Her simple eye roll speaks volumes, and I try to tune out the sound coming from Beckham’s mouth, focusing instead on the looming premiere. And even though this movie is a special one for personal reasons, I am willing it to be over and done with. The need to tell Ford of my decision is at the forefront of my mind.
Everything else is just white noise.
My ringing cell interrupts my thoughts, and I slide to answer with a bright smile when I note Ford’s name flashing on the screen.
“How was it?”
Ford’s deep voice is a balm to my soul, and I can feel my entire body relaxing as he replies. “Freeing, baby.” I can hear the smile in his voice, and it puts an answering one on my face. His sigh is one of relief before he repeats. “So. Damn.Freeing.”
Hearing his happiness brings tears to my eyes that threaten to destroy my makeup, and I can make out Carter exchanging terse words with Hayley in my peripheral. Blinking them back, I whisper, “That makes me so happy. I can’t wait to see you. Are you on your way to the airfield?”
He chuckles. “I’m already in the air and on my way back. To you.”
My stomach flip-flops, and an uncharacteristically girlish squeal of delight echoes through the limousine, making Beck glance over at me with a scowl. “Are you far away?”
“Well, I’ll miss the red carpet, for sure, which is a real damn shame, considering I’ve not missed one in five years?—”
“I don’t care about that. I only care that you’re on your way, and we’ll be together soon.”
I can hear the utter relief in my voice, feeling like I’ve just been through the longest two days of my damn life.
“I’ll text when I’m leaving the airfield at Teterboro. Depending on traffic, I shouldn’t be more than thirty minutes away at that point.”
The limousine rolls to a stop, and I sigh internally when flashes from outside alert me to the fact that we’ve arrived at the Regal.
“Let’s go, Emerson. Time is money.” Beckham’s declaration is loud enough that Ford hears it, even as I shoo my agent away with a deep frown.
But Ford is unperturbed. “You go, baby. Knock their socks off, and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“I love you, Cowboy.”
“Not as much as I love you, Tink.”
Then I hang up, knowing there are surely hearts dancing comically in my eyes as Hayley and Carter watch me with happy little smiles of their own. Beck, on the other hand, dives straight back into work mode.
“Now, you can’t give more than ninety seconds to each reporter from any one outlet. Ensure the paps get more shots of your right side, as it’s your best side. And aboveallelse?—”
Knowing his usual pep talk inside and out, I cut him off to deadpan. “Smile till it hurts, and then smile harder. I know, Beck. It isn’t my first event.”
The door opens, and Beck slides out, leaning back inside to extend a seemingly helpful hand as he hisses through his fake smile. “Right side first, Em.”
As I slip out onto the red carpet to cheers and flashing lights, I smile gratefully to Kyle and Thom, whose presence Ford ensured from the moment of my return, and I’m overwhelmed with the certainty that I don’t want this life anymore.
The point is driven firmly home with each reporter asking the same set of questions that I’ve answered ten dozen times over in the two days since returning to the city.
“Who’s your mystery man, Emerson?”
“Where’s Lawson? Are you guys still friends?”
“Is it true that you’re involved in a love triangle with your bodyguard and Lawson Wilde?”
I smile as though my life depends on it as I pose, twisting this way and that, ensuring my right side receives more camera time than my left—though God knows why I feel the need to do what Beck says—so by the time I reach the doors of the Regal, I’m wilting.
And in the back of my mind, I can’t shake the fact thatsomethingfeels wrong.
I glance about, finding Kyle and Thom present as always, and my shoulders sag, knowing that if Ford were here, I wouldn’t be feeling as uneasy as I am.
Even so, I have no time to dwell on my feelings because Beckham is utterly relentless and seems to be in my ear nonstop.
