Page 43 of Don't Forget Me
She flashed a grin over her shoulder. “Nothing about any of this is normal, Mr. Jacobs.” She shook her head. “Besides, I don’t see her. Not all of us are as cracked as you. I hear her.”
“Some might say that’s even more—what was your word—cracked? Seeing someone is just a trick of the memory, but putting words in their mouths… I think we’re both a little crazy.”
“Well, we are seeing each other and neither of us is really here.”
Warm lips pressed against the side of her neck. “What does she say to you?”
Tilting her head to let him continue kissing a path to her ear, she sighed. “To always look to the stars.”
A chuckle rumbled through him. “Like Hollywood stars? Because I can definitely get behind that.”
Jamming her elbow back into his ribs, she smiled when his breath rushed out of him. “I think I liked you better grumpy.”
“And I like you.” He pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “I know what this is, I know how impossible our world is, but Liz… I just…”
“Like me?”
“Yeah. Is that okay?”
She turned, taking in the dark outline of his features, watching the uncertainty flash across his face. Lifting a hand, she traced every line of his face, every crease and valley, memorizing them. One corner of her lips curved up. “Tell me, who is Nick Jacobs?”
He wasn’t the man she’d watched in movies for years, nor the jerk who’d fought with her when she arrived. She refused to believe he was his worst action—driving under the influence that caused his accident. Was he the brother who’d spent the last weeks reading Stephen’s manuscript again and again? The intense man locking eyes on her?
“Is it okay if I say I don’t know?”
More than okay. It was perfect. Instead of answering him, she leaned toward him, pressing her lips to his. He lifted her up, pulling her into his lap and wrapping his arms around her. Their kiss broke off, but he didn’t let go.
Elizabeth slid her arms up around his neck and rested her chin on his shoulder, taking as much comfort as she gave. Neither of them wanted to be there, but here, in this moment, the fear couldn’t hurt them.
Here, they could imagine their beautiful world didn’t hold so much uncertainty.
15
NICK
There was singing coming from the kitchen.
Bad singing.
Very bad singing.
Only Elton John should sing Elton John. That was what Nick wanted to tell Liz as he sat in the living room with a full view of her dancing behind the kitchen counter, but he couldn’t keep the smile from his face.
That was new.
The only book he’d read since arriving at the lake sat closed in his lap. He’d been through the screenplay four times now, the words drawing him in as if he could hear Stephen’s excitement as he talked about them.
Nick tapped a finger along the leather cover, remembering the day he’d had it bound for his brother. There’d been happiness not unlike today, music and laughter.
The kinds of emotions Nick thought he’d forgotten.
Liz missed her family. She was a mother separated from her kids, and he saw the way she tried to hide that pain from him, but it didn’t dim her smile, it didn’t dull the kindness she exuded.
This woman… I like you. Was he twelve years old? They were the only words he could conjure to explain any of the feelings rolling through him, feelings that hadn’t been altogether welcome.
Life in Hollywood moved fast. Relationships started and ended in the blink of an eye. Movie roles came and went. Friendships didn’t last.
And here… it was like the world had slowed to a crawl, letting each moment matter instead of just providing a ladder to the next.
