Page 64 of Broken Romeo

Straddling a man.

In front of my ex.

I stare at Nolan, frozen in place as he closes his eyes and presses his mouth tenderly to mine.

“Stop!” Holden stomps over to the bed. I can feel how panicked and wide my eyes are, like a shoplifter caught stuffing merchandise into my pockets. “Kate, why the fuck are your eyes open while the man you love kisses you?”

I open my mouth to answer, but only silence fills the space between us.

With a sigh, Holden waves Nolan off the stage into the wings where the two confer, whispering back and forth. I’m left kneeling on a prop bed half-naked.

Maggie rushes over, draping a robe around my shoulders. I’m so grateful for her in that moment, I could cry.

“Thanks,” I whisper.

She smiles sweetly at me. “Of course. Do you need to look at any of the lines in the script?”

I shake my head. I only have one line in this scene, other than yes, Zach! And oh, God!

Yep, Amy really pulled out the big guns of prose for this scene.

Though I can’t make out a word they’re saying, I try to sneak a glance at the guys from the corner of my eye. Huddled together as they are, Nolan looks briefly at me before shaking his head. They seem to be disagreeing about something, but Holden points a finger at Nolan, clasping a hand to his shoulder.

Whatever they’re arguing about, it seems Holden is winning.

After another minute of whispers, Nolan comes back over to the bed, resuming his position kneeling in front of me.

“You okay?” he asks.

I nod and roll my eyes in spite of myself. “Fine. Just… a hot fucking mess, you know?”

“You’re doing great.”

I snort. “Well, you don’t have to lie. I’m a disaster.”

“Come on. We’ve got this.” His smile is infectious, and I could kiss him right now… except that the very thought of kissing him catapults me into a panic attack.

I slip the robe off and hand it back to Maggie. To his credit, Nolan remains totally professional when we’re not in the middle of the scene. His hands remain at his sides and his eyes stay north of the border.

Pretty damn impressive for a guy who’s already admitted he’s trying to get into my pants.

“Okay,” Holden says. There’s something different in his voice. Confidence. There’s a knowing smugness that hadn’t been there when we started the scene. “Let’s try it again. Take it from your line, Nolan.”

“We don’t just have a night,” Nolan says as he shifts to move behind me. His arm clamps around my torso, hand splaying across my stomach as he buries his nose into my neck. “We have a lifetime.”

The words vibrate across my skin. He drags his lips up my neck, and I turn my head to kiss him. Tendrils of desire lace between us—and there she is. Threads of Skyler weave into my consciousness.

I spin to face him. When I open my eyes, it’s not Nolan I see in front of me. It’s Holden. He’s standing on the stage behind Nolan, arms crossed, intense and brooding.

I stare pointedly at Holden as I glide my hand up to the back of Nolan’s neck. Even though my fingers grasp onto my co-star’s hair, it’s not him I’m reciting my lines to. My eyes lock onto Holden’s as I speak.

“No one’s guaranteed a lifetime.” I lean forward and graze my teeth along Nolan’s jaw. “We’re not even guaranteed tonight.”

I blink to find Holden’s simmering amber gaze locked onto me, fire boiling below the surface.

Well, deal with it, asshole. This is what he wanted, isn’t it? Me as this part… me on stage in my underwear simulating sex with Nolan. Be careful what you wish for and all that.

“Well, then,” Nolan says.

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