“You look like you want something,” he whispered.
She didn’t answer. She just licked her lips once. That was enough of an answer. That was all he needed. He moved behind her, brushed a strand of hair away from her neck, and pressed his naked chest against her back. He watched her in the mirror as she closed her eyes and sighed into him.
He started with her neck, pressing his lips gently against her skin. She smelled like some kind of shampoo, jasmine maybe, and she moaned the moment he touched her. It was like a chemical reaction, the two of them. They had that kind of physical attraction that smacks you hard, and turns you inside out in a second. Instant and electric, and you feel like you can set the world on fire. They could have known each other for years or been two strangers who met on a train—- their bodies were magnets for each other. With the softest of flutters, he kissed her neck, barely touching her, but touching her enough to make her move, to make her shift her hips against him. He ran his hands down her back, resting his strong palms on her waist, and she gasped. He worked his way to her ear, nibbling the earlobe, then kissing her jawline as she said his name in a low voice that gave all her desires away. “Reeve.”
Her voice was needy, full of want, and he grabbed hold of those hips and pulled them against him, so she could feel how hard he was through his jeans. She slid around, taking hold of his waist and bringing him close. He zeroed in on her red lips, first tasting the waxy flavor of red lipstick, then her mouth, tangling his tongue with hers, crushing her lips in a way he was sure the audience would love, even though this kiss was only for her. She was amped up. He could tell by how she wriggled against him and pulled him closer. He was all about obliging this woman, so he responded, with a deeper and harder kiss. She was such an alpha woman in the workplace—all take-charge and full-speed-ahead. But here, in his arms, she was different. She seemed vulnerable, but maybe that was just because she was damn near quivering under his touch. As if she were letting down her guard. She was the sexy librarian unpinning her hair and taking off her glasses for him.
He longed to slide a hand between her legs, feel her panties, and see if she was as wet for him as he hoped she would be. But somehow that would be going too far. So he let himself exist in the heat of the kiss in the dressing room.
“Reeve,” she said, her voice thick with lust, and topped with a dollop of nerves.
“What is it, Sutton?”
“I—”
But she was cut off by a voice outside the dressing room. “How is it going in there? Are you finding anything to your liking?”
Reeve cleared his throat. “Yes. Everything is to my liking.”
The attendant walked away, and Reeve and Sutton stood, stupid and awkward, as if they’d been caught red-handed.
“So,” he said, drawing the word out as she brushed her hands against her skirt, looking everywhere but at him. “I guess that might seem a bit more believable now in case we have to kiss in front of anyone.”
“Yes. I think that might fit the bill.”
He reached for her chin, softly raising her face so she had to meet his eyes. “See. Rehearsals are fun.”
“Indeed,” she said, and shot him a smile that he recognized as the one she gave every actor after every audition. Fine, they needed to get back to business.
“I suppose I should figure out what I’m going to wear tomorrow,” Reeve said. Maybe the attendant’s visit was the reminder he needed too—this was a job, and he shouldn’t f**k it up by feeling too much.
Sutton shifted gears, back to that sassy, in-control businesswoman. She swatted Reeve on the butt. “Okay, darling. Let’s get you in some clothes. Any pretend boyfriend of mine better look totally fetching for the theater.”
Reeve nodded, and slid his strong arms into a crisp button-down, modeling the shirt for Sutton. She curled up her lips, narrowed her eyes and nodded approvingly. He tried on a few more and she ticked each one off as a yes too.
“Lucky me. Who knew I was going to get a whole new wardrobe as a dashing, debonair man as part of this gig?”
“Isn’t that one of the great benefits of being an actor? You often get to take home the costumes.”
Chapter Four
Sutton applied mascara, the finishing touch for tonight. She’d always believed that it was the vitamin of make-up, the most essential one, and one should never leave the house without it.
“Right, my lovely Artful Dodger. You agree, don’t you?”
Sutton stroked her chihuahua-mini-pin between the ears and he looked up at her lovingly with those big wet eyes that always melted her. “Oh, you are my sweet, aren’t you?”
The Artful Dodger was sitting on the vanity in her bathroom, as he often did. He had bathroom counter privileges, but only when Sutton was applying makeup. She put the mascara wand away, brushed one hand against the other, and declared, “That’s that.”
Then she scooped up her nine-pound fur baby, brought him to her bedroom and deposited him gently on the burnished gold comforter.
She was ready for her first pretend date with Reeve at the theater. She was wearing a slinky gray dress that hugged her hips, knee-high black boots, and a silky red wrap thrown over her shoulders. She had the tickets in a small clutch purse, and as she grabbed the purse from the bed, she found her mind wandering back to the dressing room yesterday. Reeve kissed like he was made for kissing her, as if he’d been custom-designed by the gods of kissing to touch her lips, and taste her mouth, and drown her in kisses as she’d always wanted.