Page 78 of The Love Rematch
“Take it off,” someone shouts. It sounds suspiciously like Trish, but the voice is drowned out as more people yell, the words turning into a chant. “Take it off. Take it off.”
The network execs would have a stroke if they were here. But they’re not. All Jake can do is own it.
He yanks the robe completely off and tosses it directly at Nina, who laughs and smoothly sidesteps the projectile. Then she cups her fingers around her mouth and yells. “That’s the whitest ass cheek I’ve ever seen!”
Humiliation complete.
“Laugh all you want.” Jake shrugs. “But someone here is going to spend hours up close and personal with this white ass cheek to make sure not a single speck of it winds up on cable TV.”
“Not me,” Nina says cheerfully, then signals the makeup team to step forward as the crowd starts to disperse.
He turns toward them and catches sight of Emily. It’s as if the rest of the world disappears. Everything goes quiet. Everyone fades except for her, and those honey eyes currently devouring every inch of his exposed skin. Goose bumps rise along his flesh, as if her gaze were a physical thing. He canfeelit as she traces the ridges of his abdomen. His muscles flex and stretch in response, as if it were her fingers and not her eyes blazing a path across his chest. An adorable blush fills her cheeks when her gaze dips for a prolonged moment. Hunger flashes as she pulls her lower lip between her teeth. His stomach clenches at the sight, his body reacting before he can stop it. Because it’s impossible to watch her watch him like that and not be visibly turned on.
No. No.
Fuck.
No.
She snaps her gaze up, making him question exactly how obvious his impending hard-on is becoming. The eye contact lasts for an excruciatingly drawn-out two-point-five seconds before a makeup artist steps between them.
Thank god.
Everything is so much easier when he doesn’t have to look at her. He can breathe. He can think. He can review in painful detail all the reasons why they can’t be together. A bandage gets taped across his nose. Some sort of oil is rubbed in his hair. He doesn’t want to know what all the brushes gently patting his bare skin are even doing. A few minutes later, his transformation into a sniveling asshole is complete. The bungee instructor comes over with a harness and tightens all the straps. Then…his brief reprieve ends.
Jake is wholly unprepared for the sight that greets him when he finally turns back toward the platform.
Emily.
Naked.
In the blinding sunlight.
A cough barrels up his chest and he doubles over, flashing what he’s sure must be a rather unattractive view of his ass crack to everyone standing behind him, but he can’t help it. The air is quite literally sucked from his lungs. He heaves, trying to catch his breath.
It’s nothing I haven’t seen, he tries to reason.
Which is true.
But he hasn’t seen it outside of his dreams in seven years and apparently that makes all the difference. Because…fuck, she looks good. More than good. Like a goddess. An apparition. A—
“You okay?” Nina slaps him on the back, hard. “Come on. We’re losing daylight, and we shot Ethan’s scene half an hour ago. I don’t want the light to change too much between takes.”
She shoves him and he stumbles forward. His every muscle locks up as he approaches Emily. She has her arms crossed to cover her chest, but it does little to stop his imagination from filling in the view. A nude thong stretches across her hips beneath the harness. Uncertainty lights her eyes.
The instructor guides him closer, too close, nothing but two inches of suddenly hot air between their bodies as more straps are tied and carabiners secured. Nina provides instruction from the side, one eye on a screen and one eye on them to make sure the poses match.
“Jake, get closer.”
He does, sucking in a breath as their thighs graze. Emily gasps softly.
“Emily, drop your arms and put them around him like you were doing with Ethan.”
Emily swallows, not looking at him as she unfolds her arms and seals the distance between them, hugging him fully against her. Her breasts press flush to his chest. Logically, he knows there’s a set of pasties between them, but logic doesn’t mean a hell of a lot at the moment. Blood rushes like a forest fire through his veins.
“Jake, put your left arm around her.”
He tries to keep some semblance of distance between them and hugs her by the shoulders, but Nina quickly calls him out.
