Free Here All Along by Crista McHugh Page B

friends, and I almost lost her in the process. Not going there again.” He turned to head back into the villa, but stopped short of the door when Gabe called after him.
    “Too scared?”
    He spun around. “Yes, I am scared. Sarah’s my best friend, and I’d rather have her as that than lose her completely.”
    “Even though you’re in love with her?”
    The question hit him like a punch to the chest, driving the air from his lungs. He pressed his palm over the ache around his heart. “Is it that obvious?”
    Gabe nodded. “And I have a hunch she feels the same way, but just like you, she’s scared.”
    “Yeah, I know. She doesn’t want to ruin our friendship.”
    “No, I think it’s more than that.” Gabe grabbed a chair and straddled it, his expression turning serious. “She’s scared of being in the spotlight again.”
    “Understandably. You know her story.”
    “Yes, and like I told her last night, it’s unfortunate that she’s choosing to waste her talent.” He rested his chin in his hand. “But maybe your solution to winning her heart lies there.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    Gabe tapped his index finger on his cheek, looking past Gideon into nothingness.
    “Hello, Earth to Gabe?”
    “Give me a minute, Kid. I’m coming up with the perfect plan.”
    Gideon drained his glass, hoping it would ease the sick feeling forming in the center of his gut. He knew coming up here was a mistake.
    “Yes, this might just work.” Gabe focused his attention on Gideon. “Are you in?”
    “In on what?”
    “My plan to get Sarah over her stage fright.”
    “What does this have to do with me and her?”
    “Everything.” Gabe hopped up from his chair. “Let’s get you another beer and hash out the details. If we can get her comfortable in the spotlight again, then she has no excuse not to be with you.”
    He’d hit the core of the problem right on the head, even though Gideon had never revealed the real reason Sarah had given him on why they couldn’t be more than friends. She’d told him months ago that whoever he dated would have to accompany him to events and smile for the cameras, and she wanted nothing to do with that sort of life any more. But if he’d figured out the source of the problem, then maybe Gabe’s plan would help him get around it.
    He followed Gabe into the villa and accepted the open bottle of beer. “So what’s the plan?”
    “Part one involves helping her remember the joy of acting.”
    “And how to you plan to do that?”
    Gabe grinned. “Leave that to me.”
    “You’re not going to get her a bit part in the film or something, are you?” He took a chug from the bottle and immediately regretted it. Fire burned through his mouth and along his throat. He spat out the beer and grabbed a bottle of water sitting on the counter.
    Gabe pulled a tiny bottle of hot sauce from his pocket. “Got you.”
    “Asshole.”
    “And now that we have that behind us, we can move forward with Operation My Fair Lady.”
    “You can’t come up with a better title than that?”
    Gabe handed him an unopened bottle of a Mexican lager. “Just wait and see.”
    But as Gideon listened, his own plan formed in his head. The one that he’d been too chicken to carry out last month. The one that was still sitting in an unopened box in his bedroom.
    Maybe Gabe had a point about reminding Sarah of her brilliance.
    And he had a golden opportunity to do so.

Chapter Eight
     
    Gideon stood in the shadows and tried his best not to laugh out loud. None of the scenes today called for him, but when he learned that Gabe had to suffer through his own kissing scene with Mackinzie, he decided it would be worth the trip. Especially when he had the perfect practical joke planned to get Gabe back for the pepper sauce a few days ago.
    Besides, it gave him a chance to get out of the villa and away from Sarah. He’d arranged for his housekeeper to mail him Red’s Golden Globe award, and it had arrived less