Beatrix took a sip of her wine, leaned back in the garden chair and looked up at the sky through the vines growing on the trellis overhead.

It was hard to believe they were in Baltimore. The rooftop garden on this rental was so lush and isolated, she might have been a million miles away from anyone.

Say what you wanted about Kate’s manager, Carol, she certainly came through when it came to five star accommodations.

While the others unpacked, Beatrix and Cecily had come outside to get a little work done.

Not that Bea was getting much accomplished.

She frowned at the notepad perched on her legs.

Instead of the letter she was supposed to be drafting it was covered in doodled butterflies. She couldn’t seem to stop drawing them lately, especially when her mind wandered.

“You getting stuck with that?” Cecily asked, looking up from the scaled glove she was working on.

“I’m a writer,” Bea said. “Putting together a letter to pitch the movie should be easy.”

“It’s not the same thing,” Cecily said. “But you did write pitch letters to investors before. What’s different now?”

Beatrix sighed. She hated to say it.

“It’s Carson, isn’t it?” Cecily asked.

“Yes,” Bea admitted. “He was my first successful pitch and it was in person. One of the people in his group introduced me. Once I had their backing, their participation was one of the main things I led with in these letters. Now that they aren’t part of this, it’s harder to know how to project confidence that the thing will be fully funded.”

“Are you really worried about it?” Cecily asked.

“I need a lot of money, really fast,” Beatrix said. “And I went to my most likely prospects first.”

“I’ll talk to a few people tomorrow,” Cecily said. “See if I can find out who’s looking for a good project.”

Beatrix watched her friend push the needle through the glove she was working on, connecting another iridescent scale to the leather with a stitch so tiny it was invisible. Watching Cecily sew was almost hypnotic.

There was a knock.

“Um, hello?” Bea called.

“Hello,” Buck’s deep voice floated through the trees. “I didn’t want to interrupt your work. But I thought you might want something to eat.”

There was a rustling of greenery and then he appeared with a tray in his hands.

The setting sun put a halo around his head.

He smiled down at her and she felt her heart stutter.

Beatrix just stared up at him.

“It’s only cheese and crackers,” he said, bending to place the tray on the table between Bea and Cecily. “But we’re going to order in as soon as you guys are finished.”

“Thank you,” she managed.

“Is there anything else I can do to help?” he asked.

Images of him naked, helping her relieve stress in the most pleasant way, streaked through her head.

Beatrix buttoned her lips and shook her head.

“Thanks so much,” Cecily said. “This is really nice.”

“My pleasure,” Buck said. But he was looking at Beatrix.

He winked at her and then disappeared back into the garden in the direction of the apartment.

“He really likes you,” Cecily mused.

“Only because he doesn’t know any better,” Beatrix said.

“Don’t joke,” Cecily said. “That’s one thing you can’t do with these guys, Bea. Falling in love is the whole world to them. It’s everything.”

“I know,” Bea said.

She did know. And she was beginning to think that her getting together with Buck might be inevitable. The physical attraction was too much for her to resist.

And he shared her fascination with art, something she had never expected. He’d spent hours watching her sketch. It was odd that he would want to watch her arduous process, and stranger still that she could bear to let him. She generally hid her work from view until it was complete.

Besides the pull of his unbearably hot body, and their shared interest in art, he was also genuinely a nice guy.

And Cecily was right - he really did like her.

If she thought she was going to hang onto her heart in the face of that onslaught, she really was crazy.

She just hoped they could take their time. There was a lot going on in her life with the movie. And Buck had to learn literally everything about being human.

But maybe they could go slowly.

Maybe they could even start tonight…

Cecily began to sew again, her needle dancing between the shimmering scales.

Bea munched on a piece of cheese and watched, mesmerized.

“You know what’s funny?” Cecily asked dreamily as if she were hypnotized by her own stitches too.

“Hm?” Bea asked.

“If you got together with him, your funding problem would go away,” Cecily said. “As soon as the media got wind that you were with an alien literally everyone would want to make your movie.”

She looked over at Bea, eyes dancing.

And Bea realized, with a sinking feeling, that her friend was right.

If she were dating an alien, then she could write her ticket.

And just like that, the door that had opened to the idea of getting together with Buck slammed shut again.

Bea was going to be a self-made woman. She had no interest in riding on anyone’s coattails.

If her friends could help her get meetings that was one thing. She would still have to land the funding on the merits of her own proposal, based on the strength of her creation.

But utilizing Buck in that way was unacceptable. First of all because she respected him and didn’t want to use him. Secondly because she wanted to protect him from the media circus that would surely descend with that kind of publicity.

But the real reason was that she didn’t want to use anyone at all.

If she made the film because of alien star power, it would be a spectacle and nothing more. None of the great minds she had dreamed of collaborating with would give her honest feedback to make it a great movie. They would all be kissing up because they wouldn’t want to offend the woman with the bona fide alien.

It was going to be hard, but Bea needed to back off from whatever was happening between herself and Buck, at least a little.

At least until she had the film underway.

A little voice in the back of her head screamed that feelings couldn’t be put in a schedule.

But, as she often did, Bea ignored the little voice.

She knew what she wanted. And being with Buck wasn’t the right way to get it.