Page 46 of Man Cuffed
“Naw,” he scoffs. “I need some help in convincing the captain that I’m the best man for the job.”
“Exactly. That’s what I said. Ass-kissing.”
“Never. There’s only one kind of ass-kissing I do…” I can hear the smirk in his voice.
Suddenly my lady bits are on high alert. Better change the subject. “Okay. Look. I think I can help you with this.”
“How? You gonna kiss the captain’s ass on my behalf?”
I shake my head. I need to think on it before I offer him my services. “Never mind for now. Can you give me a hand with something?”
“What’s that?”
“I need you to read this scene with me.”
He full out laughs. “No way. I’m no actor.”
“You don’t have to act it out. Just read it like a cop. This scene is for that TV audition I told you about. I’ve got a callback to play a character who has a torrid affair with a cop and…”
“Oh! Am I helping you with a sex scene? Because I could totally do that.” There’s a little bit of a pause here and then he seems to catch himself. “You know. If we weren’t neighbors.”
Now it’s my turn to laugh.Hell yes, Copper! Help me with a sex scene. Let’s rehearse it right now. “Sadly, there aren’t any lines to rehearse in that scene. Just a lot of grunting. I need help with these lines.”
He takes the script that I thrust at him.
“So the scene is pretty basic. You’ve come over for dinner and you’re telling me all about a collar you just did.” I stand up and offer him my hand. “Come on, then.”
He gets up. But then he leaves the deck, heading into my apartment. I hear my front door open a moment later.
Wait, what? Did he just walk out? At least he left the beer…
A moment later, though, I hear the door open again. He reappears wearing a pair of reading glasses, solid black frames, and I spontaneously combust. Maguire with glasses? Hot and sweet at the same time? It’s too much.
The alcohol I’ve consumed does another lap around my bloodstream. If he’s actually going to run lines with me, I wonder if I will even be able to remember my part.
He holds up the script, and using the light that bleeds onto the deck from my kitchen, reads to himself for a minute. “Okay. This is garbage. Nobody makes a collar this way.”
“He’s not making a collar,” I point out. “He’s bragging about making one.”
“So he’s a tool. He’s mansplaining a collar to a female cop?” He peers at me through those glasses, and I have the urge to pull them off his face and kiss him.
“That’s the sum of it,” I admit. “He’s also the son of the police commissioner.”
Maguire rolls his eyes. “Of course he is. Maybe this isn’t so inaccurate after all.”
“Are you going to read it?” I ask. “Or just stand there making me sexually frustrated.”
He barks out a laugh. “Fine. I’ll pretend to be this douchecanoe. But remember that you asked for it.”
“Yes,sir.”
His eyes darken. He holds my gaze for a moment. Then his eyes drop to the script, and he begins to read in a gravelly voice. “You shoulda been there, Elsa. I had this guy’s nuts in a vice. I put him in the van, and then it’s just me and the girl.”
“Let me guess,” I say, giving him the next line. “You let her go out of the kindness of your heart?”
“Not possible.” Maguire suddenly moves his hand down to cover his fly. “I’m all dick and no heart.”
“So I’ve heard.” It comes out breathy. When I was practicing this with Cassidy, we were giggling too much for me to take any of this seriously. But with Mac, it’s a different story. Everything with Mac is different. That strong hand cupping himself over his jeans? I can’t find the will to look away.
