Now a Major Motion Picture (40 page)

* * *

Two hours later, she pushed through the throng of gushing friends and fans. This was the third time she’d seen the movie in its finished form, and she was thrilled with it, but she knew she couldn’t be objective. As she surveyed people’s reactions, though, she felt a heady mixture of relief and pride.
They like it. They really seem to like it.
The thought stretched her already wide smile even wider.

She glanced up at Colin, who was looking at her with a thoughtful expression. He tightened his arm around her and reached up with one hand to stroke her cheek. As she drank in the perfect moment, her earlier worries seemed easy to push aside.
Everything’s all right.
Surely she could make Colin understand. When the craziness of the launch died down, surely they could figure something out, some arrangement that would let them be together, but let her keep her own life intact, keep it from being swallowed up by his.

She grinned at him, already thinking past the mayhem of the walk back down the red carpet to what would come after it. In a few hours, she was meeting Reese, David, and Brooke for a late dinner. But before that, she and Colin were going to her house to spend some time alone. He only had two more hours in town before he had to fly to New York for a morning interview.
We’re not on the same page
, she thought.
But we can be.

Amelia seized onto this surge of optimism, anxious to be alone with him inside the limo. Lost in these thoughts, she allowed Colin to pull her with him out the doors they’d entered, where they were greeted with a new round of deafening screams.

She stopped in her tracks, caught off guard.

Amelia stared out at the sea of faces, all here for her—for them. The idea of that was overwhelming. She glanced up at Colin to share the moment with him and found him staring intently back at her, his clear-blue eyes filled with fierce emotion. His expression made her feel even more off-balance than the crowd. She gave him a questioning look.

They were standing side by side just outside the long row of theater doors. All at once, Colin turned her to face him, eliciting even stronger screams from the fans squeezed in along all sides of their exit path. Seemingly oblivious to their audience, he leaned down toward her, brushing a strand of her long, dark hair back from her face as his lips brushed against her ear. “Marry me, Amelia,” he whispered, softly, but so clearly Amelia couldn’t mistake his words even through the noise of the crowd.

She lost control of the muscles in her jaw. She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t even breathe. She thought she might pass out from pure shock.

After a few seconds in which time stood still, she regained her composure enough to close her gaping mouth.
What?!
her mind screamed at her, but all her voice delivered was, “I…um. I—”

Colin smiled and gave her shoulders a light squeeze. He leaned down and put his lips against her ear again, and this time he said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t plan to do it this way. I just couldn’t wait one more second.”

His crystal eyes were so clear, so sincere. How could she doubt his motivations? As she stared at him, frozen, her mind replayed one phrase over and over:
We’re not on the same page!

Her stomach wrenched as she realized the enormity of what was happening, what had to happen next.

She had to break things off.

Through all of this Amelia remained rooted in place on the theater’s front walk, suddenly incapable of putting one foot in front of the other. The surrounding chaos took on a dreamlike quality, growing blurry around the edges. In her fog, it took Amelia several seconds to recognize the familiar shape hurtling toward her, the voice calling her name above the din. She slowly tore her gaze from Colin and focused it on Reese, who was all-out running in her direction.

“Mel,” Reese sputtered in relief as she drew up beside her, grabbing Amelia’s free hand. She didn’t say anything else, just gestured with her head toward the throng of fans.

Amelia swung her head in the direction Reese was staring, her eyes clouded with confusion and her brain more jumbled than it had been throughout this entire three-year-long ride. Unthinkingly, almost robotically, she scanned the faces in the crowd across the velvet ropes just steps from where she stood, trying to figure out what had Reese so agitated.

Though the action felt like it was happening in slow motion, it took her only seconds to figure out what—who—Reese wanted her to see. And then her eyes locked with a deep-blue pair so familiar, so unexpected, she had to fight back tears.

Amelia felt her heart lurch against her chest and her knees give way beneath her. She leaned heavily into the support of Colin’s side.

“Are you okay?” he whispered, his voice thick with concern. Before she could process what was happening, he was ushering her protectively through the mass of people, much faster on the way out than on the way in.

Amelia turned before sliding into the car, straining her neck and scanning the crowd in desperation for the face she’d glimpsed so briefly it felt as if she’d imagined it.

But it was hopelessly lost in a sea of screaming fans.

Everything to Lose

Noah, May

Noah’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

He watched helplessly as Amelia took off down the red carpet. Colin Marks’ arm was draped possessively across her shoulders as he guided her through the throngs of people toward their waiting car.

As soon as she disappeared from view, Noah’s shoulders sagged. He lifted a hand to his face, rubbing his forehead in frustration. She’d looked straight at him. No, more than that—she’d seen him. He knew it…he’d caught the flicker of recognition in her eyes for one brief instant before Colin had interrupted the moment, and now the moment was gone.

She was gone.

How the hell was he going to get to her, to penetrate the thick wall fame had built around her? Surely he hadn’t come all this way for nothing?

He stood fixed in his spot against the velvet rope, not noticing the murmur of the crowd begin to die down as it thinned out, Amelia’s fans buzzing in excited voices as they made their way back to their cars. His thoughts were darting around inside his head, leaving him oblivious to the flurry of activity around him. He was so tired.

Tired, hot, hungry.

Sad.

Pathetic.

He’d landed in Memphis the night before, checked into a nearby hotel, and barely slept before rushing to the theater parking lot early that morning, predicting the mob scene the screening would produce. He’d been right to arrive early. When he pulled his rental car into the lot, dozens of die-hard fans were already on the scene, some with sleeping bags, others with camp chairs—even a few with tents. He pushed and shoved and pissed people off to get his front-and-center spot near the theater doors, figuring it was his one and only chance to catch a glimpse of her, let alone get her attention.

He wasn’t sure, now, what he’d thought he’d accomplish by showing up here tonight. It wasn’t like he could possibly have talked to her in the midst of this madness. But he hadn’t wanted to involve anyone else if he could help it. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to call his sisters, his mom, to help him track her down.
How humiliating.
And of course, her numbers were unlisted, her address impossible to find. He’d tried to track her down on Facebook, Twitter, but he was lost in an impossibly large sea of fans and followers.

So he’d come here on his own, to the one place he knew she’d be at the one time he knew she’d be here.

And now he didn’t know why he’d done it or what the hell he should do next.

Do I just go home?
But then what would Amelia think about why he’d shown up at her premiere?
She’d think I’m insane, that’s what
. Suddenly, the crippling weight of his depression was back on his shoulders, only now the load was even heavier, tripled by his embarrassment. He closed his eyes, heaved a deep sigh, and spun on one defeated heel to head back to his car.

He’d barely taken two steps toward the parking lot when he heard footsteps rushing up behind him.

“Noah!”

He stopped in his tracks at the voice he hadn’t heard in almost a decade. He turned around so fast he nearly tripped. “Reese?”

She ran the ten steps that remained between them, and before he even processed what was happening, she ducked under the velvet rope and flung herself into his arms.

“Oh my gosh, Noah! What are you doing here?” She stared at him incredulously. She stepped back and looked him up and down. “I can’t believe it’s really you.”

His mouth opened and closed. He was at a loss for words.

Reese shook her head, eyeing him so critically he felt self-conscious.

“You look like hell,” she said. She giggled, and his eyes widened. “Sorry—I didn’t mean it like that. You look great. It’s just…have you slept lately? You look like you’ve been…oh, God. You’ve been out here all day, haven’t you?”

His face turned a deep shade of crimson, and he stammered.

“Uh, no. I mean…What?”

He stepped back to turn the scrutiny on her. Geez, she hadn’t changed a bit.

“Hi, Reese,” he finally said. He shook his head and flashed her a bemused grin. It felt as if he’d seen her yesterday, not like they’d spent the past ten years as virtual strangers. The moment was utterly surreal.

Reese smiled back at him, and his heart pounded with the possibilities of what this meant, running into her.
I’m in deep now. No turning back.
He took a deep breath.

They were interrupted then by the sound of more approaching footsteps, and both Reese and Noah turned in their direction. An exceptionally tall, dark haired man stepped into the space beside Reese—he slid his left arm around her waist and stretched his right hand toward Noah.

“David Chapman,” he said in a thick baritone.

Noah shook the hand he extended. “Nice to meet you. Noah Bradley,” he replied.

David’s eyebrows shot up. “Is that right?” he said. “Good to meet you, too. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

He turned to Reese.

“Ready, hon? Brooke’s getting impatient. She might drive off without us.” He laughed. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. You know how she is with directions…”

Reese turned back to Noah, her eyes bright with expectation. “Would you like to come with us? We’re going back to our house for a bit, then we’re meeting Mel for dinner.”

Noah dipped his head, not sure what to say. “Thanks for the invitation,” he mumbled. “But I…don’t think I’d really be wanted.”

He felt Reese’s eyes boring into him, and he glanced back up at her.

“Don’t be silly,” she said. “I just invited you. Besides,” she added, “I don’t think you came all this way just to watch us stumble up the red carpet.”

His face flushed again. Was that ever the truth.

But what exactly
had
he come here for?
I’d better figure it out
, he thought, because now that this unlikely doorway to Amelia had opened, he knew he’d damn well better not slam it shut again.

* * *

Two hours later, he pulled his rented car up to the unfamiliar curb in this unfamiliar town and questioned his own sanity.

He’d just spent the most bizarre two hours of his life. Catching up with Reese, getting to know David, making small talk with Brooke, of all people. It had been…weird. Incredible. Like going home.

He knew they were all wondering why he was here. That was the one topic no one had brought up during his odd, unexpected visit. They’d passed the time eating the snacks and drinking the wine Reese had laid out and talking about all the places life had taken them. Work, family, hobbies, travel. Noah told them about Texas, and he listened with great interest as Reese talked about what had brought her to Memphis. About forty-five minutes into the conversation, her phone had buzzed, and she’d left the room to take the call.

She was gone so long the call could only have come from Amelia, but no one mentioned that fact, not even Reese when she finally returned to the room. All she said was, “Change of plans. We’re ordering in.”

A few minutes later, Brooke excused herself to change clothes and David left the room, presumably to do the same. Reese stayed behind with Noah, waiting until the others were out of earshot before perching beside him on her olive-green sofa.

“Look, Noah,” she said. “I’m not sure exactly why you’re here, but I’m glad you came. She needs to see you.”

He stared at her with hope and fear and desperation laid bare in his expression. He couldn’t find his voice to speak.

“She’s at home,” Reese continued, and then she answered Noah’s unasked question. “Colin just left—he has a flight to catch.”

Noah stared at her for several more seconds and then cleared his throat. “What should I—” His voice trailed off. “Did you tell her I was here?”

Reese pursed her lips. “No. But she did see you earlier. She knows you’re in town.”

She laid her hand on his arm and looked up at him with a gaze that was oddly intense, almost pleading. “I think you should go to her. She’s expecting me, but I think you’re the one she needs to see.”

He nodded, his breath quickening as his stomach began a series of complex acrobatic maneuvers. He watched in silence as she walked to a small desk across the room, opened a drawer, took out a pen and a pad of Post-it notes, and wrote down Amelia’s address. She walked back over to him and with a tiny smile slipped the paper into his outstretched hand.

Clutching it like a life preserver, he stood to leave.

Right before he stepped out the door, Brooke re-entered the room. He turned around and walked to her, leaning down to pull her into a bear hug. His heart felt like it might beat right out of his chest.

“It was nice to see you, Mrs. Wright,” he said, barely able to control his voice.

She squeezed him back tightly. “It’s wonderful to see you, Noah. Such a nice surprise.”