Page 36 of Under the Table

“Hope!” The exasperation in his tone was so evident that anyone would be able to hear it. “You know what I’m talking about.”

“I don’t know.”

But she did. At least to an extent. But the embarrassment at having been caught up in the fantasy raged through her and was making it next to impossible to breathe. Her cheeks burned.Her entire body was on fire. And here was Rex, still insisting on throwing a cold bucket of ice water on her.

Rex sighed heavily, pulling at his hair as he took a step back. “I see the way you look at her. Hell, the way she looks at you. I’ve never seen Ange look at someone like that before.”

Was he serious?

Angelica was hot as hell, and surely other people leered at her. And she was a woman with desires and physical needs. Surely, she looked at other women like that. Right? Hope furrowed her brow and crossed her arms, her brain starting to disassociate from her body to the point that she might be able to actually form a sentence.

“Don’t deny that the two of you are doing something behind my back.”

“Rex!” Hope sighed. “We’re not. I’m not.” She blinked wildly at him. Sure, she’d thought about what it’d be like to kiss Angelica again, to touch her, but she’d never actually thought about taking that final step to actually doing it. Fantasy was one thing. Actually doing it? That was something else entirely.

Rex clenched his jaw, giving her a hard look. “What I just witnessed…”

“Was nothing. What do you think, we’re having quickies in the elevator? Hell, that elevator was jam packed with people.”

“Hope!” Rex nearly whined out her name. He came close to her again, touching her shoulders, imploring her with his gaze. He desperately needed her to understand this, and she could see that. “We’ve done that.”

“Oh. Right.” Hope frowned. They had done that. Not in years, but in the past, they used to have sex whenever and wherever they could, which sometimes meant in public spaces where other people were present, sometimes it meant in janitor closets—kind of like the one they were in now. She had a healthy libido and astrong desire for sex, and she wasn’t ever going to deny herself something that felt good.

“And you…” Rex stopped, pressing his lips together hard before he continued “…you have impulse problems. And I don’t…”

“Trust me?” Hope’s heart raced. “Is that what you’re going to say? You don’t trust me to keep it in my pants?”

He shook his head, the look of defeat taking over him. “You kissed her.”

“I did! Almost a year ago, and we haven’t talked since, not really. Not about anything not work related.” Hope sighed, pressing her lips together tightly. “You’re being paranoid, Rex. I’m not going to find a closet and fuck her in between filming scenes.”

Rex’s face fell. “Then tell me whatthatwas all about.” He pointed back the way they had come. “Because the two of you looked…”

“Looked what?”

“Like you like her,” he finally said.

“Iamattracted to her, Rex.” Hope frowned. “I told you that. She’s a very attractive woman. But she and I aren’t doing anything. We’re not kissing behind closed doors, we’re not fucking in closets, we’re not even talking about anything unless it relates to the job. You need to trust me, otherwise these are going to be the longest twelve weeks of our life.”

“It’s hard,” he whispered.

“Yeah, I know.” She sighed again, brushing her fingers through her hair and closing her eyes. “And it doesn’t feel good.”

“No, it doesn’t.” He took her hand in his, lacing their fingers together.

That was as much of a sign as Hope needed that he was finally hearing what she was saying. She’d held to her promise sofar that she was keeping everything as professional as possible between her and Angelica.

“Nothing’s happening between Ange and me, all right?”

“Okay,” he murmured.

Hope leaned in, pressing their mouths together in a tight kiss. But she didn’t move to deepen it, and neither did he. When was the last time she’d kissed him without being distracted? She frowned at that thought. This jealousy of his wasn’t coming out of nowhere. She was the cause of it, and the need to put more effort into her relationship with him was there.

Keeping their fingers laced, Hope stepped back and nodded. “You ready for this wrap party?”

He gave her a small smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I don’t think we have a choice.”

“We don’t, but we can wait a few more minutes if you want.”