“Oh.” I was now desperate to get out of this chair. The sensation of his touch against the vulnerable underside of my chin was setting off what felt like a chain reaction of sparks up and down my body that I couldn’t control.
“Don’t worry, if anyone can pull off the villain aesthetic …” he went on before I could get too outraged. Still holding my chin, he called out to Noah. “Hey, man, can you get that reflector?”
Noah scurried forward with a foil reflector. “Where do you want it?”
Elliot twisted his mouth in thought and, God help me, I dropped my gaze to his lips. Now I was thinking about his mouth. His mouth and his hands. “Not right,” he murmured.
“Huh?” I breathed, my face flooding with heat.
“Your nose is casting too much shadow,” he said bluntly, and I instantly developed a nose complex.
“Noah, down to the right?” Elliot suggested. Noah moved and Elliot shook his head. “No, not so … Can you bring it closer?” Noah did as he was told, and Elliot studied my face. “Okay, stop!”
“Can I go yet?” I squirmed in my seat. This was a professional situation, and I was being utterly unprofessional. Maybe no one could tell at this moment, but surely it wouldn’t be too long before I burst into flame, and then everyone would know the effect this man was having on me.
“No. Stay.” His hands were on my shoulders. “Lean back a bit. No, more.” I did as I was told, and he looked skeptically at the key lights. “Can you … No, sit still.”
I groaned. “Seriously, where do you want me?”
His eyes narrowed. “Hang on.” He moved around the backof my seat and heaved it up into the air, with me on it. The momentum caused my head to fall back against him, his chin digging into my shoulder.
Alarmed, I grabbed the arms of the chair. “What are you doing?”
“Shifting you.” He grunted, his breath chasing down the loose V of my shirt to the bare skin of my upper breasts. My nipples instantly tightened and I couldn’t help it; I let out a small, involuntary moan.
Elliot heard it. There was an audible gulp and then the chair was lowered gently to the ground. “I think that’ll do it,” he said quickly. “Stay there.” And then he stalked off to look at me through the monitor again, his face contorted in a scowl.
I stayed stock still, eyes fixed on a spot on the wall. Had everyone witnessed what had just happened? I actively wished for the ground to open up and take me away.
Michelle came bustling in, forehead pinched in concentration. “We’re at time, can we get started?”
“Almost,” Elliot said. “I just need five minutes to check the lighting for the interview room next door.” He gave me a strange look then hurried out.
Naya called Michelle away and Sol ambled over, smacking freshly glossed lips.
“So, he your guy or what?” she asked.
“My— You mean Elliot?” I stammered.
“The way he was looking at you like you were dessert,” she said with a giggle.
“He was checking the lighting setup,” I said stiffly.
“Lucita,” she said affectionately. “He was checking something, and it was not the lights.”
My mouth was suddenly dry. “It’s just the way he works.”
“Hmm.” Sol gave me a wise, slow smile as her eyes drifted to the door Elliot had walked out of. “If that’s how he worksI’d love to see how he plays.” The idea that she might be interested in Elliot sent a hot lance of jealousy to my gut. I mean, who could compete with a movie star? Sol laughed. “Ohhhh.”
“Oh what?” I asked, my voice weak.
“He’s not really my type,” Sol said. “So don’t worry.”
“What? Why would I—? I’m not worried!”
“Sure.” She laughed, just as Elliot’s voice crackled through the radio. I fought to keep my face neutral at the sound of him announcing the tech was ready for interviews to start.
“Great.” Michelle lifted her radio. “Send them in.”
