Page 33 of Shine For Me

“Something casual. Jeans and a sweatshirt should do it.”

She looks slightly horrified at the idea of wearing a sweatshirt out in public. “No one is going to see us today,” I promise. “It’s way too early for photographers to be outside and besides, I arranged to have some security guards on standby. They can get to us in fifteen minutes if we have any problems.”

She blinks a few times, her still-sleepy eyes looking suddenly wet. “You did that?”

I shrug, not at all liking the fact that she seems to be close to tears. “I figured you wouldn’t want to be hounded today.”

I’d returned to the hotel last night to a sidewalk full of photographers. There had been a few around ever since we got to town, but last night was clearly excessive. There may not have been any names printed in that blind item yesterday, but you’d have to be clueless not to guess that it referred to Adam. The gossip sites will be smelling blood in the water, and I’m sure the attention will get worse before it gets better.

That’s the main reason I want to get her out of here today. That and the fact that she’d looked so fucking sad yesterday I couldn’t breathe right for most of the night. I’d texted her when I left the set to see if she wanted to get dinner, but she told me she had some conference calls lined up with her team. I hated the idea that she was going to spend her evening talking about that asshole when she was obviously already upset.

A bunch of crew members had invited me out to do some bar hopping and I thought about joining them when she turned me down—it’s going to be a while before we have another day off and early call times don’t allow for much time to hit the town. But I couldn’t seem to make myself leave the hotel. Not when I knew June was right down the hall, having a shitty night. Instead I got online and did some research on the area, then set my alarm for the ass-crack of dawn.

“Thank you,” June says softly, not meeting my eyes. “I really don’t think I can handle press right now.”

The urge to kill her asshole fiancé with my bare hands crashes through me. It’s not a new feeling—I’ve imagined dismembering him more times than I can count, pretty much every time I’ve ever seen them interact and noticed the completely disinterested way he treats her. But never had it been stronger than it was when I read that fucking gossip column on set last night.

How the fuck dare he embarrass her like that?

My anger had made it hard as hell to concentrate. I spent so much time studying the original lines for the scene that my brain kept reverting back to them in spite of the changes. I have a hard enough time with my lines even when I’m not seeing red over Adam asshole Garland.

“I know it’s early,” I tell her, my voice oddly husky. “And you probably wanted to rest today. But I think getting out of here might be good for you. I promise it will be fun.”

She lets out a long, shaky breath. “Okay. That sounds good.”

A little bit of sunshine pierces through the anger and I manage to smile at her. “Good. Now go get dressed, Cain.”

* * *

Half an hourlater I’m parking my rental car in a lot alongside the harbor. June blinks out at the boats bobbing in the water. It’s still dark out, but the sky is starting to turn the steely blue of pre-dawn. The sun will be coming up soon, and I really want to be out on the water for it.

“Let’s get moving,” I tell her, reaching behind me to grab the bag of supplies the concierge gathered for me after I’d decided on this outing last night. “Time’s wasting.”

“Are we going on a boat?” she asks.

“No,” I say deadpanned, looking out at the water. “We’re traveling by train.”

She scowls at me. “Have you always been this much of a smart ass, or is it purely a before the sunrise trait?”

I laugh and open my car door. “Move it, movie star.”

Our guide for the day is waiting at the end of a long, metal dock. “Morning,” he calls out as we approach, his voice thick with a coastal accent. “You Fox?”

“That’s me.” I hold out my hand to shake his. “And this is my friend, June.”

His lined, craggy face splits into a wide grin at the sight of her. “Nice to meet you, darlin’.”

I have the strangest urge to reach down and take her hand so he’ll stop flirting with her. For June’s sake, obviously. I can’t imagine she wants some old dude hitting on her. To my surprise, she grins brightly when he takes her hand in his and kisses her knuckles. “I’m Charles and I’ll be taking you out on my boat today.”

June casts a worried glance to the boat next to us. It looks barely large enough for two people to fit in and the hull seems to contain more rust than paint. “Uh, what kind of boat do you have, exactly?”

He sees where she’s looking and laughs. “A damn nicer one than that. Don’t you worry,The Princess Dianais the safest boat you’ll ever set foot in. Come on this way.”

We start to follow him down the dock and June looks up at me with amused eyes. “He named his boatThe Princess Diana?”

“I guess he’s a big fan of British royalty?”

She covers her snort of laughter with a cough. Charles’s boat is right at the end of the dock and he was right when he said it was nicer than the rust bucket. I know literally nothing about boats, but this one looks big and shiny and comfortable. I feel a rush of excitement in my chest as I climb aboard behind June. I’d planned this day to get her mind off things, but I hadn’t realized how much I needed it, too. A day to just relax and do something fun, away from all the eyes of the crew and the pressure of the film set.