Despite the problems on the set, Georgia was feeling—well, she was feeling okay.
The shadow that was her baby with Cole had hung over her for years. Now that Cole knew, the pressure was gone.
Almost done her second cup of tea, she was considering a third when a shadow fell over her table. Looking up, she saw Cole staring down at her.
“Mind if I sit for a moment?”
She shrugged and took a sip of her tea. “It’s a free country, last I checked.”
He sighed as he slid into the chair across from her. “We need to talk.”
Georgia took a quick look around. This coffee shop was close to most production studios in the city, and while someone would probably take their picture, the fact that they weren’t the only celebrities wandering around made them less of a target.
Cupping her hands around her empty mu, she stared down at the bottom. “I know.” She just wasn’t ready to do it yet. She didn’t know if she’d ever be ready.
“What you did—not telling me about my baby—that’s not okay, Georgia.”
“I see that now.” She cringed. God, all these years she’d been blaming Cole, and in the end, it seemed that she was the one who’d fucked up. “I’m so sorry.”
“And I’m sorry that you had to go through all of that alone.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. I should have been there for you. I should have stormed down the rehab doors and made a fuss until they let me see you. Hell.” He leaned back in his chair and pushed his hair from his face. “I should have gone into rehab with you.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No. I tried to move on with my life.”
She nodded, bitterness coating her tongue. “I know. I read about it in the papers.”
He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. “What you read in the papers was a lie.”
She looked up at him and raised her brows.
“It was.” He shifted in his seat and glanced around. When he spoke again, he lowered his voice. “I haven’t changed, Georgia. I’m still that same guy you loved.”
“The tabloids had said that you were with a different girl every week.” She blurted this out, suddenly aware of how much it bothered her. “Do you know how much that killed me?”
“It was done to maintain my image. They meant nothing to me.” When she frowned, he held up his hands. “Honest.”
He leaned on the table once more. “Regardless. You broke my heart when you left me, Georgia. I spent months trying to find you only to learn that you never wanted to see me again. What was I supposed to do?”
Georgia stared at her mug for a long moment before responding. “You’re right. I should have said something.”
She glanced up at him. “At least sent you and email when I was out of rehab.”
“I could have been there for you, Georgia. I could have helped you through all of that.”
“No, you couldn’t have.” She patted his hand. “I needed to find balance in my life again, and I had to do that by myself.”
“Perhaps.” He flashed her a half-smile. “But it would’ve been fun raising hell in that rehab center.”
She giggled. “Yeah, it would have.”
He covered her hand with his. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you two years ago. But I’m here for you now.” He waited until she looked up and met his gaze. “If you’ll let me be.”
“I don’t know, Cole. So much has happened between us. I’m afraid we’ll just self-destruct again.” Her mind flashed back to the scene they’d filmed where he’d actually been inside of her, and she flushed.
Maybe… maybe Cole was right. Maybe they could channel their destructive urges in other ways.
“I’ve missed you, baby.” All she heard was sincerity.
Believing him was her choice to make.
Georgia averted her gaze and smiled as she ran her fingers along the outside of her mug. "I missed you, too."
"I don't want you to go home alone tonight."
There was something about his voice, the insistence of his tone, that gave her pause. Then she remembered that he was reciting lines from the script. "I don't do one night stands."
He leaned forward and brushed his fingers over hers. “Who says I’m asking for one night?”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. His voice sounded more emotional than it did when they were filming. And those eyes . . . she had never seen anything so intense.
It took her a moment to find her next line. "Then what are you asking for?" she whispered.
He laced his fingers with hers and drew them away from the tea cup. "I'm asking for you to not think so much, Georgia. I'm asking for you to take a chance and see where all of this leads."
It was difficult to keep the excitement from her voice, but she was an actress, and so she knew how to school her features. "I have a reputation—"
She wasn’t fooling him. She could tell by the sparkle in his eye. “I don’t give a shit about your reputation.” He stood and pulled her up against him, and the world around them began to fade. His voice lowered and became thick with emotion. "I don't, and you shouldn't either."
She parted her lips to speak, but he placed a finger over them, stopping her words. He dropped his gaze to her lips. "The world outside doesn’t matter, baby. The future doesn’t matter. All that matters is right here." He jerked his gaze back to hers. "Right now. You and me."
“I’m not sure if I want to forget,” Georgia said as she inched closer. “We had some great memories.”
“Like with the Rolling Rocks?”
“And Paris.” She slid her arms around his neck.
“Paris? I thought you hated Paris because of the sex tape.”
She smiled and nibbled her lower lip. “Not all of it was bad.”
“No?” He slipped his hands around her waist.
She shook her head. “A few good things came of that trip.”
“Like what?”
“Baguettes.”
He chuckled.
“Espresso.” She inched closer and lowered her voice so that only he could hear. “And butterfly vibrators.”
“Really?”
She nodded.
Cole smiled and leaned his forehead against hers. “You know, there’s a lot more toys where that came from.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve collected some over my years in rehab.” She smirked and averted her gaze. “A girl has to get off somehow.”
“I’m intrigued, Ms. Evans. Very intrigued.”
She stepped out of his embrace and took his hand. “Come on then.” As she led him out of the tea shop, she glanced over her shoulder and shivered under his hungry stare.
“There’s just one thing,” She said as they paused on the sidewalk.
“Oh?”
She pointed at his chest. “No cameras this time.”
He grinned as he took her hand and kissed her fingers. “I think my home movie days are done. It’s far better to let the production companies handle that sort of thing.”
“Absolutely.” She pulled him down the sidewalk, toward her apartment.
It was going to be one wild night.
Epilogue
One Year Later
Georgia's widened her eyes as the limo pulled up to the curb.
"Are you ready for this?" Cole asked, extending his hand.
"I don't know, am I? She glanced down at her emerald green strapless dress and frowned. "I feel like a sausage in this thing." The damn thing had fit two months ago when she had picked it out, but now, after her trip to Paris, it was threatening to burst at the seams.
"It's gorgeous." He leaned over and kissed her cheek.
“I’m fat.”
"You're gorgeous. You have absolutely nothing to worry about it."
Instead of taking his hand, she smoothed her fingers over the satin fabric on her lower belly. "It's been so long since we’ve been in the sta
tes, or doing anything in Hollywood. I’m surprised these people still remember us."
"You're a star, baby. Taking a few months off to re-center yourself doesn’t change that."
She pressed her lips together and stared at him. "You know that isn't why I'm nervous."
"Then why?"
She narrowed her gaze over his shoulder, where a couple of paparazzi were tapping on the glass. "This is the first time we're going to be seen together."
"That's not true." He waved his hand in the air between them, blatantly ignoring the reporters. "We've been seen all over Europe together." He leaned forward and waggled his brows. "And behaving in an intimate nature, if the tabloids are to be believed."
She let out a quick breath and rolled her eyes. "I never read that trash."
"Then what's the problem?"
What was her problem? Cole was right. They had been seen together many times before, so the fact that they were now a couple was old news. The tabloids had already had them married and then divorced, with custody hearings over some pet goat. There was nothing they could do that would top those fictitious stories. And yet. . .
"We're going to see ourselves on the screen together,” she said.
“It’s just a computer screen.”
“Well, yes, but you know what I mean. Jungle Heat was such a hit. There’s a lot to live up to.”
"And it's going to bring back memories."
She let out a long breath and nodded in agreement. "It will feel like the audience is intruding on something private."
Cole slid across the seat and cupped his finger under her chin. "This isn't the sex tape, Georgia. We're playing parts. It isn't our story, but the characters." He considered her for a moment, then let go of her chin and leaned back in his seat. "This isn't even a movie premiere. It's just a small party Evan threw together to celebrate the release next month."
"A small party? All of the Hollywood elite will be there."
Cole chuckled. Evan is well connected and had arranged a private screening for the people involved on the project. Instead of watching it on a computer, he and Georgia were going to see it on a screen in the Black Towers movie theater.
"You mean his uncle is well-connected." She let out a long breath. "But you're right. There's nothing to be worried about." She glanced over his shoulder at the gathering crowd. "We just have to get through that and we'll be in the clear."
Cole looked out the window, then turned to her. "Leave them to me." He held out his hand and flashed her a mischievous grin.
"What do you have in mind?" Georgia hesitated, then gave him her hand.
"You'll see." He threw open the car door and dragged her out onto the sidewalk.
"Cole, over here."
"Georgia! Ms. Evans!"
The voices continued to escalate until Georgia could barely differentiate between them. Cole kept his grip firm as he dragged her through the crowd, edging aside anyone in his wake.
"Ms. Evans. Rumor has it that you and Cole have moved in together."
"Mr. Anderson, it's rumored that you have bought an apartment in Paris. Is that where you both are living now?"
“Ms. Evans, can you comment on the five carat diamond engagement ring you received? Was it on top of the Eiffel tower?"
Cole laughed as he climbed up the steps of Black Towers and tugged Georgia into his arms.
"It's true," he said as he rested his forehead against hers.
"How much is true?" someone asked.
Cole kissed her nose and stepped away. Keeping his grip firm on her hand, he turned toward the crowd. "All of it."
"You're engaged?"
"Yes," Georgia said, holding up her hand.
"Not only that," Cole said. "But we're going to have a baby."
The voices in the crowd rose as he pulled her into his arms. In front of the full view of the paparazzi, he tilted his head and kissed her hard and deep.
"When is the baby due?"
"Are you going to have the baby in America or in Paris?"
"Does the move to France mean you'll stop doing movies?”
Cole pulled back and smiled. Georgia's heart warmed as she realized that everything in her life had been building to this point. She was right where she wanted to be, where she needed to be.
She pulled away from Cole and faced the small crowd, which was growing larger by the minute. "We haven’t worked out the details yet, but one thing is for certain." She smiled at Cole. "Whatever we decide, it will be kept private."
She stood up on her tiptoes and gave Cole a chaste kiss. Wrapping his arm around her, Cole opened the door to the building and ushered her inside. The noisy reporters continued to shout questions, but the rotating glass door shut out most of the noise.
"That should keep those paparazzi busy for a while," Cole said.
"Serves them right." She grinned at Cole. "After all, there are some parts of my life I'd like to keep to myself."
"Hmm, me too." Cole slid his hand down and squeezed her ass. Georgia yelped and slapped his arm. Laughing, they turned the corner and walked into the production studio, where many of their colleagues had gathered. As they clinked champagne glasses—hers held juice—
and sat down to watch the movie, Georgia realized that she was incredibly lucky. Not only did she have her old life back, but she had her one true love as well. In the spring, they'd increase their family. She could hardly wait to see what the future would bring.
ABOUT LAUREN HAWKEYE AND SUZANNE ROCK
New York Time and USA Today bestselling author Lauren Hawkeye never imagined that she’d wind up telling stories for a living… though when she looks back, it’s easy to see that she’s the only one who is surprised. Always “the kid who read all the time”, Lauren made up stories about her favorite characters once she’d finished a book… and once spent an entire year narrating her own life internally. No, really. But where she was just plain odd before publication, now she can at least claim to have an artistic temperament.
Lauren lives in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Canada with her husband, toddler, pit bull and idiot cat, though they do not live in an igloo, nor do they drive a dogsled. In her nonexistent spare time Lauren can be found knitting, reading anything she can get her hands on, or sweating her way through spin class. She loves to hear from her readers!
***
A lifetime New Englander, Suzanne Rock married her college sweetheart and has been with him for over twenty years. Every summer she drags her husband and two daughters to Maine on a quest for the perfect lobster dinner. Every fall she can be found down in Foxboro, Massachusetts cheering on her favorite football team. In between those trips, she’s a chauffeur, a maid, a chef, an event planner, a hairdresser, a wardrobe stylist, a tutor and a sometimes masseuse. To keep her sanity, she often drinks copious amounts of coffee and stares at the blank screen of her laptop, dreaming of great adventures. Sometimes she even writes them down for others to enjoy.
Suzanne is represented by Deidre Knight of The Knight Agency and writes mainstream romances under the pen name Ava Conway.
If you enjoyed CAUGHT ON CAMERA, you might also enjoy:
STOLEN BY THE SHEIKH
PURSUED BY THE PLAYER
STOLEN BY THE SHEIKH
By Lauren Hawkeye and Suzanne Rock
Fast-talking career woman Olivia Bremer is at the peak of her profession. Employed by one of the country’s most influential magazines, she spends her days dining with celebs and taking her pick of free products from designers and cosmetic companies. Every woman’s dream job, basically. So what if it’s a little lonely at the top. Success often comes at a price, right?
Nayef “Nayo” Darzi is used to getting his way. The wealthy prince can have any beauty he wants—until danger throws him together with a stubborn American, perhaps the first woman unaffected by his alpha tendencies. Tattooed and contentious women aren’t his thing—normally. But there’s something about Olivia and her sexy curves that make Nayo want to take a big bite. If
he can keep her out of trouble long enough…
Coming July 17, 2015
YOU’VE REACHED
“THE END!”
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Caught on Camera (Black Towers Book 1) Page 10