Livvy entered, freshly changed out of her bloody costume into a ribbed sweater and pencil skirt. Her hair looked a bit damp, as if she’d showered. He couldn’t blame her. He probably would’ve done the same had he found himself unexpectedly covered in someone else’s blood.
She looked sheepish, her head hanging down. “I came to apologize and to make sure you’re all right.”
“I’ll live.” He shrugged and turned around, which led her to gasp at his freshly blooming bruises.
“Oh, Flynn, I’m so sorry. Does it hurt?” She rushed toward him and turned his head from side to side, studying his face in thelight of the dressing room’s mirror bulbs.
Well, he might as well milk this moment. “Terribly,” he muttered. “I think it might be broken.” He’d give her credit for one thing. The pain had driven away the strange specter of grief that had taken hold of him this morning.
She sat down in the chair opposite his and dropped her face in her hands. “I’m a fool. How long will it take to heal? Did the doctor say you can keep making the picture? Will it leave a permanent mark?”
She was rambling, and it was adorable to hear her so concerned. “Careful, keep going and I might begin to think you care about me.”
She snapped her head up and caught the wide grin spreading across his face. Realization dawned. “You’re lying. It’s not broken at all.” She reached for one of the makeup towels on the dressing room counter and threw it at him. “You wicked, horrible man. Here I thought I’d permanently damaged the source of your income.”
He chuckled and clasped his hands to his chest. “You wound me. I’m worth more than my pretty face.”
“I was beginning to think so. Until this morning.”
“What happened this morning?” He was fairly certain he knew the answer.
She bit her lip, looking fearful. “Nothing. I’m a fool, that’s all.”
“You’re not a fool. You just didn’t know what to do with me when I was being so hot and cold.” Her mouth fell open and he reached forward and gently tipped it shut. “What, you think I didn’t realize I was being an arse?”
“I wasn’t sure you were capable of being that self-aware.”
“Trust me, love, I know exactly who I am.” Or he had once.Lately, he wasn’t so sure. Livvy and this business with his father had turned him topsy-turvy. No, it had started before that. He’d been bored, distracted, dissatisfied. But until now, he hadn’t been able to fathom why.
“I was rude, snapping at you like that. I’ve been a bit…distracted this morning.” He didn’t know why, but he didn’t want to tell her about his father. Not right now, when he felt like they were on the brink of something important. “But I wasn’t the only one who was distracted, was I?”
She turned bright red.
“What happened out there?” he nudged her. “You’ve been perfect every other day of shooting. You can do rings around with me a rapier. You’re the fastest study I’ve ever known. But all of a sudden, you can’t get through a love scene?”
She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. She looked damnably cute, and Flynn was possessed with the urge to lean over and kiss the tip of her nose, but he resisted. “I wasn’t doing it on purpose. You made your own fair share of mistakes.”
“I did. But, love, I didn’t say you did it on purpose. I just asked you what happened. Now I’m quite interested to hear more.” He raised his eyebrows and gave her a look he’d once spent a week perfecting in the mirror.
“It wasn’t intentional, I swear.” Her shoulders fell and she leaned back in her chair. “Maybe it was. I don’t know. I’m new to all this, and I want to get it right. I don’t want this to be my only picture. I like acting, Flynn. I really do. Even if it wasn’t my dream to begin with, it’s starting to feel good. Like something I could keep doing and maybe even become really good at one day. But I’m all mixed up.”
He scooted his chair closer to her and reached for her hand. “About what?”
“You. Us. This is supposed to be pretend. But last night, the wayyou kissed me, the things you said… They made me think, well, you know. Then this morning, you were so different. I thought maybe you’d changed your mind. Or been too drunk to realize what you were saying yesterday. I realized this scene we were filming was an opportunity. To see if any of this was real. You kissed me, and I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to keep kissing you. To let myself have this one thing. Because it was safe. It was part of the scene. I didn’t intend to keep ruining takes, but I panicked. I’ve gone haywire.”
He couldn’t stop a lazy, self-satisfied grin from spreading across his face. “I tend to have that effect on people.”
She wrenched her hand from his. “This is exactly what I mean. Are you toying with me? You kiss me breathless at one moment and ignore me the next. How could I know if you were high on the atmosphere last night and regretted what you said when you woke up this morning?”
He reached for her again and stilled her fluttering hands. “I don’t know if I can give you an answer that satisfies you. But I will never, as long as I live, regret the way it felt to hold you in my arms and kiss you senseless last night.”
She gulped and sat up straighter in her chair.
“I can tell you that I’m as mixed up as you are. Maybe more so. But this morning, the way I behaved—that had nothing to do with you. I’ll be frank. I don’t know if I’m capable of having more than a short-lived love affair. I’ve never tried. All I know is that, for the first time in my life, you make me want to.”
She slowly exhaled, shuddering at the weight of what he had said. She leaned forward and kissed him hard on the mouth, his nose stinging at the gentle press of her face against his.
He whimpered, and she broke away. “Oh, you poor dear, I’ve hurt you. Again!”
