Hitman's Hookup: A Bad Boy Romance (49 page)

Fox’s voice shattered that illusion.

“Okay, so we’re going to get a few shots of Olivia walking over to the bed. Then we’re going to do a costume change and get to the bed scenes, okay?” Fox turned to me. “You’ll just be sitting there most of the day. Enjoy that.”

I smiled broadly. “You know I always do.”

It was all I could do to remember my lines as Olivia pranced across the bedroom, her tits bouncing, her slightly round stomach jiggling. I couldn’t remember ever working with an actress who allowed her not-flat stomach on camera.

I was certain that
I
didn’t have the confidence to be onscreen with any less than my chiseled abdomen. We did the walk-in in three takes. From what I could see, each one was perfection.

All the credit for that went to Olivia. She was enchanting, and it wasn’t her body. It was like she was completely swept away inside the character of Margot.

“Cut!” Fox cried out. “Wonderful. Let’s do a wardrobe change.”

Olivia smiled at me coyly and disappeared with Lydia into the bathroom.

“Do you need anything? Water?” Fox asked.

I raised my eyebrows in shock. “You’re asking
me
if I need anything? Really?”

Fox beamed at me. “This is the first time in this production that I realize this movie could actually
be
something.”

“It’s
her,
” I said simply.

Fox nodded. “It’s her.”

A few minutes later, Olivia came out of the bathroom in her robe. I tried to avert my eyes but I couldn’t. I knew that with the exception of what was going to be an almost-invisible thong and pasties over her nipples, she was naked under there.

She walked over to the bed and dropped the robe without ceremony. I saw that Fox and the camera guys had already turned their backs and were conferring with one another over scene notes.

Olivia slid into bed next to me, Lydia rushing up behind her to cover her with sheets. Her warm skin was touching mine. I could smell her familiar conditioner. I was instantly transported to her wrapped around me in the shower.

“Hey,” she said to me.

“Hey,” I replied softly. I cleared my throat. “Great job in that last shot, by the way. You were wonderful.”

“Thanks,” she said.

She seemed only slightly awkward. But there was a thawing that had taken place between us sometime over the last two hours. I could feel it within myself and see it in her face.

“You all bound up under there?” she asked, busting out into a laugh.

Her laugh was infectious. I joined in almost immediately. “Yeah, I’m all tied up.”

“Does it really keep
it
from…popping up?”

I stared into her eyes. “The last scene was the ultimate test of that, honestly. I can say, quite safely, that it works as advertised.”

Olivia blushed and bit her lip.

I glanced over at the small crew to make sure that we had a modicum of privacy. “Liv, I’m really sorry about breakfast. I was an ass.”

She nodded. “I know.”

I looked at her as sincerely as I could. I wanted her to
feel
my apology; not just hear it. “I stopped drinking, too. I want you to know that.”

“I smelled the difference about a week ago. Also, you say your lines faster.” A tiny smile erupted on her face.

“I need to apologize to your mom,” I said.

She stared back at me with a serious expression. “I think you mean
our
mom.”

I broke into peals of laughter again. “Oh, Christ. I’m about to pretend-fuck my sister. Could this month get any more absurd?”

“Okay, you two,” Fox said, turning around. “Are we ready to film?”

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

OLIVIA

Filming the sex scenes was less arousing than I thought it would be, but also ten times more fun.

Wilder and I talked and joked between takes. I realized at one point that I was getting paid to lay in bed with the sexiest man on earth; a man I actually enjoyed spending time with.

After six hours of shooting, it was time for one final take. We were nearly done with the scene. All we had to do was kiss. Wilder was on top of me, held up by his strong arms. He stared into my eyes and bent down, grazing my lips softly.

I parted my lips to finish the kiss, but he was already gone, pulled back a few inches from my face. 

“What?” I whispered to him without thinking.

His face was soft. He whispered, “I love you.”

I expected Fox to cut the take, but he didn’t. I was suddenly torn between my Olivia brain and the brain of the character I was supposed to be playing. I nearly let out a Han Solo-esque “I know.”

Instead I reached up and grabbed his head, twirling his hair through my fingers and pulling my face to his. I kissed him as deeply as I’ve ever kissed anyone in my life.

The room evaporated around me, around both of us. We abandoned the soap opera “no tongue” kissing that we’d be doing all day and dove headfirst into each other.

I’m not sure how long we were connected like that, but when we came up for air, the room was dead silent.

“Cut,” Fox announced without his usual vigor. I looked up at him to see if he was angry. But he had a small smile on his face instead. “And that’s a wrap for
everyone
.” There was polite clapping from the small crew assembled.

Wilder pushed himself off of me and sat upright in the bed.

“Come on, everybody. That’s hardly a celebration. THAT’S A MOTHERFUCKING WRAP!” Wilder was exuding the same excitement and joy as he had standing on that statue together in the middle of the quad.

Everyone cheered loudly.

“I wasn’t sure we were going to make it, honestly,” Fox said, pulling his hat off of his head and crumpling it up. Everyone went silent and stared at the hat in his hands. He held up his palms. “Don’t worry; this time I’m only taking it off out of sheer relief, not annoyance,” he announced.

Everyone laughed.

I wiped my mouth off with the back of my hand as gently as I could and sat upright with the sheets pulled around me. Lydia walked over with my robe and I slid out of bed to climb into it. She gave me a significant look. I just smiled at her and walked into the bathroom to change. She followed me in there.

“
Oh. My. God
,” she said when the door was finally shut. “
That
wasn’t in the script. It wasn’t in the first five takes!” She spun around dramatically and swooned into the chair. “Do you think they’ll use that take in the movie?”

I smiled as I dug my clothes out from underneath a pile of empty garment bags.

“I have no idea,” I said, trying not to smile and failing miserably in that attempt. I felt giddy and light all at once, like my feet weren’t even touching the carpet.

There was a knock at the door. “Just a second,” Lydia announced.

I pulled my shirt over my head and nodded. “Come in!” I called out.

The door opened and Wilder peeked his head in. He was still in his robe. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said to Lydia. “Liv, can I talk to you?”

I beamed at him. “Yeah,” I said.

Lydia hopped off of the chair so quickly it was as if a bee had stung her ass.

Wilder shut the door behind her and pushed three wardrobe racks to the side to get to me. He put his arms around my waist and lifted me up while he kissed me passionately. I felt tingles all the way to the tips of my toes. He pulled his mouth away but didn’t put me down.

“We could fuck right here and nobody would know,” he said to me with a grin.

I moaned. “I’m hungry, though.”

He buried his face into my hair and sighed. “Okay. Food first and then fucking.” Then he kissed me.

There was a knock at the door. Wilder groaned.

“Go away!” he said, annoyed. He leaned back down to kiss me. The knock came again. “I said go away!”

The door handle turned. Wilder dropped me onto the floor and turned around, looking angry. It was Harrison.

“What the fuck, man?” Wilder said in irritation.

Harrison was pale. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but there’s an emergency, Mr. Wilder.”

I squinted at him, feeling my stomach turn over. I thought he was playing some kind of joke on us.

“What could
possibly
be an emergency right now?” Wilder snapped.

Harrison looked meaningfully over at me. “I don’t think I should say in front of Ms. Martin,” Harrison said. He was stoic, but I could tell his hands were shaking slightly. “I wouldn’t have interrupted if this weren’t exceedingly important.”

Wilder ran his hands through his hair and sighed loudly. “Fine. If it’s
that
fucking important…”

He ripped off his robe and pulled his clothes on, unearthing them from the same pile mine had been in. Harrison left the room quickly and shut the door.

“What do you think that’s about?” I asked him, feeling worried.

Wilder pulled a t-shirt over his rippling, tattooed skin. “I have no idea. Harrison has never done anything like that before. So it must be something big.”

“What could it be that he couldn’t say it in front of me?” I asked, handing Wilder his jeans. He took them gratefully.

“I don’t know, Liv,” he said. “What time is it?”

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. The tiny green rectangle on the back lit up. “Two thirty or so.”

Wilder preened his hair in the mirror, then turned to face me. He took both of my hands in his and smiled. “We will meet at three o’clock in your room, okay? For food.”

I rolled my eyes. “Why not the restaurant? It has a bigger menu.” I was thinking specifically and longingly of a certain pasta and meat dish that was served flaming, tableside.

Wilder laughed and pulled me closer.

“Because I want the time between food and fucking to be as brief as possible.”

He reached behind me and slapped my ass. Goosebumps fell down my legs.

“And I don’t think I can possibly control myself that long in public.”

I blushed and laughed, pushing him away. “Seriously. I want that one dish that they don’t serve upstairs. I’m
starving
.” I batted my eyelashes at him. “
You
can eat in your room. But I’ll be in the restaurant at three.”

I enjoyed making him wait. He stared at me longingly.

“How many times do I have to say it, Liv?” he asked me with a slightly pained look on his face. “You’re going to fucking kill me one of these days.”

I raised my eyebrows and walked to the door, turning with a devilish grin. “Maybe that’s my secret goal.”

Wilder laughed and walked into the suite behind me.

“Three o’clock,” he repeated.

“Three o’clock,” I replied.

I liked making him wait.

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

WILDER

Olivia and I parted ways outside of the suite where we’d filmed all day.

The weather was glorious. Birds were chirping in the trees, and people were milling around the downstairs courtyard by the pool. I wondered absentmindedly if Olivia and I could sneak out for a nighttime swim later.

I was lost in a daydream in which I was playing with her hard nipples through the wet fabric of a bikini top when I nearly slammed into Harrison, who was pacing outside of my room.

“Sorry, Mr. Wilder,” he said nervously.

I rolled my eyes. “If you were
really
sorry you would have taken care of whatever it is that you interrupted me about. So don’t give me that ‘Sorry’ bullshit.”

A gleeful look that was totally out of place in the moment crossed his face. It disappeared a second later; in its place came a calm smirk that was somehow even more unnerving.

“You have a guest, Mr. Wilder.” He motioned toward the door of my hotel room, whipping out a room key and sliding it into the door. The light flickered green and the lock clicked open. “After you.
Boss
.”

I felt more than a slight sense of apprehension as I walked past him into my own room. The blinds were open and so were the French balcony doors that overlooked the vineyards.

I nearly felt my heart burst out of my body as I saw who was standing there in a flowing white dress, the wind playing at the hem. She had her hands on the railing, her arms stretched as far as they would go.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Hailey?” I asked angrily. I looked back at Harrison but I saw that he had already closed the door.

Hailey turned around, leaning back on the metal railing. She was smiling and had no makeup on; her long bob hair had been braided into two French braids along the side of her head. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen her like that. I almost didn’t recognize her.

“Wilde,” she said with a small smile.

My fists were clenched by my side. I repeated myself. “What. In.
Fuck
. Are you doing here?”

She motioned to the metal table on the balcony and the two cushioned chairs that sat there.

“Have a seat, Wilde,” she instructed.

“No,” I said. “Get the fuck out of here. I’m calling security.”

I walked over to the bedside table and lifted up the phone.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she intoned.

“Fuck off, Hailey,” I retorted, pressing the button for the front desk.

“Sit down, Nicholas,” she repeated. Her voice wasn’t so light this time.

Nicholas
. I hung up the phone just as the front desk woman answered. “Why the fuck are you calling me Nicholas?”

Hailey raised her eyebrows and motioned again to the patio furniture. I felt my legs were moving of their own accord as I stepped toward the balcony. I sat on the edge of the cushion as Hailey joined me.

“How are you?” she asked me with a smile.

I felt my entire body shaking. Then I realized why she looked so different. It wasn’t just the hairstyle or the lack of makeup. I stood up and walked back into the room, opening the closet door and peeking inside. It was empty. I walked into the bathroom and looked around. It was empty, too. I came back out to the balcony and sat again.

“You’re alone,” I said, giving her a quizzical look. I looked over the railing to make sure there wasn’t someone hiding in a tree. “There aren’t even photographers here.”