He nodded, his happy, little-boy grin endearing himself to her all the more. Friends. Yes, she would be his friend, but nothing more. She wanted to give her all to the part, not fall in love.
Besides, on-set romances produced so much dramabehindthe camera.
“Come on, let’s sit. Watch the stars.” Taking her hand, Jesse led her to the sofa.
Chloe curled her legs under her, tucking the hem of her dress around her feet. With a push, Jesse reclined the chair, and a night sky of stars unfurled before them.
“Beautiful,” she whispered. “And peaceful.”
She lowered her hand to her side, grazing his, an electric pulse running up her arm. With a small jerk, Chloe moved her hand to her abdomen, then carefully, coyly slipped it back down to the cushion.
Jesse pillowed his head with his other hand. “What Hollywood legends walked through your family’s front door when you were growing up?”
“Funny... no one has ever asked me that before.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No one interviews the actress who dies. Let’s see... Newman, Redford, Cruise, Smith, Coppola, Ford, Fonda, Sinatra, Reynolds, Reagan.”
“Sinatra? Frank or Tina?”
“Frank. But I was young. Didn’t really understand who he was. Dad worked with him on his last movie in the eighties. Years later, he ran into him again on a television show, and Frank sorta took Dad under his wing. They became good friends. Sometimes late at night Dad breaks out the old hi-fi and plays some of Frank’s original LPs.”
Now that her belly was full and the chocolate had worked its magic, she felt silly for her reaction to Ted and Stella’s engagement. She said she wasn’t jealous. But maybe, just maybe, she was.
“What about you? Why acting? Are your parents in the arts?”
He rolled onto his side, propping up on his elbow, peering down at her. “My parents are lawyers. My brother is techie. An entrepreneur.”
“And you were supposed to be a lawyer too?”
“No, I was on the tech side of things with my brother. Science, math, physics, computers.”
“A brainiac!” Chloe raised up, propping on her elbow, meeting him eye to eye. “You could be the next Bill Gates. Hey, you even have the same last name.” She gasped, touching her fingers to her lips. “Maybe you’re Bill Gates’s son in disguise.”
Jesse laughed, reaching for her hand, lowering it to the cushion but not letting go. “No relation at all. By the way, Bill Gates is still trying to figure out how to be the next Bill Gates.” Ambient light from the house touched the side of his face. “I fell into acting on a break from college. It started as... as something to do. I neverexpected to be good at it. Never expected to love it more than math and computers.”
“A rightandleft brainer. Look, Mom, I found a unicorn.” Chloe dropped to her back again and studied the stars. “Is that what makes you so confident? Being smart? My dad likes confident actors, by the way. In case you ever work with him.”
“Thanks for the tip.” He sat back, stretching out, raising his arms over his head. “Tell me why it bothered you so much about Stella and Ted.”
“Can we not talk about it? I feel silly now.”
“I like me some silly now and then.”
She swatted at him and sat up, locking her arms about her raised legs. The frills of the cream-colored dress stuck to her warm skin. The cap sleeve slipped from her shoulder, and Jesse reached to put it into place.
“I’m not sure I should tell you.”
“You don’t have to tell me, Chloe. I’m just curious.”
“I said I wasn’t jealous, but I am. Not of Ted. Not of Stella. But of what they have, or think they have. Something I can’t seem to find for the life of me.”
“Love? You can’t find love?” Jesse said. “Sounds like a long, lonely life. Better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.”
“Oh, I’ve loved and lost. Believe me.” She peered at him. “You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
