Page 41 of Salacious Star

I couldn't stop myself from snorting at my own thoughts, and when I made my way out into the lobby, it was blissfully empty.

It gave me a few moments to pull myself together, to smooth down the soft black shirt that I liked to wear after shoots, and to clear my mind so that the only thought that filled it was the objective.

I wanted to date Xander. I hadn't wanted to date anyone in...a long time. Longer than I cared to admit, even to myself.

I want Xander to be my boyfriend. Not just my work fuck buddy.

My stomach flipped at the word 'boyfriend,' and I couldn't stop myself from rolling it over my tongue over and over again, testing the way that it felt. Liking the thought of it a little too much.

Fuck. If Xander said no...I was going to be a lot more bothered than I was going to have to admit. Because there was no way that I was going to give him up as a partner at the studio, even if it turned out that he wasn't interested in me romantically. Our sexual chemistry was off the charts, and I had admittedly never felt so comfortable with a partner in all the time that I'd worked for Cole.

We would just...have to make things work. If he wasn't interested in me. But hopefully he was. God, it would suck if he wasn't. If...

"You okay, Tris?"

Xan's soft, teasing voice cut through the increasingly circular pattern of my thoughts, and my eyes snapped to his, uncharacteristic nerves flooding me at the sight of him. His hair was damp and curling the tiniest bit around his face, his eyes bright as he smiled at me. He was still a little flushed, the haze of pleasure in his eyes clear, and my cock valiantly jerked at the sight of it, as if I would be able to get hard again after the aggressive, marathon fuck session that we'd just filmed.

"Um. Yeah, I'm...I'm okay," I managed. It was a Herculean effort to keep my voice from stammering, and he arched an eyebrow at me, his head cocking to the side before flicking down my front and returning to my face.

That tiny once-over, one that I was sure was involuntary...that gave me the courage to relax a little, and offer a real smile to Xander as I pushed away from the wall and stepped into his space.

"I wanted to catch you before you left for the day," I said, my voice calm and confident again.

His lips parted, and his cheeks brightened a little. He glanced around, as if he were positive that I was talking to someone else, and then he looked back at me, pointing at himself with one finger.

"Me?" he asked, and his voice wasdefinitelytrembling. There was a spark of excitement in his eyes that intrigued me, though, made me want to get closer and taste his lips all over again, despite the fact that I'd had my hands and lips alloverhim for the better part of three hours.

"Yes, you, Xan," I confirmed, unable to stop myself from laughing a little. Softly, because I didn't want him to think I was laughingathim.

God, I wanted him to say yes to dating me. I wanted it so fucking badly.

"I wanted to see what you're doing tomorrow night," I said, leaning a little closer. His eyes widened the tiniest bit as he looked up at me, and his jaw dropped open, as if he were glitching for a moment.

"What for?" he finally managed.

Was that...hopein his voice?

A matching emotion surged to life inside of me, and I reached up to brush a stray strand of damp hair off his forehead, the tips of my fingers brushing against his silky skin. "I wanted to invite you over to my place for dinner," I said softly. "I want to get to know you, Xander."

He let out a tiny, involuntary sound, and then his eyes narrowed a little. "Is this a work thing, or...?" he asked, suspicious.

I shook my head, shoving down the chuckle that bubbled up before it could escape. God, he was cute when he was being vigilant. But this was serious.

"No," I said softly. "Not a work thing. A...differentthing."

Xander's throat bobbed with a swallow, marked up from the dozen different bites that my teeth had sank into his skin over the course of the filming session. I wanted to trace them with my fingers, but his husky voice interrupted my train of thought before I could do exactly that.

"Like...adatething?"

His gaze caught mine, and for a moment, I couldn't look away. His eyes were soft and intense andhopeful- there was no mistaking it this time - and I let him look at me for a moment before I nodded.

"Yeah," I said, my voice husky. "Like...a date thing. I want to take you on a date, Xander. I want to get to know you. I...I think there might be something, here. Beyond mind blowing chemistry on set, I mean."

I tacked on that last part because I definitely didn't want him thinking that I thought that that wasnothing, and thankfully, he snorted, rolling his eyes a little.

"No, no. Couldn't forget that." He winked at me, and then his expression softened a little as he sucked his lower lip between his teeth, chewing on it. "Are you sure, Tris? I mean...what if it doesn't go well?"

"Well, I'm not the kind of man that likes to plan for failure," I mused, cocking my head to the side. "I like to think that you like me enough that even if you don't want to date me again..." The thought choked in my throat for a moment, but I powered through to the end. "You'll still settle for mind blowing orgasms on my cock whenever our corporate overlords see fit to schedule us together."

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