the same time, he lifted his hands and pushed them deep into the pockets of his jeans—meaning the only way a hug would happen was if she reached for him.
But that wasn’t going to happen, was it? No matter how much she sorely needed to be held—just held—for long enough not to feel as if she had somehow detached herself from her fellow human beings. Now that she thought about it, it was probably the same fear that brought tears of emotion to her eyes when small arms would hug so tightly around her neck on the last day of term…
‘It was a success in the long haul, Cass. Or we wouldn’t be here. You need to remember that. Sometimes the road to success has its twists and turns. That’s all.’
She managed a somewhat shaky smile and a roll of her eyes at her continuing inability to listen to reason or appreciate thoughtfulness without the need to cry. ‘I’d just rather skip the hobnailed boots stomping all over my self-confidence this time round, if that’s all right with you.’
The green of Will’s eyes softened and warmed. ‘Welcome to Hollywood.’
Cassidy laughed softly, then stared at him in wonder. ‘How do you do it?’
‘Thick skin.’ He shrugged.
‘Is there a store nearby where I can pick one of those up?’
‘’Fraid not. It’s something you acquire over time. Wouldn’t suit you, anyway.’
Sighing heavily, she nodded. ‘I’d be willing to try it out for a while.’
Whether it was something he saw in her eyes, or something he knew instinctively she needed—as he so often had once upon a time—Will pulled his hands out of his pockets and closed the gap between them. He reached for her with a rumbled, ‘Come here, Malone.’
Oh, great. Now she was welling up the way she did with the kids. Only this time it was bittersweet for different reasons. Even as Will drew her close to the wall of his chest and circled her with his arms, she felt the deep-seated sensation of coming home after a long, long time in exile. She hadn’t realised how homesick she’d been for him until he was holding her and she had her arms around his lean waist. The scent of clean laundry and pure Will surrounded her, but she breathed it deeper anyway. When one of the large hands on her back gently rubbed to soothe her she had to fight the need to sob uncontrollably. But not just because it was a hug when she so desperately needed a hug. It was because it was Will. The Will she’d missed so very much that even while she was being held in his arms the fact she knew it might never happen again was enough to break another corner off her ragged-edged heart.
‘You’re doing great, Cass. Don’t be so hard on yourself. There are days in that room I forget it’s been so long since we worked together.’
She had been feeling better about her scriptwriting abilities, but hearing him say it meant a lot to her. ‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome.’ The smile sounded in his voice.
It made her smile too, as she tilted her head back to rest her chin on his shoulder. Then she took another deep breath and forced herself to step away from him. ‘I guess I can stand to be cooped up in that room for another few hours if you can.’
‘Good.’ A devilish smile was backed up by another wink. ‘We can talk about Rachel wearing that harem girl outfit again.’
Cassidy laughed. ‘No. we can’t. She’s not doing the Dance of the Seven Veils for Nick…’
‘She’d be very sexy doing it.’
‘She’d feel like a complete idiot doing it.’
Will retrieved his glass and headed back towards the office. ‘Okay, then. We’ll play out the scene and see how it goes.’
Cassidy chuckled; he could go right ahead and hold his breath for that one. But she suddenly felt a lot better going back into his office with him. Much better.
Ryan and Malone were on top form when they pitched their script for the first time—even if it was technically just a trial run.
Will had driven them into Los Angeles, to his plush, if chaotic offices. making small talk on the journey that Cassidy knew was meant to distract her from her nervousness. It was yet another thoughtful gesture she both needed and feared at the same time. Between his thoughtfulness, his ability to read what she needed—sometimes before she realised it herself—and the amount of mild flirting he’d been doing since the day of their partial truce she was already walking a fine line. If she made the mistake of falling for him again…
Once they were in the conference room with selected members of Will’s team, and they began the read-through, something clicked. Maybe it was because she let herself get lost in what they were doing. Maybe it was because, for the guts of an hour, reality was shut out. Maybe it was because they became Nick and Rachel again. Maybe it was the fact their audience laughed and sat forward in their seats with rapt expressions at the right times. Heck, maybe it was a combination of all those things. But whatever it was, it was magical. For the first time since she’d come to California it felt as if the old Will was completely back.
He laughed more, he smiled that smile at her when she blushed as she skirted over any kisses or love scenes in the script, he even danced with her and dipped her the way the script directed—to the obvious amusement of their captive audience. He took her hand so they could both take a bow when that same audience applauded at the end…
Then they spent another hour talking with the team about special effects and storyboarding and locations—and Cassidy forgot she was with a group of complete strangers who worked for Will, and debated with him the way she usually did when they were alone.
After handing out work assignments, Will watched her shake the last hand at the open doorway, then leaned casually against the doorframe. ‘Trying to start a revolution inside my production company, Malone?’
‘Meaning?’
‘You didn’t see some of their faces when you debated with me?’
She had—and she might have been worried he was angry about it if she hadn’t seen the sparkle of amusement in his eyes. ‘I noticed the look on their faces when you conceded anything. I get the impression that doesn’t happen too often…’
‘It’s rare.’ He shrugged and cast a glance over the open-plan work area outside the conference room like some ruler surveying his kingdom. ‘But not unheard-of.’
‘Hmm.’ Cassidy leaned against the other side of the frame, pursed her lips and then smiled when he looked at her. ‘Might do you good if it happened more often, Ryan. Who knows what creativity you have here, hidden under too many layers of fear to speak up in front of the boss. You should thank me.’
‘Or hire you.’
Her jaw dropped. But before she could figure out if he was being serious, he pushed off the door frame and jerked his head. ‘Come on. I have something I want you to see while we’re here…’
Of all the things she had expected to be shown—fancy office, great views over Los Angeles, other productions he might be working on—a room the size of a large stationery cupboard, filled with piles of paper and sacks of letters pretty much came at the bottom of the list. So when he turned the lights on and closed the door behind them, she turned round and lifted
