Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
elena
“Okay, let’s reset,” Ivy calls, clipboard raised, voice clipped but kind.
Since Eli and I both remained in Montana during the break, production is taking every opportunity to block and prep scenes before filming starts Monday.
So far, it’s been…bumpy.
“Let’s try it again, same direction this time, Eli,” Wes calls out, his tone a bit more condescending.
I nod, my jaw tight, hands trembling just beneath the surface of the water. It’s not that it’s cold—the springs are warm. It’s that I am. Tight. Stiff. Like I’ve forgotten how to be soft.
How to frolic. Which is what we’re supposed to be doing.
Eli turns toward me, water lapping at his chest. He’s handsome, undeniably. The kind of face you’d cast for an action movie. Strong jaw, clean lines, eyes that should smolder. But right now, they’re flat. Uncertain. Like he’s working too hard and getting nothing in return.
Which, to be fair, he probably is.
We’re both out of our element. He’s used to car chases and explosion rigs. I’m used to fade to black scenes where the kiss is closed mouth and quick.
This is prep for a full-on make-out session with heavy petting in a hot spring.
“Okay,” I whisper, mostly to myself. “It’s just a kiss. You’ve kissed people. You can do this.”
Eli overhears me. “Hey, I’m sorry I keep going the wrong way. I swear I’m not trying to break your nose.”
I manage a laugh. “I’ve had worse co-stars.”
“You mean it?” he asks, hopeful like a little kid.
I shake my head. “Absolutely not. You might be the worst kisser ever. I’m telling the tabloids. Hearts will break wide open all over the world.”
That makes him grin, a little. But I still feel the tension pulsing between us like a strobe light.
Then—
SPLASH.
Water hits the side of my neck, just enough to make me yelp.
I turn and there he is.
Isaac. Standing waist-deep just beyond the cameras in the corner of the hot spring, arms out, shirt off, eyes full of trouble.
Two dogs are with him and they bark and demonstrate frolicking just fine.
“Well, fancy meetin’ you two here,” he teases.
“Very funny, cowboy,” I warn, but it lacks heat. “Don’t you have cows or horses to rope or wrangle somewhere?”
His smile is wide, completely unbothered. “I am providing very necessary moral support.”
Eli snorts.
I frown. “To whom?”
He lifts his chin toward Eli. “To this poor guy you’re scaring to death.”
I start to shrink inside myself, wrap my arms around my middle and move backward. It’s not the first time men have said I’m scary or too much.
Isaac pulls me forward, then places a hand on my lower back. He moves it lower, and I jump when it lands on my ass.
“Don’t shrink yourself for anyone, darlin’,” he says like a damn mind reader. Leaning in close, he whispers, “Should we tell him you like it sweet at first? Then rough until it hurts?”
“You’re not helping,” I grit, but my mouth twitches. Just a little.
He places his mouth beside my ear. “Oh sweetheart, those tight little nipples say I am very much helping.” He winks then turns to block me from Eli’s view.
“Work can be fun. What’s the endgame here?
What does the script say? Did my brother hook up with city girl out here before their trip to the summit? I knew it!”
Eli chuckles, a soft musical sound. “According to the script it was just some frolicking and heavy petting.”
Isaac snorts. “Gonna give him so much hell about that later.” He turns to me. “So, you not in the mood to frolic or what?”
“I don’t frolic.”
“Well maybe you should start,” he says, then before I can react—another splash.
I blink water out of my eyes, sputtering. “I swear to God—”
“You’re welcome,” he says smugly, then tosses a wink at Eli. “Come on, spitfire. You look like you’re constipated out here. Look at this handsome guy. Did you not watch American Hero part four? He was like super badass, hanging off buildings, saving babies. He’s quite the catch.”
Eli bursts out laughing. “Didn’t know you were a fan, man.”
Isaac grins. “I’ve been trying to play it cool. Thought I’d punch you in the face instead of asking for an autograph. You know. Not ruin my street cred around here.”
Isaac winks at me again, that flirty charming bit of his I tell myself I’ll be able to resist. Someday.
But something shifts. I feel it in my face. I roll my eyes, but the edge of my lip tips up. Just slightly.
He sees it. Of course he does. He always does.
He leans close to me again. “You want me to go so you can get back to work? Or you want me to eat that sweet pussy under water while you pretend you want to kiss this guy?”
I splash him this time. “You’d drown.”
“Maybe. But if I get to choose how I go, drowning in that tight, greedy–”
“You can go now, trouble,” Ivy calls out.
Isaac looks at me. “Offer still stands. Later if you’re up for it.”
I can’t pretend I don’t watch his back muscles battle for position as he climbs out and saunters off.
“Reset, please,” Ivy calls again, but she’s smiling now. “Same positions. Elena, try to keep looking…just like that.”
And this time, I do. Because I don’t see Eli when he moves in to kiss me. I see a dangerously irresistible cowboy.
The kiss lands, not perfectly, but with more warmth. More life.
But even as I pretend to melt into Eli’s touch, wrapping around his body and undulating like there’s more going on under the water than there is, I know the truth.
When the scene ends, I get out of the water and Mikayla hands me a robe and a towel.
From the shadows behind the steam, leaning against a tree, Isaac Logan smirks. I step over toward him while everyone else is preoccupied setting up for the next scene.
“I give it a six,” he says. “Kiss was still lukewarm but I’m not a miracle worker. I’m sure you can fix it before the real thing.”
“Oh yeah? You think you can do better?”
That full masculine mouth of his curves upward. “I think we both know I can. But if I kiss you, I’m kissing every inch of you. Audience be damned.”
My chest heaves with the effort to breathe.
“You need to behave.”
He scratches the stubble on his chin. “If memory serves, spitfire, you prefer it when I misbehave.”
“Cool it, cowboy,” I scold him, backing away before I do something stupid like let him slip his fingers inside my swimsuit.
He props easily against the tree where the horses are tied. “You came over here, dirty girl. Haven’t you heard? There’s a no fraternization policy.”
He makes sure to enunciate every syllable of fraternization. The ass.
I make a point to glare at him before I return to the crew.
This man is going to be the death of me. And yet, he’s the only one who makes me feel alive.