Page 23 of Cinematic Destinies (Red Carpet Romance #3)

“Although if you choose LA, be warned, we English never tan, we only burn. Fear not, I have a floppy sun hat of sorts, the kind a fisherman with no hope of catching fish might wear. Some have intimated it’s a bit of an eyesore, but perhaps you’ll find it fetching.”

Georgia let out a soft giggle.

“Have I gone too far? You look truly afraid. I can ditch the hat and just stay indoors if that suits you better.”

She ran her finger from his eyebrow down to his chin.

“Roo, no one has ever made me feel this way. You are the funniest, sweetest, most oddly charming man I have ever met. I feel so close to you. Closer than I ever thought I could feel to someone. It’s like you’re my lover and my best friend all at once. ”

He planted a soft kiss on her lips. “I feel the same about you. You’re so beautiful inside and out.

I’ve never wanted anything more than how I long to be with you.

Nothing has ever felt more right. For a long time, I was dreading the end of the film, but now I can’t wait for tomorrow to begin our journey together, and all the tomorrows after that. ”

“What if there were no tomorrows?” she asked. “What if this moment is all we have?”

“Then I’d want to spend it making love with you,” he whispered, and he began kissing her as they slowly undressed each other.

ROO WOKE UP THE NEXT MORNING, WIPED the sleep dust from the corners of his eyes, and noticed Georgia fully dressed sitting across the room in a chair. He stretched his arms and smiled at her, but it morphed into confusion. “Did I oversleep?”

She shook her head. “I woke up early.”

He got out of bed, put his underwear and pants on, and sauntered over to her. “Just give me a minute to brush my teeth, love.”

When he returned a few minutes later, she was sitting hunched over with her eyes glued to the floor.

“Darling, what is it?” he asked, kneeling in front of her.

She looked into his eyes, stroked the side of his face, and softly said, “Roo, I’ve decided to go back to LA.

There’s this place that does short-term rentals, mostly for actors.

I stayed there a while back, and I left some of my stuff in their storage room.

I emailed them this morning and there’s an apartment I can have right away. ”

“I don’t understand. I thought we were going to explore Iceland a bit more before settling on a home base. Have you landed a job or something? I’m happy to go to LA, it’s just a bit of a surprise.”

“No, I didn’t get a job, and I wasn’t suggesting you come with me. I . . .”

He furrowed his brow. “What are you saying?”

“I think I should go to LA and you should go back to London. Or if you want to see more of Iceland, then . . .”

“Georgia, what on earth are you talking about? I wanted to see Iceland with you. I wanted to see everything with you. We were planning a future together.”

“Roo, I told you I’m not good at relationships. I tried to warn you, but . . .”

“The past doesn’t matter. Only what we do now. This is our relationship, no one else’s. We can make it as we wish. I have complete faith in what we share together.”

“I can’t do it,” Georgia said. “I’m sorry. Truly, I’m so sorry. I love you. More than I ever thought I could, but I want my life to be an adventure. I’m not ready to give that up.”

“No one’s asking you to. We can have an adventure together,” he said, profound hurt in his voice.

“Roo, I want to be an actor going from project to project, and I want to travel wherever I’m inspired to go. That’s not how relationships work. You’ll grow tired of it, and you’ll resent me, or I’ll resent you.”

“Darling, don’t you know I love you for exactly who you are? I don’t want to change you or hold you back. I believe we can blossom together. Please, if you’ll just take a chance on us, on love.”

She took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

He looked at her like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, rose, and walked to the door.

“Georgia, I know you don’t believe that people belong to each other, but you’re wrong.

Deep down, you know it. That’s why you cry at the end of Breakfast at Tiffany’s .

If you’d only take the risk, you’d see: love isn’t a tether, it’s a set of wings.

I won’t beg you. It has to be something we both want. ”

With that he left the room, quietly shutting the door behind him. Georgia sat perfectly still, trying to breathe.

An hour later, after Gunnar brought her bags downstairs, she went to the dining room to say her goodbyes.

Jean and Michael were sitting at the table finishing breakfast.

“Georgia, join us,” Michael said. “But don’t talk too loud. My head is throbbing.”

She tried to muster a smile and replied, “I can’t. They called a car to take me to the airport and it’s here. I just came to say goodbye and thank you both for an extraordinary summer.”

Jean looked at her with disappointment in his eyes. “You are leaving on your own?”

She nodded. “I need to go back to California for a while.”

“What did I miss?” Michael asked, looking bewildered.

Before Georgia could respond, Roo came into the room.

They exchanged an awkward look, avoiding each other’s eyes, and Roo stammered, “Uh, fellas, I’m going to hit the road.

Thank you for everything. It was . . .”—he stumbled as if unable to find the right word, glancing at Georgia—“it was unforgettable.”

Jean nodded and said to Roo, “Please send my regards to your mother.”

“Safe travels,” Michael added.

Roo turned to Georgia and said, “Well, I guess this is it.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” she mumbled.

“Well, goodbye then,” he said, and he pecked her cheek, a look of heartbreak on his face.

As soon as he left the room, Georgia turned to Jean and said, “Thank you for everything. I hope you’re not disappointed.”

He huffed. “I hope it is you who is not disappointed.”

Michael jumped up and gave her a big hug. “Tell your folks I said hi. Thanks for a great summer. You’re a pistol. Tell Ella she’s got nothing on you.”

Georgia smiled dimly. She approached Jean, leaned down, and wrapped her arms around him. “You’re a beautiful artist, and I’m honored to have been a part of this film. Thank you for everything.”

“The pleasure was all mine, ma chérie .”

With that she left. As soon as she was out of the room, Michael looked at Jean and said, “What the hell was that?”

“History repeating.”

AFTER A LONG TRAVEL DAY, THE BUILDING manager let Georgia into her small apartment.

“As you can see, it’s pretty much like the last place you had. I had someone bring your boxes up from storage.”

“Thank you,” she said, taking the key. She turned to her driver. “You can just leave the bags there.”

Both men left. She locked the door behind them, looked around at the cheap furniture in the dark space, and leaned against the wall to collect her bearings.

No one knew she was back in LA, and she wasn’t ready to tell anyone.

As she stood there, images of Roo flooded her mind.

She could almost feel the warmth of his embrace and suddenly felt the pang of a deep loneliness she had never experienced before.

Too lethargic to make her bed or even search her cardboard boxes for bedding, she pulled her wool shawl out of her carry-on luggage, wrapped it around herself, and curled up on the couch.

The faint smell of Roo was both haunting and comforting.

Before tossing her phone on the coffee table, she decided to scroll through her messages.

There were three emails from Roo; the first was a long message professing his love and asking her to take a chance on their future, the second was informing her he’d returned to London and giving her his address and phone number, and the final email was the last photograph taken of them inside the Blue Lagoon, him kissing her cheek as she beamed.

The message simply said, I love you . When Georgia saw how happy she looked in Roo’s arms, she burst into tears. Eventually, she cried herself to sleep.