Page 65 of Good Enough

“Craig, I’ve missed you, too.”

“I want a status report. What’s my money getting me while you waste time soaking up the sun and surf down there for five weeks?”

Kai felt a nip on the inside of her calf. “Relax, Big…” She received another nip, which helped her catch herself. “Guy, your money is being well spent.”

He grunted. “I doubt it. I have half a mind to come down there and oversee the work to make sure everything runs smoothly.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Craig! We’re training nonstop. The actors are spending fourteen-plus hours a day learning all the shit they need to do, and we haven’t even gotten them onto a cliff wall or into a plane yet for rappelling. And when they’re not training, they’re working on character development and line memorization. With me in the room, I might add. And then they’re sleeping off the exhaustion.”

Warm, openmouthed kisses were trailing the inside of her calf slowly toward her knee.

“You’re far too forward, Serrano,” he growled.

I’m not the one who’s forward. If that mouth gets any further forward on my leg, I’ll be moaning Waters’ name and eventually screaming the walls down.

Instantly, she knew that she had pushed too hard. Be too aggressive with Big Bird, and he would be on the next plane just to fuck with her. The last thing she needed was him dogging her every step and getting in the way. And not just in the way of the filming. “Look,” she tried another tactic, her voice softening its edge, “you want to come down and supervise, be my guest. You’ll enjoy the weather. It’s been nearly a hundred degrees every day. Everything is gorgeous here, including the snakes, the spiders, and I think I saw some sort of rodent the size of a small dog.

“There are some downsides, I’ll admit. The house is drafty, damp, and the plumbing doesn’t work well. We don’t have hot water most days. Food is simple—eggs, coffee, bottled water, maybe some fresh fish, fruit, and vegetables if we’re lucky. We’re crowded in this derelict, but the idea of a luxury hotel in Coxen Hole is definitely going to be more Bates Motel than Ritz-Carlton.”

Waters’ hand gave her butt cheek a couple of gentle taps communicating “good girl” regarding her strategy for talking Big Bird out of joining them. Then he resumed sliding his palms up and down Kubrick’s thighs, slowly going just a little bit higher to her hips each time.

He wouldn’t dare while I’m on the phone!

His fingertips had reached her hips, hooking into the waistband of her leggings. She put the palm of her hand onto his forehead, attempting to push him back. He merely looked at her with an expression of “Don’t test me!” and then began to pull the leggings down. When his hands hit the desktop, he nudged her with his shoulders pressing against her thighs. When she refused to lift her ass up off the desk so that he had a clear path to removing them completely, he just gave a violent tug that pulled them out from under her. As he dragged them down, his eyes never lost hers.

Oh my God, he does dare. Eek! That is hot, hot, hot!

“Craig,” she implored, the warmth of Waters’ mouth on the skin on the inside of her thigh and the caress of his hands on the outside causing her voice to rise. “I really need to get back to work.” The muffled chuckle against her bare skin made it feel like her whole body was flushing. “Stop it!” she hissed, covering the speaker portion of her phone.

“Stop what?” She could feel Big Bird’s suspicion all the way through the airwaves.

Shit! Missed covering the speaker.

“Nothing, Craig. One of the, ummm, farmers brought some fresh plantains over, and his, uh, his dog is trying to jump in my lap.”

Waters’ shoulders were shaking with laughter as he looked up at her and mouthed, “Arf.” Then he leaned down and pressed his mouth to the lace gusset of her underwear, pulling at it with his teeth.

“Please, stop,” she moaned. His head went back and forth, like a dog pulling on a rope toy.

“Are you all right, Serrano? You sound ill.”

“No, no, not ill,” she squeaked.

Holy fuck. Definitely have a fever, but I’m not ill. Unless you count an addiction to that mouth.

Big Bird gave an exasperated sigh over the line. “I want a deep accounting of your actions there. No minute can be unaccounted for or wasted. This is costing far more than it should.”

“Yes, yes, you’ll get your update. Hanging up now!” She clicked off her phone and threw it across the room. She heard it thunk off something, and it sounded like something cracked.

Oh, who the hell cares? If it’s broken, he can’t call me, and I’ll only be able to talk to him through email.

She put her hands to Waters’ ears and pulled his face up to look at her. He still had a portion of lace in his teeth. “If you wanted to become part of the troop and go for the sex badge, you should have also paid attention to the part of the Boy Scout motto that talks about being prepared.”

His teeth let go of her underwear, but his left hand was holding them off to the side. He held up his right hand, three fingers in the Boy Scout salute. “Oh, I’m prepared enough for right now.” Then his grin went wicked as he turned his fingers and slid them inside her and proceeded to show her how helpful and friendly he could be.

Needless to say, her headache was forgotten.

Sun streamed in the window of her room through the sheer white curtains when Kai woke the next morning. Waters was not in her bed, and he wasn’t in the War Room. Disappointed, she showered, dressed, and wandered into the kitchen. The others were sitting around the breakfast table running lines for a scene with Vixen watching the script for accuracy.

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