“Oh no,” Barb says. “How’d he do that?”
“Oh, I did it. I hit him with my car.”
Barb’s eyes widen, and I hear Sadie snigger.
“No, I mean, I ran over his foot with my car by accident. Total accident.”
Jesus Christ, Ava.
“Oh, well, so long as he’s okay,” Barb says kindly.
“He’s fine. Absolutely fine. Only two bones broken, first and second metatarsals. He’ll be back to new in six to eight weeks.”
Jesus, I’m sweating.
“Right. Well”—I clap my hands together—“I guess…I’ll leave you to it.”
I turn on my heel and go to the terrace where Gucci is still lying in the same place as I left her.
“Come on, baby girl.” I scoop her up into my arms, and she snuggles in close.
I walk quickly through the living room where Sadie and Barb have started cleaning, and I head to the office.
The door is closed, so I tap on it and push it open.
Gabe is staring at his computer screen. And he’s wearing his glasses.
Good God, he looks sexy. Really sexy. Like hot, nerdy whiz kid who’s really a superhero by night.
A superhero who gives amazing orgasms to women. Well, me.
Ha! Keep dreaming, Simms.
He moves his eyes to me.
I clear my throat. “The cleaners are here,” I tell him.
“Right…”
I move into the room and shut the door behind me. I take a seat in the chair in the corner.
“You staying?” He raises a brow.
“I feel weird out there with the cleaners here.”
His lips lift. “Why?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug.
“Okay.” His eyes go back to his computer screen.
“I like your glasses. They suit you.”
His response is a nod.
I scratch Gucci’s head, and she lets out a soft, “Baaahhh.”
“Whatcha doing?” I ask him.
“Working.”
“Oh. What on?”
He looks back to me. “Work.”
I stretch my legs out and look at my bare feet. My toenails could do with a fresh coat of varnish on them. The red I painted on is starting to chip. Maybe I’ll do that once the cleaners are gone.
“How long will they be here for?” I ask Gabe.
“The cleaners? A few hours or so.”
I lean my head back on the headrest and stare up at the ceiling.
I’m so bored.
I really need to get out today.
I look over at Gabe, who’s squinting at his screen. “Do you want to go out today?”
He sighs and leans back in his desk chair. “Where do you want to go, Speedy?”
“I don’t know. Anywhere. We could just go out and get some fresh air.”
“You’re not going to let me work until we go out, are you?”
I smile wide.
“Fine. But I’m bringing work with me. I need to start learning this script.”
“Can I help?”
“Yes, Speedy, you can help.”
“Cool. So, where shall we go?”
“I have just the place.”
“Can Gucci come?”
He sighs. “Yes, Speedy, the goat can come.”
Ava
I pull Gabe’s car to a stop on a roadside outside a field in Beverly Glen.
“This is where you want to go?”
“Mmhmm.”
“A field?”
“Yep.”
“Well, I guess Gucci will like it here. But can I ask, why have we come to a field?”
I was thinking he meant like a café or something when he said he had somewhere for us to go.
Gabe opens his car door and puts the messenger bag that he brought with him over his head, so the strap is across his chest. Then, using his crutches, he gets out of the car.
I lean over into the backseat, unfasten Gucci’s car harness from the seat belt, and bring her into the front with me. I clip her lead to the harness and carry her out of the car.
I go stand next to Gabe. “Okay, so what do we do now?”
“Come with me.”
He starts moving, so I put Gucci down to the ground, and holding her lead, I follow Gabe across the grass.
“Wow,” I say when he comes to a stop on the other side of the field.
Now, I see why he likes to come here. There’s a clear view of Stone Canyon Reservoir.
“What a view.”
“Yep.”
“Do you come here often?”
“Is that your pick-up line, Speedy? Because, if it is, it’s no wonder you’re single.”
“Jerk.”
I nudge him with my elbow, and he chuckles.
“And, to answer your question, I come here as often as I can.”
“I can see why you like it. It’s really peaceful.”
“Peace isn’t something I get a lot of in my line of work. And there aren’t many places I can go without someone recognizing me. Here, I can come and sit out in the open air, and no one bothers me.”
“Who owns this field?” I ask him, looking around.
“I do.”
I stop and look up at him. He’s staring down at me.
“You own a field?”
“It’s not just a field, Speedy; it’s land. Land that I plan to build a house on.”
“Ah. How long have you owned it?”
He laughs softly. “Eight years.”
“Eight years?” I look at him, dumbfounded. “So, this might be a stupid question…but why haven’t you built a house?”
He lifts a shoulder, his eyes briefly meeting mine. “I’ve been busy working for the last eight years, and I’m not sure exactly what type of house I want to build here. I bought it because it was a great deal at the time for what I was getting. I just haven’t gotten around to doing anything with it.”
“Except coming here to admire the view.”
“Except that.”
“Well, if it were me, I’d build a huge ranch-style house with a paddock for Gucci and a swimming pool.”
“The pool for the goat or you?”
“Both of us.” I grin.
He shifts on his crutches, a slight grimace appearing on his face.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, standing just gets uncomfortable.”
I look around, but there’s nowhere to sit, except the grass. “What do you want to do?”
“There’s a fold-up chair and blanket in the trunk of my car. Would you mind grabbing them? Then, we can sit up here, and you can run lines with me.”
I jog over to the car, Gucci trotting alongside me, and I get the chair and blanket out of the trunk.
I grab my bag from the backseat, as I’ve got a couple of bottles of water and Gucci’s water bottle, built-in tray, and some cut-up vegetables in a sandwich bag ready for her.
I head back over to Gabe and set the chair up. He sits in it, putting his crutches on the ground. I hook Gucci’s lead to the chair and extend it, so she’s got plenty of space to roam around. Then, I lay the blanket out in front of Gabe and sit down on it, tucking my legs under me.
He removes the bag and pulls out what I think are a couple of scripts.
He hands one to me.
Yep, it’s a script.
On the front, it reads, Insanity Calling by Jonah Pickle and Catarina Wiseman, Second Draft.
“Insanity Calling. That’s a cool name for a movie,” I muse.
“Yeah. It’s a really great script,” he tells me.
“When do you start filming?”
“Couple of months’ time.”
“So, your foot will be healed in time. That’s good news. Where will you be filming?”
“Mostly in the studio. Some on location in New York.”
“The asshole studio that fired me?” I playfully narrow my eyes.
“Yep. That asshole studio.”
He’s quiet a moment, and then he says, “I can talk to someone, get you your job back. Or get you a job on this movie.”
“No, it’s fine. But thank you. I appreciate the offer.” I open to the first page of the script. “So, who’s in this movie with you?”