I knew I had blushed, but I concentrated on other things… I had come out with the news that had been simmering inside of me for three weeks, and it did feel good even though I was stirred up at the moment. I looked at Sam as we found a spot to stand outside.
"I'm so glad we came out here. Thank you. Sorry. I just felt nervous for a second, and sometimes I need to take a second to remind myself where my feet are."
He laughed at that, and it made me feel better. "What are you nervous about?"
"I don't know, changing things, I guess. I'm barely keeping my head above water as it is."
"Do you mean with life?"
"No, with acting."
"No, you're not. You're doing great."
"I'm trying," I said, pacing a little as he stood there. "It's not that I'm nervous about kissing you, I mean I am a little, but not really. It's mostly because of making Alex switch everything again after he was so accommodating. Both of you were. And I hate telling that girl never mind."
"Would you rather have me kiss her?"
My eyes snapped up to meet his.
"No," I replied in a neutral tone.
He grinned a little, slowly, mischievously, and my stomach flipped. My heart was already racing, and there he was looking like a movie star.Was it possible to die of butterflies?I wondered if kissing this guy might actually kill me—stop my heart.
"It's no big deal," he said, calmly and coolly. "All that's going to happen is that I am going to stand a little bit closer to you while we're talking, and then at the end of the scene, I'll leave the room for a second and then come back in and kiss you instead of that other girl. There's no dialogue at all on that second part."
"And then we kiss four other times after that?" I said.
"You mean today, or in the series? It's three more in the series, but they're scripted as… they're just little… this one's the biggest. Today, the one in the kitchen is supposed to be a deeper kiss, but I don't even know if he'll have us do it in rehearsal or not."
"It's no big deal, whatever he wants us to do is fine," I said, shaking it off.
It felt good that he was talking so bluntly and calmly about it.
I took a deep breath. "Thank you."
"Thank you," he said in an exaggerated tone, joking around with me. Sam was playful and happy, and that made me feelbetter, breathe easier. I had gained some confidence from our little trip outside, and I was thankful to him for doing that for me. I liked him as a person, and he happened to be extremely attractive, which was going to work in my favor filming this scene.
There was a fresh pan on the stove by the time we made it back inside. We got into position, and Sam waited on the other side of the set door while Alex called for action.
I moved around the kitchen and began to cook the eggs. I was about to crack the second one into the pan when Sam came into the kitchen. I could hear him moving behind me.
"That's not how she makes the eggs," he said from behind me.
He came up behind me swiftly, and I stiffened since I hadn't expected it, but I didn't pull away from him. I just leaned into him and stared into the pan. His big hand was over mine, and he helped me begin to stir the eggs and scramble them right there in the pan. He was closer this time. His mouth was near my ear, and I was no longer aware of the cameras. I felt the spoon as it gently scraped along the bottom of the pan, and I felt his hand on mine. I leaned into him. His other hand came around my waist, and he ever so gently touched my stomach. My chest rose and fell as I let him help me, let him hold me.
"They eat their eggs scrambled," he said, smiling and speaking near my ear again.
"Who eats their eggs scrambled?"
"All of your family does."
"I don't know how to cook that. I've only ever done it with the yolks."
Sam stayed right behind me, and we stirred for a moment as he let his hands gently touch me. I was attracted to him, and my body seemed to be having a reaction to his touch. I was glad Ihad rehearsed these lines a thousand times, because they came to me even though I was extremely distracted at the moment.
"My mom didn't trust me with the cooking. All I did was clean and take care of the kids."
"Well, you'll cook quite a bit over here. I’m sure you'll do your share of cleaning and caretaking, too."
