“Is this standard treatment? Because I see…” I paused to squint at one of the labels, “Love Balm?”
“No, this is Drew being an asshole,” Harrison fumed. “The most we usually do is a floral arrangement and champagne. He’s just yanking my chain.”
“Well, it’s sort of funny.”
“Like hell it is.”
A few hours later, after a fabulous room service dinner and a view of the city that made me fall in love with Philly, it sure didn’t feel like we were stuck. Stuck with each other, yes, but the setting was incredible.
After Darkdidn’t come on until midnight. I’d suffered through my heels and skirt for too long and opted to change into my pajamas for our little watch party. I’d wisely opted to pack lightweight lounge pants and a tank instead of anything skimpy.
Harrison strode into the common area where the biggest TV was located looking like he was ready for a workout in slim, light-gray hybrid pants and a tight black wicking T-shirt.
“Gonna get a quick pump in before the show?” I asked playfully.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Funny. No, I packed this because I assumed I’d have time to work out tomorrow, but clearly that’sout of the question now. Normally, I only wear my boxers to bed.”
I cleared my throat involuntarily at the thought of my bosshole in his underwear. I mean, I’d already seen the man naked multiple times. I’d alreadytouchedhis naked body and knew how it felt under my hands, how it tasted on my tongue. There was no unringing that bell. But the rules were completely different now. There were boundaries to consider.
Even if I could see the outline of his magnificent dick through the thin fabric of his leggings. And I knew exactly the sort of magic the thing was capable of.
“What?”
I jumped when I realized he’d caught me staring at his junk.
“Just, uh, strategizing,” I managed. “The show is starting in five minutes.”
We both dropped down onto our respective couches a safe distance apart. There was a TV in the bedroom across from the most sumptuous bed ever, but it was clear neither one of us were willing to hop into bed until we absolutely had to.
We were silent through the various guests before Scarlet’s moment. I could always tell how the celebrity handlers primed Ryan for each interview. He really was a master at getting guests to shine as they told their impromptu-but-actually-scripted stories.
The general public had no idea how the Hollywood publicity machine worked. Very little of what happened on late-night TV was actually spontaneous, but it all had tolookcompletely natural and unrehearsed.
When it came time for the big moment and Scarlet looked at the camera with a shocked expression as the roses were presented, few people would understand that the whole thing was choreographed in advance.
Ryan teased Scarlet’s performance as they broke for a commercial, and I glanced over at Harrison.
“Are you okay?”
He scowled at me. “What makes you think I’m not?”
“Well,damn, I was just checking in. Never mind.”
He sighed. “Sorry, I’m clearly a little tense, as you might imagine.”
I wondered if one of reasons for that was because we were about to share a bed again. It turned out that the two couches in the common area were long on style and short on comfort, with a bar in the middle of them beneath the cushions and arm rests that felt like they were made of sheet metal.
“It’s on!” I cheered as I pointed at the TV. “Oh my gosh, she lookssogood!”
I bit my tongue, because I wanted to go on and on about the lore of her outfit and what each ruffle and sparkle on her red dress signified, but I was on Team Ashford tonight.
Everything about Scarlet’s new song, “Downshift,” was perfect. No surprise there. I held my breath as the applause died down after she finished.
“This is it,” Harrison said quietly. “Here we go.”
I glanced over at him. He was sitting at the edge of the couch, his hands clasped tightly.
We were both nervous.
