“Simms.”
“Agent Simms. Miss Marlow is exhausted. You can imagine how traumatic it has been for her seeing her ex-husband again, even from a distance.” Garrett took out a card, handing it to the agent. “Here is the number where you can reach her. Tomorrow should be soon enough.”
Before anyone could object, Garrett hustled Jade past the agents and out of the house.
“Slick.” Jade gave him an admiring smile.
“Let’s keep moving. I won’t feel safe until we’re home.”
Jade wouldn’t feel safe until they put those papers into the proper hands. Agent Simms and his partner seemed a bit too chummy with her father. She wasn’t going to trust just anyone. The first thing to do was make copies. Multiple copies. She wasn’t taking any chances that the papers would mysteriously disappear before they could be processed. Then they needed to figure out to whom they should go.
“With this line, we’ll be lucky if we get home by dawn. The mass exodus of guests is running the valets ragged.” Jade suddenly smiled. Of course. She had the perfect solution. “Let me have your phone again.” Taking it, she tapped the keys. She didn’t have to look it up; she knew this number by heart.
Intrigued, Garrett listened to the one sided conversation.
“Hi. Are you busy? Beverly Hills. No, the old place. Right. Bye.” Jade handed the phone back. “Gather the troops. Troy is on the way.”
IT WAS AN interesting group that piled into the yellow cab. A legendary screen siren, her equally famous producer husband, and their stuntman son took the backseat. The front was occupied by Hollywood’s hottest director and his notorious girlfriend. Certain his wife would never believe him, Troy worked up the nerve to ask them to pose with him for a picture. To his surprise and delight, they not only agreed, but Callie Flynn also kissed his cheek. He had proof. On his phone. In color. Troy would be dining out on this story for the rest of his life.
“Come by for dinner tomorrow.” It wasn’t a question. Callie blew kisses at Jade and Garrett before she took the hand Caleb offered her. They entered their house arm in arm.
“I can’t wait to hear what you two were up to,” Nate got out of the cab. He leaned back in through the open door. “Are you good?” he asked Jade.
“I’ve never been better.” She patted Nate’s hand.
There was little said on the ride home. Jade and Garrett were content to hold each other. Silently, they weighed the implications of the night’s events. What it meant to them and their future.
“Thank you, Troy,” Jade shook the cabbie’s hand after Garrett paid him. “You’ve been more than a driver to me. You’ve been a friend.”
“I’ll miss you.” He nodded toward Garrett. “Something tells me you won’t be making any more late night rides.”
“No.” Jade smiled when Garrett gave her a long, speculative look. “At least not alone.”
“I wish Sable had left with us.” Jade removed her shoes as soon as she was in the door. Deciding a cup of tea sounded like a good idea, she headed for the kitchen.
“She’ll want to get as much taken care of as possible,” Garrett said. Seeing what she was doing, he took two mugs from the cupboard “My guess is she’ll head home tomorrow. She can always fly back if they need her.”
“Tomorrow? So soon?”
“You don’t need a bodyguard anymore, thank God.”
“I know.” Jade hadn’t thought this far ahead. She would miss her new friend. “Harper Falls sounds like a nice place.”
“It is,” Garrett nodded. “Only seventy or so miles away from the Canadian border. Where, coincidentally, I will be filming Exile starting next week.”
“I forgot about that.” Jade scooped some loose tea into a strainer.” You’ll be gone for over a month.”
“You could come with me. Hear me out,” Garrett continued before Jade could answer. “I know you have a business to get up on its feet. I can’t expect you to drop everything to spend time with me.”
“Why not?”
Puzzled, Garrett took the cup Jade handed him. “Why not what?”
“Why can’t you expect me to spend time with you? I only have one job booked. I can plan that from anywhere.” Jade sipped her tea. “I’ve never been to Canada.”
“I’ll be busy most of the time.”
“I can entertain myself, Garrett.” Jade hid her smile behind her drink. “Even in the bedroom.”
“Put the cup down, Jade.”
“Why?” Jade gave Garrett a wide-eyed innocent look. “I just fixed it.”
“In two seconds, I’m going to kiss you.” Garrett set his mug on the counter. “I might stop. Might. Around dawn.”
“Just kissing?” Jade carefully placed her mug next to his.
Garrett put a hand on each side of Jade’s face. His eyes were such a deep purple it took her breath away. Sometimes she would fantasize about a man loving her. It seemed like a wild, far away kind of thing that happened to other people. Even then, she never dreamed of being loved so deeply. It made her want to laugh and cry all at once.
“Happy tears?” Garrett wiped them away with the pads of his thumbs.
“You have no idea.”
Garrett kissed her with all the love she had seen shining in his eyes.
“I tell you what,” he lifted Jade into his arms. “Between kisses, you can tell me all about it.”
“PROMISE YOU’LL COME back for a visit.”
“And you promise to stop by Harper Falls on your way back from Canada.”
“Deal.”
Jade sat on the edge of the bed as Sable packed her bag. Garrett had called it. When Sable finally took her leave of the FBI, she made sure they had all the information they needed from her. She assured them she would return to Los Angeles if necessary. The way things looked, she didn’t think that would happen.
“Those FBI guys were damn pissy considering we did most of their work for them. By the time they left, their case was wrapped up in a pretty bow. I hate to call sexism,” Sable sighed. “Unfortunately, sometimes it is what it is.”
“You work in a testosterone-driven business.” Jade watched with admiration as Sable fit everything neatly into one suitcase.
“I knew what I was getting into.” Sable closed the bag. “First the Army, followed by personal security. They are worlds still dominated by men.”
“For now,” Jade added.
Sable laughed. “That’s what I said to my last C.O. He believed men ran the Army, so I should get on my knees and do what comes naturally.”
“What did you do?”
“I blew.” Sable winked. “Right out of the Army. Women are making strides in the military. Slowly. To do so, you need a sympathetic Commanding Officer. Even if I had given him what he wanted, I never would have risen very far in the ranks.”
“I’m sorry.” Jade understood on some level. There came a point when you had to walk away.
“It’s time.” Sable held out her arms. “Give me a hug.”
Jade squeezed hard.
“I wish you would let me drive you to the airport.”
“Airport goodbyes are the worst.” She picked up her bag. “Better to do it here.”
“All set?” Garrett gave Sable a warm hug. “Your taxi is waiting.”
“Troy?” Jade asked.
“Who else?”
Garrett handed Sable a manila envelope. After a brief discussion, they decided that Alex Fleming and the others at H&W Security would know how to handle the papers Jade took from her father’s safe. Sable was happy to play messenger.
“It won’t take long,” she told them. “Alex knows the highest of the high. You’re hitting your father where it hurts the most, Jade. In the bank account.”
Later, Jade sat curled up next to Garrett. They were watching one of his mother’s movies. Jade’s favorite. It was a love story with plenty of laughs mixed with a few tears. Best of all, it had a happy ending.
“She was a legend in the making,” Garrett sa
id, pride in his voice.
True, Jade thought, snuggling closer. However, no matter how many movies his mother made, as far as Jade was concerned, Garrett was her best production.
EPILOGUE
THERE IS AN amazing thing that happens when you open your life and your heart to another person. So many old hurts drop away. Not because they no longer exist. It’s because they cease to matter. You now have another person to focus on instead of yourself. A partner to help ease your worries. Garrett didn’t suddenly become everything. He became a large, important, central piece of the puzzle. Right next to her. Over the coming years, the other parts would shift. Change. Morph into other things. Jade knew that Garrett wasn’t going anywhere.
The sun was setting in the Vancouver sky. The days filming on Exile were done. They had been in Canada for almost two weeks. The time that she and Garrett spent together was limited. He was busy juggling shooting schedules and temperamental actors. Not to mention broken hearts.
As predicted, Hamish’s affair with Lynne Cornish had ended. Badly. To help his friend, and keep his sanity, Garrett juggled the shooting schedule to make sure the ex-lovers were never on set at the same time. Not an easy task considering she was the leading lady and he was the assistant director. Somehow, Garrett made it work.
Jade spent her time selling herself online. So to speak. Word of mouth was all it had taken for her calendar to fill up. She neither needed nor wanted to accept every job that came along. She picked the ones that interested her. All the preliminary work could be done on her computer. It filled up her hours. When Garrett found some free time, she put work away. It worked out perfectly.
Tonight they were relaxing on deck of their rented cabin after a romantic dinner for two.
Sable had called that afternoon to inform Jade that the government had frozen all of Anson Marlow’s assets. The ball was rolling. It would be interesting to see where it stopped. Interesting, but not vital. Her father was the past. As was Stephen Marsh. She wanted them to pay. However, she wasn’t going to obsess about it. She would rely on the judicial system to do its job. Jade had more important things to occupy her time.
“I’ve been thinking.”
“I’m all for that.” Garrett smiled before his sipping his beer.
“Garrett Landis. Will you marry me?”
Garrett looked at the box Jade held out to him. A square box. One that looked like the kind a man would give a woman.
“Open it.”
“Honey,” Garrett took the box. He didn’t have any choice. Jade practically shoved it into his hand. “I know our relationship has been anything but traditional.”
“Exactly.” Unable to wait, Jade took back the box. She lifted the lid. “Ta da.”
“That’s…”
“An earring.” She removed the single stud. “Your mother told me you got your ear pierced when you were a teenager.”
“I did,” Garrett nodded. “Did she also tell you that she made such a fuss that I took the earring out that night and never wore it again?”
“She mentioned it. She helped me pick this out. Purple jade.”
Garrett took the stud. The color was deep and intense. Almost one of a kind.
“Looks like I’ll be getting my ear pierced. Again.”
With a delighted laugh, Jade threw her arms around him.
“Is that a yes?”
Holding her close, Garrett whispered, “You’ll never get rid of me now.”
Jade melted into Garrett’s kiss.
Forever with the man she loved. This was better than any dream.
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COMING IN MARCH 2016
DREAMING WITH MY EYES WIDE OPEN
BOOK TWO OF THE HOLLYWOOD LEGENDS SERIES
Dreaming With A Broken Heart (Hollywood Legends #1) Page 30
