“It was one week, Marly,” he snorted, and it was an odd combination of a chuckle and a grunt.
I shook my head, backing up. “Don’t do that. Don’t trivialize what this week was.” His words stabbed me in the chest, the pain resonating through my body like a poisoned dart and just as paralyzing. “I don’t think you mean that.”
“Marly,” he whispered, finally spinning to face me. “You’d be so much better off if you just took this role and didn’t look back.”
He lifted a hand, brushing the backs of his knuckle across my cheekbone. Electricity surged from his touch on my skin down to my heart. It was a small victory, but I’d take it. At least he was looking me in the eyes again. “Not a chance, Jude. The studio wants you in the film. And I want you in the film. Either I do this movie with you, or I don’t do it at all. If you’re not in it, then the part is going to Layla and someone else.”
Jude groaned, and I knew I hit him in a soft spot.
“Is it me? Do you not want to act beside me now?” My stomach wobbled with the thought, but unfortunately, it was a very real possibility that I had to face. “Because if that’s the case, I’ll decline the part—you can have Leo back. I’ll sell my wedding dress for you,” I whispered. “I’d rather not have the part, if it means having you.”
Jude rushed toward me and crashed his lips to mine. His tongue plunged into my mouth, devouring me in a kiss that made my toes curl within my Chanel pumps. His lips worked around mine before pulling away gently. “That,” he said, his breath nearly a pant, “is not the case. I can’t do this role with anyonebutyou.”
A smile twitched on my lips. “So… you’ll be my Leo?”
“Yes,” he said quietly. “As long as I can also be your Jude. And you—my Marlena.”
I pushed up on my toes, brushing my lips gently to his. “So, how do we get my LnS membership bumped into full time?”
