Page 89 of How to Kiss a Movie Star
She nods, and I reach up to curve a hand around her cheek. She closes her eyes and leans into me.
“Are you okay? I know all of this is a lot.”
She nods. “I’m great, actually. Itisa lot, but I’ve enjoyed watching you talk about your work.” She reaches over and slides her hands across my chest, toying with the buttons on the front of my shirt. “You know what I’m not excited about though?” She bites her lip in that anxious way I’m beginning to love.
“What’s that?” I lean forward, needing to touch her, to kiss her before I leave.
She presses her hands into my chest, stopping me just before my lips meet hers. “I’mnotlooking forward to watching you make out with Claire.”
I freeze, not grasping her meaning. I have zero plans of ever doingthatagain.
“In the movie, Flint,” Audrey says softly.
Oh.Oh.She isn’t the first person to worry about something like this. I have friends who have navigated this road before, setting boundaries, figuring out what makes them and their spouses or partners feel comfortable when it comes to on-screen intimacy. “I get that,” I say gently. “But it’s acting, Audrey. It isn’t real.”
“It was real with Claire, though, wasn’t it?”
I nod, wishing I didn’t have to say yes. “Not the whole time we were filming. Just for a while there at the end. By the time we started dating for real, we’d already filmed all the scenes that included us both.”
I can tell Audrey’s mind is working from the way her brows are creased, a tiny line appearing right between them. “How do you keep it from feeling real?” she asks. “Not just with Claire, but generally.”
I run a hand across my face and consider her question. “I mean, it helps that there are normally a dozen people or more crowded around you when it’s happening. Cameras in your faces, directors paying very close attention to everything from where your hands are to how long a kiss lasts to whether your eyebrows are relaxed while you’re kissing. The whole thing is directed, scripted, which generally makes it about the least intimate setting ever.”
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”
“Then there’s the cardinal rule of all on-screen kissing,” I say, and she lifts her eyebrows.
“What’s the cardinal rule?”
I grin. “No tongue.”
Her eyes widen. “Ever?”
I shake my head. “Not unless it’s scripted. And that’s something that would have to be written into a contract. Otherwise, it’s a very fast way to make other actors think you’re a jerk.”
She smiles and stands, shifting so she’s directly in front of me, her arms wrapped around my neck.
I lift my hands to her waist, settling them on the swell of her hips. I will never get tired of standing this way, of feeling this woman under my hands.
“This actually makes me feel a lot better,” she says playfully. She leans down and nudges my nose with hers.
“Yeah? Why is that?” I ask, my voice low.
“I like that there’s something onlyIget to do,” she whispers. She lowers herself until she’s sitting across my lap, her legs straddling either side.
“Only you, huh?”
She bites her lip, a flash of trepidation crossing her face. “I mean, only if…” Her words trail off and she takes a deep breath, but then she squares her shoulders and looks at me dead on. “Actually, yes. Only me. If I thought you were doing this with other women, I’d lose my mind, Flint. If you want me, it has to be only me.”
“I don’t want anyone else, Audrey.” I lean up and press my lips to hers. “I’ve never wanted anyone like I want you.”
She kisses me this time, gently at first, but then her hands slide up to my jaw, and she deepens it into something that breaks every single rule of on-screen kissing.
Fire floods my veins as her tongue brushes against mine, her hair cascading forward and enveloping me in her scent. My fingers press into the fabric of her jeans as I pull her even closer. It isn’t enough.Thisisn’t enough.
I have to stop, go back to work, and leave her, and yet, I’m certain that if she asked me to stay, I would. I’d ignore it all. The obligations. The journalists. The premiere. I’d forget all of it just to beright here.And not just because I crave the feel of her skin against mine. Though, five more seconds of this, and I might be breaking all kinds of rules—especially the ones I’ve set for myself.
I want to stay because I want toknowAudrey.
