“You’re talented, Sasha. You already have your pick of roles. And this series is a moneymaker.” He knew that from prior films. “When it’s over, you’ll have opportunities most actresses only dream of. And I won’t stand in your way,” he said, forcing out the words.

She placed her hand on his chest and lifted her head. “Rebecca said something today, didn’t she? I saw her talking to you, and I knew she was going to try and damage us.”

He clasped her delicate wrist in his hand and rubbed his thumb over her pulse point. “Just because I don’t like her doesn’t make her wrong.”

She lifted her head and maneuvered so she sat up and could look into his eyes. “I know we’ve only been together again for a few days but you feel it, don’t you? We’re more than just two people sharing a bed.”

Her bottom lip trembled as she spoke, and he needed to choose his words carefully. “Even if we are,” he began, because admitting to deeper feelings would make it so much more difficult for them both, “what’s changed that could make us work?”

She blinked over glassy eyes. “I’ve grown up, for one thing. I wouldn’t let my agent or my mother push me into awkward red carpet walks and fake relationships and things that could damage us.”

He nodded, knowing she meant that. He saw the difference in her, the newly found confidence and strength. But that didn’t change the bigger issues. “Relationships are hard. They take work. Commitment. Two people in the same place more than they’re apart,” he said at last.

She sighed. “I don’t know how to answer that right now,” she said softly, her sad expression tearing at his heart.

“I know.” He wanted her to have the world, and he’d give it to her if he could.

Maybe another man could follow her from shoot to shoot, city to city, continent to continent while she filmed but he… couldn’t. After his tour overseas, his injury, his time away from his family, he needed a life with peace and quiet. Not one with paparazzi flashing lights in his face or fidelity questions posted in the tabloids.

Which brought up another subject entirely.

He hadn’t told her about his father, always keeping that information close, but maybe it was time. “Did I ever tell you why I enlisted?”

She resettled herself cross-legged beside him. “No.”

“To get away from Kenneth Kingston,” he admitted.

“Your father.”

He inclined his head in agreement. “He passed away last year.” And Xander felt guilty he wasn’t as broken up about it as he thought he should be. Then again, he hadn’t really known the man except for his expectations, which Xander and Dash had never met.