They arrived at her trailer and she stepped up to the door.
“Are you okay?” asked Cindy. “You got kind of quiet there.” She leaned against Beau, one hand on his chest as if it was the most comfortable place in the world.
“Aren’t you guys the least bit worried about what your careers will do to you—you two—your relationship? I’m sorry.” She shook her head. “It’s none of my business. It’s just ” She looked down at her phone.
“You’re worried about you and Mystery Man?” filled in Beau.
“Well, they say history is bound to repeat itself and my dating past hasn’t been all that great.” She wanted to kick herself after opening her big fat mouth. Beau had been married several times, and each one blew up in a mess of paparazzi and court dates. She hadn’t meant to throw that in their faces—especially when they were on the newer side of their romance.
Cindy looked up at Beau, her eyes telling him to answer for them.
“We have ground rules. I don’t know if it’s normal for other couples, but we needed to make sure our relationship maintains a high level of priority for both of us.”
Cindy nodded. “The first rule is that we don’t spend more than three weeks apart and we don’t go more than thirty-six hours without a phone conversation. Not a text, but a conversation.”
Beau nodded. “We’ve also agreed that when we have kids, we’ll stagger our assignments so that one of us is always home with the children and able to travel to meet the other one on location.”
“You guys have talked about kids?” Rubi’s eyes got wide. “That’s ” She was going to say crazy. After all, they’d been dating less than three months.
Beau nodded. “Kids. Marriage. Debt. Mortgages. Religion. Politics. All of it.”
“I—” Rubi didn’t know what to say.
Cindy smiled. “Don’t let it scare you, Rubi. If he’stheguy, he won’t run away.”
Rubi shook her head. “What ifIrun away?”
“Thenyou’renot the one,” replied Beau. He gave her a small wave before turning the two of them towards the bluff. They were probably going to go up there and count stars and share treasured moments together. “’Night.”
“Good night.” Rubi also waved. She stepped down and turned her eyes to the darkening sky where stars winked hello. They were filming in southern Utah—red rock country where the sand was fine and the sky was vast. Her phone dinged another text.
When you get back, we’ll go fishin’ in the dark.
Instead of typing out a response, Rubi hit “call.”
“Hello?” Hearing Cash’s voice was like stepping into a warm bath.
“I thought we already went fishin’ in the dark.” She grinned as she opened the door and stepped into her trailer.
“Fishin’ in the dark starts at sunset, not sunrise.”
She tossed her free hand in the air. “You mean you’ve been holdin’ out on me, Cash Lowell?”
“Areelfisherman knows which bait to use.”
“And you’re baitin’ me?”
“All day long, darlin’. Is it working?”
Rubi laughed, tucking the phone between her shoulder and her cheek. “I called you, didn’t I?”
“Yes you did.”
She could see the smile play at his lips and desperately wanted to kiss him. Her chest constricted with the need. She gripped the couch cushion. Oh man, she was in so much trouble. Maybe this time apart was a good thing. Cash could easily overwhelm her world.
“Do you want kids?” she blurted.
There was a pause. A pause she was sure would lead to the awkwardI’ve got to go. She held her breath.It’s better if he runs now
