Chapter 17
When she'd arrived in Virtue, the last thing Kayla had wanted was to run into somebody who might recognize her as Kylie Quinn. It turned out having her ex-boyfriend show up on set was much, much worse.
Boone McKelvie was every bit as gorgeous as she remembered.
Of course he was: it had only been a few weeks since they'd broken up.
Not really enough time to get over a broken heart, though staring up at him now, Kayla couldn't quite remember if she'd been broken-hearted or just sad and disappointed.
They'd worked so well on paper: Boone, although handsome enough to make it in Hollywood, wasn't an actor at all, and the flexible hours of his job as a day trader let him be available when Kayla's schedule was open, while allowing him the freedom to work from wherever when she was on set.
They liked a lot of the same things, including travel, and even Kayla had thought they were on a slow, comfortable train toward a happily ever after.
It was true that she'd never once thought it was the magic of fate striking, but not all shifters found fated mates.
And the fact that she hadn't told Boone about her owl…
well, it wasn't something she could hide forever, not if they wanted to have kids someday, but she'd thought there was time, that there would be a moment when it all fell into place.
But on some level Kayla had known, deep down, that she had never really seen a future with Boone.
Not the kind he wanted. Not the kind that had led him to propose and suggest starting a family right away.
She understood his urgency: she was thirty-six, and as much as she hated the fact of the matter, it was fact that if she wanted kids, sooner was better than later.
And now Boone, big handsome kind-hearted Boone, was saying, "I shouldn't have pushed it, Kay.
I got so fixated on the idea of kids that I forgot how lucky I was to have you.
But I haven't been able to get you out of my mind, Kayla.
I've been kicking myself since the minute you walked out the door.
Giving up what we had for a future that might never happen anyway?
That was just stupid of me. I hope you can forgive me. "
"Boone, I—"
As Kayla started to speak, her assistant Trina appeared from inside the building, the bright smile on her face suddenly going rigid as she saw Boone.
"Oh. Uh, hi, Boone, I didn't realize you were coming to Virtue.
Kayla, I'm sorry, but we need you on set now.
Where's, um…" Her gaze darted past Kayla like she was searching for Jordan, then came back to Kayla, questioning.
"Anderson's on his way," Kayla said with a fixed smile of her own. Trina's expression clearly said that Anderson was already inside and ready to go, but she forced her smile brighter, nodded, and gestured for Kayla to join her.
"May I join you?" Boone said pleasantly. "I know how to stay out of the way."
"Sorry," Trina said before Kayla could speak. "There's not much room in here and it's crew only. But there's a great doughnut shop down on the other end of the block, if you want to wait."
"Sure thing." Boone dropped a kiss toward Kayla's mouth, though she managed to turn quickly enough for it to land on her cheek, instead. Darkness flashed in his eyes, but he smiled and said, "See you in a while," then trotted down the steps to the sidewalk.
Trina didn't quite grab Kayla's arm and haul her inside, but it was a near thing. Once the door was closed, the assistant popped her eyes at Kayla and hissed, "What's he doing here??"
"I don't know! I mean, I do know, obviously he's hoping to get back together, but this is a surprise, I didn't invite him!"
"I should hope not! What about Jordan?"
Kayla, although shaken by Boone's appearance, had to pause at that, and gave her assistant a wry little smile. "That obvious, is it?"
"You've spent every minute we're not filming with him," Trina said dryly. "It's pretty obvious, yeah. So?" she asked after a heartbeat's pause. "What about him?"
"Boone and I are not getting back together," Kayla said softly. "I just don't know how well he's going to take that. He's not a jerk, but…"
"But he flew all the way out here." Trina, unexpectedly, gave Kayla a hug. "It'll be okay. By which I mean, wow it's going to suck and boy I'm glad I'm not you right now, but…you should see the way you look at Jordan, Ms. Walsh. I think you get actual stars in your eyes."
Kayla couldn't help a laugh. "Thanks. Very reassuring. And yeah," she added, even more softly. "Jordan's the one. I know that sounds nuts, since I only just re-met him a couple days ago, but..."
Trina pulled back and eyed Kayla with genuine incredulity. "I'm sorry, but don't you know what kind of movies you make? Of course it doesn't sound nuts. It sounds romantic!"
"But those are movies!"
"Speaking of which…" Trina shooed Kayla the rest of the way into the building and for the next few hours, she barely had time to think about anything that wasn't her job.
Scripted flirting with Anderson was much easier than dealing with what the back of her mind nicknamed 'The Development,' though dealing with it was really just going to be a matter of trying to let Boone down kindly.
"Meeting your paramour for the market?" Anderson asked cheerfully after they'd wrapped for the day. "Or shall I invite him out myself?"
Kayla mumbled, "Oh my God, that would solve everything," and although it was pretty obviously performative, Andy's eyes lit up.
"You're joking. Surely you can't intend for me to go flirt with your new man."
"No, I was thinking of sending you to flirt with Boone, and stop calling me Shirley."
Anderson laughed out loud. "You're an old films nerd, my dear, and—wait, Boone?" A rather endearing expression of complete bewilderment settled into Anderson's classically handsome features. "I thought you and Boone broke up."
"We did. But he's here."
"Oh my God," Andy said in vicarious delight. "He's making a Grand Gesture."
"He's creating a Development!"
They stared at each other a moment before Kayla dissolved into a high-pitched laugh. "Oh my God. I'm actually living a romcom, aren't I? Oh, no."
"No, no, it's wonderful, it means you get a happily ever after! And," Anderson put the back of his hand to his forehead dramatically, "I shall willingly throw myself on my sword and go flirt with your ex to salve his broken heart."
"I have to break his heart, first," Kayla said, less happily. "Aaah, God, Andy, this is a lot easier when it's a script."
"In your defense," Anderson said gently, "you did break up with him once already. The grand gesture is…well, it's a grand gesture, but it's not your fault that he didn't take the no for an answer. That's on him, not you."
Kayla squinted at her co-star. "Of all the things I wasn't expecting today, Ethan Anderson being the voice of reason wasn't among them."
He crinkled his eyebrows in return. "And your ex showing up three thousand miles away from where you left him was?"
"Well. No."
"Tell you what," Anderson said. "You actually have a date with Jordan, don't you?"
"Yes? I said I'd see him to walk around the market, at least."
"You go do that. I'll keep Boone distracted."
Kayla shook her head. "I should just deal with him, though."
"Yes, you should, and you will, but Kayla, his showing up to demand your attention doesn't actually mean you have to give it to him. Does Jordan know he's here?"
Kayla winced from the bottom of her soul. "Yeah."
Anderson's eyes widened. "Then you should definitely go see him, and let Boone stew in his own juices for a while. Truly, my sweet, I'll do my best to run interference. Perhaps he and I will live happily ever after."
"That may depend on whether you're prepared to adopt," Kayla muttered. "Kids loom large in his mind."
To her complete surprise, a sweet, wry smile pulled at Andy's mouth. "I'd love to be a dad. I'm just spectacularly bad at long-term relationships."
"Have you tried very hard at any?"
"Well. No. That spark hasn't been there, the one like you obviously share with Jordan, the one that says 'this is the one.'"
Kayla's owl took a moment to eye Anderson. Whoo-oo does he want as a fated mate?
Kayla chuckled internally. No idea. But as far as I know, lining up shifters to see if anybody recognizes him as their mate is kind of an unlikely process.
Aloud, she said, "I don't think most of us can count on living in a romcom, Andy.
And even if fate strikes…I'm pretty sure you still have to work at it.
Jordan's everything I've been looking for, but his life is here, you know?
I don't know…I don't know how it works out," she ended softly, and Anderson leaned over to press his shoulder against hers.
"Maybe you should ask him."
"Man, you sound just like my—" Owl, was how that sentence was going to end. Kayla cut herself off, then awkwardly finished, "—like my mother would have, I bet."
"Oh, that's my dream," Anderson said with a roll of his eyes. "To sound like someone's mother. All right, darling, go forth, find your romantic hero while I try to find the romantic reject and sweep him off his feet."
Kayla bounced up on her toes to kiss Anderson's cheek. "You're a good friend, Andy, and you've got a squishy marshmallow center."
Anderson shuddered delicately. "Don't tell anybody."
"I won't." Kayla grabbed her hat and pulled it over her ears on her way out the door, not wanting to freeze, but even more, not wanting to show off her dreadful haircut any more than she absolutely had to.
Though, she thought, making a face as she stepped out into the cold, in the movie she was making, the city boyfriend was so horrified at her hair that it was a factor in their break-up.
Maybe she could just go scare Boone into backing off.