Forgetting about her phone and the world it connected her to for a moment, she eased her head back down to the bed and simply watched the woman beside her. She wanted to imprint this image on her memory so she could study it like a painting in the days and weeks to come. She could have soaked in the sight of her for hours if not for another message.

Did you talk to Vic about him? Talia texted.

No. She shot back the shortest reply. They’d had more important topics to discuss last night, and she resented the reminder of them now.

Either way, we’re back on. The new schedule is ambitious, but if we pull it off, we’ll wrap principal filming in a week.

She set the phone down. A week. One more week here. And apparently, she’d be working night and day. There would be no other way to meet the deadline. Not a minute to rest or think or daydream.

She turned her attention back to Vic’s sleeping form. A week. She couldn’t help but suspect someone meant it to go that way, perhaps the same someone who’d called Brian to the castle. The duchess offered the obvious explanation for both the return to work and the accelerated time frame, which also made Sophia’s stomach churn with all the wider implications about what twisted role she may have played in the work stoppage to begin with. It wouldn’t be hard to yank Brian’s chain. A little seed of doubt planted here, an appeal to his ego there, and suddenly he’d be sensitive to suggestions and insecure about his authority. Sophia didn’t know if she should feel enraged or impressed.

Ultimately, she didn’t care. A part of her actually felt mildly appreciative. Without a few days off she might have never gotten the chance to fully understand the woman beside her, and without the reminder of how tenuous her own job was, she might have been tempted to drag things out. Now she knew for certain she couldn’t do so any longer, not if either of them were to survive.

With that thought, she inched forward on the bed. Placing her own hand atop Vic’s, she woke her with a soft kiss.

Blue eyes flitted open under long lashes as a slow smile tugged at lovely lips.

“I have to go to work,” she whispered. “You don’t have to get up yet.”

Vic’s smooth brow creased, and Sophia nearly hated herself for wrecking such a serene canvas. Still, she’d have to do more damage than that to extract herself now.

“Brian caved. We’ve got a full schedule. We have to catch up, and that means I have to go.”

Vic sat up slowly. “He caved? Why? I mean, good, but on what terms?”

“I don’t know.”

“Okay.” She stretched. “I’ll get ready. We’ll go together.”