by J. D. Light
He laughed, wrapping his arms around my neck and pulling me down for a long, slow kiss that made my dick ache, and I groaned, pulling back.
I reached up, fixing his glasses where they'd been knocked crooked on his face. "Am I really asking you to take too much time off? Between the party and tomorrow?"
He bit his lip, giving me a sexy smile I was almost positive he had no idea was causing me immense pain in my down there region. "No. My sister still owes me for the snow globe thing, and Logan took last weekend off, remember? I'll be there."
I licked my teeth, wondering if I should push my luck… and wondering if it was too damn soon to propose what I was thinking about proposing. I mentally shrugged, reminding myself that so far, he hadn't seemed to mind my clinginess. "What if I asked you to take about two weeks off? Could you do it?"
He frowned, tilting his head to the side. "Not easily. Why?"
That wasn't a no, and possibly given enough time, it wouldn’t even be all that difficult.
"I need to––"
"That fucking bitch down at the nail cottage cut my pinky nail without askin'," Emma said, coming in from the back and slamming her purse down on the counter, holding her hand out in front of her and glaring. "It was my favorite nail."
"It looked like you snorted coke out of that nail," Declan said dryly, giving me a little squeeze before pulling out of my arms to go around and snatch her purse of the counter before slow-pitch softball tossing it into the back. "She did you a favor. You were liable to get that damn thing caught on something and rip your whole hand off."
She narrowed her eyes at the doorway her purse had just sailed through, pouting her lips before shrugging and turning to look at her brother. "I don't know what kind of movies you watch… besides the ones that star a certain someone." She glanced over at me and my face flamed. "But I have never seen someone snort coke out of their fingernail." She stopped in her tirade to tilt her head as she studied me. "Why the hell are you blushin'? Wait! Do you know about his giant crush?" She pointed over at her brother, and if I hadn't known because of her son. I'd definitely have figured it out by that.
At least I know better than to tell Emma and Jensen if I have any secrets.
Declan groaned, letting his head fall back on his shoulders like he always did when he was getting close to his breaking point and I smirked at Emma, licking my teeth to keep from laughing. "I've seen the room."
"Oh damn, Deck," his sister said, giving him the wide-eyes and reaching out to backhand his chest. "You tryin' to run him off already?"
"For God's sake!" he snapped, glaring at his sister. "We grew up in the same house! I don't talk like that. Why do you talk like that?"
She blinked in surprise before shrugging. "I got a contact accent from my ex. Haven't been able to drop it yet. Too bad I can't tie an anchor to its ankles and drop it in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico like I did my ex." I sputtered, looking back and forth between Declan and his sister, but neither seemed all that worried about me as a witness. Emma waved her hand in the air, smirking. "I'm kiddin'… accents don't have ankles."
I was still a little leery, not really sure if it was just a big joke, or if she was so good at killing people, she wasn't at all worried about me and what I might say to the authorities. The longer I got to know her, the more I realized what a possibility they both were.
"I need you to watch the shop tomorrow afternoon, and then again on Friday evening, okay?" Declan asked, making her eyebrows rise in surprise, like she'd never heard him ask for time off before, which was probably about right. I'd been around for a while now, and I'd never seen him take any off. "And possibly for two weeks coming up."
My head snapped in his direction and I felt my face split into a huge smile as happy butterflies danced in my stomach.
Emma narrowed her eyes on us, a small smirk playing at the corner of her lips. "Sure. You thinkin' about taking a vacation?"
He shrugged, still watching me, his face soft and happy, like he didn't have a care in the world. "I don't know what I'm planning."
Emma frowned, slapping the counter. "You ain't runnin' off and getting married!" she snapped. "I want an excuse to wear a dress that shows my cleavage and being a maid of honor would be perfect."
Logan walked in from the back, blinking in surprise at his female cousin before pointedly looking down at her low-cut top. "You need an excuse?"
She batted her eyelashes, giving him a sassy smile. "No."
Declan's face was bright red, his eyes huge as he threw his hands in the air. "And nobody's getting married. Jeez." He gave me a nervous glance, averting his eyes quickly as I tried to decide if he was against marriage, or if he just thought it was too soon to be talking about it. I really hoped it was just too soon, since I had big dreams to walk down the aisle with him some day. "You're going to scare him off before he finishes his damn movie."
Declan cleared his throat, looking nervous as his sister and cousin walked into the back together, both chuckling… or cackling in Emma's case. "Hey, don't let what my sister said freak you out, okay?" He swallowed hard, wiping his hands down the front of his pants. "She was just trying to mess with me."
I walked over, pulling him back into my arms, and leaning down to give him a quick peck on the mouth. "I'm not upset at all. I might not have any siblings, but I know how they can be."
The bell rang, and I groaned, turning to find Granger standing in the doorway, smiling brightly. "I thought I'd find you here. Well, Mercy thought I might."
"Fuck," I whined, letting my forehead fall to Declan's. "Does nobody want me to finish kissing my fucking boyfriend?"
Declan gasped, and I smiled before looking up into his electric-green, hopeful eyes. I brushed my nose to his. Yeah, you heard me, baby. Boyfriend.
He chewed that beautiful bottom lip, but I saw the smile in his eyes, and I sighed again. If I didn't stop that shit, someone was going to get me a respirator.
"They need you on set," Ganger said, as I slowly released Declan, wishing I could just scoop him up and take him with me. "And you aren't answering."
"Shit," I said, fishing my phone out of my pocket, checking the charge. There wasn't one. "I forgot to charge it when I ran back to the hotel to change."
I'd been too busy thinking about everything I'd done hours before, and everything I was planning to do to him for the however long he let me.
"Hi, I'm Val Granger," the man said, reaching out a hand for Declan to take, blinking in surprise when Declan looked up at him, reaching out to take his hand.
"Oh," he said in surprise, probably recognizing the name. "Hi! I'm Declan."
When Granger took his hand in a shake, he continued to stare at Declan with his mouth hanging open.
I pursed my lips, glaring, and reaching out to grab my boyfriend's wrist, making him laugh as I pulled it away from the man who just ruined my fun. "Granger, Declan is my boyfriend."
He nodded, but didn't take his eyes off of Declan's face. "I'm his producer. Of the movie. The one here in town."
Declan blushed, glancing at me in question, clearly a bit uncomfortable with the ridiculous staring.
"Maybe you can stop staring at my fucking boyfriend, Granger," I growled, and Declan smirked over at me, clearly finding my jealousy funny.
"Sorry!" Granger said suddenly, his eyes going wide. "That was incredibly rude. You just have the prettiest eyes I think I've ever seen."
Declan looked stunned, and while I was happy he was seeing it wasn't just me who found him attractive, I also kinda wanted to grab him and run away with him before he decided to leave me for my producer. The man was not only gorgeous, but he was way more fun than me.
"Th… thanks," Declan said, still not sure how to take compliments. "You should see my cousin Logan's. They're really green."
"They are pretty," I said, pulling him into my arms again. "But I really like the way yours look almost electric. It's like they glow."
"I heard that, Blake," Logan said, walking into the
room, batting his eyelashes with a smile on his face. "I can't believe you don't think my eyes are as pretty as…"
He trailed off as his eyes landed on Granger, his mouth hanging open mid-sentence, and I chuckled, looking down at Declan who sucked his lips between his teeth as we looked back and forth between the two men who were just standing there staring at each other, not saying a word.
"As pretty as what, Loge?" Declan asked after a long moment.
Logan blinked, turning his head––but not his eyes––in his cousin's direction, clearly just reacting to his name. "Hmm?"
"Wow," Granger supplied in his genius way.
Before those few moments, first with Declan and then with Logan, I would have never thought my ultra-cool producer would be the type to lose all function of his face while meeting someone pretty, but I had to admit, it was pretty fucking funny.
Declan grabbed my wrist and pulled me outside, chuckling when the sound of the sleigh bells didn't even seem to faze the two. "All that monosyllabic staring was starting to get uncomfortable," he said, chuckling, wrapping his arms around my waist, and leaning his head back to look up at me.
"I'm coming over later," I said, cupping his face in my hands and brushing my lips to his.
His smile was big and beautiful, and as stupid as it might sound, it gave me hope that there might be something big coming in our future. "Bring clothes this time and stay," he whispered before leaning up to press his lips to mine.
That time, we were broken up by catcalls, and we both waved at Frank, the auto mechanic that owned the shop down at the end of the street… and was about sixty years old.
Damn, I loved this town.
Chapter Nine
Obviously, I'd never been on set of a movie before, and I had to admit, I was a little taken aback by the chaos and the fact that it looked nothing like I expected. It helped when the camera man called me over and I got to look through the screen on his camera, but all the background noise kinda ruined the effect, and when Blake had to kiss Mercy for a scene that was actually right smack in the middle of the movie––but had been scheduled as the last scene ––where they were fighting and he laid one on her to shut her up, I didn't even feel a twinge of jealousy because it all seemed so fake.
Clearly, I was a watcher of movies and should have nothing to do with this side of things.
The whole process of filming what would probably be less than two minutes of the movie took a surprising forty-five minutes, and nobody cheered until Granger, the other producer and the director had reviewed it several times, and declared it usable, and then everyone was whistling and clapping.
Declan ran directly over to me, bypassing several people vying for his attention and laid a kiss on me that had me clinging to him, and gasping for breath when he pulled back.
"I wonder when I'm ever going to get tired of kissing you," he whispered, looking awed as his beautiful, blue eyes stared into mine.
Hopefully never. But I didn't say that out loud because while everyone around us were celebrating the fact that this part of the movie making process was done, I was having a wee little crisis with my heart because I knew it meant he'd be leaving soon.
"Blake, I wanted to talk to you about a job coming up," Some man I'd never seen before said, ignoring me completely, though I didn't necessarily feel like it was personal, more like he was super busy and a little frazzled. Possibly one of those people who could only afford to pay attention to the thing that needed their attention right then.
"I told you, Sam. I'm not––"
Sam, shook his head, cutting Blake off. "It's not what you think." He finally looked over at me, giving me a small smile and a nod, which just made me think I'd been right in assuming that he wasn't ignoring me on purpose. "Do you mind if I borrow him?"
Blake groaned while I gave Sam a smile, shaking my head. "No."
I chuckled when Sam dragged him away while Blake sighed sadly, his eyes moving over me again and again as he was drawn away.
"So, you guys are dating now?" Mercy asked, when I turned and nearly jumped out of my skin to find her standing to my right, just barely out of my peripheral vision, and I wondered if she did that on purpose for some reason.
I chuckled softly, thinking about how technically, our first date had been at my house, and how we hadn't even made it halfway through a promising Christmas movie before we were trying to climb inside each other through our mouths.
"Yeah, we are," I said finally, giving her a soft smile that she didn't return.
"How's that going to work? Are you planning on leaving your darling shop behind, or are you going to try the long-distance thing?"
Something about the way she said darling made me think she didn't actually mean darling.
I blinked at her in surprise. While I hadn't necessarily gotten a warm impression from her earlier, I definitely hadn't been expecting her to be so… cold and a bit hateful to me. It was enough of a shock, it took me a long, confused moment before I finally answered. "We haven't really talked about that yet. We're still pretty new."
I hadn't really considered leaving my shop behind. It had been a part of me for a long time, but as the days passed––had it really only been three nights he'd spent with me––I was beginning to suspect I'd sell it all and move across the world for him… and that was terrifying, because I had no idea what he wanted out of this relationship.
"Long distance doesn't work," she said, in a dead voice, her lips tight, and I truly wasn't sure what to do. "Not with actors. There will always be some pretty little co-star or extra, or something waiting in the wings to steal him away."
Waiting in the wings? One, that was extremely dramatic, and two, the way she enunciated words was kind of annoying. I was sure it was probably a leftover from back when she was in acting classes, or whatever, and it was probably good for stage work, but it was… a bit over the top in casual conversation.
When I didn't say anything in response… because I really didn't know what to say, she wandered off.
I watched her leave, blinking after her with wide, slightly confused eyes. What had been the point of that conversation?
"Sometimes I don't understand why people pick her for a part," Granger grumbled next to me, and I turned to find him staring after her too, his lip curled. "Her mouth moves so weird."
I smirked, turning to face him completely. "I hadn't noticed."
"I bet not." He sighed, reaching out to grab my shoulder and give me a good shake. "That right there is an example of why you never marry a method actor. They immerse themselves into the role, and in all honesty, become the person they are portraying to the point of losing themselves sometimes. It's a beautiful thing to witness when watching a movie where the actor portrays a character perfectly, but it is shit on relationships. Mercy married a method actor right after she played the role of his character's love interest… and now he is divorcing her to marry his most recent co-star… who is about ten years younger than her."
He shrugged, dropping his arm back to his side. "Long distance relationships are hard with actors, but if I had someone who looked at me the way he looks at you…"
He trailed off, and we both looked over to where Blake was still standing with Sam as the man talked to the side of his head… because Blake was staring in our direction, glaring back and forth between the two of us.
Damn! When the hell had I started finding jealousy so damn sexy?
I smiled, and the man seemed to melt before my eyes, his shoulders relaxing and his mouth turning up at the corners in a small smile. "That's not the look of a man who has a normal relationship. That's a deep connection."
I had to agree with him on that. I certainly felt something different in the way he looked at me than I ever had with anyone else. It just felt so sweet, and so real.
"Mercy…" Granger paused, cringing slightly before looking around to make sure nobody was listening to our conversation. "She's not actually good enough to be a method actor, but she does tend to fal
l into the trap of getting feelings for her co-stars. She's just hurting right now… and I think she might have been falling for Blake, because she…" He squinted, clearly looking for the right words. "Well, you know how we ship certain couples in movies or TV shows, and then we see them in photos with their real spouse, and we just don't like the pairing as much as if they were with their co-star? Mercy kinda does that same thing to herself. She sees herself with Blake, because she's been playing his crush for months now. She really isn't a bad person, she's just a little selfish, a little angry, a little hurt and a little immature."
"Granger," Blake growled as he walked up, glaring at the man standing next to me. "Why are you, once again, drooling over my boyfriend?"
I was never going to get tired of hearing him say that.
Granger smirked, elbowing Blake. "I'm hoping he'll put in a good word with that cousin of his."
I chuckled, wondering if he realized that he probably didn't need a good word. Logan had been talking about him nonstop since they met.
I groaned, at the person staring back at me form the mirror. Wasn't black supposed to be slimming? Then why the hell did I look like a fucking box?
I pulled the suit jacket off, wondering if maybe I should take the vest off too, but my sister smacked at my hand when I started to remove it.
"What are you doin'?" She asked, her voice going annoyingly shrill. "You look amazin'."
What was she doin'? She thought she could just walk into my house and then my room any time that she wanted? Well, she couldn't. What if Blake had been fucking me over the back of the chair like he'd done earlier that day? She'd have been sorry she'd barged in then, wouldn't she?
"Emma!" I whined, stomping my foot. Yeah, not my proudest moment. "He's leaving tomorrow. I have to look better than amazing. I have to look spectacular, or he might not come back."