“Um, no. I just need a minute,” I tell her, then I run to my dressing room and cry.
Knox peeks in the door. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“I know, Knox. It’s just—it’s just—I really did get turned on.”
He slowly sits down, shocked by my admission. “What? Why? Are you and Aiden okay?”
He hands me some tissues.
“We’re fine, but I remembered this time before we had ever done it. We were kissing and sort of dry humping and it totally got me off. But there’s another reason.”
“What?”
“You’re going to figure it out eventually. I don’t have a weird flu thing, Knox. I’m pregnant.”
His mouth drops open for a few seconds then he grins and pulls me into a hug. “Congratulations!”
“Thanks. No one knows. We haven’t even told our families yet. But it’s doing weird things to me. I’m nauseous. Hungry. Smell everything. My boobs hurt. My emotions are everywhere. And I’m really freaking horny.”
“Aiden must love that. How far along are you?”
“Almost seven weeks.”
“Um, I think it’s best you don’t tell Aiden about this.”
“But I tell him everything. And I was thinking of him.”
“He’d probably understand, but he’d still want to kick my ass. I don’t want it to affect our friendship.”
I blow out a big breath of air. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I used to have to beat off before our sex scenes. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been nearly as professional.”
I laugh. “Well, thank you for that.”
Knox laughs too. “You ready to get back at it?”
“Yeah.”
We’re in the limo heading toward the office when Knox says, “While we’re alone, I want to talk to you about something.”
“What’s that?”
“I’ve been working on a script.”
“Really? What’s it about?”
“A guy who’s immortal. Sort of.”
“Is he a vampire?”
“No, he was hit by lightning. It plays out in the present, but it goes back into the past too. The guy always dies—getting hit by lightning—but instead of being dead, he wakes up in a different time. Every time he wakes up, he looks for her.”
“Her?”
“His true love. He’s found her in every life he’s lived. You get to see pieces of his past lives as he’s trying to find her in the present.”
“And when he does?”
“They’re speed dating.”
I laugh. “Speed dating? That’s kind of funny.”
“It’s a romantic comedy with a time traveling twist.”
“So, when she meets him in the present, is it instant? She falls in love with him?”
“Well, that wouldn’t be any fun. She hates him, of course. She’s jaded. She’s had some bad relationships and doesn’t want a man. Her friend dragged her to speed dating. On the surface, it’s a funny love story but, at its core, there’s this epic romance that transcends time.”
“Can I read it?”
“Yes. And, if you like it, I want us to do it together. It’s so different from anything either one of us have done. And if Captive will take it on as a project, we could set our own schedule. Work around your life and Daddy’s Angel.”
“My mom is the queen of romantic comedies. I haven’t really done anything like that.”
“Your action films are all commercial successes, just like your mom’s romantic comedies, but as you get older, don’t you find yourself wanting a different kind of success?”
“Like an Academy Award?”
He nods. “This is the kind of project I think they would like.”
“Now, you’ve got me excited.”
He laughs. “Oh no, not again!”
I swat him on the shoulder as we pull into the Captive Films lot to pick up Dawson.
“I bet you can’t wait to see the girls,” I say to Dawson when he joins us. “How was your day?”
“It was good. I made a lot of calls, caught up with people who think I fell off the face of the earth. They’re all interested in this project, so I asked the marketing team to pull together a few vendor-specific presentations.”
“That’s great. Everything else going well?” I want to ask about Vanessa, but I don’t.
“Yep. How about you two? Good day on set?”
“I humped Keatyn all day and made her orgasm,” Knox says.
“Knox!”
“I’m just joking,” he says, giving me an evil grin.
“Better not say something like that in front of Aiden,” Dawson warns.
“I might. Just to get him going.”
“Please don’t. My grandparents are in town. They fast forward our sex scenes.”
“They do?”
“Yes! Thank God!”
Dawson and Knox both start laughing. And they tease me the whole way there.
Regional Airport - Sonoma
DAWSON
My girls barrel down the steps and into my arms, crushing me with their hugs.
“Daddy! Daddy!” they say and start talking at once.
“We had popcorn and soda on the plane, and we got to watch two whole movies!”
“And Grandma didn’t make us go to school today. We made pancakes and took Mango for a walk. And I got an A on my spelling test this week!”