Touching the Billionaire - Holly Jaymes Page 0,18

could feel the heat of his body. The scent of him, a mixture of soap and something earthy. His blue eyes held a promise of something wicked.

This was the point in the scene where I was supposed to show how his nearness was affecting me. No acting was required for that.

“Maybe…” I put in the pause for effect. “Maybe you should stop being so arrogant.” I looked down, showing that Nicolette realized that she was losing this battle of wills.

Per his direction, Theo stayed calm and in control. His character recognized his effect on Nicolette. “Maybe you should stop being so damn beautiful.”

My gaze shot up to his. “What?”

His eyes narrowed slightly. “You heard me.”

I swallowed. “You’re just saying that to distract me.”

“Is it working?” His lips inched closer.

“No.” I looked at him defiantly.

“Liar.” He moved closer still until his lips were a mere whisper away. “You’re distracting me, Nicolette.”

“I am?” my voice squeaked.

“You are. If you don’t want me to kiss you, you should leave.”

My gaze dropped to his lips. They looked full and soft. Oh my God, I was about to kiss Theo Wolfe. Every inch of my skin sizzled in anticipation. If he wasn’t jamming my senses, I might have been annoyed by his impact on me, but in the moment, there was a titillation about it.

I stared at him, arching a brow. My last act of defiance.

He smirked and then closed the distance.

“Cut.”

What the hell?

But then Theo’s lips pressed against mine. They parted slightly as his hands slid to my lower back and pulled me close. He tasted like mint with an undercurrent of sin. I nearly moaned.

“Cut!” Corrine called out again.

Theo released me and stepped back. His expression was quizzical, like he hadn’t expected something from the kiss. He gave his head a small shake and the expression was gone.

He turned to Corrine. “We had momentum. Why disrupt it?”

“I was hoping to maintain it for the next take. You’ll need to make sure you don’t lose that sexual tension the next time.”

He looked over at me. “Oh, I don’t think sexual tension will be a problem, do you, Madeline?”

Danger, Danger

Theo

I had a split second to decide whether I should listen to Corrine’s instruction to “cut” but there was really no decision to be made. That kiss was going to happen. And then when she called “cut” again, I had no choice but to break away. I couldn’t pretend that maybe I hadn’t heard her the second time.

Then I made the comment about not having trouble creating sexual tension again. Now, I was wondering if maybe I was being a douche again. I glanced over at Madeline, wondering if she was about to give me the third degree for kissing her when I was supposed to stop.

She didn’t look angry or like she was about to give me an earful. In fact, she looked a little perturbed that the kiss was broken up. Or maybe I was just projecting my own wishes. There was no doubt that just like yesterday, she had me all revved up with her flirty eyes and sexy smile. The good news was all the concerns I’d had before about whether or not we would have chemistry to pull off this film had gone. It was quite clear we did and hopefully, the camera was picking up on it. The problem was that I needed to keep me and Jack separate when it came to her. Sure, going with the flow and indulging the attraction I was feeling would work on screen, but it could cause all sorts of problems in my private life. It was one reason I had given up dating women I worked with. In fact, I tried to avoid other celebrities altogether. Most celebrities I met were acting even when they weren’t working. We were never our true selves to the public. Because of that, I could never be sure if the women I worked with were the real thing. I had a reminder of that the night I brought wine to Madeline and at the end she asked if I was still auditioning her. It told me that she hadn’t been her true self because she was trying to impress me professionally.

The challenge was going to be in bringing out the chemistry between us while restraining the urge to take it off-set. Of course, just because I was feeling the sexual heat between us, didn’t mean she was. It seemed like she was affected by me. She