“Probably.”The logistics of this don’t seem to register.
“Won’t that make it difficult to do your scenes at the top of your game? If you’ve been out all night partying?”
He looks mildly confused, but he doesn’t say anything, so I continue.
“Maybe if you save Hustle for a night when you don’t have to work the next morning—”
“Hey, okaaaaay,” he says, as if something finally clicks into place. He looks me up and down in a way that makes my skin crawl. “I get it. Yeah. I mean, if you want to get with me, that’s cool, you can just say it. Like, I don’t usually go for way older chicks, but you’re off the charts, like, you’ve been inMaxim’s top ten MILFs for, like, forever, and—”
“What? No!” I put my hands up, stepping back. “God, no, I am not trying toget with you.I’m trying tohelpyou not to throw away your career before it’s even started!”
“Whoa, fine,” he says. “I’m just saying I’m into it. But, like, you’d have to chill a bit. I’ve got some stuff back at my trailer—”
“Oh. My. God.” I shake my head. “Forget it.”
Blake was right.
What the hell am I doing?I think, storming away, this time not even bothering to fake a smile. Why did I think I could change a single fucking thing for the better for this kid or this movie or my kids or—
My phone buzzes in my pocket. Probably my publicist,Tara, with another PR nightmare. I reluctantly pull my phone out, and my stomach lurches.
NotTara.
It’s Roger Huntley. My ex-boyfriend.
I can’t imagine why he would be calling. We’ve maintained a distant friendship since our breakup, and so it’s not like we never talk—or even occasionally meet for dinner to catch up, as the tabloids were so eager to jump on.
But now? He knows I’m on location filming, for one, but the bigger thing is he knows I’m back with Blake, which has to be a painful thing for him to learn. Not that I think he’s not over me by now—it’s been more than a year, after all. But the Blake of it all has to sting. Roger knew I was still in love with Blake during our whole relationship—he knew it even before I finally broke down and confirmed it for him. He held on, whether from desperate hope that this would eventually change, or maybe because he just wanted to be with me enough that he was willing to put up with it.
But I knew, especially by the time I turned down Roger’s proposal, that my being in love with Blake—and only Blake—wasn’t ever going to change. And Roger deserved more than being some consolation prize.
My thumb still hovers over the “accept” button. Is he calling to tell me how happy he is for me? I doubt it—Roger is more the type to send that kind of message in a text or email. And even if so, am I ready to handle that call?To wonder if he’s really happy, or if he’s someone else I’m hurting?
I wait too long; the call ends.
Then I see I’ve already missed a call from him, not twenty minutes ago, and I know that whatever Roger is calling about, it’s not some well wishes.
Could it be something about his brother, the one with lung cancer? Are his parents okay? I’d be surprised if I was first on his to-call list, but we were together for three years, and I know his family pretty well. I also know how heartbroken he’d be if anything happened to them.
I call back immediately, ducking into an empty, people-free space between Bertram’s trailer and the wardrobe trailer.
“Kim, hey,” Roger says. “I was just leaving you a message.”
He doesn’t sound panicked or devastated, thankfully.
“Roger,” I say. “I’m sorry I missed your call. It’s—”
“Crazy busy on set, I remember.” His tone holds a gentle, teasing note.
“Yeah, well. Especially this one.”
There’s a pause so pregnant I think it might need a police escort to the hospital. “I mean, with the increased paparazzi and the bad press and—” I start.
Roger chuckles. “It’s okay, Kim. You’re back with Blake.That’s got to be a bit of a whirlwind.”
“That’s for sure,” I say with a light laugh of my own, relieved. He doesn’t sound overly hurt.
“A good one, I hope.”
