Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
CLOVER
It’s an ordinary day on set. It’s fine. This is fine. I’m fine. I try to convince myself that today is no big deal. While my head understands that, my body has not gotten the memo. My heartbeat has been frenzied all morning, and my stomach is full of butterflies.
It’s just a stupid kissing scene.
But it’s the first one I’ve ever filmed. And it just so happens that I have to be kissing Roman freaking Everett for it. Eternal pain in the ass, attractive as hell Roman Everett.
I don’t even know what I’m that nervous about. I’m a professional, he’s borderline a professional, and everyone on set has been nothing but supportive and proficient at their jobs.
My nervousness is probably because it’s my first scene like this. Surely it’s that and has nothing to do with who I’m kissing.
It’ll be fine. I repeat the mantra to myself over and over as Priscilla puts the finishing touches on my hair. It hangs in loose curls around my face, which she shakes out to give the perfect post-fight sequence look. A flawless mix of beautiful and wild.
“Clover, they’re ready for you on set,” my PA, Jordan, says after popping his head into the hair and makeup trailer.
I make quick work of the journey to Warehouse B, anxious to get rolling.
It’s a pared-down crew today, luckily for me. At least I don’t have to worry about too many extra eyes on me when I film this.
You’ve kissed people before, Clover, pull your shit together, I remind myself.
And while I have kissed people before, it’s been a hot minute.
It’s been months since I’ve kissed someone, and embarrassingly longer since I’ve been intimate with someone.
Lord knows my vibrator is the only thing that’s been getting any action for the last few years.
It’s not that I haven’t had opportunities, but they never amounted to anything.
I haven’t been in a serious relationship in years, and I don’t want to share that part of myself with someone until it feels right.
“Clover!” Arnold shouts. He comes over to me and gives me a quick hug before pulling back and looking at my costume. “I’ll never get over how cool it is to see you two in costume.” He gestures over to Roman, who’s chatting with his stand-in.
Cool is one word for it. If I’m being real, Roman looks downright edible. It fits him like a glove, and the intricate detailing of the costume only serves to highlight how muscular and powerful he is.
Silver lines running through the dark fabric emphasize the smooth expanse of chest, and I can make out each individual ab. I swear there has to be more than a six-pack under there. Is a ten-pack possible?
His legs look like tree trunks in the best way possible, and those biceps tell me he would definitely have no problem throwing me around and...
I blink aggressively to clear my lust-addled brain. What the hell was that? Clearly, I must be ovulating. I should not be thinking thoughts like that about my co-star... or fake boyfriend, or whatever he is.
Roman gives me a little smirk that lets me know I’m totally busted for checking him out. My cheeks heat and I send up a silent prayer that the floor swallows me whole.
Arnold clears his throat. “Clover?”
“Yeah?”
Arnold smiles and looks between Roman and me. “I was asking if you two want to run and rehearse the scene a few times before we roll or if you’re good to start?”
“Let’s get going,” I smile and head toward my mark on set. I absolutely do not want to prolong this experience if possible.
“Alright, you two, we’re going to line up the shot and confirm the lighting, and we should be ready in a minute here.” He calls out orders to the sound and lighting technicians, and I stand awkwardly beside Roman, my arms crossed over my chest.
Roman leans over and whispers into my ear, “So you like the costume?”
I roll my eyes. “Nothing I haven’t seen before.” And it’s true. I’ve seen him in costume before. I don’t know what’s gotten into me.
“You’re studying it awfully close today.”
“It’s fine,” I grit out
“Just fine? You wound me, Daly.”
“I’m sure you’ll survive. You’re plucky.”
“What did I ever do to deserve such high praise?” He asks playfully.
“Stuff it, Roman.”
“Try not to enjoy our kissing scene too much.”
A noise of disgust leaves my mouth. Leave it to this pig. “Alright, you know what? I’ll give it to you, you look good in your costume. You look great until you open that dumb mouth of yours. I wish it would just… stay shut.”
“You sure you’re not wishing it was doing something different?”
“Roman! Oh my god,” I groan. He’ll be the death of me.
It turns out I have next to no time to recover from thinking that dirty thought, because Arnold is ready to start the shot.
My cheeks flush to the darkest shade of red biologically possible, and I put my hand over my face to disguise my mortification.
The last thing I need to be doing right now is thinking any dirty thoughts about Roman, especially when I’m about to go into a day of kissing him.
“Alright, everybody ready?” Arnold calls out. “Three... two... one... action!”
“You can’t come after me like that. What if something happened to you?” Roman starts his character’s line.
I don’t know if I’ll get over how fun it is to act alongside someone else who completely embodies their character the way he does. Yeah, I gave him shit about being a nepo baby, but the truth is he’s incredibly talented.
“I didn’t have a choice. Where you go, I go. That’s it.” In character, I plead with him to ensure he understands I can’t be parted from him, that if his character goes down, mine goes along with him.
“I thought I told you not to come after me,” he says, fire burning in his eyes.
“I thought you’d know that I don’t take orders from you,” I reply, searching his face.
“And you should know by now that it’s not about taking orders, it’s about keeping you safe,” he pleads, as if my character’s safety means the most to him.
“What if that’s not what I want?” I challenge. We step closer to one another.
“What do you want?”
You, a tiny part of me screams internally.
“I think...” Roman lowers his face toward mine, initiating the kiss. A panicked giggle escapes my mouth before I have a chance to stop it.
“Cut!” Arnold shouts.
Mentally kicking myself, I give an apologetic glance toward him and the crew. “I’m so sorry, that won’t happen again.”
“Don’t worry about it, it’s always awkward at first,” Arnold says with a smile. “Do you and Roman want to take a minute off-screen to chat, or are you ready to go again?” He gestures to the side, as if we’re supposed to sneak around behind the set and have a quick kiss to mitigate the awkwardness.
You could give me all the time in the world, and this would still be awkward.
I shake my head and give a nervous smile. “No, no, we should be fine. I’m sorry about that.”
“All good. Roman, are you ready to go from the top?” Arnold asks. I finally dare a look over at Roman.
Normally I’d guess he would be annoyed at my lack of professionalism, or the fact that we didn’t nail the take. Instead, he looks amused.
“Nervous, Daly?”
“Anyone who has the misfortune of having to kiss you should be.” I whisper. At that, his eyes narrow on me.
“Charming. Try not to fuck it up this time.” Roman looks back toward the director’s chair. “Ready to go again.”
“Alright, reset!” Arnold ensures the crew, and Roman and I are ready to shoot. “Three... two... one... action!”
As we go again, I can feel it, the momentum building toward our kiss. His icy blue eyes bore into me, and there’s such vulnerability in them it makes my knees feel wobbly.
It feels so strange. It’s as though I’m experiencing all the feelings my character is feeling, and yet I’m not.
The feelings are as equally mine as not.
I’ve never had to film scenes of this nature, so it’s probably all very normal, and I’m just supposed to feel this mixed-up swirl of emotions.
I don’t really know. One thing I do know is I’m having an out-of-body experience as soon as Roman’s lips touch mine.
His lips are soft, yet demanding as he fists his hand into my hair to pull me impossibly close. My body responds to his touch as if it were as basic an instinct as breathing.
Our bodies press together, and being flush with his chest gives me the opportunity to feel the contours of his muscles.
His warmth seeps into me, and it feels so good that it makes me want to get closer, even though that’s impossible.
So I settle for kissing him back with everything I have.
.. or my character has. My lips part ever so slightly, and Roman’s tongue sweeps in, dancing with mine.
The way he moves tells me everything I need to know about how skilled that tongue is when it comes to other activities.
Heat pools between my legs as Roman tilts my head back to deepen the kiss even further.
“Cut!” Arnold shouts, breaking the spell and bringing me back to reality. A reality where Roman is looking at me with a smirk that sends another wave of heat down my body.
Clearing my throat, I move to step away from him and put some space between us. Roman’s hand lingers in my hair for a few seconds before loosening.
“That was great, you two. Let’s run it again,” Arnold says. Of course it’d be too good to be true if we nailed it on the first take.
Taking a deep breath, I give a little shake to dispel the weird feelings and mentally prepare myself to go again. I can do this, it’s not like I’ll be kissing Roman all morning or anything.
I have been kissing him all freaking morning. I swear to God this is some kind of karmic punishment for sins I was unaware I had committed.
My lips are bordering on swollen, and a bunch of unhelpful thoughts have been swimming around in my head for the last few hours.
You’d think a kiss shot would be a quick few takes and then done, but no. As luck would have it, Arnold is a bit of a perfectionist. A perfectionist who requires the same shot from multiple angles. A perfectionist who is making my life hell right now.