"You really could have been a lot nicer to Kate," Drew said once they'd shut the door to the garage.

"Oh, come on." Gwen rolled her eyes. "I was just giving her my order. I shouldn't be expected to be her best friend all of a sudden. She's our handler, for goodness’ sake."

Drew took in a slow breath to calm his frustration. "She's also my friend. And besides, you shouldn't treat anyone like that, anyway." He knew Gwen had grown up very privileged coming from a wealthy family, unlike him, but how could she treat someone like that? He didn't like this side of her very much.

"Just your friend? Are you sure that's the only reason you got her that job?" She narrowed her eyes and looked him over, as if she could see what was really inside his mind with some sort of X-ray vision.

"Of course we're just friends. Believe it or not, but I'm not the kind of guy to go after my best friend's married sister. Especially when I already have a girlfriend."

"Married? She didn't look married?" Gwen spat.

Drew pinched the bridge of his nose, willing the headache this conversation was causing to stay at bay. He looked at Gwen, in what he hoped seemed a calm and serene manner. "She's married. I saw the wedding announcement with my own two eyes. Didn't you notice the huge ring on her finger?"

Gwen crossed her arms. "I'm not in the habit of looking for women's rings to gauge whether they're available or not."

Drew stepped closer and set his arms on Gwen's shoulders. "The only girl I'm interested in dating right now is standing in front of me."

Gwen's anger seemed to melt. She folded herself into his arms, going soft. "I'm sorry I overreacted so much," she sobbed. "It's just so hard being away from you so much. And when I saw how pretty Kate was, I couldn't help but get jealous."

Drew pulled back and took Gwen's face in his hands. "Don't be jealous. There’s absolutely nothing going on between Kate and me. Let's just enjoy this time we have together and forget about everything else for the weekend. Okay?"

She nodded, and he gave her a kiss on the forehead.

* * *

Kate dropped off dinner twenty minutes later. Gwen greeted her much more kindly, if not totally sincerely, and when she walked back to the living room with her food, Drew saw a chance to apologize to Kate for his girlfriend’s attitude earlier.

When they were alone, Kate spoke in a hushed tone almost mysteriously. "I left a pizza in the garage for you."

A grin stretched across Drew's cheeks. He pulled her into a side hug. "You're the best."

She shrugged as if it was nothing. "I figured you deserved your pizza after the hectic week you've had. Nothing says good job like a pizza."

Drew raised his brows. "Might it be pepperoni and tomato?"

Kate grinned proudly. "Of course!"

He felt light at the thought of her remembering that tiny detail about him all these years later. He checked behind him to make sure Gwen was still in the living room. She was. So he leaned closer and whispered, "I'm sorry about Gwen. She's always a little touchy when we haven't been together for a while."

Kate nodded. "It's okay. Just don't let her know about the pizza thing. I'd rather not have her snitching to Alexis that I'm trying to ruin those abs of steel." She poked him in the stomach playfully, and then pinched his sides where she knew he was ticklish.

"You really are the worst," Drew joked, gripping her hands to stop her. He was unsettled at how her simple touch sent butterflies to flight in his stomach. He wasn't supposed to react to her this way. But she probably shouldn't be flirting with him, either.

"Drewy?" Gwen's voice called.

If he was going to propose to Gwen at the end of all this, he needed to tell her how much he hated that nickname. Like, it was bad. Even Saint Drew was better than Drewy.

"I better go," Kate said.

"Do you and Nolan have fun plans for this weekend?"

"Oh, um." Kate scratched her neck. "Nothing too exciting. Probably just eat pizza and watch a movie."

Even that sounded more fun than staying cooped up in some stranger's house for the weekend. He and Gwen were still getting used to being all alone after being surrounded by producers and cameramen for so much of their relationship. He knew it was sad, but sometimes he liked Gwen's personality better when there were other people to joke around about it with. When they were alone, things usually just got awkward.

But he would try not to think about that. They just needed more time together. That was all.

"Tell Nolan I said hi." He gripped the knob, readying to shut the door behind her. "I'll call you in the morning with our lunch requests."

"O-okay, that sounds good." Kate stepped back, bumping against the molding, dropping her phone in the process. Drew dipped down, picked it up, and handed it to her. "Thanks," she said, before stepping back into the garage. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Drew waited by the door to watch her leave, worried her sudden clumsiness might make her forget to open the garage door before backing out. She seemed to have recovered though and she pointed to his pizza box on her way out.

"Thank you," he mouthed before stepping down to retrieve it. He shouldn't have to keep his pizza eating a secret. He was a grown man, wasn't he? So instead of hiding in the garage, stuffing his face with "forbidden" food, he waltzed into the kitchen with the box in hand.

"She got you a pizza?" Gwen hmphed when she saw it.

"Yep. And if you're nice I'll even share."

Gwen sighed. "Fine. This soup isn't as good as I thought it would be."

Drew held back his I told you so and opened the box on the coffee table. "Then I hope you like pepperoni and tomato."

"Not my favorite, but I'll eat it."

Drew resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "You're gonna eat carbs for me?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. I'll eat carbs for you. But if I hear any complaints about you being able to pinch more than an inch…"

"I'm not the one who cares about that."

"Which is why I love you." Gwen lifted a piece from the box and took a bite.

Drew hoped she didn't notice that once again he didn't return the sentiment. He'd get there someday, he promised himself. That day was just not quite today.

* * *

"So how was your weekend?" Kate asked Drew after he put his duffel bag in the trunk and climbed in the company car she'd driven to the safe house Sunday evening. Dion had just taken Gwen back to the airport, so it was time for Drew to come back to reality again.

"It was fine," he said as Kate pulled onto the road.

Honestly, he didn't know how to feel about the time he'd spent with Gwen. The rest of the weekend went by more smoothly than the first hour, but it still wasn't as awesome as it should have been. Something was missing in their relationship, and even though Drew kept trying to make everything work, they didn't have as big of a spark as they'd had during filming.

He also didn't love that Gwen was always so jealous. Yes, it was hard that they couldn't be together all the time. Couldn't go out in public. Couldn't even put their real names in their phones. But he hated how threatened she felt when he had to spend time with another woman, like when he had to be with Kate because of work. He did understand some of it. It was a natural thing. But the extent that he had to reassure her every time was draining. He had foolishly thought that once he'd sent home the last girls from Finding Your Soulmate, things would be better.

The day when their relationship went public couldn't come quickly enough. Maybe then she wouldn't be so insecure.

"I'm glad it was at least fine," Kate said. "Gwen seems really, um…confident?"

Drew had to laugh at that. "She certainly didn't give the best first impression, I'm afraid."

Kate laughed too. "Yeah, not so much. But I'm sure she'll grow on me."

"It does tend to happen." Drew grinned. Why couldn't things be this easy and effortless with Gwen? What was it about Kate that put him immediately at ease? Was it just because they'd known each other for so many years? Seventeen years? He wanted things to be easy now.