“My God, it looks amazing.” Andy slapped Chase’s shoulder. “Ending the fights at the same time is cooler than I expected. You keep this up, the film’s going to wrap early. Take twenty, guys. Catch your breath for the canopy scene. We’ve got to shoot that while we’ve got the street blocked.” He made a circle in the air with his hand. “Round it up.”
Chase looked for Brooke, Keaton’s wife, but she wasn’t around. “Where’d the kid come from? Little young to be flying solo, isn’t he?”
“Oh, shit.” He lifted Connor off his shoulders. “I have to help Brooke with the bags. They came in for the weekend.” He took a step toward Zahara and held Connor out to her. “Can you take him for a few?”
Zahara crossed her arms and took a step back. “Uh, no. Nope,” she confirmed with a shake of her head. “Can’t do that.”
Keaton gave her a what-the-fuck look.
“I, uh, the doctor,” she stammered, obviously making shit up on the fly. “He said I might have a virus. I don’t want to give it to anyone.”
Keaton tilted his head and narrowed his eyes, clearly picking up on her bullshit.
“I’ll take him,” Chase offered. Keaton handed Connor over to Chase, who held the grinning, squirming infant at arm’s length. “I don’t know what I’ll do with him, but I’ve got him.” He cut a look at Keaton. “Make it fast, dude.”
Keaton looked at him and Zahara like they were complete idiots. “He’s just a baby. We’re not talking brain surgery here. All you have to do is not drop him.”
Keaton jogged out of the storage area, and Chase pulled Connor closer, searching for an adequate way to hold the kid. “Easier said than done.”
Finally, he found a fairly comfortable position with Connor against his chest. The kid tilted his head back and blew saliva bubbles while exploring Chase’s face with a chubby, slobbery hand.
“Okay, yeah.” He turned his head to escape Conner’s inquisitive fingers, and met Zahara’s gaze. “I could see how you might transmit a virus to him…if you had one, Miss Perfectly Healthy with an acute case of stress.”
“Shut up.” Her return shot was whispery and pathetic. She had the strangest look on her face. One Chase had never seen before. One he couldn’t read or understand. She looked…haunted. Or terrified. Or lost. Maybe a little of all three.
“What is going on with you? A few weeks ago, you were all over this kid. Now you act like he has lice.”
Arms crossed tight, she pried her gaze from Connor and focused on Chase. “Back the fuck off, Layton.”
She strode past him to exit, and a pang of guilt hit him. He shouldn’t be riding her when she obviously wasn’t feeling well. “Hey, Z, lighten up…”
But she pushed out the door without looking back. Chase heaved a sigh and looked down at Connor. He had big brown eyes shaped like teardrops. “Don’t take offense, little man. She doesn’t even like me at the moment, and heck, look how cute I am.”
Connor cooed, and Chase chuckled. “Exactly. You took the gurgle right out of my mouth. She’s crazy.”
Maybe Chase was the crazy one, hoping to get back to that place where they’d been before he’d fucked everything up.
He sighed and started toward the exit. “Let’s go find your parents and remind them they don’t get to take an extra-long unpacking break, if you know what I mean.”
10
Zahara felt a panic attack coming on. She’d never had one, but somehow, she instinctively knew she was that close to the edge of sanity.
She splashed cold water on her face in the restroom, then watched the water stream from the tap and circle the drain. That was exactly how she felt—like she was circling the drain, physically and emotionally.
Zahara turned off the water and looked in the mirror. She was pale, and shadows curved beneath her eyes. There wasn’t one shred of that pregnancy glow everyone talked about. She looked like this kid—the size of a freaking peanut—was sucking the life out of her.
She watched water drip off her chin. Her brain and body needed a break from the spinning turmoil, but the thoughts just kept coming. She couldn’t turn them off. She’d had them under control until the unexpected sight of Connor knocked her off balance.
The living, breathing jewel of a child reminded Zahara just what was at stake here. And that brought up so many fears from so many places, she couldn’t begin to deal with them all. She still hadn’t fully come to terms with her very real pregnancy, let alone all the thoughts that surrounded raising a child.
She had no business being a mother. Look at her. She was freaked out over the unexpected sight of a baby.
“Why, why, why did this happen?” She squeezed her eyes closed and swore at the universe. “Why here? Why now? Why with him?”
Somehow, she believed if she’d gotten pregnant by one of her hookups, this would all be easier. Probably not exactly realistic, but somewhat valid. She wouldn’t be worried about how she was perceived by others. There wouldn’t be a slutty gold-digger stigma attached to her when people found out. Her career wouldn’t be in jeopardy.
But no. She’d had to get knocked up by Hollywood’s newest golden child. One who was also making a lot of noise about being in a relationship with a married actress. How could anyone, no matter how protective, keep that kind of shadow off their life?