Page 76 of Solid Ground

I nod.

Declan gathers me in his arms and strokes my back. I breathe in the reassuring scent ofhim. All these months together and I didn’t want to fall in love, but it’s far too late for that.

“I’m not going anywhere without you. Or our daughter. We’re a family now. I love you, Zoe Drake.”

I sniff. “I love you too. And don’t sell your other house. I love it too much.”

He chuckles. “Me too, but don’t you think it’s a bit too big?”

“It’s perfect. The bathtub is perfect.”

His chuckle turns to a roar of laughter. “You want to keep the house because of the bathtub?”

“Yes. And maybe it’s big, but we can make it a home. And I know you love it.”

He grins. “If it makes you happy, then that’s what we do.”

I breathe out a long sigh. “I’ll miss San Francisco, but with Caitlin married and living somewhere else, there’s nothing for me here. But your life is in LA, and we’ll be there while you’re filming anyway …”

Declan nods. “Makes sense.”

“And with that big house, I don’t want Daisy growing up alone. I know we haven’t talked about the future, but …”

“I’ll give you as many babies as you want.” He kisses me softly. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Zoe.”

TWENTY-FIVE

DECLAN

I stepout of my trailer and take a deep breath.

I’ve never been nervous on set before—or maybe I was years ago, but those days are a bit of a blur from the excitement I’d felt at the time.

I’m not just out to re-establish my name. I want to impress Josh—his career followed a similar path to mine, but he got everything right, and I want Zoe to be proud of me.

She and Daisy are my whole world now.

I know this is an ego project—but it could also be the start of something new. A career without the baggage of the past. A fresh start. There’s no giving in to temptation ever.

While I used to have a hip flask in my trailer no matter what I worked on, there’s no alcohol at all on set now.

Not that I would risk my family for anything.

My past is behind me, and it’s up to me to make sure it stays there. What I have with Zoe is so grounding that I’ve come to realise how I wasn’t ready for my firsttwo marriages. I was too young when I married Ciara—I should have worked out who I was before I committed.

And the less said about my marriage to Annabelle, the better.

My future is brighter than it’s ever been—whether I ever work again or not.

“Hi, Declan.” Hadley Bridger saunters toward me. She’s an up-and-coming actress who’s one of my co-stars in this movie—the one I have a sex scene with. I’ve seen some of her work—she’s talented, but right now I have a sinking feeling in my gut as she twirls a lock of blonde hair around her finger and crosses her high-heeled feet when she comes to a stop.

“Hadley.”

“So, we’ll be working together.”

I’m not sure I can remember her voice being so husky on the audition tape I saw, and I raise an eyebrow. “It seems so.”

Despite my wild ways in the past, I never hooked up with anyone on set. Even I drew limits on my behaviour when it came to beingthatunprofessional.

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