“She is nice—in this sort of blunt, take-charge kind of way,” he said. “Though I don’t know if it was totally altruistic this time. I think she’s got a thing for Fitz. Wanted me to set up an intro.”
Hollyn’s attention flicked upward, finally letting him see her eyes. “Oh. Fitz.”
“Yeah.” His lips curved, a wash of pleasure going through him at Hollyn’s obvious relief. “What? You thought she was hitting on me?”
Her cheek twitched. “I—”
“Emily’s nice, but I can assure you that Ms. To-Do List would want nothing to do with someone like me—unless she was going through a rebellious phase.” He shrugged. “Fitz the CEO is much more her type.”
Hollyn tilted her head. “You disappointed by that?”
Her line of questioning surprised him. Did she really think he was interested in Emily? He’d wanted nothing else but to kiss Hollyn when she’d walked in the room wearing a navy-blue wrap dress that looked like it’d come off with one tug on the knotted belt holding it together. “Nah, we can’t all be successful CEOs. There have to be some guys around to provide women with the opportunity to make bad decisions and have morning-after regrets. Or to have improv dating lessons with.”
She shook her head and then rubbed the spot between her brows. “I’m sorry. This is a weird situation. I didn’t mean to act like the jealous girlfriend or whatever. You can like who you want to like. Obviously.”
“Good. Because I like you. But it is cute that you got jealous.” He put his hand to his chest. “I feel so special.”
She gave him a petulant look. “Don’t be a dick, Deares.”
He laughed and pulled her against him, relishing the soft feel of her. He loved that he could do that now—touch her, be in her space. Improv dating was like eating candy without the calories. They could have fun without all the serious shit. “I’m this close”—he pressed his thumb and forefinger together—“to getting the beautiful and talented Miz Poppy into my bed. Why would I waste my time flirting with other women?”
Her brow arched. “You do realize that you wouldn’t be getting Miz Poppy into bed, right? No confident cartoon vixen is going to appear. This is what you get. Just me.”
He frowned at the implication. “I’m very aware of who I want in my bed. I don’t follow your posts because of your image. I follow it because of your thoughts, your attitude. That’s all you, Hollyn Tate.”
She blinked up at him.
“And I hate to break it to you”—he rubbed his thumb along the small of her back—“but you’re way hotter than that cartoon image.”
She released a breath. “Oh.”
“So,” he said, trying to read her expression. “We good? Or would you like me to do a formal presentation on why I’d like to lick all of your body parts?”
She laughed, the sound muffled by the acoustic paneling in the room, and a blush stained her cheeks. “Well, maybe we could skip the presentation and just have a demonstration later.”
The answer made his blood heat. He wanted to pick her up and take her back to his place right this very second to start that demonstration. He brushed his lips over hers and let his hand drift over the curve of her ass, making his groin tighten. But he let his hand drop before he took it further. Neither of them would get what they wanted if they started skipping the lessons. The physical stuff had to be secondary. Their jobs had to come first—or they’d both end up sex-sated but flat broke. “Noted. But we better get to work first. I only reserved the space for an hour.”
She sighed. “Do we have to do the camera thing? Can’t we just run scenes again?”
“Nope,” he said, releasing her. “You’re ready for the next level. But I promise whatever we record won’t leave this room. I just want to get you used to the idea of being on camera. Of feeling its eye on you.”
Her fingers tapped a pattern against her thigh. “I can’t imagine ever getting used to that.”
“The key is to know where it is but then to forget it’s there.” He reached out, took her elbow, and then hit a button on his phone with his other hand. “Just walk over here with me.”
He led her to the lighted space in front of the camera. She gave him a panicked look. “Jasper, this feels—”
“Don’t think about the camera right now,” he said, turning to face her, the lights making her skin look luminescent and her eyes sparkle with starbursts. “Just keep looking at me.”
“Jas—”
“We’re going to play the ABC game,” he said, his voice low and calm, his gaze locked on her. He needed that camera to fade into the back of her mind.
“I think I covered that in preschool.”
“Not like this,” he said with a smile. “We start with A, and then each line has to start with the next letter of the alphabet. Okay?”
She rolled her lips together and nodded but then glanced at the camera.
He gently touched her cheek and guided her attention back on him. “Eyes on me. ABCs, easy peasy. I’ll start,” he said. “All I wanted to do today was show you how the video room worked.”
Her throat flexed as she swallowed, but she kept her focus on him. “But then I walked in on you with another woman.”
Her voice was shaky and unsure, but he gave her an encouraging nod.
“Can’t you see she means nothing to me?” he asked, using his dramatic soap-opera voice, trying to get her to see this was just a silly game, nothing to stress about.
She narrowed her eyes, slipping into character. “Don’t tell me lies.”
He took her hands in his. “Each time I see you, all I can think of is the way you looked when I made you come in my kitchen.”
She glanced at the camera, but he lifted his hand to her cheek and drew her attention back to him again. She wet her lips. “For once, can we not talk about how great you think you are in bed?”
“Great?” he asked. “How would you know how great I am if you won’t let me take you to bed?”
“If you would stop flirting with every woman who moved, maybe I’d give you a chance to show me,” she countered, back in soap-opera form.
He pulled her closer. “Just give me a chance to prove how much I want you.”
Her gaze held his, and she looked at a loss for a second.
He smiled. K really was a tough letter. He’d once randomly yelled out Kangaroo! in this game onstage.
“Kiss me,” she said finally.