Noah

"Yeah, I finally convinced her to run away with me," I said.

Lucia joined us, and I told her to tell the script supervisor about the change. While we spoke of continuity and additions, I overheard Sophie giggling about her not being my type. And it wasn’t the first time I'd heard something similar and laden with innuendo since we'd arrived in Paris.

"You got somethin' to tell me, Sophie?"

"Hmm?" She grinned and exchanged one of those girly giggle expressions with Brooklyn. "I'm not sure what you're referring to."

"Cut the shit." I waited until Lucia had left, and then I sent Sophie a look to show I meant business.

She sighed. "Fine." She looked to be struggling pretty fucking hard to withhold her smile. "Rumor has it you're dating your former PA now."

"Rumor?" I rolled my eyes.

"One of my girls saw you." Brooklyn rushed out the words as if she couldn’t bear keeping them in any longer. "You and Mike were kissing by the bathrooms at the bar."

Ri-fucking-diculous. "Well, gossip broads, do I got news for you." I draped my arms around their shoulders and huddled us closer. "Am I batting for the other team now? It would appear so. But the batting doesn’t involve Michael, whatsoever. The kid kissed me, and then I went home with someone else."

Brooklyn furrowed her brow as she tried to figure it out, and Sophie looked to me expectantly.

Fuck that.

"Now, back to work," I said firmly. Turning around, I let out a sharp whistle that got every crewmember to pick up the fucking pace. This was a movie set, not a goddamn gossip factory.

Thankfully, even Sophie and Brooklyn took me seriously, and I returned to my monitor and put on my headphones.

"Any problems?" Tennyson asked.

I shook my head. "Not for me, anyway. But you might wanna prepare yourself for a shrieked 'you knew this all along and didn't tell me?' from that little ball of energy you married."

"Oh, joy." Tennyson chuckled. "So this means…?" He lifted a brow.

I glanced over at an oblivious Julian and stifled a grin. "Yeah. It's not official yet, though."

Tennyson smiled and nodded but didn’t say anything, fully aware we were in the middle of work.

"Camera rolling!" Lucia called out.

I faced the monitor again, my gaze flicking between the screen and the actors. Then I called for action and concentrated on Joel, who played April's ex.

His despair was written all over him, and he visibly struggled to keep it together as he approached April by her door.

"Is—Is he up there?" he asked tightly. "I deserve to know, April. I'm his dad—" He swallowed hard, both angry and sad it had come to this. He was worried as fuck, having not seen his son in months. "We're here to help."

"You're lying," Sophie said flatly. "You want to take him away from me."

April's brother stepped closer. "You're not well, butterfly. Please let us take care of you. We love you so much."

"Cut!" I yelled. Goddammit, when Joel finally nailed his part, the other fucked up and acted with less emotion than a robot.

"I'll go talk to him," Lucia said.

Looking over my shoulder, I saw Tennyson walking toward my trailer. "You not sticking around, Wright?"

"Nope," he said with ease. "This was why I wanted you to direct, Noah. You know what you're doing, and we share the same vision."

I grinned to myself and returned to work.

*

I had a late dinner with Tennyson, Lucia, and Shawn that day, so it was nearing midnight when I finally dragged my tired ass back to the hotel. I expected to find Julian passed out in bed with Blue, but he was sitting by the desk, flipping through a notepad.

Damn, he was a sight for sore eyes. Seeing him brightened my mood regardless of how I was feeling.

"Hey, baby." I rolled my neck and removed my belt, looking forward to a shower. "I thought you'd be asleep."

He looked up from the desk and bit on a pen. "You gave my homework, Mr. Collins. Don’t you remember?"

Well, fuck me.

I unbuttoned my jeans, looking him over. It wasn’t until then I noticed he was dressed like a fucking schoolboy. Button-down, uniform jacket. A pair of glasses sat on the desk. I couldn’t see what pants he wore, but I was itching to find out.

"Close your eyes and hold that thought," I told him. Suddenly I wasn’t tired anymore, and I wanted to do this right. While his eyes were closed, I got a pair of dress pants and a nice shirt and tie from the closet. "I need a quick shower, all right? You can open your eyes when I've left the room." I grabbed shoes, too. It was all or nothing.

"Yes, sir," he said with a smile in his voice. "I'll finish my homework."

It was the fastest shower in history, and I fought a hard-on the entire time. But I was getting used to that. We'd lived together for a year now, though it didn’t hold a candle to sharing a suite with him when there was nothing to hold us back.