“Emmy, let’s start with both your hands on Grayson’s hips.”
Okay. Hips. I can do that.
I settle my hands, one on each side, just below his ribs.
He lets out a soft puff of a breath, and I realize I’ve been holding my own. I let it out slowly.
Clare steps back. “Good. Hold that for a sec while I check in with Liz.”
She disappears, and even though I know she hasn’t gone more than a few feet, it feels like the two of us are suddenly alone, standing in the middle of a cozy hotel room, mere inches separating our faces, our bodies touching in at least ten different spots.
“I guess it’s kind of fitting that my first kiss is also going to be my first on-screen lover.” Grayson mutters the words close to my ear.
The wordloverdances across my skin, and I shiver.
“You mean your first on-screen kiss?” My eyes are still focused on that blasted button, even though now the space between us is so slim, all I can think about is popping it open and seeing what’s underneath.
He chuckles, and it’s husky, and I feel not just the breath of it on my skin, but the rumble of it pressed against my chest. “No, I meant actual first.”
I inhale sharply. “So you do remember.”
He pauses for a second, like he’s been caught. “Of course I remember, Emmy.”
My head tilts up, almost of its own volition. His eyes are waiting for mine, the blue as bright as a glittery snowflake.
“Emmy, I...”
“Okay, this works on camera. Let’s move on to the next mark.”
For a half second I think about telling Clare to go away because I need to hear what Grayson was going to tell me. And I’m not exactly hating how it feels to be pressed up against him. But she’s already guiding us to the next spot.
Grayson squeezes my hip before dropping his hands and moving away.
—
“So that could’ve been worse.” Liz plops down at my lunch table with a sandwich and an apple on herpaper plate. “Frankly, I didn’t think we would escape the day without one of you sustaining some kind of life-threatening injury.”
I spear a bite of melon on my fork and shove it in my mouth. “The day is still young.”
Liz takes a huge bite of her sandwich, giving us both a minute of silence. “But seriously. How are you feeling about everything that just happened in there?”
My skin is smoldering like the ashes left in a fireplace. My heart is pounding like I just ran a full marathon, not that I would ever do that. And my brain is whirling like a cocktail in a martini shaker. Being shaken. Repeatedly.
“I’m fine.”
The look she gives me. I swear, I regret each and every day the closeness between her and my mother. Liz is channeling her flawlessly, and that is definitely not a compliment.
I sigh, dropping my fork and abandoning my plate, even though I’ve barely eaten more than a few bites. “What do you want me to say, Liz?”
She takes a crunch out of her apple and shrugs. “You don’t need to say anything. I just wanted to check on you because I know that couldn’t have been easy.”
Too bad the real problem is how easy it was. How I don’t think I’m going to have to pretend to be attracted to Grayson fucking West. How the only part I didn’t like about the whole rehearsal was when it ended and we jumped apart like we’d been shaken awake from a nightmare.
But I sure as hell can’t voice that thought, can’t put those dangerous words out into the universe. “I’m aprofessional, and for today at least, Grayson seems to be pretending to be a professional, too. So, we’ll be fine.”
I know my words won’t convince her, because they don’t even convince me. But it’s the best I’ve got for now.
—
