Take Two (7 page)

She huffed out a breath of angry air. Micah peered over his shoulder. “Are you okay back there?”

Her throat tightened. “Fine.”

Micah climbed the three steps of his trailer and opened the door, holding it for Maddie to walk past. His trailer was one of the nicest ones she’d been in. The counter tops were brown-and-cream speckled granite. The stainless steel appliances sparkled under the abundant pot lights. The eating area featured a light brown leather bench curved around a light oak round table. Three barstools rounded the other side, providing additional seating. Farther down the trailer, a small leather loveseat faced a flat screen television.

And there was the sleeping area at the back of the trailer. Maddie didn’t even let that register for fear of the dirty thoughts that would flood her mind.

Micah closed the door, bringing Maddie back from not thinking about tumbling around on his bed. “Look, I really appreciate you doing this. I know it isn’t your job.”

Maddie ran her hand across her face before she turned toward him. Damn, he was so good-looking. His deep blue eyes stared at her intently and her mask of fury became impossible to maintain under his gaze.

“I’m sorry.” She amazed herself at the steadiness of her voice. “It’s not you who’s got me riled up.” Not only him, anyway.

“Good. I was afraid you were upset about, well, you know.”

Oh God. Was he really bringing up the penis incident? “Oh, no. I’d blocked that from my memory. Most successfully until you reminded me.” She hadn’t really forgotten. Not at all. In fact, she wondered if he was still, uh, stiff.

“Bummer to hear I’m so forgettable.”

“Oh, it’s not forgettable.” She just said his cock wasn’t forgettable. “I mean, I really didn’t forget it.”
Fuck.
“I mean…” She took a deep breath trying to gain control of the words coming out of her mouth. “Are you trying to make me turn as red as possible? Because I think this is the max I can go.”

He laughed. “Maybe just a little. I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself. I shouldn’t have teased on the heels of your moment with Beaumont. He can be…how shall I put it? Intolerable.” Micah offered an understanding smile.

Maddie’s knees went weak. His smile was like sunshine. What had they been talking about? Oh yeah, Micah’s prick. No, their prick director. “Beaumont’s trying, at best.”

“Do you think he realizes it?”

“Realizes what? That everyone hates him? That he’s an incredible asshole? That I want to smash my tape measure in his face?” She shouldn’t have said any of that. She lowered her eyes, knowing she’d crossed a line. And to avoid the yummy movie star’s gaze. He hadn’t taken his eyes off her since they’d entered the trailer.

Micah laughed, a sound that made Maddie’s legs quiver. “You said it better than I would have.”

“You should forget I said it at all. It was horribly unprofessional.”

He winked. Again. And her body jolted in response. Again. He had to stop doing that.

“Forgotten already.” He leaned back against the granite counter, and Maddie’s gaze dipped to his thigh muscles that were pressing against the material of his jeans. She wondered what they’d feel like pressed against her. Incredible.

Stop it.
She had to get her mind back on track. She turned away from him and unrolled the script she was clutching. “So what page do we start on?” Her damp hands shook as she flipped through the pages.

Micah crossed behind her to peer over her shoulder. He moved his mouth near her ear. “Top of forty-seven.”

His breath tickled her and Maddie’s hands were no longer the only thing damp. She shivered.

“It’s the kissing scene,” he added softly.

She stifled a yelp. Crap. It
was
the kissing scene. How had she forgotten? She needed a momentary escape. “Uh, can I use your bathroom? I had way too much coffee this morning.”

Micah laughed. He took the script from her, his forearm brushing the side of her breast as he did. “Go ahead. I’ll be waiting.”

She hurried to the back of the trailer, trying to ignore the taunt in his words and the brush of his arm and the aching in her hardened nipples. Oh, so much to ignore.

Once she’d closed the bathroom door, she took a deep breath. Why was she so smitten with this guy? He was just a guy. Yes, he was a big-time actor, but she’d never been star struck before. Especially not over a guy who was such a cad. Besides, just because she was into him didn’t mean he was into her. And if he was, that meant nothing. He was a player. The jumbo box of condoms next to his hotel key on the bathroom counter was an excellent reminder.

Seriously? A box of condoms? Who did he plan on banging in Golden, Colorado?

Certainly not her. No siree. No matter how flirtatious they got, no matter what her body seemed to want—she had more respect for herself than that.

Maddie took one more deep breath, leaned over and flushed the toilet, keeping up the pretense that she’d needed to pee. Then she spritzed her face with cold water. She wasn’t any calmer, but she’d have to fake it. She couldn’t stay in the bathroom all day hiding from the hottie—correction—
coworker
in the other room.

“Here you go,” Micah said as she returned, handing her the script opened to a page about halfway in. “Top of that page there.” He had resumed leaning against the counter.

Maddie took the script and leaned against the counter opposite him, refusing to pay any attention to his thighs this time. Nope, she would not look. She scanned the page instead. The dialogue seemed harmless enough. She could get through this. No problem.

“You start,” she said when he didn’t begin.

“I know.” A hint of something—longing, maybe—marked his tone.

She looked up from the script and found him staring at her. Again. What was he doing? Getting into character? Trying to remember his first line? Whatever it was, it made Maddie warm and fuzzy as he ran his eyes up and down her body. Shit. She was a goner.

After what seemed like an eternity, he began. “‘I thought you’d be out here. Getting ready to take off with our share of the loot?’”

Maddie moved her eyes back to the script for her line. “‘No. I just needed some air.’”

“‘Yeah,’” he huffed. “‘Like I can believe anything that comes out of your mouth.’”

“‘I haven’t lied to you.’” Maddie kept her reading stiff. She wasn’t a great actor to begin with, and the last thing she needed was to get lost in this scene.

“‘Sure, you haven’t.’” Micah took a step toward her. Oh for the love of whatever was holy, he was running the scene’s movement too. That meant they were going to get real close, real soon. Certainly he planned to stop before the kiss. Right?

Maddie lost her place on the page, thinking about his lips on hers. Wondering how his scruff would feel against her face. Her voice was weak when she spoke again. “‘I haven’t. If I’d wanted the money, I would’ve left last night, not in broad daylight. And if you’re really that worried about it, maybe you should just keep track of your share yourself.’”

He took another step toward her. Maddie swallowed, wishing the trailer weren’t so narrow. She had nowhere to retreat.

“‘Maybe I should keep it all. Not too many—’”

Maddie jumped on his mistake. “You forgot, ‘Permanently. You know—’”

“Shit. Let me start that again.” He took a step back then walked toward her again as he began the line. “‘Maybe I should keep it all. Permanently. You know, I’ve been thinking. Not too many people would notice if you weren’t around anymore. It would leave less of a headache to worry about dragging your ass with us across these mountains. And I wouldn’t have to be concerned that you’d whore my brother out of his share.’”

“‘Fuck you.’”
Yeah, fuck you,
she repeated in her head.
Fuck you hard and long and
—oh no, this was not going well.

“‘Not if you were the last woman on earth.’” Micah closed the distance between them and leaned his arm on the cabinet behind her head. Wow, he was so close, so unbelievably…close. Her eyes travelled to his arm propped near her, his perfectly formed biceps tempting her fingers.

She resisted. Barely. He smelled of coffee and makeup and sweat and something so entirely Micah, causing the warmth between her legs to heat up another couple of degrees.

Maddie brought the script up to her face as if to place a barricade between them. Her next line came out in a whisper. “‘I hate you.’”

She peeked over the top of her blockade and saw Micah curl his lip. His oh-so-sexy-lip. “‘Say that again?’”

“‘I hate you.’” Man, these lines were hitting close to home.

Micah put his other arm up, trapping her. “‘Again. Say it again.’”

“‘I hate you. I hate you. I. Hate. You.’” She lowered the script. Here, Micah was supposed to cut her, um, Heather, off with a kiss. He didn’t though.

That’s a good thing,
Maddie reminded herself despite the desire pulsing through her veins.

But he also didn’t move away. He kept her ensnared underneath him. His eyes clouded as though he was conflicted, then they lowered to her mouth and her heart doubled its pulse.

“Uh, that was really good,” she squeaked. “Do you want to run it again?”

“I got what I needed.” His words sounded tight and gruff.

“You did?” The intensity in his eyes, the closeness of his body—
Kiss me. Kiss me!

Micah’s eyes cleared. “Almost.” As though he heard her silent plea, his lips covered hers. He plunged his tongue inside her, insisting that she open up to him.

For one brief millisecond, Maddie considered pushing him away. She moved her hands to his chest to do so, but the hard pecs under her palms and the increasing demand of his kiss shattered her will. What was so bad about kissing him, anyway? Ignoring the hundred alarms going off in her brain that told her she wouldn’t think that if she weren’t so distracted by hormones and pheromones and just plain old regular moans—was that her making that sound?—she wrapped her fingers around his shirt to pull him closer.

His hands moved to cradle her face, helping him access the deepest recesses of her mouth. His facial hair burned sweetly against her lip and chin as days of pent-up longing released under his possessive strokes. This—she wanted this, like she wanted nothing else. Had fantasized about it whenever she saw him kiss someone else on screen, tried to remember how his lips had felt, but all of her dreams and memories dwindled in the reality of this. She didn’t care if this was all she got, it would be enough.

That wasn’t true. She wanted more. The fire between her thighs longed to be quenched. She wanted him, naked and inside her on that narrow expanse of bed at the other end of the trailer.

Micah pressed the length of his body against hers and she felt his own desire long and hard against her hip. Yep, still stiff. She moaned, his erection kindling the blaze between her legs. She reached her hands around his neck, drawing him deeper still into their kiss.

He broke his mouth away from hers and circled her nose with his own. With ragged breath he murmured, “You taste so good. Exactly the way I remember.” And then he caught her lips again, his tongue resuming its cavity search.

Through her delirium and the exquisite sensations of his oral probing, she fought to grasp the meaning of his words. Something about her tasting good, which was nice, but also that she tasted the way he remembered.

Um, what?

Maddie pulled her head back, breaking the kiss. “Wait,” she said, halting him before he reclaimed her lips. “You remember?”

Micah smiled and nuzzled his forehead against her own. “How could I forget, Maddie from the party?” He replaced his forehead with his lips, kissing down the side of her face to her cheek.

His touch felt wonderful, electric, and she knew it was only a matter of seconds before she’d be lost to him again. But she wanted to understand. With more strength than she knew she had, she returned her hands to his chest and pushed. “Hold on.”

Micah groaned but stepped back.

She waited until her panting was under control before she spoke, a million questions racing through her head. “I don’t get it. Why did you act like you didn’t remember?”

Micah ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know. I just did.” She raised a brow, urging him to continue. “I didn’t want you to assume anything.”

“Like assume what?”

“Like…that we’d pick up where we left off. Or whatever.” His eyes shifted with unease.

But she didn’t care if he felt uncomfortable. She folded her arms. “So it’s okay if you wanted to pick things up where we left off, but not if I wanted to?”

“No. Not like that.”

“What if I didn’t want you to assume anything about me?”

“Then you were free to pretend you didn’t remember me. Which you did. Or you could have rejected my advances. Which you didn’t.” He crossed back to her, resting his hands on her elbows. “It’s just…different…for me. I have to be careful with women. Because I’m…you know.”

She shrugged him off. “An arrogant asshole? Or a movie star? Because right now they seem to be one and the same.”

“Maddie…”

She cut him off with an upraised hand. “No, no, I get it. No need to explain. You’re a famous actor.” Could she help it if the word actor sounded like a curse on her lips? “You call the shots.”