“Back to our ground rules?”
“They were damn good ones, woman. Now, get up and get ready. We have to make an appearance downstairs.”
I searched the room for my clothes and slipped into jeans and a sweater. “Why? Have you gotten a text already saying they heard we’re trying to conceive up here?”
“No. But I’m sure that’s coming. I need the cup too.”
I grabbed a drug kit package from the closet and handed it to him. “Bob said he doesn’t think the director will ask for many more.”
He shrugged. “Don’t care if he does.”
“Can I ask you something?”
He tensed before he crossed over into the bathroom, cup in hand.
“You don’t have to answer, but does it get easier? Do you still have the craving?”
“I miss the habit of the partying scene, Meek. But I like to think I wasn’t that bad.”
I didn’t know if he believed it, if he knew what bad meant. “There’s bad in everyone, right? And maybe a little addiction too.”
“Right. But I stumbled a little farther down that path than most. So I did my time, and I’ve got a better handle on things now.”
I believed him. Who wouldn’t? He was Jay Stonewood. He could charm anyone into believing anything.
He closed the bathroom door and emerged a minute later with the glorified cup that held his results.
I took a photo and sent it to Bob. “I need my planner to—”
“No planner for the month. We already discussed this. Your plan is to hang out with me.”
“I have to plan past this month, Jay,” I whined.
“We do? For what?”
My jaw dropped. “You’re baiting me, right? You can’t honestly think we’re going to wing this whole movie premiere. You have to get on Good Morning America; you need to be seen out with Lela and the crew. You need to schedule radio interviews, more talk shows, and we’ll need to ramp up your social media.”
“Mikka, you had that all planned months ago. Your planner is filled with shit we’re doing all of next month.”
He was right, but the more I talked about it, the more I felt the need crawling its way back in. “I need my planner!”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll hold out for the rest of the time we’re here,” I blurted, like I could hold that over his head, like he couldn’t just go get some from someone else.
“Woman, you couldn’t hold out if your life depended on it.”
“Excuse me?” I narrowed my eyes. I wasn’t thinking about the book bag anymore. All I saw was the dare he’d thrown at me.
He walked up to me and pushed his chest into mine. He cupped my cheeks and peered down at me. “I’m not betting on it. I want you too much and you’ll make it your mission to prove you can.”
“I can,” I retorted.
He chuckled and pecked me on the lips. “I know, Meek. You can do anything you set your mind to. Should we go bother Lorraine with our presence?”
I shrugged, not sure I was completely happy with the turn of events. “I still don’t have my planner.”
“And you won’t until the end of the month. Lela and the film crew will be here next week. It’ll be our last week here. We should enjoy this, little one. We won’t get the time back.”
It was true. Time would be against us. It would whittle away at our little bubble and remind me that we were only here to work temporarily in this small town where I didn’t belong anyway.
I sighed and nodded.
We both deserved a moment of peace, a place to rest our heads, and a safe haven for our bodies. We’d treated them poorly for long enough. And it wouldn’t be long before the movie released, before we parted ways so that Jay could be larger than life again.
Larger than this small town and definitely larger than being with m