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PART IX

For a few days, Selene was living a charmed life, so much so that she was starting to look around behind doors, searching for trouble. The mishaps that she'd learned about had scared her to within an inch of her life, but once they'd discovered her dressing room at Lincoln Center torn to shreds, nothing had happened.

Nothing.

On set, she was struggling to be present and now since she knew what might have happened, that was her constant fear.

Thank goodness she hadn't had many scenes to film. Sitting in her new dressing room, located in the make-up trailer, Selene was reading through her script, trying to make sure she had her lines ready and her blocking memorized.

It wasn't anyone else's fault that she was struggling.

"Hey."

She jumped at the word, almost launching herself out of her chair.

"Oh my god, girl! What's wrong?"

Selene almost burst into tears she was so relieved.

"Cali!"

"Of course it's me!" She rushed right up to Selene and hugged her tight. "Oh my god, you look so beautiful!"

Selene shook her head, dashing the back of her hands against her cheeks to stop the tears from falling. "I look like hell!"

Selene sat back in her chair with Cali's help and before she could melt off more of her makeup off, Cali started to blot her face with tissues.

"Oh, honey." Cali was rubbing her back. "What's going on?"

Selene lifted her gaze and met Cali's and tears threatened to fall again. "Would it make sense if I said, I have no idea?"

Cali blew out a breath and then gave Selene an infectious smile.

"I totally get why Hotstuff called me."

Selene sat up and widened her eyes at her friend. "Will called you? "

Cali raised a brow at her. "Will?" She grinned and it almost looked like an impish expression. "What does he call you? Baby? Sweetie? Honey bear?"

"Sel." Just saying it brought the memory of his voice into her thoughts. "He calls me Sel. And Beautiful."

"Oh boy." Cali fanned herself with her hand. "Swoon!"

"It's crazy, right? I spend that one day with him in DC. Then almost two years of texts, some calls? I thought that we'd kind of... I don't know."

Cali's expression softened. "I know how much you thought about him and if I'm any judge of people, he was thinking of you, too. This whole thing on set? I would be freaking out if I didn't know Hotstuff and his friends were on the case. Boy howdy, you really lucked out on the bodyguard lottery."

Lottery?

Selene laughed silently, her shoulders rising and falling. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss on Cali's cheek. "I'm so glad you're here."

"That makes two of us." She gestured at the script. "What's going on today?"

Selene held it out to her. "You can read the scene if you like."

Cali took the script out of her hands and read a few of the lines silently to herself.

Then she looked up and waggled her eyebrows. "Oh, this is cool."

Selene laughed more. "Want to help me run my lines?"

Cali's jaw dropped open and then she leaned in with a fake leering look. "Is that a come on? Shouldn't you be asking your honey bun to read lines with you?"

"Honey bun?"

Selene turned to see William standing in the doorway. "Will! Cali said you flew her in."

He nodded and she got up from her chair. He reached her first and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her softly.

When he stepped back, she looked up into his face and knew that she was completely and crazily in love. "How did you know that I needed her? I didn't even know what I needed?"

He rubbed her upper arms and leaned in, whispering to her. "I'd do anything to protect you, Sel. Anything to make you happy."

Selene was on the verge of falling into his arms, the only thing that stopped her was a loud sigh and the flash of a camera phone.

"Oh my lord, that was hot! H.A.W.T! I'm crazy jealous but more so I'm super happy for you, girl! You, too, Hotstuff!"

The door opened and the costumer, Jessica Houston, gave them all a little wave. "Selene? Could you come over to the wardrobe trailer?"

Selene smiled from ear to ear. "Sure!"

She took a step and then thought better of it. "Jessica? Do you mind if my friend, Cali, comes with us?"

Cali squealed a little and then thinned her lips into a pale line before she whispered. "I promise to be quiet. You won't even know that I'm there."

Jessica laughed and waved them along. "We almost always have music on in wardrobe. Come on. We can chat a little while I do a final fitting for Selene's concert gown."

Cali's fingers waggled and she almost danced in place. "A gown! A fitting for a gown!"

Jessica, dressed in a gorgeous flowing dress, hooked her arms through Cali and Selene's and led them out of the room.

Selene looked back and saw William following behind them.

She loved seeing him so close.

And as much as she was thrilled that there didn't seem to be any trouble brewing, she wondered how long he'd continue to be around.

She didn't want him to go.

William was happy that Cali had agreed to come to New York and spend the weekend with them .

Thanks to help from Badger and Flash, they'd organized a dinner out in the backyard garden and then a night in with popcorn and movies in the living room.

Given Selene's penchant for Etsy buys, William had even located a local crafter who makes colorful pillows with fabric that she painted herself.

Another local business was tapped for flavored popcorn and by the time they started the first movie, William was able to see Selene look like she was completely relaxed and at peace. It was worth every penny and moment it took to set it up.

She was worth it.

William had insisted that Cali share the bedroom with Selene and he'd take the couch.

Perhaps that was why he was sitting up with Selene, barely watching a movie after everyone else had gone to bed.

He didn't even know what it was, it just auto played after they'd watched. She sat, her head against his shoulder as he played with her hair, combing his fingers through it. Twisting the lengths around his fingers.

It was almost as if they weren't really doing anything at all.

Just breathing together.

"Have you talked to Cooper today?"

He turned his head and brushed his lips against her temple. "No. Is there something wrong? "

"Just something I heard some of the staff saying today in between takes."

"Hmm? What's that?"

She laid her hand on his chest, lightly drumming her fingertips against the soft cotton of his T-shirt. "He's been getting headaches. And I'm wondering if it's because of what was happening to me? If what was happening was worrying him more than he let on."

He drew her closer and then into his lap. "You're worrying about him."

"Or course." Her body became more rigid than it had been a moment before. "Here I am, cuddled up with you, having some of my best days ever. I don't want to think that after all of the effort and money that he's put into me, into this movie, I'm worried that it's hurt him."

She looked up at William. "What can I do to help make things better?"

"I think you need to focus on the movie, Sel. Cooper believes in you and he believes in this project. When it's finished and the final scene is done, I know he's going to be breathing better then."

He could tell it was still bothering her.

And she cared.

Damn it.

She made him care more.

She made him care about everything.

He was there to guard her .

But that became more because she was more to him.

She was everything to him.

"Sel. I'll go and see him. I'll talk to him, make sure he's okay."

The way she looked at him in that moment?

It was magic.

He'd talk to Cooper. He wasn't careless. It did matter to him, not just because Selene wanted him to do it, but it was a big reason why that concern moved up to the top of his list.

Selene shifted on his lap, her heat and her curves made him think about how she'd felt against him.

Under him.

Her taste.

Okay. So checking on Cooper was second on his list.

First?

Taking her mind off of things she couldn't fix.

He lifted his hand and touched his thumb to her chin, gently putting pressure on it.

She smiled at him and let her chin drop.

Her eyes met his and he felt himself falling all over again. "You know, as much as I love having Cali here, that makes our... alone time a little more difficult."

He nodded. They hadn't gotten around to sex yet. Sure, he'd spent time loving her with his mouth the other night and they'd slept in the same bed every night after it, but they hadn't done more than that. It didn't make sense when she had work to do. She had to save her energy to perform, but they spent those nights together, his hands on her, using his hands to massage and soothe.

He helped her, but he was also learning what made her feel good. Not just with sex, although she'd found her release a number of times from his mouth and his fingers. Once riding his leg and hands on her breasts, playing with her sensitive nipples.

The sounds she made and the way she looked at him when he held her in his arms?

Yeah, he wanted that over and over again.

He never wanted it to stop.

He just didn't know how he was going to make that happen.

After the movie finished filming, he'd have another job.

He didn't know exactly when, but there would be another job.

And when that came in, he'd been gone.

It wasn't like when he was in the Marines and spent months away at a time.

And Selene? After the movie, she had a new album to record. So she'd do all the promotion for the movie when it came closer to the release time and then there were performances that would come up from time to time. He didn't know how they'd keep things together beyond this time in New York .

It was part of the reason that he'd given her the pleasure but hadn't taken it for himself.

He could keep things separate.

He could keep himself from... nothing.

He couldn't keep himself from falling for her.

That ship had sailed. He wanted everything with Selene.

The problem was he couldn't give it to her.

He kept touching her, slipping his fingers through her hair, pressing kisses to the crown of her head and holding her close.

"She's asleep."

He looked up toward the bedroom door and saw Cali standing there.

"Really?"

She nodded and walked around the arm of the sofa and gestured to the coffee table. "Do you mind if I sit?"

He looked at Selene first, trying to gauge how well she was sleeping.

Cali sat down and smiled at her friend. "She's sleeping. And it's deep."

He looked at her with a question in his gaze.

Cali stuck her tongue out at him.

"You might be in love with her, but I've known her for years, Hotstuff. You can trust me on this."

He nodded, knowing that he could.

Cali tipped her head to the side and smiled. "You two look good together. "

He smiled at her words.

"I'm not just saying it," she assured him. "It's true. But even better than how you look together, it's how you are together. The fact that you called me and got me out here to help her. The way you look at her, checking in. I know you're observant. You have to be to do your job."

She looked him in the eye and he felt like she was evaluating him the same way he looked at other people.

"I think you're holding back a little when it comes to her."

He balked a little at that.

He didn't really mind when people called him on things, as long as it served a purpose. He could handle criticism.

What he didn't like was when she called him on something he didn't even want to admit to himself.

He'd definitely thought about it, but he didn't like the sound of it thrown at himself.

Because he knew he was full of it.

He knew he was being a bit of a coward.

But it was also because he didn't want to disappoint Selene.

The first time they'd met, it was for a night.

Even though he felt that physical attraction for her, and he was sure she felt it for him, because there was no way that she would have kissed him like that if she hadn't meant it .

The problem was the timing and the place.

He wasn't about to spend the night in the Lincoln bedroom with her and then walk away and he had to.

He'd gone back to duty heading out on a deployment right away.

That kind of separation was hard enough on committed couples, but he'd only known her for a few hours on that night.

Too bad his heart hadn't given a shit about it.

"You're right."

He saw Cali's eyes widen at his words.

"I have been holding back, but maybe not the way you think."

She folded her legs on the coffee table, her eyes lowering to Selene's face before she looked back up at him.

"I'm not going to tell you how I feel about her in words. What I have to say about that is between me and Sel."

Cali smiled sweetly at that. "I like what you call her. She does, too."

"I like what she calls me and-"

She held up her hands halfway to her ears. "I don't need to hear if she calls you Big Daddy or her Hunka Hunka Burning love during sex, okay?"

He almost laughed out loud at that. "Yeah. I'm not going to talk about that."

The lightened mood between them sobered a little .

"I don't want to hurt her, Cali. The last thing I would ever want to do is make her cry when I could save her that pain."

Cali looked at him as they sat there with Selene in the protective circle of his arms.

"William?"

He shifted back when she called him by his name. It was the first time he could recall her using William instead of Hotstuff.

Quite a change.

"As much of a ham as I am, I get what you're feeling right now. Not from personal experience, mindyou. But I've seen people fall in love. And I've seen people fall out of it. Some of them kicking and screaming the whole way." She dropped her chin and cast a look at Selene. "This one? My bestest friend in the whole wide world? She's a lover. She's all heart. It's crazy awesome to be loved by her.

"And you ought to know cuz she loves you, William."

His heart clenched in his chest.

"Tell me you don't know."

The look she gave him dared him to say it.

But they both knew the score.

Cali, because she knew Selene so well.

And him? Well, he could see it in her eyes and feel it in her touch.

He might not be the right man to make her happy, but it didn't mean that he didn't understand how awesome it was to be loved by her.

"If you're trying to save her heart the pain when you move on? It's not going to happen. She's already over that line. She went in both feet first that night."

She looked at him as if waiting for him to confess.

But he wasn't going to tell Cali if he wasn't going to tell Selene first.

"And it took me a hot second seeing you two together to figure out that she's all in now."

He shifted Selene in his arms and touched his lips to her forehead.

Cali kept her gaze on him and he eventually looked back at her.

"Okay," she sighed, "you're gonna be one of those keep your heart close to your vest kind of guys."

He didn't react to her words either.

Cali narrowed her eyes at him and then gestured toward the door.

"I know I'm only here tonight and tomorrow night, but I'm not about to kick you out of bed."

She held up her hand to stop him from talking.

"I sleep on a futon bed at home in Los Angeles. So that bed in there is probably heaven for Selene, but I'm going to walk around like a Cro-Magnon woman if I sleep the rest of the night on it. So you can leave this couch to me and take her into the bed room."

He hesitated and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Look, I'm not nearly this magnanimous, okay? But there's a pretty good chance that you're going to be an idiot and self-sacrificing about things," she'd actually used air quotes as she dogged him, "so take this time with her, Hotstuff. Hold her close. Wake her up and put a smile on her face every morning you can. And maybe," she shook her head at him like he was a stupid fool, "you'll pull your head out of your patriotic asshole, but... what do I know?"

William shifted forward on the couch and stood up without jostling her and he heard Cali whistling under her breath about 'that ass.'

By the time he'd settled Selene in bed and crawled in after her, his mind was too unsettled to fall asleep, so he held her close and felt his heart beating against his chest until he fell asleep exhausted.

And more torn up than he'd ever thought he could be.