“Exactly.” I click my fingers, excited to be on the same page. “And four… no crossing boundaries.”
“Yep. Good one. And five, no sleeping around.”
Groaning, I bury my face in my hands. I really should have slept around before this. “I’m trying tolosethat reputation,” I remind myself as well as Reed. “I have no intentions of doing that.” As disappointing as that is.
“I know, I know. Just putting it out there.”
“Good idea.” Maybe thisisgoing to work. “Should we have a natural end date?”
“Yes. Definitely.”
I glance away to think, but Reed hits me with an answer.
“What about halfway into filming for you? You mentioned there’s a significant breakup in the book, and your character falls apart. If we break up, the audience might feelherpain asyousupposedlylive it.”
“Reed!” I gasp. He remembered that? “Holy shit.”I gave him a brief rundown of the book when it was first announced, but I never expected him to be paying attention. I only told himbecause I was too excited to hold it all in. “That’s perfect. But that only works if you’ve already got whatyouneed.”
“I don’t think it will take long for Bria to show me how she truly feels. If it was just on me, we could be done by the weekend.”
“You’re that confident?” I bite back a grin.
“Yep. She’s never been able to hide her emotions. That’s why I’m convinced she’s not hiding her feelings for me. I would have made a move if I thought she was. But knowing for sure will help.”
“How will you know if shedoesn’thave feelings for you? I understand that her jealousy is likely to present quickly if shedoes, but what if shedoesn’t?”
“She’ll welcome you into her life.” He shrugs like it’s that simple. “She’s always said she can’t wait for the day I have a girlfriend. She’ll be happy for me.”
Ummm. I cringe, my brows furrowing involuntarily. I highly doubt that. “And what if she has reservations, like she doesn’t think I’m good enough?”
“Nah. She’s not protective like that.”
What? “She should be.Iwould be. Hell, Iwillbe.”
“When?”
“When this ends and you move on with someone else. When you… oh, God.” My eyes widen as I cover my mouth with my hand.Why the hell hadn’t I thought past the relationship ending?
“What?”
“Your future girlfriend isnevergoing to accept me as your friend. This is going to be the end of us.”
He snorts comically before his shoulders drop and he pouts sympathetically. For someone that has two female besties, he really doesn’t know women. “I thought you weren’t worried about this changing our friendship, Hayls.”
“I’m impulsive, you know that. I should have thought it through and––”
“You’re worrying over nothing. At least where that’s concerned. I don’t plan on keeping secrets from my ‘future girlfriend.’ She’s going to know this was fake. We’re good.”
“But what if we kiss? She’s still—”
“Hayley, stop.” With his palm on the coffee table between us, he balances his weight on his hand and leans forward, pressing a finger to my lips. And honestly, it shuts me right up because…Damn. “What happened to winging it?” he asks, his eyes boring into mine while my heart races. “Stop worrying about hypothetical situations.”
“Okay,” I whisper against his finger, a soft smile playing on my lips.
“Okay?”
“Yep.” I nod and he removes his hand, sitting back. “I’m good.”
“Good.” He crosses his arms over his broad chest, and I have to stop myself from reacting. That was a little bit hot. “Next question,” he continues, completely oblivious to what he’s doing to me as my body heats. “When should we make this thing public?”
