Page 10 of Touch Me

“True. And I’d have to fight you for the cookie dough icecream. And your manhood would be seriously wounded when I beat you every time.Never underestimate a woman fighting for her ice cream.”

“I never would.” He brushes his fingertips over my lips.“Seriously, we’re on the same page.”

I study his face, thinking about baby lust and who in thisfamily has that particular malady.

“We are,” he repeats. “I know how hard you worked to getwhere you are. I want to support you. Not sabotage you. I would never wantthat.”

My heart swells. Could I love him any more?

I squeeze his hand. “I know. I do. And if I weren’t right onthe cusp, things might be different right now. But Dead Certain isperfect. A huge film with a huge director, and I know I’ll be great in therole. I mean, not to sound like a total egomaniac, but it’s perfect for me.”

“It is.” The pride I see on his face just about melts me.“And you’re going to shine.”

“I need that. I need to prove that the success of Intercontinentalwasn’t because the book was already so popular or because Damien paid offreviewers to praise me since I’m Nikki’s best friend.”

“No one’s saying that.”

I grimace. “Okay, maybe not. I’ll concede that I might be alittle paranoid and prone to conspiracy theories. But knowing Damien really hasopened doors for me, and—”

“I know. I get it. You want to establish your career first.And I meant it when I said I’d wait. But I also meant it when I said I don’twant to wait forever.”

I sigh, relieved. “I know. I just—I don’t know. Maybe I amdoubting myself.”

“Everyone does. But I promise you this—you’re an amazingactress, and anyone in the world who hasn’t already figured that out will knowfor certain once the movie comes out. And,” he continues before I caninterrupt, “you’ll be a wonderful mom, too. When it happens.”

I sigh, then snuggle closer, wrapping his words around melike a warm blanket. “I really do love you.”

“Yeah.” He kisses my forehead. “I kind of thought you did.”

Chapter Three

There are some mornings when you just really shouldn’t haveto wake up. Today is one of them. My eyes are so heavy I can barely manage topry them open, I feel vaguely nauseous, and my breasts are so tender that Iwince when I roll over.

The latter I blame on Ryan, who’s already out of bed andprobably halfway to his office at Stark Security right now. And the man callsme a workaholic.

As for the exhaustion, I have no one to blame but myself.Not only did Ryan and I have a nice little indoor epilogue to our earlieroutdoor sex-capades, but once he’d gone out like a light, I’d moved into theliving room to read the Dead Certain script and production notes onemore time.

I swear, if I’d done this much work in high school, mygrades would have looked like Nikki’s.

Preparation wasn’t my only reason, though. Insomnia played asignificant role, too. And since I couldn’t sleep, I figured I might as wellwork. And snack, because I definitely had a case of the munchies.

I was paying for it now, though. The bone-deep exhaustioncoupled with the bloating that had to be the result of way too much cheese andcrackers last night as I was reading the script.

Basically, I’m a mess. And I need to get myself cleaned uppronto since Carson sent me a text last night letting me know that they’dfinally settled on the actor to replace our former leading man who’d beeninjured on the set of his last movie, and is still in rehab. He’s a great guy,and we had terrific chemistry, but there was no way to postpone the shoot forabout a million reasons, not the least of which was that the internationallocations were already locked in, and a movie with a budget this big can’treally turn on a dime.

Carson had told me not to worry, and while I tried to bechill, it wasn’t easy. This is a real two-hander, with both the main charactersdriving the plot like in Lethal Weapon. Only this is a romance, not abromance. And it centers around a kidnapping, not drugs. Plus, the love scenesare seriously hot and to make that work, there has to be chemistry.

So, yeah, I worried even while I told myself I trusted him.Carson had an eye for talent. Wasn’t I proof of that?

I grin at my own wit as I force up the zipper on my skirt,silently chastising myself for the damn cheese. Not only is my stomach doingflip-flops, but I’m bloated as hell.

So much for meeting my mysterious new co-star at my absolutebest.

Mysterious…

I’m still running potential actors through my mind when Ipull onto the lot. Matthew Holt’s Hardline Entertainment is producing themovie, and they have a first-look deal with the studio. I try to think of whichactors made their name in one of the studio’s pictures, and who might jump atthe chance to pop into a sweet, last-minute deal. But while I can come up withseveral, none seem to be right for Buddy Cane, codename Breaker.

I show my pass at the gate, then navigate the Ferrari thathas been my baby since Damien and Nikki gave her to me. And, frankly, she’s awhole lot easier to parent than a child of the human variety. I park in frontof the production offices next to a deep-blue Audi convertible that seemsvaguely familiar. But this is a town full of convertibles. I head inside, thenveer to the lobby-level coffee stand and order a large latte and a muffin.