"I'm coming with you," Jack said.

"Not necessary, honest," Kelsey said, turning from the bathroom mirror. "It's just a regular photo shoot, of me and Ryan, for early publicity? For print ads and billboards and stuff like that?" She put her hand in Jack's hair and mussed it fondly, leaning in to kiss his nose.

"I don't care, I want to come," Jack insisted. He followed her to her bedroom, where she was slipping on some shoes. "The last time I saw him, he was practically assaulting you." His voice got softer. "I want to be there," he finished uncertainly.

Kelsey heard his tone, and turned to face him again at the top of the stairs.

"Look, he was only doing those things because I was letting him," she said. "That's the ugly truth. So I won't let him today, okay?

She walked down the stairs, with Jack hovering in her wake. "Besides, Ray will be there, and JJ, who does my make-up, and a bunch of other people as well. I'll be perfectly fine." She shook her head. "I never pegged you for an overprotective, guard dog type boyfriend, Jack LaGuardia."

"Hey, that's the first time you've ever called me your boyfriend," Jack said, beaming. "I like the sound of it. Come here, girlfriend," he called, catching her around the waist and pulling her back so he could kiss her neck.

"And the last time I saw him you two were surrounded by people, too, and it didn't seem to make much difference, you know?" he added.

Kelsey sighed, her hand on the doorknob.

"Okay, okay, look," Jack said, smoothing her hair away from her face and regarding her perfect features. "Maybe I'm being a little 'dog in the manger' about all of this. And maybe that isn't even the right reference, I don't know," he said, rolling his eyes in what Kelsey thought was a completely adorable way. "But the fact of the matter is that all of this is brand new to me, and I'm going strictly on instinct here."

He tightened his grip on her waist and pulled her closer, pressing a soft kiss to her lips, nuzzling her cheek a little after. The closeness of him, the warmth of his breath on her face, made her feel faint.

"If it feels right, I'm going to do it, 'cause that's all I have to go on, okay?" he continued.

He was standing so close that Kelsey could see the brown and gold flecks in his hazel eyes, along with the dark blue ring around the very edges. He blinked, and she saw his golden lashes, how they bleached to nearly white at the tips, and her heart swelled with tenderness for him.

She nodded, leaning her forehead against his, closing her eyes because she couldn't handle looking at him anymore. His arms were like oak around her, firm and unyielding, and his body was sturdy and warm. She could feel the slow, steady thumping of his heart under the fabric of his shirt, which smelled clean and fresh.

This was Jack, and he was hers.

"I mean, is the world going to end if I show up at this shoot with you?" he murmured, stroking her hair.

She shook her head against his forehead, still with her eyes closed. "No," she breathed.

"Okay then," Jack answered, and she could tell he was smiling the slow, easy smile that she loved. "Let's go. I'll just watch, and I'll be good, I promise, all right, missy thing?"

She nodded again. "Come on, then, boyfriend, car's here."

Kelsey was a bit fuzzy on where they were going, so she couldn't really answer Jack's questions. It turned out to be a hotel in Bel Air, very luxurious, palm trees and spa treatments, smoked salmon and old Hollywood. Jack couldn't really see what this had to do with the movie. Marian Lowell was from somewhere in Northern California, as far as he could remember, and most of the movie happened in London, the rehab center, and Rio de Janeiro.

They were led out to the back, to a private area with a cabana and pool, where the shoot had been set up. It was teeming with people, and looked like a movie shoot to Jack.

"Oh, good, you're here!" Raymond exclaimed, approaching them from the side. "Jack! Why are you here?" he asked. "You won't be needed, you realize that?"

Jack nodded. "Just felt like tagging along," he answered. "Don't worry, I'll stay out of the way."

Ray just smiled as he led Kelsey away. She blew him a kiss as she left, and Jack waved back, settling down on the low stone wall to watch. He was basically ignored as the people went to and fro, everyone busy with their tasks.

Kelsey walked over to JJ, and the two of them went into a tent. She emerged half an hour later clad in a very brief, don't-swim-in-it bikini that revealed a lot of her supermodel figure. It was microscopic, in a very tight knit, covered with sparkling beads. It was very pretty, and looked incredibly uncomfortable to Jack. He also didn't see how she could possibly ever dive into a pool, let alone swim an actual lap of anything wearing it.

Ryan Goldman, whom Jack had last seen plastered to the woman he loved, pawing at her front in a drunken stupor, was dressed in a very unlikely doctor's lab coat, complete with a stethoscope hung around his neck.

What on earth?

Now they were actually getting started with the shooting, having Kelsey in various poses around the beautiful pool with Ryan next to her. She reclined in a lounge chair, sat at a glass-topped table, and posed at the edge of the pool as Ryan sat near her in his doctor attire.

Then they had her get in the pool and wet her hair. After she got it wet, JJ had to come in and carefully comb it back so it was perfectly smoothed off her head, each stand evenly separated from the other, her brow perfectly, symmetrically exposed, her beautiful back glowing in the afternoon sun. Someone then dashed in and sprayed something all over her so she actually seemed to glisten. Finally, five minutes after she'd gotten wet, she was ready to be photographed.

Jack smiled and shook his head.

Kelsey saw him and cocked an eyebrow back at him, with a tiny shrug of a perfectly tanned shoulder. It made him aware of the improbable cleavage created by the suit, and how it made her breasts look bigger than they actually were.

In fact, now that Jack looked at her and thought about it, she was nearly unrecognizable to the romping, laughing hoyden or the gasping, grasping, wide-eyed creature he came together with nearly every day, sometimes multiple times. This woman, this wet, glimmering, perfect looking model was a stranger to him.

Ryan was laughing with her now, his arm around her waist, and as Jack watched, his hand slid casually down her back to the top of her bikini bottom. As they continued talking, waiting for the photographer, his hand slid even lower, until it was on the soft, round part of her bottom, the part Jack liked to hold when they sat curled up together watching movies. He just let it rest there, as if it belonged there, as if claiming ownership. As Jack watched, Ryan casually gave a squeeze, goosing Kelsey gently.

Jack was up off the stone wall like a shot, taking long strides over to where Ryan was, once again, "taking liberties" with his girlfriend.

"Whoa, hello, who the hell is this?" the photographer asked. He looked at his assistant, who just shrugged.

JJ turned from where she was organizing some clothes. "Oh, Jack, right? Can I help you?"

Other people were turning around, but Kelsey and Ryan hadn't noticed yet.

"I need to talk to Kelsey for a minute," Jack said, trying to keep his voice even and calm.

At the sound of his voice, Kelsey looked over, startled, and started walking toward him.

"Jack? What's wrong?"

When she got closer to him, the assistant warned, "Please don't touch her skin, you'll mess up the finish, and it's perfect right now." JJ nodded her agreement.

Jack ignored everyone and spoke to Kelsey as if they were alone. He did, however, try to speak softly. "Like I said, I'm just going on instinct here, you know?" he said, stepping close to her,

She nodded.

"I'm sorry, but I really don't see why he has to have his hand on your ass when you're just standing around, you know?" He looked at her, eyes tortured.

"Jack, Jesus, it's just--" Kelsey began.

"Don't you dare say it's just work!" Jack interrupted her. Everyone turned toward them, surprised. "This is not normal for work, and just because it's been happening to you for years doesn't make it okay, nor does it make it acceptable!" He was nearly shouting by the time he finished speaking.

Kelsey looked around and looked back at Jack, furious. "Please, Jack, you're being ridiculous, nothing was happening."

Ryan, who'd figured out what was going on, was standing and watching, smirking as he looked around at the others. All activity had ground to a halt around them as everyone focused on the young couple arguing.

JJ, who also had a pretty good idea what the fight was about, felt bad, and wondered how to stop what was going on.

Raymond, who'd been on his phone inside one of the tents, emerged to see what was going on.

"Kelsey? What's wrong, hon?" he asked, hanging up his phone as he walked over.

"Nothing, Ray, Jack and I are just talking," she answered, not looking away from Jack's face.

Jack looked around uncertainly. "Should we go somewhere else to talk?" he asked.

Kelsey, too, looked around, realizing that they were the center of attention. The only thing not terrible about this situation was that there were no reporters present.

She grabbed Jack's hand and walked away from the people, behind one of the tents. She whirled to face him, and he leaned back, a little startled by the anger in her face.

"Jack, nothing was happening! This is insane," Kelsey said. "We were standing there, talking, for god's sake! Then you come over, looking like you want to murder Ryan, disrupting the shoot?"

Jack thought about it. Could he have misunderstood? Could he be overreacting? He didn't have much experience in these matters, it was true.

He shook his head. "No. You're wrong. He had his hand on your waist, which I can live with, but then he put it on your ass, which I can't live with, then he squeezed it, which I definitely can't live with, okay? I don't care how naive I am, or how unaware, or what adjective you want to use to describe me." He looked at her resolutely, firming up his chin. "I don't care how well they know each other, or what they do for a living,  I know that friends don't let other friends grab their asses."

Kelsey just stared, and Jack wondered if she was going to slap him. Then, incredibly, she began to laugh. It was a good laugh, that came from way down inside her. She grabbed on to a convenient tree trunk to support herself as she began to gasp for breath.

"Uh, Kels? Are you okay?" Jack finally asked. "Are you going to barf or pass out or something? Do I need to do the Heimlich?" He patted her back, trying not to mess up her "finish."

Kelsey shook her head, finally able to stand upright. She carefully wiped tears of mirth from her eyes. "Friends don't let other friends grab their asses?" she repeated. "Oh god, Jack, I need to get that tattooed somewhere, honestly."

"Wait a minute. You're laughing at me?" Jack asked. "I'm completely and totally serious, Kelsey."

Kelsey just nodded. "I know, I know," she answered, still catching her breath. She stepped closer to Jack, being careful not to let their bodies touch.

"And you're right. I mean, you were right the other night, and you're still right now," she said, nodding. "What can I say? I sometimes need to be told more than once, okay?"

She looked down briefly before looking up to regard him somberly, all traces of humor gone. "Like I said, you just get used to it. I'm going to have to get used to being a different way, that's all." She leaned in and kissed Jack on the mouth. "Have a little patience with me, hm?"

They emerged from behind the tent holding hands, faces neutral. Everyone looked at them avidly, for hints of whatever skirmish had occurred, but they gave nothing away. Jack released her hand and went back to his place on the wall, and she took her place on the pool deck again.

"Sorry for the interruption, guys," she said, addressing everyone. She stood close to where she was, but not close enough so Ryan could put an arm around her, which everyone noticed.

"Oh, and who's running things today?" Kelsey called out. "Who's in charge of this shoot?"

A man and woman at a table looked over at her.

"Hi," Kelsey said cheerfully. "I'm not saying I won't do the shoot or anything, but you should know that my swim coach and I don't think this is going to fit with the feel and mood of the movie at all, okay?"

The man and woman stared at her, as did Ray, who looked horrified.

"No, it's cool," she said, raising her hands. "Like I said, I'm not saying I won't do the shoot, but I just need it in writing somewhere that I don't think this angle is going to work for the movie at all, that's all.

"Okay, let's get on with it, shall we?"