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“Keep eating.”
“What is it with you always trying to get me to eat?”
“Someone needs to take care of you.” I managed to keep the irritation out of my tone, but I was definitely feeling it.
“You do realize I’m a grown woman. We’re almost the same age. Do you need someone following you around making sure you eat?”
I shrugged. “At one time I did, but I was in a dark place then. With you, I think you’re too busy to think about what’s good for you and your body. I need to keep you healthy.”
“For what? Am I on the menu for Thanksgiving?” Her eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Are you going to make me wait that long to eat you?”
She leaned across the table and smacked my arm, grinning. “Behave yourself! I have to be back on set in a few minutes.”
“I could edge you until you have to get back. It might help your performance.”
She bit her bottom lip and narrowed her eyes, as though she were considering it, but then she shook her head. “You’re not allowed to be distracting when I’m at work.”
“Can I come watch? I swear I’ll be on my best behavior.” I crossed my heart and held up two fingers, not really knowing what either of those things meant—only knowing I’d seen Minnow do it when she was joking around.
“You might find it boring.”
“I’ll stay out of the way. You won’t even know I’m there.”
She picked up her fork and ate for a few minutes. When she was done, she sighed and leaned back, resting her hand on her stomach, letting me fantasize about her doing that with my baby in her belly.
I swallowed my growl of approval and tore away my gaze. Hastily, I stuffed the leftovers in the fridge, still not sure how Minnow managed to re-package things and fit them neatly into the fridge at their place. Then again, the main fridge at my brother’s was apparently designed for restaurants, not private dwellings. The fridge in Tarryn’s trailer was tiny. I’d have to get a new, larger one sent over. Maybe a larger trailer, too.
I walked a pace or two behind her as we made our way to the set. I felt like her bodyguard, and that role pleased me. It was how my brother was with Minnow and Rodrigo and the children, and I had never seen a truer expression of love than the way he watched over them. He was even protective of me, to some extent, not that I deserved it from him, considering the mess I’d made of our relationship when we’d met.
Tarryn showed me where I could sit and be out of the way, but I watched in chagrin as a woman grabbed a man’s arm and pointed at me.
The woman approached us immediately.
“Tarryn! Who’s your friend?” The older woman smiled at me, like an alligator eying a fisherman in a leaky boat.
“Loïc, this is Liza. Liza, this is my friend Loïc.”
Friend? The word stung, but maybe to others our relationship wouldn’t make sense. ‘Friend’ was a reasonable approximation, even though I wanted her for myself, and knew every inch of her under her clothing.
“Just a friend?” She sounded disappointed. “The two of you look good together.”
“I’mmarried,” Tarryn reminded her, the words acerbic. “You know damn well that Valor is still in the picture.”
“Always such a good girl.” Liza nudged Tarryn’s shoulder affectionately. “Are you an actor, Loïc?” she sounded hopeful.
“No, he isn’t,” Tarryn said, voice firm.
“That’s a shame.” She took a step back and looked me over again. “He wouldn’t have very many lines and he’d be absolutely perfect. That face, the hair, that body…”
She couldn’t possibly be suggesting I act. I’d done my research, andRose Redwas a big deal.
“You can’t possibly mean that.” Tarryn echoed my own thoughts.
“Have you ever been in a school play? Anything?”
“I was homeschooled,” I said, using the socially acceptable explanation Minnow had helped me come up with. It was easier than trying to explain my past to strangers.
