Lifting our hands, I squeezed as tightly as I could.

“Noah,” I said.

“Yeah?”

I smiled and said, “It’s you and me again. We’re back in that tree.” Despite everything, with him, I could always smile.

He kissed the back of my hand. “There is nowhere on earth I would rather be.”

I had no clue what the hell was coming in the future or how we were going to get over this. But what I did know is that I loved and trusted him, and I wasn’t going to let anyone get between us again.

So if he wanted me to act like nothing had happened, then nothing happened.

Noah

I swore I would never tell her the truth. However, coming into my room and seeing her waiting for me, hearing her defend me, seeing her stick beside me no matter what…I couldn’t not tell her.

Maybe it was the alcohol.

Maybe it was because I wanted her to stay.

Either way, the words poured out of me, and once they were out, I couldn’t take them back. But funny enough, I didn’t want to. For the first time in ten years, I felt like I could breathe again, like life wasn’t an endless black hole. But seeing her break down was so heart-wrenching I almost wished I hadn’t said anything…almost.

“Noah,” she whispered in her sleep, pressing herself even closer to me as we lay on my bed. She had fallen asleep sometime after 1:00 a.m., but every once in awhile, she would wake up just slightly to call out my name, like she was checking to see if I was still here.

That was my fault. I had run from her so often that even in her sleep, she didn’t completely trust me to stay.

“Shh…I’m here,” I replied, running my hand through her hair. “I’ll always be right here.”

There was now no reason not be—all because she never gave up on me.

Loyalty. It was both her strong point and her worst fault. When Amelia accepted you, it was hard to for her to let you get away. She’d go to the ends of the earth for the people she cared about. You would think that was good thing, but it was because of that same loyalty that she often got hurt. It’s also why I had to pretend to cheat on her when I was told to break up with her when we were teenagers. She wouldn’t have accepted it any other way.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

“Make it stop,” she groaned, rolling over.

Smirking, I reached for the phone beside me, sitting up slowly.

“What time is it?”

“Five a.m.,” I replied. “Stay in bed. I’ll go—”

“No, it’s fine. If I stay in bed any longer, I won’t be able to get up.” She ran her hands through her hair as she sat up. “Besides, I’d rather be there early to apologize to the director. Yesterday must have been atrocious.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell Oliver to bring over some clothes for you. Go shower,” I replied, and she glanced back at me over her shoulder.

I couldn’t get over how beautiful she looked, even with puffy eyes and a snarled nest of hair on her head. She was still the most stunning woman I had even seen. Turning back completely, I never took my eyes off her as she crawled over the cream silk sheet to me. Cupping my cheek, she kissed me once, softly on the lips, her eyes never leaving mine.

“Don’t tempt me this morning, Amelia, I can’t—”

Her lips covered mine instantly, her tongue slipping into my mouth, rolling over mine, allowing me to explore every corner of her mouth. Reaching up, I grabbed both of her wrists, pushing her away from me and onto her back, pinning her under me. The white shirt she had borrowed from me opened in the middle, allowing me to see her breasts perfectly.

“Well, what are you going to do now?” She bit her lip, and I leaned down until our lips were centimeters apart and grinned.

“Nothing now. But later, on set, I will make you ache for me again. So be patient, sweetheart, and go get ready.”

As I released her wrist, she lay still for a second before sitting up. I could see the lust clear as day in her eyes, and I wanted nothing more than to take her now. But we had too much to do. Without another word, almost dazed, she headed to the bathroom.

“Fuck,” I hissed, glancing down at the hard-on I was sporting through my boxers, which only became worse when I heard the shower start. She was there, only a few feet from me, naked…

Get yourself together!

Rising from the bed, I pulled on a pair of jeans, heading into the living room of our suite—our? I hadn’t even been with her for twenty-four hours yet, and I was saying shit like our now. Dear God, I was hopeless.

“Noah?” The door opened, and in came not only Austin—who was dressed in a bow tie, sweater vest, and white pants—but also Amelia’s manager, Oliver. He was broad-shouldered, with a scruffy black-and-gray beard and an earring in his left ear. His brown eyes glared into me as if I had stolen something from him.

“Where is she?” he demanded.

“If you mean Amelia, she’s taking a shower. She’ll need her things brought over…all of them.”

“I’m bringing her clothes for the day. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“And you’re telling me this as her what exactly? I understand you’ve never liked me, nor have I given you much to like. However, we are together, and that isn’t changing for anyone. I hope we can put our differences aside.”

He shook his head, his fist clenching tightly. “Out of all the people in the world, I don’t understand why she can’t move past you.”

“It’s none of your business, so don’t bother trying to understand,” I replied. “Austin will give you a key so that you can bring her things in—that is, when she talks to you, of course,” I said, taking a seat on the couch and reaching for the new script already waiting for me.

He didn’t say another word but simply slammed the door behind him.

Austin handed me a bottle of water and my pill bottle, but I refused the pills, taking only the water.

“Oliver has been her manager since she was child, Noah. Maybe getting on the wrong side of him isn’t the best way to start off your relationship,” he said.

“Even if I got on my knees and kissed his shoes, that man would still hate me. I don’t blame him. It’s better he understands how serious I am now. Hopefully, in time, he’ll loosen up,” I said. I doubted it, though. I’d seen more than my fair share of possessive managers over the years, and Oliver was no different. To him, Amelia wasn’t just his actress. In his eyes, she’s like his family. His whole life revolved around her, and she listened to him. He wouldn’t like anyone messing up the system he had built with her, let alone me. I really hoped he would get over it, because Amelia did need his help.

“What did you tell the director yesterday?” I asked, flipping the page.

“That a close friend passed away. But I doubt he believed me since I didn’t tell him until three hours after call time. Oliver went with it. They want to redo a few general scenes today, and I believe they may have added some. How did the first sex scene go? Everyone was tight-lipped about it yesterday.”

“Fine,” I replied, focused on the lines in front of me. “These new scenes—they’re more personal. Are they going to be used as flashbacks?”

“Yeah, I believe so.”

Sighing, I closed the script and leaned against the chair. I wanted to go for a smoke, and I don’t know what was stopping me.

“So are you and Amelia just picking up from where you left off ten years ago?” Austin asked, sitting across from me.

“Not possible,” I replied. Those two kids were vastly different from who we are now. “She’s mine. I’m hers. It’s that simple. Truthfully, that’s how it’s always been. Neither of us are fighting anymore.”

It was us against the world now. Picking up the breakfast menu beside me, I was determined to choose whatever would take the least amount of time.