Lexie blinked. Richard spluttered. ‘I’d have to ask the producer...’
‘Well, why don’t you find him and ask him, and whatever amount he gives you tell him I’ll double it.’
A murmur started through the crew and the extras. Lexie could see the PAs galvanised into action at the thought of an early wrap and a day off. The set started to clear.
Cesar stepped right up to Lexie and she was rooted to the spot. Terrified of the flutters that had started in her belly. Her heart squeezed. She loved this man so much, but he’d hurt her, and if all he wanted was to continue their affair...
‘Cesar, if you’ve come just because you’re not ready to end the affair then I’m not interested.’
His gaze on hers became assessing. Lexie’s body hummed with awareness. With hunger.
‘So what are you interested in?’
She blinked, confused. Fear gripped her... What had she just said? ‘I just told you—I’m not interested in an affair.’
A ghost of a smile touched Cesar’s mouth and she realised very belatedly how dishevelled he was, with stubble lining his jaw.
‘One thing I do know is that I am not ready to end the affair—and I don’t think you are either.’
A ball of pain lodged in her gut. She didn’t have it in her to keep seeing Cesar knowing that it would end. Even one night with this man would kill her, even though every cell in her body was crying out for his touch.
She stepped back, her movement slightly hampered by her long dress. ‘Yes, I am. And you should go and tell Richard you were joking about shutting down the production before too many people leave. You’ve caused enough disruption in my life as it is.’
Lexie went to walk around him, cursing her costume when she couldn’t move more freely.
Cesar caught her and whirled her around, eyes flashing. ‘I’ve caused disruption in your life? What about the disruption you’ve caused me?’ He pointed a finger at his chest and glared at her.
Lexie pulled free, her anger matching his, boiling over when she thought of how naive she’d been, baring her soul to him.
‘I did nothing but warm your bed for a few weeks! I was a convenient lover who also handily deflected some heat from the press about your family issues, and you were quite happy to take advantage of that.’
‘On the contrary—you weren’t convenient at all! The fact is, Lexie Anderson, you have been the most singularly inconvenient lover I’ve ever known.’
Cesar was practically roaring now, and Lexie’s eyes stung with tears. She bit back the lump in her throat to hear Cesar declare so baldly just how much he resented his desire for her.
Her voice was thick. ‘Well, then, what are you waiting for? Leave me be.’
She went to walk away before Cesar could see the extent of her distress, but he caught her again. She cursed out loud, but he had both hands on her arms now.
Lexie felt a tear slip down one cheek and cursed again, struggling against his hold. She stopped and looked up. ‘Just...let me go, Cesar. Please. I can’t do this.’
He paled under his dark skin. ‘I didn’t want to make you cry.’ His hands tightened. ‘The reason you were an inconvenient lover is because you made me face up to myself in a way no one ever has before. Or will again.’
Now Cesar looked almost angry, but something in Lexie went very still.
‘I was doing just fine without anyone challenging my emotionally barren life. And then you appeared, literally like some kind of vision, and from that moment on something broke inside me. Something that needed to be broken.’
Cesar moved his hands up to cup Lexie’s jaw.
‘The truth is that you were...you are...the most beautifully necessary inconvenience, because you’ve brought me back to life. I don’t want to end the affair, Lexie—ever. I want it to last for the rest of our lives.’
Lexie tried to shake her head, as if that might improve her hearing. But Cesar’s hands held her immobile. She had to put her hands out to touch him, barely able to breathe. ‘What are you saying?’
The tendrils of something impossibly light and effervescent were scaring her, beckoning her to a place where surely she would face the most epic fall of all if she was dreaming this.
‘What I’m saying is that I’m in love with you. I think I have been from the moment I saw you. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want it all—the picket fence, children, even the damn dog. Everything.’
His mouth twisted.