Page 57 of Built to Last

He shrugs as he opens the camera’s battery pack. “I think a hint of romance would spice things up a bit. She and Luca have the laid-back royals’ thing going, but everyone knows they’re together. We have enough footage of the two of you yelling at each other for an excellent enemies-to-lovers storyline, but Anika says no.”

“We’re not hooking up,” Reid argues.

“We’re not?” I was kind of looking forward to hooking up with him tonight. After some of Aggie’s delicious food. Ooo, and I bet she makes a hell of a breakfast, too. I threw a protein bar Reid’s way this morning because we were running late to catch the train that took us from Hell’s Kitchen to the Upper East Side. Aggie will probably be able to shove crêpes in my mouth.

“That is not how I would prefer to refer to our relationship. It makes it sound cheap,” Reid admits.

“What would you call it?” I’m interested in hearing this. I’ve been careful to not refer to him with anything that sounds permanent. Even though we’ve taken to going out as a couple with Ani and Luca and Ivy and Heath. A lot. He weirdly fits right in with the supernerd and the king of a small European country.

“You’re my…Harper,” he says and then sighs. “You’re my girlfriend.”

“Huh.” Yes, I’m at the stage Ivy talked about where he feeds me enough and I’m used to him and I kind of go with it. Past Harper urged me to fight this. Current Harper is surprisingly cool with it. “Okay.”

“So you don’t have to jump ten feet away from me when you remember there’s a camera on us twenty-four seven.” Reid reaches for my hand and pulls me in close.

“It’s not that bad,” Patrick insists. “It’s only in the rooms that are actively being worked on, and they’re all motion activated. The ones filming the actual work, that is. If you two decide to go at it here, please use one of the closets. Or the attic room. That one’s finished and not due to see a camera until the big reveal.”

We do all our sex stuff in real beds now. I do not say that to Patrick, but Reid’s eyes catch mine, filled with humor. We’re thinking the same thing. We’ve been good since that first day in the…kitchen I was actively working on at the time.

Yep, we’ve got a psychic thing going because his eyes go wide.

“I didn’t think about that,” he whispers. “The kitchen. There was absolutely a camera in there that would have been able to see the island.”

The island where he’d made a meal of me. And then climbed on top of me.

“What?” Patrick asks when he turns and sees the shock we’re going into. “I’m serious. So you kissed a little. You’re not the first couple to kiss on camera. Ani’s never mentioned it, so it’s not a big deal. You can call her. I know she’s on a plane to Ralavia but I’ve heard they’re using CeCe’s, so I bet the cellular coverage is spectacular. Now, see, if I was going to worship a woman, it would be CeCe Foust. That woman knows how to live.”

“Who would have looked at the tapes from the residence one kitchen reno?” My voice is as tight as the rest of my body. I made a sex tape. I didn’t mean to make a sex tape. It might be no big deal if I made a sex tape with some random dude, but I made a sex tape with a reality TV star.

“It must have been off,” Reid says, squeezing my hand. “If that footage exists, we would have heard about it. Ani would have told Ivy, and Ivy would never stop ribbing you about it.”

“What footage?” Patrick asks.

“My brother would poke me with it twenty-four seven,” Reid insists. “So it doesn’t exist.”

I’m not so sure. Oh, he’s right about Ivy, but Anika might have kept her mouth shut. She’s a queen now. She’s learned decorum and grace.

Patrick’s gaze moves from Reid to me, and his jaw drops. “Holy shit. You two did it in the kitchen? Like out in the open?”

I shake my head. “It was over a month ago, and it was way after hours. No one but the security guard was still there, and we all know how he likes to get his naps in. Where would the footage be stored? It’s wireless, right?”

Patrick nods. “Yeah. It goes to a mainframe that the editing staff and director can access. We have literally thousands of hours of footage. We don’t go through all of it. The cameras are on simply to catch footage we need. If we don’t have a place in an episode for Harper working on the kitchen, then the likelihood is no one’s even seen it.”

I let loose a long breath. He’s right. The work I was doing that night was all prep work for the next morning. Boring stuff. I wasn’t even supposed to be working. There would be no reason to go through it.

Reid leans over and kisses the top of my head. He’s a deeply affectionate man and while it surprised me at first, I’ve gotten to where I crave his kisses and touches throughout the day. “It’s okay, baby.” He looks to Patrick. “It’s important that we erase that footage. If it gets out, it could cause an enormous amount of embarrassment for the network and Anika and Luca.”

I feel a flush stain my cheeks. I didn’t even think of that. “Yes. We need to make sure it doesn’t exist.”

Patrick nods. “Yeah, I’ll need permission. Let’s go to the office and I’ll call her directly. I assure you Tom will be all for not having a sex tape associated with his pretty renovation film. I’m not even going to tell him. House of Skanks still haunts his dreams. What were the two of you thinking?”

He stalks out of the room.

Reid follows, gently tugging me along. “We weren’t.”

“Obviously,” Patrick mutters. “I know it’s practically blasé in Hollywood, but we answer to Toronto, people. Toronto and Ralavia. Ralavia is like a Disney movie. It is very PG. Toronto is… Well, it’s full of Canadians, and they are not used to scandal among their beloved celebrities.”

“I’m American,” Reid points out as he follows along. “And a New Yorker. I assure you we are used to scandal. She’s my girlfriend. It’s practically boring sex.” He winces when I punch him in the arm. “Baby, I don’t want anyone else watching it. You know how hot it was. We don’t have to share it with the world. But for our own personal record it was filthy and glorious.”

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