Page 45 of The Kissing Part
“It won’t always be like this. You just have to be super cautious right now.”
“I should’ve listened to you in the first place. Safety first.” She comes over and gives me a soft kiss. “I’m just so happy you forgave me.”
Did I forgive her?
“What’s there to forgive?”
“You know, me not staying in touch, especially after you proposed to me.”
“We were kids.”
“True, but the love was real. And you just asked me to live with you.”
“Yeah, but that’s not permanent, right? You’ll go wherever—”
“Vancouver. Ooh, Owen. You should come with me. I can get you a security gig with the studio. Spotlight Pictures is an indie studio, but they’re up and coming and very well regarded. There’s always expensive equipment that needs to be secured, not to mention the talent. It would be a whole new market for you. Would you like that?”
Mackenzie talked about getting a foot in the door with Hollywood before when she wanted me to take the job with Shayla. No doubt it could be very lucrative. Not only do they have expensive sets and equipment, they often want to keep the movie under wraps until just before launch. I’d have to give up the DC job or postpone it until Nathan could take over. Assuming we get it. Mackenzie thinks we will.
“Think about it, okay?” she says, stroking my beard and kissing me again.
I flop backwards on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Things are going at lightning speed. Within weeks I could be in a new business venture, staying with Shayla on location in Vancouver, living with her, in a relationship. Me, the die-hard bachelor sworn to keep my heart under wraps because of the damage she did to it in the first place!
Somebody has to slam on the brakes!
“Shay, this thing between us, it’s more casual, you know?”
Her dresser drawer slams shut. “What do you mean?”
“I mean this is way too fast. I can’t be following you around from set to set, even if I can get work out of it.”
She stands next to the bed, staring down at me. “Why not?”
“Because I have my own life here.”
She sits next to me. “We can make Clover Park our homebase, so you’d still see all your friends and family regularly.”
I sit up and stare straight ahead, steeling myself against tears. Hers, not mine. “I’m just saying I saw this thing between us as more casual, you know?”
“You invited me to live with you.”
I turn to her. “For my sanity. I can’t stand knowing Harper and Mackenzie are at risk if Matt comes back.”
“That’s the only reason?”
“And because you’re noisy in bed.” It’s all true, but it’s not the whole truth. I’m backpedaling because she expects me to drop my life for hers, and that’s never going to happen. There’s no real future for us.
She huffs. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that anymore.” She grabs her suitcase and dumps the contents on the bed.
I grab her by the waist and pull her into my lap, wrapping my arms around her. She pushes at my chest for a moment and then gives up, scowling at me.
“You’re giving me very mixed messages,” she says. “No relationship, move in with me, and now you’re hugging me.”
“Can’t we just live together casually?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
