“As soon as I’m done here, I’m going to prove it to you,” he breathed out.

Was that a simple statement or a vow?

“I look forward to it,” I replied, feeling stunned and out of breath.

“I’m so hard right now,” he told me, toggling his gaze between my lips and my eyes.

One quick glance at his crotch and I could see he was being truthful.

“I wish I could fix that for you.” Thoughts of using my hand, my mouth, rendering him helpless and moaning, danced in my mind.

“But I think you’re going to have to hold that thought.” I tossed my chin in Denny’s direction.

Ryan breathed out a curse and turned his frame slightly, readjusting the erection in his pants as nonchalantly as possible. It was hard not to laugh at his predicament.

“Stop it,” he groaned.

“Apparently wake-up sex wasn’t enough for you?” I teased.

He glared down at me in utter exaspera-tion. “Four or five times a day might be enough for me. Keep that in mind, future wife of mine.”

A giggle erupted from my mouth. “As much as I’d like to take you up on your challenge, right now I think we need to get you refocused. So . . . Chase. What did the police say?”

Ryan groaned. “Taryn, I know my lines.”

“Okay.” No need to warn me twice. I turned my attention to watching crew members setting up a very large screen several yards away. Where are they going to put that huge green screen now? That looks like a pain to move.

Ryan sighed. “Nothing. They don’t have any new leads.”

I glanced back at him. “Hmm?”

“My lines? My next line is ‘Nothing. They don’t have any new leads.’”

“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t hear you.” Watching Ryan’s new set assistant try to figure out which pocket to shove her walkie-talkie in while tripping over power cords was quite entertaining. She looks young and upset about something. The shimmery blue streak of color in her black hair is kinda cool.

Ryan cleared his throat. “I hate when you pretend to ignore me. Well? Are we going to do this or not?”

The sudden bad feeling about this not being a good idea hit me. “I’m not ignoring you.

Maybe you should rehearse with Nicole. I don’t want to upset anything.” Ryan didn’t agree. “We have ten minutes and she’s still in makeup. Do you have a copy of the sides?”

I pulled my copy of the scene dialogue from my back pocket.

“You’re standing on her mark. Ready?”

“Sure.” I took two pretend steps to land on the X. “Chase, what did the police say?”

“Nothing. They don’t have any new leads.

Reed won’t turn over my dad’s client list without a court order. I sort—”

“Wait . . . is that how you are going to do it for real?” Even though he recited from memory, he rushed and stumbled through it.

Ryan’s eyes narrowed on me. “Yeah, I guess. Why? What was wrong with it?”

“Are you just telling me your lines or are we doing this full-on like we normally do when we run lines at home?”

He crossed his arms, taking a defensive pose.

“Don’t get mad,” I said. “You just . . . I don’t know. You just sort of barked your lines at me. I thought Chase is supposed to be frustrated and more depressed. Well, that’s how I interpreted it anyway.”

“Sorry, you got me a bit distracted. I’m horny and I’m pissed that I can’t do anything about it right now.”

“Margaret Thatcher in a thong.” My attempt to redirect him with Austin Powers movie humor wasn’t well received.

He gave me “the glare.” I knew that glare very well.

“Tell you what. If you promise to nail this scene, I promise I’ll let you nail me in your trailer right afterward. How does that sound?”

That got him to smile. “Bribery, Ms.

Mitchell? And what’s this garbage that you’ll let me . . .”

“Uh-uh. That’s the deal. You have to make sacrifices for your craft.”

He groaned.

“Multimillion-dollar actor, big mega-million movie? Ringing any bells?” His jaw clenched. “I’m going to nail you hard later, just so you know. It may hurt, too.

Make your teeth rattle.”

I planted a foot, loving his feistiness. “You nail this scene in the first two takes and I’ll add in a bonus prize.”

His eyebrows rose, intrigued.

“But first you have to act your butt off.”