I couldn’t help but chuckle at his boyish grin.
“If I put on a shirt, will you come in? I really don’t feel like wandering the corridors of this enormous home right now.”
I paused. Rehearsing such intimate scenes in the privacy of his room would certainly be tempting fate.
“I’m not going to bite,” Ricky said. “Unless you’re into that sort of thing.”
I stifled a shocked gasp.
“Fine,” I finally said. “Go put some pants on, and we’ll work on these scenes.”
He chuckled and reached out to the back of a nearby chair and grabbed a pair of jeans. With little care for any degree of modesty, he hopped into his jeans as I quickly turned to look away.
“All done,” he said after a moment.
I turned to him, bare-chested in his jeans. “How about a shirt.”
“No, thank you.”
I cocked an unimpressed brow, though I was thoroughly impressed with his superhero body.
“Fine. If you insist.” He pulled a plain white t-shirt over his head and pulled the snug garment over his muscular chest.
I was flustered and angry at him for making me so. His eyes twinkled as he looked at me, and it was easy to see how so many women could fall under his charm.
“I had an idea for the proposal scene,” he said with a tone of professionalism. “Henry Crawford wants Fanny to think highly of him. He’s not accustomed to having to work to charm a lady.But, then again, he’s a proud man who doesn’t take rejection easily.”
You seem to know him quite well, I wanted to say.
Instead, I opened the script, found the scene he was referring to and spent the next hour with him working and re-working the scene.
“I think Keely will be happy with your take on this proposal. You brought a sincerity to the words that is quite disarming.”
“This isn’t my first rodeo, you know,” he said. “I already have over twenty films under my belt. This latest superhero thing that just came out is my biggest and most successful, but I’ve been in three action movies, five romcoms and a bunch of made for tv stuff. Oh, and one really underrated horror flick.”
I tucked my script under my arm and headed for the door. “Well, maybe tomorrow we could get together, and you can give me a few pointers. I think I could really use your insight.”
“We could do that now. The night is still young. We haven’t even had dinner yet.”
“I’ve had my fill for today. I’m just going to grab a quick bite and head off to bed.”
“Oh?”he said with an insinuating cock of his brow.
“And, no. I don’t need any help getting into bed.”
I left his room, pleased with my ability to put him in his place, even if I was, at times, unsure where that place should be.
