Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 67510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
She was stunning.
All these emotions crept into the forefront of my mind, and I couldn’t control any of them. After all these years, all this time…
Right there.
In that second, I wanted more.
Her.
With her hair flowing loosely around her eyes. Although her beauty captured my attention, it was the expression on her face that enthralled me the most. I’d seen Quinn in all forms.
Happy.
Sad.
Devastated.
Excited.
There wasn’t an emotion, a time, a memory that didn’t involve her in it in one way or another. However, I’d never seen her quite like this…
She stood against the ocean with her lips slightly parted, and I wanted to know what she was thinking.
“This is simply incredible, Sam. The rocks, the waterfall, the stream, wow. I have no words for this.”
“That’s a first.”
We locked eyes.
My feet moved on their own accord until I stood behind her. Her breathing hitched as soon as she felt my chest against her back.
She didn’t turn around.
She didn’t move.
I wasn’t sure she was even breathing.
For a minute, I inhaled her in. Feeling the heat of her body burning into me more and more with each second that passed between us. Leaning in, just inches away from the back of her neck, I let my breath brush against her ear.
My head spun in a whirlwind of feelings, and I allowed myself to get lost in them.
In her.
I could sense that her eyes followed the movement of my strong arms as they came around her body. Skimming the sides of her ribs, I caged her in against my torso.
My scent.
“What happened to us?” she asked, but I wasn’t surprised by the question.
The waves began crashing into the rocks and shoreline, creating more of a sense of havoc all around us.
Ignoring her question, I asked my own. “Why did you leave me?”
She jerked back, not expecting me to rebuttal with that. “You answer my question first.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Life’s not fair, or we wouldn’t be stuck here.”
She shrugged, backing away. “I just needed a change of pace.”
“From me?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know. We were so young.”
“And why is that so bad?”
“It’s not. You’re being unfair.”
“Really? Because I think I’m being pretty damn reasonable, considering I loved you more than anything.”
She winced. “Sam, this isn’t about you. It’s about me. Things change, people change.”
“And why is that so bad? Change is a good thing. It’s what keeps life interesting and exciting, and I wish you would see that.”
My thoughts.
My words.
My emotions.
They all seemed to intertwine with one another, pushing and pulling like a game of tug-of-war.
“What do you want from me?”
I didn’t hesitate to reply. “Everything.”
“What does that even mean?”
For a minute, neither one of us said another word. We just stood there, deeply staring into each other’s eyes. He was the first to break the silence, speaking with conviction, “I’m still in fucking love with you.”
“AND CUT!” B. Night shouted. “That was perfect!”
Our gazes were cemented together, and it was hard to separate fact from fiction.
Reality from fantasy.
Our relationship was similar to the characters we were playing, which was one reason we were nailing every scene on only a few takes. Samual professing his love to Quinn for the first time after all these years was weighing heavy in the distance between us.
The crew began changing scenes while B. Night watched the playback on his camera. Although chaos broke around us, it didn’t change the connection between Bailey and me.
The truth was our relationship had always been this way.
Where the world kept spinning as we stood still, trying to hang on for as long as we could.
chapter nineteen
Bailey
Using the back of my arm, I wiped the sweat off my forehead and made my way into the kitchen before reaching for the remote off the counter to turn the TV on in the living room. I had just finished working out. We were due on set in an hour, and I wanted to relax for a few minutes.
The day ahead was filled with us filming the first lovemaking scene in the ocean, where I was going topless for the first time as well. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. Even with that anxiousness, I never expected what was about to unravel in the span of a few minutes.
Within seconds, my focus shifted from the thought of being topless in front of the world to the familiar voice of the reporter announcing, “And if the weather isn’t catching your attention this chilly morning, then this breaking news definitely will. Hollywood’s sweetheart Bailey Pierce-McGraw is back in the spotlight this week and not just for her phenomenal talent.”
The mere sound of my name stirred an adrenaline rush to course through my veins at the speed of lightning. I stood there frozen in a state of shock with my heart in my stomach, hoping this wasn’t what I thought it was.