Page 32 of Dumbstruck
I shouldn’t love that knowledge after the way she just flirted with him, but I do. “Are you sure it’s okay that we used the production team for this?” Katie spent more than two hours making me look old, and I’m wearing one of the outfits worn by Gabrielle’s elderly neighbor in the film.
Jonah chuckles. “More than okay. When I told Beckett we were going to try to stop the saboteur, he practically burst into tears and told me to use whatever I need.” He offers his arm to me. “You ready? The sooner we figure out this problem, the sooner we can turn our attention to…” His eyes darken as he looks at me. “More important activities.”
My goodness, this man is going to make me combust before the day is through.
“So what’s our plan?” I ask as we leave the tent arm in arm. “I obviously didn’t ask the right questions when I was talking to people in town before.”
Jonah hums as we join several crew members heading into town for the day’s filming. “I’ll admit I’m a little rusty on examining witnesses, so I was hoping you’d be the expert here.”
“I didn’t think of it that way.” And now my gears are turning, flipping the situation into trying to get the truth out of a prosecution case. I left most of the court proceedings to others, but often I was the one coming up with the right questions.
“We should work on our backstory,” Jonah says. “I’d say we’ve been married for…” He looks at me, head tilted to the side. “Sixty years?”
I scoff. “Was I a child bride or something? I don’t lookthatold.”
“High school sweethearts. Met when you were a freshman, I was a senior.” He kisses my cheek. “I spent a couple of years in Vietnam, and you dutifully waited for me.”
Rolling my eyes, I point an age-spotted finger at him. “I dated all the time while you were gone, but your letters were so sweet that I couldn’t bring myself to give up on you.”
Jonah’s eyes sparkle as he looks down at me, and he pulls me to a stop, stepping off to the side of the crew’s path. “I wrote you a letter every day I was gone.”
“And I kept them under my bed.”
He shifts closer, taking my hand between both of his and holding it against his chest. “I carried your picture in my breast pocket.”
I can’t help but move in closer, mesmerized by his warm eyes and the thought of someone carrying my picture with him like that. “I…uh…” I swallow and try again. “I turned down Bobby Fleming’s proposal only a week before you got home.”
He gasps and pulls me flush against his solid body. “His what?”
“His proposal!” I’m overheating again, but I refuse to look away from Jonah’s intense gaze. “I’m a catch, and so was Bobby Fleming.”
“I hate Bobby Fleming.” Jonah leans in, lips brushing mine in the barest of touches.
“Jonah?” Dexter’s voice is dissonant and overly loud. Or maybe I’m just annoyed by the interruption. “Wow, they did a good job on you two.”
There’s no sign of irritation in Jonah’s eyes, but he does look like he might laugh as he pulls away to look at his assistant. “Did you need something, Dex?”
Turning red, Dexter hunches his shoulders and shakes his head. “Well, yes. Sort of. Richie wants me to trail you guys since you won’t let him come with you into town.”
I furrow my brow. “Won’t people recognize you as Jonah’s assistant?” That’s why we’re making Richie keep his distance, much to his irritation. But the man’s too big to disguise.
Dexter shrugs. “I’ll stay out of the way.”
“I don’t think we have a choice,” Jonah murmurs before I can keep arguing. “Occupational hazard—I’m never alone.”
I don’t know how much I love that aspect of his life. Doesn’t he ever want some privacy? It would drive me crazy to always have someone watching me. It’s why I barely kissed him on our first date, knowing Richie was only a few steps behind.
Jonah’s gaze grows heavy as he glances between Dexter and me, and I can’t help but wonder if he knows what I’m thinking about. “Okay, here’s the plan,” he says, clapping his hands together. “Dex, you’re going to stay as far as you can while still keeping us in your line of sight so you can appease Richie. June, you and I are going to have that first date I promised you at the diner; it’ll be a great chance to charm people into talking to us and giving us some leads.”
Frowning, I try to imagine interacting with people from town without being recognized. I’m no actor, and makeup can only go so far. “What if I can’t do that?”
Jonah lifts an eyebrow. “What if you can’t talk to people? I think we both know you’re more than capable of holding a conversation.”
“What if I can’t be charming?”
“Again, I don’t think that will be a problem.”
He has a lot more faith in me than I have in myself. “I think…” I scratch my arm, wishing I had a fraction of Jonah’s confidence. “I think I should let you do most of the talking, no matter what. I don’t want to mess things up when this was your idea.”
