And then, there was Jason…

I tried not to look at him at all.

Dear God, please help me breathe.

Still using the glass as my shield as I kept sipping water, I sat down right across from the unknown guy—who had an amused expression on his face—and then I jumped a little and sloshed water on myself when Keith pulled out the chair next to mine and sat down.

Jesus…get a grip, Olive.

I was ready to jump out of my skin and run away to find Lucy so I could kill her. Surely this was all happening because she hadn’t come with me.

Keith started the introductions. “This is Jason’s agent, Tom Symond, and this is the author I mentioned to you, Tom, Olive T—”

“So very nice to meet you,” I said in a louder voice than Keith’s, interrupting him before he could say my last name.

Tom Symond chuckled, rose up, and reached for my hand.

Then I had to get up, too. Don’t you just hate being civil sometimes? As we were shaking hands, I slipped and glanced at Jason since he was being so quiet. When I noticed he was looking at me with a frown on his face, I quickly looked away, sat down, and reached for my beloved water glass.

“Jason Thorn is who we want for the role of Isaac. We think he’ll be perfect,” Keith started up again.

Damn, but the guy talked too much.

“We still have a lot of things to talk about, Keith, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” said Tom.

I nodded enthusiastically. What kind of hell was I in that they had brought in the ONE actor that I would be—

“Olive Taylor?”

Oh, god…

Death could be so peaceful. My own heaven. Didn’t that sound nice? Breathing was so overrated anyway.

“Olive?” Jason asked again in a surprised voice. There was complete silence in the room.

My stomach grumbled.

Anyone up there? Kill me.

Kill me now.

“Nice to meet you…Mr. Jason Thorn,” I said miserably when nobody else spoke for several seconds, silently shaving off years of my life.

Of all the things I could’ve said at that moment, of all the things I could’ve been doing instead of sitting there shaking like a leaf…

“Little one,” he said once he got up from his seat. There was affection in his voice. Definitely surprise, too, but mostly affection.

All the hairs on my body stood up.

Jason was already rounding the table coming toward me. No escape now.

Defeated, I let go of my water glass and pushed my chair back to face Jason.

Once he reached me, only two steps separated us. Two short steps after not seeing him for so many years.

“Olive,” he said, his lips cracking into a big grin. His eyes took in every inch of my body, causing me to blush.

Then he was in my space, his hands cradling my already flushed face. Involuntarily, I took a step back, my ass almost sitting on the table. He just came with me.

“Little one, look at you.” He laughed, triggering a smile on my face. “I can’t believe it, Olive. Fuck, look at you,” he repeated again.

The dimple? It was still as heartwarming to see as it had been the first day I’d met him.

“Hi,” I said, lifting my hand in a little wave.

He threw back his head and laughed.

Wow.

“Mr. Jason Thorn? That’s what you say to me?”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” I mumbled, my face heating up.

“Jason?” his agent asked from behind. “You know her?”

“Yeah, I know her,” Jason answered, his eyes still on me. “I was her favorite person in the whole wide world. She said so herself when she was eight years old.” He tilted his head, his eyes narrowing. “Or was it maybe seven?”

“Probably seven,” I muttered and closed my eyes. Yup, I had done that, because he had been exactly that for me.

“Oh, this is a nice surprise,” Bobby cut into our unexpected reunion. “We didn’t know you two knew each other. This will definitely be a plus for the project.”

Jason winked at me.

My heart fluttered.

Then his hands finally left my face alone, only to grab my hand and turn back to Tom.

“You can handle this?”

“Of course, but I think you should stay. We’ll keep it short,” Tom responded.

What?

“You can take care of everything.”

“Jason, wait a minute.”

Yes, Jason! Wait a minute!

His gaze landed on Bobby. “I’m in. You can go over everything with Tom.”

He was in? In what? IN WHAT? Certainly not my book?

“Are you done with your meeting with Olive?” he asked Keith next.

Hello, people! Am I not still standing here?

Keith’s gaze found my startled one before he answered Jason’s question. “I’ll send you the contract and personally call you to schedule a lunch date. We’ll go over the optioning agreement with you and make the necessary changes then.”

I was starting to feel dizzy. Had I said okay to their proposal already?

Absentmindedly, I nodded.

“Call me when the meeting is done, Tom,” Jason said as he pulled me behind him.

“I can’t believe this,” he muttered as soon as we were out the door and in the maze again.

Other than being shocked into silence, I just hoped he had been in the building enough times to know how to get out of the damn thing.

One hand engulfed in Jason’s, the other flailing behind me with my handbag, I tried to keep up with his big strides.

Is this really happening?

Just when I saw the light and thought we were finally out, I was pulled into an empty office and those dark chocolate eyes of his focused completely on me.

“Olive, you are beautiful,” he said after we took in each other in the thick silence. “You’ve grown up so much.”

Fuck.

“I did do that. You look very good, Jason. It’s nice to see you.”

Was that my voice that was trembling? He was still my first crush and my first heartbreak, but he was also Jason Thorn. The Jason Thorn who was only twenty-six and had two Oscar nominations under his belt, but I wasn’t going to think about what was under his belt because that would be bad. Really bad. He was one of the most versatile leading actor in the industry. Did I mention he was the best? He was more than just an actor. He was a star—a troubled one, I should say, but still a big, shiny star. Any other woman would be jumping on him if they ever found themselves locked in a room with him, which I believed they usually did.

I, however, was slowly stepping back toward freedom.

“That’s it? That’s all you’re gonna say to me?”

The last day I’d smiled up at him, he had managed to stomp on my heart with a simple text message, not even knowing he was stomping on it. The last time he had tugged my hair as a goodbye had been the last time I’d ever heard from him.

Sure, he had texted and called Dylan for the following few weeks, but after that I don’t think even Dylan heard from him again. One year later, we had watched his first movie as a family in the same living room where he had spent countless hours with us.

“I’m too shocked, I don’t know what to say really,” I blurted before I could say something stupid.

“I am too, but, god, look at you, little one.” Another slow perusal of my body. “I didn’t even recognize you when I first walked into the room. What are the odds?”

“Right?” I chuckled nervously. “What are the damn odds…”

“You have to tell me everything.”

“Everything? What do you mean?”

“Dylan? Is he here in LA. too? How about your mom and dad? Is everyone okay?”

“Yes. They are all fine. Mom and Dad still live in San Francisco. Same house, actually. Dylan is in D.C. He is a teacher, and married to the sweetest girl. Can you believe that?”

I kept walking backwards.

Small steps, Olive. You’re so close to freedom.

“Actually, I can.” His smile got even bigger as he sat on the edge of the office desk. “He wanted to be a teacher ever since middle school or something like that, and family was always important to him. No wonder he couldn’t wait to start his own.”