He was quiet for a beat. Then he buried his face in her hair and whispered near her ear, “More than you know. More than I ever could have believed I would.”

She took a deep breath in, memorizing the moment, so focused on his words she almost missed what he said next.

“What about you?”

She twisted her head so she could look at him, surprised by his question. Was he seriously asking? She thought her opinion on the matter was a given. How crazy that he didn’t know. “Yes,” she said simply.

Still, even though her heart burst inside with a much more emphatic acknowledgment, she knew there was more to overcome. “But I heard what you said, Micah. I get it. I’m scared too.”

She turned in his arms to face him with her entire body, letting him wrap himself so entirely around her she felt joined to him. Resting her forehead against his chin, she spoke into his neck. “If we did continue to see each other, would you ever believe that we’d have a shot at making it?” This question scared her most. Or rather, its answer did. Because if he said he didn’t, then there would be no reason to keep seeing him.

He pulled back so he could look in her eyes, and his gorgeous smile took her breath away. “Maddie, look at us.” He spun her around so she her back was to his chest again. Then he nuzzled his head against hers, his arms tight around her waist. “We’re flying, Maddie. Flying! How can we not believe we can do anything?”

She melted into him. It was the perfect thing to say. Romantic, and maybe a bit vague, but she felt the truth in her words. As long as they believed that, how could their relationship not survive?

Beyond sentiment, his statements held weight. They showed a depth to his emotion that he’d never revealed in words. He still may not have been ready to say exactly how he felt about her, but she knew now that she meant more to him than a simple fling.

She also knew for certain how she felt about him. That night she told him, as she straddled his cock, burying him inside her. She slid herself up and down and when she quickly built up the pace, he sat up and steadied her. One arm wrapped around her waist, the other tangled in her hair, he taught her a new rhythm, slow and merciless.

Eyes locked on his, she moaned her surrender to him.

“Come for me,” he urged.

And she did. Over and over her orgasm rolled through her, overtaking her so fully that he had to support her.

“Shh,” he whispered. “I’ve got you.”

With her steadied in his arms, he impaled himself into her, again and again, until she released anew. Then he joined her, as she gasped and burst around him, and she cried what she finally could say without doubt, “I love you.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Micah rolled his head, pausing at each side to crack his neck. Ah, that felt better. Not great, but better. He needed a massage and a week of sleep. He made a mental reminder to make a spa appointment for when he got back to L.A.

Ariahn Jessler, the blonde journalist from Faire Play Magazine furrowed her brows. “You seem tense,” she said, pressing the red button on her digital recorder. This was the second leg of their interview. The first session had started the minute he’d arrived on set for the day, ending only when he had to shoot his scene. Now they were filming one of the other actor’s close-ups, so Micah was on break from acting and back on the interview.

“It’s a tough week,” he answered, careful not to sound too negative about his job. “We’re going to have to work hard to stay on schedule.”

“You finish up Friday?”

“That’s the plan. We’re behind schedule so we’ll probably have some late shoots to make it up.”

Ariahn jotted a note on her paper. What could she be writing? He hadn’t really said anything. Shake it off. Best not to worry too much about what she wrote.

He put his arms on the rests of his director’s chair. “Heather starts another movie on Saturday. It doesn’t give us much wiggle room for finishing.”

“Heather Wainwright?”

“Yeah.” He casually moved his hand to his knee to stop his leg from twitching. God, he was on edge, had been since he’d woken up that morning. The end of production was only part of the reason. This interview was another. It had originally been scheduled for his day off, but he hadn’t wanted to lose his free time. It would have thrown a serious damper on his hot air balloon surprise. He couldn’t cancel altogether since Faire Play had promised a cover article. It was great exposure for him and his upcoming movie release, a sci-fi thriller. But a cover article of this length meant he’d be spending a lot of time with Ariahn. It made for an exhausting work day, playing his character for the film one second and then having to present a different character—his public self—during his off-camera time.

“What do you have lined up next?”

Surely she already knew. Six weeks ago he would have said that, would have flirted his way through the interview. But now, with Maddie nearby, it seemed wrong. Instead, he remained matter-of-fact and forthcoming with his answers. “Let’s see, I’m presenting at the America’s Choice Awards in a couple of weeks. Then I’ll be promoting Night in Space. I start my next project in the late fall.”

“And what is that?”

Micah had to work not to cringe. “It’s called Love Lessons. I play a teacher who falls in love with his student.” He couldn’t believe he’d agreed to do a romantic comedy. He really hoped the Santini thing went through. If not he’d push to get in with an actor’s director like Soder or Braugh or Van Gordon.

Or Bauers. He’d love to be directed by Maddie, and not just in the bedroom.

Maddie. There was another cause of his tension. So many complicated thoughts and feelings arose with her around. Their day off together had been the best of the last six weeks, but they’d said things to each other, things they couldn’t take back—some things he didn’t want to take back.

He couldn’t quite explain why he’d provoked her on the drive. He’d repeated the main points of an argument he’d made for years—why he couldn’t have a girlfriend and his career—even though he wasn’t sure how convinced he was anymore. But he stood firm and pushed her, almost hoping it would scare her away so that he wouldn’t have to deal with the repercussions of madly adoring the woman.

Except it hadn’t worked. And damn, he was grateful for that. So grateful that though he couldn’t tell her how he felt, he’d hinted at a future that he still didn’t know if he could deliver.