Page 79 of The Ruse

He finished his verse, and it was my turn. I looked up into his face with a soft gaze and sang. Christine asks Raoul to tell her that he’d love her every moment and talk to her about summertime. Then she requests that he promises everything he says is true. At this point, we transitioned from facing each other to the next phase of the choreography where Asher would hug me as he sang his verse. He pulled me against his chest, singing about becoming my shelter as he held me protectively against him. Then pulling away, he led me around the room until we came to stand by Hunter’s messy desk. He stepped behind me with his chest pressed against my back and just held me there as we sang.

He let his fingers comb through the hair resting over my shoulder, his fingers gentle, sending goosebumps racing across my skin the way they did every time we rehearsed this part. And as I started singing again, his arms wrapped around my waist, and he pressed a gentle kiss to my brow.

It was such a romantic scene, and even though my whole body was feeling like a live wire, it was going better than it had during any of our other practices…

But when we came to the part where I had to turn in his arms and face him again, where Christine asks Raoul to love her so he could tell her that he already did, I felt my presence in the moment slipping. When Asher slipped his hand behind my neck to transition us into the kiss that was supposed to happen as the orchestra swelled, a surge of anticipation filled my veins, making me lightheaded.

And here we were again. At the place where I took the scene off the rails every single time, because the thought of kissing Asher again was overwhelming. I was afraid of what it might make me feel—afraid that anyone watching us would sense how much I enjoyed kissing him despite also liking someone else…

Because even though it had been a mistake to kiss him at the cabin a week ago, I had thought about that kiss more times than I should have.

I’d had Asher’s face slip into my mind at night when I was supposed to be dreaming about my Broadway date with Nash.

Asher must have sensed that I was about to ruin the moment like I had all week because he whispered, “It’s going so well. Please stay with me.” He traced his thumb across my jawline. “Just do what you did last weekend at the cabin. Pretend you’re kissing Nash if you need to. Kiss him in your mind instead of me.”

And I didn’t know if it was the desperation I saw in his eyes as he willed me to just follow through with the scene. Or if it was his permission for me to close my eyes and take myself away from reality and to another place and time. But I nodded and said, “Okay.”

“We can continue?” Asher asked, like he wanted to make sure I was actually okay with him making the move.

“Yes,” I said breathlessly.

Apparently, that was all the invitation he needed. As the orchestra solo played through the speaker, he used the hand behind my neck to pull me closer and pressed his lips to mine. He kissed me once, twice, and then gave me another lingering kiss with his soft lips before spinning me around in his arms the way Raoul did with Christine during their kiss.

My leg bumped against Hunter’s desk chair during the spin, since this room was a lot smaller than the stage. We both laughed, and he set me back on my feet. Then, just as we were supposed to, we looked into each other’s eyes before leaning in for another kiss. And instead of hesitating like I had before, I closed my eyes and just let myself feel what Christine was supposed to feel for her fiancé.

I wrapped my arms behind Asher’s neck and kissed him. His lips were slow, and now that I wasn’t messing everything up, he seemed to allow himself to become more immersed in the scene as well. His hands slid up my back, his palms pressing into me as he pulled me tighter against him.

The last time we’d kissed, we’d both been wearing bulky coats, so I hadn’t had the privilege of feeling his strong chest pressed against mine, or the tightly corded muscles of his back beneath my hands.

But tonight, wearing only a thin gray T-shirt, he felt amazing. So amazing that I had the briefest thought that it was too bad Raoul wore a thick tuxedo for most of the play.

I let my hands trace their way along his shoulders and down his biceps, and then smoothing them down his sides. And the thought came to me that we might need to rehearse this scene a lot more.

Just to make sure we got it right.

He slipped his hands into the hair at the nape of my neck and coaxed my lips to move with his in a rhythm much slower than the tempo of the music. And when he deepened the kiss, electricity pulsed from a place low in my stomach and all throughout my body.

As my mind started to drift off to a faraway place, all I could think of was that I wanted to practice this scene all night.

That maybe I should keep messing it up just so I’d have an excuse to kiss Asher like this again and again.

“Is this the part where we’re supposed to sing again?” Asher broke away a moment later, sounding as breathless as I felt.

“I don’t know, is it?” I asked, my gaze darting back and forth between his hypnotizing eyes as I tried to catch my breath.

We’d only started the kiss a few seconds ago, right? It seemed like there should be at least a few measures before we had to sing again. Though, I’d stopped paying attention to the music the moment our lips touched for the second kiss.

But a beat later, the music registered in my mind, and I realized that Asher was right. It was time for us to pull away from the kiss and sing the last two lines of the song.

So we stepped back a little, each drawing in a deep breath, and then looked in each other’s eyes as we sang the grand finale of the song where Raoul and Christine declare their love for one another. I felt myself getting swept up in the moment, as if I were truly becoming one right then and there with Asher.

We were in sync in our performance in a way that I rarely ever found myself with someone else.

The music came down from the crescendo, and just like Miss Crawley had asked us to do, we came together again for one more kiss. As Asher took my bottom lip in his, I wrapped my arms behind his neck and completely melted into him.

The song ended, and I felt Asher’s lips curl up into a smile before he pulled away and whispered, “We did it.” He gently brushed some hair away from my forehead with his thumb. “We made it through the scene.”

“I know.” I leaned my forehead against his, feeling light with relief and happiness. “Finally.”

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