Red Lines (30 page)

“Not fair.” She twisted to the side.

“Say you agree with me. Come on, say it.”

“Ok, ok.” She relented, her voice completely breathless.

“That’s what I thought.” He steadied himself over her. Her blue eyes blazed and her cheeks were flushed.

She sat back on her elbows. “Ok, I’ll make a deal with you.”

He laughed. “I know how these negotiations go. What is it you want this time?” He roamed the softness of her skin under her shirt.

“I’m serious. I have a real proposal.” Her back arched when his hand slipped below her waist. “It’s something I came up with in the waiting room at the hospital.”

“I usually like your proposals.” He kissed her stomach, loving how she wiggled under him. “Do you need business advice again?”

Her chest rose. “No, nothing like that.” She unfastened the buttons on her shirt, letting the fabric fall to the side. “I think I know a way we can make this work.”

He grinned. “This must be a serious negotiation. Giving up your cards already?” He leaned toward her lips and stole a rough kiss.

“How much time do you have before the car picks you up?” She reached for his belt.

“For you, as long as you need.” He groaned as her hands descended. The jet could wait for him.

“Good, because we aren’t leaving this room until I get exactly what I want.” Her smiled turned wicked.

Right then, he knew she had total control and he was going to agree to absolutely everything she wanted.

H
AVEN PULLED
the sweater tightly around her shoulders. The wind whipped off the water in sudden gusts on spring evenings like this one. She inhaled the salt and the last bits of sun coming off the wooden railings. If she peered hard enough she could make out a trawler rounding the channel, headed in for the night. In a few minutes, the ship would be at the docks unloading the day’s catch.

She looked down at the lyrics she had on her notebook. Funny how as soon as she sat in the hammock, they popped into her head. They were clear and certain. She missed this. Writing for fun, not because she had a deadline.

She kicked off the porch.

“Haven, I think we’re done for the day.” Jimmy Hazelton poked his head out the sliding door.

“Really? The countertops are done?”

“Come see.” He held the door open for her.

She laid the lyrics in the hammock and walked inside. What used to be her kitchen was now a living room. The wall that separated this part of the house from her bedroom was gone. In its place were sturdy pillars. She followed Jimmy to the far side of the house.

The kitchen now overlooked an entirely glass view of the ocean.

She ran her hands along the marble. “These look great.” The surface was smooth.

“I’m pretty happy with how they turned out.” He patted the countertops. “The master bath upstairs is done too. I’ll be back to finish up the guest bath, and I think that’s the last thing on the list.”

“It is.” She smiled at the gray-haired contractor. “I can’t believe the house is finished.”

“Well, you all said you wanted to be in by summer, so May was about the best we could do.” He picked up his clipboard. “I’ll see you in the morning. You might want to leave the doors open for an hour or so. Get some cross-ventilation going in here.”

“Ok.” She walked to the opposite side of the room and cracked the new French doors.

“Have a good night.” He collected a bag of tools and tossed it over his shoulder.

Haven walked him to the door. “Thanks, Jimmy. You too.”

“And tell your mama I said hello.”

“I will.” She listened for the sound of the door to close.

Maura was on a trip with her sisters to tour historic homes in Charleston and Savannah. Haven’s father returned from his winter getaway in Florida with Betra. She had only seen him once since he had been back, but he didn’t look happy. Maybe things with his girlfriend weren’t going smoothly. Haven could only hope.

In the meantime, Maura was spending more time in the store and her parents had seemed to work out an arrangement to take turns managing the office. Haven didn’t know how long things would stay amicable, but for now it made life easier.

She retraced her steps to the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of wine from the wine fridge.

A cold wet nose bounced off her bare leg.

“Cowboy!” Haven looked down at the puddle of sand and salt water dripping on the hardwoods. The black lab looked pleased with himself. He dropped a tennis ball at her feet.

“And are you going to clean up this mess?” She searched for a towel. With the doors wide open, the six-month-old puppy had easily found a way in. He had spent most of the day on the porch with her, but wandered down to the shoreline for a few minutes.

Haven stooped to his level to wipe the wide planks of the floors. The puppy lapped at the side of her face.

“You are gross, you know that?” She laughed and tried to towel him off in the process. He wagged his tail as she patted his chunky paws, brushing more sand to the floor.

Cowboy seemed like a fitting name for the dog. Evan thought it was the perfect tribute to one of his favorite John Wayne movies, but it fit the pup’s rebellious personality. Whether at the ranch or the beach, he liked to venture out on his own.

They had picked him up in Brees on a fall visit to see Joe and Patty and deliver the promised Carly Stone CD.

“Darlin’, you here?”

“In here,” she called. She stood upright and watched Cowboy run toward Evan.

“Hey, boy. You been swimming?”

Evan strolled through the new great room with the puppy on his heels. “Man, look at these countertops.” He grabbed Haven by the waist and hoisted her on top.

She giggled. “Hey, you. I didn’t think you were going to be here until tonight. This is a good surprise.”

“I am officially done. Very last
Red Lines
interview was this morning in New York.”

“That is what this wine is for.” She held up the bottle. “I was going to start my celebration a little early.”

“Yes, I’ll drink to that.” He pivoted on his heels and reached for two wine glasses. He fixed the corkscrew to the top of the bottle and freed the cork.

“How did it go today?” She watched him fill the glasses with wine.

“It was good. It felt good. Glad to get it over with. Emmy says hi by the way.”

Haven rolled her eyes. “Of course she did.” She readily accepted the glass. “I recorded the interview this morning, but I haven’t watched it yet. It was too loud with the guys in here. Jimmy just left a few minutes ago.”

“You haven’t seen it?” He eyed her, and for a second, she felt guilty she hadn’t tuned in this morning. She shook her head. “Then let’s watch it. I haven’t seen it either.”

“But you were there.”

He set her on the floor and walked to the couch. Within seconds, he had the interview cued on the TV. Cowboy pounced on the ball and ran out of the room, carrying it in his mouth.

Haven settled under Evan’s arm.

The interview started with the host introducing Evan and Emmy, then showing a clip from the movie. It was still difficult to watch Evan like that—his hands on Emmy, gliding down her back, along the curves of her hips. Haven tried to focus on other movie details instead, like the light fixtures they chose.

It didn’t matter how many times she had seen the movie or the posters; it never got easier. Trying to separate Evan from Dex was always a mental challenge. She was glad the majority of the press coverage was behind them.

Cheryl Cromwell started her questions as soon as the clip faded to black. “How does it feel to star in the number one movie in the world? It’s been number one for three weeks now and I don’t think it’s losing steam if you know what I mean.”

Emmy smiled. “We’re happy. Just so glad people love the movie as much as we loved making it.”

“I think we’re still blown away by it,” Evan added.

“Did you ever imagine anything like this?” the host asked.

Emmy patted his knee. “Never in our wildest dreams. It’s bigger than we could have imagined.” She looked at Evan. “Did you think anything would happen like this when we first worked together on
Masquerade
?”

“Definitely not. It has been a surprise.”

“You two definitely know how to heat up the big screen. Everyone wants to know what it was like filming those love scenes. So, tell us, did sparks really fly on the set?”

Evan eyed Emmy. She giggled. “That’s the magic of movie-making. Really, it’s just so technical. There were people telling us where to put arms and legs. It wasn’t really romantic, but it looks like it was.”

“Emmy’s right. It’s more like a choreographed fight scene than anything else.”

“Fight scene?” Cheryl questioned and the audience laughed.

“Not that kind, but sort of what I’m used to preparing for in some of my other action films. There are a lot acrobatics involved.”

The audience laughed.

“Well, from our vantage point it looked sizzling hot.” Cheryl giggled and a shot of Evan’s mouth hovering above Emmy’s navel flashed on the screen.

“Tell us, Evan, exactly how many marriage proposals do you get every day?” Cheryl flipped her hair over her shoulder.

Evan chuckled. “Plenty, that’s for sure.”

Emmy touched him on the shoulder. “He’s off the market, ladies. Take it from me, this guy is unavailable.”

Cheryl raised her eyebrows. “Are you saying there’s a wedding in the future? This is breaking news.”

“Hold on, hold on.” Evan put his hand up. “I think Emmy’s just trying to help me out.” He turned to his co-star.

“Because if that’s the case, hearts are breaking all over the world this morning.” It looked as if Cheryl might have one of those broken hearts.

Evan leaned forward. “No wedding to discuss right now. Actually, I do have an announcement I’d like to share, Cheryl. Not marriage related.” He winked.

“An announcement? We can’t wait to hear what it is. But first, let’s get this commercial break out of the way. We’ll be right back with Evan Carlson and Emmy Harper, stars of
Red Lines
.”

“She’s really dragging this out.” Haven waited while Evan fast-forwarded through the commercials.

“Yep. Cheryl is dramatic. Ok, here’s the good part.” Evan pushed play.

Cheryl smiled onscreen. “If you’re just joining us, we have a special treat for you. The stars of
Red Lines
, Emmy Harper and Evan Carlson, are here with us to discuss the most talked about movie of the year and hopefully give us some behind-the-scenes secrets we’ve all been dying to hear. But first, right before the break, Evan, you said you wanted to share an announcement. Why don’t we start with that?” The anchor turned toward him.

He shifted in his seat. “This is a project I’m excited to finally talk about. It’s been in the works for quite some time and now, with the movie out, I can share with all of y’all.” He took a deep breath. “I’ve made the decision that
Red Lines
is going to be my last movie for a while. I’m starting my own production company. I’m going to have more of a secondary role. Try my hand helping screenwriters, producers, directors.”

“That’s quite an announcement.”

“Yeah, I know it’s big news. But I’ve wanted to try some other creative outlets for a while, and let’s face it, what better way to go out than as Dexter Red?” He looked at Emmy.

“True. True.” Cheryl seemed to be struggling with the news. “I can’t imagine how your fans are going to react to this.”

“You know Evan is going to be incredible behind the camera. I’m just hoping he’ll consider me for his first movie. I’m dying to be in it,” Emmy purred.

He laughed. “It’s yours, Em.”

“Will you two stay with us? We’ll return in a few minutes with the stars of
Red Lines
. Viewer questions are just pouring in. I think we all need a minute to let this soak in.”

The show’s music cued, Evan hit pause, and turned toward Haven.

She looked at him. “You really did it. You really retired. This is happening.”