“Thank you, everyone, for your hard work onChristmas Magic. Seeing the completed film is always eye-opening. I knew we were good when we were shooting but tonight confirmed it,” Sean said.
“This party is our way of saying an extra thank-you to everyone who’s helped out along the way,” Desi said. “We hope you enjoy it.”
They continued to call out individual names and invite those people up on the stage to collect gifts and say a few words. After about thirty minutes, Sean and Desi rejoined them at the table as Cass introduced the outtakes video, which was fun and entertaining.
Sean put his arm on the back of her chair and kissed her cheek. She felt almost like he was nervous too. Unsure of something. Her? Them? She had no idea, but when she saw the behind-the-scenes Sean, she got another glimpse of the man she cared so much for. He was funny on set. Much like he was with her but different. There was a professionalism to everything he did, but he was aware he was the big name on the film and it seemed to her that he set a relaxed tone.
When the video ended they were served a light dinner and then a band came on and everyone was invited to the dance floor.
Paisley danced in Sean’s arms, enjoying being there. He sang under his breath to her, then grabbed drinks from a passing waiter before and led her off the dance floor to a quiet corner under a lighted archway.
“When I invited you to dinner a few weeks ago, I wanted to be my most perfect, romantic self, and everything went to crap. I thought I needed a writer to tell me how to act, but tonight things haven’t been perfect and I had to work. But honestly, Pais, I feel like this moment is almost the best I can make it.
“Having you here by my side has brought my entire life into focus and there’s nothing I want more than to keep you by my side. I know...we said just for Christmas but I want more.”
Joy washed over her and she didn’t think of the consequences of the secret she was holding deep inside as she threw herself into his arms and kissed him.
“I’m guessing you like that idea,” he said dryly.
“I do,” she returned.
He handed her a champagne glass.
“A toast to us and our future,” he said.
She started to lift her glass but stopped. She couldn’t toast to that. Not yet. Not until she told him about the baby.
“Uh, there’s something I need to tell you first...”
But before she could get the words out, they were interrupted yet again.
“O’Neill, we need you for a cast photo,” Cass said.
Getting called away wasn’t at all what Sean wanted. But he couldn’t blow this off.
“Don’t go anywhere,” he said, handing her his champagne glass.
“I’ll be here.”
He was glad for the excuse to get away from Paisley before he said something that was either more than he wanted to say, or somehow wrong in the moment. His emotions were running high and for the first time with her he felt vulnerable. Because if she didn’t feel the same way, if she was just hanging out with him to get through the holiday season...
He’d get it, but damn, it would hurt.
No one wanted to be alone at Christmas. There had never been a truer thought in his mind than that. But he wanted to believe after the magical night they’d spent together that there was something more between them. But she’d said she wanted to be with him. So what could she have to say?
He was pulled in front of a Christmas tree with the rest of the cast by Cass. Desi was positioned next to him.
“I like Paisley. Lorenzo said she slayed the execs too. Looks like you found a keeper,” Desi whispered.
“Yeah, she’s great,” Sean said. But now, he wasn’t sure. What did she want to talk to him about? He smiled for the photo but the sense of this being a perfect night was fading. He’d never been one to search for this kind of happiness, had always thought it was out of reach. Had he fooled himself? Had he allowed himself to be swayed by her sweet face? And her broken past?
He had connected to her as much in the present as he had with the shared pain of their childhoods. Different stories and different paths, but it had led them both, he thought, to each other.
“Let’s do one with the crew,” Cass called.
Sean kept smiling, but in his heart he felt panic. Why had he allowed himself to strip himself emotionally bare like this? Then he stopped himself. Was this what Paisley had felt when she’d heard his real name? When she’d learned he wasn’t Jack? At this moment, he had no idea what she was going to tell him—only that she had something she wanted to talk about.
Was he borrowing trouble?