Page 119 of Seeking Stars
He gave her a small kiss. "I'd like to invest in your production company."
"Wait— What?!" She reared back.
He laughed. "I thought about it last night, before sending the email to Coulton."
"You've been thinking about this?"
"Yeah. Remember your last day here the first time? You asked me what I wanted to do."
"You said you want to produce, direct, act."
"I think it makes sense. If I invest in your production company, I can use my connections and resources to set up the things I'm interested in… while I help minimize the ways things are impacting you."
She took the words in, silent; her heart tender, her breathing deep and fast. She leaned her forehead to his chin.
"You've said you're the one who stands to lose the most in our relationship," he added. "I'm afraid you're right. I thought this is a way in which I can help change that. Use what I've built to help you and, in that way, help us. If we set up something together, we both can grow closer to where we wanna be."
"Career wise, that's an amazing idea but… don't you think it'll make things complicated for us? Mixing business with our relationship?"
"Only if we break up and if it's up to me, that's not gonna happen. Still, I think we need to have a contract to make things clear. Written by a lawyer and all. Something that draws clear lines between pleasure and work."
She reached for his hand. "I agree with that."
"I think one of the rules we should have as a couple may not fit there in the contract."
"What's that?"
"We should put our relationship first. We invest in our relationship first and foremost."
"I'd like that. It's what I'm trying to do with being here for a while."
He kissed her temple. "We can see what happens in the next couple of months. We can start planning and setting up the company, and build that up."
"And next?"
"We make it work. Maybe you'll find you want to go back to Bloomington for a bit, maybe stay back and forth for a while. Maybe you travel with me sometimes, and we go on like that."
"And next?"
"Next never ends."
***
"Get in the pool with me." He uttered the words directly into her ear, stealing a nibble from the shell of it.
Light had faded, the sun hiding behind the Pacific.
She shivered and he squeezed her tight. "I didn't bring my bikini. Packing in a panic, remember?"
"There's no one around. We can keep the lights off and swim in our underwear. I'd prefer it that way, anyway."
His eyes sparkled. She smiled.
"Maybe you can teach me to float again, and I can fall into space from the weightlessness of the water."
"We could do the floating but there's too much light from the city for the other part to work. We could still try."
"Let's try."
