SWNOVELS Chapter 27
Chapter 27
“I can drive myself, you know,” I said as I adjusted the air conditioning in the front seat. I suppressed a yawn as Damon drove
through the seemingly endless desert just outside the city.
“My car’s nicer,” Damon smirked, without taking his eyes off the road.
I had to give him that. His car was much nicer than mine.
I leaned back in the leather seats, enjoying the automatic heated seats on a crisp morning. I didn’t know how my grandmother
did it, but just the morning after she’d warned us about the cold, the temperature had begun to drop.
“Plus, I need to check on Cassidy’s improvements,” Damon said firmly. “Check that everything is alright.”
“It was alright before,” I crossed my arms, still not happy he’d spent so much money to upgrade the set. I was sure it was
amazing, but I felt like I owed him more and more. Though, I was happy with what Cassidy had done with the set.
“It would’ve collapsed on top of the actors,” Damon said and glanced at me, pointedly. “Then you’d be paying for lawyers.”
“Point taken,” I said with a sigh.
“But still,” I added, stubbornly. “I’ll pay you back once the movie comes
out.”
“No need,” Damon chuckled. “It was pocket money.”
“Of course, it was,” I sighed, rolling my eyes and looking out my window, not wanting to meet his gaze.
Even if I had been born into a rich family, my father made sure I never had the lavish lifestyle that Corinna had. Fancy dresses
and VIP parties never fit me anyway.
The sun was already rising into the sky by the time we got to the gate of the set. The desert had heated up rather quickly by the
time we entered and pulled in.
I caught my first glimpse of the improved set as we slowly drove through,
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and I had to say I was impressed. It looked amazing.
The town was new and vibrant, the buildings looking more structurally sound, but also realistic. Even the paint had the tiniest
details down-the chips and faded color looked exactly like an old western town should be.
With all the set hands and assistants running back and forth, it was easy to believe we had stepped into the 1800s-old west.
“Oh, it’s fantastic!” I exclaimed happily as we pulled to a halt in front of the director’s tent.
“He did a better job than I thought,” Damon muttered as we both got out of the car.
“Addie!”
I barely had time to turn around before a body crashed against me. I lost my balance, tumbling backward, but luckily, the solid
mass of Damon was behind me to stop my fall.
Damon glared at the offender who only grinned widely in response.
“I missed you so much,” Jenna said, excitedly as she pulled back. “Don’t ever leave me in charge again.”
“That bad?” I asked, smiling amusedly.
“You have no idea!” Jenna groaned.
“Lucas has been a pain in my *ss! He wanted to include one of the outtakes, but it wasn’t in the script, and I told him, we can’t
rewrite the script because of one line that wasn’t even that funny to begin with. He did it anyway and replaced everybody’s
scripts so it has the line in it!”
“That sounds like him,” I laughed. Damon followed us into the director’s tent where I spotted not only the man in question but
Cassidy and Gabriel as well.
“Well, if it isn’t the lovebirds!” Lucas grinned, opening his arms wide as we entered. “Come to join the likes of peasants once
more?”
“What’s he doing here?” Gabriel asked crossly as he stared at Damon.
Damon paid him no mind and simply turned to Cassidy with a raised eyebrow.
Cassidy, for all his part, didn’t look offended in the slightest.
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“Renovations are done,” Cassidy said in his southern drawl. “All my people are packed up, too.”
“It sure was quick for how much they did,” Lucas said. “Cassidy, you’re a wizard, man.”
“I knew you guys would get along,” I smirked, taking my seat.
“Too much if you ask me,” Gabriel muttered under his breath.
“You’re just mad ’cause you lost at strip poker,” Lucas smirked, knowingly. “Bet you still have to sand up your-”
“Shut up!” Gabriel said as he turned crimson, ducking his head as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. “I let you
win.”
“Sure,” Lucas drawled. “Tell yourself that, kid.”
Gabriel flushed, turning on his heel as he stomped out of the tent.
“So, what is he doing here?” Lucas asked, pointing his thumb at Damon.
“I have a new job for you,” Damon interrupted, ignoring Lucas as he glanced at Cassidy calculatingly.
“Ooh, what is it this time?” Cassidy asked.
“Another movie set,” Damon said. “I think we’re missing out on an untapped business opportunity. I’ll set up a new contract when
we get back to the office.”
“Sounds promising,” Cassidy smiled. “This was real fun to work on. It’s cool to build a town straight out of history.”
“Do a sci-fi movie next,” Lucas offered with a grin. “Lord knows they need to rely on actual props instead of using CGI for
everything. They don’t make them like Galactic Starfighters anymore.”
“The second one is better!” Jenna cut in.
“Keep telling yourself that, babe,” Lucas scoffed. “Doesn’t make it true.”
“Not this again,” I groaned. I turned to Damon, who looked quite annoyed as the two began to bicker about the movie franchise
once more. “You might want to go. This could go on for a while.”
Damon nodded and said, “I’ll pick you up at three.”
“The first is a classic! The second was a clear shameless cash grab trying
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to copy the first one after its success!” Lucas argued.
“You take that back right now!” Jenna gasped, offended.
“Make it four,” I sighed, rolling my eyes.
Damon smirked, leaning over to kiss me on the forehead. My eyes fluttered closed, my cheeks heating up at the warm, fuzzy
feeling that grew in my chest.
“See you at four, then,” Damon said and grinned wider as if he knew exactly what he did to me.
“Just go,” I shoved him playfully, turning to my work. I heard him chuckle before he and Cassidy left, their footsteps fading away
slowly.
Jenna and Lucas fell silent, both of them staring at me with open mouths.
“What?” I snapped, defensively.
“What was that?” Jenna pointed to where Damon had walked away.
“He was saying goodbye,” I said and avoided their eyes. “Is our villain in makeup yet?”
“Yes,” Lucas grinned. “But you’re not getting away that easy. That was so cute. Like teenagers who just found out they liked one
another.”
I blushed further, sinking into my seat and refusing to meet their questioning glares.
“No way,” Jenna gasped, her eyes widening beyond belief. “You fell in love with him? After all those years griping about how
horrible he was?”
“I misunderstood him, that’s all,” I glanced away as I spoke. “Besides, it’s not like I hated him that much.”
“Yes, you did,” the two said together in perfect unison and laughed.
“Look, we’ve gotta save daylight here,” I snapped, not willing to talk about this any further. “We’ll have to reshoot a few scenes
with the new set. Did we get a female lead yet?”
“Fine, fine, and no, not since you turned down, you know who,” Jenna said, leaning against the table. “The company is still
pressuring us to hire her.”
“Not gonna happen,” I said, firmly. She was already too much a part of
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my life. I didn’t want her invading my work life as well.
“Tell them that,” Jenna snorted. “They’re more persistent than my grandmother when you take away her vodka.”
“I’m not going to even question that” Lucas raised an eyebrow, then turned to me and said, “We have a few options left. I left the
file on your desk. Oh, did you get the new script, by the way?”
“No,” I said, amusedly. “But I’m sure you have one for me.”
“You know me too well.”
Lucas pulled a copy of the script out from under the table, grinning like a mad fool as he handed it to me.
“Thank you,” I said, smiling at him gratefully after taking the script.
I opened it up, searching for the changes Jenna had complained about, but as I did, Jenna’s hand landed on my shoulder as she
leaned in close to
my car.
“I forgot to say this earlier but,” I could hear the smile in her voice as she whispered to me, “congratulations, Addie. Your ring is
beautiful. When’s the wedding?”
My breath hitched as I glanced down at the ring Damon had slid onto my finger this morning. My engagement ring felt so light on
my finger, I’d forgotten it was even there.
And I couldn’t deny it, it felt right sitting on my hand.
The gem glittered in the sunlight that peeked through the tent, and I was reminded strongly of Damon’s eyes which brought a
smile to my lips.
“Six days.” I said, quietly, only now suddenly feeling like everything was real. My smile slowly faded as reality began to set in.
“I’m getting married in six days,” I said slowly.