Come A Little Bit Closer (The Sullivans #7)(51)

Most of the cast and crew were already in the holiday-decorated room in the big warehouse they’d rented in San Francisco to film the bulk of their indoor scenes, sharing drinks and food, by the time Valentina arrived. Even in the middle of a heated discussion with two cameramen about the San Francisco Outlaws’ prospect for another Super Bowl that year, he sensed her presence in the crowded room.

Excusing himself, he moved through the room toward her. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Her beautiful skin was already flushing when Tatiana moved to her side and slipped her arm around her sister’s waist.

“I was worried I was going to have to come kidnap your computer to get you out of your office for the party. You’ve been working so hard lately, I’m starting to wonder if you’ve secretly taken on another actor.”

Smith could guess exactly how Valentina was spinning her sister’s innocent comment as she flushed deeply before trying to laugh and say, “Imagine my trying to keep a secret like that from you.”

She very purposefully didn’t look in Smith’s direction as she said it. He had never been anyone’s secret before. Girls, then women, had been proud to claim him, practically from the minute he could walk and talk.

He didn’t like being Valentina’s secret, disliked it with such vehemence, in fact, that if he wasn’t careful, he was going to completely lose the tenuous grip he had on his patience. Moments of satisfaction had been few and far between the past week, but he was working like hell to keep believing they were getting somewhere...and that the day would soon come when Valentina wouldn’t be able to keep denying their connection.

So rather than pull her into him and kiss her senseless in front of his entire crew, he made himself turn and walk away to play Secret Santa. He let the laughter, the joy, the happiness of the people around him fill him up over the next hours. It was one of the best parts of working on a movie, the way a group of strangers came together and turned into a family over the course of weeks or months. By the time the taxis were called to take everyone home, everyone would be pleasantly sloshed. No doubt they’d all be starting work later than usual the next morning.

And yet, as he laughed with his cast, as he complimented his crew for the great job they’d been doing, he wanted Valentina with a fierceness that surprised even him. No woman had ever done this to him: made him burn, tore him open, tried his patience to its very limits.

People were dancing all around them as Valentina came toward him, a wrapped box in her hands. “I have a gift for you.”

Even though all he wanted was her, he made himself take the present. Gifts had never made him surly before, but he relished the harsh sound of the paper shredding beneath his hands.

Only, when he saw the puzzle, he thought—no, he knew—what she was trying to tell him.

Because everything had changed for them at Alcatraz.

“I love it, Valentina.”

One word. All he’d need to change was one word. It to you.

He wasn’t surprised when she let the dancing crowd pull her in and swallow her up, disappearing before he could say it. But he knew without a doubt that she’d heard what he hadn’t said...and that he wouldn’t wait much longer to whisper the three little words against her lips.

Chapter Nineteen

“Valentina!”

She was just sitting down on set to wait for filming to begin when Smith’s sister Lori called her name and came to sit next to her.

“It’s so nice to see you again,” Valentina said, meaning it. She’d had such a great day at the spa with Smith’s sisters a week ago.

“You too,” Lori said, her eyes twinkling with mischief. “I’ve been dying to get an update on the guy you’re having the super hot I-don’t-want-this-to-encourage-you sex with. Is he still putting in his best effort for your heart? Or has he given up yet?”

Before Valentina could answer—or slap a hand over Lori’s mouth—Smith was standing in front of them...looking like he’d just heard every word his sister had said.

“Hey Naughty, glad you could drop by,” he said as he gave Lori a hug. But his dark eyes were on Valentina the entire time, refusing to let her look away.

“Me too,” Lori said beaming up at the brother she clearly adored.

Valentina was almost blinded by the beauty shared by the two siblings. Were it not for the kindness in their eyes, and the smiles that so naturally played around their mouths, the Sullivans would have been a very intimidating clan, indeed.

Tatiana came by just then to say hello to Lori, which left Smith’s focus too much on Valentina for comfort. She tried to shoot him a look that said, I’ll explain what Lori just said later, okay? Just don’t do or say anything we’re going to regret. Please, can we save this for when it’s just the two of us?

But she could see the frustration in his eyes, the same darkness that had been there after their first night together when he’d pinned her to the bed in the morning and refused to let her leave, the same end to his patience that she’d felt at the holiday party when she’d given him the puzzle of Alcatraz.

God, just the memory of the lovemaking they’d shared had her insides clenching with heat. She could have sworn a hundred times over that she wasn’t running so that he could chase her...but her body disproved that lie each and every time.

“Valentina.” His low voice thrummed over nerves stretched taut. “Those files you asked for are in my office.”