“It was the fact that you thought to do it at all, without being asked, that was so impressive,” Colin replies. “He was grateful.”
“Hopefully, he’ll be ‘grateful’ enough to hire you,” Kennedy says, holding up crossed fingers.
“Actually . . .” I say, shifting my position on the couch. “On that note, I’ve got some big news, everyone. I’ve been waiting for a break in the conversation to tell you about it.” I pause for dramatic effect. “Right before we left the studio today, the woman who manages all the production assistants—this woman named Margaret—offered me a permanent position on the production assistant team after Colin’s done shooting his scenes!”
Kennedy and Logan whoop, but Colin seems less enthused.
“It’s not a done deal yet,” I explain, my stomach twisting into knots. “I told Margaret I’d think about it.”
“Why didn’t you say yes, right away?” Logan asks.
“In a couple weeks, I’d have to head to Hawaii for three months. I’m tempted, now that I’ve seen how interesting a movie set can be, but I was hoping to stay in LA for a bit.”
“Are you nuts?” Logan says. “LA will be there when you get back!”
Kennedy and I share a look. She knows about my lifelong crush on Colin. Surely, she knows I’d rather stay in LA to be with him, rather than work three thousand miles away, even if the job is on a fancy movie set in Hawaii.
“We’ll see,” I reply vaguely, before shifting the conversation and asking Logan and Kennedy a question about their honeymoon. We already talked about the topic earlier in the call, but, luckily, they answer my question, and nobody mentions that job offer again.
Eventually, the call winds down and it’s time for goodbyes. I send smooches to my brother and sister-in-law, while Colin tells them it was great catching up, and we disconnect the call.
“So, you’re not gonna take that job, are you?” Colin says.
My heart is beating like a humming bird’s. Does that mean he’s hoping I won’t?
“I haven’t decided yet,” I reply honestly.
Colin looks agitated. He runs his hand through his dark hair and exhales. “Whatever you decide to do, just don’t let Margaret assign you to Seth. I don’t want you working for him, personally.”
Anger surges inside me. That’s what Colin is thinking? Not that he doesn’t want me working three thousand miles away for the next three months?
“I didn’t ask for your opinion,” I snap. “And, frankly, I don’t want it.”
Colin looks shocked. “Well, that’s too fucking bad because I’m giving it to you, anyway.” His dark eyes flash. “I don’t want you working personally for Seth fucking Rockford, Amy. Absolutely not.”
My eyebrows lift sharply. “Excuse me?”
“I’ve got a gut feeling about him. Heard some things. I told you he’s got a rep for being a douchebag.”
“There are two sides to every story. Seth’s been perfectly charming to me.”
“He’s grooming you.”
I scoff. “Grooming me to have sex with me? Is that what you’re implying?”
“Correct.”
I throw my head back and laugh. “That’s preposterous! Seth Rockford is a huge movie star. One of the biggest in the world. And I’m a nobody!”
“That’s exactly why he thinks he can fuck you, if that’s what he wants to do. Because you don’t matter, in his eyes.”
I’m floored. “I’ve talked to the man twice in two days! Both times, for like, twenty seconds. Your ‘gut feeling’ is based on those interactions?”
“And his reputation, like I said. Also, I don’t like the way he watches you like a lion tracking his prey.”
“Oh my God, you’re insane. Not to mention, way out of line. If I got offered a job working personally for one of the biggest movie stars on planet Earth, I’d be stupid to turn that down, especially based on nothing but someone else’s ‘gut feeling.’ Even more so when that ‘someone else’ with the gut feeling is a guy who’s too ashamed of me to admit he’s fucking me to my brother!”
Colin rolls his eyes. “I’m not ashamed of you. If I were, I wouldn’t have told my friends about us.”
“But not Logan and Kennedy.”
“We both agreed to the terms of this arrangement.”
“Did we? My memory is you demanded that condition of me and I took what you were offering.”
“Amy, come on. I told you what a pressure cooker this situation would be for me, if our families knew about us. I told you how the weight of their expectations would make things way too intense, too fast.”
“You didn’t say any of that.”
“I did. But if not, let me tell you this little nugget now: my mother has expressly informed me she’s always wanted Beretta-O’Brien grandbabies!”
My mouth hangs open as my heart lurches with glee. The tortured look on Colin’s face tells me his shocking revelation wasn’t meant to enthrall me, as it has. Quite the opposite. But I don’t care. His mother has always dreamed of Colin and me getting together? Hot damn, that’s an incredible thing to find out! A huge compliment! Well, momma always knows best, I think, my eyebrow cocked. But I’m not brave enough—or maybe stupid enough—to say it.
“Okay, never mind about that,” Colin says, reacting to whatever he’s seeing on my face. “That was meant to freak you out, the same way it freaks me out.”
“I’m freaked out,” I assure him. But even I can hear the lie in my tone. “Whatever,” I say quickly. “Let’s go back to your ‘gut feeling’ about Seth. Let’s pretend you’re right and he’d try to fuck me six ways from Sunday in Hawaii.”
“He would.”
“Okay, even if you’re right about that, which you’re not, give me one good reason why I shouldn’t say yes to a no-strings arrangement with him, the same way I’ve said yes to one to you?” I’ve bowled him over with that comment. And I love it. I forge ahead. “Why wouldn’t I jump into a fun little fling with Seth Rockford in paradise? He’s a handsome, dashing—"
“He could be your father!”
“Yeah, and I’ve got daddy issues! We’re a match made in heaven.”
“Amy, for fuck’s sake!”
“Seth is divorced, right? And I’m a single girl. So, what would be the harm in having a little fling with a rich, handsome movie star?”
Colin’s breathing fire. But the fucker says nothing. Does he know I’m bluffing? Is that why he’s able to keep himself from begging me not to go? Or does he simply not care enough about me to ask me to stay?
I’m suddenly enraged. Even if Colin knows I’m bluffing, so what? Is it too much to ask for him to say he can’t stand the thought of Seth, or anyone else, touching me? Doesn’t he know I’d throw myself at his feet and declare my undying love for him, if only he’d say that?
Oh.
Wait.
Duh.
Colin does realize I’d do that, which is exactly why he’s not saying any of it.