Page 73 of Role Play
“Pot-ay-to, pot-ah-to,” she sang, then eyed me carefully. “I thought you weren’t going to come within arm’s reach of me until I signed that consentcontract.”
My throat constricted, airflow becoming thicker, harder to swallow. Yeah, that was the plan. Until I saw her. Now the plan was to have her anyway Icould.
As much as I liked to pretend I was in control, around Lucy, I was spiraling out of control fast. And I hated it. I fuckinghatedit.
A coy smile lifted the corners of her mouth and she circled the almost-finished set Helene, Jon, and I had beenbuilding.
“Is Kelly still here?” Iasked.
She shook her head no. “She went home hours ago. I had to finish the costume prep for tomorrow. I just finished steaming Jude’s suit.” She glanced down at the paddling bench. “Or at least I was. But it’s clear you need help with thisthing.”
My brows crumpled. “What do you think itneeds?”
She held up two hands. “Okay, look… I know I’m new at BDSM and all, but this looks weird painted white. I don’t actually mind the pearl inlay if it was set against a darker wood or fabric. It just doesn’t seem very … ‘Leo’ tome.”
Exactly my thoughts, too. I’d been working on that very issue. “But what can I do? It’s not like we have time to repaint the walls or build a new paddlingtable.”
She shrugged. “We don’t have time to repaint or rebuild, but we might be able to bring in elements that are more fitting to Leo so that it’s not sojarring.”
“Likewhat?”
She leaned back, examining it through narrowed eyes and nibbled the corner of her bottom lip.Iwanted to nibble that bottom lip. Then, she blinked behind her glasses and circled the bench, staring intently. “It’s too… breezy. Leo is sensual. He’s lush and sexy and the room is too bland and sterile for Leo’s personality. We could bring in that room divider that you cut from Leo’s bedroom. It’s large and cherrywood with intricate carvings. It’ll add contrast to theroom.”
“That’s a great idea,” I said, my lips twitching. Such a great idea, maybe I should have thought of itmyself.
“And there are large burgundy curtains in the costume department. They’ll be perfect to frame thewindows.”
“Perfect,” Iechoed.
“And…” she dragged the word out longer and tapped her finger to her button nose. She straightened, rolling her shoulders back and I could practically see the lightbulb turn on in hermind.
“And what?” I prodded. I was having ideas of my own, but I loved watching hers. I loved seeing the spark of creativity and the fire inside ofLucy.
She dashed for the fabrics she had carried up, clutching a deep red velvet, a mauve silk, black silk, and a green damask satin. In a whir of fabric and ruching and safety pins, she bent around the paddle bench, working. I watched her in awe, blinking as she safety-pinned each fabric carefully in place, then stepped back to admire her work. She folded her arms, smiling, and gave a single sharp nod. “That’s better. Softens it. Makes it sexier. The pearl inlays still stand out but blend better in the fabrics. And look…” She stepped forward, grabbing onto two silk scarves at either end, “you can use these to restrain Holly during the scenes. Amp up the control factor by binding her wrists. The silk is way sexier than those leather straps the bench camewith.”
I eyed her carefully, stepping closer and running my hands along the fabrics. It was… it was perfect. The different colors and textures worked together magically. Helene’s vision was beautiful, it just didn’t resonate with me, which was my fault for not checking the bigger picture earlier. Lucy, on the other hand, understood me on a deeper level. A level that maybe no one else could. “I have that large reclaimed wood art installation in my office. It would work great against thatwall.”
“And I bet we could find a large, dark shelving unit to fill in the other space,” she added. “It could be where Jude has his toysorganized.”
I stepped back, taking the room in with the new ideas in mind. “It’s so much better. And easy, inexpensive fixes that will keep us withinbudget.”
Lucy bent, tugging at the fabrics now pinned to the paddling bench. “I’ll have to stitch these together tomorrow morning before filming, but for now, you get theidea.”
“You don’t have to do anything. Helene and her assistant will.” I walked around the back of the bench and scraped a hand over my stubble, the texture rough like Velcro. “If the camera is here,” I said, pointing the other direction, “then we won’t actually see the paddling. But we could do a close up of her face, of the paddling, Leo’s face… then maybe a wide shot of the whole room.” I nodded, confirming my thoughts. That was going to be gorgeous. Elegant, even. I didn’t even mind the beige walls as much if we darkened the room withaccessories.
Behind me, I felt Lucy press against my back, her hands sliding up my arms and gripping my biceps. “Do you need to see how it looks? With someone bent overit?”
Well, hello cock. I became immediately hard at her question and quirked a brow. “Are youoffering?”
She adjusted her glasses and shrugged noncommittally. “If it’ll help you prep tomorrow’s shoot, I don’t mind. It can’t be any worse than what Ben had us do as stand-insSunday.”
I spun to face her and noted the way her breasts hitched with her sharp breath. “Tell me what’s changed?” I demanded. She had my cock hard. My lust for her flaring, but I could walk away if she gave me no choice. If she didn’t answer me honestly. “Why are you suddenly willing to offer yourself to me at work when hours ago you were vehemently againstit?”
Her jaw tightened and she blinked behind those glasses. “Let me ask you a question in return… would you rather go back to yourhouse?”
I sucked in a sharp breath, pain slicing behind my breastbone, and winced at thequestion.
When I didn’t answer, her eyebrows jumped higher. “How about my apartment? Would you like to go backthere?”
