Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 108974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
“Partners work a little different out here. I call her my partner because we tend to work shifts together, but there’s no formal relationship because we’re such a small department,” he explained. “But you should know I’ll probably be around when you are. Is this Gavin guy coming in at the same time?”
“You don’t watch TV, do you?” She couldn’t help but tease him. He was a gorgeous guy who was fun to talk to and seemed genuinely kind, and he didn’t care at all about the Hollywood thing. Gavin would be confused at a person who didn’t recognize him. It might do the man’s ego good. “Gavin is kind of a legend in the TV world.”
“I might recognize him if I see him, but no, I don’t,” he admitted. “I’m more of a sports and books guy. I know those sound like they don’t go together, but they do. There are some movies I like, but I don’t know many actors. It’s not that I don’t appreciate what you do.”
“You just don’t celebrity worship like the rest of the world.” It was kind of refreshing. She liked that she wasn’t worried Major wanted to use her as a ladder rung. It had happened more than once with men she’d dated. Even the ones who weren’t actors tended to want to step into her world.
“Yeah, I don’t get that. You’re a person like the rest of us.”
The way he said the words brought her right back to the reason for her apology. “I am. And it was weird for you, wasn’t it?”
He hesitated but answered. “Okay, it was weird, but like I said, you handled it well.”
“Thanks. Gavin is supposed to come in sometime this weekend. He’ll shadow your sheriff.” She’d known Gavin for a long time. “I should warn you—he can be a little method.”
A brow rose over his eyes.
“It’s an acting term. He can be intense and weird about his characters. He’ll ask a lot of questions and take a lot of liberties. But he understands firmly placed boundaries. That’s the key with Gavin. Once he knows where the line is, he’ll respect it.”
“Do you know that from experience?” Major asked.
“Oh, yes, I’ve worked with Gavin many times. He can be obnoxious, but you put your foot down and he’s cool.” She knew there had been a time when she didn’t know Gavin, but she couldn’t remember it. That was how long she’d worked with the man.
“What did you have to put your foot down about, Brynn?” There was a hint of cop in his tone now. She’d rapidly come to note that there were a couple of sides to the deputy. He could be quite charming, but there was a deep authoritative side that couldn’t be denied.
She wasn’t sure what he was getting at. “Like I said, we’ve worked together a lot. I played his daughter on one show. It was a sitcom that ran for a long time. I started on that show when I was five years old. And then we were on Janie’s World. That show went on for several years. I was a teenager then. He and my mom were good friends, so the dad role sometimes went beyond the actual role he was playing. Like I said, he can sink into his role and forget that it’s not real.”
“Ah,” Major said.
And that was when she realized what he’d really been talking about. He said he’d looked her up on the Internet. He must have gone pretty deep because those rumors finally stopped circulating a few years ago. “You read the gossip that we were dating back when I turned eighteen.”
She huffed, disappointment welling. Those rumors had hurt because Gavin had never been anything but fatherly to her.
“I’m sorry. I was only asking. You talked about boundaries, and I immediately thought about what kind of boundaries a kid would have.” Major reached out and put a hand over hers. “I wasn’t accusing anyone of anything. I just spent time today wondering about what it must have been like to be a kid in that world.”
“It wasn’t so bad, and Gavin was a part of that.” She hated those stupid rumors. Gavin was weird, but so was most of Hollywood. He could act like a self-absorbed douchebag, but underneath it, he was a genuine human being. “When I was young, the director would sometimes forget that I was supposed to have a certain number of dedicated school hours every day. My mom was worried I might get fired and was unsure about how to handle the situation. Gavin took care of it. He walked in and said if the production couldn’t treat the child actors right, then he would quit. He was a big name so I got my school time and my break time, and my mom gained some confidence about how to protect me. I’m not saying it was perfect, but it wasn’t as bad as what some kids went through. Though you should know my mom is a lot to take.”