Dan looked confused when she neither closed the door nor beckoned him in.
“C’mon,” she said at last. “Let’s talk in private.”
Dan seemed too big for the space. They seemed too close. Was she sure she really wanted to do this?
He cleared his throat. If she didn’t say something and fast, he’d be the one to lead the conversation. But she just couldn’t let him say all those sweet words that made her heart so sticky. No, if they were actually going to pursue something between them, she needed her head on straight and he needed his eyes wide open.
“Please sit,” Jo said, motioning toward the couch before taking a seat for herself at the tiny desk table.
“Why do I feel like we’re about to have a business meeting instead of a first date?” Dan joked, but then quickly sobered upon glimpsing the expression on Josephine’s face.
“Listen,” she said, swiveling to face him. “I’m not a normal girl.”
His smile didn’t waver. “I know. That’s why I like you so much.”
“For now maybe, but—trust me—things are way harder than they have to be when trying to date me.”
“I don’t want to try to date you,” he quipped. “I want to succeed. Let’s go grab some brunch or something.”
She shook her head. “First off, no, I can’t just walk off an active set. And second, I just don’t think you’re getting it. The paparazzi we ran into at the party, that’s pretty much every day of my life, or at least any time I try to go out and do something even vaguely normal.”
“I thought you called them mosquitos,” he said with an adorable grin that almost got him off the hook for interrupting.
“Fine, mosquitos.” Jo sighed. “Whatever you call them, they’ll sell the most unflattering pictures of you possible and then publish them all across the country, sometimes across the world. They’ll dig for the worst secrets about you, and if they can’t find anything good, they’ll make something up. I may have money and fame, but I’m also kind of a prisoner to it. And if you decide to date me, then you’ll be a prisoner to it, too.”
“Not if,” he said sternly. “I know what I want, and that’s you, Josephine. Why won’t you give us a chance?”
“I don’t want that chance to be the biggest mistake of your life,” she whispered.
“What if not taking it is the biggest mistake?” he countered. “What if I’ll never sleep another night wondering what could be? I’ll go crazy then die because medically, we kind of need sleep.”
He chuckled softly and met her eyes. “And Josephine, I need you. Please. I know I probably already sound crazy, but there’s something about you—about us—that just makes so much sense. Even without knowing what will happen. Even without thinking of all the reasons we could never work. Somehow I just know, and now I want to help you know it, too.”
“Oh, Dan.” She sighed again. Maybe it was more like a swoon. “Why do you have to be so determined?”
He shook his head. “Because you keep finding reasons to say no. Stop looking for those reasons and start having a little faith.”
Half of her wanted to ask him to leave now while the other half wanted him to keep saying these sweet, sweet words—to maybe even back them up with a kiss. She composed her features to keep those thoughts inside until she was ready to share them. “Faith in what? In us? I hardly know you.”
“Faith that good things can—and will—happen for you. If you let them.” He watched her, waiting perhaps for the recognition of truth to light in her eyes. But still, she wasn’t ready.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “And if they don’t?”
“Well, it’s still nicer to believe in the end, right? And I can tell you for sure that if you never take any risks, you also never see any rewards. That’s kind of my job, you know, professional risk taker. And if going out on dates with the world’s most gorgeous, intriguing, sweet woman is the biggest risk of my life, well then… I’d say things are going pretty good for me.”
Despite her determination to appear unfazed until he admitted to understanding her fame would challenge them, Josephine couldn’t help but laugh. “How come you never run out of things to say? Do you have a tiny writer sitting in your brain feeding you your lines?”
He grinned. “Not in my brain, but maybe my heart. And you’re his muse.”
“Seriously, if the whole firefighter-paramedic thing doesn’t work out, I think you could have a future in Hollywood.” She closed her eyes and laughed, and when she opened them again, Dan had moved across the space to kneel before her.
She gulped hard and tried to look away, but Dan reached for her face and brought it back toward his.
The next thing she knew, his lips were pressed to hers, and their little spark had become a nice, crackling fire.
So much for taking her time.
There weren’t immediate fireworks when Dan kissed Josephine. It took a few seconds for her to soften against him, but then—then!—the moment became real and magical and exactly what he’d known it would be.
She pulled back and rested her forehead against his. “I have to kiss my co-stars in pretty much every movie,” she whispered against his cheek. “But it’s never like that.”
“Like this?” he asked, stealing another kiss. Oh, he could kiss this woman forever, if only she’d let him.
Jo giggled, the sound of another of her walls crumbling down. “Yes, just like that. How’d you become such a good kisser anyway?”
He swept a hand through her hair, pulling her closer to him still. “It’s who I’m kissing that makes it so good. It’s you, Josephine.”
She smiled for a moment before saying, “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“What girls? I’m looking at a woman.” He tilted her chin up, forcing her to look straight into his eyes as he spoke. “And she’s the only one I can see. The only one I want to see.”
She rolled her eyes even though Dan meant every word he’d just said, every word he’d ever said to her. “Seriously, consider that career in writing.” She giggled again. The sound was feminine but husky, and it drove him crazy.
So he kissed her again.
And again.
“We have to stop,” she said at last, putting a hand on either side of his chest and gently pushing him away. “I can’t be all splotchy and breathless for my scenes. In fact, I probably should have checked in by now to see how your cousin’s shoot is going.”
“Cousin-in-law,” he corrected, seeing an opportunity here. “And speaking of, she’s a super star and my cousin Oscar is just a regular guy like me, yet they work just fine. In fact, I’d say they’re one of the happiest couples I know.”
Josephine considered this. A small wrinkle formed above her nose as she thought. “So you’re saying that there’s hope for us?”
“Oh, yeah.” He kissed her forehead softly. “Definitely.”
“I guess we’ll see,” she answered, rising to her feet and examining her face in the mirror. “My beauty team is going to kill me.” She groaned as she tried to smooth her rumpled hair.
“Well, I hope that’s not true.” Dan stood, too, and wrapped his arms around her from behind. Together they studied their shared reflection in the mirror. They just fit together so well. She had to see it, too.
“When can I take you out for our first official date?” he wanted to know.
Josephine bit her lip to hide a frown. It didn’t work. “How about we have our first official date in?” she offered.
Dan raised an eyebrow and puckered his lips.
“I don’t mean it like that!” She wiggled out of his arms and turned to face him. “I mean, let’s keep this just to ourselves for a little while before everyone in the country wants to share their opinion about our relationship.”
So they were back to this again. If he let her hide behind her fears, they’d lose each other in them.
“Remember the day we first met?”
Her smile returned. “With the ambulanc
e? How could I forget?”
“You were so worried you’d be recognized and swarmed, but you weren’t. I told you Alaskans don’t care all that much about fame. At least not any of the ones in the places I’d like to take you.”
“That day I got lucky,” she insisted. “And I was wearing a disguise.”
“So wear a disguise if it makes you feel better, but please let me treat you like a lady. Let me woo you.”
“Woo me, huh?” She finished at the mirror and shuffled around on her desk, distractedly searching for something. “And you can’t do that if we enjoy a quiet night in?”
“Maybe we could,” he admitted, “but I don’t want you to feel like you have to hide from your own life.”
She grabbed a small tube of Chapstick and a keyring, then turned back to face him head on. “But that’s the point, Dan. I do have to hide from my own life. You say Alaskans don’t care about fame, but then how do you explain the party? Remember how they chased us out of there?”
“Maybe the allure of multiple stars together is something they care about,” he conceded, hating that he couldn’t counter all her points, erase all her anxieties. “And you already said the fact you hide from them makes them chase you more. So stop hiding.”
“If I agree to this, I want you to take me somewhere off the beaten path and—yes—yes, I insist on a disguise.”
“Baby steps,” he said with a smile and a nod. “Thank you for meeting me partway.”
“I really do have to get back to work. Hand me your phone.” She held her hand out and waited for him to place his cell phone in the palm. After punching in her number and sending herself a quick text, she handed it back. “There. Now you have my direct line. Text me about our date.”
She rushed toward the trailer door, but then turned back and pressed herself against him one more time, standing on tiptoe to offer him a kiss. “I’m looking forward to it.”
So was he.
Perhaps more than anything in his life that had come before.
Chapter 7
As much as Josephine looked forward to her date with Dan, another several days passed before she had the time and energy to go out after a long day on the set.
“I was beginning to think you’d blown me off,” he said when she greeted him with a quick kiss on the cheek inside the restaurant. He swooped around to pull out her chair and waited for her to sit before taking a seat himself.
She shot an apologetic smile across the table. “Nope. I just don’t get much free time, and even when I do, I’m exhausted.”
“I’m starting to worry about you.” Everyone seemed to think stars like her led such charmed lives, but it seemed that Dan was finally starting to see just how costly the price of fame could be.
“Is it always like this?” he asked gently.
“Not between projects, but I’ve had so many offers lately that the time between is getting smaller and smaller.”
“So why not skip some every now and then? Take some time off?”
She picked up the single page menu and studied it. “If only it were that easy. I seem to fall in love with almost every project I read.”
“I’d tell you to be more selective, but then you might find somebody better to date,” he joked. “What I will say is that time off makes the work more enjoyable when you do show up, and it makes you better at it, too. Trust me, I work twenty-four-hour shifts. I know just about as good as anyone.”
Josephine kept her eyes fixed pointedly on the menu. She was here to enjoy her time away from work, not to be lectured on her life choices.
“What do you recommend here?” she asked without looking up, hoping Dan would grab onto the change of topic.
Which he did eagerly. “Definitely the king crab legs. That’s what this place is famous for, and you’ll never find better sea food than you get in Alaska.”
She smiled to herself as she worried her lip and searched the menu for the dish he’d recommended. “Hmm. I bet New England might have something to say about that,” she teased. “Crab legs, huh? They’re awfully messy. I better not.”
“Well, now you have to.”
There, he went telling her what to do again. She liked it, liked not having to figure everything out for herself. Just like when the director handed her a script and told her who she needed to be that day.
“I have to?” Jo pressed the menu down onto the table and gave him a defiant but playful expression.
Dan doubled down, too. “You didn’t say you don’t like them. In fact, from the way your eyes lit up, I’m guessing you adore them. You just don’t want to because of your image. There you go being a prisoner to it again.”
She tapped her fingers on the table before giving in with a nod. “You know, you’re starting to sound like a broken record.”
“Only because you keep requesting the same song, darlin’.”
“Writing,” she said with a laugh. “Seriously. And, fine, if it will make you shut up already, I’ll order the crab.”
Dan shot her a confident grin across the table. “Good. So will I.”
“So why this place?” she asked after they’d given the waitress their orders. “Do you bring all your dates here?”
“Again with the assumptions that I’m some playboy,” he said with a sigh. “I know I’m super smooth and all, but I really haven’t dated much.”
She studied his strong jaw and smoldering eyes, the broad expanse of his shoulders and his friendly smile. There was no way he’d remained single all these years. Absolutely no way. “I find that hard to believe. Why not?”
“It’s hard to date when you’re already married to your job.” She’d been upfront with the risks that came with dating her. Was he about to share his own worries and warnings?
“It doesn’t seem very hard for you now.”
He shook his head. “That’s different. It’s you.”
“So what makes me so different than anybody else? I’m just a regular girl, really.” But was she? She wanted to be. Dan made her feel like maybe she could be. Maybe she could have a fulfilling private life outside of her career. One could only hope.
“Funny, because every other time we’ve talked, you insist on how different you are.” He winked at her as he situated the cloth napkin on his lap. “And I agree. You are different, but a good different. Dating me has risks, too, you know.”
“The mosquitos chase you, too, do they?” she joked.
But Dan’s face fell. Apparently, he needed to put this—whatever it was—very plainly for her. “Actually more like every time I clock in, there’s a chance—however small—that I won’t be around to clock out.”
A lump formed in Josephine’s throat. She honestly hadn’t considered the fact that Dan could die in the line of duty. It made her worries about the paparazzi seem silly by comparison.
She wrapped both hands around her water goblet, needing its coolness to anchor her. “Are you scared?” she squeaked out.
“Every single day,” he admitted. “But that’s exactly why I do it.”
“Because you’re addicted to the thrill?” she ventured.
“That.” He tilted his head to the side and gave her a completely serious expression. “And because I’ve saved so many lives already in my line of work. The risk seems like a fair trade, you know?”
Josephine forced a smile and nodded, but she didn’t understand at all. Being with Dan put things in stark perspective and made her feel shallow in contrast. People wouldn’t die without her movies, but they would die without Dan’s quick skills with the ambulance and bravery in the face of fires.
All this time she’d been putting him off because she’d worried about increased attention from the gossip mongers when she should have been worried about something far worse. She could very well fall in love with Dan Rockwell… only to lose him forever to the flames.
Dan felt something shift between them. One second, the conversation was light and easy, and the next Josephine closed right back up. While he
needed her to understand what his work was like, he didn’t want that to be a reason for her to brush him off. They could overcome the challenges of his career just as they could overcome the hardships that came with hers.
He needed to get the easiness back.
He needed to bring back the lightness.
Earlier, he’d tried his best to hide the laugh that rose in his chest when Josephine showed up to the restaurant wearing a denim skirt, Ugg boots, and a sandy blonde wig. Her disguises were almost as adorable as she was and—as far as he was concerned—were fooling no one.
Still, he played along because he knew it put her at ease. After the talk they’d had about his work and the inherent risks involved, however, they needed a lighter topic of conversation.
Time to call out the costume.
“I liked you better as a brunette,” he teased, “but I do like that outfit very much.”
“Thanks,” she said before taking a slow sip from her water goblet. “You look nice tonight, too.”
“Is it true that blondes have more fun? Should we find out?” He wiggled his eyebrows flirtatiously.
Josephine’s mouth fell open. “I thought you promised to treat me like a lady. This definitely doesn’t fit the bill!”
“I’m just teasing,” he said with a good-natured chuckle. “Anyway, I already have the rest of our night planned out.”
“You do? But how could you possibly top king crab? He’s the king for a reason, you know.” She scrunched her nose up and let out a giggle.
They both laughed as the waitress set down two heaping plates of crab with all the trappings before them.
“Don’t you know Alaska is a land of Kings? We’ve got King Crab, King Salmon—shoot—there have even been King Polar Bear skulls found up here. And while I probably can’t top King Crab, I definitely still intend to try.”
He watched as she picked up the sea shellers and clumsily attempted to crack her way through the crab.
“Want me to help?” he asked, trying so hard not to laugh at her uncoordinated hand.
“Nope. I want to do it myself.”
The Alaska Sunrise Romances: A 9-Book Sweet Romance Collection Page 60
