Page 45 of Lost Love Found

“Hey, beauty. You’re here.” I feel his eyes move over my whole body, and his smile sends happy feelings straight to my belly. He places a lingering kiss on my temple and his hand on my lower back. “Mitch.” He nods once. “See you in there.” And with that he starts to walk away, moving his hand to my hip, pulling me closer, adding a kiss on the crown of my head. “I’ve missed you,” he whispers in my ear, and I melt into a puddle of pathetic lady goo.

I’m dizzy by the time we make it onto the set. Nothing has happened, but I’m loopy with lusty thoughts because:

River is very good at acting like we’re dating. The nickname. The forehead kiss. The sweet I’ve missed you, which I didn’t think anyone could hear, but made the whole thing very convincing, nonetheless.

He’s now removed the hoodie he had on and is currently shirtless with those very tight pants on. There isn’t much left to the imagination and watching his muscles move as he boxes with a man similar in build is making me hot. So hot I’m regretting this sweater. I think we should revisit the boxing attire of the 19th century.

To be honest, I couldn’t pick out the guy he’s fighting with out of a lineup. I haven’t taken my eyes off Adam’s abs. And butt. And biceps. And that butt. It’s been four hours and it’s safe to say most women and a few of the men in here don’t mind that this scene is taking a long time to shoot. Adam and his boxing partner are putting on a mouthwatering show for us all.

I don't know the complete story, but I know this movie is set in the 1800s and follows the life of an American who moves to England and eventually becomes a famous bare knuckle boxer.

Before the next set of lusty thoughts about running my tongue along the ridges of his abs can take over every useful brain cell I possess, it registers that something has gone wrong. The other guy throws a punch at Adam's face and it unintentionally lands. Hard! Adam goes down and I jump out of my seat. Several people rush over to him, and I can’t see anything. I’m too far away. He hasn’t gotten up. He’s bleeding, and I hear someone say he’ll likely need stitches. Stitches?

They rush him out to the medic, and I’m left standing next to a small pool of blood. His blood. I feel myself start to panic a little as I make my way towards where they took him. I push through a few people and finally, finally I get close enough to see his face through the crowd outside of the first aid tent.

My heart is beating in my throat. In my ears. In my temples. I step closer, barely managing to keep my feelings at bay. He's perched on the edge of a table, and a medic is carefully taping a bandage to his right eyebrow. The trickle of blood has been staunched. Our eyes meet and my heart races even faster. He slowly raises his arm towards me, and I step into his space. His grip is firm when he grasps my hand and pulls me closer.

His gaze is intense, and I can feel the tension radiating from his clenched jaw.

The medic seems to be done and has moved somewhere out of sight. I come to stand between Adam’s legs, heart pounding against my ribs. I bring both of my hands to his cheeks, inspecting his face, moving it from side to side.

“Are you OK?” I kiss his right cheek and then the left. “What can I do?” I kiss his forehead and his chin. “Does it hurt?” I kiss as much of his face as I can while avoiding the cut above his eye. “I was so scared.” His eyes search my own before his head straightens and his lips meet mine. They're like two halves of the same puzzle finally finding their place in the world. Hot sparks erupt in my chest and spread throughout my body like a fireworks display, igniting a sense of belonging and assurance I haven't felt before.

One of Adam’s arms wraps around my waist, and a hand runs up my back, pulling us desperately closer. His tongue brushes over my top lip as I melt into his hard body, opening for him and then I’m tasting him and he’s tasting me. He’s salty and minty and the combination shouldn’t be this delicious, but it is.

His kiss is slow, methodical, like he’s taking his time learning every inch of my mouth. The feel of his beard against my chin sends a shiver of excitement up my spine and my thighs tense as I imagine that delicious scrape against them.

Adam holds me tightly, as if I’m made of sand and could slip between his fingers. I am delirious, high on the lust coursing through me, hoping and praying it never ends and knowing I would chase this feeling forever.

My fingers tangle in his hair. My skin burns everywhere we touch, and my lips already feel swollen. Time stops, or it speeds up. What even is time? There is nothing but this, no one but us as our mouths explore with a desperation that feels nearly palpable. His grip on me is so tight, I’m sure he’s the only reason I’m still standing upright because I can’t even feel my feet.

All thoughts blow apart on the wind, like dry leaves on a street in wintertime. I’m drowning in his warmth, a quiet moan escaping me as I feel my now heavy breasts press against his bare chest.

Someone clears their throat and it might as well be a bucket of ice being dumped on my head. He pulls away with a dissatisfied grunt. My eyes are still closed as I catch my breath and he places a final tender kiss on my lips. I force my eyes open.

“I’m OK, baby.” I’m met with blue eyes so dark, I hardly recognize them. The cerulean ocean is now a stormy, raging sea. It’s not a look I’ve ever seen in my friend’s eyes. On my fake boyfriend’s beautiful face. As our surroundings come into focus, I take a step back, smoothing my skirt. I see a hand holding a phone move into a back pocket and I hear whistles, maybe even a few claps. Understanding hits me like a cannonball to the gut. This was River kissing Elaina. Not Adam. River.

“That’s a wrap here. Let’s move on,” the faraway voice says. The place clears as I stand there a few seconds longer gathering all the pieces of me scattered in this tent. The scared pieces, the confused pieces, the very, very, very turned on pieces.

I touch my fingertips to my now definitely swollen lips while Adam puts on the same hoodie he had on earlier. Wordlessly, he takes my hand, and we walk out towards his trailer. I hear the faint sound of voices and whispers, but they eventually fade away and it’s just Adam and I. Or is that still River?

We walk into his trailer, and he drops my hand as if my touch has burned him. Because that was all for show, after all, right?

“I’m going to have a quick shower, then we can go get something to eat. Are you OK here?” He’s already taking his hoodie off and I look away because I simply can’t handle seeing any more of his body today.

“Uh-huh.” And he’s gone. Fuckity fuck fuck fuuuuuuuuuck! I am so royally, monumentally, totally screwed.

That was the hottest kiss I’ve had in my adult life and it wasn’t even real. Tell that to your throbbing lady bits. They didn’t get the memo.

I sit staring at the wall until I hear Adam come out of the back of the trailer. His hair is wet, and his jeans look like they were made specifically for his body. His gray T-shirt fits him perfectly and does nothing to keep his bulging biceps out of sight of my greedy eyeballs.

“You ready?” He’s standing in front of me all smelling like a dewy forest and shit, with his hand out for me to take. Which I obviously do. When I stand, he does a slow perusal of my body and suddenly everything feels tight. I sense his eyes everywhere and it sends tingles all. Over. Me. How does he do that without even touching me? “You look amazing, by the way. Hungry?”

Very, so go ahead and lay down so I can nibble on your delicious body all night, please and thanks. Ugh. Stop it. Just. Shut. Up.

“Uh-huh.” Yep. These are the only words left in my vocabulary. I still haven’t said actual words to him since that fake kiss that felt very real to all my body parts, including my brain, for a hot second.

Once we’re in the car and he’s driving, I’m once again struggling to find words. I don’t normally have this problem, so this feels very… new.

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