Jaymeson frowned. "I led with that… I'm hungry."

I pointed to his rice bowl. "You have food."

"I want a hamburger!" he growled. "No more rice. Rice is for pregnant people with no taste buds. I'm a man. I demand beef."

I counted to three then lifted my hands in the air. "Fine. I'll have a burger and fries delivered to your trailer, just stop paging me. I need to eat too, you know."

"No." Jaymeson dropped his chopsticks into the bowl and set it on the counter. "If I keep you busy enough, you won't be spending as much time with Lincoln, meaning he keeps his dirty hands off you."

A slow burning fuse of anger lit inside me. "And if I want them on me?"

Jaymeson gave me a pointed glare. "What if…?" His shoulders hunched. "Damn it. I'm already turning into a father."

I exhaled and took a seat beside him. "How do you figure?"

Jaymeson glanced up, his eyes sparkling with tears. "What if you stop talking again? What if I can't reach you? What if he hurts you? I worry about these things constantly, as if I'm not already at my wits' end, sanity-wise."

I took Jaymeson's hand in mine. "Don't focus on it. I try not to. If I think about not talking, I can almost feel the block coming up again, my tongue feels heavy in my mouth, I start sweating… panic sets in. Honestly, I'm trying not to think about it or what triggers it. I just want to live. You should too. Besides, he's already hurt me, and I still had words after the fact. They were mean ones too. I think he even flinched."

"Did you yell?" Jaymeson's gaze turned hopeful.

"Loudly." I nodded. "A smart man would have taken cover."

"But he's not smart."

"He kissed me instead." I smiled at the memory. "Which was probably a better choice, considering had he just walked away, I would have thrown my shoe at his head."

"I forget how mature you are." Jay grinned and pulled me in for a side hug. "Fine, go assist him, but if he asks for…" His cheeks reddened as he coughed into his hand. "… you know, that sort of… help, just say no."

"Oh, so when he asks for a massage, that's code word for sex?"

"Always." Jaymeson nodded.

"And when he asks if I want to take my shirt off so he can see what the lighting's like in his trailer?"

"WHAT?" Jay jumped out of his seat.

"Kidding." I smirked. "He would never do that. We're friends now." I spat the word like poison.

"Yeah, right." Jaymeson growled. "And I'm a virgin school girl. I highly doubt this whole friend-charade will last long. He's a man."

"One who has nerves of steel and patience to match." I tried to keep the pout out of my voice.

"If he can't wait for you," Jaymeson whispered, pulling me in for another hug, "then he doesn't deserve you."

"Thanks, Jay."

"Now…" He squeezed my body one last time. "… go get my burger."

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Lincoln

I DIDN'T REALIZE HOW MUCH OF a creature of habit I was until Dani started working for me. It was semi-embarrassing to give her daily lists of my weird quirks that, up until now, I'd never realized were even odd.

I only wanted my blinds open in the morning. I had to have them closed, blanketing me in darkness around six at night if I was still on set. The Today Show always had to be playing when I walked in. And coffee needed to be available at all times.

Not too bad, if you asked me, but then, the whole Skittles thing was next on the list. I needed Skittles at all times. And if my bowl for some reason became empty, I felt… panicked. Great, so Skittles were my comfort food.

Add in only two brands of bottled water I'd drink.

And the special laundry detergent, and I seriously felt like a freaking diva. I was trying to rewrite my list for her for the next day, crossing things out, trying to make myself seem less like a tyrant, more easygoing, when she burst into my trailer with a bag of hot, steaming food.

"Please," I said in a hoarse voice, "let that be a hamburger and fries!"

Dani gave me a tired smile and placed the brown sack on the table. "Go crazy." With a huff, she sat on the couch and held her head in her hands. "Hey, if I asked for a thirty-minute break, would you fire me?"

"You haven't taken a break all day?" I glanced at the clock on the wall. "Dani, it's nearing two in the afternoon. You started work at six and haven't stopped moving since."

She let out a quiet yawn. "I know, but Jay needed me today."

"Come again?"

"My brother-in-law," she repeated, "needed me because his assistant's sick or something."

"Jay's assistant—" I laughed. "—isn't sick."

"No?"

"No. Because Jay's assistant doesn't exist. He's never had an assistant."

"No!" Dani let out a pitiful groan. "No, no, no." She punched the couch. "So I've been at his beck and call for no apparent reason? I kept praying his assistant would have a miraculous recovery! I was on my knees, Linc!"

I burst out laughing. "Seems to me like he's trying to keep you too busy and tired to be with me."

Dani curled up on the couch and laid her head on the pillow, tucking her hands under her cheek. "Well, he succeeded. I'm exhausted and hungry."