Page 126 of Charming Like Us

Charlie lounges on a porch chaise and reads a book, bundled in an outdoor blanket.

If I didn’t understand Oscar’s job, maybe it’d aggravate me that he keeps glancing over there. I’ve been no better with my focus on taking footage of the scenery.

Anyway, his concentration on Charlie is letting me capture Oscar in all his glory. I watch him through the camera, my smile widening. He runs a couple fingers back and forth across his unshaven jaw before flipping a page in his book.

We’re dating.My pulse skips in anticipation of where that’ll lead us, practically giddy. The more I’m around Oscar, the moreenchantedI feel—and with my work becoming a giant stressor, I hold stronger onto these feelings.

I zoom more.

Oscar turns his head back to me. A grin edges across his mouth, his eyes on me, then right into the camera. “Are you filming me, Long Beach?”

“You’re in my frame,” I smile more and tilt up the camera to capture the light in his brown eyes. “Prettiest part of the setting so far. What do you have to say, Oscar Oliveira?”

He rotates fully towards me, elbows resting back on the railing. Paperback loose in his hand. “That it’s not possible to be the prettiest part of the setting when I’m looking at the prettiest thing here.”

His eyes never abandon mine.

Something luminous brims inside my body. “How’s flirting with the cameraman going for you?”

He mimes checking a watch that he’s not wearing. “Too early to tell, but so far, so good. I’ll let you know more when I have him naked and in my arms.”

Breath staggers in my throat. Jesusfuck. Do I want to fool around with Oscar?Is that even a fucking question, dude.The more we’re drowned in work, the less time we’ve been able to explore further, and there is no other exploration that sounds as enticing as letting him discover my turn-ons and me discovering his.

“Keep me updated,” I banter with a smile. A cool gust blowing through, I shiver and zip up my outer-layer of the winter jacket and fix the baseball cap on my head.

Oscar kicks off from the railing, fitting his paperback in a back pocket. “Still can’t believe you packedthathat and not a beanie.”

“I wasn’t thinking.” I shake my head, remembering. “Something distracted me when I was packing.” I see his confusion as he approaches, so I come clean. “The other execs heard that I hadnofootage of the girls at the pub, and they asked me what happened.”

“You tell them paparazzi encroached your space?” He tugs down the zipper of his jacket and unspools a scarf around his neck.

“No.” I tense. “Ilied.” I run a hand through my hair four or five times.

“You lied?” Oscar looks shocked. “Have you ever lied to them before?”

“Never,” I say strongly. “But I knew if I told them the truth, they might limit my involvement in shoots, and it’s important to me to be the camera operator for Jane, Sulli, and Moffy.”

“Why?”

“They trust me,” I explain. “We’re all friends, and if I had to sit out, it feels like a loss for them and me. And maybe it’s pride too.” I crack a dying smile. “I’ve never been kicked off a project.So I lied and said the equipment malfunctioned.”

Oscar nods a few times. “I probably would’ve done the same thing.” That actually makes me feel a bit better, but his face is serious. “So they’re off your ass?”

“Yeah.”

He’s still tense like me. “I hate that being with me is affecting your job this fucking terribly. It wasn’t supposed to be like this—”

“It’s okay, Os.” I rest my hands on my head, really on the blue baseball hat. “Theprosoutweigh thecons.” I flash a smile at him. “You’re my pro.”

He grins. “I am a pro at many things.” He slowly twists his scarf around my exposed neck. “Like keeping you warm, Long Beach.”

I blaze inside, our eyes trailing hot tracks over each other. I drop my arms to his shoulders, and he spins the brim of my hat backwards. Just to lean in and kiss me.

Our mouths meet with a slow build-up of prickling heat. My fingers slip up into his soft hair, our bodies singing with primal pleasure against each other. Every kiss feels like we’re spinning in 360-degrees. Blood rushes out of my head, dizzying. Exhilarating.

And then he clutches my jaw too hard. Where a bruise formed.

I wince between my teeth.