Love Believes (Sully Point, Book 5) (15 page)

"A good director believes in
preparation," he said.

"So, what scene are we in now?"

"The one where the director just said 'cut'
and we're back in real life. No act, no rehearsal, just real life."

"I like that best of all," she said softly.
"Hold me for a minute, will you? I want to savor this moment of real
life." His arms went around her.

She took in a deep breath and let it out. "I
love how it feels, being next to you, your arms holding me."

He reached down and caressed her face with his
gentle hand as she rested against his chest. "You know, it's going to be
hard to act like nothing is going on between us, and it all starts
tomorrow."

"I know. But I don't want everyone talking
about us. I want it to be you and me in our own pocket of the universe. Is that
selfish or wrong?"

"Not to me it isn't. I think it sounds
perfect. We'll just have to be careful."

Beth turned in his arms until she was facing him.
"But not tonight. Tonight we don't have to be careful or secret. Tonight
it's just us. Make love to me, William."

And he did.

Chapter 6

Morning came with a loud chirping.

"What the...?" Beth woke up and looked
groggily around the room. "What is that horribly irritating incessant
noise?"

"Alarm," mumbled William from her side.
"Cell phone."

"Well, where is it? So we can stop it before
I have to smash it to bits?"

"Pants pocket."

She waited for a second, staring at him, but he
didn't move. "Fine, fine, I'll get it." She stumbled out of bed and
finally found the phone. When the noise stopped, she sighed loudly.

"Thanks," he muttered.

"No problem, sweetie. Now get up. I need
coffee and we can't be late today."

William sat bold upright in bed. "Beth!
You're here...I thought I was dreaming."

She stopped pulling on clothes and stared at him.
"You thought I was in your dream?"

"Well, you have been in my dreams almost ever
since I met you."

She threw her tunic top over her head and then
went to sit on the side of the bed by him. "That is about the sweetest
thing I've ever heard."

"Beth..." his face reddened as he said
it.

"Nope, you can't take it back." She
leaned over and kissed him. "Last night was fantastic."

"I agree." He put an arm around her.
"Can't we skip work today?"

"You have Milton and Angelo coming in at ten
this morning."

"Damn. Okay, the coffee maker is in the
cabinet by the refrigerator. I'll be down as soon as I take a shower."

She stood up. "I'll get my coffee. And maybe
some cake..."

"Don't you eat my cake!" he yelled after
her as she left the room.

In the kitchen she found a Keurig coffee maker and a
bunch of k-cups. She had fresh coffee in a minute and sipped it thoughtfully.
Gradually a smile spread across her face. She took the coffee with her as she
climbed the stairs.

* * * *

William was rinsing shampoo out of his hair when he
heard the glass door to the shower open. He whirled around and saw a naked Beth
walk inside.

"Want a sip of coffee?" she asked,
holding her cup out of the range of spraying water.

"I think I want more than coffee," he
said.

She grinned at him and set the cup on a convenient
ledge. "That, sir, was my idea, too."

Later, as he dressed in a black turtleneck and
suit jacket over black pants, he thought that it might have been the best
shower of his life. She was incredible. They were extremely compatible sexually.

She walked into the bedroom, makeup on, and hair
brushed to a shining dark brown mass. She was wearing deep purple pants and a red
and purple sweater that clung to her body and ended past her hips. He noticed
her shoes and raised his eyebrows.

"Beth, you're not wearing boots...I'm
stunned."

She swatted at him, but he dodged the hit. "I
do have regular shoes. I just happen to love boots. But these shoes are
okay." They were a rich brown leather. She put on a gold bangle bracelet
and small gold hoops. "Ready."

"Okay then, my dear, let's go face our day.
The actress and the director. Nothing going on."

"I'll stop at the Bakery and pick up
pastries. See you at the office, Mr. Christopher."

He smiled at her and got one more kiss before they
parted for the day. As they each got into their cars, he tried to decide if she
had possibly gotten more beautiful since yesterday. Enough, he thought. Time to
work.

 Driving down the road, he was besieged by images
from last night, and this morning in the shower. Hmm. This might be tougher
than he'd thought. Pictures of her filled his mind, and he wondered how in hell
he was going to be able to work with her.  Seeing her on the desk in his office
was what came to mind.

"The key is to spend time out of the office,
clearly," he said aloud. He proceeded to call Milton and Angelo to
schedule the meeting for the Playhouse instead of the office.

* * * *

She met up with Maggie at the Bakery. "Beth,
buying breakfast?"

"I thought I'd take some into the office.
Ooh, they have apple strudel again. That stuff is fabulous."

"Mom told me you read her the riot act about
being in the play," Maggie said. "You're definitely going through
with it?"

"Of course I am, and don't tell me you're
thinking like Mom was. Let's go sit at a table for a minute while I eat some
strudel."

They sat at one of the small round tables inside
the Bakery, and Beth began to eat.

Maggie sat down and shook her head, short curls
bouncing. "Nope, I didn't agree with Mom. I just wanted to make sure. I
think the play is the best thing for you. Getting back to your acting life will
help you get past what happened. That creepy director was the aberration, I
would think. Mr. Christopher doesn't seem at all like he would go after you,
and he's a director, too. Whoa, Beth, you okay?"

"Swallowed...wrong," Beth said, as she
choked down her bite of strudel. "Yes, it's like I told Mom, that one
thing happening doesn't mean I need to change careers or anything." Beth
found herself being very glad she was good at acting. Fortunately, Maggie was
changing the subject.

"So I thought to myself, why shouldn't I
bring my wonderful brownies too? Berries and shortcake are okay, but we need
chocolate don't you think?"

"For what?"

"The family gathering this weekend."

"Oh yeah. Chocolate would be great. Were any
of you going to tell me my boss was coming to the dinner, by the way?"

Maggie looked at her guiltily, violet eyes wide.
"How did you find out?"

"Yesterday at lunch. William mentioned it. He
seemed excited to discuss the Playhouse with everyone. You can imagine that I
was surprised."

"Frank was supposed to have told you. He's
the one who invited him. He got some silly idea that you and Mr. Christopher
have something going on. But I know, Beth. I remember when you stayed that
night with us. You mentioned how attractive you found him. I haven't told
anyone else that, but you do like him, right?"

"Sure, I do. But he's my director now.
Besides, can you imagine trying to start up a love affair in this town?"

Maggie laughed. "No, because everyone will be
all over it in a minute. I remember when I found out I was pregnant, everyone
knew right away. Of course, that was Maelynne's fault."

"That woman. But that's exactly what I'm
talking about. No, I think this is destined not to be." Beth wondered for
a moment if she were going overboard, but she wanted to nip this in the bud.

"He is awfully old for you anyway, that's
what I've thought all along. Ten years is a big gap."

"Well, I don't think that would matter. But
what were you saying about the chocolate?"

Maggie shook her white paper bakery bag.
"Just picked up a couple of chocolate donuts. I can't seem to go without
chocolate for very long. I'm blaming the pregnancy."

Beth laughed. "Maggie, you've always loved
chocolate."

"Well, yeah, but I love it more now. It's the
baby. He, or she, must love it, too."

"Yikes, look at the time. I need to get into
the office," Beth said, brushing a few crumbs into her napkin to throw
away. "Where are you off to?"

"I have a project I'm working on at home. But
I think I'd better get more donuts, because Eric wanted one, and there's no way
both of these will make it all the way back to my house."

Beth smiled at her sister, thinking Maggie was
absolutely cute as a pregnant woman. Of course she knew better than to call Maggie
'cute.'

When she walked into Julia's Place, Julia looked
up and smiled. "Hello, Beth. How's it going? You look great, by the
way."

"Thanks. You do too, but then you always do,
Julia. Want some strudel? I went by the Bakery."

"No, I've had breakfast. Mr. Christopher is
already up there at work. He seemed to be in chipper mood today."

"That's good. It's never fun when he's in a
bad mood. Oh and so you know, I know he's attending the dinner this
weekend."

"You do? Is it okay?"

"Sure, why wouldn't it be?"

Julia fiddled with her hair. "No reason,
just...wondered."

"See you later for coffee," Beth said,
and then walked up the stairs. She almost giggled, but remembered to stay in
character. She had definitely been having fun this morning.

Once in her office, she turned on her computer and
then took the bag of pastries to William's office. She knocked once on the
partially open door and pushed it further open. "Hi. I brought some apple
strudel from the Bakery if you want..." Her voice trailed off as she saw
the look in his blue eyes. "Oh...my."

He smiled at her, and she wanted to run to him and
kiss him and...no, that wouldn't work at all.

"Pastry sounds...fine."

She advanced to stand in front of his desk and
held out the small white box. He reached out for it, and touched her hand
gently, caressing it, before he took the pastries. Her whole body tingled.

He gave her a sly look and she knew that he knew
exactly the effect his touch was having on her. "You, are terrible,"
she said in a low-pitched voice.

"Miss Carter, why ever would you say that?
Mm, this strudel looks great."

"You know why."

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. All I want
right now is to ravish you on top of this desk."

She gripped the edge of the desk, when her knees
suddenly felt weak. "William!" she hissed.

He chuckled. "Yes, I know. Okay, to help us
both out, I switched the ten o'clock meeting to the Playhouse, so I'll be out
of here from then until lunch."

"Lunch...we'd have an hour."

"You know, that thought had occurred to
me," he said, giving her an intense look.

"Meet you at your house at noon?"

"Absolutely."

She shivered. "This is hard."

"You have no idea."

"William!"

He laughed and waved a hand at her. "Out! Get
out before I break all the rules."

She smiled at him and went to her office.

The morning seemed interminable to Beth. She was
tracking down materials for the sets, as well as fielding calls from the actors
about when rehearsals would start. They'd all been told the schedule would be
emailed to them by tomorrow, but of course everyone was anxious. It seemed to
reassure them that even the leading lady didn't have a schedule yet.

Beth absorbed herself in a report of costs for the
final stage of construction at the Playhouse. There were times, she had to
admit, when a spreadsheet could be just the thing for diverting the mind.

By ten minutes to twelve she had her keys in her
hand, and was heading out the door, when Julia called out to her. "Oh,
Beth, I wanted to know if we could have lunch today. I wanted to discuss
possibly using the Foundation for providing the costumes."

Beth stopped walking, thinking fast, and turned
slowly to Julia. "I would, because that sounds like a great idea. But I have
to run to Ernie's after I grab a bite, and you know he's in the next town over.
Can we meet about it here, after lunch?"

"Sure, no problem. Things tend to be slow for
me around three in the afternoon."

"Great! I'll see you at three then."
Beth waved good-bye and headed for her car. Now as long as nobody else stopped
her...

"Beth! I need to talk to you."

It was Frank Grainger, walking toward her on the
sidewalk. She waited for him by her car. "What do you need Frank?"
she asked when he got to her.

"I need to tell you something. Anna said if I
don't tell you, she will. The thing is..."

"Mr. Christopher is coming to the
dinner?"

"Yes, but how did you know?"

"He told me himself yesterday. It's no
biggie, Frank, so don't worry about it."

"Okay good. How's he doing?"

"Mr. Christopher? He's just fine. Haven't
seen him all morning since he's been in a meeting. Now I need to go have lunch
and run an errand. See you later, Frank."

She saw Frank watching her drive off, and wasn't
sure her performance had been her best, but she didn't care. William was
waiting!

* * * *

William wondered what was keeping Beth. He'd gotten
to the house a few minutes early, expecting to see her already there.

He walked outside, right as her car pulled up.
"What kept you?" he asked.

"People. People wanting to talk to me.
Doesn't matter, none of it matters now that I'm here with you," she said.
They came together, bodies pressed to each other, kissing passionately.

"Hurry," he said. "Inside."

"Yes," she panted. "Yes, yes,
yes."

They made it to the living room, which fortunately
had a nice plush rug. William thought they'd set a new record for undressing,
as he gathered their clothes up afterward. "I hope I didn't rip anything
when I tore it off you," he said.