Page 9 of Second Chance Baby

He led me into the bathroom, leaving the door open so we could have a little privacy, jerking me against his chest—and his hips—in a way no part of me minded. Then his gaze drifted down to slide over me as physically as if he’d used his hand. Both of them plus his mouth. “So,you’rethe big deal replacement model. She didn’t give me a name.”

Struck momentarily silent, I managed to nod.

His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed a couple times. “You look damn good, Brig.”

Brig. How many years had it been since he’d called me that? Far too many.

“You, too.” My voice was barely a whisper. “How’s Carrington?”

“Good. She’s real good. Took her to school before I came here. Tall just like her mama.” He cleared his throat. “Skinny as a whip too.”

I couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Definitely not that anymore.”

“You look fucking amazing.” He tipped back his head and sucked in air. “Daph could’ve told me it was you, so I wasn’t ambushed.”

Ambushed.

I cocked a brow. “Who’s Daph? Girlfriend?” I could barely get out the word. I knew it probably couldn’t be true due to the insider information I’d procured. But the quick hit of jealousy couldn’t be suppressed

“No girlfriend.” His gaze coasted over me once again, lingering on the red toenails peeking out of my open-toe Louboutins. “Daphne’s my agent.”

“Thank God.” Hearing myself, I shut my eyes again. “I’ll just tape my mouth shut now.”

It was his turn to let out a rusty laugh, as if it wasn’t something he did very often anymore. I understood that all too well. Then his hand slid down my forearm to grip my hand—hard.

Instantly, I flashed back to him doing the same after one of his football games in high school. I’d run over to congratulate him for winning, throwing my arms around his neck and then driving my fingers through his damp hair as I crushed my mouth to his. The smell of the ocean from his aftershave mixed with the scents of grass and fresh earth and the tang of fresh, clean sweat, making me moan softly.

Until I realized I was moaning in real life, just from the pressure of his tense fingers closing around mine. And he was smirking at me, just as he used to do.

“You okay?” he asked softly.

Deliberately, I shook myself back into the present. “Sorry. Flashback.”

“Which one?”

When I lowered my head, his fingers crept up to skim over the pulse point in my wrist. It was currently beating wildly out of control. “Tell me, Brig.”

“After one of your football games. I met you on the sideline and you grabbed my hand, dragging me against you as I…congratulated you for winning. You always won. Always managed to score the winning touchdown.”

“Not always,” he said, maintaining his hold on me as I caught Stacy marching over to Drake out of the corner of my eye. The set had filled up even more while we’d been talking.

I pushed him back and slipped out into the suite, Travis in tow. There were far more people in attendance, and I had no clue who most of them were.

“We’re going to get this thing started, okay?” Stacy called out. Her gaze dropped briefly to our locked hands before zooming back to our faces with what might as well have been a feral smile. “That work for you two?”

THREE

This day wasoff to a rocking start.

I was rolling across a bed with the woman I’d been in love with since I was a teen. Actually, I didn’t remember when I hadn’t loved her.

Which was why it had been painfully easy for me to whisper instructions to her before the shoot had begun. I’d been fully prepared for her to shoot me down flat.

She had not.

“Rita really needs this shoot to be, well, like high school us. I heard some stuff in the industry about a breakup with her writing partner. Didn’t pay a huge amount of attention, but now that it has to be reshot, anyway…well, let’s just sell it well. Okay?”

She’d nodded and placed her hand so, well,lovinglyin mine, her summer sky eyes conveying nothing but trust.

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