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Bowing to her demands.
Crawling in bed, I try to push away all thoughts of my conversation with my mother. Tomorrow I will see Ansen again. I’ll face the way I’m feeling right now head-on. Hold my head high and focus on my job. I’m due back on set at the ungodly hour of six o’clock in the morning. Just me. The rest of the cast and crew won’t be arriving until after seven o’clock. Steve wanted to have a meeting with me about the upcoming travel arrangements and shooting schedule.
My phone chimes on my bedside table next to me. I don’t need to look to know who it is.
ELI: Sweet dreams.
ME: Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow bright and early.
ELI: Or you could come over here and stay the night.
Tempting. So very tempting. Falling asleep in his arms last night felt like pure bliss. Waking up in them was even better.
ME: Yes, but that would negate at least an hour of sleep.
ELI: Only an hour?
ME: Are you flirting with me, Mr. Simms?
ELI: Smooth, right?
ME: Very.
ELI: Seriously, you’re welcome to stay here if you want. I know it’s closer to the studio.
ME: If I stay there, I doubt I’ll get any sleep if you have it your way.
Two hours after we crawled in bed, neither of us were asleep. Not because we were getting frisky with each other, much to my dismay.
I couldn’t close my eyes. I didn’t want it to end. I was prepared to stay up all night, relishing the feel of his body against mine. I fought until the very end when my body finally gave out.
Which meant I only got a few hours of sleep last night.
And Eli? He said he crashed shortly after I did. I have a feeling he wasn’t ready for our little bubble to burst either. Being back in LA means we have to watch our backs. Tread carefully in public. Separate out professional and personal lives the way we talked about. Which we’ve been working on and failing at since the minute I caved to my feelings.
ELI: Fine. I’ll grab the coffee order so you can sleep an extra ten minutes then.
ME: You don’t have to do that.
ELI: I know, I want to. Plus, you have to be in an hour earlier than me. Do you want me there for moral support?
ME: Nah. I have to learn to deal with it sooner or later.
ELI: How did your conversation with your mom go? I was surprised you didn’t barge through my door earlier.
Before heading in to meet my mother for dinner, I called Eli and warned him that I was going to take shelter in his trailer if I needed to escape. Come to find out, he has a house that he sleeps at sometimes, too. A nice one, on the beach. He sent me the address in case I needed to make a quick getaway, and when I pulled it up on a satellite map, I stared in awe.
Two stories. Private beachfront. Six bedrooms. An equal number of bathrooms. More space than he needs but it’s close to the studio which doesn’t surprise me since the studio owns it. It’s on loan to him while he’s under contract for the movie.
It was nice to know I had a place to escape to. His trailer would have been fine, more convenient for the early hour I had to arrive anyway, but the beach has always been my sanctuary. I thought about going over there. To talk. To walk along the shore. To dip my feet in the ocean. If I weren’t exhausted, physically and mentally, I would have.
ME: It went fine. There’s a lot of facts that took me by surprise. I’d rather explain in person.
ELI: Sounds like we have a date tomorrow night then.
ME: This isn’t exactly date conversation.
ELI: Would you rather talk about boring shit like your favorite color - teal - or when I stopped wetting the bed - three years old?
