31. Chapter Thirty-One
And the girl at the donut shop tells the hair stylist next door, “I don’t think Graham Crowley is really dating Christina Malloy. I mean, what does he see in her? He’s much too hot for some plain-Jane like her.”
* * *
The door to the SUV slams back at me since I’ve pushed it open too hard. I manage to pull my leg back in before it hits me.
Penny opens the door from outside the SUV and looks at me.
“Are you okay? Did that hit you?” she asks, concern lit in her eyes.
“I’m fine,” I say. “I’m fine.”
I hand her my bag and my purse. Then I realize my phone is on the seat and I grab for it as I set my foot on the ground. As I step out of the car, the heel of my shoe slips and I fall back against the car, catching myself.
Penny’s eyes grow wide. “Christina!” She moves to me, but I shake my head. I caught myself. I’m not hurt. I’m just out of sorts.
It’s dark out still and I have on my sunglasses. I’m afraid that makeup is going to have to do a lot of work to get the bags under my eyes not to show.
“I’m fine,” I say again. “Is there coffee?” I ask.
“I’ll get you one as soon as we get inside. Do you need breakfast, too?”
I press my hand to my stomach as we walk toward my trailer. We never finished dinner last night, and I fell into bed the moment Graham and Loki left.
“Something easy on my belly,” I say as we step into the trailer and Penny holds open the door for me.
She nods at my instruction.
I take a few moments to collect myself as Penny runs off for coffee and breakfast. At this point, I don’t even care what she brings me. I’ll eat anything.
The timer on my phone goes off, and I startle. I have to be in the makeup trailer, and my day needs to begin. It’s going to be a long one. I’m hungry. I’m sleep deprived. I was rejected.
A sob escapes my throat and I suck it back in. I cannot fall apart because of Graham Crowley. It’s fake. It’s all fake.
I get Penelope Mondragon at the end of it all and this thing with Graham is fake!
I breathe through the tears that want to flow, and when I have control, I slide on my sunglasses again, and head out into the dark to have the makeup artists do their magic.
Within the hour, I’m fed, caffeinated, covered in makeup, and standing on the outdoor set. Jean-Claude wants the light just right, and since this scene is only of me, hopefully I can give him what he wants, and we’ll only need a few takes.
The April morning air is still nippy. I have on the coat I’m supposed to wear in the scene, and Penny holds a larger blanket for me for between takes.
Getting back to work without worrying about Graham feels right. I need to stop letting him kiss me. I need to stop spending time with him outside of the set. I need to never straddle his lap and feel him beneath me like that again.
All this runs through my head as I get set for the next take.
Penny takes the blanket from me, and they fix my hair and makeup as Jean-Claude gets set.
It’s then I see Graham and Loki standing on the outskirts of the set among the crew. He waves and smiles as if last night hadn’t rocked his world as it had mine.
I don’t move from my mark.
He’s holding Loki’s leash, but Loki is sitting like a well-behaved boy at Graham’s feet.
Jean-Claude gives me my direction, gets into position, and I’m off when he commands it.
I’m simply walking down the street with extras moving past me. I stop and look in the window to a store. A car pulls up, and I hail the taxi that drives down the street. As soon as I reach for the door to the taxi, Jean-Claude yells, “Cut!”
He comes from his chair toward me.
“We’re good. Go get warm,” he says, patting my cheek with his hand.
I walk toward Penny, who holds out the blanket to me and wraps it around me.
She hands me a travel cup of coffee, and I sip, but I’m shaking. I’m not sure if that’s from the weather or from my nerves because I can see Graham moving toward me.
When Loki sees me, he pulls against the leash, but Graham keeps a hold of him.
I crouch down to cuddle the dog.
“Hey, boy. Are you taking a field trip today?” I ask as I rub Loki’s head, and he presses into my hand.
“He’s going to spend the next few days with his grandparents, so he wanted to say hello before he heads over there,” Graham said.
I look up at him. “Why isn’t he going to be with you and Milo?”
The corner of his mouth turns up. “Milo has a conference, and the next few days for us are busy.” He holds his hand out to help me to my feet, and inches me close to him. “And I want some alone time with you,” he says, and I feel the breath rush from my lungs.
“Why?”
His grin is full now and his eyes soft. “Because you’re my girlfriend,” he says matter-of-factly.
I press my free hand to my forehead.
“Christina?” Graham says and I look up at him. “Everything okay?”
I take a breath to question his motives. My head and my heart are so confused, but I don’t get anything out.
“Crowley, the dog?” Jean-Claude shouts in our direction.
“Just visiting. He’s headed out,” Graham says, grinning at me and never looking in Jean-Claude’s direction. “I’m going to take him to my mom, and I’ll be back in a bit. By the way, you look beautiful this morning.”
Graham leans in and presses a gentle kiss to my lips.
I watch as he smiles at Penny, and then he and Loki head back toward the trailers.
“He’s a really nice guy,” Penny says.
I swallow hard, watching him walk away, saying hello to everyone he passes.
I have to agree with Penny. He does seem to be a nice guy.
Shit! I’m so confused about how I feel. I don’t know what to think about Graham Crowley.