“I’ve been letting one of the models film and edit recently. I like things done a certain way, so it’s been a challenge to give up that control.”
My cock throbbed. Please, could the earth just open up and swallow me whole? I was painfully hard. All the wine had gone to my head—and my dick—and Lukas was unfairly, devastatingly attractive.
He liked things done a certain way. That line played in my head on loop, and I sipped at my wine in a vain attempt to get myself under control.
“So you do it all now? Edit. Direct. Cast.”
“Everything but star in them.”
Curiosity burned a hole in my ability to contain itself, and I heard myself ask a question I’d been dying to know the answer to ever since I learned he no longer did content in front of the camera. “Why did you stop?”
Lukas’s gaze shifted over to mine. Vulnerability swam in his eyes, and the corner of his mouth quirked up. “For a lot of years I loved what I did. Even when I had bad contracts, it wasn’t the job that was bad, it was the people. And I always told myself that I’d stop when it quit being fun. A couple of years ago, I’d been producing and directing and learning to edit videos better, and I just started to get more invested in the other parts of the process and less invested in being on camera.” He smoothed a hand down his chest and patted his stomach. “Plus, now I don’t have to be as strict with diet and exercise to keep a camera-ready body.”
His comments made me scoff. “Oh, please. As if you would look bad on camera now. You look amazing.” I almost took it back because I didn’t mean to say it, but that would have been far more awkward than just letting the compliment fall into the silence between us.
Oh, God. Did I just flirt with him?
I cleared my throat and took another sip of wine. Whatever I was doing, Lukas seemed to enjoy watching me flounder. His gaze hadn’t wavered from me. The worst part was that I liked the attention. I liked the way I felt when he looked at me, like my insides were light and airy like a fizzy drink.
I liked it too much. Far too much. His undivided attention was a drug I could get used to. Someone as handsome as himshouldn’t be looking at someone like me the way he was. Or maybe I was imagining things through wine-tinted glasses.
“I’m not sure the camera would agree with you.”
“Well, we’ll just have to agree to disagree.” My cheeks were a bed of lava. They were probably so red that astronauts could see them from the International Space Station. I was keenly aware of how much I wanted to kiss him, to close that infuriating distance between us and see if his kisses tasted as good as I imagined they would. I knew I had to get out of there before I drank any more wine and did something monumentally stupid—like make a pass at him.
“I should go.” Before he could argue, I pulled up my phone and called an Uber. “I should be able to finish up the next chapter and have it over to you soon.”
I was fucking doomed, I realized. I’d have to hear about his work in the industry. I’d have to hear about the men he’d had sex with—good, bad, and otherwise. I’d have to remain professional while I listened to him talk about his sex life. I was so screwed. There wasn’t enough lube in the world to keep my dick from chafing.
“I’ll walk you out.” Lukas got to his feet, and I started to follow his lead, but the wine I’d drank hit me a lot harder than I’d anticipated. I didn’t think I’d overdone it, but I did have two glasses with dinner and a third outside, which was three more than I usually drank.
In slow motion, I wobbled and lost my balance. When I tried to regain it, I overcorrected, and then suddenly Lukas was there. Or I was where Lukas was. I wasn’t sure if I teetered into him or if he reached for me, but I hit his chest with a solid thump. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he helped steady me with hands on my arms.
“You good?” he asked, not letting me go.
His mouth was invitingly close. He smelled like wine and temptation.
“I’m good,” I promised. Just an inch or two closer, and I could kiss him. He looked down at me, his eyes hooded like he was tempted too. The air seemed to crackle between us, and then we both stepped back at the same time, realizing we’d waltzed right up to the line and were on the verge of obliterating it with one ill-advised kiss.
“Are you sure you’re good to go?” Lukas’s forehead creased in concern.
“Maybe water while I wait.”
“Yeah, no problem.” He opened the door for me, and I walked through, completely aware that whatever spell had been cast on us outside had been completely broken, and I didn’t know whether to be relieved or sad.
FOURTEEN
LUKAS
Jax stretchedout on the couch downstairs in what everyone called the “green room.” Today it would serve as a place for Jax and Ash to have their screen test. Just because you wanted two people to have chemistry, it didn’t necessarily mean they would. Especially when one of them was new to the scene like Ash was. He might think he knew what he was doing, but jerking off solo on camera was different from filming a scene with another human being.
Jax glanced up at the clock on the wall. “Maybe he got cold feet.”
“He’s only a few minutes late. He’s been asking for this since I met him.”
“Yeah, but we both know that dreaming isn’t the same as doing.”
Upstairs, a door slammed and heavy footsteps tore through the house and then thundered down the stairs. Jax smirked at me, and sat up to make room for Ash.
