Page 42 of Act Like You Don't Care
I blushed. I literally, actually, blushed. Shit. “You too.” Cautiously, I pushed at his chest. Being Miles, he took the hint and rolled off me. I was sorry to lose him, his heat, the weight of him, his cock inside me, but it had to happen. “You should sleep.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think I could.”
I reached out to brush his hair back from his forehead, knowing I shouldn’t. “I bet you could if you tried. Your team will keep us safe.” I worked my way up the bed and pulled back the sheets to get under them. “Come on,” I said and beckoned him forward. “You’re no good to me tomorrow if you’re dead on your feet. Remember, I still might have a couple of scenes to shoot, and then we have to catch the plane. Someone needs to keep me on schedule.”
He ducked his head and chuckled and then, to my relief and alarm, he slipped under the covers with me. “I suppose a little sleep wouldn’t hurt.”
I snorted and fluffed my pillow, punching it until it was the right shape. “Goodnight,” I muttered through a yawn and fell instantly asleep.
Miles
Iwoke up the next morning with a boatload of guilt and Tam plastered against my side, still snoring softly with his head on my shoulder. I wouldn’t have pegged him for a cuddler, but then again, I wouldn’t have expected the core of warmth I’d discovered in him last night. How much of the Tam that the world saw was an act? Who was the real Tam—the devil-may-care, don't-need-anyone omega or the one who’d paid as much attention to my pleasure last night as his own, and who still felt so perfectly right in my arms?
It was a question I wasn’t capable of answering right now. Probably never would.
Carefully, I lifted Tam off my body and left him mumbling and still mostly asleep in the bed before sneaking into the bathroom to grab a quick shower.
As I adjusted the water and set out my shaving kit, I thought about what we’d done and what it would mean going forward.
Last night had been a lapse in judgment, but I didn’t regret it. He’d needed it, I’d needed it. We were both the better for it. And if it had been hard for me to let go of him this morning, then that was my problem to deal with. He had enough on his plate without me adding a courtship on top of it. One that he’d made abundantly clear he didn’t want.
He stumbled into the bathroom while I was still in the shower, paused to blink fuzzily at me, then grinned. "Good morning." He opened the glass door of the shower and stepped inside with me. "It's getting late."
Obligingly, I stepped aside to make space for him. He turned to reach for his shampoo, displaying that gorgeous back of his. And his ass, which was as beautiful in the daytime as it had felt beneath me last night.
Shit, this was going to be awkward.
He soaped his hair, muscles moving smoothly beneath his skin. I came back to myself with a start when he stepped under the shower spray and realized I still had to finish shaving my morning stubble.
"Thank you for last night," Tam said quietly. He glanced back over his shoulder--it felt like flirting. I was getting the show business Tam now, I guessed.
"You're welcome," I said coolly. Or tried to. My eyes met his and then he broke away, a small frown creasing his brow. "Hey, I mean it,” I said. “It's just... awkward."
He turned then and reached for the shower gel and the loofah on the shelf beside me. "I won't tell. Wouldn't want you to get in trouble." He cocked his head to one side then and said, "I wouldn't complain about a repeat either."
I swallowed and watched his eyes light up, like a predator on the hunt. Dammit, why the hell couldn't I read him properly? Was he acting now, or had he been acting then? "We probably shouldn't."
He shrugged and went back to scrubbing himself briskly with the loofa. "I won't push, I know you have a job to do." Then he dropped the loofa and pressed himself against me, his mouth sweet on mine, his skin still slippery with soap, and the temptation to slide my hands over all that silky skin was irresistible. "Doesn't mean we can't have a little fun." His hands rand down my back and cupped my ass possessively. "Think about it." Then he let go of me and turned back to rinse himself under the shower.
I made my escape, despite the film of soap still clinging to my chest, and dried off as quickly as I could.
Who the hell understood omegas? Especially the Hollywood ones?
* * *
With Tam in good spirits,Dominic decided to film the last couple of shots and then reshoot a couple that Pete hadn’t been so happy with, so it was a good thing we had a chartered flight to go back on. It did mean that I ended up taking Tam straight from the airport to his screen test instead of stopping at the condo to clean up and rest first.
He was over the moon excited about this role and, underneath, terrified that he'd screw up or he wouldn’t have the right look.
"This could make my career," he said at one point, showing me the script in his bag. The rest of the flight he spent watching videos, mostly of dancers but also clips drawn from other science fiction films and high tech thrillers where people were interacting with virtual environments. "Everything she does ends up nominated for awards." I could hear the envy in his words and the yearning. Probably, he was hoping that this would be the film that would break that glass ceiling that he kept smashing into.
If anyone could crash through that plate glass, it would be him. Having watched him work now for the better part of two weeks, I truly believed he could do it.
After the screen test, Tam was clingy and anxious as we drove back to the condo. “I think it went well. What do you think?”
“I think you know how good you are,” I told him. “When will you hear?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Soon, I hope. I’m holding off on saying yes to something else right now, just in case.” His leg bounced, filling the car with the same nervous energy he’d displayed the first day we’d met.
