Page 138 of Dream On, Ramona Riley

Ramona came over to her side of the bed, leaned down, and kissed her, framing Dylan’s face in her hands.

“You’re talented and beautiful and good,” Ramona whispered against her mouth.

Dylan’s throat nearly closed up, aching with the effort to hold back a sudden swell of tears.

“Thank you, baby,” she said, her voice shaky.

“And you know what else I think?” Ramona asked.

“What?”

Ramona grinned. “I think that you’ve earned Llama Face.”

Dylan eyes popped. “No.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “Have I really?”

“Oh, yes. Definite earnage going on here.”

Dylan wiggled her ass in the bed, eagerly set her hands in her lap like a little kid. “I’m so ready.”

Ramona sat on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. “You have to see it from the side.”

“Deal. Yes. Go,” Dylan said, glee filling her up.

Ramona laughed, then turned so Dylan faced her right side. Then she hooked her thumb under her top lip and her forefinger over her bottom lip. She pulled her lips out, opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue, then made a sound like…well…a llama.

Dylan just watched in awe. It was, indeed, a llama face. A laugh burst out of her, because it was also the funniest and cutest and most ridiculous thing Dylan had ever seen.

She clapped, while Ramona stood and took a bow.

“Excellent,” Dylan said, still clapping. “A-plus. Oscar-winning performance right there.” She beamed at Ramona, affection like she’d never felt for another person flooding into her chest. “Encore!”

“Oh no,” Ramona said. “Llama Face only comes out at very special and very specific times.”

“Hmph.” Dylan pouted, folding her arms. “Fine. I’ll accept that under duress.”

“Fair enough,” Ramona said, smiling down at her. They watched each other for a second, soft expressions on both faces, and Dylan felt her affection surge even higher, brimming to the top of her head and the tips of her toes.

Ramona’s smile widened, as though she knew it, and then bent down to kiss Dylan goodbye.

“Beautiful,” she whispered against her mouth one more time, then was gone.

Chapter

Thirty-Five

Ramona had neverbeen so tired in her life.

Eight-hour shifts on her feet at Clover Moon—and sometimes longer—were nothing compared to the exhaustion of being Noelle Yang’s assistant. Ramona rarely stood still, ate her lunch standing up with a tape measure hanging around her neck, and had taken so many trips to every neighboring town, she’d had to use Noelle’s studio credit card to fill up her gas tank twice.

And all this in just one day.

She never had time to think about Dylan. Or Jocelyn and Dylan. She never even caught sight of the blond starlet, and half hoped Jocelyn Gareth had simply decided not to come by the set. Still, Ramona barely had time to pee, let alone to talk to her girlfriend’s ex.

Hergirlfriend.

For once, she didn’t correct her train of thought. It was what she wanted, and she was ready to tell Dylan she wanted it too.

Now, as she stood in the main bedroom of the Bonner lake house—Mallory’s family home—sifting through ties for one to match Mallory’s brother’s cream linen suit, she smiled at the idea. It was dark outside, and they had one more scene to film at this house, an evening party that actually led to the third-act breakup for Malloryand Eloise, preempted by the revelation in front of the partygoers that they’ve been faking their relationship.