Page 70 of Cast to be Mine

“Wait, let me check the hall,” he said.

I smiled over my shoulder. “Yes, boss.”

He opened the door, popped his head out and looked left and right. “Clear.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “I feel like there’s going to be a cop waiting to slap cuffs on me.”

He winked. “I’ll keep that in mind for our next rendezvous.”

I shook my head. “You and that imagination.”

I made my way to the elevator, my legs still a little weak after that toe-curling climax. I made it to my room without incident. I locked the door behind me and let out a breath. The bed looked inviting, the sheets crisp and white, but I wasn’t ready to sleep yet.

I stepped out onto the balcony instead.

I was literally in paradise and all I could think about was him.

I leaned against the railing and let my mind drift back to Micah. The way he’d looked at me when he opened the door. The way his hands had felt on my skin. The way he’d kissed me. When Micah kissed me, it felt like he was trying to tell me something words couldn’t capture.

It was dangerous, feeling this way about someone I couldn’t really have. We could sneak around, steal moments in hotel rooms and dark corners, but at the end of the day, he was my director and I was his actress. Our families hated each other. The entire world thought I was having an affair with my married co-star. Everything about this was a disaster waiting to happen.

And yet.

I touched my lips, still swollen from his kisses. I could still taste him. The memory of me on my knees for him sent a fresh wave of heat through me. I pressed my thighs together, trying to ignore the ache that had already started building again.

I wanted more.

I wanted lazy mornings in bed, tangled in sheets, his voice rough with sleep as he murmured good morning against my skin. I wanted dinner dates at restaurants where we didn’t have to hide in private rooms. I wanted to hold his hand walking down the street and introduce him to my friends. I wanted to meet his family without some stupid grudge between us.

I wanted a future that felt impossibly out of reach.

Stop it, I told myself firmly. You’re getting ahead of yourself.

We hadn’t even defined what this was. A fling? A relationship? Mutual stress relief during an intense production? I had no idea what Micah wanted beyond the obvious physical attraction. For all I knew, this was just a fun distraction for him, something to pass the time until the movie wrapped and we went our separate ways.

The thought made me nauseated.

I didn’t want to go our separate ways.

24

MICAH

The first day of shooting on the beach was already testing my patience before we’d even rolled a single frame of footage. I hadn’t fully appreciated how different everything would be with a hundred people and several tons of equipment trying to function on sand. The soundstage was setup. Electricity. Lighting. Everything we needed.

Sand got everywhere. In the camera housings. In the sound equipment. In people’s shoes, their hair, their attitudes. Every step was a workout, and watching the grips try to lay dolly track on an unstable surface was an exercise in futility. The track kept sinking on one side, then the other, requiring constant adjustment.

“We need more sandbags,” someone called out. “The reflectors keep tipping.”

“The generator’s overheating!”

“Where’s the shade tent? Someone moved the shade tent!”

I checked my watch. We were already forty minutes behind schedule, and we hadn’t even gotten to first positions yet.

Deep breath, Blackwell. This is what you signed up for.

I started making rounds, the way I always did when things got chaotic. Touch base with every department. Solve problems before they snowballed. Keep morale up even when everything felt like it was falling apart.