Page 41 of All That Glitters

Alicia sits on Mr. Patterson’s lap.

Damn right she does.

“You’ve kept me at arm’s length for long enough. You see I’m trying to help you, right?”

“I see a little girl playing at something far beyond her comprehension.”

I maintain eye contact, reaching one leg up before I drop down right over Marcus. His hands curl around the arms of the chair, but he refuses to touch me. I arch just a bit to let him feel the heat rolling off me. “I can help, if you let me,” I murmur.

“What’s a little thing like you going to do?”

“A little thing like me can do a lot if you give me the chance.” I grab his wrist and lift it to my waist, his fingertips skimming my ribs.

Mr. Patterson skims his fingers beneath the hem of her shorts but no higher. He stops, maintaining his exquisite control, but only just. The chords are fraying.

“Chances involve risks, and I’m not sure you’re worth the risk, Alicia,” Marcus reads.

He’s not taking the cues, though, and I have to grab his hand again and stick it where it belongs. The moment his fingertips touch me, a fire lights. Sparks fly, and my breath quickens.

“You’ve got to touch me, Marcus,” I warn. “Otherwise, I’m not going to get into the scene the right way. It says here Mr. Patterson fondles Alicia’s breast and groans. He’s losing it.”

He groans again, curling his fingers, pushing a little bit higher until he stops at the underside of my tit. I wait, a small, impatient sigh dying in the back of my throat before he finally lifts his hand to me and squeezes, massaging the globe lightly.

“I’m always worth the risk,” I say as Alicia, only glancing at the script to catch the next lines. “I thought you were more adventurous than you really are, Mr. Patterson. You’ve done nothing but put me off. You can’t expect me to keep trying and trying if you don’t want this the way I do.”

“Wanting this isn’t the problem, Alicia.”

“Then what is the problem?” I ask.

Mr. Patterson leans in to kiss the side of Alicia’s neck.

Marcus takes the cue this time, hesitating only a moment before he presses his lips to my overheated skin.

“Don’t worry,” I whisper, closing my eyes at the contact. “You won’t have to follow through with this. It will be my co-star. I’m sure he’ll be much more willing to embody the part once we start filming. I just want to make sure I’m comfortable enough with the dialogue to really give it my all when he’s fondling me.”

I’m not sure whether I need the careful reminder more or he does, but his twitch at the statement gives me a certain amount of pleasure.

“Now go on,” I press. “Keep reading.”

SIXTEEN

Empire in the arms of another man, letting him touch her the way I am, letting him see the pieces of her no one else deserves to see…red filters over my vision. Empire on some other man’s lap with his hand on her breast, on her hip, her thighs—damnit. The idea of someone else touching her drives me fucking crazy. I don’t want anyone else touching her this way, the way I am right now. Not even for a movie part I pushed her to do.

She belongs to me, even if I can’t keep her.

Even if I will never be the type of man who deserves her.

She will always belong to me, and the sooner we both get our heads around that fact, the better it will be for both of us. To whatever ruin we’re heading toward, the two of us are going to collide eventually, and when it does, it will be a spectacular explosion. Until then, any other boy or man in her orbit better steer clear of her.

I’ll have to make sure the intimacy coordinator is really on their game by the time they get around to filming this scene because, fuck. One wrong slip on her co-star’s part, and I’ll rip his goddamn head off. Both of his heads. Especially if he gets any ideas.

“Well?” she asks breathlessly, pausing in her monologue to push me along the path she thinks she’s leading me down.

She’s doing this on purpose.

Working me up into a frenzy because she wants to get her way and push me down beneath her heel. Not a bad place to be, and I bet the view would be spectacular from that angle. Too bad for her, it won’t work. She must have thought choosing this scene would get me to unravel and maybe make amends for last night. Who the hell knows what she really wants from me. Neither one of us is willing to admit to anything out loud. Her choice of this scene, and my choice to indulge her, mean something, but what is anyone’s guess.

How far will I go today? Another guess, a huge gamble on the part of my self-control.

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