For the Love of You (12 page)

* * *

They had breakfast in bed and watched the morning news like any other couple before enjoying a joint shower and one more romp for the road under the pulsing water.

Jewel sat on the side of the bed and put on her shoes.

“I really don't want you to go,” Craig said and sat down next to her. He caressed her cheek.

Her eyes roamed over his face, wishing that it were true.

“I would drive you back, but duty calls and I'm already late. I have a full day today. I called a car service for you. It should be downstairs in a few.” He grabbed a shirt from his closet and slid it on. “If you're not busy...maybe later tonight?” he asked with a note of hesitation as if bracing himself for her to say no.

“Call me.” She could not allow herself to fall into the trap of being so readily available, something for him to do while he was in town, even if she wanted to leap into his arms and say yes.

He leaned down and kissed her. “Will do.”

She picked up her purse and shawl and met him at the door. “Now for the walk of shame,” she joked.

“Baby, you could put the walk of shame to shame any day.” He swung her in for a long kiss before inserting his card key into the elevator.

They parted at the taxi with Craig promising to call later. As the car pulled off, Jewel looked behind her, hoping like in the movies that he would be standing there...watching, waving. But he was already gone.

Chapter 10

“W
ho was that?”

Craig stopped short and turned to his right. Milan was sitting in a club chair by the front door. He drew in a breath of annoyance. Milan pushed up from the chair and walked over to him.

“Long night?”

“Twenty questions. And why does it matter?” He continued toward the elevators with Milan keeping pace at his side.

“It doesn't. I was only asking. She's cute, in an ordinary kind of way. Doesn't seem like your type.”

The elevator doors opened. Milan stepped in.

“You wouldn't know anything about my type.” He stepped back as the doors began to close. “I'll catch the next one.”

The minute the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them. He knew that he needed to keep his cool and not antagonize Milan. The last thing he wanted was for her to have one of her diva fits on set because she was pissed at him. There was no telling how she would react when she realized that the woman she saw him with was the owner of the home where the filming was to take place. Any other time he would have handled things differently, taken her to dinner and maybe even to bed. But now... He heaved a sigh, stabbed the button for the elevator and ran a hand across the close cut of his hair. Now things were different. He was going to have to find a way to make nice with Milan. Inwardly he groaned.

* * *

Jewel had no reason to feel like an errant child when the car pulled up onto her property. She was a grown woman. Hadn't Minerva told her as much? She'd all but given her seal of approval on Craig Lawson. So why was her heart pounding in anticipation of Minerva's all-knowing look?

She walked up the three steps to the front door, turned the knob and peeked her head in before slipping inside. Humming came from the kitchen. She pulled in a breath and pranced into the kitchen as if she always walked in the door at 10:00 a.m. with her evening clothes on.

“Morning,” she sang.

Minerva turned from the sink, shook out her wet hands and reached for a towel. “Well, don't you look nice for this hour,” she teased.

Jewel dropped her purse on the counter and sat down. “I don't want to care about him,” she blurted out, suddenly needing the wisdom of the older woman. She looked at Minerva with wide eyes.

Minerva sighed. She put the towel down by the sink. “There is nothing wrong with caring about a man other than your father. He's the only man who has been in your life for the past five years. I'm not saying that he shouldn't be, but there needs to be more in your life. Your last adult relationship was with Simon.”

Jewel looked away. She knew that part of her hesitation was her fear of being hurt again, after investing so much of herself like she did with Simon. That was part of her rationale for getting involved with Craig. She knew it was temporary—there wasn't the possibility of long term and the problems that went along with it. But somewhere in her grand scheme, someone had flipped the script. She was beginning to feel again, to want something for herself again. And it scared her.

“I'm not sure what I should do, Minerva. From the moment we met, something happened. It was like a switch got turned on. My thoughts are clouded with him. But I can't let this schoolgirl crush screw up my head.”

“The heart is going to do what the heart is going to do. No matter how hard you try to fight it.” She stretched out her hand and took Jewel's. “Enjoy it for what it is. If it's destined to be more than temporary, then it will be. If not, well—” she gave a short shrug “—it's what you expected anyway.”

Jewel blew out a breath, then a slow smile bloomed across her mouth. “Guess where we went last night?” She went on to regale Minerva with the incredible meal and actually meeting Emeril. She took the story as far as arriving at the hotel and left the rest to Minerva's active imagination.

“I hope you used protection,” she said, wagging a warning finger.

Jewel's face flamed. She popped up from the chair. “I think this conversation has gone on long enough. I'm going to change and then spend some time with Dad.”

Jewel listened to Minerva chuckling as she headed up the stairs to her room.

* * *

The day seemed to drag by and the late afternoon shower made it dreary as well. For the first time in quite a while, Jewel felt restless. She wanted to do something. Energy whirled around inside her, filled her head and tingled her fingers. She thought of baking but couldn't drum up the enthusiasm.

She grabbed an umbrella from the stand by the door and headed out to the cottage.

* * *

“What the hell did you say or do to Milan?” Anthony asked Craig when the crew broke for lunch. “She's been on a tear all morning. You should have seen her at the table read.”

Craig's jaw clenched. “She saw me this morning.”

“And?”

“Leaving the hotel with Jewel.”

“Aw, hell, man.”

Craig's face tightened. “Don't start. I'm not in the mood for a lecture.” He dropped the script on the table, crossed the room to the minibar and opened the small fridge. He took out a bottle of beer. “Want one?”

“Naw, I'm good.”

He opened the bottle and took a long swallow.

“Look, man, do what you want with whomever you want, but don't leave dust and debris in your wake. Jewel seems like a real lovely woman. She's not like the others. And you've been down the road with Milan. You know what she's like and how she can get, especially when she thinks that someone is taking her shine.”

“There's no shine of hers to be taken. Me and her are past tense.”

“Doesn't matter with someone like Milan. You know that.”

Craig flopped down in the chair and turned the bottle up to his lips. He stretched his long legs out in front of him. “I really got a thing for her, man,” he admitted. “First I figured it was just physical, ya know.” He shook his head. “It's not. I want to be with her. I enjoy her company, the way she makes me feel. Easy. Not like I have to measure up to some ideal.”

“That's cool and I can get with that, but, bruh, you ain't gonna slow down. You sure as hell ain't gonna settle down here, of all places. So how's that gonna work?”

Craig looked away, finished off his beer and stood. “I'll work it out.”

“I sure hope so. We got a lot riding on this film. Not just you...all of us.”

“Yeah, I know.”

* * *

Once she got started, the embers of her passion ignited. Shape, color, context all came together in swift, sure strokes. There were times when she thought she'd lost the ability to create this way, but she hadn't, and the realization continued to fuel her. Hours passed, and when she finally sat back and looked at what she had done, her eyes filled with tears of joy.

It was him come alive on canvas. She had managed to capture the resoluteness of his jaw, the wide sweep of his brow, the curve of his lips, the penetrating, almost brooding stare, but most of all she had encapsulated what emanated from him—vulnerability cloaked in power. Beyond the probing gaze was a look of longing, something that was just out of his reach.

The portrait was in charcoal and pencil. It would serve as her base when she replicated the piece in oils.

Exhaustion suddenly overwhelmed her. Giving birth to her first creative work in years had drained her physically and emotionally. Her hands trembled ever so slightly as she returned her instruments to their cases, and her legs threatened to give out when she stood.

She dragged herself over to the couch, flopped down and stared at what she had done, realizing then that the only light came from her lamps. The day was gone, and night had taken its place. How many hours had it been? She should go back to the house. But she wasn't ready. Not yet. She needed to savor this moment of accomplishment. Sit here for a few minutes more. Her fingers still tingled with electric energy. A giddy joy bubbled in her stomach. Her lids fluttered against her will. She stretched and yawned, leaned her head back. She needed to close her eyes. Just for a minute.

Her last thought before she drifted off into a deep sleep, with his lifelike image looking down on her, was that Craig had not called as he'd promised.

Chapter 11

“Y
ou want anything else?”

“Maybe another glass of wine,” Milan said.

Craig signaled for the waiter, who brought another bottle and filled their glasses.

“Thank you for dinner,” she said sweetly. She took a sip from her glass.

“It's the least I could do. I wanted to clear the air between us.”

She lowered her fake lashes and puckered her polished lips. “We have a history, Craig, one that I can't easily forget. I know I messed up. I only want you to forgive me and maybe...give us a second chance.”

He wrapped his hands around his glass. “Listen, Milan, like I've been telling you, there's nothing to forgive. Really. What happened is in the past, and we've both moved on.”

“What if I haven't?”

“That's what I need you to understand, Milan. I didn't ask you to take this role in the hopes of us getting back together. I wanted you for this part because you're the best actor for it and I believe this will be a career changer for you.”

“Is it because of her?” she challenged.

Craig pushed out a breath and asked himself yet again why he had bothered. But Anthony kept at him to make peace with Milan before things turned ugly. So he'd asked her to dinner, to talk, to make the peace. Where he really wanted to be was with Jewel. It was nearly eleven. He'd promised he'd call her, and he hadn't. If he were honest with himself, he would admit that part of the reason why he hadn't called was that he felt himself moving into the deep end of the pool with Jewel. He could have taken Milan to lunch. But instead he took her to dinner to make things right between them. Now he regretted his decision.

“Well, is it?” Milan pressed.

Craig snapped back to attention. “Is it what?”

“Is it her? Is she the reason why there can't be an us?” She placed her palms flat down on the table.

“Milan...” He shook his head in frustration and ran a hand across his chin. He leaned forward. “It can't work.” He softened his voice. “It can't. And it has nothing to do with her.”

Milan lifted her chin and turned her face away. “Fine,” she whispered.

“I need things to be cool between us. We have to work together. We have a job to do, and I am depending on you to make this movie a success,” he added, playing into her vanity.

“Fine,” she said again then turned to face him. “It's getting late.” She made moves to get up.

“Look, there's something you need to know before we get to the set.”

She stopped. “What?”

“The woman that you saw me with. She's the owner of the house where we'll be filming.”

* * *

It had been two days and she hadn't heard from Craig. More than once she picked up her phone to call him but decided against it. Maybe it was for the best. She'd felt herself falling, but she'd caught herself before she hit bottom.

At least that's what she told herself until the cavalcade of SUVs and equipment trucks arrived.

Jewel stepped out onto the landing of her house. Her heart raced. Car doors opened and shut. Her pulse thundered in her ears. Her eyes skipped over the moving bodies hoping to see him among them and not wanting to see him at the same time.

It was clear that after everyone had disembarked from the vehicles that Craig was not among them.

“Good morning, Ms. Fontaine,” Anthony greeted her, coming up on the landing and extending his hand.

Jewel shook his hand. “Nice to see you again. Well, I guess this is it, huh?” she said, watching the unloading process.

“I promise to make this as painless as possible. Today we're going to get the exterior shots done. Unfortunately, tomorrow we'll have to get started about 7:00 a.m., and we'll be inside shooting most of the day.”

“Sure. Craig... Mr. Lawson gave me the schedule.”

“Great. As soon as the lighting techs set up, we'll get started.”

“I'll let you get to it. If you need anything, I'll be upstairs.”

“Thanks. We'll be fine. The equipment trunks are like home away from home. We have everything we need.” He turned away and began shouting orders to the crew who were now spread over her property like fire ants.

Disappointment mingled with relief. Jewel went back inside and shut the door behind her. Minerva met her in the foyer.

“What's wrong?”

“Nothing,” Jewel murmured. “Too late to second-guess.”

“Is he here?”

“Who?” she asked, although she knew exactly who Minerva meant. “No,” she conceded.

Minerva squeezed her shoulder. “And when he does show up, which he will, you'll be just fine.”

Jewel smiled and continued on upstairs.

* * *

His plan was to lag behind so that by the time he arrived on set everything and everyone would be in place and ready. He would have no other choice than to get right to work. Work would consume his focus and all of his energies, and he wouldn't have the time or opportunity to look for or spend time with Jewel. If he had his way, he'd spend all of his time with Jewel. But there was no room for distractions. And she was most definitely a distraction, in the best kind of way.

That was part two of his master plan. Part one was to keep his distance and not contact her. It had been hard as all hell, but he'd managed. He had to be totally focused on the film. The quicker he did his part, the sooner he could open his mind to his “distraction.” Two whole days, and it took all of his willpower to stay on task and not pick up the phone and call or get in his car and drive over. But he'd made a decision. There was too much on the line, and the person he needed to keep happy and appeased was Milan—for everyone's sake.

After their dinner the other night when he'd told her who Jewel was, Milan had one of her epic tantrums, causing a major scene in the restaurant.

“You think I'm an idiot!” she'd screamed. “I know you're screwing her. It's what you do! Is this how you punish me—by throwing her in my face day after day!”

Every eye in the restaurant had been glued on them. He could tell by the expressions on some of their faces that they recognized Milan. Cell phones came out. This latest public display would be all over the internet in minutes.

Craig had taken her by the arm and hustled her out of there, trying to keep his head down while blasting Milan out under his breath. By this time she'd dissolved into hysterical tears.

She really was crazy. That was the only thought running through his head as he'd whisked her past the curious onlookers and into the waiting car.

He pushed the nightmarish episode out of his head as he pulled onto the Fontaine property and parked his Suburban behind the line of cars. He, as well as the attorneys, had advised Milan that any further public outbursts would result in her being removed from the project as a breach of the morals clause. Apparently when she'd signed on, she didn't pay attention to the fine print. Knowing what Milan was capable of, Craig had had that little caveat included to protect him and the project.

But he couldn't take chances on pushing any of Milan's many buttons. She was crazy enough not to give a damn just to hurt him.
Artists.

He hopped out of the car, scanning the grounds for any sight of Jewel. Part relief and part disappointment filled him. He strode toward Anthony. He had work to do, and he couldn't do it with Jewel Fontaine on his mind.

* * *

Jewel watched the magic of moviemaking from the safety of her father's bedroom window. Then Craig came into view. Her heart kicked up a beat. She gripped the edge of the window frame, willing him to look up and hoping that he didn't.

She watched him orchestrate the symphony of people and equipment and was mesmerized by the flow of authority that he exuded.

“Who's coming? I hear voices,” her father said.

Jewel turned away and went to her father's easy chair that faced the back windows of the property. She knelt down beside him and took his hand.

“It's okay, Daddy, just some folks in the yard. They're making a movie.” She smiled at him.

Augustus's cloudy eyes narrowed. “Whatchu mean, movie?”

“Some people thought that our house would look beautiful in a movie about an old Southern family.”

He grumbled and began to pat his hand on the arm of the chair. “Gotta be careful,” he hissed suddenly. “Be careful.”

“About what?”

He turned to her and blinked slowly. “I think I want toast this morning.”

Jewel sighed with a sad smile. She kissed his forehead. “Sure thing, Daddy, just the way you like it. Every day.”

“Good morning,” Minerva said from the doorway then walked in. She carried Augustus's breakfast tray.

“Morning, Minerva. Let me help you with that.” She walked over and took the tray. Under her breath she said, “He seems okay about the hoopla downstairs. Just told me to be careful.” She laughed lightly.

“Father knows best, even when he doesn't seem to know a thing,” she said in return. She took the tray back from Jewel and went to her charge.

Jewel frowned. She started to ask what she meant but decided that she couldn't deal with two cryptic people and subliminal messages in one setting.

“I'm going down,” she announced.

Minerva waved, and Jewel swore she heard her father mumble something about some pretty young girl in his room.

She trotted downstairs and went into the living room. She turned on the television to catch the morning news with the hope of blocking her thoughts from the activity on the other side of her door. She settled on her local news channel just as the entertainment portion came on air. She'd made it a point to steer clear of celebrity news and social media sites after her own debacle on the world stage. But for now it was simply mindless activity. As usual there were the stories and images of celebrities doing what celebrities did. And then Craig's face popped up on the screen in a box behind the newscaster's head.

“Two nights ago, award-winning filmmaker and New Orleans' own prodigal son Craig Lawson was seen up close and personal with his leading lady, Milan Chase, as they left the Brasserie Restaurant after what appeared to be a lovers' spat.” The screen flashed images of them hustling out of the restaurant and into a black car, with Craig holding on tightly to Milan's arm. “As many of you know, Lawson and Chase were a big item several years ago when she had a small role in one of his films. Neither of their reps were available for comment. But we can't help but wonder if the explosive couple will be another Brad and Angie.”

The woman's voice droned on about the next hot item, but Jewel had stopped listening. She felt sick. Her temples pounded. Two nights ago, he'd promised to call. Two nights ago she'd poured her soul into recreating him on canvas, almost as an homage to what was blooming between them. Two nights ago, he was with
her
. He was no different than Simon. He hung around for as long as it suited him. What she felt didn't matter.

She pressed her fist to her mouth, but it barely held back the sob that escaped. What a fool she'd been. She'd fallen for the voice, the swagger, the looks, the touches, the sex and the aura of mystery. But she shouldn't have. They'd agreed. It was just a temporary thing. Little did she know that to
him
temporary only meant days. He and that woman had a history. They had the kind of life that she'd given up. There was no way that she could compete with that, and she wouldn't.

Jewel wiped her eyes, reached for the remote and turned the television off.
Gotta be careful. Be careful.
Maybe her father knew and understood more than she did.