Cash (Hawthorne Brothers Romance) (11 page)

“You’re pretty,” she said, looking up at me.

“Why thank you! You’re such a beautiful young lady,” I replied, smiling.

“Are you Cash’s girlfriend?” she asked.

“I am,” I said, a little shocked that she’d lead off with that.

“He’s really nice,” she said. “He was here last year and we had a lot of fun.”

“You did? He told me how much fun he had last year. What’s your name?” I asked.

“Nora,” she said shyly.

“Nora? He talked about a Nora when he told me about his time here last year. Was that you he was talking about? The little girl who kicked his butt?” I asked, making her smile.

“Yeah! That was me!” she said, perking right up.

“Oh, boy, he’s going to be so scared when he sees you, let me tell you. He’s been working really hard on his games so that he could come back and beat you, but I don’t think he will. You look too good,” I said.

She giggled, blushing, and I couldn’t help but feel my heart warm up. Cash never did talk about her, or about any kid in particular, but she didn’t need to know that because in this moment, the world revolved around her, and I knew she wasn’t thinking about her illness anymore. Right now she was on the moon because Cash Hawthorne knew who she was. That was all that was important.

“Cash,” I said, nudging him.

“Well, hi there,” he said, smiling at Nora.

“This is Nora, remember her? You told me how scared you were that she would beat you again this year?” I asked, giving him a wink.

“Oh no, not Nora! You grew so much since I last saw you that I didn’t even recognize you!” he said.

“Are you really scared?” she asked, with a tone of disbelief, like she had to ask him to verify I was telling the truth.

“Scared? I’m terrified! I still love you, though, no matter how much you kick my butt,” he said.

“I love you too, Cash. Thank you for playing games with me,” she said, smiling.

Cash walked over, got on his knees, and gave her a big hug, kissing her cheek. I saw a woman, presumably her mom, standing close by and wiping tears from her eyes. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to see your child
this
happy, and when she was sick nonetheless. 

“How about we play a game together? Just me and you,” Cash said, and her face brightened up.

We all walked over to the basketball game, where you shot baskets against a timer. Cash and Nora walked up, me and her mom staying back, before the attendant hit the button and the timer started.

“Go!” Cash said.

Nora picked up the basketballs like her life depended on it and threw them at the basket. She got a couple in, and so did Cash, but he held back and purposefully missed them so that she could beat him again. She didn’t even come close to catching on, as the look of dedication on her face was the strongest I’d ever seen on anybody.

“He’s so good with kids,” her mom said.

“He really is,” I replied.

“Are you two?” she asked, pointing back and forth at us.

“Yes,” I said, laughing a little. “We’re together.”

“I know he probably leads a busy life, but his kids are going to be so lucky to have such a dedicated and involved father. Nora’s father left when she was two, and she hasn’t had any contact with him since. Seeing her with a male role model like this really makes me happy. She needs it,” she said.

“Maybe he can work with her more, then,” I said.

“Wow, that would be so nice for her,” she said.

“I can’t promise anything, or when it would happen, but I can see that Nora has grown on him, and I know he’d love to play with her again and make her happy,” I said.

The game ended, and Nora won by two points. She jumped up and down and Cash acted in pure disbelief. “You got me!” he said as she laughed.

“It’s okay, I still love you,” she said, hugging him and kissing him on the cheek.

“Uh oh, you better watch out. It looks like I might have a new girlfriend,” Cash said, looking at me.

“Oh, I think I’ll let it slide this time! I don’t want Nora to beat me, too!” I said, making her giggle even more.

There’s a saying that watching your boyfriend or husband being great with children will make your ovaries explode, and that was the truth. There was something satisfying and warming about the man you like or love being so great with kids. It was reassuring, at least if you wanted kids, and I left the carnival with a greater appreciation for him and our relationship. I had no reason to worry that if we ever had kids he wouldn’t be there, or wouldn’t care, or be a bad father in any way. I knew I’d be able to count on him to be the best dad he could be.

Cash signed autographs before we left and took a few pictures before saying bye while the kids were getting ready to head back inside the hospital. It made my heart hurt a little, knowing they were going back in to be hooked up to machines and IVs. At least I could take solace in knowing that we made their lives great for the day. They weren’t even thinking about their treatments, but just about all the fun they were having.

“That was so great,” Cash said as we got into his SUV.

“I’m so glad I decided to come with you today. I think it went really well,” I said.

“Stacey was very impressed with you as well, with the interviews and how you conducted yourself today. You’re a dream for her,” he said.

“A dream?” I asked, laughing. “How so?”

“Not all the women I’ve dated have been so great. Scandals and bad press are a nightmare for your publicist. Images and reputations aren’t all that easy to repair, you know,” he said.

“True, I guess I’ve never thought about it that way. Well, at least you won’t have to worry about me…or will you?” I asked, teasing.

“Do you have to go home tonight?” he asked.

“I don’t
have
to,” I said.

He looked at me. “Can you not?”

“Don’t you have work?” I asked.

“Not until the morning, and that’s then, not now. I don’t really want to leave you already,” he said.

“Then I won’t leave. But only if we can cuddle,” I said, my finger pointed like I meant business.

“That was definitely one of my terms, so I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

Cash reached over and held my hand as he drove us the rest of the way to his house. I looked out of the window and watched the world go by. All that mattered to me in this moment was us, and right now, it was going pretty damn well.

Cash ordered a Hawaiian pizza and we curled up in front of the fire and turned on
The Bachelor
on demand, much to his chagrin. Still, he was a good sport and didn’t make me turn it off, and as the pizza crusts sat in the box and the bottle of wine he brought out started to empty, I rested my head against his thigh while he ran his fingers through my hair. 

I never thought I’d be this lucky.

Chapter Twenty-One

Cash

Two weeks had passed and it was time to film my final scene for the movie. Working on movies was something fierce, requiring a lot of dedication and time in ways I never thought imaginable. I had to work out regularly, eat a strict diet, work days that were sometimes fourteen hours long, and so much more. People thought I had this cushy job, just memorizing a few lines at a time, but it was harder than I thought most people could handle.

I stepped onto set, David manning the helm, and my final scene of the movie and day couldn’t have been easier. We were only mid-way through the day as well, about two in the afternoon, which meant I could get home and beat traffic to get ready for the wrap party later tonight.

“Action!” David yelled.

“You thought you could get away, but little did you know who you were dealing with. The nation is now safe because of me, and once again, justice prevails,” I said while looking majestically over a CGI sunset overlooking the White House.

“Cut!” David yelled, and the cast and crew burst into applause.

I waved, smiling, as I couldn’t have been happier to finish things off and finally have some downtime. “Great job, Cash,” David said, giving me a hug. 

“It feels so good to be done,” I said.

“Don’t I know it. Now it’s just to post and then to release this bad boy,” he said, patting my back.

Even though our filming was done, some of the hardest parts of the entire movie-making process were still left to do. Doing press tours was horrendous, as we skipped from town to town and had to talk with every single reporter, news agency, and entertainment website out there. Sometimes we’d do ten interviews in a row, essentially answering the same questions over and over again. I hated doing it, but it was one of those necessary evils that I was contractually obligated to do. 

I packed up my things from my trailer and headed home. The entire cast and crew were set to meet in a couple hours for the wrap party downtown. The studio rented a giant converted warehouse that hosted a lot of big name parties for us, and we were going to bring friends, family members, and anybody else close to us. For me, that meant bringing Jenna, who was more than excited to meet the people I worked with and talked so much about. I knew some of them were pretty pumped to meet her as well, considering how much I talked about her.

Jenna was meeting me here, and a town car was going to pick us up so we didn’t have to drive tonight. I thought we both planned on doing some light drinking, and we wanted to be safe and not reckless. 

I dressed in a white button-up shirt and navy blue slacks before my doorbell rang and Jenna was waiting at the door. “Don’t you look beautiful,” I said as she walked inside.

“You look pretty handsome yourself,” she said, giving me a kiss.

I’d given her the passcode to the gate, figuring we’d been dating for a little while and I could always change it if things went south. Besides, I didn’t think she was the vengeful type, so I didn’t think I’d have much if anything to worry about.

Soon after the town car pulled up, the driver getting out to open the door for us, and just as soon as I sat down Jenna grabbed my hand and held it. “I missed you,” she said, kissing it and cuddling up to me. 

“I’ll have some more time now,” I said.

“Promise? I don’t want to be let down,” she said.

“The shooting is over, so until press starts, we’re good,” I said.

“I’m so excited to know that we can spend time together whenever we want. No more full days and nights with you working. It’s going to be so amazing,” she said with a huge smile.

We pulled up to the event, as guys in red tuxedos opened the doors and cameras started flashing. The music was raging inside and Jenna and I stood and took a few pictures together, smiling from ear to ear, before going inside and getting into the action. Some of these guys, middle-aged men with beer bellies and ponytails, were dancing around like they were teenagers at a high school dance. It was hysterical, seeing their kids with their heads down as they tried not to claim that they were in fact their children.

“Here he is,” David said as he walked up with a drink in his hand.

“David, this is my girlfriend, Jenna. Jenna, this is my amazing director, David,” I said.

“I’ve heard so much about you. It’s so nice to finally meet you,” he said, shaking Jenna’s hand.

“Same here. Cash only has the nicest things to say about you,” she said.

“Listen, Cash, can I talk to you in private for a moment? It’s about something important,” David said.

“Go,” Jenna said. “I’ll get us some drinks.”

“What’s up?” I asked as Jenna walked away.

“The studio has a
huge
opportunity for you. They’re starting a new superhero movie franchise, and they want you to head it. You’d be the superhero, and it’s at least a four-movie deal,” David said.

“Wow, that’s flattering, but I’m not sure I can commit to that right now. We just did this, and we still have another—”

“Listen, I know it’s a big decision, but think about it for a second. The pay is astronomical, and they also want to give you a cut of the back-end ticket sales, at-home sales, merchandising, the entire kit and caboodle. Not only that, but you’d be a fucking
superhero
,” he said, sloshing his drink around.

“When would they want me to start, if I did it?” I asked.

“Next week, that’s the part that sucks. They want to send you to train with some monks or something in Thailand. I don’t know, but you’d be gone for a couple months, traveling the world and getting training and bulking up for the role. There’s a large fighting sequence to it, and you’d have to know all these different types of martial arts,” he said.

“Why couldn’t I learn them here? There’s tons of teachers around here,” I said.

“Listen, I don’t know why, but they have a hard-on for the authentic experience. Maybe they’d be more lenient on letting you choose the places to go,” he said.

“Man, I just don’t know if I could go, David. I’m with Jenna now, and things are going really well. I just told her I’d be around from now until press for this movie starts,” I said.

“Hey, I know you like the girl, she’s a sweetheart, but this is a career-defining role. Kids will be watching this for generations and looking up to you. Your face will be on toys, posters, cereal boxes, everything! There are a ton of women out there, you know that,” he said.

“Yeah, but not like her,” I mumbled.

“Just think about it, and let them know in the next two days. They’ll have to go with somebody else if you say no. I have to go find my wife, she’s around here somewhere,” he said before walking away while dancing.

“Good news?” Jenna asked as she came over with two drinks.

“Yeah, just boring work stuff with the movie. Nothing important,” I said, putting my arm around her.

I wanted to tell her, I wanted to spill everything and let her know exactly what they wanted me to do, but I couldn’t—at least not here, anyway. I knew this would cause an argument, or at the very least some tears on both ends. This party was a happy time, and I could talk to her about it later. For now, we could dance and forget about everything David said.