Page 130 of Tactically Acquired

“Because of your contract.”

I nodded.

“Run this through with me. Tell me what happened.”

“From the top? That could take a while.”

“Then give me bullet points.”

I hated going back and thinking about that time in my life. The shock of finding out that I didn’t just need glasses…But he deserved to know.

“Spencer and I were doing our first movie together. It was exciting to do all those action scenes. I remember he wasn’t exactly as thrilled as I was to work on the project, but it was a huge break for both of us. Anyway, it was about halfway through filming when things started getting kind of bad. At first, it was just blurry lines. I figured I needed glasses. And things like lines on a crosswalk would look bent. So, anyway, I made an appointment to get my eyes checked, figuring I needed to wear contacts. Spencer drove me because he didn’t trust me to take a cab instead of driving myself.”

“You actually had a car?”

I could hear the smile in his voice and I grinned, thinking about my little roadster. “She was red. I loved to put the top down and feel the wind in my hair. It was the most amazing feeling.”

“You got rid of it,” he assumed.

“I sort of had to. You can’t drive a car when you start going blind. When the doctor told me, I was shocked. Angry. Disbelieving. I thought for sure he had it wrong. Spencer took me to at least four other doctors before I finally let it sink in that the diagnosis wasn’t wrong.

“There was a lot of drinking and showing up late on set. I almost got kicked off set a few times. If it wasn’t for Spencer, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have survived those first few years. I just kept going in these cycles of anger, acceptance, and crying. And every time I thought I was okay, it started over again.”

“Where was Ginger through all of this?”

I huffed out a laugh at that. “You’ve met Ginger. She pretty much told me it was no big deal and moved on.”

“She didn’t go with you to appointments or try and help in any way?”

“Nope. That was all Spencer. That’s why he lives with me. He’s the one who helps me with everything. And it’s not that I can’t function on my own. He’s just always been there, looking out for me in a way that no one else has.”

“And that’s why you want him to move on.”

I nodded. “He’s wanted to do something else for so long, but I love action movies. I was clinging so hard to this life of action and fun, and I didn’t want to let it go. I was trying to stuff as much life as possible in before I go blind.”

“But you could still act.”

I could hear the skepticism in his voice, but he just didn’t understand. “Yes, I can still do so much, but action movies? I don’t even know how that would work.”

“Maybe a movie about a blind action star,” he teases, cheering me up instantly.

“Maybe.”

“I know just the director for it. She’d take it on in an instant.”

“Is this Zoe that everyone keeps talking about?”

He sighed heavily. I could feel the annoyance coming off him before he spoke the words. “It’s this whole thing. We get involved in it and film the script for her…It’s this whole ordeal and?—”

I grabbed him by the wrists, my heart thumping wildly in my chest. It couldn’t be. “Zoe. Zoe Warren is the woman you’re talking about?”

“Yeah, she’s my buddy’s wife.”

My hands flew to my mouth as a squeak of laughter left my lips. “Holy shit! I can’t believe you know her! She’s amazing and the most coveted director to work with!”

“Seriously?”

I nodded excitedly. I couldn’t believe this. Maybe I had a chance at still making something happen if she was involved. I ignored the way he groaned, knowing he was already trying to find a way out of this, though I wouldn’t let him.

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