36. Miles

36

MILES

Nothing seemed to go right today. We didn't make our pages yesterday, which had a domino effect on today. We tried to catch up, but everything went wrong. I'd been up for twenty hours, and I was still behind. I hadn't even looked at the dailies. Tomorrow was our last day of principal photography. After that, we only had the testimonials left to shoot. Then, we were picture-wrapped. I would be leaving Firefly in four days' time.

I didn't want to think about that because every time I did, I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

My eyes were burning as I turned onto the long drive to the Montgomery estate. When my headlights flashed on a white car parked in front of it that looked exactly like Zoe's Audi, my first thought was that it was a figment of my imagination.

For the past few weeks, I'd been running on an average of three hours sleep per night. It wouldn't be crazy to think I was hallucinating. As I got closer, I saw a figure in the driver's seat that looked like Zoe.

Was it actually her?

Was she here?

She'd been friendly to me on the set with AJ but professional. I was hoping that I'd get to see her before I left. But not like this. I'd been outside filming all day. I had mosquito bites. I felt sticky, and I was pretty sure I didn't smell great.

By the time I parked, she had gotten out and was standing beside the car. It was definitely Zoe. She was here.

When I opened my door, I noticed that her eyes were red. It looked like she'd been crying. The second I saw that she was upset, all thoughts of my hygiene or what she would think of how I looked or smelled went out the window.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?"

She shook her head and walked toward me. Automatically, I opened my arms, and she walked into them. I held her to me, and she started crying.

"Is it AJ? Where is he? Is he okay?"

"He's fine. He's at Ritchie's."

"Walter? Is he?—"

"Walter's fine," she sobbed.

"It's okay. It's okay. It's okay," I promised her over and over again as I rubbed her back. "It's gonna be okay."

Even though I had no idea what the problem was, I felt confident making that promise because I knew I would move heaven and earth to keep it. I would do anything I had to do to make whatever it was okay.

When her body began to relax and her crying subsided, I ran my hand through her hair and asked, "Do you want to come in?"

She nodded.

I kept my arm around her as I opened the door and ushered her inside. Part of it was to support her, and the other part was because I was scared she'd take off running the moment I let her go. "Do you want anything to drink? Water? Wine? Whiskey?"

She grinned. "Water would be good."

I grabbed a bottle of water from the mini-fridge behind the bar, twisted the cap off, and handed it to her.

"I'm sorry for just showing up like this." She sniffed before taking a drink.

"You don't have to apologize. I'm glad you're here. You can come see me anytime, anywhere you want." It wasn't a declaration of my feelings, but it was the truth, and it was a start. "It doesn't matter where I am in the world. I am always available to you. You and AJ."

Her head dipped as her smile grew a little bigger. "I, um, got into a fight—well, not really a fight. I just had an upsetting conversation with my mom, and I don't know why, but the only person I wanted to see, the only person I wanted to tell was you."

"Good. I'm glad."

"It's not good. You're leaving, and this is…" She waved her hand between us, and more tears fell down her cheek. "It's not going to?—"

"What was the conversation about?" I changed the subject. I didn't want her thinking about why we weren't going to work out.

She sighed. "What it was about is not really what I'm upset about. I mean, I am, but… It's just she's so judgmental and mean, and I finally said that to her, sort of. But I don't know… I'm more upset that I haven't stood up for myself sooner. I think I just have a lot of years of pent-up stuff, and it's finally coming out. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. I'm so glad you're here. I want to talk about everything. I just need to take a quick shower. I've been up for twenty hours, and we were shooting outside all day and?—"

"Okay," she cut me off.

"You'll wait for me?" I double-checked that she would stay and not sneak out the front door the second my back was turned.

Her cheeks flushed. "Oh, I thought you were…yeah, I'll wait."

I blinked as my brain caught up with what she might have thought I was saying. Over the past week, I'd only slept about three hours a night on average, so I wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed at the moment, but if my instinct was correct…

"Did you think I was asking you to take a shower with me?"

She licked her lips nervously.

"Because if you did, then I absolutely fucking was."

Her lips curled at the edges in a grin.

"I'll take that as a yes."

I scooped her up like a groom carries his bride, and she giggled as she wrapped her arms around me. I loved that just a few moments ago she'd been crying, and now she was laughing in my arms as I carried her up the steps. I wanted to always be the man who turned her tears into smiles—the man who made her bad days good.

One day, I would tell her that, but I didn't think today was that day.

When we reached the en-suite bathroom, I set her down, leaned into the walk-in shower, and turned the water on. By the time I was facing her again, Zoe was taking her top off. I stepped forward and assisted her, tugging the material over her head. Before her arms fell back down to her sides, I slid my hands behind her back and unfastened her bra. The straps slipped down her shoulders before it fell to the floor.

She reached out and tugged my shirt up, and I lifted my arms as she pulled it up and off of me. Once we were both bare-chested, we stood staring at one another for a moment. Her hand reached out and rested on my chest, and she lifted up on her toes and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. It reminded me of the first kiss we'd shared. The kiss that started it all.

I placed my hand over hers on my chest, and when she lowered back down onto her heels, I almost told her that I loved her, but something stopped me. I was scared that if I did, she'd leave. It would be too much for her to process.

Even though it was true, I did love her, and I was pretty sure she loved me; tonight was not the night to tell her.

She smiled as she moved her hand from beneath mine. Her fingertips brushed along my abs before she began to undo the button on my jeans. I reached out and unbuckled hers. We both kicked off our shoes and worked together. Within thirty seconds, we were naked.

Before we got in the shower, I made sure the water was at the right temperature. After stepping inside, I grabbed the soap and started to lather up, but Zoe took it out of my hands. Her eyes were locked with mine as she rubbed it between her palms, creating a generous foam. Once she was satisfied with the lather, she set the bar of soap down and began to run her hands all over my body. She moved from my chest to my abs, along my arms and back before heading south to the front and back of my thighs, my calves, my feet, and back up to my ass, and finally, my cock and balls. She took her time washing that area. It grew under her generous attention, swelling and growing rock hard, before she reached up, removed the showerhead from its cradle, and then sprayed down my entire body. She was thorough, making sure to rinse off all the residue of soap from my body before putting the showerhead back in its hold.

I watched as she circled back in front of me and lowered down to her knees. Her hand reached out, and her fingers wrapped around my erection, jutting proudly from my body. I'd fantasized, so many times, about seeing her like this, kneeling in front of me, but nothing had come close to reality. Her hair was damp as I moved it off of her face so I could see her lips press against my engorged head, brushing across the tip of my cock as she squeezed her grip at my base. She began to lick up and down my erection while her fingers continued to clutch my girth.

Her eyes were locked with mine as her lips sealed over my tip, and she sucked me into the warmth of her greedy mouth. Her hand stroked my shaft, following right behind her lips. Every time she reached my mushroom crown, her tongue swirled around it before she sucked me back into her hot, wet mouth. She took me so deep I could feel the back of her throat against my tip.

One hand threaded in her hair while the other flattened against the tile wall. I had to lock my knees to keep standing upright as pleasure built to an almost unbearable level. I felt myself swelling so large that she was choking on me. I knew that if she continued, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from coming. I gripped her shoulders and pulled her up. Her lips were swollen from her efforts, and I kissed her with every ounce of pent-up emotion I had.

I may not be able to tell Zoe that I loved her, but I could show her. I could make her feel my love. That's exactly what I planned to do.