly. “I’d love to read the script when you’re done.”

  “You, and my agents,” Dash cracked. “I’m nearly finished polishing the draft. I should warn you, though, there’s a lot of action scenes. Whoever gets the part would need to do some intense physical training, to make it look right.”

  Before Lila could reply, Dash checked his phone. “You mind if I take a quick call?” he asked. “I hate to be that guy, but it’s a New York number, and I’ve been trying to talk to this actor all week.”

  “Go ahead,” Lila told him. “I’ll be right here. I don’t know what Summer puts in the donuts, but it’s seriously addictive.”

  He laughed and stepped outside, while Lila took a bite of that delicious donut. Then she paused. If she was going to get in shape again to be on screen, she’d have to wave pastries goodbye. And just about all the other delicious things in her life . . .

  “Looks like things are going well.”

  Lila startled. She turned to find Griffin standing there. “Hey!” she exclaimed, surprised. “I didn’t see you come in.”

  “I didn’t want to interrupt,” he replied. Then he paused. “You look . . . nice,” he said slowly, looking her over.

  Lila thought she heard something weird in his tone, but she must have been imagining it. “This is what happens when I make an effort,” she joked. “You’ve just seen me in my ratty sweats.”

  “Dressing to impress, huh?”

  “It’s all part of the job. Along with dazzling him with my wit and charm, of course.” Lila looked over at Dash, visible through the windows still talking on the phone outside. “I think he’s buying it.”

  “Why can’t you just be yourself?” Griffin asked, looking puzzled.

  Lila gave a laugh. “I am being me . . . I guess you haven’t seen the Hollywood version. This is technically a job interview,” she explained. “I bet you make an effort when you want to land a big job, don’t you?”

  “Nope.” Griffin shrugged. “If they don’t want me the way I am, then that’s their problem.”

  “Lucky you.” Lila gave a rueful laugh. “But my job doesn’t really work that way.” She checked again, and saw Dash finishing up his call. “I better get back to it.”

  “Is that a polite way of telling me to get lost?” Griffin asked with a smirk.

  She laughed. “Maybe. I need to focus here, and you’re very distracting. In the best possible way,” she added, flashing him a smile.

  “I can take a hint.”

  “I’ll see you later though?” Lila asked, hoping he wasn’t offended. “I’ll come by your place. Tell you all about it.”

  “Sure.” Griffin dropped a quick kiss on her forehead. “Or don’t. It’s fine either way.”

  He left before Lila could reply. She watched him go, hoping she hadn’t seemed rude, but before she could process Griffin’s weird tone, Dash returned.

  “Sorry about that,” he said, sliding into his seat. “Now, where was I?”

  “The training schedule, for the action stunts,” Lila said, forcing her mind back to the job right in front of her.

  “That’s right! You’d need to be working with a martial arts guy, at least five hours a day for a couple of months leading up to the shoot,” Dash rattled off enthusiastically, “plus weapons training and the fight coordinator. We’ll have a stunt double, but the more you can do yourself, the more authentic it will be.”

  Lila needed a nap just listening to the regimen, but she forced herself to look enthusiastic. “Great!”

  This was what she wanted, right?

  Griffin stared blankly at his workbench. He was supposed to be pollinating a set of plants for his newest crossbreed, but all he could do was think about Lila’s meeting back at the bakery.

  Would she be leaving soon for good?

  He remembered the way she was smiling at that director, sparkling and bright. It was the way she’d acted at the gala benefit too: every inch the movie star, radiating charisma so bright, you couldn’t look away. The guy would have to be a fool not to cast her. Griffin didn’t know much about Hollywood, but even he could see Lila had talent. A rare gift for transporting you, and making you feel like the only person in the room. She was wasted here in Sweetbriar Cove, that’s for sure. A woman like that deserved a spotlight, a stage, a red carpet rolled out just to greet her, and thousands of adoring fans.

  And he was just the selfish ass, privately hoping she’d turn all that down and stay.

  He didn’t want to be that guy, he wanted the world for her, but he couldn’t help remembering how it had felt with his ex-wife: stuck waiting at home while she was out dazzling the world; the least important person on her list.

  This was different, he reminded himself sternly. Lila had said it herself, she was putting roots down here in town, and had left the Hollywood scene behind. She had only taken the meeting to keep her agents happy, not because she had a flight booked and was raring to get back to LA.

  But still . . . Griffin felt a flicker of unease. He couldn’t go through that again, being a placeholder in somebody’s life. Always feeling second best. Was he crazy to think he could have a future with Lila, when she was from such a different world? Here in Sweetbriar Cove, it was easy to forget that the outside world existed, but what if Lila didn’t want to forget? She had a career and ambitions that would never be satisfied in a sleepy town like this, and Griffin didn’t want to be the one holding her back.

  He shook off the thought. There was no point getting tangled over things that might never happen. Lila would be coming over soon after her meeting, and then he could find out for himself if this movie project was really going anywhere.

  Griffin headed back to the barn to clean up, but he was just taking off his boots at the back door when he heard somebody moving around inside. “Lila?” he called. That was quick. He smiled, heading towards the sound. “Let me guess, he said you would have to be running around in a swimsuit for half the movie—”

  Griffin stopped. It wasn’t Lila rummaging around in his refrigerator, but the last person he wanted to see instead. “Jordy,” he said with a sigh.

  “What’s up, big brother?” Jordy emerged with a slice of leftover pizza in one hand and a beer in the other. “Who’s this Lila chick?” he asked, eyebrows waggling. “Is she hot? It’s about time you got some action. Does she have any friends for me?”

  Griffin scowled. “You’re not staying,” he said, slamming the refrigerator door shut. “I have plans.”

  “With this new chick, I heard.” Jordy grinned. “C’mon, I want to meet her.”

  “Nope.” Griffin took his arm and steered him towards the front door.”

  “Why, is she a real dog?” Jordy snorted with laughter. “I won’t judge. Some chicks aren’t fit for public consumption, if you know what I mean.”

  Griffin would have hit him—if he’d thought it would get Jordy out of there any faster. “Go visit Mom,” he said instead, controlling his temper. “She’ll at least be happy to see you.”

  “Wait, hold up, I’m just kidding,” Jordy protested, laughing. “I only dropped by to borrow that power drill of yours. I’m doing some renovations at my place.”

  Griffin exhaled. “Sure. Fine.”

  He strode back through the house to the workshop where he kept his tools. He doubted he’d see the
drill again, but right now, it seemed a small price to pay for getting his meddlesome brother out of his hair.

  But however fast he found the drill, it wasn’t fast enough. When he emerged back into the living area, he found Jordy talking to a new arrival.

  Lila.

  Griffin let out a silent curse. Jordy was looking Lila up and down with a lecherous sneer on his face. “Griffin’s just in the back,” he was saying. “But I’m sure I can keep you entertained all on my own.”

  “Jordy,” Griffin interrupted them. “Don’t be such an ass.”

  “I wasn’t!” the other man protested. “I was just getting to know your friend, isn’t that right, sweetheart?”

  “Right . . .” Lila gave a faint smile.

  Griffin stepped between them. “I’m sorry,” he told Lila. “He was just leaving.”

  He shoved the drill case at Jordy and hustled him towards the door.

  “Hold up!” Jordy protested, taking another look at Lila. “You look familiar . . . Do we know each other? Sal’s bar?” he suggested. “No, wait, are you Michaela’s friend?”

  “No, she’s not,” Griffin answered for her. “And you need to get out of here.”

  “Don’t be rude,” Jordy snapped back. “Forgive my baby brother,” he added to Lila, flashing another smile. “He has no manners. Are you sure we didn’t run into each other?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. “I could swear, I know you . . .”

  “I get that a lot,” Lila said with a casual shrug. “I guess I have a familiar face.”

  Jordy paused, looking at Lila suspiciously.

  “Out.” Griffin ordered him quickly.

  “I get it!” Jordy held his hands up, smirking. “Don’t worry, I’ll get out of your hair. Let you get back to whatever romantic plans you got. Have fun, kids,” he said, giving a wink as he sauntered out. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

  Griffin slammed the door behind him and exhaled a long breath. That was close. “Sorry about that,” he said, turning back to Lila. “I didn’t know he was stopping by.”

  “It’s fine.” Lila shrugged off her jacket and followed him into the main living area. “Everything OK?”

  Griffin gave a rueful sigh. “Just the usual bullshit. I’m sorry if he said anything gross. That’s his default setting.”

  Lila smiled. “I can handle it.” She paused. “But you said it would be trouble, if he recognizes me . . .”

  “He won’t. Jordy’s head is so far up his own ass, he won’t think twice about you,” Griffin said, reassuring. “Turns out, him being self-absorbed is a good thing, for once in his life.”

  Lila smiled and moved closer, sliding her hands around his waist, and just like that, Griffin felt his stress melt away. He leaned down to kiss her, savoring the feel of her, warm against him, and the softness of her lips against his.

  This was all that mattered, right here in his arms.

  “How did the meeting turn out?” he asked when they finally came up for air.

  Lila bit her lip. “Great, I think.”

  “Oh.” Griffin tried to swallow back his own doubts and be happy for her. “That’s awesome. When would you start?”

  “Soon.” Lila followed him over to the couch and took a seat in the corner, kicking off her shoes and curling her legs up under her. “It’s an action role, so there would be a ton of training before we start the shoot back in LA. And then on location, in Hawaii. Sounds great, right?”

  She gave him a smile, but Griffin knew her by now, and that wasn’t a genuine smile. “You don’t sound happy about it.”

  Lila gave a rueful smile. “I know I should be. It’s a great role. Just . . .” She trailed off, looking conflicted.

  “Is it the director?” Griffin asked. He’d seen the stories about some of those guys, but she shook her head.

  “Dash is one of the good ones. Which just makes it harder. If he was an asshole, then it would be easy to turn it down.” Lila looked troubled, and despite his private fears, Griffin’s heart went out to her.

  “So, talk to me,” he said, gently tugging her feet into his lap. “What’s going on in your head right now?”

  Lila exhaled. “I really don’t know. This is my career we’re talking about. I didn’t just wake up and think, ‘Hey, I want to be an actress,’ this was my dream.” She looked at him, and Griffin could see the dilemma in her eyes. “I worked so hard to make it. I know it looks so easy and glamorous from the outside, but it’s not. I dealt with crappy jobs, and bad auditions, and long nights filming, and endless promotion, just to get to this point. And now I’m thinking about just walking away, like it meant nothing?”

  Griffin took a slow breath. “Are you thinking that?” he asked carefully.

  “Yes,” Lila whispered. “I’ve been telling myself it’s just temporary,” she continued. “But the more time I spend away from Hollywood, the more I realize just how fucked up everything was for me there. The constant pressure, and the crazy workouts, and the way I wound up feeling guilty just for eating a side of fries. I didn’t know what was real, who I could rely on.” Lila gave a rueful smile. “I mean, I seriously considered marrying a man I knew was wrong for me just to avoid the tabloid scandal of walking away. That’s crazy!”

  “But you didn’t,” Griffin reminded her. “You were strong enough to follow your heart, even then.”

  “But look what happened,” Lila said, looking sad. “It blew up my entire life. I’m already on borrowed time, taking this break as long as I have done. They won’t wait around for me forever. If I don’t do this movie with Dash, I’m basically signing my own resignation letter. And that would be crazy. A million other women would kill to have this opportunity. It’s what I wanted.”

  “But what if you change your mind?” Griffin asked.

  Lila looked at him as if he was speaking in another language.

  “You are allowed to do that,” he added gently. “Things change. People change. If something stops making you happy, you don’t have to keep doing it forever. You’ve spent, what, the last ten years of your life in Hollywood?” he asked. “You earned your success, but that’s not a life sentence. It’s not a failure to say you want something different now.”

  Lila was silent for a long moment. “You make it sound so easy.”

  “It’s not,” Griffin replied, thinking of his own ill-fated marriage vows. “But sometimes you have to ask yourself, if you forgot about all the history, and arrived in your life right now, this minute . . . Would you choose it? Or would you walk away?”

  The question lingered between them. “I know it’s not the same,” he added, “but I hung onto my marriage for way too long, because I thought the work I’d already put in should mean something. Like if I didn’t see it through, then everything that had come before would be a waste, somehow. But it’s not like that,” he told her, reaching over to take Lila’s hand. “I was just throwing good years after bad. I’d already moved on, in my heart, so it didn’t fix anything, it just meant it took me longer to find the life I was supposed to be living now.”

  “But what if I don’t know where I’m supposed to be yet?” Lila asked.

  Griffin gave her a supportive smile. “Then you’ll figure it out, in your own time.”

  “I don’t know if Dash will wait around,” Lila said. “He needs to confirm the cast or go to somebody else.”

  “Will he wait until Monday?” Griffin asked, trying to lighten the mood. He gave her a teasing smile. “Surely he can take the weekend for the magnificent Lila Moore?”

  Lila relaxed into a smile. “I think so.”

  “Then there you go. Two whole days!” Griffin pulled her into his lap. “That’s plenty of time to mull a major, life-changing decision.”

  Lila grinned. “Sure, tons of time.”

  “You’d be surprised what you can do in a weekend,” Griffin said, leaning in to kiss the nape of her neck, and that tender spot, right behind her ear. Sure enough, Lila shivered against him. “Several times,
if you’re lucky.”

  She laughed, then arched closer. “And how lucky am I?” she asked, whispering kisses along his jaw.

  Griffin grinned back. “Let’s find out.”

  17

  Lila decided that Griffin was right. About taking the weekend to decide about the movie, at least. She threw herself into planning her dinner party instead, and just hoped that by the time Monday rolled around, her mind would be magically made up, and her future path clear.

  For now, she was just going to perfect her fresh pasta recipe and obsess over hosting her first real social event in Sweetbriar Cove.

  “You’re nervous,” Griffin noted, looking amused as Lila bustled in the kitchen Saturday evening. She had seven people arriving soon, and everything needed to be perfect.

  “No, I’m not” she protested. “Are these dishes OK?” she asked, holding them up. “Mac makes pottery for a living, I don’t want to serve her dinner on crappy plates.”

  “You are nervous!” he grinned. “Why?”

  “Because I’ve never done this before!” Lila blurted. She whisked outside to spread a white linen tablecloth and check the weather was still fine.

  “Eaten dinner?” Griffin asked, strolling after her. “You sure fooled me the other night, polishing off that pizza.”

  “No, I meant here,” Lila explained, gulping back her anxiety. “What if nobody comes? What if they were all just being polite to me before and don’t actually want to be friends?”

  “Don’t worry, everyone will come,” Griffin reassured her. “And trust me, Mac isn’t the polite type,” he added, helping her move some chairs aside. “Relax. You’re just going to be hanging out with friends, admiring your gorgeous new gardens.”

  Lila relaxed. “They are gorgeous, aren’t they?”

  She happily looked around. Griffin had finished up just in time, and now the yard was everything she’d imagined. An expanse of green, lush lawn unfurled from the cottage, with a meandering stone pathway and wildflowers dotting color in every corner. Tiny purple blossoms spilled over the back wall, and roses were blooming, sending a sweet fragrance drifting in the air. It was the perfect hidden retreat, and she felt better just looking at it. “You’re an artist,” she told him gratefully.