No Matter What (76 page)

She looked at him as she got up off the sofa.
 
“Everything’s fine.”
 
She wasn’t going to tell him about Kenny.
 
No way did he need to know about that.
 
There was nothing to know anyway, at least, that’s what she kept telling herself.

“When are you off to
Malibu
?”

“In an hour or so.
 
Bobby’s going to drive me over there.
 
Michael’s coming down once he’s finished here.
 
Do you and Martha fancy coming over for dinner tomorrow night?
 
At the beach house?”

Reece smiled.
 
“We’d love to.
 
Martha can’t wait to see you again.
 
She’s already chosen her wedding dress you know.”

India
smiled back, giving him one more hug.
 
“I know.
 
She e-mailed me the pictures.”

“And?”

“And nothing.
 
You’ll have to wait until the big day to see her in it.”
 
She opened the door of his trailer and turned back to look at him.
 
“Thanks, dad.”

He smiled at her again.
 
“What did I do?”

“Be you,” she replied.
 
“It’s just good to see you.”

He watched her run back out into the studio lot, knowing she wasn’t telling him everything, he could read her too well.
 
There was something on her mind, of that he was sure, but if she’d wanted to talk about it then she would have done.
 
Reece knew, however, that there was one thing she would never talk to him about.
 
One person, and that was what worried him.
 
If whatever was on her mind involved Kenny Ross then Reece knew he had every right to be worried.
 
And somehow he knew that he should be.

***

Michael watched
India
as she laughed hysterically at something Bobby was telling her.
 
She looked beautiful when she laughed.
 
He loved her so much it physically hurt.
 
That she’d fallen for him was still something, to this day, he couldn’t get his head around, but even after all these years, even after marrying her, after listening to her vows and looking into her eyes and knowing she meant every word she said, even after all of that he couldn’t kick this unending fear of losing her.
 
But it wasn’t just a fear of losing her full stop, no, he didn’t for one minute think that she’d just up and leave him.
 
It wasn’t as simple as that.
 
Michael had one fear and one fear only and that was the fear that she’d leave him for the only person that still came between them, in Michael’s eyes.
 
Kenny.

But Kenny was still in Vegas and she was here in
L.A.
and that gave Michael some much needed time with his wife, time he wanted to use to try and get her used to the idea of trying for a baby again.
 
He wanted to take that final step forward, he wanted to make her see that having a family was the right thing to do but he knew he had to pick the right time.
 
Malibu
was definitely the right place.
 
India
loved the beach, she felt calm and relaxed there and that was exactly what he needed her to be.

He smiled as she came running over to him.
 
She looked incredible, even in her simple outfit of jeans, baseball boots and a t-shirt, her long hair loose around her shoulders.
 
She never really did the whole
Hollywood
glamour thing unless she needed to.
 
She felt far more comfortable in her jeans and boots and that’s what Michael loved about her.
 
She wasn’t high maintenance, which was fine with him.
 
He’d been down that route before with an ex-wife and he hadn’t enjoyed it.

“Hey, beautiful,” he said, still smiling as she threw herself against him, sliding a hand round the back of his neck, kissing him slowly.
 
“And what did I do to deserve that?”

“Do I need a reason to kiss my husband?”

“No.
 
You absolutely don’t.”
 
He slipped an arm round her waist and pulled her closer, noticing Layla Boyd and her mother watching and wanting to get the message across that he was in love with his wife.
 
He was off limits.

“Me and Bobby are leaving for
Malibu
in a minute.”

“Already?”
 
Michael stroked the small of her back.
 
“You’ve only been here an hour or so.”

“I know.
 
But you’re busy and I really want to get to the beach.”

“So, you don’t want to be with me then?” he smiled, kissing her gently.

She stroked his face, smiling back.
 
“I want to be
alone
with you, not sharing you with everyone else.
 
It’s bordering on frustration just sitting watching you, thinking about what I want to do to you ... what I want
you
to do to
me
...”

“You really know how to kill a guy, don’t you?” Michael groaned, pulling her closer against him.

She was still smiling, stroking the back of his neck, her mouth close to his. “I’ve only come over from Vegas to distract you.”

“It’s working.”

She kissed him slowly.
 
“You can punish me later.”

Leaving him with just a smile and a look that left him more than a little hot under the collar she ran off to Bobby, waving goodbye to Reece and a few members of the crew she was familiar with as she left the set.

Michael closed his eyes for a second and ran a hand through his hair.
 
He’d give anything to drop everything he was doing and follow her straight to
Malibu
but that wasn’t an option.
 
He had to get himself back on track.
 
India
was a beautiful distraction but she’d be waiting for him tonight, and that thought would keep him going all day.

“Is
India
leaving us?” Layla asked, walking over to Michael, touching his arm as she stood next to him.
 
He stared at her hand on his arm, then looked at her.

“Not that it’s any of your concern, Layla, but yes, she’s leaving us.”
 
He pulled his arm away and she let go of him.
 
He saw a fleeting look of frustration pass across her face and that made him feel almost angry.
 
Whatever was going on here he just wished it would stop.
 
It was tiring.
 
“Back on set please, Layla.
 
We’ve got a movie to shoot and a schedule to keep to and right now you’re making me late.”

She didn’t move, just continued to look at him.

“Have we got a problem here, Layla, because, if not, could you please just get back on set?”

She turned on her heels and walked away, but Michael didn’t miss the look her mother threw him.
 
He really didn’t need this crap.

“Everything ok?” Reece asked, coming over.

“Yeah,” Michael sighed.
 
“Everything’s fine.”

Reece looked over at Sofia, who was now talking to Layla, frequently looking over at Michael as they talked.
 
Layla’s manner was that of a frustrated child and it would have amused Reece if what they were doing wasn’t so dangerous.

“Are you handling that ok?” Reece indicated to Sofia and Layla.

“Of course I’m handling it ok.”
 
Michael knew he’d sounded a bit short then and he sighed again.
 
“I’m sorry, Reece.
 
I’m just a bit stressed.
 
I want everything to be right, you know.
 
With the movie.
 
And I can do without a lot of the extra shit I’m having to deal with.”

Reece smiled at his son-in-law, and it was still quite odd to think of him as a son-in-law when there was only a few years between them age wise.
 
“I suppose
India
being around doesn’t help either.”

“No, she’s a distraction that actually helps.
 
I wanted her to stick around.
 
I really did.”

“I’d better get back out there then.
 
The sooner we get done today the sooner you can join her at the beach.”

Michael looked at Reece and smiled.
 
He was actually proving to be the one thing keeping him sane during this movie.
 
“Thanks.”

Because the sooner he got to
India
the sooner he could start work on talking her round.
 
Maybe they could even start trying for a baby before she left for Vegas. And with that thought, Michael walked back out onto set and back to work, the prospect of
India
, the beach and a possible new baby there in the forefront of his mind, because he wanted that future, and he’d get it.
 
He had absolutely no doubt about that.

CHAPTER 39

India
walked out onto the deck of her and Michael’s
Malibu
beach house and looked out over the
Pacific Ocean
, the heat of the
midday
sun burning her back.
 
She’d changed out of her jeans and t-shirt into something more appropriate for the warm Californian summer – white denim shorts and a white bikini top, her hair tied back – and she saw no harm in trying to grab a bit of a tan while she had the time.

Bobby had gone out to get some food and alcohol.
 
She really fancied a glass of wine, red or white, she didn’t mind, she wasn’t fussy.
 
She couldn’t even think about becoming a wine snob, and in reality she preferred a beer but Bobby was constantly telling her it wasn’t ladylike to always be swigging out of a bottle but she knew he was only teasing, and if she didn’t do what she did then he’d have nothing to go on about.

Checking her ‘phone again she saw another text message from Kenny had arrived.
 
He was in
Malibu
now.
 
He was just a matter of minutes away but she wasn’t sure she should even be thinking about seeing him.
 
One stupid kiss back in
Las Vegas
had really shaken her.
 
It was ridiculous.
 
They’d had to kiss God knows how many times over the past few weeks for this movie and she’d felt nothing, yet one small kiss in her trailer and he had her heart beating faster all over again.

She put her ‘phone on the table beside her and continued to look out over the beach, remembering how much she loved this place, remembering how her whole life here had started with a small beach house, bought for her by the man who, at the time, she’d had no idea was her father.
 
Such a lot had happened in the past ten years.
 
When she stopped to think about it she still couldn’t believe it sometimes.
 
There were things she would change, of course there were.
 
Every day she still wished her brother was here, but she wouldn’t change who she’d fallen in love with.
 
Michael was a wonderful man and she couldn’t think of her life without him.
 
Just the sound of his voice could calm her down when she felt stressed and tired, and when he kissed her she could close her eyes and pretend the whole crazy world they lived in was nowhere near them.
 
But there was always Kenny.
 
He’d never go away.
 
She couldn’t think of her life without him either, but in her head she was confused.
 
Her and Kenny’s relationship was and always had been a strange one for anyone to understand, but when the lines became blurred like they had done now, when that happened it scared her.
 
Because she loved Michael, didn’t she?

“
India
?”

She looked down onto the beach.
 
Kenny was standing there, handsome as ever and dangerously real.

“Can I come up?” he asked, his hands shoved in his pockets.

“Yeah ... sure.
 
Come on.”

She buzzed the gate and he opened it, running up the wooden stairs that led up from the beach to the decking area.

“I thought I’d take a walk on the beach, see if you were around yet.”

She continued to look out over the ocean.
 
“I came here a bit earlier than planned.
 
Michael’s too busy, I was only disturbing him.”

“Is he ok?”

She looked at him, already regretting letting him come up.
 
“Stop pretending you care how he is, Kenny.
 
What do you want anyway?
 
Why did you come to
L.A.
?
 
I thought you were staying in Vegas?”