Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 57423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 230(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 230(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry, baby. That was a poor choice of words. Could you please tell me what upset you? Or if you don’t want to talk to me about it, please call your sister. You need to talk to someone.”
Her jaw went tight, and she stared straight ahead. “Maybe what I need is to get my life back to normal. I want to move back to the hotel. Nothing’s happened in weeks, and I’m tired of playing out this stupid suburban fantasy. Jay is right. This is why I’m fucking up.”
That man had gotten into her head. Maybe he was the one who needed to call her sister. He’d learned rapidly that Brynn was the one who saw the world outside of work. He worried if Ally talked to her mom, she would agree with the director.
Or maybe he needed to give her what she asked for. “I’ll make the arrangements. I’ll try to find a place close to the studio. Do you want me to call Tessa?”
The elevator doors opened, but she stood there, staring ahead like she wasn’t sure of what she wanted.
He pushed the button to keep them open. “Ally, if you honestly believe being involved with me is going to cost you your career, I’ll step back because you’ve become the most important thing in the world to me.”
Tears shimmered in her eyes. “I think this role is getting to me.”
If he could bust down that wall, he might be able to save this because no matter what he was saying in the moment, he had no intention of leaving her. Not for any real amount of time. It might be different if he genuinely believed he wasn’t good for her, but he was, damn it. They fit together in a way he’d never imagined he could.
Big Tag had told him to find his passion. Well, his passion might be the woman in front of him, and he couldn’t lose her now.
“Okay. So how about I let Tessa take you to the studio. She can be at work with you, and I’ll watch you when you’re not working.” It might take the pressure off her.
She sniffled and then her shoulders fell back, and that gorgeous stubborn expression made another appearance. “What’s the point, West?”
She stalked off and strode toward the condo door.
He followed. “The point to what?”
“To any of this? What are we doing? It’s not like it’s going to work between us. Channing is right. You’re a pretty guy I use for stress relief, and in a couple of months, I’ll find another one who looks just like you.”
His heart hurt. This was all bravado. She had a decision to make and she couldn’t, so she was pushing him to make it for her.
That wasn’t going to happen.
“I need to tell you a story.” He opened the door and was happy that it looked like they had the condo all to themselves.
Her eyes rolled as she slung her bag on the sofa. “And if I don’t want to listen?”
“Then I guess you can plug your ears or something, but I’m going to tell you a story, and you’re going to realize that what you’re doing right now isn’t going to work.”
“What I’m doing?”
“You are trying to push me away so I’ll leave at the precise moment you need me the most. You think it will happen eventually, so you want to take the pain now and it won’t be so bad. Everyone treats you like the annoyance they have to deal with. You know that speech you have about the rest of the cast using you to hide behind? Well, your family did some of that, too. When they needed drama for the show, they didn’t look to Brynn. They didn’t ask Gavin to act like a douchebag. It was you.”
She shook her head. “I agreed to it.”
“And now we deal with what that means. Baby, I don’t care if the rest of the world thinks you’re a selfish brat. I know the truth. I know who you are deep down, and I love you.”
“Don’t you fucking say that.” She’d flushed a nice shade of pink, and he knew he had her.
This was the corner he’d needed to put her in to see if she would fight her way out or if she could accept that all she had to do was hold his hand and they could get through anything.
“I’ll say it because it’s true, and now I’m going to tell you my story. Not mine, really. It’s my brother Wade’s. You’ve met his wife.”
They’d had dinner at Wade and Genny’s a week before and spent the night talking on the back porch.
“Yes,” she agreed.
“They were high school sweethearts. You’ve got to understand that at the time, my father had recently died, and my mother was in a terrible position financially. Wade was going into the Army, and Genny was going to join him after basic training. Then one day she called him and told him she was marrying another man.”