“You start,” she said when he didn’t begin.

“I know.” A hint of something—longing, maybe—marked his tone.

She looked up from the script and found him staring at her. Again. What was he doing? Getting into character? Trying to remember his first line? Whatever it was, it made Maddie warm and fuzzy as he ran his eyes up and down her body. Shit. She was a goner.

After what seemed like an eternity, he began. “‘I thought you’d be out here. Getting ready to take off with our share of the loot?’”

Maddie moved her eyes back to the script for her line. “‘No. I just needed some air.’”

“‘Yeah,’” he huffed. “‘Like I can believe anything that comes out of your mouth.’”

“‘I haven’t lied to you.’” Maddie kept her reading stiff. She wasn’t a great actor to begin with, and the last thing she needed was to get lost in this scene.

“‘Sure, you haven’t.’” Micah took a step toward her. Oh for the love of whatever was holy, he was running the scene’s movement too. That meant they were going to get real close, real soon. Certainly he planned to stop before the kiss. Right?

Maddie lost her place on the page, thinking about his lips on hers. Wondering how his scruff would feel against her face. Her voice was weak when she spoke again. “‘I haven’t. If I’d wanted the money, I would’ve left last night, not in broad daylight. And if you’re really that worried about it, maybe you should just keep track of your share yourself.’”

He took another step toward her. Maddie swallowed, wishing the trailer weren’t so narrow. She had nowhere to retreat.

“‘Maybe I should keep it all. Not too many—’”

Maddie jumped on his mistake. “You forgot, ‘Permanently. You know—’”

“Shit. Let me start that again.” He took a step back then walked toward her again as he began the line. “‘Maybe I should keep it all. Permanently. You know, I’ve been thinking. Not too many people would notice if you weren’t around anymore. It would leave less of a headache to worry about dragging your ass with us across these mountains. And I wouldn’t have to be concerned that you’d whore my brother out of his share.’”

“‘Fuck you.’” Yeah, f**k you, she repeated in her head. Fuck you hard and long and—oh no, this was not going well.

“‘Not if you were the last woman on earth.’” Micah closed the distance between them and leaned his arm on the cabinet behind her head. Wow, he was so close, so unbelievably…close. Her eyes travelled to his arm propped near her, his perfectly formed biceps tempting her fingers.

She resisted. Barely. He smelled of coffee and makeup and sweat and something so entirely Micah, causing the warmth between her legs to heat up another couple of degrees.

Maddie brought the script up to her face as if to place a barricade between them. Her next line came out in a whisper. “‘I hate you.’”

She peeked over the top of her blockade and saw Micah curl his lip. His oh-so-sexy-lip. “‘Say that again?’”

“‘I hate you.’” Man, these lines were hitting close to home.

Micah put his other arm up, trapping her. “‘Again. Say it again.’”

“‘I hate you. I hate you. I. Hate. You.’” She lowered the script. Here, Micah was supposed to cut her, um, Heather, off with a kiss. He didn’t though.

That’s a good thing, Maddie reminded herself despite the desire pulsing through her veins.

But he also didn’t move away. He kept her ensnared underneath him. His eyes clouded as though he was conflicted, then they lowered to her mouth and her heart doubled its pulse.

“Uh, that was really good,” she squeaked. “Do you want to run it again?”

“I got what I needed.” His words sounded tight and gruff.

“You did?” The intensity in his eyes, the closeness of his body— Kiss me. Kiss me!

Micah’s eyes cleared. “Almost.” As though he heard her silent plea, his lips covered hers. He plunged his tongue inside her, insisting that she open up to him.

For one brief millisecond, Maddie considered pushing him away. She moved her hands to his chest to do so, but the hard pecs under her palms and the increasing demand of his kiss shattered her will. What was so bad about kissing him, anyway? Ignoring the hundred alarms going off in her brain that told her she wouldn’t think that if she weren’t so distracted by hormones and pheromones and just plain old regular moans—was that her making that sound?—she wrapped her fingers around his shirt to pull him closer.

His hands moved to cradle her face, helping him access the deepest recesses of her mouth. His facial hair burned sweetly against her lip and chin as days of pent-up longing released under his possessive strokes. This—she wanted this, like she wanted nothing else. Had fantasized about it whenever she saw him kiss someone else on screen, tried to remember how his lips had felt, but all of her dreams and memories dwindled in the reality of this. She didn’t care if this was all she got, it would be enough.

That wasn’t true. She wanted more. The fire between her thighs longed to be quenched. She wanted him, na**d and inside her on that narrow expanse of bed at the other end of the trailer.

Micah pressed the length of his body against hers and she felt his own desire long and hard against her hip. Yep, still stiff. She moaned, his erection kindling the blaze between her legs. She reached her hands around his neck, drawing him deeper still into their kiss.

He broke his mouth away from hers and circled her nose with his own. With ragged breath he murmured, “You taste so good. Exactly the way I remember.” And then he caught her lips again, his tongue resuming its cavity search.

Through her delirium and the exquisite sensations of his oral probing, she fought to grasp the meaning of his words. Something about her tasting good, which was nice, but also that she tasted the way he remembered.

Um, what?

Maddie pulled her head back, breaking the kiss. “Wait,” she said, halting him before he reclaimed her lips. “You remember?”

Micah smiled and nuzzled his forehead against her own. “How could I forget, Maddie from the party?” He replaced his forehead with his lips, kissing down the side of her face to her cheek.

His touch felt wonderful, electric, and she knew it was only a matter of seconds before she’d be lost to him again. But she wanted to understand. With more strength than she knew she had, she returned her hands to his chest and pushed. “Hold on.”