Page 64 of Crocodile Tears
The line was dead for a long time before Cody finally said coldly, “Understood. I’ll find a way to fix it.”
“Thank you.” I hung up and turned to find Dove frozen halfway down the path. A bucket of green waste was in her hand, her eyes filled with cautionary concern.
“You what?”
My mind reeled as I realized what I’d just said.
“I . . .”
Dove dropped the bucket and folded her arms. “This movie.” She searched the air as if looking for answers. “Deacon, please tell me that this whole movie wasn’t just so you had anexcuseto give me money.”
I blew out a long breath. No point lying now. It was clear from her expression that she already knew the truth.
“You wouldn’t have taken it if I just gave it to you.” Her mouth fell open, and I scrambled to explain myself. “The fact you even called me told me how dire the situation was,” I pushed. “They were going to sell the zoo. You were going to lose yourhome, your family’s legacy.” I took a step forward, hands clasped and pleading. “And I was afraid you still wouldn’t take the money from pride alone, so when you called and asked if I could use the zoo for a filming location, I panicked and saidyes.” I panted, barely able to get the words out fast enough. “And then I went to work green-lighting this thing because I wanted to make this happen for you.Please.” I took her hands in mine. “Don’t hate me for this. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
To my relief, she didn’t pull away. “You know, I always thought the amount you were paying to use the zoo was insane.” Brows pinched, she shook her head. “I had a feeling you were padding the numbers to give us more, but . . . making a whole movie just for the zoo?”
“For you,” I clarified. “I’d do anything for you, Dove. Always. That’s how much you mean to me.”
Her eyes welled, and I was so relieved for a split second before she said, “I don’t want to Yoko your career.”
“You heard that too, huh?”
“I don’t want to kill your dream.”
“Baby,” I murmured, wiping a tear as it slipped down her cheek. “You could never do that.”
“Listen, Deacon, these last two days have been incredible,” she started. “But we need to talk about the elephant in the room.”
“I didn’t think you had elephants.”
“Not right now.”
“Okay.” I chuckled, making a mocking serious face.
“You know we can’t be a couple.”
My muscles constricted, fear spiking in me. “Of course we can.”
“You have an image to keep up.”
“First of all, fuck my image,” I asserted. “Secondly, the only image I want people to have of me is a man madly in love with his childhood sweetheart, of an actor who is hopelessly devoted to the love of his life.Thatis the image I want.”
“I like that image,” she said with a sniff. I hated that she was crying but loved that she was willing to show all of her emotionsto me. I knew how rare that was. “But you and I have very different lives. I want?—”
“You want to make a big impact in the world of wildlife conservation,” I supplied.
“Yes.”
“You want to travel the world and see new places and discover new things.”
“Yes.”
I held her cheeks and kissed her, murmuring across her lips. “And I’m the perfect person to do all those things with.” I rested my forehead to hers. “You can be the permanent director of the trust—you’re the best person for the job,” I continued before she could protest. “And you could travel with me on promo tours and to film festivals and shooting on location all over the world while doing your conservation work.”
“You’ve thought about this.”
“Every day since you walked back into my life,” I confessed. “Every day, I started thinking of all the ways I could make you happy, of all the ways we could be together.”
