Noah

Julian scowled up at the ceiling again. "Jesus Christ, I was talking about cuddling—intimacy like that. Why do you think I want to get a pet? To stare at it all day?"

I smiled widely, finding him endearing as fuck. And I hoped I wouldn’t freak him out 'cause he was about to learn I didn't care much for social boundaries.

Turning off the light, I capped my marker and left the desk behind for the bed.

"All right, I'm not a hot broad," I chuckled and sat down on the bed, "nor am I a pet, but…" I leaned back against the headboard and used the corner of his duvet to bunch up a pillow for him on my thigh. "There. Use me as your pillow. I'll play Scrabble on my phone." He was about to prattle off some lame protest, so I stopped him. "Don't give me any of that shit. Wanting comfort ain't fucking reserved for women and children, and it's barely been two months since we lost everyone."

He closed his mouth at that, and he swallowed hard as he lowered his gaze. A moment later, his head followed, carefully coming to a rest on my thigh.

"There we go." I instinctually drew my fingers through his hair. It was soft as hell, all silky and not unlike what women paid too much money to accomplish. Or maybe that had just been Emma.

It didn't take long for Julian to doze off this time.Chapter 8

That night, we went over to Tennyson and Sophie's for dinner. They were tired and said they'd rather stay in, and when I suggested we do it tomorrow, Sophie got huffy. So Julian and I headed across the hall at around seven, and she ordered Thai from our favorite place.

Sophie and Julian could probably sense Tennyson and I wanted to discuss the script, so she happily dragged Julian into the kitchen. I felt for the guy. He was about to face an inquisition.

In the meantime, Tennyson and I sat down in the living room with the script, my notes, and two sleepy kids. Ivy was on my lap, but she was dead on her feet, so it didn't bother me one bit.

Kayden clung on his dad's back while watching cartoons on the flat screen.

"I'm really pleased you wanna do this, Noah." Tennyson scanned my notes, occasionally nodding to himself. "Asher sent the script to me, but when I read it, I didn't see the story. I tried, mind you. I tried for a goddamn week because it's spectacular."

I agreed and drank some beer. Ivy asked if she could have some, to which I grinned and said when she turned eighteen.

"So what did you see?" I asked him.

He hummed, still reading. "You and a small crew. Digital shooting to save time and money."

Digital shooting was common practice today, but Tennyson was old school. Even though he was only in his late forties, his preferences made him archaic. He liked watching the dailies at the end of the day on set, going through the film, and sitting in his trailer and making notes and marks.

He looked up at me. "I think you could do a lot with a little."

I smirked wryly and threw a common industry quote at him. "'We can do it good, we can do it cheap, we can do it fast. Any two, but not all three.'"

"Smartass." He chuckled warmly and shook his head. "I'm well aware, thank you. But regardless, you can do it cheaper than I ever could. Your technique differs vastly from mine."

True. Because, digital era.

"Any locations you have in mind?" I wondered.

He inclined his head. "Paris and LA."

Fantastic.

"Inserts and flyovers in Paris or more than that?"

"Everything that takes place outside the…" He flipped a page in the script and smiled. "Loft or attic. And I agree. The writer might be brilliant, but this is Paris, not the English countryside." He faced me again. "The only thing I need to know as soon as possible is your schedule."

"Wide open here," I replied. "What does Sophie's schedule look like?"

He grinned. "You see her, too. I was hoping you would."

I chuckled and took another swig of my beer. "Seemed to me the part was practically written for her." Aside from age. The character was twenty-five, but Sophie hadn't turned thirty yet, and she looked young. It wasn’t an issue.

"There is one thing," Tennyson said, sounding hesitant now. "Sophie wants to cast Kayden as the son, and I'm on the fence. He fits the description, but this is more than cherry-picking a child off the streets. We compromised, and I told her he could read for the part."

I reached over to Kayden and poked his side. "You wanna be an actor like Mommy, huh?"

He smiled and shrugged.

Tennyson gave me a pointed look.

Fair enough.

*

During dinner, Sophie wanted to know everything there was to know about Julian's love for music. Instruments he played, genres he enjoyed, aspirations, experience, studies, and so on. But it was good. Evidently I only knew half of it, so I learned something new, too.