"It's okay. I just didn't sleep much last night."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?"

I smiled. "It's not what you think..."

"Uh-huh. So, I understand a lot has happened since I talked to you last."

"Quite a lot. And I probably owe you a big thank you for whatever you said to him on the phone yesterday."

"All I said was that he should talk to you about it. So what is the truth about that story your ex told him?"

"Almost entirely fabricated. I guess he thought that if he couldn't make me run away from Robert, he'd try it the other way around."

"Wow. So you're going to Savannah with him, huh?"

"I can't wait. I can't believe he's doing this movie just to be close to me."

"Same here. When I found out he was even considering doing this movie instead of the one Ron Howard asked him to do, I knew he was crazy about you. I thought it was crazy since he hadn't seen you for two months. That's why I suggested that he visit you first before he made his decision. I don't know what you did, but when I talked to him on Saturday morning he had already made up his mind."

I sat up, fully awake now. "Wait...what? He passed over another movie for this one? What kind of movie?"

She paused. "You didn't know?"

"No. Why don't you tell me."

She sighed. "I don't know why I assumed he told you about it. It's really no big deal. Actors pass over one movie for another all the time. You just can't do everything at once."

"Calista, you're not fooling me. If it was no big deal you wouldn't have been so surprised by it. What are you not telling me?"

"It's not so much that it's a big deal. It was just that I knew he liked the other script better. When it came down to it, you're the reason he took the one being filmed in Savannah. Just take it as a compliment. He wants to be with you."

It was after seven when Robert called. I was sitting on the couch in my pyjamas watching Only You and trying to stay awake for at least another few hours. I still wasn't caught up from last night. Of course I couldn't help but ask the question that had been on my mind all day.

"So how was your meeting this morning?"

He laughed. It amazed me how well he could read me for having known me such a short time. "It was good. We got a lot of details sorted through and if everything goes according to schedule, we'll start filming in two weeks, just like I said before."

"So I take it you and Marisa still have just as much chemistry as you ever did..."

He paused for minute before answering. "It would seem so... But, Lizzie, don't you think you'd be better off not asking questions like that?"

I sighed. "You're right. I just can't help it." I stared at the screen as Peter and Faith walked down the moonlit streets of Italy, hand in hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Me? I'm... Nothing, why?"

"You're just sitting there doing nothing. Yeah, that's believable. And it probably just means you're doing something you don't want to tell me about."

He definitely knew me too well. "I was just watching tv, trying to stay awake. What's with the third degree, Robert, what are you doing?"

I didn't expect to get off that easily but he seemed preoccupied with something else. "I... am laying in bed looking through some pictures of a gorgeous but barely dressed woman."

I smiled. "Haven't you gotten tired of those yet? And what are you doing in bed? Isn't it the middle of the afternoon there?"

"Hey, not all of us took a little nap between two and four last night, you know. I've been asleep since I got back from my meeting. I just woke up a few minutes ago. Why do you think it took me so long to call you? And as for getting tired of the pictures... I find something new every time I go through them. I'm deciding which ones I want to have blown up and framed. And thinking about that private show I was promised."

I blushed, even though he couldn't see me. "Well, the sooner you come back, the sooner that will happen."

"I have a few loose ends to tie up here before I come out there for however long it takes to shoot this movie but I'll be there as soon as I can. I'll fly into Atlanta and we can drive down to Savannah together."

The tabloid with a picture on the front of Robert proposing to me had come out just a few days later. I first heard about it when my mother called. (Apparantly one of her friends has a subscription.) It took me awhile to convince her that we were not actually getting married. She seemed disappointed. I thought she'd be happy to know I wasn't rushing into marrying a man I had only known for a little over two months! I told her that I was going to Savannah with him and she immediately began asking when she would get to meet him. I put her off as best I could by saying that I was sure he'd be really busy filming. We had just gotten through the confrontation with Rick and I wasn't sure I was ready to deal with him meeting my parents. Amy and I had to get an unlisted phone number because so many people were calling. Local newspapers, radio stations, tv stations, everyone wanted to ask me about Robert. Not to mention people I hadn't seen or heard from in years who suddenly wanted to "get together sometime" But I hadn't seen or heard from Rick. I was hoping he had decided to give up and go home.

I couldn't remember the days ever having gone by this slowly. To make matters worse, it had been raining a lot. Every day I asked Robert when he was coming and every day he told me "soon". It's not that I didn't believe him. I knew he had to come, if only to do the movie. It's just that even one more day seemed too long and "soon" was beginning to feel like it would never get here.

It was a dreary Monday afternoon and I was trying to get some work done but I just couldn't concentrate. I gathered my laptop and headed for the coffee shop. I hardly left the apartment these days without trying to disguise myself at least a little. I pulled my hair into a bun on top of my head and grabbed a pair of reading glasses I hadn't worn in years. It was pouring by the time I got to Westside so I got drenched on the way in but, thankfully, the shop was nearly empty. I got my coffee and sat in a corner by the window. I plugged my laptop into their internet port and decided to see what was going on with all the Ally McBeal fans. I had made several friends on that message board but none of them knew about what was happening with Robert. I figured they wouldn't believe me if I told them. Everyone seemed happy with the way the season was going now that Larry had returned. He had returned to Boston about a month ago and although Ally had tried to be mad at him, she lost the battle. Everyone always knew they were meant to be together. I was posting to someone about my love of Larry's incredible way with words when a shadow crossed my screen. "Pardon me Miss, but you look very familiar. Have we met before?" I rolled my eyes at the interruption, sensing a reporter. The southern drawl was thick, even for Georgia. I considered trying to ignore him but if it was a reporter I was sure he'd be persistant. I sighed and turned in my chair. "I really don't think..." I stopped as I saw Robert smiling down at me, arms crossed, hair and clothes drenched from the rain. I jumped up and wrapped my arms around him. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you. I'm amazed that you're not holed up in your apartment." He tilted his head as he looked me over. "What's with the glasses?"

"Oh." I pulled the glasses off as he raised his eyes to look at my hair. "I find it useful to disguise myself these days."

He smiled. "I can relate. So what's that you're typing?"

I turned quickly and closed the laptop. I could tell by the look on his face that he already knew what I was doing. In the interest of changing the subject I kissed him softly and ran my fingers through his wet hair.

"Why don't we go back to the apartment and get you dried off?"

"Yeah... just like you dried my shirt last time?"

I smiled. "Yup. Just like last time..."

"Let's go."

We both got soaked on the way to my car and then going from the car to the apartment. We wouldn't have gotten as wet if Robert hadn't been clowning around. He picked me up to carry me over a puddle and nearly dropped me in it. But, it didn't take long before we were out of our wet clothes and in each others arms. We stayed that way for the rest of the afternoon.

After we had made love for the second time, (the first time we didn't even make it out of the laundry room where we had stopped to drop off our wet clothes) I lay pressed as close to him as I could get, my head resting against his chest. "Robert?"

"Hmm?"

"I missed you..."

"Yeah?... It shows." He hugged me and kissed the top of my head. "So I was thinking that if you're ready we'll head out to Savannah tomorrow. They probably won't start filming for a few days but it'll give me a chance to get settled in. And it's a beautiful city."

"Oh? You've been there before?"

"Briefly. That's where we filmed The Gingerbread Man. Also..." He shifted to his side so he could look at me. "I thought if you had a chance to spend some time with Marisa before we start filming you might feel better about things. If you want to."

"Well, we can leave for Savannah anytime you want. I'd love to meet Marisa, I'm sure she's great. But I doubt if anything is going to make me feel any better about your love scenes with her." He shook his head and kissed me. "I love you.."

Savannah was absolutely beautiful as promised. There were some incredible beaches, not to mention Tybee Island. I was hoping we'd have some time to explore before they started filming.

Marisa was already there when we arrived. She really did seem to be a sweet person and I liked her as soon as I met her. We walked around the set and she showed us where Robert's trailer was. (Right next to hers of course.) "So, everything's just about ready for us to start filming. Have you met my husband yet?"

Robert looked confused. "Your husband?"

She laughed. "Amanda's husband, I should say. They hired him yesterday. He's around here somewhere..."

She craned her neck and looked around. "Oh, there he is. " She motioned for him to come over.

"Elisabeth, Robert, this is my husband for the next few weeks... Rick Thomas."

Robert's arm immediately wrapped around my waist. "We've met."

Marisa looked confused as she watched the three of us exchange glances. It was Rick who spoke up.

"Seems I was in the right place at the right time..."

I rolled my eyes. Robert stared at him with a clenched jaw. "That'd be a first."

Rick just smiled, unaffected by our reaction. "Well, I'll look forward to working with you."

When we went into Robert's trailer I was almost afraid he was going to start throwing things. "I cannot believe that jerk weasled his way into this movie! It's unbelievable!"

"Well, maybe it won't be so bad. He doesn't have a very big role. You'll probably hardly ever see him."

He looked at me like I'd grown another head. "How can you stand there and act like it's no big deal?"

"Robert, I'm not any happier about it than you are, believe me." I sighed and walked over to him, running my hands down over his chest. "I just don't want to let it ruin our time together. Look, he tried to break us up and he failed. I'm sure by now he realizes that he doesn't stand a chance against you. He'll never be able to measure up." He smiled slightly but he still looked pretty mad. I kissed him firmly as I began pushing him backwards, towards the bed. "You know, I've never made love in a movie trailer before..."

He laughed as he shook his head at me. "You're insatiable..."

I grinned. "Only where you're concerned."

He turned me around and gently lay back on the bed. He began to unbutton my shirt slowly, taking time to explore each newly exposed area with his lips and tongue. By the time he had gotten to the last button, I didn't think I could take anymore. It was like the first time all over again. It always was with him.

The next morning we decided to get out and explore Savannah. I loved seeing all the old buildings downtown. We wandered around for a couple of hours and stopped to have lunch in a small, family owned cafe.

After we ate we explored some of the beautiful beaches. It was getting cloudy and everyone on the beaches seemed to be packing up to go home. We had walked about a mile down the beach and came to an area that was nearly deserted. "I wonder if we're on private property."

"Maybe. Or maybe everyone else just had sense enough to go back to their cars since it looks like it could start raining any minute." He smiled as he squeezed my hand. "We really should head back to the car."

"Why Mr. Downey, are you afraid of a little water? I really don't think you'll melt."

"Didn't you get enough of being drenched on the way home from the coffee shop the other day?"

"I don't know... It sure was fun drying off..."

He shook his head. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you..."

I smiled. "If you're asking for ideas I have a few..."

We had made it about halfway back to the car when it began drizzling lightly. I stopped walking and turned to look at how beautiful the ocean looked. The raindrops were hitting the water softly and just a few rays of sun were peeking out from behind a cloud. I sighed. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

He was standing behind me and pulled my hair back, gently kissing the back of my neck. "Beautiful."

I turned to face him. "I meant the ocean..."

"Oh... Yeah, me too." He grinned at me as he ran his fingers through the hair at the back of my neck. As he ran his hands down over my arms and pressed his lips to mine, I shivered. There was something about the moment that was so much like a fairy tale.

He smiled and wrapped his arms around me. "I love it when you do that."

"Hmm..? Do what?"

"When you just kinda melt into me like that. It reminds me of that first night when we danced in your hotel room."

"Oh. Well see, I don't really do that on purpose. It's just that sometimes when you kiss me, it makes me feel weak. And that night in the hotel room, if you hadn't been holding onto me I probably wouldn't have been able to stand."

"Mmm... Well then, I love having that effect on you." He smiled and kissed me again. "We need to go." "What? Why?"

"Well, look over there to your right. Up on that bluff, over by the tree."

"I don't see anything."

"You just don't know what you're looking for. There's a photographer up there."

I squinted my eyes. "Robert, I don't see anything..."

"Yeah. Well, just trust me and when you see this picture in a magazine in a few days you'll know I was right."

"In that case, I'm glad they captured the moment."

He laughed as we headed back to the car. "Do you remember how terrified you were of photographers that night I took you to the movie premiere?"

"I remember being nervous about a lot of things that night. Mostly I was nervous because of the way you kept smiling at me."

"I guess I can be glad you finally got over that."

The next day they were ready to begin filming. Robert headed to the set early, kissing me softly on his way out. "Come by whenever you're ready. I'll probably take a lunch break sometime around noon."

It was around ten when I went to the set. I sat off to the side, watching Robert film some of his solo scenes. There was something about watching Robert get into character that fascinated me. I know it seems strange, but watching him I really felt like I was watching a whole other person. I was so wrapped up in Robert/Jay that I didn't even notice Rick standing behind me until he said something. "It's a whole different world, isn't it?

I took a deep breath as he pulled up a chair and sat down beside me. "Rick, don't you have work to do? Elsewhere?"

"I just finished taping a scene with Marisa. I thought I'd come watch Robert work for awhile, see if I could learn something from him. He's in a league all his own, isn't he?"

I raised my eyebrows as I turned to look at him. "Yes, he is. And for someone who admires him so much, it sure didn't take you long to make enemies with him."

He shrugged. "I couldn't help it. Ever since I saw that picture of the two of you together all I could think about was getting you back."

I couldn't help but laugh. "For future reference, Rick, flowers might have been a better approach."

"Really. So if I'd have shown up at the hotel that day with flowers instead of those pictures you'd have come back to me."

I shook my head. "No."

"You'd have considered coming back to me."

"No."

He shrugged again. "So much for your approach. See, I knew that as long as you were with him I didn't stand a chance. I thought if I could break you up I might just be able to win you back."

"Rick.." My voice was almost menacing.

He held up his hands in surrender. "Don't worry, Lizzie, I've given up, I swear. I've come to the realization that I don't think I'd want you back after you've been with him. Just seeing the way you look at him, the way your whole face lights up any time he touches you... I don't think you ever looked at me like that before, much less now, after everything I've put you through. I'm smart enough to know I can't compete with him." I looked over at Robert as he leaned over a table talking with the director. He looked up briefly and winked at me before continuing his conversation. I smiled. "No one can compete with Robert. And it's not about all that stuff you said before. It's not because he's famous or even because he's incredibly talented. It's because of who he is when the cameras aren't rolling. I've never met anyone who makes me feel the way I do when I'm with him."

He nodded slowly. "Well, do you think you'll ever forgive me for trying to separate you from the love of your life?"

I glanced at him warily. "As long as you never, ever try anything like that again... sure. I mean, after all, you're partly responsible for us being together anyway."

"Huh? How do you figure that?"

I smiled slyly. "Well, if you hadn't cheated on me, we'd probably be married now and I would never have gone out with Robert..."

"Ouch. I guess I deserved that."

"I guess you did."

"So do you think Robert will ever forgive me?"

"I don't know, he's pretty miffed. You made it sound like I was lusting after him the entire time you and I were dating. Had you been plotting that or did you just make it up as you went along?"

He sighed and looked down. "Lizzie, the truth is, I really did come to your apartment just to give you the negatives to those pictures and apologize. It's just that when he answered the door in his boxers I got really jealous all over again and the words just came out." He glanced at his watch. "Well, I'm due back on set 2. I'll see you later."

Everyone took their lunch break around noon with the plan to resume at 2pm on the beach. They wanted to get the beach scenes shot quickly while it wasn't raining. We decided to get our lunch to go and head on over to the beach. We found a spot that was up away from where they were setting up the props and camera equipment. When we finished eating he layed back on the quilt we had spread out and pulled me into his arms. "So, are you glad you came with me?"

"Of course. I mean, I think I'd follow you just about anywhere, but this place is beautiful. And I just love watching you work. Everything is just perfect." I nuzzled my head against his neck and kissed him softly.

He hugged me and kissed the top of my head. "Well, almost everything... What was Rick up to so early this morning? More blackmail? Or just lies?"

"He just wanted to apologize again. He said he came over to watch you shoot your scenes and see if he could learn anything from you."

He rolled his eyes. "If he wants to learn something, I'd be happy to teach him something about how to treat women. And how to stay away from mine."

I leaned up on my elbows and looked at him with an amused smile. "Yours? As in your woman?"

He frowned at me. "You know I didn't mean it that way."

"It's okay. I think it's cute." I glanced across the beach to where they were setting up the equipment.

"Speaking of Rick, who's that girl with him?"

Robert leaned up and followed my gaze to a pretty, dark-haired girl sitting close to Rick. As he said something to her she laughed and put her hand on his arm. Robert frowned again. "I think her name is Celia. I met her this morning. She's playing the part of Marisa's sister. She seemed like a really sweet girl. You should probably warn her to stay away from that jerk."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Robert... You know, I dated 'that jerk' for five years. He's not all that bad."

"Not all that bad? He has cheated on you, threatened to release half-naked pictures of you to the press and told lies about you... What part of that do you find acceptable?!"

"I didn't say he was perfect."

"So now he's gone from 'not all that bad' to nearly perfect. That's quite a jump."

I sighed as I pulled myself up to a sitting postition. "Now you're just putting words in my mouth. All I'm trying to say is..."

"All you're trying to say is that he's fed you a bunch of lies about how he's sorry and you're buying every word!"

"Okay, did it ever occur to you that maybe he really is sorry. Maybe he's finally just glad to see me happy. He did love me once you know."

"So I'm told. Repeatedly." He sat up and ran a hand through his hair.

That's when it dawned on me. "Robert... are you jealous?" "No, I'm not jealous. I just don't like the way you keep defen

ding him after everything he's done."

"Robert, I loved him for a long time. But just because I think there may still be a decent guy in there somewhere doesn't mean I'm still in love with him. You are way over-reacting."

"Really. Fine. Well next time I guess I just won't react and he can publish whatever lies or pictures he wants to about you."

I was really starting to get upset with him. It wasn't so much what he said as it was the tone in his voice. I couldn't really think of anything to say that I would't regret later so I just stayed silent. We sat in silence for a few minutes, after which the director called for Robert and Marisa. He stood up silently and then turned to offer me his hand. I took it and he pulled me up as he searched my eyes with his. "Will you stay and watch us film?"

I fought not to smile at the boyish tone in his voice. I wanted to still be mad at him but looking into his eyes, I just couldn't. "You have the car keys... where am I gonna go?"

I sat and watched them film most of the beach scenes. It was mostly playful scenes and I made it through them pretty well. (Although a couple of my fingernails didn't!) When they got to the more serious scenes I decided to take a walk. When I had walked for a good while I went back to the quilt we had spread out earlier and lay back to watch the sun as it began to drop closer and closer to the ocean. I knew they'd be finished soon because the only beach scenes in the movie were supposed to take place during the day. I heard footsteps and looked up to see Rick walking toward me. He stopped when he saw the look I gave him. "Mind if I sit down?"

I sighed. "I guess not. Just behave yourself."

He smiled. "Scout's honor."

"You were never a boy scout..."

"Okay, okay. Then I promise to behave, okay?" He watched as I frowned in the direction of where they were filming. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. Are they still...?"

He nodded. "They're still working on that same scene. Marisa can't seem to get through it without giggling."

Before I could control it, my eyes began to shoot daggers in that direction. "Well isn't that convenient?"

He smiled at me and shook his head. "Lizzie, they're just working. There's nothing romantic or sexy about it."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah. I'm sure it really gets boring when you have to kiss an incredibly beautiful woman over and over again."

"Lizzie..."

"Yeah, I know. Let's just talk about something else so I don't have to think about it."

We sat silently for a few minutes and watched the waves crash against the shore. "Hey, Lizzie? Do you remember the summer between our junior and senior years of high school when we took that trip to Myrtle Beach?"

"How could I forget it? Let me guess, you told Robert that story, too."

He laughed. "No, I didn't. What was it, our second night there when you ate those bad oysters?"

I made a face and shook my head. "The only thing I remember about that trip is puking my guts up and laying in bed with a stomach ache. After that first day, the only time I saw the beach was through the car window on the way home." I began to laugh a little as I remembered. "I was sure you were going to dump me as soon as we got home."

He smiled. "You know, I actually loved that trip. I mean, I'm sorry that you were sick, but it was the first time I ever felt like you needed me for something."

I glanced over at him. "And you stayed in the hotel room with me the whole time, holding my hair every time I got sick."

He shrugged. "What was I supposed to do, go to the beach without you? The whole point of the trip was for us to be together."

I looked up to see that they had finished filming and Robert was walking toward us. He glanced over at Rick but didn't say anything. He smiled softly and held his hand out to me. "Are you ready to go?"

As much as I was still a little upset with him, that soft smile made my heart skip. I took his hand silently and he pulled me up, kissing me gently on the cheek. As we walked back to the car he put his arm around me and pulled me close. "I'm sorry, Elisabeth. You were right, I over-reacted. I know that if you dated Rick, there must have been something good about him at some point in time. I just don't trust anyone who can try to publish revealing pictures of someone they claim to love. Don't expect me to make friends with him." I smiled and leaned my head over against him. "I don't. And I'm sorry too. I love that you're protective of me. And I know that the only times you've seen him, he's been a complete jerk. So, did you finally get that one scene finished?"

He groaned. "I hope so. They finally got one they think is good but the sun was going down and the kiss was supposed to take place in the middle of the afternoon. They're going to try computerizing the sunlight and see how it turns out. Hopefully we won't have to come back and try it again. I don't know why Marisa's so giggly today."

We were in the car, heading down the road by this time. I reached over and squeezed his leg. "I think if I had to spend the entire day kissing you I'd be a little giggly and lightheaded myself."

The next week was mostly rainy so they concentrated on filming the indoor scenes. They had rented a large building where they set up all their indoor sets. I spent a lot of time on the set, never tiring of watching Robert, although I did stay in the trailer occasionally. I had to get some work done sometime.

On Friday morning the schedule called for Robert and Marisa to work on the scene that everyone kept referring to as "their big love scene". Robert had told me that they were expecting the movie to get an R rating because of this scene so I decided to stay in the trailer. I told him I'd meet him on the set around one when he figured they would either be finished or break for lunch.

I walked down to the set at about ten minutes to one and apparantly they were not finished. I stopped as I came into view of the set. The funny thing was that I had expected this to happen at some point in time. The movie was a love story, and being on the set with him all the time I figured that one day I would walk in on something I didn't want to see. What I wasn't prepared for was the way it made me feel. I thought I'd be able to just turn and walk away, but I couldn't. They were kissing heavily, Marisa seated on a kitchen countertop and Robert standing in front of her. She was wearing a sundress and he had one hand resting on her bare knee, the other on her neck. As I watched, he began running his hand slowly up her thigh. I tried again to walk away but my feet still felt glued to the floor. Unfortunately the worst was yet to come. As he began kissing her neck, the hand that was there moved down, lingering on her breast before finding her waist and pulling her closer to him. I clamped a hand over my mouth as I felt a familiar sick feeling in my stomach. I could hear someone saying my name but the sound seemed far away. When I finally turned, I saw Rick standing beside me but I pushed him out of the way as I quickly made my way outside. As soon as I hit the grass outside my knees buckled and I hit the ground hard, along with the contents of my stomach.

I felt familiar hands pulling my hair back from my face. Even after there was nothing left in my stomach I choked and coughed, unable to get any air in my lungs. Rick grabbed my arms and pulled me to my feet. "Lizzie, you need to take a deep breath."

I did as I was told and that's when the tears came. I began to tremble and when he put his arm around me to steady me, I collapsed against him, burying my face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and began softly stroking my hair.

We stood there like that for a few minutes and I had just begun to calm down when I heard someone clear their throat. I looked up to find Robert standing in the doorway. "Am I inturrupting something?"

As I backed away from Rick, I saw the sharp look in Robert's eyes change to one of alarm. "What happened? Are you okay?"

As he walked quickly toward me, I followed his gaze to my knee which seemed to be bleeding. "Oh. I guess I cut it when I fell."

"You fell?" He looked at me and then at Rick. Robert pulled me to him, brushing the tears away from my face. He looked over my shoulder at Rick. Rick in turn nodded toward the studio and all of a sudden the pieces came together.

I don't remember much about the walk back to the trailer. I think Robert nearly carried me because I suddenly realized that my knee really hurt. Neither of us said a word as he sat me down on the bed and cleaned and bandaged my knee. When he was finished, he sat down beside me and sighed. "You want to talk about it?"

I shook my head. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For freaking out. I just..."

"You know it's not real. You know that I love you and I would never cheat on you... Right?"

I nodded but before I could stop them, the tears were falling again. He looked confused. "Then why are you still crying?"

"Because I love you. And I don't think I can do this anymore."

"Elisabeth? What does that mean?"

I took a deep breath. "When I walked in on that scene today I felt like my heart was being ripped out. I don't know if I can date someone who's job is quite often to make out with other women. It's hard for me to separate it. I know it's just a movie but I'm not sure that makes it any easier. I feel like somehow I have to force myself to think that it's okay for you to make out with other women as long as the cameras are rolling and you're getting paid for it. Right now I'm having some trouble seeing how that makes it better. Yes, I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone and I wish I could say that I'd jump through whatever hoops I need to just to be with you. I thought I would. But I'm not sure I can stand reliving this pain every time you do a movie with love scenes." By the time I finished speaking, I was crying so hard that I could barely get the words out.

"Wow... I don't really know how to respond to that. You know I'll do whatever I can to make you feel more comfortable... What can I do?"

I shook my head. "I can't think of a thing. Maybe I should just go back home."

He stared at me for a minute and then ran his hand through his hair like he always did when he was frustrated. "How can you sit there and tell me that you love me and then in the next breath tell me you're giving up because things got a little hard?"

"I'm not saying that I'm giving up... I just need some time to think."

"Okay, so why can't you do that here?"

I looked up at him and looked away again. I really didn't know what to do. I knew I was being irrational. I loved him and I couldn't stand the idea of being away from him. I just couldn't fathom ever being able to accept the part of his job that I had witnessed today. And I couldn't ask him to give it up, so what else is there?

He sighed as he stood up. "Okay. I'm going to go get us some lunch and tell Mike that I won't be back on the set today. Why don't you lie down..." As he spoke he gently leaned me back on the bed and brushed back my hair. "You can do some thinking and when I get back we'll talk about it." He leaned over and kissed me softly on the cheek. "Promise me you'll be here when I get back?"

I looked up into his soft, pleading eyes and couldn't say no.

I must've fallen asleep. I was having a wonderful dream about Robert and woke to find that I was wrapped in his arms. I blinked and looked up at him. He smiled and kissed me softly. "Hey... feeling any better?"

I stretched and smiled slightly. "Well, for some reason nothing ever seems as bad when I'm wrapped in your arms."

He held me tighter and stroked my hair. "I'll have to remember that... Are you hungry? I brought you some Teriyaki chicken."

I nodded as we sat up. He looked at me closely and ran his fingers across my tear-stained face. He looked like he wanted to cry himself. "Lizzie, I hate seeing you like this. Help me make it better. I know we can come up with something that will make this easier for you. I have some ideas..."

I looked skeptical. "Really? What kind of ideas?"

"Well, I could do more movies like Wonder Boys where I only end up in bed with men..."

I laughed in spite of myself, wrinkling up my nose. "Somehow I don't think that's the solution."

A look of relief came into his eyes when I laughed. "Okay, but seriously. You know, love scenes are a very small part of my job. Yeah, this movies' s all about love and sex, but most of them aren't. And if I get enough offers, I'll be able to pick and choose what I do."

"I can't let you go around turning down movies just because they might make me uncomfortable."

"Well, that's one of those things where we can cross that bridge when the time comes. All I'm saying is that there are things we can do to make this easier for you. And for the duration of this movie, we'll just make sure that you don't come to the set at all on the days when a love scene is scheduled."

I still looked doubtful but he could tell I was beginning to cave. He kissed me gently while running his fingers over the back of my neck. His lips were so warm and soft. I felt myself going weak again. "Robert... you're not playing fair. You know I can't think straight when you kiss me like that."

He grinned at me. "Elisabeth, I am in love with you and right now I'll do anything and everything I can to make you stay. Fair or not fair, makes no difference to me."

I looked into his eyes briefly and then lay my head against him. "Oh, Robert. If I'd have left you today, I would have been back tomorrow, begging you to take me back. As much as I'd like to think I have a choice in the matter, I don't. You have my whole heart. I don't imagine I could get too far away from you without finding something was missing."

Robert shook his head in amazement. "Lizzie, I don't know what I did to make you feel that way, but I want to make sure I keep doing it."

We both seemed to be out of words so we ate in silence. After we ate, he pulled me back into his arms. After quite a bit of time had passed, I had to ask what he was thinking.

"Well... I was thinking about how quickly I fell in love with you, how afraid I am of losing you... This is where you're supposed to make me feel better by telling me I'm not going to lose you..."

I smiled. It always amazed me to hear him tell me how much he loved me. I guess in some ways I found it really hard to believe which was probably why I was so insecure about Marisa. It wasn't so much that I didn't trust him as it was that I had a hard time believing that he would want me over her. And watching him make out with her today... well, I guess part of the problem was that it brought back memories of Rick on his desk with his boss. And I was so much more in love with Robert than I had ever been with anyone else. And he was worried about losing me? "Robert, you have nothing to worry about."

"Well, I think I have an idea of something that might make you feel better."

I turned to look at him. "Yeah? What is it?"

He stood up and pulled me up with him. "Come with me."

The next thing I knew he had dragged me over to the studio and we were walking through the dark sets. Since Robert had taken the day off they had given the rest of the actors the day off and had the crews out getting shots of the city. He walked me toward the kitchen set slowly as he watched my face. "You okay?" I gave him a strange look. "Robert, it's not the set that bothers me, it's what was happening on the set... What are we doing here anyway?"

"I just thought... well, earlier when we were filming this scene... I don't know why I'm telling you this because it sounds incredibly corny and I know you won't believe me... But I was thinking about you the whole time. I was remembering that time we made love in the kitchen at Amy's parent's lake house and then I started thinking about that first time we made love. The way you came into the kitchen in that wet tee shirt and reached as high as you could for that bowl on the top shelf... Anyway, I thought that if you would imagine yourself in Marisa's place like I did it might help you... Is that crazy?"

"Yeah...", but I couldn't help smiling.

"Well, if you don't want to try it..." As he spoke he pulled me close to him, running his hands slowly down my back and over my hips. "I mean, we could just go back to the trailer and sit like we've been doing." He began softly kissing my neck. "Or... we could stay here and..." He suddenly lifted me on the counter.

I couldn't help but laugh. "This seems familiar."

He frowned at me and put a finger to my lips. "That's the whole idea..."

I started to say something else but he covered my mouth with his and everything else faded away. Even the scene from earlier that had seemed burned in my memory faded away in the warmth of his embrace. There was just something about the way he kissed me. He was always so sweet and soft and yet there was this insistance, like he needed me. He was softly massaging my back as he kissed me when, the next thing I knew, he had unzipped the zipper running down the back of my shirt. I was so wrapped up in him that I didn't even realize he'd done it until I felt his fingers on my skin.

I jumped slightly. "Oh...Robert..."

He smiled an incredibly sexy smile. "Shh...baby, relax."

He pulled the shirt off my arms and let it drop to the floor as he began kissing my shoulders. He ran one finger softly along the inside of my thigh and all protests were lost. I'm not even sure when I took his shirt off, or maybe he did it, but I began raining kisses over his chest as he ran his hands over my back. I soon brought my lips back to his and we were kissing passionately when we heard footsteps in the studio. I looked over Robert's shoulder to see the director, Mike Segars. He was a pretty far away but I was fairly sure he had seen us. I was more sure when he spoke up.

"Wow. It looks like we hired the wrong co-star. Talk about chemistry..."

Robert turned to face him and I grabbed his belt loops, making sure he stayed positioned in front of me. Mike smiled. "Uh...sorry to inturrupt but the camera crews are on their way back anyway."

When Mike walked off Robert turned back to face me. He smiled at the dark red color of my face and ears. "Sorry... I didn't think they'd be coming back so soon..." He picked up both our shirts and handed me mine. "Why don't we go finish this in the trailer?"

I smiled. "Good idea... much better than your last one!"

I guess his idea must've worked because I did feel a lot better after that night. He was so tender and gentle and after we made love he cradled me in his arms for hours. As we talked and laughed, the earlier tension was all but forgotten. I pressed my face into his neck and took a deep breath.

He pulled back slightly and gave me a strange look. "What are you doing?"

I giggled at the look on his face. "Sorry. I love the way you smell."

"Okay... And what exactly do I smell like?"

I smiled. "You just smell like you." I softly kissed his chin. "Do you still want to know what I used to fantasize about before I met you?"

He suddenly looked interested. "Yeah... Are we going to get to act out any of these fantasies?"

"Well, it's a little late for that... I dreamed that we would meet and I would do some little thing that would make you fall madly in love with me. Of course there were other things that happened after that but the main thing was that you were in love with me."

He was trying to be serious but I could see the corners of his mouth turning up into a smile. "Oh. I was actually hoping to hear about the good part of the fantasies..."

I smiled and kissed him, gently tugging on his bottom lip. "You mean the part about how we made love in a closet at the Hollywood party where I met you?"

"Now we're getting somewhere! How about some details?"

I rolled my eyes. "Sorry. I just made that up."

He gave me an evil look and began to tickle me relentlessly until I begged him to stop so I could breathe. He leaned over me and looked in my eyes. "I love to hear you laugh... Does this mean I'm forgiven?"

"Fogiven? For what?"

"For making you cry..."

I touched his face softly. "You didn't do anything wrong, baby, so there's nothing to forgive. Although... if you had done something wrong I'm pretty sure I would have forgotten all about it after the way you made love to me tonight."

He raised his eyebrows at me. "Ooh, I was that good, huh?"

I smiled and kissed him again. "Always."

Early the next week, they wanted Robert, Marisa and Rick out on the beach by sunrise to take promotional photos. After much prodding, Robert managed to get me out of bed at 5am to go with him. When we got there the crew had already been there for hours, setting up props. Marisa and Rick were already there too. (I guess we must have been running late!)

They called Robert over immediately and began to work with him and Marisa. I walked over to where Rick was standing and lightly kissed his cheek. "Thanks for being there for me." He looked startled. "Lizzie... You're welcome. But I really didn't do anything.

" He smiled slyly at me. "I hear that Robert did, though..."

My cheeks flushed slightly. "Does everyone know about that?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Mike couldn't wait to tell us that he caught you guys making out on the set. And he's been ribbing Robert about it all week. I didn't think you were big on public displays of affection."

I shook my head. "I'm not. And I didn't intend for it to be public." I watched, disgusted, as they snapped picture after picture of Robert and Marisa cuddled up together. "Ugh... who picked this music?"

"I think Marisa picked the cd's out, why?"

"Because they're all sappy love songs!"

"Call me crazy, but might that be because they're taking promo pictures for a romance movie?"

I glared at him. "You know better than to try to be logical with me when I'm upset."

He just laughed. "Lighten up, Lizzie. Everyone knows he's in love with you. It's so obvious. Why would he want to go back to her?"

"Back to her?"

He didn't say anything for a minute as he studied my face. "You didn't know that they used to date?"

I sighed as I stared at them. "I knew it was rumored. I never asked if it was true or not. I guess deep down I really didn't want to know."

"Well, from what I understand, it was over a long time ago. I wouldn't worry about it."

I began to study them carefully as the music played in the background. I wasn't happy with the choice of lyrics.

There were moments of gold
And there were flashes of light
There were things I'd never do again
But then they'd always seemed right
There were nights of endless pleasure
It was more than any laws allow

Rick watched me carefully as I frowned at the way Marisa was smiling up at Robert. I was keenly aware of how she took every opportunity to run her hands over him.

If I kiss you like this
And if you whisper like that
It was lost long ago
But it's all coming back to me
If you want me like this
And if you need me like that
It was dead long ago
But it's all coming back to me
It's so hard to resist
And it's all coming back to me
I can barely recall
But it's all coming back to me now

Rick put his hand on my back. "Lizzie, I don't think they're going to need me for awhile yet. Why don't we go for a walk?"

I agreed it was a good idea, but we really just walked a little ways down the beach and sat down close to the water. I could still hear the music playing in the background but I made an effort not to turn and watch. Instead I stared out at the ocean with a faraway look.

Rick shook his head at me. He began lightly massaging my shoulders as he spoke. "Lizzie, don't over-react again. I know exactly what you're thinking. You think that all this time they're spending so close together is going to rekindle the feelings they had for each other, but that's not going to happen. Look at it this way. They didn't even date as long as we did. Being here with me obviously hasn't stirred up any old feelings in you, so why do you assume it would be that way for Robert?"

But you were history with the slamming of the door
And I made myself so strong again somehow
And I never wasted any of my time on you since then ...

I thought about what he said. The truth was, I hadn't allowed myself to have any feelings for Rick since way before Robert came along. I had really believed that he was the love of my life and I was going to marry him. And now... Well, he was right. Having him around hadn't stirred up any old feelings in me, had it? How strange that I had suddenly become very conscious of his hands on my shoulders. The lyrics to the song that was still playing began to echo in my head.

When you touch me like this
And when you hold me like that
It was gone with the wind
But it's all coming back to me now

"Lizzie... are you okay?"

If you forgive me all this
If I forgive you all that
We forgive and forget
And it's all coming back to me
When you see me like this
And when I see you like that
We see just what we want to see
All coming back to me
The flesh and the fantasies
All coming back to me
I can barely recall but it's all coming back to me now

Back at the photo shoot...

The song also seemed to be getting to Robert. He was staring off down the beach where Elisabeth and Rick looked just a little too cozy. It seemed like every time he turned around this week Rick had his hands on her for some reason or another. He knew that Elisabeth had forgiven Rick and seemed to trust him but Robert was convinced that somehow he was still trying to get her back. It wasn't that he didn't trust Elisabeth but he was a little worried that with her being so self-concious about Marisa she may turn to Rick for comfort. He certainly seemed more than willing to give it. His thoughts were interrupted by the photographer.

"Robert... Are you still with us? You've got the right look but you're looking at the wrong girl..."

"Yeah, sorry. Um, could we take a break for a few minutes?"

"Robert, we're almost done. Just a few more of you two and I'll get Rick up here to take a few of you together. If you'll just stay with me for a few more minutes we'll be finished and I think Mike's giving everyone the rest of the afternoon off."

I was still staring out at the ocean. I guess it was some combination of the song and Rick gently massaging my shoulders that caused the flood of memories. He had always taken such good care of me and been so protective of me. It was so long ago, and we were both different people now, but somehow... Somehow I couldn't stop the flood of wonderful memories I had with this man.

"Elisabeth..."

"Huh?'

He smiled. "I was just wondering where you drifted off to."

"Oh. You know, it's funny. I was just remembering the first time you kissed me, and how you asked my permission first. Out of all the years we were together I think that was the sweetest thing you ever did" A spark of hope flashed through Rick's eyes. She's thinking about our first kiss. That's got to be a good sign. I can't let this moment slip by without trying to remind her of how incredible things once were with us. Now might be the time to move my hand to her neck, she always loved that spot. Did she just lean her head back toward me? It was almost imperceptible, but I think she did. I know it's too soon to try and kiss her, but it feels so good just to feel her skin under my fingers again.

At that moment the photographer called for Rick to come and join them. He stood up reluctantly. "Are you coming, Lizzie?"

I glanced up and him and smiled slightly. "No, I think I'm just going to stay here, thanks."

I watched him walk off and then turned back toward the ocean. I was bothered by what I was feeling right now. It's not that I had any desire to get back together with Rick. I did still love him, in a way, but it didn't come anywhere close to the way I felt about Robert. I guess what concerned me about it was that having him close by had stirred up feelings in me. I could only imagine what type of feelings I might be having if he had kissed me. I really wasn't sure what Robert's relationship had been like with Marisa but they seemed to be making out, heavily, almost on a weekly basis. How could that not remind him of the time they spent together, however long ago it was? I knew he loved me and he'd been really patient, but how long would he really be able to tolerate my jealousy over his job-related relationships? That wouldn't be a problem for him with Marisa, she was used to it. I knew that if I wanted things to work out with Robert I was just going to have to trust him, but I was so afraid of being hurt again. And I knew that with Robert it would be so much worse than it was with Rick. What chance did I really have, realistically? I mean, there are only two options, right? Either we get married someday and live happily ever after or we break up, either now or somewhere down the road. The first option seemed so unlikely. And the second... well, somehow I just knew that I would be the one who got hurt.

Rick avoided Robert's eyes as he walked toward him and Marisa. Even without looking at him, he could feel his glare. He really didn't want to make enemies with Robert, but he obviously already had. And if he had even the tiniest chance of winning Elisabeth back, he had to go for it. Sure, he might never be able to compete with Robert, but their relationship couldn't possibly last forever, could it? He was just hoping to be the first one she thought of when she needed comforting.

Robert was trying not to let Rick get to him, but he couldn't resist making a remark. "Are we having a little trouble remembering how to keep our hands to ourselves?"

Rick sighed. "Look, Robert, I know you think I'm up to no good, and yeah, for awhile I was trying to get her back, but I'm not stupid. I don't think she ever once looked at me the way she looks at you. Not when we first started dating, not after five years together, not even the first time we..." He stopped short as what he was saying began to hit him hard. It was true. She had loved him, he didn't doubt that. And she had looked at him lovingly and said some wonderful things to him. But when she looked at Robert, there was this deep glow in her eyes. You could almost tell by the look on her face that her heart beat faster anytime he entered the room. And that tiny imperceptable smile that she thought no one else could see, Rick noticed it every time. At first he thought he had just taken for granted and never noticed when she looked at him like that. Now he knew that she never had. He shook his head. "You don't have to worry about me. If you lose her, it won't be because of me." He cast a sideways glance at Marisa as he spoke. "But if you screw up and hurt her, I will be there to pick up the pieces. And if I ever manage to win her heart, I won't be stupid enough to let her go again."

The photographer was watching curiously. "Okay, good. Obviously we won't have to pretend we don't like each other. Now if we could just get to work so we can get finished and we can all go home..."

I noticed that they had wrapped up the photo shoot so I headed over that way. As I walked, I noticed that Marisa had cornered Robert by one of the equipment trucks and they seemed to be deep in conversation. I would love to say that I didn't intend to eavesdrop, but I did. Whatever they were talking about, I felt like it was very much my business. I stopped on the opposite side of the truck where I couldn't be seen and leaned against it. From the tone of Robert's voice, it seemed he was already exasperated with the conversation.

"Marisa..."

"Robert, if you'll just give me a straight answer for once, I'll leave you alone. All I'm trying to find out is if the time we spent together meant anything to you at all. The only reason I even took this role was to try to rekindle what we had together... Are you telling me that you don't have any feelings for me, that there's no chance whatsoever that we could be together again, that it doesn't do anything for you when we do those incredible love scenes together like the one earlier this week?" She ran her hand over his chest as she spoke.

It was at that moment that Rick came up behind me and realized what I was doing. "Elisabeth..."

I turned and gave him a stern look as I put my finger to my lips. He sighed but remained silent.

Robert was silent for a moment and I was starting to get worried when he spoke again. "Marisa, I've been sidestepping your questions because I didn't want to hurt you, but I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Elisabeth about that love scene we did. I was thinking about her the whole time."

"What? Why?"

He smiled slightly. "Because I'm crazy about her. Because I can't even look at other women without comparing them to her. And no one even comes close. She's so... I'm not even sure what it is about her. She's so innocent, and yet she's not. She's so sweet, but yet she's got this really ornery streak that comes out sometimes. She always acts like she can't live without me, and I love that, but somehow I know she can."

"Robert, that doesn't even make any sense. Besides, how do you ever expect to make a relationship work with someone who can't handle your job. Rick told me about what happened last Friday. How do you intend to deal with that?"

"I intend to deal with it by doing whatever is necessary to make her feel more comfortable. If I need to focus on action films until she's more secure, then that's what I'll do."

"And if she's never more secure?"

"She will be. She's strong, she can overcome this. But no matter how long it takes I'm going to do what I have to do to hold on to her. I never knew love could be like this. As many women as I've loved or thought I loved, I never knew it could be like this. She's so easy to love. And she makes me feel like..." He shook his head and smiled before continuing. "Do you know how much fan mail I get every day? Hundreds of people telling me how great I am. I've gotten accolades from people I highly respect. I've won some incredible awards and been nominated for even more. But somehow, it's the fact that she loves me that makes me feel special. She doesn't care about my bad habits, she doesn't care about anything I've done in the past, she just loves me. And I know that if I decided to quit tomorrow, to never make another movie, to live the rest of my life in obscurity, she'd still love me. And it amazes me, because I haven't done anything to deserve that kind of love."

Now it was Marisa's turn to be silent. When she finally spoke her voice had changed dramatically. "Well, I guess that answers my question. I am glad to hear that you're so happy, I guess. Although that means my next request is definitely out of the question."

"Your next request?"

She smiled."Well, I was going to suggest that if you didn't want to get back together, I'd settle for just one night..."

He didn't say anything and she walked off.

I glanced over at Rick with a look that was somewhere between elation and disbelief. He smiled at me but there was sadness in his eyes. "Congratulations. It seems you've got nothing to worry about. You shouldn't be so surprised. He obviously knows what he has and he isn't about to let it go. I wish I'd have been that smart."

I smiled and touched his cheek. "Rick, I'll always love you..."

He smirked and shook his head. "Yeah. Look, I don't need the same speech Marisa just got, so I'm just gonna go find Celia and see if I can take her to dinner."

I smiled as he walked off and then turned to find Robert standing behind me. We looked at each other for a minute before I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him deeply, twining my fingers through his hair. When I finally let go of him, he tilted his head and smiled at me. "What's with the public display? I thought you were against that sort of thing."

"I guess I changed my mind."

He looked at me suspiciously. "How long have you been standing here?"

"A pretty good while..."

"I really didn't intend for you to hear all that."

"Well, you wanted to know what you could do to make me feel better..." I smiled sheepishly and kissed him again. "I feel better."

He wrapped his arms around me and breathed a mock sigh of relief. "Thank God for that."

We started walking toward the car. "So, you've got this jealousy thing conquered now, right?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that..." "Oh. That's too bad because I wa

s thinking maybe you could help me."

We got to the car and I leaned back against it, looking at him curiously. "Help you? Help you what?"

He looked a little embarrassed. "I don't like Rick."

I laughed a little. "I know... You've made that pretty clear."

He continued. "I don't understand why every time I turn around lately he has his hands on you. At first it was little stuff. He'd be picking lint off your shirt or pushing your hair out of your face, but today when I looked over there, I could have sworn he was going to kiss you."

"What? Robert, that's crazy. He was not going to kiss me."

"I think he was, if he hadn't been called over to the photo shoot. And he had his hands all over you."

"He was just rubbing my shoulders!"

"Yeah. And, uh, men do that all the time just to be nice, don't they?" He paused and frowned at me. "Why are you smiling?"

"Because you're so cute when you're jealous. I swear, Robert, it was nothing."

"Okay. So if it was nothing, how come you looked like you were enjoying it so much?"

My mouth dropped open. "Robert Downey Jr., what exactly are you accusing me of?"

"I'm not accusing you of anything, it's just... Well, we both know how badly he wants you back and you seemed to be encouraging him."

"Robert..." I couldn't help but smile as I shook my head at him. The fact that he thought I could ever love anyone else after having been with him amazed me. "Rick knows that he has no chance. I was more in love with you after five minutes than I was with him after five years. "

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? Five minutes, huh?"

"Well... close to that, anyway. Robert, can you not tell that I'm head over heels in love with you? No one else could ever come close, including Rick."

"What about John Cusack? I heard he's single again..."

I put my hand over my heart and fluttered my eyes. "John Cusack! Well... you don't really have anything to worry about. He'd never go for me, he's a big movie star."

He gave me a mock offended look. "And what am I?"

"Oh, that's right! You've made a few movies yourself, haven't you?"

"Um, yeah, I've done a few. And if you'd like to see some of my work, I'll bet we can find a video store somewhere around here. We could rent Two Girls and a Guy.."

I nodded my head slowly. "Yeah, we should really do that! Or... We could just go back to your trailer and you could give me a private, behind the scenes peek at how that love scene went."

He shook his head and laughed at me. "Here we are in this beautiful city and all you ever want to do is go back to my trailer. I'm not sure what to think about that. Other actors are always complaining that so many girls just want them for their money. I think you only want me for my body."

I smiled widely at him. "That's not true. I want you for a lot of reasons. Your body just happens to be high on the list."

He pulled me close to him and kissed me firmly, running his hands over me and making my body temperature rise several degrees. I forgot that we were standing on a public beach with several people from the movie still milling around and returned his kiss just as firmly, running my hand down over his back and sliding it into the back pocket of his jeans. He chuckled at how obviously anxious I was to get him back to his trailer. "So, Lizzie, I was thinking we'd go out to eat tonight. What are you hungry for?"

I gave him a pouting look. "You know what I'm hungry for... "

His eyes literally sparkled as he smiled at me. He stuck his lower lip out, imitating me. "Come on baby, I'm hungry! Can't I at least get some food in my stomach before you wear me out with another night of wild, exhausting sex?"

Right at that time, someone walked by and her eyes widened as she overheard him. I almost fell over laughing. "Great. Now look what you've done. Tomorrow's headline will be about how I'm a sex-crazed maniac. Thanks a lot!"

He smirked at me. "Well, at least they'll be printing the truth for once..." He laughed and ducked as I took a swing at him.

We went back to the trailer to clean up before we went out to eat. While I was in the shower, Robert walked outside and called Calista on his cell phone. She saw who it was on the caller id and picked up immediately.

"Robert, hi! How's the movie going?"

"It's going great. We're almost finished."

"Great! And how's it going having Lizzie there with you?"

"Um... really good. Actually that's what I called to talk to you about."

"Is everything okay?"

"Well, mostly. There's just one small problem."

"What, Robert? What's the problem?"

He wasn't sure how Calista was going to react to what he had to say so he decided to spill it quickly. "Today I almost asked her to marry me..."

She was silent for a moment and then spoke slowly. "I didn't realize that things had gotten that serious. And what do you mean, almost?"

"I didn't realize things had gotten that serious either. I mean, when you think about it, I really haven't known her that long. And it's not like I've even been thinking about marriage, I don't have a ring or anything. We were just standing there on the beach talking and all of a sudden I realized that I want to spend the rest of my life with her."

"Wow. Okay, so what made you not ask her?"

"Well for one, I didn't have a ring. Also I got to thinking that the whole idea was crazy and that rushing into things is what got me in trouble with Deborah. Then it crossed my mind that she might say no."

"Robert..." Calista paused momentarily. Robert knew her well enough to know that she was thinking and he didn't rush her. "You know I try to stay out of the middle of your relationship and I've never told either of you what the other one has said.."

"Yeah..."

"Well, I know something that could be helpful to you in making this decision, so I'm going to tell you."

"Okay.." He was starting to get worried.

"Robert, Lizzie almost left you last week."

"What?"

"That day that she got upset over your love scene. When you left to go get something to eat, she called me and she was crying. And packing."

Robert was stunned. He knew she'd been upset, but packing? She was just going to give up and walk away? "So... what, you talked her into staying?"

"No, Robert, I didn't. I just listened. I listened while she told me how incredible she feels when she's with you. And how she never knew that love could be like it is with you. And how she fell apart when she saw you making out with Marisa."

"Calista, it was for the movie! I wasn't cheating on her!"

"I'm not accusing you of anything, Robert, I'm just telling you what she said. It hurt her, regardless of whether it was real or not. And she didn't think she could handle it as a part of your daily life. So she was going to leave. But she kept talking. And the more she talked the more convinced she was that she couldn't walk away from you. She said that after being with you, she knew she'd never meet anyone else who could make her happy. So she decided to stay. And work through whatever issues she has with your career. She also said that every time you hold her, she knows that being with you is worth everything she has to endure because of your career."

"So what you're saying is..."

"What I'm saying is that, first of all, I don't think there's a chance in the world that she'll say no. Second, she's crazy about you. And I believe that as long as you're honest with her and faithful to her, she'll easily spend the rest of her life with you. And if you love her even half as much as she seems to love you, you have nothing to worry about. Yes, it does seem a little soon, but you've been spending nearly 24 hours a day with her. Not to mention all that time you spent talking on the phone those two months you were apart. So if you really want to propose... all I can say is congratulations."

He smiled, unable to contain his excitement at the idea of marrying Elisabeth. "Thanks. You'll be at the wedding of course..."

"Of course."

The next week, they wrapped up After the Promise. I was having mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I was really glad to be gettting rid of Marisa. On the other hand, I wasn't sure where to go from here. I knew that, at this point, there was no way I could stay in Atlanta with Robert in LA. It was bad enough before, but after having spent so much time with him and going through the things I went through, I knew I couldn't do it now. I didn't really have a problem with moving to Los Angeles. I would miss Amy and the rest of my friends, but Calista was there. More importantly, Robert was there. I knew that, wherever he was, that was where I wanted to be. So, obviously I knew what I wanted to do. The problem was that I didn't know what Robert wanted to do. I assumed that he wanted to be with me but he hadn't even brought it up. And I found that very strange. I was quiet as we both sat in his trailer, packing things into our suitcases. He seemed unusually quiet himself, making me wonder what he was thinking about.

I began sorting through a stack of scripts, notes and assorted other papers, trying to decide what needed to be packed and what could be thrown away. As I got to the bottom of the stack, I came across a tabloid with a picture of us on the front. Robert was down on one knee with my hand in both of his. It was the one from Atlanta when he had traded his made up story for the one Rick had sold them. I smiled as I looked at it, remembering. I looked over to where Robert was folding clothes and putting them in his suitcase. "I can't believe you saved this..."

He raised his eyebrows as he walked over to where I was at. "Saved what?"

I picked up the paper to show it to him. As I did, something underneath it caught my eye. My breath caught in my throat as my eyes fastened on the diamond that had been hidden beneath the paper. I finally turned back to look at him, but he was now sitting beside me, watching carefully for my reaction. His eyes never left mine as he took my hand in his, picking up the ring with his other hand. "Lizzie..." He took a deep breath and put his hand gently to my face, still holding the ring on his pinky finger. "Marry me?" He paused and smiled softly. "For real this time?"

Tears began streaming down my face. I found myself unable to speak so I responded by wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing my lips to his. He returned the kiss, then pulled away to look in my eyes again, his filled with hope. "So is that a yes?"

I giggled. "Of course! Of course it's a yes!"

He laughed with me and gently slid the ring on my finger. I stopped to really look at it for the first time and noticed that it was just like the one he had borrowed for our fake engagement. I smiled up at him. I didn't have to say anything; he knew I had noticed. He pulled me into his arms and I buried my face in his neck, already envisioning my future with him. I'm not sure how long we sat like that, time seemed to have stopped. When I finally pulled back to look at him I noticed that there were tears in his eyes also. I smiled and began softly kissing his face eventually finding his lips. We kissed softly for a few minutes and then began to get more passionate. Soon he helped me up and pulled my shirt over my head, pulling me toward the bed at the same time. I looked deep into his eyes as we made love, thinking that soon I would be making love to my husband. My husband... Just the thought made me melt.

Later, as I lay curled up in his arms, we began to discuss our future. Of course I would move to Los Angelos as soon as possible so that we could be together. We would have to arrange for my parents to fly out; I knew they would want to meet him immediately. And the wedding...wow. So many decisions to make! Did we want to do something big or something small that could be kept from the press? As we discussed it, I found that I cared very little about the details. I wanted to marry Robert. I couldn't wait to spend the rest of my life with him. The rest was trivial.

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