the week.” She ran her thumb over his jaw in a tender caress. “I think we should start over. From now on, when it comes to my safety I’ll listen to you.”
“And from now on, I won’t keep anything from you,” Troy promised.
“I can live with that.” Julie took his hand and linked their fingers. “I figured something out while you were in surgery.” At his questioning eyes, she continued, “Remember the night I called you? The day of the luncheon?” she specified. “I spent the afternoon with Drew and Cal. Drew fixed some iced tea that tasted nasty. He must have drugged me. I remember Cal falling asleep first, but she could’ve been faking it. I don’t know. My point is that Drew had time to mess with my car.”
“I remember you had a headache,” Troy said.
Julie nodded. “I felt like I had hang—” Her phone rang and she fished it out of the sling. “It’s Ari. We’ve been playing phone tag. He left a message that they need me in wardrobe fittings in a few days.” She shook her head. “I can’t do this movie.” She pressed the talk button, but Troy snatched the phone out of her hand and disconnected the call. “What are you doing?”
“What do you mean you can’t do it? I thought you wanted this role more than anything?”
She nodded. “I do, but I’m not leaving you here alone.”
Her words stunned him. “You’d give up the role of a lifetime for me?”
“Well. Yeah. It’s just a movie. You’re what matters to me. I’m not going to leave you in a hospital and fly across the country to work when you need me.”
It hit Troy like a two-ton wall. The love he felt for this woman filled him full. That she would sacrifice something she’d lobbied so hard for, just to be with him, gave him a sense of completion he never expected.
There was no way in hell he was going to let her give up her dream for him. That could crush their new relationship faster than the bullet that hit him. He didn’t want resentment or guilt. He wanted honesty.
He took her hand, looked into her bluer-than-blue eyes. “Go make your movie. I’ve got Zach, and I’ll probably be out of here in a few days. Don’t say no to this because of me. That would make me feel like shit.”
Her brows quirked together and she shook her head. “I don’t like it. Look, if I’ve learned anything in all this, it’s about what’s important. You are important to me. I don’t want to neglect you.”
“Do you plan on retiring just because you met me?” he asked.
She canted her head. “Well, no, not retiring, but I can be choosier about the roles I take and how often I work.”
“So be choosy. After this role,” Troy said. “Look, I’m going to have to learn to share you with the world. I get that. We may as well start now. Go make your movie.”
Her beautiful smile crept on her face. “Are you always this bossy?”
He grinned. Didn’t matter that his head was splitting or his gut was on fire, he loved looking into her sparkling eyes and seeing her emotions. “Pretty much, yeah. I just do a good job of keeping it under wraps.”
“Ha. Not really.” She held out her hand. “Gimme that. I need to call Ari back and tell him I’ll be there for the fitting.” She took her phone and found his number. “There’s a real good chance he’ll get a look at me and fire me. I’m so bruised and scarred, I’m not sure makeup is going to cover me.” She lifted the edge of her hospital gown and showed him where the stitches on her thigh had been removed. “They took the old ones out here, and put new ones in here.” She pointed to her arm. “Basically, this whole movie thing might be a moot point.”
“He won’t fire you. You’re...” he was about to say America’s Sweetheart, but caught her warning look, “...golden,” he said instead. She was also his heart and soul.
One month later
Julie stepped into the entryway of her new gated home in Beverly Hills and dropped her suitcase. The sprawling one-level house didn’t differ too much from her old ranch-style house with the exception of all the land. She had a big front yard and a bigger backyard, complete with park-like grounds, a pool and tennis court. She’d only seen the place from the pictures her