Page 21 of Yours To Take
“How is that a loaded question?”
The trail veers left, and I follow her. Being this close to her, I have an indecent view of her ass and the way her leggings are perfectly hugging it as she moves up the trail.
Fuck. I do not need to be getting hard out here with her.
“It’s a loaded question because what if you don’t like who I pick to play you? I need to get to know you more.”
“Okay, then let’s get to know one another.”
Gemma and I fire questions back and forth at one another. It helps distract from the upward winding of the trail. My legs are on fire from muscles I never knew I had getting a workout.
Before I know it, the trail leads to a flat clearing.
The trees are sparser here, the first signs of life starting to peek through. The valley below extends out from the mountains behind us. The ranch looks like tiny specks from up here. Dixon looks even smaller from this high up.
“Holy shit.”
“Pretty incredible, right?”
Gemma is beaming next to me. Her cheeks are pink from the hike up.
“Definitely beats the views back home.”
Dropping onto a broken log, Gemma sits and riffles through her bag. I take the spot next to her, kicking out my tired legs.
“This is one of my favorite spots.”
“I can see why. It’s pretty great.”
So great, in fact, that the familiar spark of an idea is taking hold in my head. When the studio gave me the idea of creating a family drama, I didn’t have a clue as to what I was supposed to be writing.
Sitting here with Gemma? I’m starting to get some. It’s making my fingers itch to get back to my keyboard so I don’t lose any of them.
“If you could live anywhere besides LA, where would it be?”
“Honestly? I’ve never really thought of living anywhere else. It’d be hard to be a screenwriter and not be in LA. Maybe NYC?”
“One coast to the next? I wouldn’t last in NYC.”
“Why not?”
“There’s way too many people there for my liking. I’m quite happy with Dixon.”
I nudge her knee with my elbow. “I think you’re going to need to take me into town. I want to meet all these people that are gossiping about my presence.”
“Mrs. Phillips and Mrs. Reynolds will fight like teenage girls over you.”
“Mrs. Phillips seemed nice when I met her.”
“You’ve already met her?” Gemma pops a pretzel into her mouth.
“I did. And she knew exactly who I was and who I was related to.”
Gemma slaps a hand over her face. “Oh God. I’m so sorry. Sometimes she can’t control what comes out of her mouth.”
“It’s fine. I don’t think she meant anything by it. I’ve got a good sense of people at this point in my life.”
“That sounds sad.”
