Landon & Shay: Part Two (L&S Duet #2)(89)

“Wait, what? She fired you?”

“Yeah. It’s okay, really. I’ll find something else, and if worse comes to worse, I can pick up some classes at Mima’s studio.”

“But you loved being on set. You deserve to be on set.”

“I’ll get back to it somehow. It might just take a few years of trying.”

The whole situation was bullshit. Sarah crossed a line letting Shay go, and I was determined to make it known to her how she was in the wrong.

“I’m so sorry, Shay. Truly.”

“It’s okay. I’m just glad you knew about her. I wouldn’t want you to end up with a girl like her.”

“What kind of girl would you want me to end up with?” I asked.

She paused her steps and looked up at me. My heart was wild and my mind untamed as she parted her lips to answer. “You should probably end up with a girl like me.”

“And how exactly do I end up with a girl like you?”

She stepped in closer to me and bit her bottom lip. “I think you have to kiss me right here and right now.”

That was the easiest request I’d ever fulfilled.





Mine.

Shay finally said the words that she was mine, and I couldn’t have been more fucking happy if I tried. We’d spent the following nights together, wrapped in one another’s arms. Each day at work, I avoided Sarah the best I could. I hadn’t shit to say to the coldhearted actress who’d decided to throw a hissy fit when she couldn’t get her way.

When she came into my trailer one afternoon, I almost had Willow throw her out, but instead I refrained. We had to keep it professional, seeing how we’d put so much time and energy into the movie.

“Hey, Landon. I wanted to stop by and make sure you and me were good. I know there seemed to be some tension between us since I had to let Shay go, but I was hoping we’d be able to work through it.”

“No,” I flatly replied.

“What?”

“I said no. What you did to her was wrong, and I won’t forgive you for it. Shay is the most important person in my life, and I refuse to let someone like you get in between us. So, I’m saying no, Sarah. I don’t want to work through this drama with you. You showed your true colors, and we’ll leave it at that.”

“Those aren’t my true colors,” she said, shaking her head. “There must’ve been a bit of confusion between Shay and me. If she wants her job back, she can have it. I never meant to cause her any trouble,” she backtracked, making me want to roll my eyes so fucking bad.

She looked down at the table, where a script was sitting, and her eyes darted across the page. “Is this Shay’s?” she asked, lifting the manuscript into her hands. “I didn’t know she was into screenwriting.”

“That’s because you never bothered to ask her.”

She began flipping through the manuscript, and I hurried to my feet and snatched it from her hands. “That’s none of your business.”

“Come on, Landon. If she’s looking to get a real career started, I can help her. I’ll do it as a favor to you. My dad is the biggest screenwriter in the world. I’m sure I can get Shay a mentoring job beneath him.”

That sounded way too good to be true, and I knew to refuse Sarah’s offer. I knew she wasn’t a woman I could trust.

“She’s going to do it on her own, without your help,” I told her. Sure, I’d taken the script from Shay’s after finding out she lost her job with the purpose of trying to get it into the right hands of individuals. As time moved on throughout the day, I realized that would’ve been a mistake. She’d asked me plenty of times to not share her work, and that was what I’d planned to do. Respect her wishes. I only wished there was a way I could help her, but I knew it was something she needed to do on her own. They were her dreams—I was simply the lucky bastard who’d be lucky enough to watch them come to fruition.

“You’re making a mistake,” Sarah warned. “You and I could be the next power couple if you gave me a real shot.”

“There’s nothing powerful about two people who weren’t meant for each other.”

“How do you know we aren’t meant for each other?”

Because my heart belongs to someone else.

It always has, and always will.

“I’m in love with her, Sarah. There’s no getting around that.”

She huffed, and those true colors of hers began to appear again. “How could you love someone like her?” she hissed with disgust written all over her face.

“The real question is how could someone like her love a man like me. Regardless, I think it’s time you leave my trailer.”

“You have a lot of nerve,” she scolded.

“Yeah, I do. Now leave before I have you removed.”

“Never in my life have I’ve been so disrespected!” she whined like a five-year-old who didn’t get a lollipop.

“Yeah, well,” I shrugged as I walked over to my door and opened it for her to leave. “There’s a first time for everything.”





36





Shay





I sat in Raine’s recliner with baby Jameson in my arms staring at the television screen. Recently, things began to look up for me. I’d applied for a teaching job at a university to teach screenwriting as an adjunct professor, and I’d been called back for a second interview. If it weren’t for Karla, I would’ve never considered teaching, but it turned out I had a passion for educating people on the written word. Sure, it wasn’t Hollywood, but it felt like a huge opportunity for me to receive.