Million-Dollar Consequences

Fourteen

Meghan had been granted an unexpected reprieve, which had arrived with the introduction of rewrites. The script upheaval had caused a delay, and had required additional shooting days, meaning Isaac would be staying longer than originally anticipated.

Over the next two weeks, she kept busy recording and editing podcasts with various members of the crew and cast. She’d popped in to the set several times, and it never failed to amuse her how accepted she’d become. She was Isaac’s fiancée, and everyone loved him, so everyone she’d met so far automatically loved her.

She was beginning to feel as if she had an entire set of extended friends and family thanks to him. That this fantastical life was temporary was a hard pill to swallow. It was becoming difficult to look her newfound friends in the eyes and lie about her and Isaac’s imaginary pending nuptials.

Tonight, he’d come home with his arms filled with takeout from an African-Asian fusion restaurant. Naan and several sauces for dipping, curried vegetables in coconut milk, rice and tandoori chicken infused the apartment with fragrant spices. The containers sat open on the coffee table. Meghan had filled her plate with a bit of everything.

He fired up the television, scrolling to a popular streaming app. “I have a surprise for you.”

“If it’s anything like the last surprise, I can’t wait.” A few days ago, he’d joined her in the shower and had lathered her up with body wash he’d received in a gift basket. He’d insisted on her honest opinion and, after a rubdown that had brought her to orgasm no fewer than twice, she’d given two very enthusiastic thumbs-up.

“I don’t think any surprise could be that good.” He grinned, catching her meaning. “Because of the latest script revisions, I have to rewatch a few classic Danny Brooks episodes.”

“More changes?” She hated to hear that. He’d been cramming new lines into his head every evening and morning. He had to be tired of relearning scenes every other day.

“’Fraid so.” He thumbed to season ten and chose an episode in the middle. “They’re stepping up Danny’s relationship with Rachael.”

His on-screen girlfriend. She knew about Rachael’s return—though she’d yet to meet the actress who played her. It felt strange to meet the woman Isaac spent time kissing on set. Come to think of it, that might be the real reason Meghan had avoided visiting the set lately.

“I know you’ve seen every episode three or four times, but I haven’t.” He pressed the play button. “In order to do justice to our scene tomorrow, I need the refresher.”

“I haven’t seen every episode multiple times,” she defended. In fact, she’d skipped some of the episodes Rachael had been in. Particularly the kissing ones. Even before Meghan had known Isaac, she’d found watching him pretend to be in love with someone else unpleasant. She wrinkled her nose when the beautiful brunette’s face filled the screen. Rachael was crying, and she looked incredible doing it.

“The most controversial episode ever.” He canted an eyebrow. “The pregnancy scare.”

That, she did recall. In the show’s final season, they introduced a pregnancy scare. Danny and Rachael had lost their virginity to each other. The two-part episode let the outcome drag out and had managed to be dramatic without being preachy. Nevertheless, the episodes had caused a ruckus among more conservative viewers.

“I never understood the controversy.” Isaac, his eyes on the screen, sounded contemplative. “It wasn’t like we actually had sex.”

“Thank goodness for that,” Meghan grumbled as she tore a piece of naan and dunked it into yogurt sauce.

He paused the show, the screen frozen on his own handsome face. Even as a kid, Isaac Dunn had been dreamy. Thanks to the close-up, she could just make out the slim scar on his chin. No mistaking him for Max—that was Isaac, all right.

“What do you mean ‘thank goodness’?” His smile reappeared as she scooped up a bite of rice and vegetables.

“It’d be awkward to be on set doing intimate things with Rachael if you actually had slept together.”

“Sarabeth, you mean,” he corrected, using the name of the actress with a familiarity Meghan didn’t love. “If I’d actually slept with Sarabeth.”

“Stop looking so amused by me.”

“I can’t help it.” His smile broadened after he swallowed a bite of chicken. “You’re cute when you’re jealous.”

“I’m not jealous,” she lied. Badly. She preoccupied herself with her food. “I’m merely pointing out that you making out with Sarabeth on-screen would have been weird if you two had hooked up in real life.”

“Making out?” He chuckled. “I’d hardly call what Sarabeth and I do on the show making out.”

“It always looked intimate to me,” Meghan mumbled around her next bite.

“It’s supposed to look intimate. That doesn’t mean it is.”

“The other day I popped in to say hi, and you had one of those scenes with Rachael, and the whistles and woo-hooing were deafening.”

“With Sarabeth.”

“Sarabeth! Whatever.”

“I’ll be damned.” He set down his fork. “I’ve never seen you like this, and I have to say, it’s doing it for me.”

She sputtered something about what an egomaniac he was and then added, “I’m not trying to compliment you.”

“Am I to believe this reaction—” he gestured at her “—is out of professional interest?”

“Yes. You are to believe that.”

“Well, I don’t.”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that.” She jutted her chin, daring him to argue. He did her one better. Bracketing her body with both fists, he leaned over her and maneuvered his hips between her legs.

“Why don’t I explain what kissing Sarabeth-slash-Rachael is like on set. Purely for research purposes, of course.”

“No thanks.” The last thing she wanted to hear was what it was like for him to kiss another woman. He might be hers for only a little while, but he was hers until he wasn’t. She didn’t want to share him in the meantime.

The smirk resting on his perfect mouth didn’t go anywhere. “TV kisses aren’t like real kisses, Squire. You can’t trust the audience’s reaction. They love romance. You should have heard the whistles when Richard and Merilyn kissed the other day.”

“You don’t have to lie to make me feel better.”

“I swear I’m not. Come on, let me show you.” He nudged her nose with his. This close to him, she wouldn’t say no. He touched his mouth to hers, opening her lips. When she expected his tongue to stroke hers and make her forget the world around her, he ended the kiss with a soft smooch.

Before she could ask what that was about, he dove in again, this time more aggressively. His mouth was open, so was hers, but whenever she tried to touch her tongue with his, he backed off. The fire she was used to feeling between them was there, but somehow...different. He kissed her bottom lip and then the top, finishing her off with another invasion of her mouth that was anything but.

“Well?” he rumbled, his lips an inch away from hers.

She gave him an unsure half smile. “What the hell was that?”

“An as-seen-on-TV kiss. Are you overcome with passion?”