Chapter 27

Chapter 27

“I can drive myself, you know,” I said as I adjusted the air conditioning in the front seat. I suppressed a

yawn as Damon drove through the seemingly endless desert just outside the city.

“My car’s nicer,” Damon smirked, without taking his eyes off the road.

I had to give him that. His car was much nicer than mine.

I leaned back in the leather seats, enjoying the automatic heated seats on a crisp morning. I didn’t

know how my grandmother did it, but just the morning after she’d warned us about the cold, the

temperature had begun to drop.

“Plus, I need to check on Cassidy’s improvements,” Damon said firmly. “Check that everything is

alright.”

“It was alright before,” I crossed my arms, still not happy he’d spent so much money to upgrade the set.

I was sure it was amazing, but I felt like I owed him more and more. Though, I was happy with what

Cassidy had done with the set.

“It would’ve collapsed on top of the actors,” Damon said and glanced at me, pointedly. “Then you’d be

paying for lawyers.”

“Point taken,” I said with a sigh.

“But still,” I added, stubbornly. “I’ll pay you back once the movie comes

out.”

“No need,” Damon chuckled. “It was pocket money.”

“Of course, it was,” I sighed, rolling my eyes and looking out my window, not wanting to meet his gaze.

Even if I had been born into a rich family, my father made sure I never had the lavish lifestyle that

Corinna had. Fancy dresses and VIP parties never fit me anyway.

The sun was already rising into the sky by the time we got to the gate of the set. The desert had heated

up rather quickly by the time we entered and pulled in.

I caught my first glimpse of the improved set as we slowly drove through,

Chapter 27

and I had to say I was impressed. It looked amazing.

The town was new and vibrant, the buildings looking more structurally sound, but also realistic. Even

the paint had the tiniest details down-the chips and faded color looked exactly like an old western town

should be.

With all the set hands and assistants running back and forth, it was easy to believe we had stepped

into the 1800s-old west.

“Oh, it’s fantastic!” I exclaimed happily as we pulled to a halt in front of the director’s tent.

“He did a better job than I thought,” Damon muttered as we both got out of the car.

“Addie!”

I barely had time to turn around before a body crashed against me. I lost my balance, tumbling

backward, but luckily, the solid mass of Damon was behind me to stop my fall.

Damon glared at the offender who only grinned widely in response.

“I missed you so much,” Jenna said, excitedly as she pulled back. “Don’t ever leave me in charge

again.”

“That bad?” I asked, smiling amusedly.

“You have no idea!” Jenna groaned.

“Lucas has been a pain in my *ss! He wanted to include one of the outtakes, but it wasn’t in the script,

and I told him, we can’t rewrite the script because of one line that wasn’t even that funny to begin with.

He did it anyway and replaced everybody’s scripts so it has the line in it!”

“That sounds like him,” I laughed. Damon followed us into the director’s tent where I spotted not only

the man in question but Cassidy and Gabriel as well.

“Well, if it isn’t the lovebirds!” Lucas grinned, opening his arms wide as we entered. “Come to join the

likes of peasants once more?”

“What’s he doing here?” Gabriel asked crossly as he stared at Damon.

Damon paid him no mind and simply turned to Cassidy with a raised eyebrow.

Cassidy, for all his part, didn’t look offended in the slightest.

Chapter 27

“Renovations are done,” Cassidy said in his southern drawl. “All my people are packed up, too.”

“It sure was quick for how much they did,” Lucas said. “Cassidy, you’re a wizard, man.”

“I knew you guys would get along,” I smirked, taking my seat.

“Too much if you ask me,” Gabriel muttered under his breath.

“You’re just mad ’cause you lost at strip poker,” Lucas smirked, knowingly. “Bet you still have to sand up

your-”

“Shut up!” Gabriel said as he turned crimson, ducking his head as he rubbed the back of his neck in

embarrassment. “I let you win.”

“Sure,” Lucas drawled. “Tell yourself that, kid.”

Gabriel flushed, turning on his heel as he stomped out of the tent.

“So, what is he doing here?” Lucas asked, pointing his thumb at Damon.

“I have a new job for you,” Damon interrupted, ignoring Lucas as he glanced at Cassidy calculatingly.

“Ooh, what is it this time?” Cassidy asked.

“Another movie set,” Damon said. “I think we’re missing out on an untapped business opportunity. I’ll

set up a new contract when we get back to the office.”

“Sounds promising,” Cassidy smiled. “This was real fun to work on. It’s cool to build a town straight out

of history.”

“Do a sci-fi movie next,” Lucas offered with a grin. “Lord knows they need to rely on actual props

instead of using CGI for everything. They don’t make them like Galactic Starfighters anymore.”

“The second one is better!” Jenna cut in.

“Keep telling yourself that, babe,” Lucas scoffed. “Doesn’t make it true.”

“Not this again,” I groaned. I turned to Damon, who looked quite annoyed as the two began to bicker

about the movie franchise once more. “You might want to go. This could go on for a while.”

Damon nodded and said, “I’ll pick you up at three.”

“The first is a classic! The second was a clear shameless cash grab trying

Chapter 27

to copy the first one after its success!” Lucas argued.

“You take that back right now!” Jenna gasped, offended.

“Make it four,” I sighed, rolling my eyes.

Damon smirked, leaning over to kiss me on the forehead. My eyes fluttered closed, my cheeks heating

up at the warm, fuzzy feeling that grew in my chest.

“See you at four, then,” Damon said and grinned wider as if he knew exactly what he did to me.

“Just go,” I shoved him playfully, turning to my work. I heard him chuckle before he and Cassidy left,

their footsteps fading away slowly.

Jenna and Lucas fell silent, both of them staring at me with open mouths.

“What?” I snapped, defensively.

“What was that?” Jenna pointed to where Damon had walked away.

“He was saying goodbye,” I said and avoided their eyes. “Is our villain in makeup yet?”

“Yes,” Lucas grinned. “But you’re not getting away that easy. That was so cute. Like teenagers who just

found out they liked one another.”

I blushed further, sinking into my seat and refusing to meet their questioning glares.

“No way,” Jenna gasped, her eyes widening beyond belief. “You fell in love with him? After all those

years griping about how horrible he was?”

“I misunderstood him, that’s all,” I glanced away as I spoke. “Besides, it’s not like I hated him that

much.”

“Yes, you did,” the two said together in perfect unison and laughed.

“Look, we’ve gotta save daylight here,” I snapped, not willing to talk about this any further. “We’ll have

to reshoot a few scenes with the new set. Did we get a female lead yet?”

“Fine, fine, and no, not since you turned down, you know who,” Jenna said, leaning against the table.

“The company is still pressuring us to hire her.”

“Not gonna happen,” I said, firmly. She was already too much a part of

Chapter 27

my life. I didn’t want her invading my work life as well.

“Tell them that,” Jenna snorted. “They’re more persistent than my grandmother when you take away

her vodka.”

“I’m not going to even question that” Lucas raised an eyebrow, then turned to me and said, “We have a

few options left. I left the file on your desk. Oh, did you get the new script, by the way?”

“No,” I said, amusedly. “But I’m sure you have one for me.”

“You know me too well.”

Lucas pulled a copy of the script out from under the table, grinning like a mad fool as he handed it to

me.

“Thank you,” I said, smiling at him gratefully after taking the script.

I opened it up, searching for the changes Jenna had complained about, but as I did, Jenna’s hand

landed on my shoulder as she leaned in close to

my car.

“I forgot to say this earlier but,” I could hear the smile in her voice as she whispered to me,

“congratulations, Addie. Your ring is beautiful. When’s the wedding?”

My breath hitched as I glanced down at the ring Damon had slid onto my finger this morning. My

engagement ring felt so light on my finger, I’d forgotten it was even there.

And I couldn’t deny it, it felt right sitting on my hand.

The gem glittered in the sunlight that peeked through the tent, and I was reminded strongly of Damon’s

eyes which brought a smile to my lips.

“Six days.” I said, quietly, only now suddenly feeling like everything was real. My smile slowly faded as

reality began to set in.

“I’m getting married in six days,” I said slowly.