He had yet to see her, and as much as he forced himself to stay focused, he couldn’t help but wonder where she was. Anthony said he’d spoken with her earlier. Maybe she’d left the property and was waiting for them all to leave before she returned. He wouldn’t blame her. His behavior toward her was the kind of shitty conduct he didn’t want to be known for. She deserved better. At least Milan was acting like the professional he knew she could be. Her scenes were flawless, and the camera loved her just as he knew the audiences would.
They would lose the optimum light for the daytime scenes in about an hour. Craig wanted to get the last scenes shot quickly and wrap for the day.
“Okay, people,” he shouted to get everyone’s attention. “We’re going to shoot this last scene out of sequence. I want to get the light. Hamilton, Milan, this is your big parting scene. Neither of you are sure if you will ever see each other again. You vow to wait, no matter what. This is emotion filled. I want the audience to feel your pain, your fear and your love for each other. Okay, let’s go, people!”
He waited for the crew to reset the scene and for Milan and Hamilton to get their makeup touched up before they got a last look at the script. He took a look at the scene through the viewfinders of the three cameras to ensure they got the angles that he wanted.
“Been a great morning,” Anthony said, coming up alongside Craig.
“Feeling real good about this, bro.” He turned to his friend and grinned.
Anthony clapped him on the back. “You should. This has awards written all over it. And... I hate to admit it, but you were right about Milan. She’s pitch-perfect. Crazy but talented,” he added with a chuckle.
“Yeah.” Craig laughed as well. “You’re right about that. I’m just glad we were able to nip her crazy in the bud.”
“So, uh, what about Jewel? You think she’s seen any of the pictures or stuff on the news about the other night?”
Craig’s jaw clenched. He pushed out a breath. “I’ll work it out.” He turned his attention to the production. “Okay, let’s get this done.”
* * *
It took almost an hour after shooting the last scene for the crew to pack up the equipment and for the principals, supporting actors and extras to pile into the waiting vehicles and drive off. By then twilight had settled, that in-between time when reality seemed to mix with fantasy.
Jewel dared to open the front door and step outside. She looked around, and it was as if all those people had never been there. It was hard to believe that mere hours earlier the grounds have been covered with lights, people, cameras and cables that ran like snakes across the grass.
She walked over to the swing bench and sat, took her cell phone from the pocket of her shorts and set it beside her. She had successfully avoided contact with Craig all day. Or maybe it was the other way around, because it was Anthony who came to advise her of the progress and when they were leaving. It was him that thanked her for her hospitality and promised to respect her home when they returned in the morning. She pushed up from her seat and returned inside. Maybe a hot shower would wash away her need for Craig Lawson.
* * *
Craig lounged in the armchair and stared out the hotel window. He sipped on a glass of bourbon and let his mind wander through the events of the day. No matter how hard he tried to stay focused on the success of a day of filming, his thoughts continued to shift to Jewel. It seemed that the harder he tried to keep her—and them—in the background, the more she continued to sit on the forefront of his mind. The whole staying away agenda was futile. Even though they weren’t physically together, she was still with him—deep inside. It would be difficult, that much he was certain of. But somehow he would make it work.
He tossed back the last of his drink and set the glass down on the side table. Enough of his self-imposed mind game. He wanted Jewel in his life. End of story.
* * *
The crew was back the following morning to finish up some of the final scenes. Jewel intentionally stayed out of sight, only peeking out at the unfolding of shooting from the second-floor window. They worked until they lost daylight and finally called it a day.
When all the cars and trucks were gone, Jewel dared to step outside to reclaim her space. A wave of sadness swept through her. She shouldn’t have wished that Craig would seek her out to tell her how much he missed her or that Milan meant nothing to him. She was a grown woman and had gone into whatever it was that was happening between them with open eyes. Eyes that, she admitted, had been temporarily clouded by her long-buried desire to be loved again. And she’d foolishly allowed herself to think that it could be Craig.
Deep in her musings and caught in the blur of dimming light, she wasn’t sure if it was an image walking across the grass or the movement of shadows until the figure fully formed in front of her. Her breath caught in her lungs. Her stomach knotted.
* * *
Craig strode up the short incline and stopped several feet away from the porch landing. “I parked on the street,” he offered with a toss of his head behind him, as if it was some kind of explanation. “I wanted to wait until everyone was gone.”
“For what?” she asked.
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“As I said, for what?”
Craig took a step forward and stopped in anticipation of her telling him to stay put, but she didn’t. So he kept walking until he stood on the top step of the landing. He shoved his hands in his pockets. The evening light illuminated for him the emotions that flickered in her eyes—anger and hurt. He’d put that look there, and she didn’t deserve it. She deserved his honesty, but he didn’t know where to begin.
“Can we go for a walk?”
“No. You can say whatever it is you have to say from right there.”
He lowered his head for a moment then looked right into her accusing stare. “I don’t know what you’ve seen or heard about...me and Milan Chase.” He saw her nostrils flare for an instant. “But nothing is going on.”
“Why should that matter to me? You’re a grown man. No strings, remember.”
Inwardly he flinched at the chunk of ice she’d tossed at him.
“I don’t need your...whatever this is you’re doing, your mea culpa. We’re both in the business of images. Remember? Pictures tell tales.” She snatched up her cell phone from beside her and went through a series of clicks then turned it to face him, swiping from one picture to the next. Images of him and Milan with her hand on his, another with their heads close together, one of her laughing at something he’d said, then the infamous rush from the restaurant and into a waiting vehicle.
She smiled, but there was no joy in it. “As I said, what do you want? Oh, wait, let me rephrase that. You got what you wanted, so just go.” Her voice cracked. She blinked rapidly.
Craig was next to her in a heartbeat. Roughly he pulled her to her feet, wrapped his arms around her and captured her mouth with his. He wanted to embed his feelings into her, burn into her memory that what was going on between them was real, that what he was feeling for her was real, and none of that other crap mattered.
The phone clattered to the floor.
Craig groaned when she melted into him. His arms looped around her to cup her head in his hands and seal his mouth to hers. He felt her heart bang and hammer, his thoughts swirled. There was no turning back now.
* * *
They sat shoulder to shoulder on a flat rock overlooking the brook that ran behind the house. A warm breeze blew around them. Craig linked his fingers between Jewel’s and slowly and honestly told her about his past relationship with Milan, his reasons for hiring her and what really went on at the restaurant.
“I’ve been telling her since day one that we were done and that our relationship was strictly professional.” He pushed out a breath. “But she kept it in her head that she could change all that. Her performance the other night was the last straw. I had our lawyers contact her agent to remind them that we would invoke the morals clause if she stepped out of line again during filming.” He waited a beat. “I need to tell you all of it.”
She whipped her head to face him. He held up his hand. “It’s not whatever it is you’re thinking. The real reason why she flipped the other night was because of you.”
“Me? What are you talking about? I don’t know the woman.” Her expression twisted in confused outrage.
“She saw me put you in the car when you spent the night at the hotel. She asked me about you and if you were the reason why I refused to be with her.”
“And...what did you tell her?”
“That it was none of her business. I also told her that you were the owner of the house. She pretty much lost it after that. Said some pretty ugly things.” He lowered his head then looked at her from an angle. “I never meant to hurt you, Jewel. Never. I need you to believe that.” He squeezed her fingers. “I know that we don’t have a lot of time and I have no idea how things are going to work out when I’m done here, but I want you to believe me when I tell that whatever time I have, I want to spend it with you.”
“I do, too,” she confessed and felt as if a boulder had been lifted off her chest. A smile beamed across her mouth. “So do I.”
Craig leaned in and kissed her so tenderly that she felt as if her heart would break into a million pieces of joy.
Jewel leaned back and stared at him, let her eyes take him in. Yep, she’d done him justice, she concluded. “Come, I want to show you something.” She took his hand, and they walked together to the cottage.
She switched on the lights and walked him around to the front of the canvas that took up the center of the floor.
His mouth opened then closed. His eyes registered his amazement.
“This...” He looked at her then back at the portrait of himself. “It’s incredible,” he managed. He stepped closer. “It seems alive... I seem alive...” He laughed. “I don’t know what I mean.” He whirled toward her and clasped her shoulders. “Baby, you have a gift.” He leaned into her. “A God-given gift, and it’s gotta be some kind of mortal sin not to share it with the world. You need to do this. This is you. It’s in your soul. You’re an artist down to the marrow of your bones.”
Jewel pressed her lips together to keep from crying. It had been so long since she even dared to feel that way about herself and longer since someone told her. The feeling was overwhelming.
“It’s okay to cry,” he said, wiping a tear away with the pad of his thumb. “Tears of happiness, I hope.”
She nodded vigorously and sniffed.
Wrapped in his arms she shut her eyes. This could be the real deal with him if she let it happen. And if he did the same.