A lead rock falls into my gut.
The yard clears out in about ten seconds as the crew scatters to the wind.
Buck runs his hands over my shoulders. “Lou.”
My skin burns under his touch. “Buck.”
He yanks me into his embrace. “I am so fucking happy you’re all right.”
I nod. “Me too.”
“Look, about earlier—”
I put my finger to his lips. “Shush. We don’t need to talk about that. I know being married is a nail in the coffin of your career. Proposing for the show was a nice touch, but I don’t really want to have to fake a break-up in a few weeks.”
He presses his lips tight, but then they turn up in a small smile. “You’re right. Look, I’m leaving for Anguilla in a few days to shoot my next film. I’ll be gone and, if you want, you can move on. But until then, can we just be together?”
“Together?”
“Yeah. Spend time in one another’s company? I’ve missed you, Lou.”
The weight in my heart lifts. It isn’t exactly what I hoped for, but at this point, I’m just pathetic enough to take what I can get.
I lean to him, whispering in his ear. “Can we be together in bed?”
His hold tightens on me. “Fuck yeah, we can.”
TWENTY-NINE
I roll over, covers tangling around my legs. The knocking becomes more insistent.
I crack an eyelid, yelling, “It’s not even fucking dawn.”
Buck’s voice comes through the exterior door. “Loula Mae Fontaine, open up.”
I drag to my feet, flip the lock, but don’t bother turning the handle before I flop face-down onto the bed.
The door creaks and a second later Buck’s kiss lands on the shell of my ear. “Go brush your teeth. We have something important to do this morning.”
“Well, go do it. I don’t have a thing on my schedule. Let me sleep.”
He tugs at my shoulders. “C’mon, Lou. I think you’ll be glad you came.”
I roll over, his smile warming me. “I’ll get up, but under protest.”
“Protest is fine.”
I brush my teeth and spend a few minutes detangling my curls.
When I step out of the bathroom, Buck shoves my dress into my hands. “Here, throw this on.”
“What the hell? Can’t I have a half a minute to wake the fuck up?”
He drops a kiss on my brow. “Nope. Not this morning.”
I barely get my feet into my boots before he grabs my hand and drags me out the door. “I love the sundress-combat boot combo, by the way. Very sexy.”
I grin. “Hey, I worked hard to earn these boots. Besides, they’re more comfortable than you’d think.”
He ducks in for a quick kiss, his tongue sliding along mine before he pulls away. “I was serious. You’re hot as fuck.”
Dawn breaks, and a faint gray glow illuminates the tops of the trees.
Buck hands me the yellow lantern as he pulls a picnic basket over his arm. “Delores packed up some coffee and breakfast.”
I dig in my heels. “Where are we going?”
He tightens his grip and tosses a look into the woods. “Just come with me, will you?”
“All right.”
He’s leaving in a few days, and I’ll have a very long wait before I see him again…If I see him again. We’ve pretty much avoided the subject over the last day or two.
My heart constricts at that thought. I push it away so I can enjoy every minute with Buck between now and the moment Hollywood takes him away—again.
We trek through the trees a ways. In the distance, flickering points of light shine. As we approach our old fort, the trees are illuminated by hundreds of tiny white lights, wrapping the trunks and into the branches of our magnolia and several smaller trees in the area.
White ribbons flow through the leaves, some loose, others with lighted balls of tissue on the ends. Some are tied to jars with lights stuffed into them, hanging at different heights. Mason jars holding LED tea lights are set around the clearing. A blanket covers the ground at the foot of the magnolia, in the same spot the other quilt laid the last time I was here.
A stream of warmth rushes to my pussy, just thinking of that magnolia tree. My nipples pucker as they remember the way the bark on that tree rasped across their tender tips as Buck made love to me.
He drops the basket at the foot of the tree. He sits on the quilt and pulls me down too. When he lies back, he drags me with him so my head rests on his chest. His heart beats frantically.
We lay in silence until I can’t stand it anymore. “You’re such a morning person. All this so we can make love under the trees before you leave? We could’ve done this tonight.”
“No. I mean, yes, we can make love out here later tonight, if you want. But that’s not what all this is about.”