Page 39 of Love On and Off Set

“You can say that.”

“And…?”

“He drove over my right leg, breaking a pile of bones. Crush injuries.”

Myles winced.

“I spent eight months in a rehab hospital. I had to learn to walk again. You hear people say that, and you think how can someone forget how to walk? Well, when your body is continuously failing you and not listening to your commands, it is really like learning all over again.”

“I want to say I’m sorry. I mean, I didn’t do anything and there’s nothing I can do…but I’m sorry I brought it up.”

“No, I’m sorry.” I pointed to the phone. “The crown prosecutor from the small town I worked in just contacted me. The guy, well, he was seventeen at the time, pled guilty. He claimed he was high in that moment and didn’t know what he was doing.” I sucked in a breath. “And all that’s likely true, but he nearly killed me. He destroyed my career. He could’ve killed other people. A few years in jail doesn’t feel like enough punishment.” I ran my hands through my hair. “I’ve never believed in vengeance, but I sure as shit want him to suffer like I did.”

Myles snagged my left hand and held it within his. “Totally legit to want vengeance. I don’t blame you. Do you…like can you talk to him? Do you want to?”

I let out a shaky breath, even as my fingers tingled in his grip. “I’ll deliver a victim-impact statement. But does a nineteen-year-old really have the ability to understand? He’ll do a couple of years. I’m never going to be a cop again.”

“That was your identity, eh?”

Slowly, I nodded. “And there are gay RCMP officers, but I never came out. I chose my job over my personal life and look where I’ve wound up. Guarding a vase as a glorified security guard and completely alone.”

Chapter Six

Myles

Well, fuck me.

When I’d found Hallstein clearly upset, I’d almost backed out and left him to…whatever he was going through. An instinct I didn’t understand had me stepping into the room and making my presence known. If he’d asked me to fuck off, I would’ve dropped his sandwich off and made myself scarce.

He hadn’t, though. Instead, he’d opened up and shared what were clearly his most intimate secrets. About the accident, certainly, although a google search would’ve turned that up. No, the big deal was the fact he’d been a cop for years and had never come out. And, if my guess was accurate—and it likely was—that he’d never had a relationship. At least a serious one. Because that would’ve risked discovery and, from the little he’d shared, that idea terrified him.

Before I could comfort him properly, though, Sally breezed into the room.

Hallstein pulled his hand back.

With reluctance, I let it go.

“We’re back in ten.” She eyed our half-eaten sandwiches.

Obligingly, we both dug in.

And ten minutes later, we were back on set, shooting another scene with Cole and Elouise. The actor worked so flawlessly that I could almost forget his injury.

He still took it easy, though. He wouldn’t be doing any of his own stunts for a while yet.

Our stunt coordinator, Donovan, was an inherently cautious guy. He understood Julie and Cole’s desire to do their own stunts, but he had to balance the probability of injury.

With Cole, while he recovered, those odds weren’t in his favor.

The scene ended and everyone moved into Montgomery’s bedroom where, naked and believing himself alone, he was going to awake to find Lyric visiting him.

And as much fun as that scene was going to be—Cole nearly naked and all that—the props were done and Coco had a handle on everything. I wasn’t needed. So I walked Hallstein to the studio door. “We have more tomorrow.”

“I know.”

“So I’ll see you then.”

“I know.”