Page 54 of Puck You Very Much

But he wasn’t stupid enough to say that aloud.

“Nothing, nothing at all,” he replied seriously. “I was only thinking of a knock-knock joke.”

“Sure,” she replied, miffed.

“Don’t listen to him, Lucy,” Jack continued, undeterred. “You have a perfect figure.”

Dax’s jaw clenched. He had never said otherwise! In fact, her curves were pretty much all he had thought about for the last few days. No, that wasn’t true. It was the whole person and… Why was Lucy blushing?

“Thanks, that’s sweet, but it’s not true,” she said, giving Jack a warm look.

Hey! What was that about? He had never received a look like that from her before. And itwastrue.

“It’s true,” Jack replied frankly. “You women worry too much about your bodies.”

“Says the guy with the six-pack.” She laughed, making a dismissive hand gesture. “But I get it. I know that and I’m fine. I like my body, no matter what some men say.” She gave Dax a meaningful glance.

Confused, he opened his mouth to assure her that he had nothing against her body and had never said otherwise, but Jack beat him to it again.

“Oh, some men are just assholes. I think what makes a woman truly sexy is confidence. The way she deals with people. And you’re seriously blessed in that area, Lucy.” Her blush deepened…as did the red that had appeared before Dax’s eyes.

What the hell was Jack doing?

A bitter, ugly feeling compressed into a black ball in his stomach. If he was any other man, he might have believed it was jealousy, but he wasn’t any other man and he didn’t get jealous.

Still, he blurted out, “Say, should I leave you two alone for a while so you can flirt a little more and Jack can spill a few more of my secrets?” He deliberately kept his tone casual, but his words were apparently caustic enough to make both of them glance up in surprise.

Jack abruptly looked at Lucy. “You told him?”

She sighed softly. “It just slipped out. But Dax, you’re standing right next to us. You’d know if he was revealing private information.”

As if he cared! Jack could tell Lucy whatever he wanted, as long as he also took a few steps back and stopped brushing against her at every opportunity.

“Okay, we have some good shots in the costumes,” the photographer announced at that moment, pulling Dax out of a sudden fantasy that involved his fist in Jack’s face. “We can move on to some sexy shots for the female fans. So, which one of you two wants to take off your shirt?” He waggled his eyebrows.

“Him,” Jack and Dax said in unison, pointing at each other.

Dax snorted. He was definitely not going to take off his clothes, especially not after Lucy had turned so red this morning at the mere thought of him naked. Baring his chest now wouldn’t…contribute to normality between them.

“Really? Why do we need to take sexy shots?” Lucy asked, her cheeks darker than they had been a minute ago as she strolled back towards the photographer.

“Leslie said a few shirtless photos wouldn’t hurt,” the photographer said, shrugging.

Lucy sighed and made an irritated gesture, which the photographer took as confirmation.

“So, who goes first?” he asked.

“Okay, okay!” Jack said with a sigh, taking off his wings, jacket, and vest before pulling the shirt over his head. He stood there shirtless.

Lucy whistled through her teeth.

Dax gritted his.

Jack thumped his chest with a smug grin.

Lucy winked at him, laughing. “Turn, please. For the photographer, of course.”

Dax dug his fingernails into his palms.

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