‘Great.’
They both waited in silence for the sound of footsteps to retreat from outside the trailer. She was one gigantic heartbeat, her chest rising and falling so fast, it was almost like she was about to have a panic attack.
The PA was definitely gone and yet they stayed right where they were, still staring at each other. The shock she was feeling seemed to be echoed in his raised eyebrows and slightly open mouth…and it probably wasn’t a good idea to start staring at his mouth again.
Gradually their breathing slowed, and a smile crept over Rowan’s face that eased the tightness threatening her chest.
‘Well, that escalated fast,’ he commented softly. ‘Are you okay? I didn’t mean to…I mean it wasn’t planned…and I shouldn’t have pounced on you… Are you okay? Maybe I should stop caging you in before I ask that.’
But he didn’t move. She still had one hand clutching his shirt and the other wrapped around the back of his neck.
‘Rowan.’ She gave an incredulous laugh. Her cheeks were warm but then her whole body was flushed. ‘Short of screaming “yes please” which isn’t really my style, I don’t think I could have been much more obvious that I was one hundred per cent enjoying that.’
His smile widened and then his eyes wandered over her face slowly, like he had all the time in the world. ‘I feel like that’s a challenge I want to take up,’ he said, in a low voice.
She pressed her lips together. They felt sensitive and her chest shuddered as she tried to breathe. She spoke on a trembling exhalation: ‘We have to get back on set.’
He nodded slowly. ‘We do.’
‘Should I go first, so we don’t arrive together?’ she tried to ask without betraying the sudden disappointing crush of reality intruding.
‘That’s probably wise, isn’t it?’
She nodded and he moved back smoothly, taking his glorious body and all its warmth away, while she had to try and untangle one leg from behind him without kicking him in the kidneys or kneeing him in the face and then falling off the sofa.
‘I thought you’d have a bigger trailer than this,’ she commented, trying to cover her embarrassment as she wriggled around. Then he caught her by the elbows and lifted her back up to sit beside him, like she was weightless.
‘Maybe Gerrard didn’t push hard for a larger one so I wouldn’t be tempted to lure pretty MUAs back here and seduce them with my comfortable upholstery.’ He raised an eyebrow at her.
She laughed, but the mention of his agent sobered her somewhat. ‘Are you regretting it?’
‘No.’ His head snapped in her direction. ‘No. Lila…how could I? I’ve been dying to kiss you since we first met.’
‘You have?’
He nodded and the heat in his eyes was unmistakable. She wasn’t sure who started to lean in first, but when they were just inches away, he stopped and moved his hands from her elbows to the sofa and table. He took a deep breath and gave her a rueful smile. ‘We–’
‘Have to get back on set,’ she finished for him.
He climbed out from behind the table and she followed, going around the opposite side. He grabbed some paper towels from the roll on the counter, folding and wetting them before he came back over to her, her heart rate immediately climbing. He tipped her chin up gently and ran the damp kitchen towel across her cheek and around her chin. ‘Makeup,’ he explained, his voice low. ‘Sorry if it’s rough.’
She was trembling by the time he finished, the cool water having removed the evidence of where his mouth and skin had pressed against hers, but only serving to remind her in tingling detail. When he finished, he threw the stained towels on the table beside them and ran his thumbs along her jaw, the backs of his fingers over her cheekbones, along her temples and the edge of her hair. She closed her eyes again as though that would help her not to unravel.
He groaned and dropped his hands suddenly, moving back a pace. ‘I have to stop.’
She opened her eyes again and took a deep breath like she was breaking the surface of water she’d dived too deep into.
‘Can I call you later though? About going on a date? If you’d like to?’
It took her a moment to find words again but then she nodded. ‘Yes. I’d like to.’ And a massive smile spread out on her face. One she knew she’d have to control by the time she got back to work.
‘I’d like to.’ She nodded, a massive smile spreading out on her face, which she knew she’d have to control by the time she got back to work.
Rowan
Rowan didn’t think he had ever resented going to work on a film set. Not in the whole of his career to date. And it was nothing to do with the raw emotions the morning had brought to the surface.
It was everything to do with the fact he’d kissed Lila. And she’d kissed him back. With so much enthusiasm, he’d forgotten where he was.
