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“My job isn’t to get personal.”
I get the line out, but the significance of it sits heavy between us. This is us. Or it was before last night.
“And yet here you are.”
The way Autumn looks at me, I know this is more than acting. She’s channeling us. Of all the turbulent feelings that have been between us.
She leans in again, holding my gaze. “I’m not your job, Mason.” Her voice is full of quiet authority. “You didn’t have to kidnap me to get to Camilla. You wanted to. I think I intrigue you. It fascinates you that I can find you so easily.”
“It infuriates me.”
I deliver the line with all the fury and frustration Mason is feeling, what I’ve felt. It did infuriate me how easily she got underneath my skin. How easy it was for me to forget that professional line. As much as I don’t regret crossing that line, not knowing how we’ll handle going forward still scares me.
She throws her head back and laughs before returning her gaze to mine. “The line between the two is very thin and you know it.” She looks at me then with a raw honesty in her gaze, in her voice. “I know it too because I feel the same way. I hate that you caught me, but also thrilled you did.” Then her devil-may-care expression returns. “It’s nice to get out of the office and come face to face with my favorite project.”
“You’ve been looking forward to your death?”
She gives her lips a quick lick as she watches me. “I bet you a hundred grand you won’t kill me.”
“That’s a stupid bet.”
“I know.” And smiles fully for the first time and the moment is stunning. It’s full of victory. “I’ll still win.”
A few beats pass then Tom says cut and we all sit there in a charged silence. Then Autumn releases a deep breath. “Okay, that felt really good. Think we should try it again?”
“No,” Tom and I say at the same time.
Autumn’s eyes round in shock.
“That was perfect,” Tom says.
Autumn looks at me.
“Wildcat, you just knocked that out of the park.”
17
JACKSON
A loud scream pierces the air and I push away from my desk so hard, my chair falls behind me.
Autumn.
I burst into her room to find her standing in the middle of the room, all in one piece, with her phone pressed to her chest. Relief that she’s not in some sort of bloody state fills me, but there are tears running down her cheeks that has panic filling me all over again.
“What? What’s wrong?”
She wiggles her hand with her phone in it. “I got it. I got a real audition. For Camilla and Sydney.”
Then I see it, the pure joy in her tears. I close the distance between us and pick her up in a big hug, swinging her around. She laughs and squeals as she holds me tightly.
“Congratulations, wildcat,” I say before kissing her. “They would’ve been fools not to consider you.”
“You’re not biased or anything.”
“Maybe a little. Your audition was good, Autumn. I don’t know how they could’ve ignored you. You were magnetic in both roles.”
Her expression softens as she melts into me even more and I love that my words made her feel good. She leans in and places a soft, but fervent kiss on my lips. “Thank you.”
