“What about you?” he asked. “Where do you go next?”
“Chicago. I leave Monday. Doubling Reese Witherspoon. It’ll only take a week.”
The small talk finally drifted away, but they stayed right there, staring at each other. The intimacy she constantly tried to push away slid right back in, expanding the space between them with warm emotions and thrilling sensations.
“I can hear you arguing with yourself.” He wanted to touch her but sensed she’d pull back.
“Over what?”
“Whether to step toward me or away.”
Her mouth tipped in a smile. “And I can see your mind working to keep the latter from happening.”
“Do you talk to everyone this way?”
Her smile deepened to a grin, but something unsure passed through her eyes, something that made her look younger. More vulnerable. “It’s weird, right?”
“It’s definitely different.”
“It happens with my stunt guys sometimes. When we’re working, we sort of have to be in each other’s heads, you know?”
“The way we were today.”
She nodded. Her gaze slid back to the buttons of his shirt.
Silence crept back in. This time more tense than comfortable. So much floated between them unsaid.
Chase went for casual to get them talking again. “What are you doing this weekend?”
“Catching up on rest. A few light workouts to warm up for the next job.” She met his eyes. “You?”
I’m doing you, he wanted to say. All you. All the time.
He wanted her to take that rest in his bed. Wanted their weekend to start right now with dinner, sex, and sleep. Followed by more sex and more sleep. And repeat that pattern for two more days. Because he knew that idea would earn him nothing but a good laugh, he decided to start small by offering to work out with her. Right now, he’d do anything to keep seeing her every day.
But Amanda, an intern on the production crew, approached with a friendly hello and offered Chase a handful of messages. “From various magazines requesting interviews. I didn’t have your agent’s information on hand, so I figured I’d just give them to you.”
He took the messages, shocked at the sheer number of requests. He shot Zahara a can-you-believe-this look, then thanked Amanda.
When the intern wandered away, Chase glanced at the names of the media outlets on the messages. “Holy shit.” His surprise pulled Zahara closer as she read the notes with him. Fuck, she smelled good. “TMZ. E! Entertainment Tonight?”
“Get used to it,” Zahara murmured with that sassy little smile. One he wanted to kiss off her beautiful face. “Stardom’s gonna hit soon, Layton. Real soon. And it’s gonna hit hard.”
He folded the messages and pushed them into the pocket of his blazer. Zahara was the only thing he wanted to focus on tonight.
Facing her, he leaned his shoulder against the same pillar. “I’m still just a struggling wannabe right now, completely infatuated with this kick-ass stunt chick who’s so totally out of my league.”
She hummed a little aren’t-you-adorable murmur, her gaze lowering to his mouth.
Chase couldn’t hold back any longer. He had to touch her. Considering the company, he went for subtle and secret. He lowered his hand closest to the pillar, slid his fingers across her palm, and loosely threaded them with hers. Friction sparked tingles up his arm, pumping excitement through his veins.
Her gaze softened and lowered. When she didn’t pull out of his grasp, he breathed a little easier.
“The rules have changed, yeah?” he asked
Her lashes lifted, and she looked directly into his eyes. Hers were so dark, he could barely distinguish the iris from the pupil. They were warm and intelligent and sweet, just like Zahara. Intimacy wrapped around them, cloaking them in a private moment brimming with possibility.
“My rules haven’t changed,” she told him. “But our circumstances obviously have.”