Hollywood Wedding (Landon's Legacy 3)

Why would he even consider paying what it would cost to transport a cast and crew and equipment one hundred and fifty plus miles up a mountain?

Why would he want to shoot a film in the middle of nowhere?

But mostly, he kept wondering why he’d ever agreed to bring Eve to a place where she’d spent a weekend with another man.

There was no sense kidding himself. He’d thought—he’d hoped—that this day would turn out to be pleasant and relaxing, and that it would mark a turning point in their relationship.

But it wasn’t working out like that. Instead, he was sitting here feeling sorry for himself, trying not to be jealous of some faceless guy who’d once brought Eve up this same road.

And he had no right to be jealous. He’d meant it when he’d told Eve their relationship was going to be strictly business.

Okay. Zach’s jaw knotted. Okay, so maybe he never should have made that promise. Maybe, deep in his gut, he’d known he wanted a more personal relationship with her after all.

So what? That still didn’t give him the right to give a damn about some lover she’d had long before she met him.

He’d had more than his fair share of relationships with women over the years, both before his marriage and certainly after. He expected his women to be faithful for as long as an affair lasted, but he’d never given a damn about their pasts.

And yet here he was, thinking about the last time Eve had come up this road, wondering if she still thought about the guy who’d brought her, if her pleasant memories of the cabin were linked to the man or the place.

“Idiot,” he muttered.

“What?”

Zach glanced at Eve, swallowed dryly and looked at the road.

“I said…ah, I said, I wonder what idiot designed this road?”

Eve shifted into the corner and turned toward him.

“You, too? I’ve been thinking that for the longest time, but I didn’t want to say anything.” She gave a little laugh. “I didn’t want to do anything to distract you. I mean, I could see how hard you were concentrating.”

Zach laughed, too. If only she knew what he’d been concentrating on, that she was the greatest distraction he could imagine.

“Zach? Do you think maybe we ought to turn back?”

“Yeah,” he said dryly, “oh, yeah, I sure do. But I haven’t seen a strip of road wide enough to turn a bike around, much less a car.”

“Well, for whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry I dragged you up here. If I’d known——”

“Come on, don’t be silly. You had no way of knowing this road would give the Baja a run for its money.”

He glanced at her, for the first time seeing the tilt of that resolute chin, and he could have cursed himself for his selfishness. Wrapped up in his own stupid thoughts, he’d never stopped to think how Eve might feel about finding herself on a narrow ribbon of washed-out gravel perched a few hundred feet in the air in a Porsche that might just be going faster than it should.

Zach eased his foot off the gas pedal.

“Not that I’ve driven the Baja,” he said, flashing her a quick smile, “but I have put in time on some tracks that are every bit as miserable as this one.”

It was an immodest boast, but he told himself he was only doing it to take Eve’s mind off things. And it worked. She turned toward him, head cocked and eyes wide.

“You mean, you drive racing cars?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Strictly amateur stuff, of course.”

She laughed and lay her head back against the seat.

“And to think I was ready to write you off as a bean counter.”

Zach grinned. “Never underestimate the bean counters of the world.”

“No. I can see that. How on earth did you get into racing?”

“Well, I’ve always liked cars.”

Eve raised an eyebrow. She reached out and patted the leather dashboard of the Porsche.

“Do tell,” she said wryly. “I thought Hertz rented Porsches to everybody.”

He chuckled. “Not exactly. But I’ve been a pretty good customer at my local dealership back East, so when I asked the manager to contact somebody out here and arrange a rental for me…”

“Couldn’t do without it, hmm?”

“I admit, I like fast cars. And racing. I even thought of turning pro once.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Well, it’s an expensive sport and I just didn’t have the money. I was just out of the Corps, going to college, and——”

“Let me guess,” Eve said with a little laugh. “You paid your own way through college.”

Zach nodded. “The old man and I were barely on speaking terms. He didn’t offer and even if he had, I wouldn’t have let him.” He shot her another quick smile. “The Corps taught me the importance of honor, integrity, independence—and that only a sucker thinks he’s going to fill an inside straight.”

The road angled into the trees, and Zach almost breathed a sigh of relief. The surface was even muddier, but at least they’d left the edge of the world behind.

“I agree,” Eve said. “About it being important to be independent.” Her smile tilted. “I’ve always had this little scenario in my head. About my mother, you know? How she must have been young, and dependent on her family, and how different her life and mine would have been if—if…”

She fell silent. She was doing it again, telling him things about herself she’d never told anyone. It was pointless, this—this giving away of little pieces of herself. And why would Zach want to hear these foolish confessions, anyway?

His hand closed around hers. “Listen,” he said gruffly, “if success is a path to independence, you’ll have plenty of it once Hollywood Wedding hits the theaters.”

Eve’s fingers tightened around his. “I hope so. But there are still so many loose ends…” She drew in her breath, then expelled it. “And I know I’ve made mistakes. Thinking we could use this cabin for a location, for instance—I must have been out of my mind.”

“Don’t tell me you’re starting to question all those great memories of the place?” he said in what he hoped was a light tone.

“No, not at all. But this road…we’d never be able to get anything up here, except by helicopter. And…” She leaned forward. “Look,” she said, “there it is. See? Just through the trees.”

The cabin stood in a small clearing, surrounded by the lush green of the forest. Zach pulled the car up beside it and shut off the engine. Somewhere off in the distance, thunder rolled softly across the mountain.

Eve swung toward him, her eyes bright. “You can see why I thought it would be perfect, can’t you?”

Zach felt his gut knot. What he could see was that this was the perfect place for a man and a woman to spend a weekend away from the world.

He shrugged, undid his seat belt and stepped out of the car.

“I’ll reserve judgment until I get a look inside.”

A heavy planked door swung open into a large, attractive, wood-planked room. A long, low sofa draped with a colorful afghan stood before a massive stone fireplace that dominated one wall. To the right was a small kitchen and beyond, through a partly open door, Zach could glimpse an enormous redwood hot tub set beneath a round skylight.

And to the left, within a sleeping area screened by a half-wall, t

here was a quilt-covered bed, a bed that looked as wide and soft as a cloud.

“I was right,” Eve said softly, “it is perfect.”

Perfect. The knot in Zach’s belly grew tighter. Perfect for the film—and for bringing that sweetly nostalgic smile to her face.

“Zach?” Eve swung toward him. “What would it cost to helicopter everything up here? We’ll only have a two-person cast for these shots, and——”

“Forget about it.”

“Of course. You’re right. It would be foolish to spend so much money.”

“Exactly.” Zach took her arm. “Let’s go.”

“Wait a minute!” She pulled away from him and walked to the center of the room. “I’ve got an idea.”

Zach stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Eve, it’s a long drive down. And I didn’t much like the looks of that sky, so if it’s all the same to you——”

“I know it wouldn’t be the same as using the cabin itself,” she said, “but what if we come back with a camera? Take some shots, some measurements…”

“What for?”

“We could build a set duplicating the cabin on a sound stage.” She smiled. “How’s that sound?”

“Forget it. I wouldn’t use this place if we could walk our stuff up here.”

Her face fell. “You don’t like it?”

“No,” he said grimly, “I do not.”

“Zach, come on. Remember the script?” She smiled as she walked toward him and put her hand lightly on his arm. “Think about that big love scene, you know the one, where the main characters realize their anger has just been a cover-up for their real feelings.” Her fingers curled around his arm; he could feel the heat of them burning through his sleeve. “Can’t you just see it? The fire in the hearth, the flames casting shadows over them…”

Thunder rolled in the distance.

“Time to go,” Zach said briskly, and turned toward the door.

“Dammit, Zach.” Eve stepped around him, blocking his way, her hands on her hips. “Why are you being so stubborn? Use a little imagination here, okay?”