“Jack said that yesterday you delivered your lines like you were a robot.”
Casey’s eyes began to tear, but she blinked them away. “Oh,” she said sadly, and started to roll off him.
He grabbed her to him and held her head on his chest. “I’m sorry! I’m sure you were—”
Casey’s giggle was muffled by his chest.
He pulled her head away and saw that she’d been teasing. “You brat!” He began kissing her neck.
“Take it back about my acting.”
“Or what?” His lips were moving downward on her chest.
“I’ll serve you canned soup.”
Tate lifted his head, put his hand to his heart, and gave a deep sigh. “?‘You bruise me to my core. I cannot continue as I have been. Without you I am nothing. I must—’?”
She kissed him until he was silent, then broke away to look at him. “You said those lines better on film.” She kissed him again.
“You saw one of my movies?” His eyes were alight. “Which one?”
Casey laughed. “Shut up.”
“?‘Your wish is my desire. I live only—’?”
He was quoting his lines again. Still laughing, she kissed him again, only this time the kiss didn’t end.
They made love slowly, enjoying each other, so very glad to be back together. They exchanged no words, just kisses and caresses.
When they at last finished, it wasn’t with the passion they’d felt at first—that seeing-each-other-again fury—but with something deeper, something that came from inside and transcended mere bodies.
They lay in silence, side by side, hands entwined, heads touching.
“Dress rehearsal is today,” Tate whispered. “I look forward to seeing you in one of those low-cut—”
Abruptly, Casey sat up. “Lunch! I forgot lunch!”
“It’s okay. We’ll order in and—”
Casey got out of bed. “Listen, City Boy! Bags of grease are not the same as what I cook. Get up, get dressed, go downstairs, and set a stockpot of water on to boil. I have to wash the sweat off.”
“I don’t have any clothes up here. They’re outside and it’s now daylight, remember?”
Casey was in the bathroom. “You walk around naked in front of a camera, so make do.”
“I am sooooo glad you saw my movies,” Tate muttered.
“I heard that!” she yelled from the shower.
—
Tate opened Casey’s closet door, saw nothing he could get into, then decided to go outside and get his own clothes.
Because Casey was in the shower, she didn’t get to hear the comments that greeted a nude Tate when he reached the bottom of the stairs.
Emmie giggled and hid her face; Nina handed him his sweatpants; Gizzy said, “Oh, my goodness!”; Jack said Tate needed to work on his pecs; Josh asked if he could train with them.
It took Tate a few moments to recover as he slipped on his clothes. “I take it we’re making lunch.”