Chapter Seven

The next day, after Tatiana's photo shoot wrapped, Valentina got on a plane to Los Angeles for a meeting with George and the Japanese fragrance company to iron out the final details of her sister's upcoming trip to Asia.

George had clearly intended to prod her further about Smith, but when he saw that she was too tired to rise to the bait, he dropped it and kept on track with business instead. Four hours flew by and when she rose to pack up her papers and head back to the airport, George put an arm around her as they walked out to the limousine.

"Reports from the set have been fantastic."

"Tatiana is brilliant in the movie, George. It's definitely going to be her big breakout role." She smiled at him. "Get ready to start working even harder."

"It looks to me like you're already working too hard."

"I just didn't get enough sleep last night," she countered.

He raised his eyebrows. "Is there something you need to tell me about a certain hot star...and my favorite business manager?"

"Absolutely not!" Valentina said with a little too much heat.

"You're a terrible liar, you know, Val."

"I've been so careful not to encourage him, but he's - "

She clamped her mouth shut as she realized, too late, that she'd just confirmed George's suspicions.

"If you ask me, you most definitely should encourage him. I know I certainly would."

She was afraid to open her mouth again: who knew what she might admit to this time?

"You did a great job raising Tatiana," he said softly. "So good that she's a remarkably kind and steady movie star." George was one of the few people who knew their family situation. "But now you need to take some time for yourself, too."

She couldn't admit just how off-kilter his words made her feel. It wasn't a sacrifice to manage her sister's business affairs, not by any stretch of the imagination. Besides, lately her brain had started a disturbing pattern of filling in the few gaps she had with Smith. His laughter, the dark eyes that always seemed to zero in on her in the middle of a crowd, the easy way he had with everyone on set, from the camera operator to the cleaning crew.

"Actually," she said slowly, "I have been taking some time for myself." She took a deep breath before saying, "I've written a screenplay. And - " Oh, this was harder than she thought it would be. For all that she hadn't thought she was afraid of rejection, maybe she was. Just a little bit.

"And?" She could hear the barely repressed excitement in George's voice.

She smiled at her friend. "I'd like you to read it."

He clapped his hands together like a happy child. "Finally!"

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, finally?"

"Tatiana swore me to secrecy, and she'll kill me if you let on that she told me." He looked at her with big, puppy-dog eyes. "Please don't tell her I blew it. Besides, she only told me because she loves you. She said it's great." He didn't waste any time asking, "Do you have it with you?"

Valentina realized that once she actually gave George her screenplay, the ball would start rolling whether she was ready for it or not.

Forcefully reminding herself that she'd only told him about it because she finally believed that it was ready, she said, "I'll email it to you as soon as I get back home." She clicked her leather bag shut, then pressed a kiss to George's cheek before sliding into the backseat of the airport limo. "And thank you for always being such a great friend."

Fortunately, she was too tired during the flight back to San Francisco to worry too much about her conflicted feelings over Smith or about sending her screenplay out into the world. Her eyes and brain were blurry as she finally got home, stripped off her clothes, and made herself send the screenplay to George before she fell into bed.

The next morning, she let herself sleep until the last possible second and felt worlds better as she walked onto the set. Her stomach growled, and she knew she was going to be cranky without her daily hit of morning sugar, but losing half a day to travel meant she needed to get the ball rolling on high priority items before she dropped in to craft services to get something to eat.

More and more often, thirty minutes turned into three hours of email and phone calls and she missed breakfast altogether. With the Japanese fragrance deal in the crucial final planning stages, she had a feeling it was going to be one of those long mornings. She was so focused on the items on her mental to-do list that she was seated behind her computer by the time she noticed the plate and cup on her desk.

Her stomach growled in immediate response to the fluffy cinnamon bun that dripped with sugar on the beautiful hand-thrown, green plate. Telling herself there wasn't a person alive with the willpower to resist the breakfast treat, especially when presented so beautifully, she pulled off a piece and popped it in her mouth.

Her eyes closed as the hit of sugar, perfectly spiced with cinnamon, hit her tongue, and a low moan of pleasure escaped her lips. It was decadent. Full of too many empty calories.

And exactly what she needed.

She didn't know how she'd missed the aroma of freshly brewed coffee before now, but when she reached for the mug the liquid was still warm as she greedily drank it down. She admired the ongoing beauty of the lily of the valley she'd put in a blown-glass vase she'd found in the kitchen the night before.

She was just putting down the mug when she finally saw the note.

Valentina,

The color of the plate and mug made me think of the green in your hazel eyes. I missed seeing them - and you - on set yesterday.

Enjoy your breakfast.

Smith

Valentina stared at the note for a very long time before carefully folding it up and slipping it into her purse. And then she ate every last piece of the cinnamon bun with more pleasure than she'd allowed herself to feel in as long as she could remember.

* * *

By the time Valentina finally emerged from her office to say thank you to Smith for both the flower and breakfast, she was frustrated - and more than a little relieved - to remember that he had an offsite meeting with his investors. He didn't need to share these kinds of details with her and Tatiana, but he obviously believed an informed team worked better than one kept in the dark. It was yet another factor that set him apart.

"Honey!"

Valentina turned with surprise to see her beautiful mother walking toward her with her arms outstretched. Even though she was a good six inches taller than Ava Landon and hadn't been a child for a very long time, as Valentina stepped into the familiar arms and expensive air of perfume, she suddenly felt two decades younger.

"I'm so glad I could make it here today. You know how much I love being on set."

She loved her mother enough to momentarily forget to be wary about Ava's reasons for the sudden visit to San Francisco. "You look great, Mom."

Ava Landon lit up the way she always did at compliments, before turning her gaze to her daughter. "You've lost weight. You know how much better you look when your figure is fuller."

Valentina stifled a sigh. "I think Tatiana has a small break before they need her again on set. I'll take you to her trailer."

But her mother was looking over her shoulder. "Here I am, baby!"

A good-looking man who couldn't be too much older than Valentina was walking toward them. Her mother leaned in closer and said, "Isn't he just too beautiful? I'm so in love with him."

Trying not to wince at her mother's too-free use of the word love, and glad the question was clearly rhetorical, Valentina shook the man's hand as her mother made the introductions.

"David, this is my eldest daughter, Val."

Valentina saw the slight surprise flash in his eyes at just how different she looked from her mother and sister.

"Val, David is just the most talented actor."

Valentina felt her lips tighten as the wariness she'd momentarily forgotten grabbed her with a hard shake. Didn't her mother remember how "deeply" she'd been "in love" with the last dozen actors like David?

And how could it possibly be that easy for her mother to fall for someone...or at least fool herself into believing the desperation, the painful longing for something real and lasting, was love?

"That's great," Valentina said with a smile for David.

It would break her heart when he broke her mother's heart - as each and every good looking actor always had - but she'd learned early on that there was no use in trying to protect her mother from the men she chose to date. At the very least, David didn't look like the type to try to grab her ass when her mother's back was turned.

Valentina tried to be grateful for small mercies.

Unfortunately, now that they'd appeared from out of the blue, on top of everything else she had to take care of today, she'd have to make sure that her mother's big plans for David's acting career didn't annoy anyone on set. Thank God Smith was out for the afternoon. What a disaster that would have been otherw -

"Good afternoon, Valentina."

She would have groaned at her terrible luck, were it not for the way Smith's low, warm voice always affected her. In less than a millisecond, anticipation - and a rush of desire that came despite knowing she could never act on it - knocked the wariness out of her.

There simply wasn't enough room, she was amazed to find, for both Smith and anything else.

"Smith." She liked the feel of his name on her lips too much. "I'd like you to meet my mother."

He smiled as he picked up her mother's hand and pressed his lips to the back of it. Her mother was all but squealing with joy as he said, "You have two remarkable daughters, Mrs. Landon."

"Call me Ava," her mother said in that breathy voice she always used with good-looking men. All men, actually. "Your mother didn't do so badly herself, Mr. Sullivan."

Valentina cringed inwardly as he said, "Smith, please," but at her mother's sharply expectant glance in David's direction, she said, "And this is David." She knew she'd never hear the end of it if she didn't say, "He's an actor."

Smith's expression was just as friendly as it had been from the moment he'd walked up to them. "Nice to meet you," he told the other man with a handshake.

"Big fan of yours," David said and to his credit, he sounded like he meant it rather than simply saying it to suck up to the big movie star he hoped could get him a job due to family connections.

"Thanks," Smith said with genuine gratitude before turning his focus back to Valentina. "Hope you don't mind if I tag along if you're heading over to say hello to Tatiana?"

He said it as if anyone would even think to refuse his company, and of course her mother put her hand on his arm, her perfectly shaped and manicured pink nails contrasting in a totally feminine way with his tanned skin.

"That would be absolutely lovely, Smith. It's so much fun getting to know my daughter's co-stars. Tell me all about yourself."

And as her mother dragged him off, Valentina was both mortified and grateful to know that he'd be there to help her deal with the one person who always tied her up in knots, no matter how hard she tried to stay untangled.

* * *

"I'm sorry about that," Valentina said to Smith after Ava Landon and her boyfriend had left. "My mother doesn't mean to hurt anyone. It's just that when she's with one of her men, she sometimes forgets to think about how anyone else might feel. It's like they're all she can see for a little while."

He heard the sometimes, the doesn't mean to, the little while, and knew all of those qualifiers were simply Valentina being kind. Her mother was a nice woman and clearly loved her daughters. But he could see that she'd hurt them too. Especially Valentina.

The need to comfort her had him reaching out to stroke her cheek, then slipping his fingers beneath her chin and tilting her face up to his.

Her skin was soft. So incredibly soft. Yet again, Smith was surprised by how much he wanted her.

He'd never let a woman distract him from his work, and he had never had any trouble keeping a woman inside the boundaries he'd set for her. Especially now that he was at the helm of his own picture, it was too important to him to afford to lose focus because of a woman. And yet, even with all the valid reminders echoing in his head - You're too busy for this. For her. For anything other than making this movie - it didn't take more than a look, a smile, and now the softness of her skin against his fingertips, for him to want her.

"She loves you. And you love her. Anyone can see both of those things, even if your relationship isn't perfect." He continued to stroke his thumb over the soft skin of her jaw as her lips opened slightly in surprise at his words. "You were right when you said that love shouldn't have to be a battlefield. When it's with the right person, I've seen love be easy. Sweet. And perfect."

He'd never wanted to kiss anyone as badly as he wanted to kiss her right then. One hot kiss was all it would take to make her forget her mother's visit, and he could almost justify it to himself that way.

Only, he'd never seen her this vulnerable before, as if the armor she was so careful to put on every morning before coming to the set had been stripped away in one fell swoop by her mother's unexpected visit.

It would be the easiest thing in the world to take advantage of her vulnerability.

Easy...and wrong.

Fortunately, Smith knew Valentina well enough by now to know that in the same way a kiss would have helped her forget her churning emotions over her relationship with her mother, so would getting back to work.

"Do you have a few minutes to discuss a request that just came in for a photo shoot with Tatiana and myself?"

She blinked at him in confusion for a few seconds, clearly surprised by his sudden shift. But then, the next time she blinked she was the same cool, calm businesswoman he'd taken one look at in that first meeting months ago and had been unable to forget.

"Absolutely. What are the details?"

He'd been so focused on turning her thoughts from her mother that, too late, Smith realized he might not have picked the best thing to discuss with her. Then again, perhaps her reaction might actually end up telling him more about her true feelings than she was willing to admit to his face.

"They'd like the two of us to play our characters, wearing clothes, makeup, even the props from the movie."

"That sounds fine," she said, clearly wondering why he'd felt the urgent need to discuss it with her right then. "Did they give you any other details?"

He tried to keep his voice easy as he explained, "The photo editor wants to do a pretty tight focus on the characters as a couple."

He was pretty sure Valentina's step faltered right before she said, "How tight a focus?"

"They want to portray the intimacy of the couple's connection."

She stopped in the middle of the lot, the fierce protector again, her cheeks flushed as she informed him, "I'm not okay with Tatiana being dressed up and photographed as some sort of nubile sex kitten."

He wanted to smooth away the hard lines at the corners of her mouth. Not with his fingertips, but with his own mouth. With a kiss that would heal as much as it would arouse.

Soon, damn it. He needed it to happen before he lost his mind entirely over wanting her.

"Neither am I," he said softly before clarifying, "From the conversation I had with the photo editor, I believe their goal is to highlight the romantic elements...not the sexual ones. And that's the direction I'm pushing them to go in, too - for romance rather than sex. We see plenty of sex every day in magazines and on TV. But romance will stand out."

He watched her long, smooth throat move as she swallowed. "Romance." The word slipped from her lips with equal disbelief and longing. "That sounds - "

Her words faltered now just as her step had a short while before, not because she was worried about her sister being photographed with too few clothes on, but, he hoped, because she didn't like the image of her sister being romantic with him. And there was only one reason that would bother her: if she wanted him for herself.

Finally, she got out the words, "You two are going to look great together in the magazine."

Unfortunately, while he was glad to see she wasn't nearly as immune to him as she tried to pretend, he hated hurting her in any way.

"Valentina, if you have any reservations at all about it, you need to let me know."

But she had already stuffed the emotional woman away and was back to all-business. "I think the photo shoot sounds fantastic. People are going to see it and rush to the theaters to watch the two of you together on screen. And they won't be disappointed." She turned away to head back to her trailer. But then she stopped and faced him again. "Thank you for being so kind to my mother and her boyfriend."

Frustration ate at him as he let her go back to her office, climb the stairs, and shut the door behind her. It had been a really, really long time since Smith hadn't gotten exactly what he wanted, exactly when he wanted it. Not just because he was a movie star. Not just because he was wealthy enough to buy anything he wanted.

But because of the man he'd always been.

Smith knew how to focus, how to channel every last bit of his energy into his work. For the first time ever, even though the timing couldn't be worse, he was considering turning that focus on a woman.

Hell, who was he kidding? It was pure need that was driving him to it, not some logical decision he was making. Because the truth was, he wanted Valentina so badly that the want, the need, was tearing at his insides. And it was a need only made worse by the sure knowledge that he could already have taken her, could easily have stripped her down and lowered her to the small leather couch under the window of her office for pleasure.

Once upon a time, her beautiful body would have been enough for him. And when he was younger, he would have believed that the easiest way to deal with the need would be to use his charm and looks to persuade her to have a hot, but very casual, film fling.

Only, something told him that uncovering that sensual layer wouldn't be nearly enough. Not just because it would only fuel his need to know more about the rest of her...but also because he knew that if he risked touching only her body, she'd write off her heart entirely.

What the hell was happening to him?

He pushed one hand through his hair as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket with the other. He hit speed dial on the number at the top of his list. Just hearing his mother's voice had him smiling again.

"Hi Mom."

"Smith, honey, how are you?"

"The movie's going well."

"I'm so glad to hear it." She paused for a moment, and he knew she hadn't been fooled by his reply about the movie and not himself. "And how is everything else?"

For as long as he could remember, Mary Sullivan had had a laser-sharp radar when something was bothering one of them. She never poked, never prodded, but was always there when they were finally ready to come for help and advice. Smith knew he'd called her because it was long past time for him to admit that he knew exactly what was happening to him.

"There's a woman."

"So I've heard," his mother said softly. "Marcus and Nicola said Valentina was very pretty. Very sweet, too."

Smith immediately thought back to the tears on Valentina's cheeks during filming the previous day. She'd been so moved by the love story he'd written that the sweetness of her response had tugged at him, right in the center of his chest. It was why he'd given her the flower and the cinnamon bun - because they were both sweet, and both reminded him of her.

"She is sweet," he confirmed to his mother. "And beautiful, and smart, and strong." He blew out a hard breath. "And she won't let me take her out on a date."

Jesus, it was like being fifteen years old again and pouring his heart out over his mother's chocolate chip cookies in the kitchen. Smith loved his brothers and sisters, but only with his mother had he ever admitted just how difficult his extreme fame had been for him at times, especially when it had reached a point where he could no longer go where he wanted, where he felt trapped under a magnifying glass. It had taken years to learn how to deal with it, and to find ways to make sure he lived his life according to his own terms, while still managing the demands of his fans and the media. Just like today, when he'd needed someone to talk things over with, Mary Sullivan had been the only person he could think of calling.

"Did she tell you why?"

"She doesn't trust actors." He had to admit, "And I don't blame her. There's a lot of scum in my profession."

"You've worked together for long enough on your movie that she would know you're not one of them," his mother told him with perfect certainty. "But sometimes, it's harder to admit to ourselves we want love in our lives than it is to keep living without it."

Smith was suddenly hit with the realization of how close this situation between Valentina and himself was to the relationship between Jo and Graham in his film. In Gravity, both the hero and heroine were stubbornly convinced that love was the hard part, when the truth was that love should be the easiest thing of all.

He'd written the damned movie, and yet he'd needed his mother to point out the obvious to him: if he couldn't fight gravity - and an attraction that knocked him off his feet - then it was time to fight for it instead.

"Have I told you lately how smart you are?" he asked her.

"So are you," she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice now. "You're one of the smartest men I know. Smart enough to know a good thing when you see it and to do whatever it takes to make sure you don't let it go." She was as serious as he'd ever heard her as she said, "And if it turns out that she's the one, no matter what, remember what you're fighting for, even if it feels like you're the only one fighting sometimes."

For seven decades his mother had gained wisdom, two of those decades shared with a husband she'd loved with her whole heart, four of them as the solid foundation of eight children's lives. Smith had learned everything that mattered from her, and especially after watching Valentina and Tatiana with their mother, he would never take Mary Sullivan for granted for a single second.

"You know how much I love you, don't you, Mom?"

"Oh yes, honey," she said in a voice that was slightly thicker now, "I do know. But it's always nice to hear it one more time."