Page 77 of (Not So) Famous in Paradise

“Absolutely.” He nods. “You’re definitely going to get yourself killed wearing them in a construction zone.”

I drop my leg and hold back my laugh. Which reminds me that my whole point in coming over here was to get Zach to laugh, not to give him a chance to laugh at me.

Ike has given both of us directions to use “terms of endearment” with each other. We’ve been too uncomfortable to do it, but I think I’m ready to give it a try. Operation Sexy Georgia is back on track.

“But did you see the heel on these,sweetie? Isn’t it cute,babe?” I smile and flutter my eyelashes.

He responds with a confused look before glancing at my shoes, then back at me. His eyes stay on my face. “Actually…those are…cute.”

Cuteis not the word he looked like he wanted to say.

I drop my foot and fall out of character. “Right?” His eyes still hold mine, and I swallow back the desire to move closer. To have more contact than just his fingers tugging at my belt loop.

His almost-touch has lit a fire under my skin. If he actually touches me right now, we may have a scorched-earth situation. So I stay where I am, pretending I’m not about to spontaneously combust.

“The shoe company sent them to me to promote. Ifyouthink they’re cute, imagine what women will do when they see them. I’ll get paid for every click.” Talking business almost distracts me from my original goal. But then I remember and put on my sultry voice. “Isn’t that amazing,lover?”

At this, Zach’s cheeks go red again. “What? Why? Did you call me…lover?”

I nod excitedly. “Do you prefer something likebaeorboo…maybebunnyinstead?”

“I prefer them all to Zandwich, but what are you doing?” His mouth tugs at the corner, but still no laugh.

“Just testing out some terms of endearment to use on camera. How do you like them,dreamboat?” I flutter my eyelashes again, and this time I get a chuckle.

Or maybe it’s a guffaw. There’s a touch of snort to it.

It’s definitely not the rumble of thunder I’m in search of.

“Darling, they’re all better than Zandwich,” Zach says with a straight face that threatens to pull a giggle from me.

“Even sugarplum? Or babycake? Hotcakes? Cupcake?” I rattle off as many cakes as I can think of, then move on to other high-carb white-flour foods. “Muffin? Studmuffin? Honeycake?”

Zach shakes his head, his smile growing with each ridiculous name. But still no laugh.

Except from Teri, forgotten until now, though she’s still in the chair close to us. She pipes up with, “Love them all, but hotcakes is my favorite.”

Zach shakes his head. “It’s not quite right.” Then he moves closer, puffing out his chest. “How about hottie boyfriend?”

I shake my head hard. “That’s not it.”

“Well, keep going, curly. You’ll find the right one.”

He hovers over me. Not in a threatening way. More like we’re in a game of truth or dare, and he’s daring me to resist the urge to touch him. Testing how long I can battle the temptation to run my fingers over the contours of his chest visible under his shirt.

The answer is about two seconds. Then my palm is resting over his heart, feeling the slow, steady beat of it.

“How aboutmy everything?” I say to his chest, meaning to make it a joke, but my voice doesn’t get the message.

“That’s nice.” Zach wraps his hand mine.

He’s not laughing. I’m not either. I’m not even breathing. Only staring up, trying to make sense of the emotion in Zach’s eyes.

Then Teri clears her throat and stands. She comes to Zach’s shoulder so that what I have in my field of vision is my hand in Zach’s, pressed to his chest, and Teri’s head.

Which kind of ruins the moment.

“Is that the one I should write into the script, then? Along with the kissing scene?” Her eyes dart to Zach, and he gives her a weird look I can’t make sense of.

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