Natalie arches her hips into me. “Max,” she breathes.
“Give yourself to me,” I moan with thrusts created exactly for this moment. She strains against me, whimpers, helpless as I keep control of how fast we’re going.
“It’s so good,” she moans, walls clenching around me.
“Fuck!” I roar, unleashing myself, claiming her mouth, lashing tongues as we moan. Natalie grabs my head, sighing into me as we take each other higher. When I finally can catch my breath she traces my temple until I meet her eyes.
Staring at me with a frown, she drops her hands and blinks away, wall flying up.
But I’m a stubborn man. Not going to let her vanish like that. “You want Thai food delivered while we finish working?”
She flicks a glance to me and holds for a second, surprised at my casual tone. Frowning she thinks about it. “Okay.”
“Great. I’ve got my heart set on crab fried rice. You?”
“I like curry whatever. If it’s got curry, I’m in.”
“Awesome.” I give her a quick kiss and pull out. “You get a towel and I’ll make the call.”
Laughing, “You’re not getting the towel for me?”
“Don’t want you to get the wrong idea. We’re just business partners.”
She stands up, grabs a throw blanket to wrap around her for the journey to her bathroom. “Real gentlemanly of you, Max!”
“I’m buying the food!”
“You hired me! You’re supposed to buy it!” She disappears.
Dialing my favorite Thai spot I’m smiling to myself because that wall vanished, didn’t it? Oh yes it did. And all it took was acting like I’m not starting to care for her.
As I give our order to the familiar voice at the restaurant, my gaze slides toward the hallway. A frown pierces my skin as I hear the warning she gave me that first day.
Don’t fall in love with me, Max.
“What? Oh, yeah, send over some sparkling waters, too. That’ll be all, thanks.”
CHAPTER 20
N ATALIE
“She doesn’t have the vulnerability you need for the addict,” I sigh at the end of another unsatisfying audition for his lead female role.
Rubbing his eyes, Max leans back on his couch. I’m on one of his side chairs and we’ve moved things around for actors to be able to work. A point-and-shoot video camera sits high on a tripod next to him, waiting to be disappointed again.
“I don’t know, Natalie. She was really beautiful. I could see the hero falling for her.”
My stomach tightens but I shove the jealous reaction way, way down. “You’re just losing hope you’ll ever find the right girl. But think about it, the scene she just read was far into Marnie’s addiction.”
“She was too in control.” Max nods. “The cocaine is in control of her. You’re right.” Concentrating on the headshot she left behind he mutters, “We haven’t found our leads yet. How many people have we seen, fifty?”
“If you count the submissions—”
“I don’t have that kind of time,” he sighs, stretching so far back that his shirt rises above the top of his belt buckle. I stare at the happy trail for a hot second, then blink away.
“Why do we still need these in paper? It’s archaic.”
“Easier to organize when you’re pairing up couples, family members. You shuffle them around and bam, easy.”
Standing up I stretch my body, bend to one side then the other, enjoying the pull against my tight rib cage, how my hips are loosening up. “I’ll get the next girl in here.”
“Hang on,” Max says, his voice throatier.
I look over and find green eyes tinted with desire. Like a predator stalking prey he rises from his chair. Stepping back I cock an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”
“Natalie,” he murmurs closing the distance with each sure step.
“We’ve been so good. It’s been a whole week. Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” he half-smiles, hungry gaze falling as he brushes his lips across mine and sends a shiver into my blood. “This? I didn’t see you for four days of that week you’re so proud of.”
“You’ll find your lead actors.”
“Not that kind of frustration. This kind.”
A gentle knock interrupts us.
As he walks to answer, Max shoots me the sexiest smile over his shoulder. “Saved by the knock.”
He opens the door for a delicate blonde with blue eyes so pretty and long-lashed I instantly fix my hair.
Max cocks his head. “Hello.”
She smiles and my jaw slackens. I swear the girl glows with crystalized fairy dust. “Sorry, I was waiting for an audition and I have to go to another one right after this, but I didn’t want to miss yours, so I knocked.”
“Come in…”
“Colleen,” she offers.
Hypnotized he says, “I’m Max,” as legs-for-miles does the runway walk to where I’m standing by his couch with the green-monster on my back.
“Hi, I’m Natalie, the producer.”
She brightens up because everyone knows the producer has a lot of say in who books the job. “So nice to meet you,” she gushes, handshake stronger than I would have expected.
“Are you available for the shoot dates?”
“I am totally free, yes.” Colleen walks to her mark, a line of tape on the floor that shows her where we’ve focused the camera. We’re shooting medium shots, which I’ve learned is lower ribcage up.
Max walks to the camera and asks, “And you’re willing to work for low-budget rates?”
Her huge eyes go wider in curiosity. “It’s a union project, isn’t it?”
“Yes, we’re using modified low budget contracts from SAG-AFTRA.”
She relaxes like it’s the biggest relief. “Yes, of course, then. I just don’t want to jeopardize my standing with SAG, you know how it is. Takes you so long to get in, you don’t want to be thrown out.”
“Did you bring a headshot?”
Those big eyes again. “Oh, do you need one? I thought everyone used the photos that were submitted through the website.”
Max’s
