51. Chapter Fifty-One
And the note from Penelope Mondragon to Sal said, “Christina Malloy is gold! I’m already working on another script for her. What are the chances of getting Graham Crowley to commit, do you think?”
* * *
Sebastian eases back from me. His hand is still on my cheek and my lips tingle from whatever lip plumper he used before he kissed me.
“I love you,” he says before kissing me again. “Don’t ever forget me.”
“Cut!” The director moves toward us, a grin on his lips. “You two are box office gold. Do you know that?”
I smile as Sebastian eases away from me.
“I don’t know if I was feeling it. Tell me what you want. I can do it again,” Sebastian says, and the director shakes his head.
“We got this one,” he says and moves on.
“Did you think it was good?” Sebastian asks me, and this is the norm, I have found out.
“I think it was great.”
“Good,” he nods. He stands from where we are seated on a bench and walks away.
I shake my head. There is no confidence in this guy, and it makes me chuckle. Sebastian Yates, with his gorgeous face and his to-die-for physique, has no confidence.
I think of how different he is from Graham. Graham was all confidence, and wasn’t that what had turned me off him to begin with? He was so sure of himself that I had found him arrogant and annoying.
He’s been on my mind a lot the past week, especially since I’ve spent time with his mother and Loki at the dog park, and then we went to lunch on Saturday.
Anna says Graham is excited about the film, but he’s homesick. I’m sure he misses his dog.
Penny walks toward me with Dolly at her side. I have to admit, I had selfish reasons for getting Dolly, but she brings joy to Penny, too. And to Loki, I consider. They’re friends now.
Penny hands me a bottle of water.
“That was really good,” she says, but she’s twisting her lips.
“Was it, really? It felt like I was watching a train wreck.”
A laugh escapes before she clamps down on her bottom lip with her teeth.
That causes me to laugh, and Penny sits down next to me as Dolly lays at my feet.
Penny looks down at her phone and then hands it to me. “I assume you’ve seen this?”
She shows me a photo of Olivia and Graham dangling in one another’s arms between takes.
“I saw it,” I say, trying to keep my voice light, but it shakes. “My mother shared the photo and the news about how close they are.”
A line forms between Penny’s brows. “Is that the only place you get your information? From your mom?”
“Mostly. She loves to gossip.”
Penny looks back down at her phone. “They just put out the press release this morning. Olivia Chase overdosed and went into cardiac arrest while they were filming. He’s not holding her intimately. He’s holding her because she went limp on the wire.”
I blink hard and look at her. “She overdosed?”
“They had to do CPR on her and everything.”
“Did she die?”
“Well, yeah, if you consider they had to do CPR on her to get her back. But she’s alive. She survived.”
Now my heart is racing, and I wonder why my mother hadn’t had that bit of news to share? Surely, she got it from some gossip show and not my father directly.
I tighten my jaw.
“I’m sure that was devastating for them all,” I say, and Penny nods.
“Looks like they’ll have to shut down production. I’m not sure they’ll want her back on set.”
“I’ll bet that will hit my father right in the pocket.”
Penny’s eyes go wide when I say that, but she doesn’t respond. I don’t wish Olivia Chase any ill will that she doesn’t bring onto herself. But that stupid movie cost me everything. And here I am, living my dream, and Sebastian Yates is a lot of work to be around. I’m supposed to be swooning over him, and to be honest, when he kisses me, he hums out a count of how long the kiss should be.
It’s had me pondering the kisses Graham and I shared back when I didn’t like him. Even though they were staged kisses, and he’d eaten an entire bag of Doritos to irritate me, my knees went weak when he’d kiss me.
I swallow hard.
“There’s a new fan event coming up, too, and they want you to be on a panel, do a meet and greet, and sign,” Penny says, looking at the schedule on her phone.
I nod. I’m already cast in the next Love Is in the Air movie, which will start as soon as we wrap on this Penelope Mondragon movie. Justin Cartwright will be my love interest, and though we are friends and enjoy one another, I just don’t think we have the same chemistry as Graham and I had.
But those days are over.
Graham’s contract was bought out by my father. He won’t be back to the Love Is in the Air network. He’s an action hero now, just as he’d wanted to be.
I hear a phone chime with a text, and Penny pulls my phone from her pocket and hands it to me.
I look down at the screen. There’s a picture of Loki, but it’s not a number I have in my phone. Any chance you’re going to the dog park today?
Who is this? I respond, looking at the photo, but there is nothing that distinguishes where it was taken.
Sorry. It’s Milo.I grin down at the phone, and I know Penny is watching me. Anna said you’d been meeting up at the park with your dog. I think Loki would like to see his friend.
“You’re smiling a lot,” Penny says, and I show her the picture of Graham’s dog. “Is that Graham texting you?”
I shake my head. “No. Mutual friend. How much longer do you think we’ll be today?”
Penny looks at the iPad she carries and at the call sheet on her screen. “I think you should be done around six.”
If all goes right, I could be there by seven. They have lights at the park, so it won’t be dark.
Milo sends back a laughing emoji. We’ll meet you there then. Just text if something comes up.
There’s a lightness in my chest that hasn’t been there for months. Dolly stands and rests her head in my lap. “I knew you’d bring joy to everyone you met,” I say as I run my hand over her head. “What do you and Loki have going on?”