“So you’re saying I can’t walk up to you and kiss you in public?” he asks, walking down the steps to the front door.
“Yes, that’s what I’m saying,” I tell him, and I’m not sure I’m okay with it. “I mean, I’m still working, and it’s not.”
He turns around. “We decided to be private,” he says. “I don’t want everyone to be in our business.” He kisses me. “But once we get in the trailer, all bets are off.”
“Oh, dear,” I say, walking out of the house and getting in the car. And I have to say he is on his best behavior all day. Well, until we get into the trailer, and then all bets are off. He’s on me the minute he shuts the door and locks it, and we don’t come up for air until a knock lets us know it’s time. I stay in the trailer when he goes to shoot and prepare my game plan for when we get back home on Friday. He is filming the next two weeks in L.A.. I’m just about to send Sylvia a message when the phone rings, showing me it’s her.
“Erin.” Sylvia’s voice booms out of the speakerphone. “We are in a meeting with everyone. Ryan is here also.”
“Hey, everyone,” I say, hearing my voice echo as everyone says hello.
“We were talking about your amazing progress.” Ryan’s voice comes in. “The buzz about the movie is trending on Twitter.”
I give myself a high-five. “We would like for you to stick with him for the remainder of the filming. Those behind-the-scenes pictures are gold.”
“Sure,” I say. “I was going to reach out to Jessica Beckett, and see if she would do a special on him.”
“She’s not in the game anymore,” Sylvia says.
“She’s still one of the best,” I tell them. “She may be out of the game, but if an article is coming with her name attached to it, people pay attention.”
“I agree,” Ryan says. “Her piece about her and Tyler is still the most read article online.”
“If you can make it happen, that would be perfect. The Grammys also asked him to be present.”
“Okay,” I say, grabbing the calendar. “It’s next Tuesday.”
“Yeah, it is a last-minute add, but with the buzz lately, they want him there,” Sylvia says.
“That’s good,” I say and wait for the rest.
“We signed you up to be his plus one.” And there it is. “We are going to send you the company card for you to go shopping for a dress.”
I want to groan internally because I don’t think I can do the whole red carpet thing. “I can take some shots of him before he heads out, and he can send me some from the event.”
“Erin, he’s been out of the tabloids for almost ten days,” Sylvia says. “Ten days. Do you know what that is for him?” I roll my eyes. “I’m not going to lie. I thought he’d only last two days, max three. The thing is, we want him in the tabs, just not because he’s sleeping his way through Hollywood.”
“He’s actually been really perfect,” I say and then roll my lips. Shut up, I tell myself. “He has been to the set and then back to the house.”
“And that is exactly what we want,” Ryan says. “He can’t fuck this up.”
“I’ll try my best,” I tell them. They chat for a couple more minutes, telling me about some things that they are doing. I take some notes and then disconnect. I take a deep breath and then the door opens, and he comes in and comes straight for the table.
“Hey.” He slips in next to me, kissing me on my lips, and it feels like he’s always done it. “What are you doing?”
“I just got off the phone with Sylvia. You are going to the Grammys on Tuesday,” I tell him, and he looks at me.
“Jeff called me ten minutes ago to tell me the good news,” he says sarcastically, getting up to get his bottle of water. “I’m going to call my girl for a dress.”
I turn to look at him. “A dress?”
“Well, since you’re coming with me, you have to have a dress, and well . . .” he says, trailing off.
“And well what?” I glare at him. “And I need to be all that standing next to you?” I shake my head and roll my eyes. “Thanks, but I have it covered.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he says, sitting next to me and taking me in his arms on the side. “I just meant I don’t want you to spend crazy money to buy a dress for one day. Besides, they usually give me stuff for free.”
“Again,” I tell him, wiping my gloss off his lips, “thanks, but I got it covered.” He leans in and slowly kisses me. His tongue playing with mine. His kisses leave me breathless; they leave me wanting more, they leave me feeling something I have never felt before, and I’m not sure I’m ready for this. The knock on the door makes him pull away from my lips but not let go of me. “Carter, did you lock the door?”