I take a cautious spoonful of my own soup, letting the heat trickle through me and warm my core. “It’s not just that. I mean, it started out as that. But now it’s more a question of if we even make sense together.”
She opens a packet of crackers and dumps them into her bowl. “Do you guys have anything in common, aside from being in the industry?”
Spooning another bite into my mouth, I take a second to think about it. “We both like to read.”
She nods. “Okay, that’s good. Anything else?”
“To be totally honest, there isn’t a lot of deepconversation involved. Usually.” I smile sheepishly as I feel my cheeks flush.
She laughs and gives me wiggly eyebrows. “No one can fault you for that, my friend.”
I giggle along with her, but my laugh fades as I start to really consider Jenna’s question. Thinking through my encounters with Grayson, they’re sexy as fuck, obviously, and aside from the night before, our conversations might feel surface-level, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know him. “He’s the kind of person who always makes sure everyone else around him feels comfortable. He’s a caretaker, and when he looks at you, you know he’s really listening. He’s kind, and thoughtful, and funny.” I dunk my grilled cheese in my soup. “He’s a good man.”
Jenna sets down her spoon. “All that and a six-pack?”
I take a bite of my soup-soaked sandwich. “Eight-pack, actually.”
She levels me with a piercing glare. “Then what the hell is the issue?”
I stare into my bowl like it holds the answers to all of life’s problems. “We agreed to a costars-with-benefits kind of a deal. It wouldn’t be right to try to change that. Especially not when we’re so close to wrapping.”
Jenna accepts the milkshake our server delivers, scooping out a big bite of ice cream before handing it to me. “So what you really mean is that you like him and you’re afraid he doesn’t like you?”
“God, you really are perceptive.” I bite the cherry from the milkshake, pulling it off the stem. “Are you certain you and my mother have never met?”
“Are you kidding? I wish!” She gives me a sweet smile.“But I will take that compliment and let you in on a secret: he likes you, too.”
“I feel like I’m back in junior high.” I take down half of my sandwich in one bite.
“I’m just saying. Maybe you should tell him how you feel.”
“I don’t even know how I feel.” I’m also a lying liar who lies.
She rolls her eyes at me and steals another spoonful of my milkshake.
“Okay. Enough about me and my silly boy problems. Tell me what’s going on with you. What’s next after shooting wraps?”
Jenna’s eyes light up as she details her next project, one she helped develop with one of her best friends. We spend the rest of lunch talking about everything but Grayson West, and it’s comforting how well we click and mesh, how she reads me easily enough to know I can’t let the conversation linger on him.
Too bad that doesn’t keep him out of my head.
—
When I get back to the inn, I’m surprised to spot Liz lounging in one of the armchairs in front of the fire in the sitting room. I don’t think I’ve seen her look so relaxed in months, and a little stab of guilt gets me right in the stomach.
“Everything already done for the day?” I ask, flopping into the empty chair next to her.
“Yup.” She tilts her head back and closes her eyes as if she is totally at peace.
We sit in the quiet for a minute.
“Liz, I’m really sorry.”
One eye pops open as she gazes at me warily. “What did you do now?”
“Ha ha.” I straighten in my chair, leaning my elbows on my knees. “I’m sorry it took me so long to pull myself together. I know I put us behind schedule, and that must have been really stressful for you, maybe even more stressful than the shit show that was the casting process.”
She sighs and sits up, mirroring my position. “It certainly wasn’t the greatest of starts, but we’re in a good spot now.” She pats my knee. “You’re doing great work, Em. And you wrote another beautiful script.”
