ã€ŠBest Evidenceã€‹


 February 2nd & 3rd, 2015

    Josh Tanner pushed out a breath as he jumped the steps up to his trailer door and slipped inside. How the hell was it only noon? It felt like he had been awake forever. Then again, he supposed getting up at three in the morning for hair and makeup made the day feel that much longer. And he had, what, another seven or eight months of this shit? Whose bright idea was it for him to contract into a damned franchise? Oh, right. His. Because Mackenzie had begged him to do it. He was a sucker for those adorable bright green eyes. A picture of his daughter caught his eyes and he grinned. Nine years old and nothing but trouble. No regrets; he would sign that damned contract again in a heartbeat to see that smile.

    Regardless of how tempting it was to take a nap during his filming break, he dropped down onto the couch and pulled up his laptop to fire off an email to his daughter. At the end of the month, she would be coming to visit and he could not wait! They were going to have a blast; Kenz hadn¡¯t been up to Canada yet. Niagara Falls, the museum, the science centre - weird Canadian spelling included - the tower thing, the aquarium!

    If he had a normal ex, he could have sent Kenz a message with all the details. But Mel had access to Kenz¡¯s phone. So Josh had set his daughter up with an email account without her mother¡¯s knowledge.

    Almost the second the laptop started up it acted weird, though. The mouse pointer thing went everywhere but where he told it to go, every click felt like wading through molasses, the email app closed almost the second he opened it¡­.

    ¡°The fuck is going on,¡± he muttered. What was he supposed to do with this? Computer shit went well over his head, hell he could barely type with both hands, even then he had to look at the keyboard. How the hell people did that without looking baffled him. What was the old joke? Have you tried turning it off and on again? It couldn¡¯t make the damned thing worse.

    The trailer door opened and Kris¡¯s voice hit his ears, ¡°No, I think he¡¯s good, thanks, Annie!¡±

    Rebooting the laptop, he lifted his head and grinned at Kristian as he closed the door on the poor girl. By the look on Kris''s face, he''d be tempted to guess he had been fending off a pack of lions, not one teenaged intern.

    ¡°Honestly, Josh? I can¡¯t tell if she wants to date you or go full Misery on you,¡± Kris said as he dropped down next to him.

    ¡°Maybe she wants to date you,¡± Josh said, teasing him. God, he was so glad he managed to convince Kris to be his assistant all those years ago. They had known each other since they were kids, practically inseparable since kindergarten. He couldn¡¯t imagine doing this with anyone but his best friend.

    Kris snorted a laugh. ¡°She¡¯s 19, Josh, almost half our age.¡±

    ¡°No judgement, man,¡± Josh said with a laugh. ¡°Long as you¡¯re happy.¡±

    Kris levelled him with what he¡¯d come to call ¡®the look¡¯. ¡°I have twice as many options as most people, dude. I¡¯m not hard up for a date.¡±

    ¡°You telling me she¡¯d be a worse option than Jeff?¡± he teased. From the moment Kris had introduced him, he hated Jeff. It was obvious the jackass was only in it because he wanted to meet the celebrities in Kris¡¯s friend circle. What an asshole.

    ¡°Don¡¯t remind me,¡± Kris muttered, wincing.

    Josh smiled. ¡°If I¡¯m not allowed to live down Emily, you¡¯re not allowed to live down Jeff.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure she dumped you the second you introduced her to Harris!¡± Kris laughed.

    ¡°Not my finest hour,¡± Josh admitted. As soon as he got back into the laptop the weird behaviour started up again. ¡°Dammit!¡±

    ¡°You break it? Again?¡±

    ¡°Funny,¡± he grumbled. ¡°Just trying to send Kenz an email, but the damned thing is¡­here, see for yourself.¡± He handed the laptop to Kris, frowning as he pulled out his phone. Sending emails on his damned phone was a huge pain in the ass. Then again, he supposed he could send her a voice note instead and surprise her when she got there. If he was lucky, she¡¯d send one back. Even thinking about hearing her voice again made him smile.

    ¡°Jesus, Josh,¡± Kris said. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be allowed anywhere near technology, man.¡± Pushing the lid closed, he sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll call Oli, see if he knows how to fix it.¡±

    When they first met, Oliver Lucas worked as an attorney for Josh¡¯s talent agency back and had left to form his own private practice when his wife got pregnant. They had become friends while Josh was filming his first movie and he had worked hard to convince him to sign on as his personal attorney. While Oli had refused, they had remained in contact with Oliver occasionally taking on one-off jobs to review legalese for him. The bonus was his wife had some sort of IT job and some of her skills had rubbed off on Oli. That meant whenever they were in Toronto, they had their own personal IT support. In exchange for a few open bar nights at whatever place Josh was renting. ¡°Thanks, man. I need to let Kenz know what I have planned for her visit, see what she thinks.¡±

    Kris smiled. ¡°She won¡¯t give two shits as long as she¡¯s with you, Josh. You know how much she looks forward to seeing you.¡±

    A half-assed laugh escaped him. ¡°Maybe if she had a mom who cared more about her than the child support checks¡­.¡± The only damned reason Mel wanted to keep Kenz - the thousands of dollars he paid out a month in child support. Better than a full-time job and with none of the work. What the hell he had ever seen in that greedy woman he would never know¡­.

    ¡°Speaking of,¡± Kris said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a piece of paper. ¡°Court¡¯s agreed to a hearing in your request for sole custody. Bad news is the court date is after you wrap here.¡±

    Josh sighed and had a quick read over the letter from the courts. It was an uphill battle, he already knew that. Judges tended to favour the mother and he worked long, hard, exhausting hours acting. Before Kenz had basically guilted him into signing for this role, he had been ready to give acting up to raise her. But she said she¡¯d never speak to him again if he did that. Manipulative little shit. ¡°She¡¯s gonna hate this,¡± he groused.

    ¡°She¡¯s made it nine years, Josh, she¡¯ll make it another eight months. Kid¡¯s as strong and stubborn as you,¡± Kris teased, nudging him in the ribs with an elbow.

    ¡°Anything we can do to speed this up?¡±

    Kris shook his head. ¡°Unfortunately not, man. I know you¡¯d throw your entire fortune at this if you could, but we¡¯ve gotta play by the rules here.¡±

    ¡°This sucks,¡± he sighed, dropping the letter on the small table beside the couch. Lolling his head back, he scrubbed a hand across his face and let out a frustrated groan.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Kris said. ¡°It does. But you got that weekend to look forward to at the end of the month. Kenz is gonna have a blast! Maybe we can get her out here during the summer too - they have that exhibition thing!¡± Josh was pretty sure his excitability had rubbed off on Kris years ago - the exclamation points were almost audible as Kris spoke.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± The Canadian National Exhibition - a giant-ass carnival thing with animals, rides, and all kinds of neat shit. Rock climbing walls, rodeos, hell, he seemed to recall reading the thing had an ice rink. Or was that a one-off? Either way, Kenz would love it. If he could convince his ex to let her come visit. What a pain in the ass.

    A knock at the door interrupted his train of thought.

    ¡°Mr. Tanner? They¡¯re ready for you on set again,¡± a woman¡¯s voice called through the door.

    ¡°He¡¯ll be right there,¡± Kris called back. ¡°Come on, time to go save the planet from an alien invasion.¡±

    Josh laughed a little at that. ¡°You¡¯re not saving shit, you¡¯re watching me do all the hard work.¡±

    ¡°Someone¡¯s got to get your prissy ass those lattes you love so much,¡± Kris shot back, grinning as he pushed off the couch and walked to the door. ¡°Let¡¯s go, fly boy.¡±

    ¡°You know, technically I¡¯m royalty,¡± Josh said, following his friend out the door.

    ¡°This movie¡¯s going to your head.¡±

    With a smirk and a salute, Josh followed his friend.

    <hr>

    At a break in filming, Josh dropped into his chair and let the hair and makeup crew fix him up. His co-star, Ashley Reed, was relatively new to acting, but the studio had decided to give her a chance in this series. It was hardly the first time they¡¯d taken a relatively unknown actor and shot them up to fame. But Ashley just¡­he struggled to get through lines with her. Their characters were supposed to become romantically involved and compared to how they got along during the auditions, it was like acting with a sheet of paper as his co-star. At first he had chalked it up to nerves, but now? It was a pattern. The frustration, from both himself and the crew, was palpable. He had tried to be helpful and kind, and every time he did, she mistook it for interest in her.

    He let out a frustrated sigh as his makeup was reset for the umpteenth time that day.

    After Josh reassured the crew that his irritation was not aimed at them, Kris appeared in his field of vision and he waved him over. His friend was clearly bothered, shuffling and nervously rubbing one of his arms as he slowly approached. ¡°Hey, man!¡±

    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Hey.¡±

    Josh waved everyone but Kris away, and as soon as they were out of earshot asked, ¡°You okay?¡±

    Kris pushed out a slow breath. ¡°Oli thinks your laptop¡¯s been¡­compromised or some shit. He says to leave it as is, don¡¯t touch anything, and he¡¯s gonna reach out to the agency, give them the name of someone who can help. Assuming everyone signs off and the contracts can be set quickly, Oli says they can meet us at yours tomorrow.¡±

    That did not sound good. ¡°What the hell does ¡®compromised¡¯ mean?¡± Josh asked, frowning.

    Raising an eyebrow, Kris asked, ¡°What part of our friendship makes you think I¡¯d have any idea, dude?¡±

    A sigh escaped him as he rubbed a hand across his chin, the only place free from any makeup. ¡°How?¡±

    The only response he got was that arched eyebrow.

    ¡°Fair,¡± he conceded. ¡°Tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°Oli says they can be at yours by 10am,¡± Kris said with a nod. ¡°And change your password. Oli¡¯s orders.¡±

    <hr>

    As the car pulled up past the hospital and turned down the road that led to the Bridle Path, Beck Kendall levelled a look at her brother-in-law. He had referred her to some sort of talent agency and helped her sign a contract and NDA quickly. But somehow in all that he failed to mention whoever this client was they could afford to live in the Bridle Path, the richest neighbourhood in Toronto. If she thought Burlington was expensive, the Bridle Path was utterly unattainable. From what she heard, one of the houses there even had a damn golf course in the backyard. Who the hell needed a golf course in their backyard? Probably some rich studio asshole with more money than sense.

    ¡°Oliver,¡± she muttered, watching the mansions out the window. ¡°Who the hell is this client?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll see,¡± he replied, grinning to himself as he followed the road.

    Beck huffed a laugh. ¡°Starting to think I should¡¯ve left the contract at the first rate instead of making it more reasonable,¡± she said to herself. The first rate in the contract had been¡­a lot. About five times what she would normally charge. She made Oliver put in a more reasonable, but still high rate before she would sign it. Looking around, she was starting to regret that choice. Whoever this rich asshole was, he could afford the extra. Holy shit.

    The car pulled up to a gate and Oliver rolled down his window to request entry. Beyond the gate Beck saw so many trees it was practically a forest, and a weird looking building poking through the green. It was short, flat, and lifeless. Honestly, it resembled a nuclear bunker more than a house or a mansion.

    They came to a stop out front of a large door with a golden knocker in the centre and glass panelling all around it. The entrance to the soulless cement bunker. Oliver hopped out of the car and Beck followed him to the door, a little surprised when he just opened it and walked in.

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you knock?¡±

    Oliver grinned, ushering her inside. ¡°Nah, they¡¯re expecting us.¡±

    Somehow the inside was almost worse than the outside. Despite the excessive plant life, it reminded Beck more of an office building than a place where people lived. At a stretch you could argue it looked like a hotel, but that would be reaching. Everything was white, sharp angles. Silver handrails everywhere. It was too pristine to be lived in. When she glanced up, the various floors all had the same white paint and silver guardrails. It reminded her of photos of open plan office lobbies. Who the hell had designed it? Oliver led her through the building, but she couldn¡¯t stop staring at the ridiculously boring features.

    ¡°Is this a house or an office building?¡± she asked.

    ¡°I told you!¡± a voice shouted in front of her. ¡°I told you, Kris!¡±

    Beck most certainly did not jump. And she definitely did not scream.

    When she realised what was happening, she blinked in surprise. Josh Tanner was standing in front of her, smirking. Josh Tanner. The actor. Six foot two, all muscle, dirty blond hair, light scruff on his jaw, a friendly smile, the bluest eyes, and holy shit did he ever fill out those jeans. Yup, he was hotter in person than in the movies. And here she was in grubby jeans, a t-shirt, and a hoodie. She was going to kill Oliver. Shit.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± he said, ducking his head to hide his grin. ¡°Didn¡¯t mean to startle you.¡±

    Beck looked down at his outstretched hand and back up to his face, then down to the hand again. Right, he expected her to shake it. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± she said, accepting his hand. ¡°Your house, not mine. Shout all you want. Beck Kendall.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m -.¡±

    ¡°I do leave the house to see movies sometimes,¡± she said, smirking back at him. ¡°I know who you are, Mr. Tanner.¡±

    The colour that rushed to his cheeks was the last thing she expected. Did she just make Josh Tanner blush?

    ¡°It¡¯s Josh,¡± he muttered. Maybe the flush to his cheeks was from exercise? ¡°Not Mr. Tanner. So what¡¯s Oli told you?¡±

    ¡°Sweet fuck all,¡± she muttered, glaring at her brother-in-law. Why in the hell did Josh Tanner of all people need her help? What, he wanted to consult on a new role? Then it hit her that she had said ¡®fuck¡¯ in front of a total stranger. An incredibly hot and famous total stranger. ¡°Oh, uh, sorry, I didn¡¯t -.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± he said, still smiling. ¡°Heard somewhere that swearing makes people trust you more.¡±

    Oliver laughed. ¡°I think Beck¡¯s said that to me. I can hear it in her voice.¡±

    Now it was her turn to fight the burning in her cheeks. Luckily another man stepped forward and held out a hand. Almost as tall as Josh Tanner, he had red hair and friendly brown eyes. ¡°Kris Jensen. Nice to meet you, Becky.¡±

    Scratch the friendly. She tried to hide her distaste for the name with a firmly pasted on smile, and reached out for his hand. ¡°It¡¯s Beck, not Becky,¡± she corrected.

    ¡°You¡¯re gonna have to work to recover from that, man,¡± Oliver laughed, placing a hand on the man¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°He can start by not calling me Becky ever again,¡± she grumbled. Every time someone called her ¡®Becky¡¯ it reminded her of her school bullies. Not a pleasant memory. She much preferred Beck. It felt more like her anyway.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± Kris said, grimacing. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean any offence. It¡¯s¡­not a very usual name.¡±

    ¡°Is ¡®Beck¡¯ short for anything?¡± Josh Tanner asked.

    Beck blinked at him, realized she was being shirty, then allowed herself to relax and smile. ¡°Surprisingly, it¡¯s ¡®Rebecca¡¯. But don¡¯t call me that either.¡±

    ¡°Deal,¡± he said. ¡°Laptop¡¯s this way.¡± He gestured down another lifeless hallway. ¡°Started acting weird on set the other day.¡±

    Trying to focus on Josh Tanner rather than the boring building he was living in, she moved to walk in step with him as he led the way. ¡°Define ¡®weird¡¯.¡±

    He sighed, scrubbing a hand across his jaw. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Just¡­the mouse pointer thing was doing its own thing. It was slow as hell. Email closed itself.¡±

    ¡°Okay, so what were you doing before it started acting weird?¡±

    The boring hallway opened up into what she guessed was a living room. Not that it was obvious - her only clue was the TV. Apart from that it looked like any other room she had seen so far, including the hallways. There was also what appeared to be a dining room table, chairs, and a minifridge. On top of the dining room table sat a closed laptop. Who the hell had designed this monstrosity of a building?

    ¡°I was on set, filming,¡± he said, gesturing to the couch. ¡°It was fine up to that point.¡±

    From the corner of her eye, she saw Oliver and Kris sit on the only other couch and turn on the Xbox.

    ¡°Any downloads you might¡¯ve done?¡±

    Josh Tanner shook his head. ¡°No, none. I barely use the thing, except to email my daughter.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t message her?¡± Beck asked. From what she remembered hearing, his kid must¡¯ve been around ten. Why the hell would a kid that age be using emails to communicate with her dad? Most adults even preferred messaging, let alone what a kid would prefer. Not to mention she was pretty sure he was younger than her by at least a year or two.

    ¡°Long story,¡± he muttered, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth.

    Beck nodded and continued down the list in her head. ¡°What about emails? Anything with links?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡±

    Pushing out a breath, she glanced down at the laptop, then back up at him. He looked torn between annoyed and worried. Had it been too personal to ask about his daughter? Had she overstepped? Shit. ¡°Who has access to it? Is it password protected?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not an idiot,¡± he muttered with a wry grin. ¡°It¡¯s password protected. And I suppose anyone on set would technically be able to access it by just going into the trailer.¡±

    Stop insulting him, dumbass! ¡°Sorry, standard questions,¡± she said, offering him an apologetic smile.

    The grin he gave her in return didn¡¯t quite reach his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Keep going.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the password like? How many characters?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Mackenzie-oh-six,¡± he said, the smile becoming more genuine at the mention of his daughter. ¡°It¡¯s my daughter¡¯s name and birth year.¡±

    Beck felt her eye twitch and took a deep breath to stop herself from saying something stupid about the terrible password. ¡°I¡­.¡± Nothing helpful was willing to come out of her mouth.

    ¡°You¡¯re in trouble, man!¡± Oliver laughed.

    ¡°Shut up, Oliver,¡± Beck hissed at him. Turning her attention back, she smiled at Josh Tanner and reminded herself that not everyone has had an education in security. ¡°Okay, so¡­that¡¯s a bad password.¡± There wasn¡¯t really a way for her to sugar coat that.

    ¡°It¡¯s long,¡± he grumbled. ¡°And it¡¯s got numbers.¡±

    Nodding, she said, ¡°Yeah, in theory it¡¯s not bad - good length, not just letters. But your daughter¡¯s name will be on a list of common words. If someone¡¯s doing a brute force attack or even a guess, it¡¯s not hard to connect the dots.¡± Pulling her laptop out of her bag, she put it on the table and opened it. ¡°Let¡¯s update your password. I can teach you how to make it good and easy to remember.¡±

    ¡°I just changed it yesterday,¡± he complained, lolling his head back to look up at the ceiling.

    ¡°I¡¯m not even going to ask what it was,¡± she said, smiling and shaking her head. ¡°Promise this¡¯ll be painless.¡±

    He sighed, then grinned down at her. ¡°Okay, teach me, wise one.¡±

    <hr>

    Josh tossed his controller down onto the table as Kris¡¯s character hit him with a grenade launcher on the giant flatscreen. The sneaky jackass caught him as he briefly left his cover to retrieve a health pack.

    ¡°And then there were two,¡± Kris muttered, focussing on finding Oli.

    ¡°Asshole,¡± Josh shot back, smiling. It was his own dumbass fault and, if he was being honest with himself, it gave him more time to study the woman sitting at the dining room table working on his laptop.

    From what little he had seen of her so far, she was pretty sharp. And, hell, just plain pretty. Cute even. Sparkling green eyes, brown hair pulled into a braid that hung a little below her shoulder, and about a head shorter than him. And not remotely impressed with who he was. That was a first. She was currently hunched over the table, chewing on her lower lip and muttering to herself as she worked away. Yeah, definitely cute.

    ¡°Tanner!¡±

    Josh jumped a little and turned to see Oli grinning widely at him. Busted.

    ¡°You ready to get your ass kicked again?¡± Kris asked, a matching grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. ¡°Or do you wanna keep being weird?¡±

    ¡°Just give me the damn controller,¡± he sighed.

 February 6th, 2015

    Beck Kendall sighed as she dropped into a seat on the Go Train. God, she hated getting up this early to take the train into Toronto. It was always incredibly crowded, everyone was fighting for a seat, people wound up standing arm to arm and front to back with barely a centimetre between them. Half the time people wound up sitting on the stairs - dangerous as hell if the driver suddenly hit the brakes.  Luckily, she was able to find an actual available seat in a quad on the top level, next to a grumpy man in a business suit on his phone and across from a pair of teenagers in school uniforms.

    Rather than listen to the guy next to her yell into his phone, she pulled out her earbuds and started her ¡®Go Train¡¯ playlist. Loud enough to drown out the rest of the noise; not like anyone would hear it when it was so crowded anyway.

    It would be hard to get her full laptop set up in the space available to her, so she took out her tablet and started reviewing her documentation. Working on the public transit always made her sick, but at least she had managed to - miraculously - snag a window seat to recover if needed.

    Whatever had been done to Josh Tanner¡¯s computer, it was a doozy and it would take possibly weeks or months for her to recover the files and work out what happened. Good thing he was paying her well and hadn¡¯t tried to lowball her rate. And it wasn¡¯t remotely intimidating, having to interact with someone as famous as him for upwards of months. After the other day at his¡­office building house, he probably couldn¡¯t wait to get rid of her, between the muttering to herself over his laptop and her annoying questions about his internet habits.

    One of these days she would have to start reigning herself in and develop a filter before she opened her damned mouth. As a grown-ass woman in her late thirties, she should have learned that lesson ages ago. Instead, here she was making an ass of herself in front of every new person she met. Hopefully, it wouldn¡¯t affect the loan approval she had in the works. As soon as she had that money, she would be able to start her own website in earnest, instead of the Geocities-looking basic site she had now, and get her digital forensics business off the ground.

    Sighing, she glanced down at the backpack between her legs. It was a little larger than usual, since she had put in a dress to change into later. Not that she¡¯d had much luck with dating sites, but the guy who asked her out seemed pretty cool. And since she was planning to be in Toronto anyway, why not meet up for dinner? Socializing was not her strong suit. Especially with strangers on dating apps. There wasn¡¯t even a single date she could pick out that went well when she had met the guy on a dating app. Why the hell was she doing this again?

    Was it the thought of her impending date, the idea of running a business, or the motion of the train that was making her nauseated? With a deep breath, she looked up out the window at the green and white floral company logos and blinked. How the hell was she already that close to Union Station?

    ¡°Now arriving at Exhibition Station.¡±

    Beck sat up straighter and started putting her tablet away, though she kept her earbuds in. Easy way to not talk to anyone on the train while escaping the crowd. Thank god. She checked her phone to make sure the playlist was downloaded so she would have the excuse to not talk to people on the subway too.

    As the train arrived at Union, she pulled up her phone and checked the time. Not too bad, only a few minutes late. She should still have time to catch the subway up to Lawrence and make it to the Bridle Path before ten, maybe with a stop at Timmies. Just hook the coffee to her veins right now.

    After waiting for the train to empty and the crowd on the platform to die down, she headed out. One of the platform announcement TVs caught her eye as she descended to the main level of the station. There was an awful lot of red for her liking. And when she made it to the concourse, it was full of angry passengers, loud complaints, and¡­just too much. People complaining about service, complaining about needing to get to work, complaining about finding a taxi. Someone was saying that there was also a passenger incident that had taken out the subway. Great.

    Wincing, she took the nearest exit to the street and found a place with relatively few people to plan her reroute up to Josh Tanner¡¯s house. As she pulled up the browser on her phone, she sighed. Looked like a signalling issue at Union in addition to whatever passenger incident, which meant that instead of taking an hour, she was looking at double that. Easily. If she could manage to catch a bus in the chaos.

    ¡°Fuck,¡± she sighed. At least, she supposed, she had Josh Tanner¡¯s number to call him and let him know. How fucking unprofessional to show up late on what, technically, was her first appointment with him.

    Taking a deep breath, she pulled up his number and dialled.

    ¡°Hey,¡± Josh Tanner¡¯s bright voice greeted. ¡°You almost here?¡±

    ¡°About that¡­.¡±

    ¡°Everything okay?¡±

    Sighing, Beck said, ¡°I mean, I¡¯m okay, the trains and buses aren¡¯t.¡± His laugh made her smile a little. ¡°The only things that are running right now are the Lakeshore East and West trains. I¡¯m gonna have to cross my fingers for a taxi or a bus, but who knows how long that¡¯ll take. My best guess is I¡¯m about 2 hours out. I¡¯m really sorry!¡±

    ¡°Not your fault,¡± he replied. ¡°You Canadians and your ¡®sorrey¡¯.¡± The exaggerated mimic of her accent made her laugh. ¡°You¡¯re at Union station?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°One sec, okay?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± She pushed out a breath and scanned the area around her as she waited. The roads were clogged up more so than usual with the construction on the station. People were crowding the sidewalks around the station and several people were making their way to the Fairmont - probably in the hopes of catching a taxi. Maybe she would have more luck catching a bus closer to the lake? She glanced back inside and chewed on her lower lip - what were the odds she would be able to grab a coffee? Whole damned thing was almost certainly going to be wall to wall angry people. God, she didn¡¯t envy the workers at Union today.

    ¡°You¡¯re at Union?¡±

    His voice startled her out of her thoughts.

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°And the Lakeshore East train is running?¡±

    ¡°As far as I can tell?¡±

    ¡°What time can you get to Scarborough station?¡±

    Whatever she¡¯d been expecting him to say, that wasn¡¯t it. ¡°Uh¡­let me go inside and check the trains.¡± Fighting past the mass exodus to search for buses and taxis, she made her way inside and found a platform board announcing the next train in eleven minutes. Scarborough was only, she thought, two stops away, so¡­. ¡°I think about half an hour?¡±

    ¡°Okay, do that,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll text you. Gotta go.¡±

    Beck stared blankly at her phone. What the hell had just happened?

    <hr>

    A little over half an hour later, Beck¡¯s train was pulling into Scarborough Go station only slightly delayed due to panicked and angry passengers preventing the train doors from closing. If their day was interrupted, so too was everyone else¡¯s. Or at least that seemed to be the mentality. Of course, that assumed they were even thinking about other passengers at all, which the majority probably weren¡¯t.

    Assholes.

    In case Josh Tanner had decided to elaborate on ¡®I¡¯ll text you¡¯, she pulled out her phone and checked the messages. Nothing.

    Sighing, she opened his contact and started to text him when a message came through.

    ¡®Where are you?¡¯

    ¡®Train¡¯s just pulling in to the station¡¯

    ¡®Ok, blue Range Rover¡¯

    A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth; that was nice of him to send a car for her. She texted back a thank you, then put her phone away as the train came to a stop. Luckily the train wasn¡¯t too crowded this time, but she still waited for most of the occupants to clear before following out the door. Fighting to get out of the station wasn¡¯t her idea of a good time and she couldn¡¯t imagine a situation where she would be so rushed to escape the crowd that she¡¯d be fighting people. Well. Maybe a fire or something, she supposed.

    She tapped her Presto card as she exited to the station and walked out to the parking lot, scanning for the blue car. Before she could find it, it drove up to the sidewalk and Beck blinked. He was driving the car himself, smiling at her as she opened the passenger door. He hadn¡¯t sent a car, he was the car.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to -.¡±

    ¡°What, you wanted to spend hours trying to find a way up to my place?¡± he laughed. ¡°Nah, it¡¯s fine. I wasn¡¯t doing anything important.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she mumbled, unsure how else to respond. It really was above and beyond what she would have expected.

    ¡°Nothing to thank me for,¡± he said, pulling away from the sidewalk. ¡°You¡¯re helping me too.¡±

    Beck snorted a laugh. ¡°You¡¯re paying me,¡± she said. ¡°And paying me well.¡±

    Grinning, he said, ¡°Technically my agency is paying you, I¡¯m just your local guide to my house. You want to stop and get a coffee? I¡¯m dying.¡±

    For once in her life, Beck managed to catch herself before saying something she might regret and bit down on both the comment and the smile it brought to her face.

    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    ¡°What?¡±

    When she looked over at him, he was giving her a sidelong smirk as he turned onto Midland Avenue. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±

    ¡°Not with that look it¡¯s not,¡± he laughed. ¡°Come on, tell me. I don¡¯t bite.¡± A spark lit in his eyes as his lips pressed tightly together, the corners of his mouth pulling down, and he added, ¡°Much.¡±

    A loud laugh escaped her and she reached up to cover her mouth and stifle it. ¡°Sorry,¡± she muttered. ¡°Not much of a fan of Starbucks is all.¡±

    ¡°You think Oliver hasn¡¯t trained me better than that?¡± he chuckled. ¡°In ¡®Ch-rah-noh¡¯ you go to Timmies, eh.¡±

    That did it. Laughter bubbled up out of her at his pronunciation of ¡®Toronto¡¯. ¡°Literally nobody talks like that.¡±

    ¡°All Canadians,¡± he said, pulling to a stop in the turning lane. The Tim Horton¡¯s he¡¯d chosen looked relatively quiet for being on a main road this early in the day. Only a couple of cars in the drive-thru. ¡°Every single one.¡±

    ¡°In what reality?¡± she giggled.

    ¡°Every reality.¡± He pulled into the drive-thru lane and asked, ¡°What do you want? On me.¡±

    Worrying her lower lip between her teeth, she looked over at him. ¡°You don¡¯t have to.¡±

    ¡°I know I don¡¯t have to, but I am, so what do you want?¡± He turned to grin at her. ¡°Double double?¡±

    ¡°Are you just picking the most stereotypical sounding order?¡± Was she amused or annoyed? On the one hand, she hated being a stereotype, on the other, he was being nice. A lot nicer than she had even expected.

    ¡°Am I right?¡±

    Shaking her head, she admitted, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m a walking stereotype.¡±

    ¡°Sorry,¡± he said.

    Turning her grin on him, she laughed, ¡°You¡¯re turning into a local.¡±

    Ahead of them, the car next in line moved up and he tossed her a wink as he pulled up to order an extra large black coffee for himself, then turned to her to confirm what size she wanted. She struggled not to laugh when the kid at the pay window saw Josh Tanner had ordered the coffees and donuts. Poor guy looked ready to faint. The kid closed the window and practically ran back inside.

    ¡°I think you made his day,¡± Beck said.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± he mumbled, blushing a little as he pulled ahead. ¡°Hope I don¡¯t hold up the line.¡± It was a bit odd to be at a drive-thru with someone so famous he can¡¯t even get a cup of coffee without worrying he¡¯ll cause a scene. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hold you up either. Maybe I can just sign some napkins?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m in no rush,¡± she assured him. ¡°After all, it¡¯s your place we¡¯re going back to so I can inspect your laptop again. Somehow I think you can convince my employer it¡¯ll be okay.¡±

    The grin he levelled at her made her cheeks warm. ¡°I do have a little sway with them, being one of their biggest contracts.¡±

    ¡°Do you want to go inside to get the coffee?¡± she suggested, matching his smile with her own. Shouldn¡¯t someone like him have his head buried further up his ass? It surprised her how nice he was, how easy to talk to.

    ¡°You don¡¯t mind?¡±

    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s fine,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll help with the pictures.¡±

    The corners of his mouth nearly reached his eyes as he smiled at her, pulling the car out of the drive thru line.

    <hr>

    The look on Beck¡¯s face as they pulled into the garage made Josh smile. If her remarks about the place didn¡¯t clue him in on her feelings about the decor, the look she wore now sealed it. Mouth turned down at the corners, slight pout, narrowed eyes. She hated it as much as he did. Fucking place looked like a nuclear bunker, not a house. Even the damned garage was clean white surfaces, glimmering with polish and white pot lights on the ceiling. The whole garage was white and not a single speck of dirt was visible.

    ¡°How is it so¡­.¡±

    ¡°Pristine?¡± he suggested, taking the key out of the ignition and stuffing it into his pocket. The number of times he had locked the keys in the car over the years¡­.

    ¡°This is a garage, right? Not a showroom floor?¡±

    Josh laughed at that. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I said the same thing to Kris when we got here. Come on, I¡¯ll get you set up in the office.¡± Hopping out of the car, he grabbed the box of donuts and his coffee, then made his way around to her side. Somehow even after the whole fan parade at Tim Horton¡¯s she still looked a little nervous so he took one of the cream donuts out of the box and offered it to her.

    Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she accepted it.

    With a grin he took the other cream donut and stuffed his face with it, making sure to get a good glob of cream on his face in the process. ¡°Very strict diet for this movie,¡± he said around the chunks of donut in his mouth. ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone.¡±

    Beck blinked, then started laughing.

    ¡°What? Why are you looking at me like that? I got something on my face?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± she giggled. God, the way her eyes sparkled and her nose crinkled when she laughed was adorable. ¡°Not at all.¡±

    So that was her game? Two could play at that. ¡°Office is this way,¡± he said, leaving the cream where it was as he walked to the door and held it for her.

    The way she bit down on her laughter and looked up at him through her lashes¡­. ¡°So Josh Tanner drives his own cars, eats donuts, drinks black coffee¡­,¡± she said, grinning up at him as she walked into the house. ¡°What else do you do?¡±

    ¡°Most people just call me ¡®Josh¡¯,¡± he said, smile threatening to split his face in two as he followed.

    Pink slowly spread across her cheeks and nose. ¡°Not the press,¡± she muttered.

    A puff of laughter bubbled up out of his throat. ¡°Depends,¡± he said. ¡°You interview with the same people enough, you get familiar. And some people meet you for the first time and mistake friendliness for friendship.¡±

    The pink washed into red and she looked away.

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t talking about you,¡± he assured her. ¡°I like hanging out with you.¡±

    The redness in her cheeks and nose got brighter, making him smile. ¡°You¡¯ve known me a grand total of, what, an hour? Two?¡±

    ¡°Plenty of time for me to know I¡¯m having fun,¡± he said.

    ¡°I¡¯m not even going to ask about the cream on your face, Josh,¡± Kris¡¯s voice sighed to his right.

    Forcing his gaze away from Beck¡¯s face and her adorable flush, he grinned at his friend. ¡°I brought donuts!¡±

    Kris shook his head and sighed, looking at Beck. They¡¯d been friends too long, he¡¯d need to up his game if he was going to throw Kris off his.

    ¡°I can help you get set up in the office,¡± Kris offered, gesturing down the hall.

    ¡°No, I got this,¡± Josh said, pointing with the donut box in the same direction. He ignored the pointed look his friend gave him as he led Beck to the office, smiling and chatting away.

    <hr>

    The vibration in her jacket pocket made Beck jump as she walked down Yonge Street, nearing the Hockey Hall of Fame. She had forgotten she¡¯d turned her phone on vibrate when she was looking for an excuse to get out of the date from hell. Maybe she should pick up a bottle of wine for her sister, Dani, for the life-saving text that allowed her to pay her half and run out the door. From the moment he found out she had a tech-related job, he¡¯d started talking about his own job as an IT office manager. She zoned out and texted her sister when he started going on about how women weren¡¯t interested in or very good at tech. Somewhere in his rant, she was pretty sure he mentioned hitting on a woman working for him and how it was surprising she¡¯d left. Then he went on to explain why Internet Explorer was the best browser. Idiot.

    As soon as her phone unlocked, she saw the email was from the company where she¡¯d applied for her business loan. Her stomach tightened as she opened the message.

    ¡®After going through your application, we are sorry to inform you that your application was rejected....¡¯

    She stopped reading, put the phone away, and blinked back her tears. What a fucking bullshit way to end her day. Nearing the station, she briefly considered getting a room at the Fairmont, doing a luxury spa day, and forgetting about it all with a bottle of red wine all to herself. But that wasn¡¯t the healthiest way to deal with her day, nor was it the most affordable, especially when she had wine at home.

    Instead, she made her way inside and nearly lost her shit when she saw the issues from that morning had continued and expanded. All trains were cancelled. People were pushing, bickering, complaining, all trying to find a way home. The customer service line was insane - long and packed with irritable travellers.

    The corners of her mouth pulled down and tears pricked at her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she focussed on a spot on the wall until she calmed down, then pulled out her phone. Who the hell was she supposed to text at this time of night? What, Dani was going to drive from Oakville to pick her up?

    Then she remembered Josh had said to let him know if the trains were still cancelled. She pulled up his contact and stared at it, pushing out a breath. On one hand, she didn¡¯t want to bother him; on the other, he¡¯d probably be really good at cheering her up. Her mouth tugged upward of its own volition as she pictured him showing up at Union with donut cream on his face. Not the most inconspicuous option.

    Pinewood Studios wasn¡¯t that far away from the station. And if he was still there.... Taking a deep breath, she fired off a quick text to ask if he was still on set.

    Almost instantly she had a reply.

    ¡®Just about to leave. Trains still cancelled?¡¯

    Rather than getting into it, she just asked if he could pick her up at Union.

    ¡®Everything okay?¡¯

    It was an innocent enough question, but it made the facade she had built up to stop herself from crying in public shatter. Tears started to well up in her eyes and she made a beeline for the nearest bathroom, locking herself in the stall to cry quietly until it passed.

    When she was finally able to take a breath without tears, she wiped her face with her sleeve, then cautiously peered out of the stall and found the bathroom empty. She walked to the sinks, splashed some cold water on her face until she didn¡¯t look red, puffy, and ill, then patted herself dry again.

    Making her way through the crowd, she found an empty seat and dropped into it. She pulled out her phone to finally send a reply to Josh. Only there were a ton of missed texts and calls from him. How the hell long had she been crying?

    She fired off a quick text and waited, staring at her phone.

    After a few minutes with no reply, she started to type again, only to be startled when someone dropped into the seat next to her and exhaled loudly. ¡°You¡¯re okay.¡±

    When she turned away from her phone there was Josh, wearing a hoodie and a pair of dark aviators. She burst into laughter.

    ¡°Not the reaction I was expecting,¡± he groused.

    ¡°And I wasn¡¯t expecting the unabomber, but here we are,¡± she laughed.

    He smiled at her. ¡°Date didn¡¯t go well?¡±

    Leaning forward on her elbows, she put her chin on her hands and sighed. ¡°Understatement. And amongst other things.¡±

    ¡°What happened?¡±

    Her lips pressed together and she sighed heavily. ¡°Standard mansplaining bullshit,¡± she muttered. ¡°Women don¡¯t like IT, women aren¡¯t suited to tech, et cetera and ad nauseum. I had my sister fake an emergency text to get out of there.¡±

    ¡°What a dick!¡±

    Pulling her shoulders into a half shrug, she muttered, ¡°Not really much of a loss. Not like I was attached to a total stranger on a first date.¡±

    ¡°So what were the tears for?¡±

    Beck blinked then looked back at him. ¡°That obvious?¡±

    ¡°Your eyes are red,¡± he explained, his hand coming up to rub soothing circles on her back.

    Nodding, she turned back to look out at the station, watch people rush around and panic over the cancelled trains. ¡°Got turned down for a loan I really wanted,¡± she mumbled. ¡°Business loan. Bad date, loan declined - again - and cancelled trains. It just¡­all at once.¡± It was hard to explain why she reacted how she had. Growing up her mother had always said she was dramatic. Now she knew better - ADHD and emotional dysregulation. Great combination. And probably way too soon to be explaining all that to him. ¡°Only good part of my day was when we were hanging out,¡± she confessed quietly.

    ¡°What if I drive you home, maybe pick up some food on the way? I know just the cure: nachos with cheese dip, slurpees, and ice cream.¡± The hand had stopped making circles and was now tracing patterns she couldn¡¯t discern. ¡°I make a great ear if you want to vent, too.¡±

    When she turned back to look at him, she felt tears threatening to spill again. But this time it was relief. Josh wasn¡¯t upset, wasn¡¯t judging her, didn¡¯t call her reaction dramatic; he was just¡­there for her. ¡°Thank you,¡± she mumbled, smiling at him.

    He stood up and offered her his hand with a wide grin. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

 February 16th, 2015

    Josh groaned as he and Ashley blew another take and the director called a cut. This time it was his fault; he¡¯d mangled dialogue and actions he knew like the back of his hand. If she hadn¡¯t tried to slip him some tongue during their kiss scene¡­. He let out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his hair as he stormed off toward Rick Rivera, the director.

    ¡°You okay?¡± Rick asked as he walked up to him while they reset the scene. He was older than Josh, greying hair, a few wrinkles, and a twinkle in his eyes that reflected his passion for his work. They had worked on other movies before and he had always found Rick to be understanding when he lost focus, always kind to interns, and determined to make the set a fun place to work. The whole reason Josh had signed on for this deal was because Rick would be directing.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine,¡± he replied automatically. In theory he should be fine. Ashley was hardly the first person to try to kiss him when he wasn¡¯t interested, though she was definitely the most persistent.

    Maybe it was too close to lunch. Or maybe he needed to take his meds. Or maybe it was the fact that he knew Beck would be waiting in his trailer when they cut for lunch. Just thinking about her made his frustration lift.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we break for lunch a few minutes early and regroup in, what, an hour?¡± Rick suggested. ¡°Give you some time to collect whatever¡¯s going on in that head of yours. I¡¯ll talk to Ashley.¡±

    Smiling, he said, ¡°Not sure that¡¯s quite enough time for that, but maybe after a bit of lunch I can reset my focus. And thanks.¡±

    ¡°Go get some food, kid,¡± Rick laughed.

    ¡°I¡¯m 33.¡±

    ¡°And I¡¯m 56,¡± he shot back. ¡°Go get some food, kid.¡±

    ¡°Yes, dad,¡± Josh replied, throwing a salute as he turned to head for his trailer.

    <hr>

    Somehow when Beck checked the progress of the download, it had more time remaining than it had a few minutes earlier. About a week had passed since Josh had picked her up at Union station, crying over her bad day. Every day since, he had brought her on set with him to work in his trailer while he worked. Between takes, he would come back and hang out with her while playing video games or reviewing his script. Even the silence when he was reviewing lines was comfortable.

    In all of her digging, she had managed to find a remote access tool and a keylogger. Someone wanted something off of it. So now she was going through system logs and access logs to see what had been compromised, what they were after. Some asshole looking to spoil the movies? Someone looking for dirt on Josh? At this point she had no idea. And damn if reading logs wasn¡¯t her least favourite part of her job. It required so much focus and attention and sometimes she just needed to break from it. Hanging out with Josh had been good for that. He was a lot of fun and a great distraction when she needed it.

    Looking up, she debated turning on the giant flatscreen TV and playing one of the many video games in Josh¡¯s library. On either side of the TV were bookshelves filled with video games for N64, Xbox, Playstation; hell, he even had an old NES and a Sega. Of course, he also had a full kitchen with a ceramic top oven, full-sized fridge (complete with beers inside), and a dishwasher. At the other end of the trailer was a bedroom, complete with a queen sized bed and the most comfortable mattress she had ever laid on. Well. Laid on. Technically he had encouraged her to run and jump into the bed like a toddler on sugar. Then he had done the same and laid down next to her. Next thing she knew Kris was barging in and waking them up for his next call on set. That had only been slightly embarrassing.

    Between the bedroom and living room was a huge washroom with a bathtub. That had shocked her when she first saw it, during his tour of the trailer. Even her apartment only had a stall shower. The whole damned trailer was nicer and bigger than her apartment and definitely more luxurious.

    A grin slipped across her face as her thoughts wandered back to when they had fallen asleep on the bed, growing bigger when the trailer door opened. It was like just thinking about him had summoned him. Compared to other days she¡¯d been on set with him, he was dressed relatively normal - just a plain navy blue jumpsuit with his character''s name on it and a white shirt underneath. There were some fake cuts and dirt on his face as well, but nothing that really stood out. The other day he¡¯d been in full battle regalia and eating salad. If she hadn¡¯t been so afraid of issues with the NDA, she would¡¯ve taken a picture.

    ¡°Hey,¡± he greeted, smiling at her. ¡°Brought pizza!¡±

    ¡°My hero,¡± she muttered, glancing at the box and napkins in his hands. ¡°Did you swipe a whole pizza from the set?¡±

    Josh gave her his best ¡®who, me?¡¯ look as he dropped down next to her on the couch and opened the box to offer her a slice.

    ¡°Plain cheese?¡± she asked, looking at the pizza.

    He winced. ¡°Not your thing?¡±

    ¡°Definitely my thing,¡± she said, taking two slices out and dropping them on napkins in her lap. ¡°Always got called weird for it, but I¡¯m just not a fan of covering my pizza in...anything.¡± From the corner of her eye she caught him staring at her with a goofy grin. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s exactly how I feel,¡± he said, taking a slice of his own. ¡°People get so judgy over pizza.¡±

    She snorted a laugh. ¡°People get judgy over everything, Josh. It¡¯s why I don¡¯t have any social media.¡±

    ¡°What, none?¡± He was looking at her like she¡¯d grown another head or seven.

    In reply, she just grinned around her mouthful of pizza.

    Dropping his slice on top of the box, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s that even like? Shit. I mean, I have to have notifications turned off, otherwise I¡¯d go nuts.¡±

    Beck arched an eyebrow at him.

    ¡°More nuts,¡± he corrected, smiling. A noise like a phone vibrating hit her ears, and Josh¡¯s posture went rigid and he slid the pizza box to the side to run across the room. ¡°Shit, almost forgot.¡± His words were so quiet she almost didn¡¯t hear them.

    ¡°Everything okay?¡± she asked, watching as he picked up what looked like a pill organizer and a bottle of water.

    ¡°Yeah, fine,¡± he muttered, popping the pill and chugging the water.

    ¡°If you¡¯re not okay, you can -.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he reassured her, smiling. ¡°Nothing¡¯s wrong. Well. Nothing bad. The pills are for...they¡¯re....¡± He took another sip of his water, clearly stalling.

    Smiling softly at him, she put her own pizza down on the box with his and crossed the room. Maybe she could ease his mind if she told him about her ADHD? ¡°Promise I won¡¯t judge, Josh,¡± she murmured. Fishing around in her pocket, she pulled out her Vyvanse bottle and showed it to him. ¡°I take my own medication for -.¡±

    ¡°ADHD,¡± he said, a slow smile pulling his mouth up. ¡°You have ADHD?¡±

    She nodded and took the bottle back, putting it away. ¡°Yeah, combined type,¡± she confirmed. ¡°It means -.¡±

    He showed her his pill organizer and grinned widely. ¡°Adderall. Predominantly hyperactive, but only by a hair.¡±

    Beck shook her head, laughing. ¡°Guess that¡¯s why we get along,¡± she muttered. When she looked up, he was giving her a weird look, so, trying not to blush, she suggested, ¡°We should finish the pizza.¡±

    ¡°Good plan,¡± he agreed. ¡°Rick¡¯ll kill me if I ruin a take with a growling stomach.¡±

    ¡°I have a feeling you could run your car through the set and he¡¯d still think you hung the moon,¡± she giggled as he pulled her back down on the couch. It had been obvious from the moment she showed up on set and he introduced her to Rick that they were close.

    Josh shrugged, smirking. Whatever he was up to, she knew she was going to regret it. ¡°Yeah, but I like my new car,¡± he said. ¡°Blue¡¯s my favourite colour.¡± And he took a massive bite of his pizza, tomato sauce dripping down his chin as he chewed loudly around his grin.

    ¡°You¡¯re gross,¡± she laughed, pushing his face away from her to avoid sauce dripping on her. ¡°I think if you get pizza sauce on your wardrobe, Rick might actually kill you. That might be the line.¡± She threw some of the napkins at him and grabbed her own slices from the box before he could drool sauce on them.

    ¡°You like my weirdness,¡± he chuckled.

    Beck hid her grin behind a bite of pizza. She really did like his weirdness. And now that she knew he had ADHD too, it was like a weight had been lifted. No need to try to mask anymore, he understood. She leaned back into the couch as she ate, trying not to smile too much.

    <hr>

    Josh half turned his head away from his game to watch Beck as she worked on her laptop, chewing on her thumbnail as she stared intently at the screen. As she worked, her foot bounced and he wondered if it did that every time and he just hadn¡¯t noticed before. It made sense, with her having ADHD that she¡¯d need to fidget to focus. Did she have fidget toys and just avoided bringing them to try to mask?

    Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail today, pieces of it had fallen out and framed her face. She wore jeans and a t-shirt with a dinosaur drinking coffee and glaring outward that read ¡®Ask Me About My T-Rex Impression¡¯. So he had. And she¡¯d flipped up the bottom of the shirt over her head to reveal a T-Rex inside the shirt, roaring. Kenz would love that shirt. He¡¯d have to find one for her. Maybe for him too.

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    He wanted to ask her what she was working on but the last time he¡¯d asked it was like she was speaking a different language - something about rats and logs? Maybe one day he could get her to explain it properly. She seemed so interested in her job and he wanted to understand, if only to hear her talk about it. The way her eyes lit up when she spoke¡­.

    An exasperated sigh pushed past her lips and she shook her head.

    Time for a distraction. ¡°You want to play?¡± he asked, offering her his controller.

    Looking up through her lashes, she smirked at him. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be more concerned with me working to make sure your confidential information hasn¡¯t been leaked?¡±

    He shrugged and looked back at the TV, not really concentrating on the game. ¡°If they¡¯ve got something, they¡¯ve already got it, right?¡± The truth was the idea of someone having access to his computer and possibly screwing up his confidentiality contract with the studio made him anxious as hell, but what could he do at this point? Not much, as far as he could see.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she said. ¡°Nothing¡¯s been leaked yet or it¡¯d be all over¡­everything. If they do have something, they¡¯re waiting. Maybe we can find out why or prepare if we know what they have.¡±

    Pausing the game, he turned to smile at her. ¡°We?¡±

    A nice shade of pink spread across her cheeks and nose; it was adorable. Making Beck Kendall blush was becoming a favourite hobby of his. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s my job, right?¡± she asked, chewing on her lower lip as she looked up at him from her laptop.

    ¡°You know,¡± he said, reaching a hand out toward her to tap her nose gently. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anyone¡¯s nose go that shade of pink.¡± Grinning, she slapped his hand away, so he did the only mature thing - he reached for her nose again.

    ¡°Stop that!¡± she giggled, swatting at him with one arm as she put her laptop safely out of reach with the other.

    A knock at his door interrupted before he could tease her further, so he took his hand back, winked at Beck, and shouted, ¡°It¡¯s open.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna get you for that,¡± Beck laughed, straightening up.

    ¡°I look forward to it,¡± he shot back.

    ¡°Josh,¡± Ashley¡¯s voice called from the door, lowering his mood a little. ¡°Where are - oh.¡± She stood by the door, looking at him and Beck and frowning, her posture rigid.

    ¡°What¡¯s up, Ashley?¡± he sighed. Beck¡¯s foot knocked against his and he smiled at her. She had heard him venting a little about Ashley during the past week, nothing mean; after all the poor woman was new to the industry, he didn¡¯t want to shit on her. Still, he couldn¡¯t help venting his frustration and Beck was always more than happy to listen.

    ¡°Uh, yeah,¡± she said, shaking her head. ¡°We¡¯re needed back on set. Rick¡¯s calling lunch early.¡±

    Josh sighed and offered an apologetic smile to Beck. ¡°Guess lunch is over?¡±

    She grinned back at him. ¡°I¡¯ll be here when you¡¯re done.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he muttered, the smile turning genuine as he pushed off the couch and reached for her nose again. Teasing her was sliding right up to the top of the hobbies list right below making her blush.

    ¡°Get out of here, you weirdo,¡± she said, slapping his hand away. ¡°Let me get some work done."

    He tossed her a wink as he followed Ashley out the door. While he wasn¡¯t looking forward to any time alone with Ashley, he was fairly sure he¡¯d be able to handle the few minutes¡¯ walk to the set. Besides, he was technically a professional. If he could act on screen, he could act in real life, right?

    A laugh almost bubbled up at the thought. One time he¡¯d tried to do that, back when he was dating one of his closest friends, Jen Hayes, she¡¯d told him how terrible a liar he was. Especially considering his profession. He was glad they¡¯d been able to remain friends after dating, Jen was a good person. Not remotely what he was looking for in a partner, but a good person.

    Ashley¡¯s voice shook him from his thoughts. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you had a sister.¡±

    His eyes fluttered rapidly as he tried to process what she said. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°The woman in the trailer?¡± she prompted, hope in her eyes.

    Josh almost groaned. He knew this was a bad idea, walking with her back to the set. This whole flirting thing was starting to wear thin. ¡°She¡¯s not my sister, Ashley,¡± he muttered. ¡°She¡¯s a friend.¡±

    ¡°Just a friend?¡±

    Rolling his eyes, he started to walk a little faster, not caring if she struggled to keep up. All he wanted was to get away from this conversation, from Ashley. His relationship with Beck was none of her damn business. Hell, he was still working it out himself and with an eight year old in the conversation, it wasn¡¯t easy. Especially considering that he was pretty sure Kenz had undiagnosed ADHD - he needed a partner who¡¯d support his daughter, unlike Mel. And Ashley was so damned wrapped up in appearances, in the idea of him and her, that no way would she be present for Kenz. In any capacity.

    ¡°Anyway,¡± she continued, speeding up to try to match his pace. ¡°I thought we could run some lines together before we head back from lunch. Might help relax me.¡± The way she looked up at him through her lashes suggested she wanted anything but work.

    A frown pulled at the corners of his mouth as he stopped abruptly to look at her. ¡°I thought you said Rick was calling lunch earlier?¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± she said, a sheepish smile tugging at her lips. ¡°Sorry about that. I misspoke.¡±

    Misspoke, my ass. ¡°Look, Ash, I really need a break. If we¡¯re not -.¡±

    ¡°I like that,¡± she said, her voice soft.

    Sighing, he already knew he would regret it but asked anyway, ¡°Like what?¡±

    ¡°When you call me ¡®Ash¡¯.¡±

    Before he could even process how to reply to that, Rick¡¯s voice called his name and he turned to see his friend heading toward him. Thank fucking god for that man¡¯s timing.

    ¡°We¡¯re ready to go,¡± Rick said as he jogged up alongside them.

    ¡°Oh,¡± Ashley sighed. ¡°I was hoping to have some time with Josh to -.¡±

    ¡°Time is money, kid,¡± Rick interrupted. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Josh gave Rick a grateful look as his friend guided Ashley back toward the set. Following behind them, he breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully the rest of the day would go quickly.

    <hr>

    Beck grinned as she crossed the lot to Josh¡¯s trailer, grateful that she had been able to find out roughly when he¡¯d be finishing for the day. That long on set? She was pretty sure he mentioned having to do some stunt work and a lot of physical activity. No way in hell would he be in the mood to cook. And it was getting a bit late. If they ordered when he got back to the trailer, by the time any delivery got there, he¡¯d be starving.

    So she¡¯d run out to grab some food before he got back and found an Indian place with takeaway curry nearby. If the smells in the restaurant were any indication, they¡¯d be in for a good meal! She jogged up the steps to the trailer and, tempting as it was to start without him, put the curries into the fridge.

    Right as she was closing the fridge door, the trailer door opened and Josh slunk in. He was in his regular jeans and t-shirt and looked absolutely bagged. His hair was mussed, his eyes were heavy and glassy, and as he walked his feet barely left the ground. All around he looked as though he¡¯d picked a fight with gravity and was losing.

    ¡°You okay?¡±

    He groaned and flopped down onto the couch face first.

    As tempting as it was to get the curry out of the fridge first, she crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the couch. ¡°Long day?¡±

    Turning his head to the side, he looked up at her through the corners of his eyes. ¡°Hmm,¡± he groaned. He pushed up and manoeuvred around her into a sitting position, lolling his head back against the couch. ¡°Take after take after take of the same damned thing. Ashley screwing up our scenes together. Rick finally got fed up with it, pulled Ashley aside during a scene I was finally filming without her. Guess they offered her another part and are looking at their runners up for her role. She¡¯s pissed. Tried to guilt me into talking to them on her behalf.¡±

    Beck smiled softly at him. ¡°Was gonna say that probably didn¡¯t go over well. Guessing she was doing it on purpose to get more time with you?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s an understatement,¡± he laughed humourlessly, dropping his gaze to the floor. ¡°At least for now they¡¯ve called off shooting until next week when they¡¯ll hopefully have a replacement. Means I can get some damn rest.¡±

    ¡°Speaking of,¡± Beck said, standing up to walk to the fridge. ¡°Guessing you¡¯re hungry?¡±

    ¡°Starved.¡± He was still staring at the floor, looking thoroughly exhausted. His shoulders were slumped, his expression blank, and his eyes unfocussed. It was tempting to ask if he¡¯d prefer to sleep there and she could catch the train home. Maybe after they¡¯d eaten.

    The takeout curry was still hot, thankfully, so she grabbed a couple of forks and walked back to the couch. ¡°Here,¡± she said, handing him one of the boxes.

    Josh finally looked up and blinked at her. ¡°What?¡±

    She nudged him gently with her elbow, smiling when he finally looked at what she was handing him. ¡°Chicken curry,¡± she explained. ¡°Just picked it up before you slunk through the door.¡±

    ¡°I¡­nobody¡¯s ever¡­,¡± he muttered, taking the food from her. ¡°You got me dinner?¡±

    ¡°Figured you¡¯d probably had a long day,¡± she replied, shrugging as she dug into her food. ¡°And you brought lunch, so it was my turn.¡± The goofy grin he gave her was highlighted by the slightest redness in his cheeks so she grinned and patted at the colour. ¡°Now who¡¯s blushing?¡±

    Finally he laughed. ¡°Just can¡¯t believe you did this for me, is all. People usually expect me to -.¡±

    ¡°After a long day? Nah,¡± she said, toying with her food. ¡°Besides, I wouldn¡¯t have had my vengeance if I¡¯d let you get dinner.¡± She reached up again to flick at his cheek, grinning.

    A louder laugh escaped him and he muttered, ¡°Your vengeance. If this is vengeance, I¡¯m okay with it.¡± He leaned back against the couch and shovelled the curry into his mouth, smiling.

    Beck leaned back to eat with him, happy that he seemed lighter than when he¡¯d walked in.

    <hr>

    After falling asleep on the couch and waking up awkwardly at two in the morning, Josh offered to drive Beck home since there were no trains or any other ways for her to get back to Burlington. She had tried to decline, offered to get a hotel, but he wasn¡¯t having any of it. On the plus side, she supposed, the drive had been relatively quick since the QEW was virtually empty at that time of morning. It had taken just around forty-five minutes to get home from the studio.

    She smiled over at him as he pulled up in front of her building. ¡°Wish all rides on the QEW were that smooth and fast,¡± she muttered. ¡°You really didn¡¯t have to.¡±

    ¡°What, you were gonna sleep at the train station, head home at first light?¡± he teased. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said, her cheeks warming. ¡°Really.¡±

    He reached out and flicked the tip of her nose, laughing when she smacked his hand away. ¡°I should be thanking you,¡± he said. ¡°Kept me sane today, got me dinner. Nobody¡¯s ever done anything like that for me before.¡± Before she could say anything, he leaned toward her and kissed her cheek. ¡°You¡¯re the best.¡±

    Her cheeks burned hotter as she bit down on her lower lip to keep from saying something stupid and looked away. ¡°I, uh¡­I guess I¡¯ll see you tomorrow?¡± she said as she fumbled with the door handle.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± he said, as she hopped out. ¡°Today now, I guess.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± She stood in the door, holding it open and trying not to set the damned Range Rover on fire with her cheeks. ¡°Thanks again. Good night.¡±

    ¡°Night,¡± he said as she turned away.

    It took everything in her to not run inside and the second she was safely in her apartment, she leaned back against the door and sighed. ¡°What the hell just happened?¡±

    <hr>

    The second Beck¡¯s back was turned, Josh cringed. What the hell was that? What the hell was wrong with him? That was the best he could come up with? ¡®You¡¯re the best¡¯? She¡¯d spent all day alone in that damn trailer, put up with him venting, bought him dinner, and¡­¡¯you¡¯re the best¡¯?

    ¡°Son of a bitch,¡± he groaned.

    He watched her go inside her building with a quick look over her shoulder, then smacked his head on the steering wheel. She¡¯d just looked so adorable all flushed, he couldn¡¯t think straight. That had to have been it. Either that or he was just an idiot.

    Shaking his head, he pulled away from the building and headed back to his place. At least he had some time during the drive home to figure out how to fix it. Or, more likely, agonize over the fact that she bolted the second he said it.

    ¡°Shit.¡±

 February 20th, 2015

    Josh sighed as he pulled up out front of Beck¡¯s building and clicked the button on his steering wheel to hang up the phone. On one hand, he was thrilled to hear that they¡¯d found a replacement for Ashley and would resume filming on Monday. But on the other hand, he was unsure how Beck would react to hearing that his ex-girlfriend was taking the role of his love interest. Not that he and Beck were dating. And not that he had any interest in Jen Hayes beyond friendship. Hell, she was one of his best friends, after Kris. And there was a reason they didn¡¯t work out. Maybe he didn¡¯t technically owe Beck an explanation, but something in him was pushing him to offer one anyway.

    How the hell was he supposed to do this without being weird? Again. Weirder?

    ¡°Shit,¡± he sighed, leaning forward to rest his head against the steering wheel. He¡¯d only just recovered from ¡®you¡¯re the best¡¯ by buying her breakfast the next day. And now his dumbass brain was pushing him to be weird about things again. Part of him wondered how neurotypical people managed this shit on a day to day basis, not blurting out weird shit due to lack of impulse control, not overthinking every interaction. What must that even be like?

    The sound of the car door opening made him sit up straight and smile as Beck hopped in. He grinned a little when he saw today¡¯s t-shirt read ¡®Keep Calm & Let The Digital Forensicist Handle It¡¯.

    ¡°Morning,¡± he muttered.

    ¡°You okay?¡± she asked, the amusement lacing her voice accented by the half-smile she wore.

    ¡°Fine, just got the call that we¡¯re resuming filming on Monday,¡± he said, pulling away from the building.

    Beck¡¯s laugh made him smile. ¡°Poor baby, having to go back to work,¡± she teased. ¡°I take it they found a replacement for Ashley?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yeah,¡± he said, shaking his head and keeping his eyes focussed on the road. ¡°Jen Hayes.¡± There was a small ¡®oh¡¯ from Beck that hit him in ways he didn¡¯t quite understand and prompted him into an uncontrolled ramble. ¡°We used to date. I mean, we obviously don¡¯t anymore. But we¡¯re friends. Just friends. Nothing more. Don¡¯t get me wrong, really good friends, she¡¯s a great person and I think this¡¯ll work out really well, but it¡¯s nothing more than that and I -.¡±

    ¡°Josh,¡± her voice interrupted his babbling. ¡°It¡¯s fine, you don¡¯t owe me an explanation.¡±

    He opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Of course he didn¡¯t owe her an explanation, they weren¡¯t dating. But he wanted to explain, wanted her to know there was nothing there. Sure, they weren¡¯t dating, but did he want to be? At this point it was hard to say yes or no, especially with Kenz in the picture. Not to mention the impending custody battle. Version whatever the hell they were on now. But he really did like her. It had been damn near three weeks since they met and they¡¯d spent, what, 4 days apart in total? But what if she didn¡¯t like kids? Or what if Kenz didn¡¯t like her or she had one of her meltdowns and it sent Beck packing? He couldn¡¯t do that to his daughter. And how the hell was he supposed to tell her all of that without sounding weird?

    Son of a bitch.

    ¡°So, anyway,¡± Beck began. ¡°I¡¯ve gone through the logs and correlated them with your schedule and nothing stands out. And I¡¯m still working through everything, but it looks like your files haven¡¯t been accessed, at least not the studio files that could get you in contractual trouble.¡±

    A small smile pushed its way across his lips. Now who was babbling?

    ¡°And I¡¯m still not sure when the keylogger and RAT were put on your computer, but -.¡±

    ¡°Rat?¡± He shook his head a little as he pulled onto the QEW, trying to pull himself into the current conversation and out of his own head.

    ¡°Remote access tool - RAT,¡± she explained. ¡°I feel like every time I think I¡¯ve found the original download, I find something else. It¡¯s just a mess of hidden files and programs. Whoever accessed your computer really did a number on it.¡±

    While he recognized that she was steering him away from a difficult conversation they would probably need to have eventually, he was grateful. It was hardly the wisest idea to get too far inside his own head about whatever was going on between them while he was driving anyway.

    <hr>

    After a full day of Beck working on the couch next to him while he played video games and they pointedly did not talk about whatever the hell was going on between them, Josh watched as Beck packed up her things. Smiling, he tossed her a wink as he pushed off the couch to get their coats from the recliner. While he¡¯d been worried things would be weird, he was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn¡¯t preventing them from enjoying each other¡¯s company, from having fun.

    He was more than aware that she could do her job from her own apartment and at this point didn¡¯t have to come see him at all. The fact that she had spent the day with him like he hadn¡¯t been an idiot earlier in the week, like he hadn¡¯t made things weird with his mention of Jen thrilled him in ways he was still working out. If he had royally fucked up to the point where she wasn¡¯t coming over anymore, he had no idea what he¡¯d do. Miss her, that was for sure. Was it really less than a month they¡¯d known each other? It felt like a lifetime. In the best way possible.

    Her phone vibrated and she smiled at him as she picked it up. ¡°Hey, Dani! I¡¯m just about to head home, what¡¯s up?¡± She balanced the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she zipped up the bag. ¡°What? She cancelled? Okay, don¡¯t panic. Can you bring Syd out to Toronto with you? She and I can get a room at a different hotel and have fun.¡± Her sister¡¯s garbled voice was loud enough for him to hear it without being able to make out any words; Dani sounded panicked. ¡°No, it¡¯s totally fine! You know how much I love spending time with her!¡±

    ¡°Everything okay?¡± he asked quietly, coming up beside her.

    ¡°Hang on, Dani.¡± She put a hand over her phone and said, ¡°Dani and Oliver were supposed to have a date night downtown - fancy hotel, expensive dinner, you know? Their sitter cancelled. Can you drop me off at Union instead?¡±

    Josh grinned at her, no way in hell was he letting her get a hotel when he was living in a nuclear bunker fully equipped with video games, an indoor pool, and a zillion spare rooms. ¡°Just have her bring Sydney here. Not like I don¡¯t have the space. Does she like video games?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s overnight, Josh,¡± Beck said. ¡°I can get a hotel, it¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a bother,¡± he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. ¡°I have the room, plenty of it, and I can lend you some pyjamas - pretty sure you¡¯ll fit, you¡¯re half my size,¡± he added with a grin.

    ¡°I¡¯m not half your size,¡± she protested.

    His grin faltered when he realized he¡¯d been rubbing small circles on her shoulder with his thumb. Apparently she noticed at the same time; her cheeks went bright red and her mouth worked open and closed as she stared up at him with doe eyes.

    The Clash¡¯s I Fought The Law blared from his phone, making them both jump.

    ¡°Hey, Oli,¡± he said, turning away from Beck as he answered the phone.

    Behind him he heard her giggle, ¡°That¡¯s Oliver¡¯s ringtone?¡±

    He tossed a wink over his shoulder as he walked over to the table and leaned forward on his elbows.

    ¡°Dani says you offered to bring Syd to your place?¡±

    Apparently Beck hadn¡¯t covered her phone well enough. ¡°Uh, yeah,¡± he said, watching as Beck put her phone back up to her ear.

    ¡°You what?¡± she hissed at her sister.

    God, he really didn¡¯t want to be in the middle of this. Maybe he shouldn¡¯t have offered.

    ¡°You¡¯re sure, man? We can be there in an hour,¡± Oliver said. In the background he could hear Dani helping their daughter gather an overnight bag.

    Beck whispered something into her phone and hung up, staring at him with an apologetic shrug as she worried her lower lip between her teeth. ¡°Sorry,¡± she mouthed.

    He tossed her a wink and told Oliver it was fine, then hung up. ¡°Didn¡¯t mean to -.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t think they¡¯d -.¡±

    They both stopped short and smiled at each other, then she gestured for him to go ahead. ¡°Really, Beck, I didn¡¯t think. Is this uncomfortable?¡±

    She shook her head and he felt warmth spread in his chest, relief relaxing his shoulders. ¡°Should it be?¡±

    ¡°Nah, we¡¯ll have a blast,¡± he reassured her, holding out a hand. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s find you some PJs for later and get a room ready for Syd.¡±

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    Beck grinned and slapped her hand down into his, holding on to it as they walked down the hall. When she finally seemed to realize she was holding it, she blushed and let go. Not that he would have complained if she had kept hold of it. Rather than dwell on what it could mean and the feelings it stirred up, he pushed out a breath and led the way to the spare rooms closest to his.

    <hr>

    Josh groaned as he skidded off the track while Sydney pulled ahead. Beck had long-since wiped out and she was encouraging her niece, Sydney¡¯s own personal cheer squad. It was kind of adorable. And it gave him a bit of hope for how she would be with Kenz.

    As Sydney crossed the finish line, he congratulated her with feigned resignation - he was happy for the kid, really, she was good at the game! - and handed over a small bag of gummy bears. ¡°You win again,¡± he conceded.

    The way her eyes lit up as she grabbed the gummies from him was cute. ¡°Yes! You¡¯re really bad at Mario Kart, you know,¡± she said.

    ¡°Not as bad as your aunt,¡± he replied, grinning at Beck.

    ¡°Next time,¡± Beck said, pulling Sydney toward her. ¡°You kicked his butt!¡±

    Sydney giggled as Beck wrestled her into a big bear hug. ¡°Stop!¡± she laughed. ¡°Auntie!¡± She squirmed out of Beck¡¯s grasp and ran to the armchair, giggling as she popped gummy bears into her mouth. ¡°Can we watch the dragon movie next?¡±

    ¡°You mean the cartoon one with¡­what¡¯s his name¡­Hiccup?¡± Josh asked, getting up to check if he actually had that movie in his collection. He couldn¡¯t remember if he¡¯d watched it with Kenz or not, if he was honest. It wasn¡¯t her favourite movie, he knew that much.

    Sydney shook her head. ¡°No, the dragon movie!¡±

    He arched an eyebrow at Beck. Was there another kids dragon movie he¡¯d forgotten about?

    ¡°She means the Hobbit,¡± Beck said, winking at her niece. ¡°It¡¯s her favourite movie.¡±

    Josh blinked. That movie seemed a bit old for a ten-year-old. ¡°Does¡­do Oli and Dani know?¡±

    Beck snorted a laugh. ¡°Oliver¡¯s the one who showed her the movie in the first place.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± He looked down at Sydney, then back to Beck to see if they were pulling his leg. Then again, he supposed, Smaug didn¡¯t appear in the first movie, so maybe she was okay with it. Although she was asking for the dragon movie¡­. Shit, kids were weird. Even money, knowing Oliver, the kid was afraid of the world''s most innocuous cartoon character or something instead.

    ¡°Look at that face, Josh,¡± Beck said, signalling to Sydney. ¡°Do you think she¡¯d lie about this?¡±

    When he turned around, the kid was giving him the biggest puppy dog eyes he¡¯d ever seen, apart from Kenz. Jesus. Did kids learn this shit in school? Then again, the way Beck had signalled to her, she probably taught the kid the best way to do puppy eyes. He could see Beck pulling that now, let alone at the same age as Sydney.

    ¡°Alright, fine,¡± he sighed. As though watching it would be some sort of trial for him. He loved those movies! ¡°Let me get it. Which one?¡±

    Sydney gave him a weird look. ¡°The dragon one.¡±

    ¡°The second one,¡± Beck stage-whispered as she pushed up off the couch. ¡°Give me a minute, I need to run to the potty.¡±

    ¡°Potty?¡± he laughed. God, he thought he was the only one who did that at their age.

    Beck grinned at him and tossed him a wink as she ran out of the room.

    Shaking his head, he turned back to his movie collection. The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies were some of the few he carried physical copies of at all times. Them and Monty Python. And Star Wars. And¡­okay, so he was a big nerd?

    He grinned and put the Blu-ray in, then dropped down on the couch as he queued up the film. ¡°So this is a tradition, is it?¡±

    Sydney smiled at him through a mouthful of gummies. ¡°It¡¯s our favourite movie! We watch it every time I visit auntie!¡±

    ¡°What else do you guys get up to?¡± In the back of his mind he realized the absurdity of probing the kid for information on her aunt, but he couldn¡¯t help himself.

    ¡°All kinds of things!¡± Sydney giggled. ¡°Auntie and I go to the museum a lot, she puts on the silly costumes with me!¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah? You got pictures of that?¡± he asked, trying to picture what kind of costumes she¡¯d be wearing.

    ¡°They¡¯re on Auntie Beck¡¯s phone,¡± she said. ¡°I think mommy has some, too. Auntie Beck sometimes sends her pictures of us to show her what she¡¯s missing.¡±

    Josh laughed. He could almost hear the words in Beck¡¯s voice. ¡°Sounds like you guys have fun,¡± he chuckled. ¡°You guys hang out a lot, then?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, mommy says auntie is her best friend!¡± Sydney said, smiling around her candy.

    ¡°Maybe you oughta save some of those for tomorrow, huh?¡± he suggested, holding out his hand. ¡°Why don¡¯t we go make some popcorn instead?¡±

    ¡°With extra butter? Auntie Beck says that¡¯s the best way to eat it!¡±

    ¡°I agree,¡± he laughed as she dropped the bag of gummies into his hand. ¡°Just dripping with butter! Don¡¯t tell your dad about all the junk food we had, though, okay?¡± Sure, some of that was for her sake - always fun to think you have secrets from your parents when you¡¯re a kid, right? But admittedly part of him was thinking about the grief he¡¯d cop from Kris when he found out. Movie diet and all that crap. Sometimes he wished he was just a normal guy so he could eat normal food. ¡°You wanna help me make it?¡±

    ¡°Yeah!¡±

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go,¡± he laughed, hopping off the couch and offering the kid his hand. She took it with one of the biggest grins he¡¯d ever seen and followed him to the kitchen, bouncing the whole way. Maybe the gummies and ice cream had been a bad idea, Sydney was off the walls.

    He sat her down at the kitchen island, grabbed the popcorn, and tossed it into the microwave. A conservative two minutes should be enough to make sure he didn¡¯t burn it. Again. It could¡¯ve been his mind playing tricks on him, but he swore he could still smell the burnt popcorn from the last time he and Kris did movie night.

    While the popcorn went, he asked Sydney a few more questions about the things she and Beck did, laughing when Sydney described their last trip to Build-a-Bear; Beck had designed a lawyer bear for Sydney based on Oli and had imitated his voice in the recorder. What he wouldn¡¯t have given to see Oli¡¯s reaction.

    ¡°I thought I heard giggling and smelled popcorn,¡± Beck¡¯s voice shook him from the conversation.

    Looking up he saw her standing in the doorway, grinning and wearing the dinosaur pyjamas he had offered her. They hung a little loose around her, the pants were way too long and the t-shirt was almost a dress. Hell, she probably could¡¯ve worn just the shirt and gotten away with it. His mind wandered and he mentally slapped himself to stop the image of her in nothing but that shirt.

    ¡°Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have something on my face? Oh, god - did I give myself raccoon eyes?¡± she muttered looking around the kitchen, clearly for a reflective surface.

    ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°No! You¡¯re fine. Sorry.¡±

    With all the tact of a nine year old, Sydney jumped in helpfully with, ¡°He thinks you¡¯re pretty. Daddy looks at mommy like that sometimes, that¡¯s what he said when I asked him.¡±

    Almost instantly the pink spread across Beck¡¯s face and Josh wasn¡¯t sure his own face wasn¡¯t doing the same. Was it hot in the kitchen? Jesus.

    The microwave beeped behind him and he spun around to get the popcorn.

    Idiot.

    ¡°Can we go watch the dragon movie now?¡± Sydney asked.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Beck said. ¡°You okay to bring the popcorn in?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, be right there.¡± He watched the pair of them leave the room, Beck¡¯s posture a little stiff as she walked. Sometimes he really wished he had some control over how god damned weird he could be.

    <hr>

    Beck smiled down at Sydney, curled up in her lap and nibbling on popcorn. The Dwarves had just arrived at the Lonely Mountain and she could tell Syd wouldn¡¯t make it the rest of the 2 hours; she was already leaning more heavily against Beck¡¯s chest. But she figured she could give it a bit longer before she got the kid to bed, after all she remembered how much fun it was to stay up late when she was Syd¡¯s age.

    Next to her, Josh adjusted himself against the couch, his arm coming up over the back of it to rest behind Beck. Her posture stiffened a little at first and she made it a point not to look at him. The last thing she wanted to do was make it weird.

    ¡°Auntie?¡± Syd¡¯s sleepy voice interrupted her thoughts.

    ¡°Yeah?¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t finish the movie without me if I fall asleep, right?¡±

    Beck chuckled a little at that. ¡°No, of course not.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± Syd sighed, cuddling closer. ¡°But I can make it.¡±

    ¡°I know, honey,¡± Beck said, smiling down at her niece.

    From the corner of her eye, she caught Josh watching with a soft smile and indicated to him they¡¯d give her a few more minutes before carrying her to bed. He tossed her a wink in reply and she leaned back against the couch. It wasn¡¯t until Sydney started snoring that she noticed Josh¡¯s arm had curled around her and he was rubbing small circles on her shoulder with his thumb while he stared ahead at the movie.

    ¡°Josh?¡± she whispered.

    ¡°Mmm?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s asleep.¡±

    He shifted next to her to look down at Syd and Beck almost complained at the loss of contact. ¡°She looks comfortable,¡± he murmured. ¡°Can you carry her or did you need me to?¡±

    ¡°Would you mind?¡±

    ¡°Nah, I got her.¡± Slowly, he pushed off the couch and picked Syd up in his arms.

    Sydney stirred a little against his shoulder, her eyes parting slightly. ¡°Auntie?¡± she yawned as Josh started toward the hallway.

    Beck, following right behind, reached out to brush a lock of hair from her niece¡¯s face. ¡°Yeah, Syd Vicious?¡±

    Glancing over his shoulder, Josh smirked at her; her only reply was a wink.

    ¡°Promise me you¡¯ll wait for me to watch the rest?¡±

    She scoffed and wrinkled her nose in mock disgust. ¡°We¡¯d never! First thing after breakfast, we¡¯ll finish the movie.¡±

    ¡°After?¡± Josh asked, grinning.

    He had a point. ¡°Okay, during,¡± she laughed.

    As soon as they reached the spare room, Josh put her on the bed and Beck tucked her in. Almost before the blanket was pulled up around her, she was asleep.

    They tiptoed out of the room and softly shut the door, then Beck followed Josh back to the living room. When they were sufficiently far from the room, she asked him what else he had.

    Josh grinned. ¡°The Fellowship of the Ring?¡±

    ¡°Deal,¡± she laughed. While he fiddled with the remote to change the movie while keeping Syd¡¯s movie paused, she leaned back against the couch with a smile. It turned out to be a pretty fun night! As the movie started, Josh settled back next to her, his arm around the back of the couch again. Instead of feeling awkward, this time she leaned comfortably back against it.

 February 23rd, 2015

    When Monday morning rolled around, Beck showed up at the set to find out shooting had been on hold due to delays with Jen Hayes¡¯s flight. Josh had been waiting in his trailer since five in the morning to see if they would be able to shoot his scenes that day. She felt horrible for waking him up when she walked in, but he didn¡¯t seem to mind. He launched right into telling her what had happened as he pushed off the couch to get the coffee she had brought him. After an hour of chatting, Josh had picked up his N64 controller and launched into some game Beck had never heard of before pulling out Goldeneye.

    Beck smiled as she watched Josh play. In theory she was trying to finish reading a system log on his laptop, but with him getting so animated, she was finding it hard to concentrate. It reminded her of how much fun they¡¯d had playing with Syd on Friday and Saturday.

    Her cheeks burned a little as she remembered waking up on Saturday to an angry Syd, who thought they¡¯d finished the dragon movie without her. It had taken her until she was comforting her niece to realize she¡¯d woken up in Josh¡¯s arms. And it had taken looking back at him to get him to turn on the movie for Syd to realize she¡¯d drooled on him in her sleep. God, that had been embarrassing. Luckily, Josh seemed to either not notice or not care. He hadn¡¯t said anything and she was too embarrassed to bring it up herself.

    ¡°You know,¡± she said, banishing the embarrassment from her mind, ¡°having an N64 in your trailer might actually date you. If a Gen Z¡¯er came in here, they¡¯d call it retro.¡±

    ¡°Zed,¡± he giggled. ¡°You Canadians.¡±

    Beck rolled her eyes and shoved his shoulder gently. ¡°It¡¯s not just Canadians, it¡¯s every English speaking country that¡¯s not the States. Typical American.¡±

    ¡°Typical Canadian - easy to tease,¡± he shot back, pausing the game to grin at her. ¡°You know, if the N64 dates me, it dates you - we¡¯re the same age.¡±

    ¡°Actually,¡± she said, looking away to hide the burning she felt in her cheeks. ¡°I think I¡¯m older.¡±

    Josh gave her the side eye, then went back to his game. ¡°Can¡¯t be by much.¡±

    Focussing on her screen, she tried to ignore the way she saw him staring at her from the corner of her eye. ¡°I think about 3 years?¡±

    He laughed. ¡°That¡¯s it? We¡¯re basically the same age!¡±

    ¡°Still older,¡± she muttered, cheeks getting hotter. Maybe burying her face in her laptop would hide the blush? It was worth a try.

    ¡°Who cares?¡±

    ¡°Lots of people.¡±

    The couch sank a little as he shifted to sit closer to her. ¡°Then they¡¯re stupid,¡± he said.

    When she turned to look at him, he had resumed his game, but his arm was touching hers and she felt every shift of his muscles as he played. Was it getting hotter in the trailer or was that just her cheeks?

    ¡°You know,¡± he said, shooting someone from his hiding place, ¡°Friday and Saturday were fun.¡±

    ¡°They were,¡± she agreed, chewing on her lip.

    ¡°Even though you and Syd kicked my ass at Mario Party,¡± he laughed. ¡°She was ruthless!¡±

    ¡°Your fault for selecting teams mode,¡± Beck replied, grinning.

    Josh turned his grin on her briefly before returning his attention to his game. When she turned back to her laptop, she caught a picture of Josh and a young girl laughing together. She looked exactly like him.

    ¡°Is that your daughter?¡±

    Pausing the game, he glanced at her, then followed her eyes. ¡°Yeah, MacKenzie,¡± he said, smiling at the photo. ¡°She¡¯s eight now, be nine in the fall.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s she like?¡±

    Turning to look at her, Josh scrunched up his features, the smile straining to come through.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± She turned back to her laptop. ¡°That¡¯s personal.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± he said, shaking his head. ¡°It¡¯s not that, it¡¯s¡­people don¡¯t normally want to know about her, not really. They want to know what it¡¯s like being an actor and a father, do I miss her, how having her affects me, basically. It¡¯s never about her.¡±

    Her cheeks warmed again. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to -.¡±

    ¡°I do want to,¡± he murmured, looking back at the picture. ¡°She lives with her mom in California. We split when Kenz was less than a year old - wasn¡¯t working out, she clearly, to me, didn¡¯t care about Kenz, only how being a mother made her look. I tried for custody, but the courts favour mothers.¡± Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair. ¡°It was rough. But I made the best of it, saw Kenz as much as I could. Her mom treated her like a payday, though. I kept trying for custody, but the courts¡­. Anyway, Kenz is¡­she¡¯s a great kid. Crazy smart. Tons of fun. Loves dinosaurs - wants to be a paleontologist when she grows up. She¡¯ll be out here on Friday.¡± As he described their plans for the weekend, his entire demeanour became animated, his eyes lit up with excitement.

    ¡°You know,¡± she said, ¡°if she loves dinosaurs, you should make sure she sees the ROM dinosaurs. And maybe after filming, take her out to Drumheller, Alberta - there¡¯s an amazing dinosaur museum there.¡±

    Josh grinned. ¡°You seem to be the expert here.¡±

    ¡°What? I was a dinosaur-obsessed child.¡±

    He arched an eyebrow at her and she damn near melted.

    ¡°Okay,¡± she conceded, biting back a grin. ¡°I¡¯m a dinosaur-obsessed thirty-six year old.¡±

    For whatever reason, Josh¡¯s face froze with a half-smile like he was the human version of the Blue Screen of Death.

    She laughed. ¡°You okay?¡±

    Looking down, he shook his head, then turned his eyes back up to hers with a huge grin on his face. ¡°Yeah, fine, I -.¡±

    A knock at the door interrupted whatever he¡¯d been about to say. Beck smirked. ¡°Do you want me to check if it¡¯s Ashley and tell her you¡¯re not here?¡±

    Josh snorted a laugh. ¡°Somehow I don¡¯t think that¡¯ll work.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re probably right,¡± she agreed. ¡°Ashley probably stalks your trailer to see when you¡¯re in so she can ambush you. She¡¯d push right past me.¡±

    ¡°I think you could take her,¡± Josh grinned at her. Another knock sounded at the door. ¡°It¡¯s open!¡± he shouted without taking his eyes off her.

    Laughing quietly, Beck shook her head. ¡°If it¡¯s her, you can fight her.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll protect me,¡± he shot back.

    ¡°I¡¯ll hide behind you.¡±

    ¡°You know I¡¯m not actually a space-faring hero prince, right?¡± he teased.

    A voice sounded from the doorway. ¡°No shit.¡±

    Beck turned to see Jen Hayes smirking at them, hands on her hips. Even from where she was on the couch, she could see that the other woman was smaller than she was and despite seemingly not wearing any makeup, she looked like a model. Thin, small, fit. It was easy for Beck to feel insecure next to her.

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Josh laughed, then shifted his gaze to the door and grinned. ¡°Jen! You made it!¡± Pushing off the couch, he crossed the room to pull her  into a hug.

    Laughing, she returned the hug. ¡°Hey, you big dork.¡±

    Beck pushed down on her insecurity and got off the couch to greet her. Whatever Josh said to her, she missed it and Jen¡¯s reply.

    Pulling out of Josh¡¯s arms, Jen smiled at her. ¡°It¡¯s so nice to meet you, Beck. Josh has told me so much about you.¡±

    That threw her off - Josh had talked about her? Why would he talk about her? What had he said? ¡°I¡­.¡± She stopped and shook her head to clear it. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you. How was the flight?¡±

    Scoffing, Jen rolled her eyes. ¡°You know, delays and bad food,¡± she said, turning back to Josh with a grin. ¡°But I¡¯m here now and we have the rest of the day off - Rick rearranged the shooting schedule.¡±

    ¡°What about lunch?¡± Josh suggested, coming to stand next to Beck and smiling down at her.

    Before Beck could even open her mouth, the trailer door slammed open and in burst Hurricane Ashley. ¡°Great, this is going to be relaxing,¡± she muttered quietly.

    Josh winked at her, then looked back at the door where Ashley was pouting.

    A dramatic wail pierced her ear drums when Ashley caught sight of him. ¡°Look what¡¯s happened!¡±

    If she¡¯d had any sort of filter, Beck might not have said, ¡°Someone photographed you out in public wearing the same outfit twice?¡±

    ¡°The diamond in your ring isn¡¯t actually 14 carat?¡± Jen supplied helpfully.

    After tossing a quick glare at Beck and Jen, Ashley returned to her hysterics and moaned, ¡°They¡¯re blackmailing me!¡±

    It took everything in Beck not to react when Josh tossed an arm across her shoulders and began toying with a lock of her hair. While she wasn¡¯t about to ambush his attempt to get rid of Ashley, it did make her a little sad. Someone like Josh would never¡­. But why not put an arm around Jen? Probably not the best time to go down that road. ¡°Ashley,¡± he sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t think this is something I can help with. You might want to reach ou-.¡±

    ¡°Look!¡± She thrust her phone in his face. ¡°They have my nudes!¡±

    Cringing, Josh turned away. ¡°I trust you, I don¡¯t need to -.¡±

    ¡°What am I going to do?¡± she cried.

    ¡°Beck, you¡¯re good with computers, right?¡± Jen asked, trying to grab the phone from Ashley. ¡°Maybe she can help?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I couldn¡¯t possibly show anyone, I¡¯d be too embarrassed,¡± she sighed, curling the phone back against her chest.

    ¡°Really, you should let Beck have a look, she knows what she¡¯s doing,¡± Josh said, his arm tightening around Beck¡¯s shoulders and pulling her closer. ¡°Maybe she can find out -.¡±

    And that¡¯s when the waterworks started. Biting down on her lower lip, Ashley whimpered and turned on the fakest tears Beck had ever seen. How the hell was this woman an actor? Then again, she supposed, she was starting to learn that Josh was a bad liar. Maybe that was a thing with actors - good on screen, but real life was different? When she turned back to Josh to exchange a smirk, she saw him sigh and pull Ashley into a hug. Was he seriously falling for this?

    Beck exchanged a look with Jen, eyebrows well into her hairline, she was certain of it. And from the way the corner of Jen¡¯s mouth pulled down, she was just as unimpressed.

    When Ashley¡¯s hand slid down to Josh¡¯s ass, Beck took action; she reached out and grabbed Ashley¡¯s wrist, pulling it away from Josh. And before she could even speak up, Jen was already shooing Ashley out the door, tearing into her for being inappropriate. All the while, Josh just stood there, rigid and stunned.

    ¡°You okay?¡± she murmured as the trailer door closed.

    Shaking his head, he looked down at her. ¡°Uh, yeah.¡± His features relaxed a little as he took her in. ¡°I mean, it wasn¡¯t as much of a shock as when she shoved her tongue down my throat, but¡­.¡±

    ¡°Maybe we can get her a dictionary and show her the definition of the word ¡®boundaries¡¯,¡± she teased, relaxing a little when he smiled softly at her.

    ¡°You¡¯re assuming she can read,¡± Jen grumbled. ¡°How about we get the hell out of here and grab some lunch?¡±

    Grinning, Josh went behind Beck and reached for his wallet - one arm around her as he moved. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

    <hr>

    They had barely made it to Josh¡¯s car when Beck realised she¡¯d left her phone in the trailer. It surprised her when Josh tossed her the key and asked her if she would mind grabbing him a water from the fridge. The fact that he trusted her that much¡­. Then again, she supposed, she had been working on his personal laptop for the better part of a month and most people would be more concerned with that than a trailer set up for them by their employer. Not that most people had trailers like that.

    Biting down on a grin, she looked up at the trailer as it came into view and saw Ashley at the door again. What the hell was she doing there?

    ¡°Josh is leaving for the day,¡± she called out.

    Ashley turned a sickly sweet smile on her. ¡°Oh, I think I left my phone in his trailer,¡± she said. ¡°Do you have -?¡±

    ¡°That phone?¡± Beck said, pointing to the one sticking out of her pants pocket. The lengths this woman would go to just to harass Josh were¡­almost impressive. Maybe she ought to suggest that Ashley take up needlepoint. Then again, was it a good idea to arm her when she¡¯d effectively stood between her and Josh less than half an hour prior?

    ¡°Oh,¡± she giggled. ¡°My mistake.¡± And she walked away without ceremony.

    If her eyes had rolled any harder, Beck was fairly sure someone would¡¯ve called 9-1-1. Shaking it off, she went into the trailer to get her phone and the water.

    <hr>

    Josh tried to fight the heat in his cheeks as Jen and Beck laughed about how terrible he was at Mario Kart. At least they were getting along; he had been so worried they wouldn¡¯t. Not because either of them were catty or mean or anything like that, but because Jen could be quite protective of him; if she came on too strong, that might put Beck on the defensive. Luckily - or, he supposed, unluckily, since they were making fun of him - they seemed to get along great.

    Jen laughed. ¡°He¡¯d lose to a baby, if he could get one to hold the controller.¡±

    Beck smiled at him. ¡°Syd was pretty proud of herself.¡±

    ¡°You lost too,¡± he shot back.

    In no universe would he ever tire of hearing her laugh. ¡°Yeah, but I never said I was any good. You hyped up your skills! Then Syd came along and boom!¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay,¡± Jen giggled, pushing back from the table. ¡°I gotta run to the little girls room before I pee my pants laughing at you, Josh.¡± Before she left she grinned at them. ¡°Don¡¯t do anything I wouldn¡¯t do.¡±

    Dropping his head into one of his hands he rubbed at the bridge of his nose, mostly trying to hide the colour in his cheeks. Either he was going to kill Jen or die of embarrassment.

    ¡°So I¡¯m okay to hit on the waiter?¡± Beck retorted.

    Whatever Jen¡¯s reply was, he didn¡¯t hear it; his posture stiffened. Definitely kill Jen. Please don¡¯t hit on the waiter, he thought to himself without looking up.

    ¡°You okay?¡±

    Looking up, he discovered Beck smiling at him, completely ignoring the waiter who had appeared to take their dishes. Guy wasn¡¯t even that good-looking. Wincing inwardly, he stopped himself. There was no need to act like a jealous asshole, even if it was only in his own head. Tiredness made him a real jerk sometimes. ¡°Fine. Long day is all.¡±

    ¡°You were up before the sun, that should be illegal,¡± she teased.

    ¡°Mmm,¡± he agreed, taking a long sip of his coffee. ¡°Probably gonna do an early night, get some rest for filming tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± Briefly she looked down at her tea, then offered him a soft smile again. ¡°If you¡¯re tired, I can take the train home, it¡¯s not a problem.¡±

    As though anything in the world was going to make him give up that time with her. ¡°No, it¡¯s okay,¡± he insisted. ¡°I¡¯ll still drive you. I¡¯m not that tired.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to.¡±

    Putting his coffee down to give her his full attention and a big smile, he said, ¡°I want to.¡±

    The way she bit down on her lip and tucked her chin was adorable. Shit, he was lost. Absolutely lost. ¡°Oh.¡± She looked up suddenly. ¡°I meant to say, you should probably bring all this up with Rick or someone. If Ashley¡¯s being targeted too, it could be someone targeting the movie?¡±

    He shook his head. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. I mean, she¡¯ll tell her publicist and they¡¯ll deal with it. It¡¯s probably just some random person looking for a pay-out. Happens all the time.¡±

    Beck didn¡¯t look convinced, but if it was something against the movie or the studio, surely they would¡¯ve heard more than someone putting¡­whatever the hell on his laptop and someone looking for a pay-out from Ashley, who isn¡¯t even headlining the movie anymore. That news had got out really quickly, so it¡¯s not as though it was some secret and the guy might think she was still in a major role. Maybe Beck was right, though.

    He sighed. ¡°Look, I¡¯ll keep an eye out, okay? Promise I¡¯ll be careful. And you¡¯ve got my new laptop locked up like Fort Knox, so it¡¯s not like they¡¯ll get anything from me.¡±

    ¡°Anything they haven¡¯t already got,¡± Beck muttered.

    Pushing out a breath, he reached out and put an arm around her. ¡°It¡¯ll be okay,¡± he said. ¡°Promise.¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± she sighed. ¡°Maybe. I can¡¯t help but feel like something¡¯s missing. Like I¡¯m missing something.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll figure it out,¡± he reassured her. ¡°If anyone¡¯s gonna do it, it¡¯s you.¡±

    Smiling up at him, she murmured, ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Before he could say anything else, Jen dropped back into her seat. ¡°So, did the waiter say yes?¡±

    Beck laughed. ¡°I thought you said not to ask him out.¡±

    Josh suppressed a grimace at Jen, but judging by the look on her face he was less than successful.

    Instead of embarrassing him like he¡¯d expected her to, Jen grinned and said, ¡°What do you say we get out of here? We¡¯ve got the day off and I want to play tourist to keep myself awake after that flight.¡± Flying in from the UK always did a number on his internal clock too, but with the delays Jen had, he imagined it would be worse.

    ¡°I guess that makes me the tour guide?¡± Beck asked, smiling as she stood.

    ¡°Bingo,¡± Jen replied ¡°Tanner, you in?¡±

    Downing the last of his coffee, Josh stood. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±