"Danielle!"

"Hi, Rachel. Matt called me..."

"I know, I know!" She anxiously punched the intercom button. "Matt! Get off the phone, Danni's here!"

In less than a minute he came through the door. "Danielle! My favorite client. I'm so glad you came." He pulled me into his arms and kissed my cheek, then pulled back to look at me.

"Wow, you look gorgeous. Perfect for someone who is about to get her big break."

I eyed him warily. "What is it, Matt? Spare me the suspense and just spill it so I can turn it down and catch the first plane home."

He smiled and I could tell he was silently adding the number of times he had heard that speech.

"Come on in and sit down. I'm sure you'll change your mind when you hear what I have to say." He ushered me into his office and closed the door behind me.

I sat down across from him and raised an eyebrow. "Is it Broadway?"

"No."

"Is it any theatre?"

"No."

I stood up. He walked over and put his hands on my shoulders, gently pushing me back into the chair. "It's a movie."

"A movie?" I was skeptical.

He nodded, his smile growing with every word. "A co-starring role opposite a really big star. Of course, you'll have to audition, but they're looking for someone matching your description. And I sent them a tape from the soap you did - they loved it!"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What really big star?"

He backed away from me slowly, still smiling like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. "Are you ready for this?"

I rolled my eyes. "Just tell me."

"Robert...Downey...Jr.!" He paused and watched for my reaction. "Did you just wrinkle your nose?"

"No, I..."

"Danni! He's an academy award winner! If you're too good to be in a movie with him, perhaps we're setting our sights just a tad bit too high!"

I got up and paced the room. "I didn't say I was too good to be in a movie with him, and he's not an academy award winner."

"He's not?"

"No. He lost to Al Pacino."

"Okay, okay. So he's an academy award nominee. And he's incredible. And from what I understand, women love him!" He looked at me curiously. "What's your problem?"

I continued pacing. "I don't have a problem. But isn't he in prison or rehab or something?"

"Geez Danni, he's been out and clean for over a year! Don't you keep up with the news?"

"Sorry, I guess after the hundredth time I lost track."

Matt studied me for a minute. "Danielle, you know I love you. But if you don't go to this audition, I'm going to disown you. Now. It's at three o'clock. Here's the address. You need to go in and ask for Amanda Wright, the casting director. And if Mr. Downey is there... BE NICE!

I walked into the studio feeling a little anxious. A movie was so much different than being on stage. So many more people would see it. I had forced Matt to show me the script and had skimmed over it. It actually looked like a good movie. It looked like there were a lot of love scenes with Downey's character, but I could handle that. After all, I'm an actress. It wasn't that I didn't respect Downey's ability; he was an incredible actor. I guess I had just always resented him. Mostly because he had been blessed with all that talent and seemed all too anxious to throw it all away. He had the abilities and opportunities that I had always wanted and seemed to take them for granted. Without ever having met him, I felt certain that he was going to be difficult to work with, not to mention a womanizer.

A petite brunette interrupted my thoughts. "Are you Danielle Reilly?" She didn't give me a chance to answer. "I recognized you from the photo your agent sent. I'm Amanda Wright. Forgive me for rushing you but Robert has to catch a plane and if your screen test goes well we're going to want to see how you work with him." She walked quickly as she talked and I followed her. "I must admit that after seeing the tape of the soap opera you did, I think you're going to be perfect for this role. Just relax, be yourself, I think everything will go perfectly." She stopped walking suddenly and I almost ran into her. "Robert, good. This is Danielle Reilly. Danielle, Robert Downey."

I looked up, startled, into the most amazing brown eyes I had ever seen. "Hi. Nice to meet you, Danielle."

I shook my head to clear it of the confusion created by that incredible smile and took his outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you, Robert." I silently chastised myself for being so affected by his smile. I was determined not to fall under his spell. I didn't have to worry because Amanda quickly whisked me away again. "Okay, come this way. Here's the script; read the highlighted lines."

The screen test went really well. At least, Amanda seemed pleased. Robert hung around and watched also but I was unable to read his reaction. When the screen test was finished, Robert walked over to me while Amanda ran off in search of the director. He handed me a page out of the script and another one of those smiles. "That was great. And this is your first movie audition?"

"Yes, actually, it is. But that's mainly because I've been concentrating on theatre roles."

"Oh, really? So what plays have you done?"

I shot him an annoyed look. "Well actually, the last one was Tartuffe, in high school. But I was amazing in it."

He smiled again and that slightly amused look in his eyes annoyed me even more. "I don't doubt it. Well, Amanda loved your screen test, so if all goes well with this scene that they want you to run through with me, you're probably hired." He moved to stand behind me and put his finger on the script page I held in my hand. "We're going to start here, and read through to the kiss. Now, the kiss is the most important part, because if we don't have any chemistry, we don't have a movie." He walked back around to where he was facing me. "So, if you're nervous about the kiss, I'd be happy to rehearse it with you." He grinned at me.

I could tell he was joking, but I was not about to let him charm me. Good grief, the last thing I need right now is to fall for an addict, not to mention one who is so obviously a womanizer. "Look Robert, I'm sure you must think that you're God's gift to women, what with the way most of them act around you, but I'm not affected by your charm. If you're trying to be cute, save it for the movie."

He raised his eyebrows at me but didn't have time to say anything because Amanda had returned. "Robert, did you explain to Danielle what we're doing next?"

"Um, yeah, I think she's got it."

"Good. Then start with line six and go until I say 'cut'. I realize you haven't had time to memorize the script, so just hold on to it and do the best you can."

I was amazed at how easy it was. Working opposite Robert, the scene flowed more naturally than any I'd ever done. When it came time for the kiss, I didn't even have to think about it. He grabbed my waist and pulled me to him, holding me tight against him as he pressed his lips to mine. The script didn't specifically describe the kiss, only saying that it was spontaneous and passionate so we had a lot of free reign. I pressed one hand against his chest and ran the other back through his hair. I was amazed at how weak my knees felt, and the thought made me stiffen.

"Okay, cut! That was great. I couldn't have asked for better chemistry. Danielle, you stiffened a little there at the end. Try to relax. Robert usually doesn't bite. Now, Robert, I know you have a plane to catch, but can we try that one more time? I need one really good take to send to the producers."

"I have time."

"Good. Then just start from line six like you did before."

We began again and I did my best to lose myself in the scene. I certainly didn't want to be here all day doing this.

This time when it came time for the kiss, he didn't grab me. Instead, he just looked into my eyes and I put both my hands on his face, pulling him to me. At first he rested his hands softly at my waist and then tightened his arms around me as the kiss deepened. I moved my hands from his face to his hair and then wrapped my arms around his neck. We kissed until Amanda called 'cut'. I had almost forgotten where I was.

She walked over to us. "That was incredible. Whatever you did differently, I liked it. What did you do differently?"

Robert smirked at her and then looked at me. "That's easy. I could tell she's the type that likes to be in control, so I gave it to her. And it worked."

I immediately became indignant. "You've known me for little more than an hour. How dare you presume to know..." I stopped ranting as I heard someone clear their throat and looked over to see Matt. "Amanda, mind if I borrow Danielle for a minute?"

"Not at all."

As I walked over to where Matt was standing, Amanda bent over her clipboard, taking notes. Robert stood behind her and read over her shoulder. "So you're really going to hire her?"

"Mmhmm. I think she's perfect."

He nodded. "You do realize that she hates me..."

She glanced up at him with an amused smile. "She hates you? How is that possible, Robert? She's female... Shouldn't you have had her wrapped around your little finger in a matter of seconds?"

He shrugged. "I'm doing my best."

She had to laugh at the look on his face. "Robert, she's really good. And you guys have great chemistry together. Besides that, we really wanted an unknown actress for this role. Do you know how hard it is to find one that doesn't fall to pieces every time you look at her? Give her some time, Robert. She'll come around. So when's your flight?"

"A couple hours. I probably should be heading out."

"Well, I'll call you later this week when we have the filming schedule completed."

Meanwhile, I was getting a lecture. "Danni, do you recall me asking you to be nice?" "I was trying to be nice, Matt. "

He smiled and took my hand. "Dannielle... that was not you trying to be nice. You can be really sweet when you want to and I know you can do better than that."

"He provoked me! You heard what he said!"

Matt smiled softly and ran his hand over his face. "Yes, Danni. I heard what he said. I also witnessed that kiss..."

My mouth dropped open. "I am an actress! That's all it was!"

"Yes, and you're a great actress, which is why I'm so honored to be your agent, but Danni..."

He shook his head. "Never mind. You've obviously gotten the role. I'm just thinking that this will be a lot easier if you will at least learn to be civil to him."

Of course Robert picked that exact moment to walk over to us. "That sounds like a great idea. I promise to behave if you will."

I turned sharply and spoke through clenched teeth. "Don't you have a plane to catch?" Matt poked me gently. I looked over at him and sighed. I looked back at Robert, tilted my head and plastered on my sweetest smile. "I had no intention of misbehaving, Mr. Downey, but I appreciate the offer. I assume this means that you won't be entertaining me with any more of your ridiculous observations about my personality and preferences."

He tilted his head and matched my smile. "Oh, is that what you thought I meant by behave? I just meant that I'll try to keep my hands off of you when the cameras aren't rolling. Well, I really do have a plane to catch. I just wanted to tell you that I've greatly enjoyed working with you and I'll look forward to seeing you again in a couple of weeks."

He walked off, leaving me to scowl in his direction. When I turned back to Matt, he was watching me with amazement. "I don't know how you do it."

"Do what?"

"You've done everything in your power to alienate this man and yet somehow... he likes you.."

"What? What do you mean he likes me?"

"He was flirting with you!"

"He was not flirting with me; he was antagonizing me! Can't you tell the difference?"

He held his hands up at me. "Whatever, Danni. Listen. You can push him away all you want, but you're going to be working closely with him for a pretty good length of time. Sooner or later you're going to have to admit that you like him."

I simply rolled my eyes at him and walked off. There was no use arguing with Matt. He was one of those people who just couldn't admit when he was wrong.

We began filming two weeks later. We were going to film most of the movie here in the studio but some was to be filmed on location in Venice. I had never been to Venice and was thrilled about going, but that would be towards the end of shooting.

After only a couple of days, I was glad I had decided to do the movie. It was actually fun. I had even begun to enjoy squabbling with Robert, although I would never admit it. We had words over something on a daily basis. Something else I would never admit is how much I had come to respect his talent. It was so easy to play opposite him.

We were on our lunch break and I had gone off to sit by myself, staring out a window at the falling snow. As much as I hated the cold, I loved the snow. I was lost in thought when Robert came up behind me. "Mind if I sit down?"

I looked up at him, tilting my head. "Would it make a difference if I said no?"

He shook his head and gave me one of those smiles. "Not much, no."

"Then, by all means, please, sit down."

We sat in silence for awhile before he spoke up again. "I love the snow. I think it's my favorite thing about coming here. We're really getting a lot today. Makes me want to go out and build a snowman."

"You know, I wouldn't even know where to begin."

He looked at me with wide eyes. "You've never built a snowman?"

I shook my head. "I was born and raised in St. Petersburg. We don't get much snow down there."

"Yeah, but you've been in New York for five years!"

I shrugged and gave him a look. "I suppose I always thought that building snowmen was for children." I emphasized the word 'children' as if to let him know that he still acted like one. He was hiding that amused smile again, which always infuriated me. How dare he be amused by me? "Danni..."

I quickly interrupted. "No one said you could call me Danni. That's a little too familiar."

He was smiling outright now. "Well...less than an hour ago you were kissing me, wearing nothing more than a towel."

This time I was angry and embarrassed. "That's different! And I had things on under that towel!" He almost laughed out loud but managed to stifle it. "I'm glad you told me because I was really curious." He held up his hands in surrender before I could say anything else. "Okay, okay. Danielle. Better?"

I nodded.

"What I was going to say is that I'd be happy to help you build your first snowman. I really feel like you must have been deprived to never have made one."

I turned my head to hide the small smile that flickered across my face. How could someone who was so infuriating be so sweet at times? "You want to help me build a snowman?"

"Yeah." He put his hand to my face to turn it back toward him. "Did you just smile at me?"

I looked away. "I most certainly did not. It was your imagination."

"No, I don't think so. I think I made you smile and you don't want to admit it because then you won't be able to hate me anymore."

I stood up. "That's ridiculous. And it's time to get back to work."

"Can't wait. I think we're going back to that towel scene again... Want me to help with your wardrobe?"

I sighed and walked off without turning around.

We did work on that particular scene awhile longer. It seemed the director wasn't happy with it and he had thought that breaking for lunch and coming back would help. It didn't. It wasn't the kiss that was giving us problems. In fact, the love scenes never gave us problems. We almost always got them perfect on the first take. But the part before the kiss...

"Cut, Cut!" Don rubbed his hands over his face and peered out at us from between his fingers. "You two are driving me bonkers! Robert, this girl just sold you out. She has lured you into her bed while secretly working for your enemies behind your back! You just found out about it and you're angry! Still very attracted to her, but angry! You're not giving me anger, it's more like... 'Well, I really wish you hadn't done that...'. Show me anger! And you!" He turned and pointed his finger accusingly at me. "You are in love with this man! You are terrified that you are going to lose him now that he's found out what you've done. I need to see you more repentant. I want you to plead, beg, cry! Whatever it takes to make you look repentant, DO IT!" He sat dramatically in his chair and didn't speak for a few minutes. I looked away from Robert, about to be sick over the whole, "plead, beg, cry" thing. Talk about drawing on all my strength as an actress. When he spoke again, he was quieter. "You know what? I'm tired. You've drained me. We're going to stop for the day. The two of you," He pointed an accusing finger at both of us, "Are going to hole up somewhere and work on this scene. I don't care if you go without food; I don't care if you go without sleep. But at 8am tomorrow morning, so help me, you will have this scene perfect!"

He walked off angrily, leaving us standing there. Robert turned and smiled slightly at me.

"Well... we could go to my trailer but it's a little too small for the kind of anger he's describing."

I shook my head and glared at him. "You did this on purpose."

He looked confused. "I did what on purpose? You're not going to blame this whole thing on me. You're the one who's not repentant enough!"

"Well, if I wasn't repentant enough, maybe it's because I was playing off of you and you're not angry enough! You're too good of an actor to be doing a scene this badly and I think you're doing it on purpose!"

"Why in the world would I.." He stopped and looked at me. "Did you just say I'm good?"

I sighed and ignored the question. "We're going to wind up at my apartment anyway so let's just go and get this over with. But I think it's a bad idea for you to know where I live."

He smiled and gave me his best puppy dog eyes. "Well, are you at least going to give me a ride so I don't have to take a cab?"

"Fine. At least if you ride with me I can get rid of you when I'm ready."

My apartment was tiny but still bigger than his trailer. I couldn't afford much and was trying to save all the money I could. The kitchen and living area were almost the same room although there was a bar between them. There was one bedroom and a very small bathroom. The first time we ran through the scene, it seemed awkward. I felt out of place being in my living room instead of on the set. Robert seemed to notice the awkwardness too. "You know, I think I could get into this scene better if you were wearing your towel..." He gave me a sexy smile and my heartbeat quickened. I really hated the way my body responded to him. It didn't seem to understand how strongly the rest of me disliked him.

"Well, that's not going to happen so I suggest you start acting like an actor and use your imagination."

He smiled even wider. "Oh, I can do that... but then you won't even be wearing the towel." I turned toward the kitchen to get something to drink, not wanting him to see the color that was creeping into my cheeks. After composing myself I walked back into the room and handed him a bottle of water. "I suggest you use this to cool yourself off because if you keep up this behavior I'm going to send you straight back to your trailer and we won't get any work done." We worked on the scene a few more times and it finally began to improve. Don had definitely been right about the scene. All that anger on Robert's part and repentance on mine made the kiss even hotter. After about two or three times through I told him that I thought we had the kiss down and could skip that part. Of course he had to be smart about it. "I think you're afraid to kiss me because you're starting to enjoy it."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't you wish." He was at least partially wrong. I had enjoyed kissing him from day one.

It got to be about suppertime. I wasn't much of a cook so we decided to order some Chinese food. While I was on the phone, Robert walked over and looked out the window. "Wow, it's still snowing. It's really coming down, too."

He turned on the TV and sat down on the only chair in the living room. I stayed too busy to entertain much and didn't see the need for extra furniture. My voice, coming from the bedroom, could be heard over the TV. "What? What do you mean, it's closed? For how long?"

When I re-entered the room, he looked amused. He already knew what I was going to say.

"Apparently there's a lot of ice on the roads. Especially the bridge that the Chinese place needs to come across to get here. The city has closed the bridge at least until morning."

He finished for me, still looking amused. "Which happens to be the same bridge you need to take me back to the studio."

I nodded sullenly and sat down on the floor on the opposite side of the room. '"Unbelievable." We wound up eating soup and grilled cheese for dinner and decided to watch a movie to pass the time. As he went through my stack of movies, he looked up in surprise. "You have Only You."

I shrugged. "I like Marisa Tomei. And it was a really sweet love story."

He looked through a few more. "And Chaplin?"

"I love Charlie Chaplin."

He tilted his head and smirked at me. "So how was I? Would I have had your vote for the Oscar?"

I honestly couldn't help but smile at him this time. "Robert, you know you were incredible, Chaplin’s daughter told you so herself. I've never denied that you have talent."

"Is that so? Well, you've never really admitted it either."

I shook my head and sighed. "Just pick a movie."

He wound up picking Indiana Jones and seemed surprised that it was one of my favorites.

When it came time to go to sleep, there was much discussion over the sleeping arrangements. After a great deal of pleading on his part I reluctantly agreed to let him sleep in the bed. Despite my small bedroom, my one luxury was a king size bed that took up most of it. He claimed that he was too old to be sleeping on the floor and that he wouldn't be well rested and would look terrible for filming tomorrow.

"Alright. You can sleep in the bed. But if at any time during the night, any part of you touches my side of the bed, you'll be spending the rest of the night outside."

He laughed and gave me his word that he would behave.

I went into the bathroom and changed into my thickest pair of pajamas. I had several short gowns and other such things that I normally slept in but under the circumstances... When I walked back into the bedroom he had stripped down to his boxers and tee shirt. I can't even begin to describe how awkward I felt. I turned out the light and got into my side of the bed. I curled up as close to the edge and as far away from him as I could, thinking that I would never be able to go to sleep, but I did.

I woke up wrapped in Robert's arms, my head resting against his chest, his hand very close to my breast. When I began to breathe again, I opened my eyes and looked around, thinking that I should have known he couldn't behave. What I found out was that he had indeed stayed on his side of the bed. In fact, he wasn't even close to the middle. I was the one who had moved. I was unsure of what to do next. It was obviously still the middle of the night. I whispered his name to see if he was awake but didn't get an answer. I made a slight effort to move but his arms were wrapped tightly around me and I really didn't want to wake him up and have him find me all snuggled against him. I did manage to move his hand down closer to my waist and away from my breast. Not knowing what else to do, I fell back asleep.

The next time I woke up, light was coming through the window, Robert wasn't in the bed, and I was laying somewhere close to the middle. I sat up, wondering if I had still been in his arms when he woke up. I walked out of the bedroom to find him seated in the chair, drinking coffee.

A light blush crept into my cheeks just looking at him. "Hi."

He looked up at me and smiled. "Morning."

I wanted to find out if he knew that I had spent half the night in his arms but I didn't want to ask him. "So... Did you sleep well?"

He nodded and took a sip of his coffee. "Really well, actually. You?"

I nodded slowly. "Fine..."

I blushed again and he gave me an amused look. "Everything okay? You look a little woozy. I could get you some juice..." He paused and grinned at me. "Or.. if you'd prefer a hug..." My face was now completely red and I looked around for something to throw at him. Not finding anything to throw made me even angrier. "Look, don't even think that you're going to make something out of this, Robert Downey! I tried to move, but I was trying to be nice and not wake you up."

He tilted his head, his amusement increasing. "Tried to move? You did move as I recall. Or at least, you moved me."

I started to go back into my tirade but took a sharp breath as I realized the implications of what he had just said. "Wait a minute... You were awake?"

He hid a smile and nodded at me.

"If you were awake, then why didn't you move? And I asked you if you were awake and you didn't say anything!"

"Exactly. I didn't say that I wasn't awake. And as for why I didn't move... Look, all I know is I woke up to find you all curled up against me. I assumed that you were cold so, being the gentleman that I am, I put my arms around you to warm you up." He gave me his most innocent look.

I was too angry to say another word so I turned and stalked into the bathroom to take a shower. A cold one.

I took a long time in the shower. There were so many thoughts going through my mind. I had only been working with him for a few days now. How could he possibly have this much of an effect on me when I was trying so hard to push him away? I had thought that if I was distant enough, he would stop being so cute all the time and I wouldn't have to worry about falling for him. Unfortunately, my being distant seemed to only make him try harder. And last night... I mean, it had been so long since I had awakened in anyone’s arms. I stayed too busy to really form a relationship with anyone and had never been big on casual sex. And waking up in Robert's arms had been... well, incredible. He was so warm and soft... And even though his arms were wrapped tightly around me, there was still something so gentle about it... I shook my head to try and clear the thoughts. It was a bad idea to let him come to my apartment. The worst part of all was that I had this strange feeling that I had been dreaming about him last night. I got out of the shower and realized that, in my haste to get away from Robert, I had neglected to bring my clothes to the bathroom with me. I towel dried my hair and then wrapped the towel around me, holding it securely against me and hoping that, by some miracle, he was in the kitchen and wouldn't see me walk from the bathroom to the bedroom. I opened the door a crack and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that he wasn't sitting in the chair. I opened the door the rest of the way and quickly walked the short distance to the bedroom. I nearly bumped into him in the doorway. "Robert! What are you doing in my bedroom?"

He looked me over slowly and took in my dripping hair and the way I was gripping the towel firmly with both hands. "I was getting dressed. I thought I'd wait and shower at the studio since I don't have any clean clothes here. I didn't realize you wanted to rehearse some more."

I struggled to keep my voice calm. Being angry only seemed to encourage and amuse him. "I don't want to rehearse, I just want to get dressed. If you would please step out of my way..."

He smiled and stepped aside. I pushed past him and slammed the door.

Neither of us spoke much on our way back to the studio. I was really dreading having to work on that same scene again. I asked Robert if he thought we could do it in one take and he said he'd do his best if I would.

When I came out in my towel, (which was pinned very well so as not to come off) he looked me over and said, "I like the one from this morning better. And the wet hair was definitely a nice touch."

I rolled my eyes. "One take, right?"

"I'll do everything I can to make it perfect."

Don came in and sat down in his chair. "Okay you two, you've had all night to work on this. Amaze me."

The scene started out really well. Robert yelled, I backed up. I pleaded with him to forgive me, told him I was in love with him. When it came time for the kiss, he jerked me to him and pressed his lips forcefully against mine. Once I got over the initial shock of going from yelling to kissing, I put my hands to his face and returned the kiss with urgency. As soon as my hands went to his face, I felt him run his tongue lightly across my upper lip. My eyes nearly snapped open but I forced myself to keep them shut. I did not want to have to do this scene again. I decided at that moment that if he was going to antagonize me, I was going to do the same to him. I opened my mouth and heard a slight surprised moan as he felt my tongue touch his. I ran my fingers softly up around his ear and that's when Don called cut. I immediately pulled away and smacked him across the chest. "Don't ever do that again!" I stalked off to my dressing room without another word, really needing to sit down and catch my breath. I didn't want him to know that I had probably been more affected by the kiss than he was.

The rest of the day went by smoothly but it was two or three days later before I actually started speaking to him again. It was on a lunch break and it was snowing again. I had gone outside to enjoy it and it seems he had followed me. He walked up slowly and held out his hand. "Truce?" I eyed him warily. "I don't know. What's the catch?"

He smiled. Those were the first words I had spoken to him in over forty-eight hours that weren't in the script. "The catch is, we still have a half hour of lunch left and I thought we could build a snowman. You know, as a mutual peace offering."

I crossed my arms and gave him a slight smile. Truth be told, I had missed him.

I didn't seem to be very good at building a snowman. The snow kept falling apart on me. He laughed. "Here, look." He picked up some snow and put it in my hands, putting his hands on mine and packing the snow tight. "Now, take that, and roll it in the snow."

I did as I was told and it actually began to grow in size. We worked diligently and had finished the bottom and middle sections. He was about to begin on the head when I formed my very first snowball and threw it at him, smacking him right in the back of the head. He turned and gave me a shocked look.

I giggled. "You deserved that..." I leaned over and picked up some more snow. "Maybe just one more and I won't even be mad at you anymore."

He quickly crossed the distance between us and wrestled the snowball out of my hands. Once I had dropped it he smiled and let go of my wrists. "I'm glad you're speaking to me again. I really missed being cut down to size every couple of hours..."

I just shook my head. "We'd better go in. If my cheeks are as pink and frozen as yours, we're really going to have to warm up before we can do the next scene."

We walked inside and left the snowman without a head.

The next scene we were set to film had us curled up on a couch together when some mobsters, one of them being my character's father, burst through the door. We were having trouble setting up for the scene. The couch that they 'just had to have' because it had the perfect look for the set seemed a little too narrow to hold two people. Robert lay down and held his arms open with a grin. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and then turned to look at Don. "You actually think that inch left of the couch is enough to hold me up?"

He shrugged. "Look, we're on a tight schedule here. We're leaving for Venice in two weeks and we have to have everything else finished by then. Please, just find a way to make it work." I turned back to Robert, still looking dubious. He sucked in his stomach and moved as far back on the couch as he could. All his effort gained me about another inch. He smiled at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Come on. I'll hold you."

I sighed and joined him on the couch, my back to him. He wrapped his arms tightly around my waist and pulled me back against him. It was uncomfortable, but it worked. At least, until the mobsters came through the door. We were both supposed to jump up in surprise, but as soon as he let go of me, I fell in the floor. After several takes, we finally found a way that worked. Unfortunately, at that point, Don was unhappy with the next few seconds of the scene. "Cut! Mobster number two, could I have a word with you please. You two..", he pointed at Robert and me, "Stay put!"

He took the actor aside and we could see him gesturing wildly. I shook my head. "We're never going to finish this scene!" I laughed a little and started to slide off the couch. Robert tightened his arms around me to keep me from falling.

"Hey...Danni?"

His lips were right by my ear and I shivered involuntarily. "Yeah?"

"I've been wondering. I mean, I was going to ask you before but then you stopped talking to me..."

"Come on, Robert, spit it out."

"Okay, um...Have you always... talked in your sleep?"

My heart stopped. "What? Wh..Why? Why would you think that I talk in my sleep?" He smiled and pulled my hair away from neck. "Well... because the other night, when I was at your apartment, you were... talking in your sleep."

My thoughts began to run wild as I tried to think of what I might have said. It could have been anything, but from the way he sounded...Then another thought hit me. Didn't I dream about him that night? Oh, this could not be happening. I thought I had stopped talking in my sleep years ago. Of course, when you live alone, it's a little hard to tell. "I um... well, what... what did I say?"

There were crew people standing around so he spoke in a low voice very close to my ear. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Well, I..." I laughed lightly trying to play down the situation. "It couldn't have been that bad, Robert. What did I say?"

"Well, you didn't say much at first. But I don't know how long you were talking before it woke me up."

He paused for a few seconds but I didn't say anything. I was beginning to have flashbacks of that dream I had.

"So anyway, at first you were just kind of... making little noises." I squirmed a little in his arms. He paused, obviously enjoying torturing me. "And then it seems you said something like, 'Mmm, I love it when you do that'."

I'm pretty sure I stopped breathing at that point. "Oh! Um...wow. That, ah...that's really interesting. So... is that all I said?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. It was bad, but it could have been worse. I giggled a little to try and mask my embarrassment. "Wow. Well, I wish I could remember that dream."

He smiled slightly. "Wait... There was one more thing you said. And maybe this will help you remember... You said my name."

I had no idea what to say next, so I was thankful that Don came back, ready to try the scene again.

We managed to get a good take that time and as soon as it was over, I hurried off to my dressing room. I had just finished changing for the next scene when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

It was Robert. "Hi... Listen, about what you said in your sleep..."

I turned and looked at him. "Robert... you don't actually think I was dreaming about you, do you? You know, there are a lot of men who share your name."

"A lot of men who share the name Robert?"

"Yes."

"Anyone in particular that you think you may have been dreaming about?"

"Well, not that it's any of your business, but it was a guy that I used to work with."

"A guy that you used to work with."

"Yes."

"Named Robert."

"Yes."

He nodded slowly. "Well, I guess that makes sense."

I smiled. "Sorry Robert. But you just have to remember that not everything is about you."

"Yeah. There's just one thing, though. You didn't say Robert."

I was confused. "But you said..."

"I said that you said my name. But you didn't say Robert. You said Downey."

My mouth dropped open. I had no immediate comeback for that. I think he noticed that I was getting angry, which seemed to be my instinctive response when he cornered me, especially concerning my feelings toward him.

He took a step toward me. "Danni, look, it's no big deal. Things like this just happen sometimes. We've been spending just about all our time together lately, not to mention that you had rolled over into my arms while you were asleep. I'm not trying to make a big deal about it and I know it doesn't really mean anything. I just couldn't resist teasing you for dreaming about me when you spend all day pushing me away. If it really bothers you that much, I won't bring it up again, I promise."

I calmed down and smiled at him. "No, you're right. It is kind of funny. Of course it doesn't mean anything and I'll kill you if you mention to anyone else.." I gave him a warning look. He grinned. "You mean aside from the twenty people I've already told?"

I picked up a bottle of hairspray off the dressing table and raised my arm, ready to throw it at him.

He laughed. "Just kidding, Danni, just kidding. By the way, I've noticed that you don't seem to object to me calling you Danni anymore."

"You know, Robert, you're really pushing your luck today..."

He just smiled and backed out of the room.