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  “We have three morning talk shows this week,” Jesse told her casually. “We’ll film them Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings.”

  She groaned. “Mornings? Can’t we do the late night shows?”

  He grinned, loving that he’d found her ultimate weakness—mornings. “I’ll make the coffee while you shower.”

  “You really do love me,” she said softly, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him down for a kiss.

  He laughed. “If all I have to do to prove my love is make you coffee, you can expect it every day for the rest of your life.”

  “Well, I need chocolate on occasion as well. Chocolate and coffee make a woman feel very loved.”

  “What about flowers and diamonds?” He kept his face serious, but she saw the twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

  “Well, flowers and diamonds are all well and good, but coffee and chocolate? I’ll fall into your arms any day for coffee and chocolate.”

  He laughed, touching the tip of her nose with his finger. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  They hopped into a cab together after rushing through the airport. They both left enough clothes in each place that they didn’t have to take suitcases back and forth, so there was no checked luggage.

  After Jesse gave his address, they leaned back against the seat, her head on his shoulder. “I can’t believe how sleepy I am.”

  “It’s been a long couple of weeks.”

  “I’m excited to see your house. I never had the chance.”

  “You were invited to a party when I first moved in.”

  She shrugged. “I think you know what happened there.” She’d asked Curtis to take her, and he’d become violent. Thankfully he hadn’t bruised her anywhere that couldn’t be covered by her clothes.

  His hand rubbed her thigh. “Of course, I know. You’ll see it tonight. Or tomorrow if you’re too tired.”

  She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder, liking that she felt comfortable enough to lean on him.

  His house was big, but not huge. It was surrounded by a white wall for privacy, and there was a gate that looked to be new with men stationed at it. The driver stopped at the gate.

  Jesse opened the door and stood up. “Thank you for stopping us.”

  The guard nodded. “Mr. Savoy, it’s good to meet you.”

  “You too. Your duty has been explained to you?”

  “Yes, sir. No one gets in or out without your consent. Mrs. Savoy is our primary focus.”

  “Exactly.” Jesse got back into the cab and they drove up the drive to the front of the house. He paid the driver, and took her carry-on from her. “Come on.”

  When he’d bought the house two years before, he’d had her comfort in mind. He hadn’t done a lot of decorating, because he’d known he wanted her to be able to do it. He’d lived for the dream of marrying her one day. As he unlocked the door and led her inside, he watched her face carefully. He desperately wanted her to be happy with his choice.

  When Valerie stepped inside the house, she felt as though she was coming home. “I love it,” she said softly.

  He smiled at that. “I hoped you would.” He dropped their bags and took her hand, giving her a quick tour of the downstairs. The last room he took her into was the kitchen, which was huge and made with a cook in mind.

  “Oh, I can’t wait to cook here.”

  He raised an eyebrow at that. “You cook? More than sandwiches?”

  She made a face. “There’s not much you can cook in one of those trailers with only a fridge, sink, and microwave. You wait. I’ll make you a meal you’ll never forget.”

  He grinned, opening a door to the backyard. There was a pool with a built-in hot tub. “I know how much you love water.”

  She smiled at him. They’d never talked about swimming, but they’d filmed a couple of pool scenes together. He seemed to have catalogued her reaction to everything they’d done in the four years since they’d met. How could she have missed his love for all that time? Now that she knew it was obvious in the way he touched her, the way he looked at her, but most importantly, in the little things he remembered about her.

  “I love it. It’s almost like you bought this place with me in mind.”

  His eyes remained steady on hers, as he waited for her to come to the obvious conclusion. When she didn’t seem to comprehend immediately, he said so softly she could barely hear it, “I did.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “I’d have broken up with him if I’d known. I would have come to you.”

  His hand cupped her cheek, a smile transforming his face. “Really?”

  She nodded. “Really.”

  When he kissed her, there was no passion involved. Only sweet tenderness. Her heart was full as she held his shoulders, clinging to him.

  “You’re tired,” he whispered, kissing her forehead. “Let’s go to bed. There’s plenty of time to explore tomorrow.”

  She nodded. “Thank you for always caring so much about what I need.” I love you. She couldn’t say it yet, but she knew she did. Why, she’d probably loved him for as long as he’d loved her. She just hadn’t been able to show it.

  She let him lead her upstairs to his room. The only picture there was a shot taken of the two of them, laughing into each other’s eyes after a scene had been filmed. She remembered the day, but had never seen the photo. “Where did you get this?” she asked, walking to the dresser and picking it up.

  He smiled. “Amber took it.”

  “And she just gave it to you?”

  “Oh, no. We negotiated for a long time on her price for that. I had to have it, though.”

  “She charged you for it?” Valerie couldn’t keep the giggle out of her voice.

  “Charged me in labor. I had to spend hours going over her lines with her for that play she was in a couple of years ago between seasons. Remember?”

  She nodded. “I do remember. I knew you’d spent a lot of time with her. For a little while I thought you two were hooking up, but she said that you were true. Which made no sense at the time, but sure does now.”

  He took the picture from her hands and put it back on the dresser. “Were you jealous?”

  “Of course not!”

  He laughed at her quick denial. “You could let me have my dreams, you know.”

  Her hand went to his cheek, and she pulled his face down for a kiss. “You know I’ve felt more for you than any other man I’ve ever known. Stop being so greedy.”

  “I can’t. I need to know I have all of you.” He turned and walked into the bathroom, closing the door and leaning back against it. It was harder to be married to her without her love than he’d realized. Someday.

  * * *

  They had a leisurely weekend. Valerie’s agent, Jessica, had done as promised and moved all of her things, and then she’d come over and unpacked for her, making certain things would be ready when she got there.

  On Sunday afternoon, Valerie looked over at Jesse, who was sitting on the couch watching her as she explored the kitchen. “We need food. I want to cook you a nice dinner tonight.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t have to cook. I know you’re as tired as I am after three weeks of intense shooting.”

  “I want to cook. I enjoy it. It relaxes me.”

  “So you want me to take you to the grocery store?” He made a face. “That doesn’t sound very romantic.”

  “Real life isn’t just about romance.” She reached for his hand. “I don’t mind going alone, but I don’t think you want that.”

  Jesse stood up, enfolding her tiny hand in his. He was always surprised at just how small she was. “I guess we’re going to the grocery store.”

  “I guess we are.”

  * * *

  At all three interviews that week, they showed the same clip from the episode they’d been filming when Valerie and Jesse had decided to marry. Every time she watched the clip, she was astounded when she thought about how many times they’d done scenes like that toget
her without her realizing how he felt. Or how she herself felt.

  For four years, every time he’d walked into a room she was in, her heart had skipped a beat, and she’d never once considered she was in love with him. Every kiss they’d shared had been chronicled in her memory and replayed over and over.

  She’d gone to sleep at night remembering the feel of his lips on hers. She’d wanted to spend every waking moment with him. If that wasn’t love, she didn’t know what was.

  After they arrived back in Texas to start their next episode, Valerie was happy to see they’d kept up their vigilance surrounding the set. The extra guards were there, making her feel safer.

  On Sunday night before filming began, she called her mother, making sure everything was still all right at home.

  “Yes, of course everything is fine,” her mother insisted. “Curtis has been staying next door with his parents, but he hasn’t made any attempts to even come over here.”

  “Good. I’m still worried about you guys. Don’t let Rikki talk to him. You know how she is. She’ll feel sorry for him, and think she needs to take care of him.”

  “Rikki is smarter than that.”

  “I hope so.” Her younger sister had a huge heart, and she was always going out of her way to help the injured. Valerie was afraid Rikki would see Curtis as injured and want to ‘help’ him, whether he needed it or not. “Just make sure she knows that I’m the injured party and not Curtis.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  Valerie hung up the phone and looked over at Jesse where he was supposed to be studying his script, but was watching her instead. She got up and walked over to where he sat on the couch, climbing onto his lap and pushing his script away. “I’m a lot more interesting than that script.”

  “You’ll get no arguments from me.”

  She grinned, kissing him. “I’m worried my sister is going to do something stupid.”

  “Why?”

  “Curtis is staying with his parents, so he’s right next door to Mom and Rikki. She has this thing for injured people and animals. I’m afraid she’s going to think I was mean to Curtis, breaking up with him and marrying you so quickly.”

  “How old is she again?”

  “Twenty, but she’s a young twenty, like I was. When you grow up in such a small town, you don’t have a lot of opportunities to grow up quickly. She’s in college, but she commutes. She doesn’t even live on campus.”

  He frowned for a moment. “We can’t protect her. I tried to talk your mom into letting us hire a couple of bodyguards for the two of them, but she wouldn’t hear of it.”

  “You did? When did you talk to my mom?”

  He realized then he’d put his foot in it. “I talk to her sometimes while you’re in the shower. I want to make sure they’re safe.”

  “Are you taking care of me again?”

  “I can’t seem to help myself.” He pulled her to him, kissing her. “Are you mad?”

  She shook her head. “No, I’m not mad. But I do think people need to give me credit for being strong enough to take care of myself at times.”

  “I know you can take care of yourself sometimes. But sometimes, I like to be the one making sure you’re safe. It makes me feel all manly and sappy and stuff.”

  She laughed softly. “And manly sap is so important!”

  “It is to me!”

  CHAPTER 9

  On Friday afternoon, Jesse received a call shortly after they finished filming for the day, that had him upset. Valerie asked him about it. “Who was on the phone?”

  He debated for a moment about whether he’d tell her, but she had a right to know what was happening. “Your sister didn’t come home from work last night.” He watched her face carefully for her reaction.

  She stopped in her tracks, halfway back to the trailer. “What? Has Mom heard from her? Why did she call you and not me?”

  He slipped his arm around her shoulders and guided her back toward the trailer. “No, she hasn’t heard from her yet. She called me because we’ve been talking about all of this regularly. I told her to contact me, because I knew you’d hear it better in person than you would over the phone.”

  She shook her head, trying to think about where her sister could be. “Does she have any friends she could be staying with? What exactly did Mom say?”

  He waited until they were in the trailer with the door closed to answer. “All of her friends have been checked with, and no one knows where she is. She was last seen leaving the grocery store where she works at nine last night, and her car is still parked out front.”

  “Curtis disappeared too, didn’t he?”

  “Yeah, he did. We’re going to find her though. I promise. We just have to stay calm.”

  “You can be calm. I’m going to panic! This is my sister we’re talking about!” How dare he expect her to be calm? It wasn’t his sister!

  Jesse reached out to rub his hands up and down her arms. “I know that. I do. Your mom called the police first thing this morning when she knew Rikki was missing.”

  “What about the FBI? The CIA? The National Guard? This is my sister!”

  “I’m sure the police know the right people to call.” He led her to the couch and pulled her down beside him. “Here’s the deal. I really don’t think he’s going to hurt her. I think he needs her to be healthy enough to call you. You’re what he wants.”

  Valerie closed her eyes, nodding. “I know I am.”

  “But you’re not going to use yourself as ransom money.” Jesse’s eyes were steady and clear on hers. “I don’t care what he says. You aren’t going.”

  Valerie just nodded, knowing if she got the opportunity, she’d do it in a heartbeat. Her sister shouldn’t suffer because Valerie had made bad choices. It wasn’t right. “Will you teach me to shoot?”

  He looked at her with surprise. “I thought you didn’t want to learn.”

  “I didn’t. Now I do.”

  He nodded slowly. “I bought a gun. It’s in my trailer. We can work on shooting tomorrow.” They’d drive off the set to land the production company owned. No one would care if he spent a few hours on Saturday teaching her to shoot.

  “Thank you.”

  * * *

  Jesse took Valerie to the spot he’d decided on the following afternoon. Valerie was reminded of how much she hated firearms as soon as she touched the handgun, but she’d do whatever it took. Never again would she feel this defenseless.

  They practiced for hours, until she could consistently hold the gun steady as she fired. The whole time Jesse gave her pointers. “If you ever have to shoot a person, aim for the chest, not the head. The head is a smaller target. If you hit the chest, you’ve stopped him.”

  Valerie hoped it would never come to that. Shooting at old soda cans was one thing. Shooting at a human being was something else entirely. She didn’t think she’d even be able to shoot an animal. How could she hurt anyone or anything?

  Finally, Jesse took the gun from her. “I think that’s enough for today.”

  “Do you think I could defend myself?”

  He nodded. “I know you could. You’re not going to have to, but you could.”

  She didn’t argue with him. She didn’t have to. He could see in her eyes that she wanted to protest that she could take care of herself.

  “Let’s drive into Wiggieville for dinner,” he suggested, taking her hand and pulling her toward his car.

  “You know, Wiggieville is a very strange name for a town. People around here act like it’s the most normal thing in the world.”

  He shrugged. “There’s a little steak house there. Very romantic.”

  She stopped walking and turned on him, one eyebrow raised. “Oh? And you know this how?”

  “People talk. I’ve been there with some of the crew.”

  “Where was I?” She knew she was being difficult. She’d always stayed to herself during shooting, never trusting that Curtis wouldn’t pop out of nowhere. If she was with Jesse whe
n he showed up, she knew she’d suffer for it.

  “Why? Jealous?”

  “Of course not!” But she was. She knew she was. He’d said he’d loved her and been faithful for four years. He’d better not have been out with anyone else.

  He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as soon as they were in the car. “Well, it was more of a guy night. The directors and some of the crew. And Bob, of course.”

  “Of course.” Bob was the only actor on the show who had the same real name as his character. “We can’t forget Bob.”

  “No, ma’am, we can’t forget Bob. He keeps turning up like a bad penny.”

  She laughed. “Oh, Jesse. I feel so guilty being with you and laughing when Rikki is out there with Curtis somewhere. You really don’t think he’ll hurt her?”

  He shook his head. “His ultimate goal is to get you back. He knows if he hurts someone you love, that will never happen.”

  “It’s never going to happen anyway. I’m married to you.” She rested her hand on his chest. “I don’t know why he thinks things can go back to the way they were.”

  “I don’t either. Just promise me you won’t do something stupid.”

  She frowned at him. “Something stupid? Did you really just say that?”

  “You know what I mean. I don’t want you to try to be all heroic and go looking for your sister or something.”

  “There’s no point, because I have no idea where she’d be.”

  “And if you did, you wouldn’t attempt anything stupid. Right?”

  “There’s that word again. I don’t think I like it.” She carefully skirted his question, knowing that if there was something she could do to help her sister, she would do it in a heartbeat. “I’d like to start keeping the gun in our trailer. I want to know we have access to it if we need it.”

  He didn’t like that but nodded. “I think that might be necessary at this point. You’re not walking ten feet without me.”

  “I’m not a possession.” She tilted her head back to look up at him. “I’m stronger than anyone gives me credit for!”