The Promise of Change - By Rebecca Heflin Page 0,95

flat that had become her second home, more so now that she shared it with Alex. She could see herself living here, at least part of the year. Home would be wherever Alex was.

They hadn’t discussed anything more about their relationship since the day she left the hospital, and she didn’t want to bring it up, sensing that he wanted to wait until she was recuperated.

But from her perspective it was growing, deepening into a full-fledged significant-other kind of relationship. Would it progress to the next steps, whatever those were? She would bide her time, wait until he felt comfortable discussing it.

But she’d meant what she’d said to him about the accident putting things in perspective. She would no longer be afraid, of failure, of change, of love. She would put her heart out there for him, and the spotlight be damned. Furthermore, she would embrace her new career, and face the challenges it would undoubtedly bring.

Thankfully, aside from the day of the accident, the filming hadn’t missed a beat. Other than the U.S. shoot, all of Alex’s scenes were done. The first unit had wrapped up and was departing for the U.S., where they will begin shooting the final scenes.

The second unit was currently in Oxfordshire filming the stunt work, inserts, scenery, and cutaways. The dailies were uploaded to a website each day so that Alex could watch them, keeping everything on schedule.

With clearance from the doctor, she and Alex would fly to Atlanta, the location for the U.S. shoot, at the end of next week. Her headaches were less frequent, and the dizziness was all but gone.

Her memory of the events surrounding the accident was still spotty, but pieces were returning. Unfortunately, some of those pieces returned in the form of nightmares, something she hadn’t had since she was a child.

She sometimes woke at night in a cold sweat, the smell of smoke sharp in her nose, the sound of the explosions ringing in her ears, and her heart racing in fright. Alex would instinctively roll over, wrapping his arm around her, comforting her even as he slept.

She hoped the nightmares would recede soon. She was sure the concussion wasn’t the only cause of the overwhelming fatigue she felt each day by late afternoon. She slid down on the sofa to a more comfortable position before drifting off to sleep.

The sound of Alex’s keys in the door woke her.

“I’m sorry, did I wake you?” His arms were full of bags. He could have had his assistant take care of the shopping, or had the groceries delivered, but he insisted on doing it himself.

“Yes. But that’s okay.” She pushed herself up, a little groggy. “If I sleep too long, I won’t sleep tonight, and since there’s nothing more interesting to do at night, I might as well sleep.”

Even she winced at her tone of voice. She sounded like an irritable old crone. She probably looked like one too, dressed in an old T-shirt and workout pants, no makeup, her hair a mess. No wonder he wasn’t interested.

“Again with the sex,” he said from the kitchen where he was putting away the food.

“No, again with the lack thereof,” she mumbled. What was wrong with her? You’d think she was a so-called sex addict.

“The only reason I’m showing this to you is because I promised I wouldn’t keep anything from you again.”

He walked towards her holding out what looked like a tabloid newspaper, the kind you see in the checkout line at the grocery store. “You read these?” she asked, surprised.

“No, but my mother does. Don’t ask me why. She called while I was in the shop.”

The paper was folded back, his finger pointing to a spot on the page. It looked like a gossip column, aptly named ‘The Gossipmonger.’ Glancing down the column, trying to figure out why he wanted her to read it, his name and then hers finally jumped out at her:

Romance on the Set?

Is Alex Fraser having an affair with American romance novelist Sarah Edwards? According to a reliable source, the two had what appeared to be a lover’s spat on the set of the new movie The American and the Aristocrat after Sarah caught the charming Fraser in a compromising position with sexy co-star Brooke Bellamy. Following the brief, but passionate, argument, Sarah stormed out of the house. Is the new romance already doomed?

Sarah was so stunned she didn’t notice that she’d dropped the paper to the floor until he bent over to pick it up.