Page 16

PART XII

William had refused to look at the clock or his watch all night long.

He didn't need anything or anyone to tell him that his life was about to change all over again.

"Do you know where you're heading next?"

He squeezed his eyes closed and then opened them to look into her eyes.

Selene was watching him carefully. Her eyes searching his.

Smiling at her, he leaned in and placed a kiss on her nose before sitting back on the couch. "I thought we weren't going to talk about this tonight."

He saw the way her whole face changed.

Her lips moved first, thinning into a pale line in the half light of the room. Her eyes were soft, but they were also filled with worry. Since the night in the wardrobe truck, everything had changed.

The movie ran like clockwork.

There weren't any issues out of the ordinary. Sadie had zoomed into a few of their updates to give her own comments on normal movie happenings.

And Cooper? Cooper was relieved and had stepped away for a few days here and there to relax.

Now that the film had wrapped, Selene was headed to Nashville to work on her next album before she had to travel to Hollywood for the movie promotion.

Her life was about to get even more busy than it had been on the film.

And William?

He could see that she was still waiting for an answer.

He could also see that their earlier agreement not to talk about things like that had gone right out the window.

He reached out and touched the remote on the arm of the sofa, pausing the movie that they'd been pretending to watch.

Selene sat up and turned to face him, folding one leg up on the couch seat while her other foot was down on the floor.

He looked down at her toes and smiled, covering her foot with his hand.

"You want me to get you some socks. "

She gave his arm a little push. "Are you trying to tell me that my feet are cold? Or are you trying to distract me?"

He shrugged, but didn't move his hand from her foot. "How about both?"

The look she gave him said she didn't enjoy his humor.

He didn't want to let her know that he was grasping at straws.

William turned, mirroring her a little and reached his hand out to tuck an errant strand of hair behind her ear.

"No news yet on where I'm going. Flash left yesterday to do an assignment in Chicago. Unless something comes up as an emergency, Badger is staying with me here for the next couple of days while we make sure to reset the house and its security systems."

"Thanks." She smiled at him. "I didn't want to lose my security deposit on the rental."

He nodded and leaned in for a kiss.

She met him halfway and he loved the look in her eyes, just before she closed them before they kissed.

When she pulled back, her eyes remained closed. "Will?"

He smiled, loving the way she said his name. "Yeah?"

Her lashes fluttered a little before they lifted, and she looked at him. "When you started this assignment..."

She frowned a little and he wondered where this was going.

"We introduced you as my boyfriend to get you on set without people thinking that there was trouble."

He nodded. "Although, I think a few of the people on the crew might have seen through things."

"Oh? Really?"

He nodded a little.

"I don't have a lot of experience working on a movie set. The only things I've filmed before were music videos and that's a whole other beast." She shook her head. "And being that it was my video, there was hardly any downtime then. Being in a movie like this? There are whole scenes where I'm not seen or heard from and sometimes, I got to sit and watch. And I... I heard things."

William reached out and took her hand in his.

"People talk. And I'm not saying it was meant to be mean, but people are curious and there is a lot, and I mean a lot of rush around to wait on a set."

He narrowed his gaze slightly, listening to her. Focusing on her.

"I think some people figured out that you were my bodyguard. And others said they'd seen us together and knew that we were real."

He wanted to blurt out the words, but he could tell that she was still putting her thoughts together. William didn't want to interrupt and make her uncomfortable, but he also didn't want her to think that he didn't care.

It was a fine line between caring and being obnoxious. And he didn't want to be 'that' guy.

"I know..."

Her teeth pressed into her bottom lip, and he struggled to keep his focus.

"I know how I feel about you, William, but I'm not sure if you... I mean, what you feel for me could be what people call a 'showmance.'"

Something pinched at the back of his neck, and he wanted to argue.

He wanted to tell her that she was wrong, and he was right and boy...

That sounded obnoxious just in the thought of it alone.

She looked at him, her brow furrowing over her nose. Selene's hair was piled high on her head in what she'd called a 'messy bun’, but she'd never looked so beautiful.

"Showmance?"

"Sure," her smile was tight, "you know when two people play being a couple, so they end up believing it, but it's just the rush of emotions that comes from acting?"

"I'm not an actor. "

She shook her head, laughing, but the laugh wasn't genuine. "William-"

"Whoa." He lifted his hand and gently touched her just under her chin. "Let's take a minute to breathe."

He lifted his chin, drawing in a breath and she copied him.

When he exhaled, he gave her a look and a smile. "Sel. Sweetheart."

She looked like she might bolt from the room, but he couldn't let her run when there wasn't anything to run from.

"If you're worried that I only love you because we started playing a couple on your movie set? I'm afraid that you're wrong." He saw the worry in her eyes, and it hurt. Their time together was about to end, and he was already worried what time apart would be like when he went on to his next job.

He decided this wasn't the time to shy away from the situation. Putting it off until later wasn't going to do either one of them any good.

"The day I met you in DC," he smiled at her, "You changed my life."

Her eyes searched his and she sat there unmoving.

"I never forgot that kiss at the White House gates, but that wasn't all I remember. I remember that even when you were getting ready to wow the country, and yes, the world, with your voice, you took time to talk to my sister and make her happy. She still talks about that call. "

"Mary is such a wonderful young lady."

"She worships the ground you walk on. I do, too."

He saw it.

The moment she heard his words.

Heard them and then started to wrap her mind around them.

Her lips parted and her cheeks warmed with color.

William took her hands in his and found them a little cooler than he liked.

"Whenever we'd get a chance to message back and forth after we met, I read those messages over and over again. Imagined what it would be like if you were close enough to talk on the phone or even better, in person. When I opted not to re-up for another term in the Marines, there were a few reasons, but part of me hoped that I'd be able to get my life into a normal rhythm, but it was hard to find a job where 'normal' made sense to me."

Her smile warmed him from the inside out. "I guess 'normal' isn't something either of us understand."

He nodded. "When I got the call from Alex asking me to go to Eagle Rock in Montana and attend a meeting. That's where I met the others. And Sadie."

The pieces were falling into place. "That's right," she nodded, "Sadie's husband is your boss' boss."

He nodded. "It's a small world."

"A lucky one," she agreed. "Of all the people Cooper could have brought in to protect me, here you are."

"Exactly. That's why I think you should know that I didn't fall for you because we were pretending to be a couple."

Her eyebrows rose slightly.

He knew she was listening to him.

"The moment I knew it was you that I was protecting, I knew that I'd do everything I could to protect you, not as an assignment, but because you matter to me. Because I cared about you. It only took a few hours with you to know that what I felt for you the night of the inauguration had grown when I wasn't looking. I certainly hadn't expected it, but that's when some of the best things in life happen."

He wondered if she was hearing him.

Understanding that he meant his words.

"I know this is new for us, Sel. Loving each other, but I think that's only going to get better with time. When we've had time together and you can trust that I'm not just saying this-"

"It's not that I'm... I mean," she blew out a breath. "I'm not doubting how you feel about me. I'm just wondering..."

She swallowed and he saw the frantic beat of her pulse in her throat. She was struggling, but he didn't want to run roughshod over her thoughts or feelings no matter how much he wanted to smooth things over .

"How is this going to work? Logistically," she blushed. "I mean, my feelings for you have been developing over time, but I never thought we'd-"

She looked at him, her eyes filled with emotion that he understood all too well.

"I never thought we'd be in the same place for more than a few hours at a time. And now that I've had a few weeks with you, I don't know how this is going to work."

The look in her eyes was hurting him. He lifted his hands and gently smoothed her hair from her face. He wanted to see into her eyes so there was no mistake, no misunderstanding.

"It's going to work if we want it to work, Sel. I won't always be able to give you details of where I am if I'm working on a sensitive assignment, but when I'm not on assignment, I'll come to you. I'm going to get a lot of frequent flier miles."

"My life isn't simple." Her eyes shone with worry. "People around me can make things crazy."

He titled his head a little. "I've been on your movie set. That wasn't all that bad. How much worse can it be?"

She lowered her chin and looked at him through her lashes. "It gets crazy. Especially when it comes to concerts or public appearances. It's... epic in how strange it can get."

He shrugged. "I can handle that, Sel. I can handle anything for you. "

She hesitated and he moved closer, lifting one hand, he unpinned her bun and threaded his fingers through her hair, watching as her eyes slid closed, enjoying his touch.

These were the moments he really wanted with her.

The moments where it was quiet, and they could just be a woman and a man? Those were the best times.

"I can tell you this, Sel. If it means I get to have moments like this? If I get to have you? I'll handle the crazy and everything else that comes with it."

They heard a chime and Selene turned to the speaker in the corner. "Synergy?"

They heard Cypher laughing. "Yes, Jerrica?"

William couldn't help but smile at both of them. "Oh boy."

Cypher's laughter faded enough that she could speak clearly. "I've got your flights planned for tomorrow afternoon."

Both of their phones chimed.

"Sent you both the information and Badger, too."

Selene looked at him and her eyes softened. "Yeah?"

"Gunny will go with you to the airport. Selene, your plane will be in the private terminal and once you're there, Badger and Gunny will return the Suburban to the rental company and catch their flight in the evening. "

She nodded and then shook her head, probably realizing that Cypher wasn't actually in the room. "Yeah. I got it. Thanks, Synergy."

"Don't be a stranger, Jerrica." Another chime, this time from Selene's phone on the coffee table. "I added my contacts in your phone. If you need me for anything, just call."

"Thanks." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"And now," Cypher softly cleared her throat, "I'm going to... uh... say goodnight."

"Goodnight." "'Nite."

And then the room was silent.

All William could hear was the pounding of his heart.

Selene looked at the wall clock and he felt her whole energy shift. "So soon. It's just so soon."

William turned on his side and lay down on the sofa, holding his arm out to her, "Come here, gorgeous. Let me hold you for a while."

She gave him a hint of a smile and stretched out beside him, putting her head on his arm before wrapping her arm around his waist. "You can hold me forever." She turned her head and placed a kiss on his chest before settling in against him. "I'll never complain about being in your arms."

"Good." He leaned in and placed a kiss on the crown of her head. "I love holding you. I'm going to do everything I can to remember every moment with you so I can play those memories over and over in my head until we're together again."

"I was wondering," he felt her breathing and enjoyed her warmth against his, "if you've heard of a violinist named Nyx."

"Nyx?" She looked up at him, a bright light in her eyes. "Who in the music world doesn't?"

"Do you want to meet her?"

"Yes! How do you... How do you know her?"

He cleared his throat and smiled. "I know a guy." He gave her a kiss on her upturned lips. "When she heard I was working with you. She said she'd give her eye teeth to play something with you."

They spent the rest of the night making plans for the future.