Meet Cute (Love, Camera, Action #5) - Elise Faber Page 0,57

brought me to the folder in my hand. The one I needed to show Tammy because I was set to leave to shoot my next film in a little over a week, and she was readying to return home. Our longest, best first date had an end date, and as much as I loved hanging out and cooking together and having lots of glorious sex, I wanted to make sure that we had plans in place so that our long, best first date could continue indefinitely.

“There!” she said, triumphantly placing the square on the board.

She had surprisingly nerdy taste in board games. Which was fine with me. I had quite a collection of board games, especially the nerdy ones—though we’d had to open up quite a few boxes in order to locate the one she’d wanted to play tonight. Prior to meeting Tammy, most of my stuff had already been in storage in anticipation of my move, all except for my bedroom and kitchen. Those had been packed and moved over right along with us in the middle of the night by a scarily organized woman and her very effective crew.

Now I glanced down at the pieces Tammy had played and knew that I’d met my match.

“Two dungeons and four unique pieces on either side,” she crowed, doing a happy little dance. “Beat that.”

There was no way I could beat that.

“I yield, oh dragon master,” I said, pushing the board away from me and fiddling with the folder in my lap again.

“You going to show me that?”

“What?” I glanced up from the table to her eyes, which were filled with warmth.

“Whatever you’re fondling in your lap,” she said. “Either that, or you’re fondling something else, and I don’t know whether I should be sad to be left out of the fun or disgusted.”

“Disgusted,” I quipped. “Definitely disgusted.”

She laughed quietly then began stacking pieces, not bothering to tally up the score because one look at our respective boards told even the most casual viewer that she had absolutely obliterated me.

Once they’d been cleared, she looked at me expectantly.

I handed her the folder.

Her brows drew together, a slight V forming between them.

I opened it. “I was thinking . . .”

“What is this?” she breathed.

“I was thinking,” I said again. “That I don’t have much of a need to continue living in L.A. anymore. I have this place if I need to be here for work, but otherwise I’m either on set or . . . well, I want to be with you.”

She glanced up from the listings of houses I’d had my realtor pull together. Houses that were located in Darlington, Utah.

Because my life might not be there, but Tammy’s was.

“What is this?”

I’d broken her.

After pushing up from my seat, I rounded the table and crouched near her side. “Pick one,” I said. “Or we can pick one together. But I don’t care which house we live in—I just want to live in one with you.” I cupped her cheek. “I want to be with you. I want to build a life together and have you make me cookies that don’t all get eaten before I ate only a single, paltry one”—I gave her sad, puppy eyes, which had her smiling, the shock wearing off her expression—“I know things have moved so fast, that we’ve been living in this alternate reality with forced proximity and dangerous situations. I just want to have a chance for us to be us together.”

She softened, shifting in her seat to face me. “But will there be board games?”

“For you to destroy me in them?”

A smirk. “Naturally.”

I nodded. “There will be board games.”

“And omelets?”

I took her hand. “And omelets. And,” I whispered, leaning very close. “If you’re very, very good, I’ll even make you my special blueberry pancakes.”

She leaned in, her lips coming to my ear. “Blueberries are my favorite.”

“Are they now?” I asked, turning my head so that our mouths were suddenly perfectly aligned.

A nod.

“Well, then,” I said. “I guess you’d better pick a house.”

“Tal?”

“Hmm?” I asked, having gotten distracted by the column of her throat and starting to kiss my way down it.

“It’s just . . . I’d rather we stay at my house,” she whispered. “It’s on the edge of town and isolated. We could put in some security protocols, but Darlington is safe and—”

I placed my finger over her lips. “Tammy?”

It was her turn to murmur, “Hmm?”

“I’d love that.”

“Really?” she asked, after peeling my finger back. “It’s not fancy like this place and—”

“I