2. Emerson More Like Sloane
emerson: more like sloane
I WAS TIRED TODAY, I realized as I took my place across from Chase Aarons, the superhot actor who was playing my love interest on the new show I was filming, Slightly South.
We had been playing a very steamy game of cat-and-mouse for the past six episodes, which, by the next, would finally come to a head.
Maybe I should have been nervous about how dangerously close I was to this man, but all I could think instead was: I’m so tired today. Could I be pregnant?
It would be the perfect timing. I’d be early enough along that I wouldn’t look pregnant in my wedding gown—or on the set this season. I could have the baby, get back in shape, and be back in action when we, hopefully, began filming season two.
As I leaned into Chase and whispered “Not here. Not now” in my sultriest Southern accent, the director yelled, “Cut!”
Honestly, I was so distracted that I was sure we were going to have to retake, but he said, “Guys, that was perfect. Amazing. You’re so on today.”
Huh. Well, that was good since I felt decidedly off.
But if the camera said I was on, I was on.
Chase put his hand up to his rugged jaw and rubbed his fingers over his stubble.
He was dark and brooding, and the hottest man I had ever seen with a shaved head.
Even still, he wasn’t as hot as my almost-husband, Kyle.
No one was as hot as Kyle. But Chase was a close second.
He was nice too. And funny. We laughed almost constantly on set, which was really putting my mind at ease about the love scene we were going to have to do next week.
Those could be super awkward, especially when your costar was serious and caught up in himself.
Or, worse, the kind of costar who was used to every leading lady falling in love with him and wanting to do the love scenes for real off set.
Chase was staring over my head, jaw agape.
“What are you looking at?” I asked, turning.
I smiled and saw right away what had caught his eye.
A stunning brunette wearing a formfitting ribbed cashmere wrap dress in the most sumptuous shade of off-white with a pair of patent leather stiletto boots that matched the dress perfectly was walking so quickly that her hair was blowing behind her as if she had a wind machine on her.
I looked back up at Chase’s face. It was like I could hear the music playing in his head, a theme song she was walking in time to.
“Who is that?” he asked breathlessly.
“Want me to introduce you?”
“You know her?” He looked down at me incredulously, as if I held the keys to some sort of magical kingdom. And, well, maybe he was right.
“Well, I mean, you could say that. She’s my sister.”
Chase looked down at me and back up at Caroline in a way that I didn’t love.
In a way that said, You are related to her?
I mean, come on, I was generally regarded as hot.
I was also eight years younger than Caroline.
But she did have something, an X factor that went beyond her beauty and style.
She had presence. She was always the most powerful woman in the room.
And, as she approached me, it was clear that Chase, who couldn’t seem to get his jaw off the floor, was under her spell.
He smiled at her so wide that I swear, for a moment, he must have thought she was coming over to see him. But she totally ignored him, his face falling the tiniest bit. No one ignored Chase Aarons.
Well, no one except Caroline Beaumont.
I leaned over to kiss her as she said, the words coming out in a rush, “I’m hopping on a plane to Peachtree.
Sloane thinks she’s having a miscarriage, and Mom is, like, missing?
I just wanted to tell you and thought maybe you could call her to check in while I’m on the plane?
” She looked around sheepishly. “I mean, if you have a minute. I know you’re on set, obviously. ”
I looked down at my watch. “I think we’re finished for the day. We got here at 5:30, so we could break early for the holiday weekend. Should I come with you?”
Caroline shrugged. “That’s up to you. I don’t even really know what’s happening yet. Maybe wait and come down later if things are going badly?”
I weighed my options. “And miss my chance to fly on James’s plane with you? I think not.”
“How do you know I’m flying on James’s plane?”
“Car, you always fly on James’s plane.”
She looked indignant. But Chase cleared his throat and, as if noticing him for the first time—which seemed impossible, but was maybe true—Caroline said, “Oh, sorry. I’m Caroline Beaumont. You must be Emerson’s costar, Chester.”
I put my hand up to my mouth to cover my giggle.
Okay. So that was planned. There wasn’t a human in America and most places abroad who didn’t know who Chase Aarons was.
Not only had he starred in three recent blockbusters and played the lead in two hit TV series in the past several years, but he was also the new lead model for Gucci.
His face—and body—were plastered all over Manhattan and hit you every time you opened a magazine.
Caroline knew good and damn well his name wasn’t Chester.
And I knew right away he wasn’t the only one interested. She was interested in him right back.
“It’s Chase, actually,” he said smoothly. Good on him. He didn’t seem the least bit ruffled. It made me like him more.
“Oh, right. Chase. Sorry about that.”
“No, it’s fine. It happens.”
It did not happen.
He paused, studying her face. Man, he had it bad. I couldn’t tell if Caroline was noticing. Maybe? She gave him this little half-smile she had perfected decades ago. She really was beautiful. I’d give him that. And always so perfectly put together. No wonder James could never tell her no.
“So, Caroline. What do you do?”
She peered at me. “Um, I own a store.”
That was a massive understatement.
“What kind of store?”
She looked at her watch. “No offense. I’d love to stay and make small talk, but we’re kind of in a family crisis, and I need to get home to my little sister.”
He nodded. “Right. Yeah. Sorry.” Chase looked daunted but didn’t turn away, which I found odd considering Caroline and I had some personal family stuff to work out.
“So, coming? Staying? Don’t care. Just need to know.”
“Coming,” I said. “Definitely coming. I just need to get my stuff and call Kyle.”
“Call him on the way. The car is waiting.”
“Can I do anything to help?” Chase asked dumbly.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back Tuesday, after the holiday,” I said.
“Will you be back Tuesday?” Chase asked Caroline.
She wrinkled her nose. “Um, no. I don’t work here. I have a store. Remember? We just covered that?”
I wished she could be the tiniest bit nicer.
“Right. Sorry. I guess I mean, will you be back in the city?”
She nodded, her face placid but definitely not encouraging.
I swear Chase Aarons, the hot, famous Chase Aarons, looked nervous as he said, “Do you think… I mean, um… Maybe… I don’t know if you’re busy but… Could I take you out for a drink?”
I couldn’t read Caroline’s face, and I was panicking because how awkward was it going to be if she turned him down and then I had to come to the set every day after having witnessed that?
She didn’t smile at all, only raised her eyebrow and said, “I thought you’d never ask.”
With that, she turned and sauntered away, opening the door, natural light streaming onto the set and bathing her in an angelic pool.
“Yes!” he said, grinning at me, relieved.
“Seriously? I thought you were with some hot fellow Gucci model or something.”
He shook his head. “Once Caroline Beaumont walks in, everyone else seems kind of plain in comparison.”
He looked at me again, and I realized I was now one of the plain women.
“Mkay. Well, good luck and Godspeed with that one. I guess I’ll text you her number.”
He was looking back at the door now, as if waiting to see if she was going to come back, as I shared her number. He seriously needed to get a grip. “I’ll see you Tuesday,” I said.
He squeezed my arm. “See you Tuesday, Em.”
It crossed my mind that he wouldn’t just see me Tuesday. He’d see me naked Tuesday. And I had to chuckle as I walked away, realizing that I wasn’t the Murphy sister whose clothes he wanted to take off.
That Murphy sister was texting in the back seat of James’s black town car when I slid in with my things.
“That was pretty impressive,” I said.
“I have no idea what you mean,” she said, not looking at me as the car pulled away from the sidewalk.
“Chester?”
She couldn’t help but laugh then. “Did you see his face when I called him Chester?” We both doubled over.
She smiled, looking back at her phone.
“Has he already texted you?”
She clicked the side button to turn the screen off, put the phone on her seat, and said, “No. It’s just James.”
I rolled my eyes. They were so codependent and ridiculous, but I didn’t feel like getting into it with her today. She knew how I felt. She needed to move forward. Wes, an old boyfriend of hers from Peachtree Bluff, had been a nice distraction. But he wasn’t the one for her or anything. Maybe Chase…
“He’s superhot, right?”
She looked at me, wide-eyed. “He’s so hot. What is he thinking asking me out? And isn’t he, like, your age?”
I shrugged and pulled out my phone. “Hey, Siri, how old is Chase Aarons?”
“Chase Aarons is twenty-nine years old. His birthday is September seventh.”
We gasped at the same time, and I said, “Damn, Caroline. You are totally winning your divorce. What it-girl of the week is James carrying on with these days?”
Caroline reached into her tote and pulled out a Smartwater, taking a sip. Did talking about who James was dating ruffle her? “He’s actually not dating right now. He hasn’t dated anyone for a while, which I find kind of odd.”
Alarm bells were clanging in my head. I needed James dating. We needed him fully occupied.
“Okay, we have to stop,” Caroline said, grasping my hand. “Sloane might be getting horrible news.”
I took a deep breath, hoping against hope that wasn’t the case. “I hope she’s okay.”
Caroline sighed. “I’ve been wondering if I should offer to be her surrogate.”
Well, now, that was shocking. “You’re going to need to keep your body intact for Chase. Sloane will understand.”
We both laughed. “And besides, she might just want to hire a surrogate or something if that is the case.”
“Maybe,” Caroline said. “Okay. Let’s run home and grab a few things, and then I have to call Vivi at the church camp where she’s volunteering this morning and let her know we’re leaving. But we have to hurry, Emerson. I mean it.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ve got it, Caroline. I want to get to Sloane just as much as you do. You don’t have to mother me all the time.” Although… she kind of did. I hated to admit that I needed her.
“Speaking of, do you know where Mom is?”
“What do you mean?”
“Sloane said she wasn’t home. And Leah said she marked a couple days off on her calendar.”
“Are she and Jack on a trip or something?”
Caroline shrugged. “Must be. But wouldn’t they tell us?”
“They probably did. We really need to be better daughters,” I said. “I mean, I know we can’t help that we weren’t born kind middle children, but we really should try to be more like Sloane.”
Caroline looked down at her fingernails and said, with a totally straight face, “I know. But I’m just so busy with my famous supermodel boyfriend right now.”
I laughed too, but my mind wandered to my fiancé, the one who was going to be my husband in a matter of weeks, and the beautiful girl that had his eyes and my hair and a laugh all her own. And I couldn’t help but wonder again if maybe, just maybe, our family would soon be growing too.