Page 66 of The Roommate

Clara couldn’t believe she’d ever wasted a second of her sex life on any position but this one. She pressed her palms to the floor on either side of his face, rocking over him as her breasts dragged across his chest.

When she opened her eyes he was gazing back at her.

She bit her bottom lip hard enough to taste blood. Dry-humping was tragically underrated.

“Damn it, Clara. You’re driving me crazy.”

He brought his hands back to her ass and opened the span of his fingers so he could knead her overheated skin.

Clara wantonly rubbed herself against h

im as her pleasure built. “Oh God. I’m close.”

His grip grew rough enough that she imagined she’d wake up tomorrow to imprints of his fingertips. The idea made her shiver against him. “Don’t stop.”

“Whatever you say.” Josh grunted as he dragged her lower this time, across his unmistakable erection.

“You know, it works even better if you take off your clothes,” Naomi said in a dry voice from inside the room.

Josh and Clara both scrambled to their feet, or at least they tried to. Her feet slipped on the shiny laminate flooring and she waved her arms wildly, trying to regain her balance.

“Fuck,” Josh said as Clara’s elbow slammed into his solar plexus.

“Not quite.” Naomi examined her manicure. “But I’m sure if I’d shown up ten minutes later . . .”

Clara opened her mouth to apologize or explain. Whichever came out first.

“I’m a patient woman, but if you utter the words this isn’t what it looks like, I am going to lose my shit.”

Josh’s low voice contained traces of both weariness and warning as he said, “Stu—”

“Clara, would you please give us a moment?” Naomi bared her teeth like a rabid panther.

Indecision locked Clara’s feet to the floor. On the one hand, she probably shouldn’t abandon Josh. After all, it took two to drop down and gyrate. On the other hand, Naomi was his ex. An ex that he still hoped to reconcile with, last she’d heard. Perhaps he wanted the opportunity to explain the problem with the tape directly? Clara hardly wanted to stand around and listen to Josh write off her amateur response to what the two professionals probably considered an everyday ask.

She gathered her things slowly, giving Josh plenty of time to signal if he needed moral support. She even bent to retie her shoelaces.

“Clara, it’s okay.” He kept his eyes locked on Naomi. “I’ll meet you in the car.”

As she fled, a thousand scenarios for what was going on back in the studio ran in Technicolor through her mind. Each one more incendiary than the last. She started the engine and turned on the radio. Because the two most likely outcomes of a disagreement between Josh and Naomi were yelling and screwing, and in either case, she didn’t want to hear it.

* * *

• • •

NAOMI POINTED A menacing finger directly at Josh’s heart. “You can’t turn it off, can you?”

Josh sighed. He was already drowning in the quicksand of his feelings for Clara. The last thing he needed right now was a lecture from his ex-girlfriend.

“I can’t believe you would gamble all of our futures to get your dick wet.”

He reached out and batted Naomi’s hand away. “Don’t talk about her like that. Clara and I are not having sex.” At least, not the kind Naomi was accusing him of. Jesus, when had his life gotten so complicated?

“Wow.” Naomi took a step backward that set her dress swinging around her knees. “I never thought I’d see the day when you’d lie to my face.” She spread her arms out away from her body. “I knew this was gonna happen. I knew as soon as she moved in. You can’t resist a woman that will never commit to you.”

Josh rejected the burn of embarrassment in his throat. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. We were fixing a blocking mistake. One that you didn’t notice, by the way.” Had they both needed to get on the ground? Probably not. But Clara had on that flirty little skirt with pleats and he couldn’t help himself.

“I did not make a blocking mistake.” She stomped over to the camera mount and peered through the lens. “Are you talking about the framing of the shot? Josh, I had the wide angle professionally cleaned.” She pulled the expensive lens out of her purse. “That’s the standard on the rig. I came back to switch it out. Now, thanks to your amorous shenanigans, I have to move Lance and Ginger’s call time tomorrow up an hour to fix this mess.”

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