“I asked,” she says, lifting a saucy eyebrow. “You said yes.”
Way to knock the wind out of a man’s sails.“I had already planned the wedding and was just waiting for the right moment to ask if you’d be my date.”
“I don’t think you can call your own wedding a date.”
“I think you can when it’s just you and your bride,” I growl back, though I’m grinning. There are few things I love more than verbally sparring with my wife.
Donovan narrows her eyes. “And a dozen guests.”
“That’s basically no one.” I take a breath, holding it in my lungs for a second. The movie’s going to start any minute, so I need to focus. “Back to more important things, what were you going to say?” I squeeze her hand.
Looking more resigned than anything, she sighs and mumbles at our hands, “Maybe I could do a movie with you.”
It takes everything in me not to jump up and do a victory dance. I’m pretty sure I deserve an Oscar just for staying calm. “Are you serious? You’d get in front of a camera with me? By choice?”
She groans and looks at me again. “Yes. And don’t look so smug. I haven’t missed all that subliminal messaging you’ve been throwing around for months.”
If by ‘subliminal messaging’ she means me telling her that she’d be a good fit for a lot of the scripts I’ve read lately, then it’s nice to know she hasn’t ignored me each time I’ve brought it up. “I’ll never make you do something you don’t want to do,” I tell her as my body feels like it might explode with excitement.
Rolling her eyes, she pats my cheek. “I know, Derek. And with the right story and an interesting character, I think it could be fun to give it a shot. After all, you only get one chance at making it in Hollywood, right?” She smirks, feigning surprise. “Oh wait! I already had that. Guess I’m something special.”
I love this woman with all my heart, and somehow she just went and made me love her even more. But this conversation isn’t over. “You know I love when you get snarky, and I want you to remember this carefree attitude you have right now, okay?”
“Why?” She frowns, her hold on my hand growing tight. “Derek, what did you do?”
“I made a risky bet, but it looks like it’s paying off.”
“Derek Riley Reid, start talking.”
“There was never going to be a thriller.” Oh, that feels so good to finally admit, though I’ve done my best to let her infer things instead of flat-out lying to her. I mentioned the thriller a few times but never actually told her I was doing it. Bracing myself, I tell her the actual truth. “I signed a contract for the romcom under the condition that Nova Tate plays my love interest, and they’re ready to start filming as soon as you give the word.”
Donovan’s jaw drops, but the light dancing in her eyes and her growing smile tells me I made the right choice. “I’m going to kill you.”
I lean over and brush my fingers along her cheek before pulling her closer. “Kill me later,” I murmur against her mouth. “Kiss me first.”
She grins and presses her lips to mine right as the movie starts playing. She doesn’t stop smiling until the end credits roll, and when she tells me that I “didn’t totally suck” in the rowing scenes while the audience applauds, I take that as the highest compliment and kiss her again.
Our life is chaotic and messy, and we never have enough time together, but being with Donovan fills in all the cracks I spent so long trying to hide. More than anything, I hope I do the same for her. And whether we do a hundred movies or only share the screen once, I’ve learned that it’s the small moments together that really matter.
I’ll take real life, with all its mistakes and rocky rapids, over a perfect scene any day.
