Page 96 of Secrets in the Deep

“What areyoudoing here, Roscoe?” Ryan growled, trying to keep his fucking frustration in check.

The director straightened. “My job.”

“No.” Ethan shook his head. “Your job is on pause.”

“And you sure as hell shouldn’t be calling the cast and crew out here to the middle of nowhere without security,” Ryan added.

Emily was the last person to step out of the house. Her eyes widened as she took in Ryan.

Roscoe inched forward, eyes breathing fire. “I don’t answer to you.”

“In this town, you do.”

The crunch of gravel beneath tires sounded behind him.

Ferris rushed from his car. “Roscoe, what the hell?”

“What do you mean, what the hell? I told you I wanted to use this house for a location.”

“And I told you no.” Ferris stopped opposite them, slightly out of breath from the short run from his car.

Roscoe lifted a shoulder. “I didn’t hear the word no.”

Like hell he didn’t.

Ryan’s gaze found Emily again. She stood with Preston, Faye, and a couple other cast members. Her eyes lifted and caught his.

Air knocked right out of his lungs.

Three days of not seeing her, three long fucking days, and he was already losing his goddamn mind.

Around him, the men continued to argue. Ryan’s attention wasn’t on them. It was on Emily as she left her group and walked toward a Cadillac Escalade.

His body closed the distance between them before his mind had a chance to catch up.

“Emi.” He gently gripped her arm.

She turned. Those beautiful hazel eyes widened as they took him in. “Ryan.” A flicker of something passed through her expression. Hesitation, maybe. Or something softer, more dangerous. “You didn’t need to come.”

He wanted to say something big, like he’d always come if she needed him. But after their last fight, she probably wouldn’t believe him. “Have dinner with me.”

“Dinner?”

“Yeah. The meal that comes after lunch.” He inched closer and touched her hip. “I want us to talk.”

“Is there much else to say?”

“Yes.” Fuck yes. There were a million things he had to say to her. A million words and promises and apologies he needed to give.

She looked past him, checking around the area before returning. “I don’t want to make the same mistake over and over again. Dating. Falling in love. Only to break up and get hurt again five years later.”

He tried not to flinch at how easily “mistake” and “falling in love” slipped into the same breath. “We won’t. Let me fix this.Please.”

Hope. It burned in her eyes. Shewantedhim to fix this.

“Okay.” One quiet word that made him want to throw his hands into the fucking air. “Dinner tonight.”

“Great, that sounds?—”