Page 30 of To the Moon and Back

“That’s the day,” Trip said to the three of them. “Check youremail for tomorrow’s rehearsal call.”

Carly felt everything in her go slack as Janie moved about,tidying the rehearsal space. Productive or not, the day had taken a lot out ofher. There had to be a glass of champagne and a cool mask for her eyes waitingback at her apartment, which luckily had a concierge for hire downstairs.

“I feel really good about what we did this afternoon,” she toldLauren as they packed up. “We really got into it.” She shook her head, stillamazed at the attention to detail that went into each scene. So different fromthe rehearsal process for screen, which was fast and furious.

“No kissing scenes today,” Lauren said, as she changed from herrehearsal shoes into her street shoes. She said it as if it was the most casualthing in the world.

Carly swallowed, as a shot of longing she hadn’t been expecting rippledthrough her. “Nope.”

Lauren straightened and slung her bag over her shoulder. “A shame.See you tomorrow, Carly.” She squeezed Carly’s shoulder as she passed, leavingCarly’s mouth dry and her focus squarely on the spot on her arm Lauren had justtouched. Yes, they’d had physical contact all day, but as Ashley and Mandy.This was Lauren’s touch and it felt…purposeful.

She turned to see Trip looking on with an amused smirk. With Ethanacross the room out of earshot, she stole this opportunity. Hooking a thumbbehind her to the door, she asked Trip a question that she was pretty sure shealready knew the answer to. “Does Lauren…flirt very often?”

Trip didn’t hesitate. “I’ve never seen it once.” A pause, as hisgrin widened. “Until now.”

Carly, by most people’s standards, wanted for very little. She waslucky in that sense. She had money, the adoration of millions of fans, and ajob that she enjoyed. But that little bit of attention from Lauren made herfeel like the sun was shining on her face for the first time. She stared at thedoor and placed a hand over her heart, wondering how it had been so boldlystolen.

Chapter Seven

Lauren was on fire, and the throbbing between her legs had herbreathing labored. She stared into Carly’s eyes, aching to be touched. Alone inthe rehearsal room, they only had a few minutes before the rest of the companywould return from lunch, but it wouldn’t take half that long to send hertumbling over the edge. She could already tell. She rocked against Carly, lostin the sea of the blue of her eyes.

“Please,” Lauren whispered. She’d never been so turned on. KissingCarly throughout the morning rehearsal session had done that. She loved thefeel of their lips coming together, again and again. Sinking into the warmth ofCarly’s mouth and exploring every inch of it with her tongue left Lauren in adizzy haze. With her jeans lying on the floor next to where she stood, Carlymoved the square of fabric between her legs to the side as Lauren hitched in abreath.

She blinked, and looked around. But it wasn’t the rehearsal studioat all. She found herself in the center of her own dim bedroom, just touched bymorning light. She blinked again, realizing she lay in her own bed. Thethrobbing remained, but her surroundings had shifted drastically. “Wait. It wasa dream,” she murmured. Disappointment settled. Her libido didn’t.

She took a shower, and as the hot water caressed her sensitiveskin, she closed her eyes and relived that very vivid exchange. Thecircumstances might have been left to her imagination, but the way it felt whenCarly touched her skin, kissed her lips was something she could rely on hermemory to supply. That part was entirely accurate.

Lauren’s love life hadn’t been entirely barren. She’d hadgirlfriends here and there. She thought she’d been in love once with the ownerof a small coffee shop in Ithaca, where she’d gone to school. Brenda had beenfive years older and highly influential in the awakening of Lauren’s sexuality.She once imagined they’d get a cute little place and start a life together.Lauren would become a working actress, and Brenda would run her café. They’dmeet back home for wine and dinner and curl up in bed. None of that happened,because she’d been naïve. The relationship eventually fizzled when it becameapparent they didn’t truly like each other outside of the bedroom. Since then,there’d been a couple of casual relationships, but nothing that really heldLauren’s attention in the midst of her busy schedule.

Nobody had quite the effect on Lauren that Carly did. She had theability to get under Lauren’s skin in eighteen different ways. Even when shewas annoyed with Carly, she was focused on her fully, engaged, and connected toher. It was the most unnerving thing. Yet she was beginning to crave that connectionmore and more, and that felt…dangerous. They lived very different lives and hadvery different goals for themselves. Plus, Carly had a million different peoplein love with her. She could have her pick. There was no way that a woman likeLauren would hold her attention for too terribly long. Not when there were somany other exciting options out there.

Wanna rideto work?Lauren stared down at the text that had just arrived as sheprepared her bag for rehearsal. Water, snacks, her rehearsal shoes, andheadphones for when she wasn’t needed and wanted to zone out and focus on hertrajectory in the show. What she hadn’t prepared for was seeing Carly thisearly or the way her skin tingled at the thought.

What in the world was she supposed to do now? Giving in to herguilty pleasure, she typed back,Ifyou can be here within ten minutes.

I’m in yourdriveway with two vanilla lattes. Send me away or get the hell out here so wecan drive to work together.

Lauren laughed, still not quite believing Carly’s new commitmentto responsibility. She headed down her sidewalk with her bag and slid intoCarly’s upscale rental, a red BMW convertible with the top down. The morningsun shone brightly on Carly, making her blond hair pop with color.

“This is a really nice car,” Lauren said, looking around. “Thetheater actually rented this for you? How is that possible?” While they didtheir best to accommodate celebrities in residence, the budget only went sofar.

Carly handed over a latte. “Let’s just say I upgraded.” She poppedher oversized black sunglasses onto her face, then hit the road with the windin their hair.

“Of course you did.”

“Hey, I can’t have people taking photographs of me in a Buick.”

“The world would end.”

“Or my career would.” Carly glanced over at her. “You look sopretty today. I’ve thought that eight times since you got in the car, but Ifeel like I should say it.”

“Thank you. You’re okay, too, I guess.”

Carly gasped as she studied the road. “You’re hard to impress.I’ll have to do more with myself in the future.”

“I know. I mean, look at you.” She laughed and shook her headbecause Carly was beyond beautiful, and the entire world knew it. In fact,today she seemed like a new kind of attractive, the California girl kind.Something about the sun and the open air. The only thing missing was warmth asevidenced by her already frozen ears. Didn’t matter. Lauren got an uptick in energyjust being near her.

“Did you sleep well?” Carly asked.

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