Page 68 of Love like the (Real) Reel Thing
Jess smiled brightly. “Nothing, long queue. Here you go.” She handed Emily her lunch. “You know, we could see a movie when we’re finished here. There’s a cinema really close by.”
Emily pulled a face. “I know, it has one screen. But, yeah, they might have – wait, are you sure you don’t want to go back and spend the evening with Robert?”
“I’m positive! I’d much rather hang out with you, Emily.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet of you, Jess.” Emily unwrapped her roll and took a bite.
Jess started on her own lunch. The truth was, shedidwant to hang out with Emily. Partly because she needed to think about herself and Robert. They might have already slept together, but on an emotional level there was no harm in slowing things down a bit.
And after seeing his contact details on that poster, it was clear that Robert had a whole part of his life that he hadn’t even thought to share.
Which wasn’t exactly a red flag. Not compared with the parts ofherlife she was planning to keep to herself.
Anyway, it wasn’t exactly a secret, was it? She could have spotted his name and number on that poster at any time.
She tried to ignore the niggling feeling that being part of an amateur theatre group fell firmly into the Hobbies and Interests category. Which meant it would have been normal to mention it. Unless he’d forgotten.
Yep, that had to be it.
CHAPTER 34
Jess woke to the sound of heavy rain clattering against her small bedroom window. Reaching over in the bed, she plucked back the orange-and-brown floral curtains to peer out before falling back for a few moments to stare at the ceiling.
They’d had such amazing weather yesterday, she thought. And the film people were loving the slightly freakish weeks of unbroken sunshine they’d been enjoying since their arrival.
Still, somebody needed the rain. The farmers, probably. Briefly, she wondered how Adam’s parents were doing. She’d only met them a few times but they were warm, down-to-earth people. Adam had once had all sorts of plans for the family farm. And now she was thinking about Adam again …
She forced herself to get out of bed and into the shower, relieved to have hot water this morning. Sylvia hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d said that it wasn’t dependable.
She took extra care with her clothes and makeup and, after drying her hair, she brushed it smooth, before twisting it behind her head and securing it with an oversized clip.
Deciding she’d grab some breakfast at the hotel, she shrugged on a rain jacket and pulled up her hood before stepping out the front door. She banged the door behind her, locked it and ran down the road to her car.
She was in the middle of a three-point-turn when there was a knock on her window, and she jumped, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw it was Robert. She whizzed down the window.
“Sorry if I scared you!” He flashed her a smile. “Are you going up to the hotel?”
“Yeah, get in!”
He ran around the other side and slipped into the passenger seat. “Hey, you!” He leaned across and planted a quick kiss on her lips.
“Hey, yourself!”
Jess turned on the heaters to clear the windows, before driving down the main street towards the access road for the hotel. Now that she and Robert seemed to be getting more serious, she contemplated again telling him more about the past year. But she’d already told him about her and Simon calling off the wedding. Everything else seemed too much. She was clearly destined never to say anything.
“How come you’re going to Linford?” she said.
“There’s another set being built in the Great Hall. It’s pretty big, and quite close to the Whispering Gallery.”
Jess glanced over at him. “You have a pretty cool job, you know. I can’t imagine that you’re ever bored.”
“I could say the same about your job,” he said lightly.
She hesitated, wondering whether to mention the poster. Maybe he’d tell her in his own time? Even if he didn’t, it wasn’t exactly a deal-breaker. Yeah, definitely not a big deal. No need to say anything, in fact.
“I was in Kilshanley yesterday, and I saw a poster with your contact details on it,” she blurted out.
She risked another glance. He was frowning slightly.
