Kissed Blind (Hot Pursuit #2)(89)

I came home from one of the final days of shooting and had picked up food. I’d slipped into an oversized pair of sweatpants and a loose t-shirt after I’d washed off the day’s grime. I was setting out a buffet when Becca knocked on my door.

“I was just laying everything out. You may enter,” I said in my best Lurch voice and waved her in.

Becca filled her lungs with the intoxicating air as she stepped inside. “God, I wish I didn’t like Chinese food so much, you evil temptress.” She rubbed her palms together and looked at the buffet. “Rangoons, egg drop soup, and fried rice, oh my!”

I chuckled. “You’re a wreck. Glad you’re not going to obsess about your weight tonight.”

“My willpower wanes when my boss becomes an asshat. It restores balance in the universe.”

“Amen, sister.”

We bumped fists, loaded our plates, and sat next to each other on the couch.

“So, now tell me how things went today.” Becca shoved a huge bite of rice in her mouth.

Becca and I had spent many nights together since I’d returned from Hollywood, and I’d brought her up to speed on the good, the bad, and the ugly regarding Vance.

“It was the same.” I twirled a bite of greasy lo mein onto my fork.

“Did you take my advice and kill him with kindness?”

“Vance totally hates me. I was awful.”

“How could he stay mad at you? You’ll just need to give him time to get over it.”

“I don’t know if you know this, but patience isn’t one of my best attributes.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed.’” She cracked a rangoon in half, and a puff of steam escaped the pocket of gooey cream cheese. “Is he warming up to you a little at least? It takes effort to stay mad at someone. He’s bound to break down a little.”

I thought about our day. We’d listened to the radio in the car on the way to get Oliver and didn’t say more than three words to each other, just the same as it had been, but one moment stuck out in my mind. “I made a little joke about one of the actors on set today and Vance did laugh a little.”

“He did?” Her eyes lit up. “Like how much? A big laugh or a little one?”

“I’m talking he cracked a smile and barely chuckled.”

“Eh, it’s a start. See, you’re chipping away. Keep it up. How many more days do you have left until Oliver is finished here?”

“Till the end of the week.”

“And that Cici chick will go with him, right?”

“Yep. Gone, baby, gone.”

“Excellent. Once she leaves, you’ll have Vance’s full attention again, but you need to do something big, so he’ll have no other choice than to fall head over heels in love with you.”

We continued to eat, and I thought through a few ideas I’d had. I’d already planned on giving Vance the money I’d gotten from Camille to help his mom and dad with medical bills, but I’d held off. It would have looked sleazy like I was trying to buy back his friendship.

My pride had gotten bruised on Vance’s parent’s’ driveway, and I saw that now. The only way to dig myself out of my mess was to lay it all on the line. I couldn’t blame Vance for his reaction; it had been a natural response. I’d treated some of my enemies nicer than I’d treated him.

But this other idea had been rolling around in the back of my mind for a while, and it could do the trick. It was a long shot and would require some research, but if I found it, I’d win him over.

Becca and I finished our dinners, watched a couple episodes of our show, and then she went home. I scoured the internet for the one thing that would make Vance forgive me. I searched for hours, going through various websites until finally, there it was. The only thing left to do was to pick my moment to give it to him.





Thirty-One





The final day of shooting had arrived, and my package was due to land on my doorstep any minute. I had a lot of mixed emotions. I was going to miss all the people I’d come to know over the past few weeks, especially Oliver. We’d all been through a war of sorts together, and it was difficult to not grow any attachments, but it was drawing to its inevitable close.

Without Camille being present, things had run more smoothly. Oliver had a new breeziness to his personality like a thousand pounds had been lifted off his shoulders, and his stomach issues from the past several months had vanished.

Vance had picked me up, and we stepped into the elevator for our final ride up. I’d run the scene through my head several times since we’d gotten back from California. I would apologize profusely, and Vance would accept it. Sometimes the scene ended with him kissing me again, and sometimes it ended with a warm embrace. Up until now, I’d never gathered the courage to say anything.

“So,” I began, staring up at the red numbers. “It’s almost over.”

“Yep,” he answered, glaring at the numbers too.

“How do you think the meeting with Cavanaugh is going to go?”

“Hard to say.” He shrugged.

“You think we’ll get suspended, or do you think we did a good job of smoothing things over?”

“Not sure.”

I leaned my back against the wall of the elevator and rested my backside on my hands. “Vance?”