Page 109 of At the Heart of It
Jonah sighed, hoping this wasn’t going to get played off as some romantic interlude between them. “They’re not going to make us sip wine and laugh at each other’s unfunny jokes, are they?”
“There’s no requirement that you tell jokes,” she assured him. “Funny or unfunny. And actually, hang on.”
She hurried out of the room, then returned a few seconds later with a four-pack of beer in cans. “Look—no wine either.”
“You got me 3-Way IPA?” He grinned as she handed it over.
“It’s from Fort George Brewery,” she said. “I know you like IPAs, so?—”
“This is great.” He tucked the cans under one arm. “Is this some sort of product placement deal or something?”
She shook her head, and there was something almost sad in her expression. “No. I just wanted you to have something you’d like. Something that’s just for you.”
“I appreciate that.”
They looked at each other for a moment, neither of them saying anything. If there were no risk of anyone walking in, he probably would have kissed her by now. Hell, he might have asked her to skip this whole stupid hot tub thing and come home with him. He was still entertaining that fantasy when she spoke again.
“Look, Jonah.” Her voice was soft, and she darted a glance at the door before speaking again. “Remember what you said to me that first morning after we—after the night we went to the club?”
“I said a lot of things that morning.” He shifted the beer from one hand to the other. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
“You said, ‘No matter what happens, this was never a mistake.’ I just want you to know that meant a lot to me.”
He studied her a moment, trying to get a handle on what she was saying. On why she was speaking in code. “Okay,” he said slowly. “Kate?”
“Yeah?”
“Is there something you’re trying to tell me?”
She shook head, then opened her mouth to say something else.
“Come on already! Take off your clothes.”
They both turned to see Amy in the doorway tapping her watch. “Sorry, guys, but we need to move this along. We’re paying the whole crew overtime right now. Jonah—you think you could maybe hustle?”
“Sure. No problem.”
He looked back at Kate. “Can we talk more later? Like maybe after this shoot? When this is all over?”
Kate nodded, and that darkness in her eyes flickered again. “Yes. When this is all over.”
Chapter 18
“Places, everyone!”
Kate clapped her hands and surveyed the film crew. That seemed easier somehow than focusing on the scene they were set up to capture.
Jonah and Viv sat a few feet apart in Viv’s massive hot tub designed to look like a rock grotto. Rounded boulders lined the edges of a bubbling pool shimmering with flecks of pink and silver reflected from the setting sun. A breeze ruffled tiny field violets blooming among the rocks, and Kate breathed in the scent of damp fern and ozone.
The setting was perfect. The lighting was perfect.
Kate’s stomach was not perfect. It felt like a cement mixer someone had filled with Jell-O and cold rocks before turning the crank with agonizing slowness.
“Can you move a little to the right, Joe?” One of the lighting guys waved Jonah closer to Viv, and Kate tried not to cringe.
Jonah’s arms were stretched out over the rock-lined rim of the tub, his infinity tattoo prominent on one sculpted pectoral muscle. Over his heart. Kate wondered if that’s what the film crew was trying to capture.
“Beautiful, Vivienne,” someone called. “Turn a little this way. There you go.”
