Caroline laughed softly, brushing her hand over Asher’s hair as they walked.
Jacob reached for Rose’s hand as they moved on, her tiny fingers sticky from the ice pop Caroline had given her earlier.For a moment, he let himself just be here: the sunlight, the animals, his family. It should have been enough.
It wasn’t.
Every time he blinked, he saw flashes of the night before: the hush of the garden, the faint rustle of leaves, and the sharp scent of roses in the dark. Liam’s voice was still there, caught somewhere between anger and ache. Jacob could feel it in his chest—the weight of the words he hadn’t said, the space he’d left between them. He’d told himself walking away was the right thing—that it meant control, decency, and doing what a good man should. So why did it feel like a loss?
“Jacob?” Caroline’s voice cut in, soft but pointed. “You look distracted.”
He blinked, straightening. “Just thinking about work.”
She smiled like she’d expected that answer, slipping her arm through his. “Well, stop. You’re here with us.”
He nodded, doing his best to stay in the moment.
Ahead, Asher tugged at the map Rose was holding. “I wanna see the tigers next!” he said. “They’re the strongest.”
“I want elephants!” Rose said, waving her penguin plush in protest. “They have big noses!”
Jacob crouched between them. “Tell you what—we’ll see both. No need to fight.”
Rose considered this, then nodded solemnly. “Okay. But elephants are the bestest.” Her laughter spilled out right after, bright and unguarded.
They moved on, his hand in Caroline’s, the sun warm on their backs. Caroline was smiling again, talking about lunch plans. Rose kept twirling, and Asher ran ahead. It was the kind of day people built memories on.
Jacob smiled too, but beneath the laughter his heart still beat out last night’s rhythm—unsteady, heavy, and impossible to forget.
Chapter 12
Jacob
They were getting ready to shoot the first kiss scene.
Jacob had read the pages so many times he could’ve recited them in his sleep. Every line and stage direction was drilled into him until the whole thing was nothing more than choreography. He’d built walls around it in his head and forced himself to believe it was just a job—just another scene. Nothing more. Nothing dangerous.
He hadn’t let himself be alone with Liam since the night in the garden. He’d kept his distance wherever possible, even though working side by side meant there was no real way to escape him. He’d avoided lingering glances and words that might reveal too much. Not once had he acknowledged the way Liam had looked at him, or the way that sound had fallen from his lips when Jacob touched him.
Pretending was the only way to keep moving, but distance wasn’t kindness, and Jacob knew it. He noticed the way Liam’s eyes tightened each time he pulled away. He hated it, but he didn’t know what else to do. Silence was safer.
Focus.
Liam stepped into position beside him—already too close. He smelled faintly of mint and something warmer, something Jacobcould never quite name without thinking of heat and skin. He kept his gaze forward, not daring to look.
“Okay,” Ellen called out. “We’ll run the full scene wide first, then reset for close-ups. Let it build naturally—we’ll be doing this several times.”
The set quieted; cameras rolled.
The lines came easily and Jacob let them flow without effort. He had trained himself not to falter and to show nothing beneath the surface. He clung to that discipline now. Still, when Liam’s eyes flicked up, even for a heartbeat, Jacob felt his throat catch and his control strain. He forced it down, kept the rhythm steady, and gave no one else reason to suspect the ground was shifting beneath him.
Then the cue arrived. Jacob’s hand lifted, steady and sure, settling against Liam’s jaw. The movement was familiar by now, yet the moment his fingers touched warm skin he felt the shift. Liam’s breath stuttered, and Jacob knew instantly that this wouldn’t be anything close to acting. For half a second he hesitated, but the cameras were rolling and the script demanded it, so he leaned in and kissed him.
He was right. He knew it the moment their lips pressed together. This could never be just a job, not with a connection so strong it ignited like fire between them.
The way Liam responded so instantly, from so little touch, was staggering. Liam moved into him without hesitation, a faint tremor running through his body. The soft, broken sound that followed was so raw it felt like a goddamn gift Jacob didn’t deserve.
Jacob’s body reacted before his mind could catch up. His hand slid into Liam’s hair, fingers tightening to angle his head exactly where he wanted it. His other arm closed around him, pulling him flush. Liam yielded instantly, lips parting beneath his, pliant and desperate in a way that felt devastating.
The kiss deepened, no longer careful or scripted, but urgent. His mouth moved rougher because he couldn’t stop himself. Jacob felt the crew fade, the set walls vanish, and the cameras cease to exist. All that remained was Liam clinging to him, letting him take more, until the weeks of denial burned away in the heat of one impossible kiss.
