Page 136 of Fever Dream
In her car with me outside the diner.
At The Sugar Saloon with me.
Us at the Cactus Club, where she went on her date.
But most troubling of all is the photo of usinsidemy house.
The angle is from the front door and captures the main entryway. It’s the morning after Catherine helped sneak her in. The photo itself is innocuous enough; she’s only slipping on her shoes at the front closet. But there’s no window for a camera tocatch it. Which means there is one inside my cottage. Something IknowI didn’t give them permission for.
“So you see,” Richard says, cutting into the shocked silence that hangs between us. “I could easily ruin her career. She was hired to manage locations, not your cock. Yet here she is, and here you are—the star of my show, finding love with a crew member instead of where you’re paid to.” He pauses for effect, dragging the cursor over Julia’s face, underlining the proof. “I’d hate to use this. I’d hate to enforce the part of the contract where you agreed not to see anyone publicly.”
My molars grind and my cheeks sizzle. The threat is obvious, and it does nothing but make me feel trapped. Helpless.
“But now I’ve got photos of you out at a bar. So the moral of the story here, Emmett, is that you’re going to behave yourself. You have one week of the show left, and I want some fucking drama. I’ve had to get artful to keep this from being a total snoozefest. Because you’ve let me down.”
I hate him.
“But this week you will not let me down. You’re going to bring all the angst and all the PG-13 rated sexual activity that you can. Because I’m producing a fucking dating show here. I’m after ratings, not a medal for morality.”
“Are you blackmailing me?”
He brushes past my question. “You’ve got your day off tomorrow to think about it. Make the smart choice, Emmett. It’s only one week. In one week, you get paid, and young Julia gets the career she’s always wanted. She’ll move on, work her way up in Hollywood, like her cover letter expressed that she’s always dreamed of. You’ll be but a blip on the radar for her.”
I try not to wince, but Richard reads me too well. He homes in on every worry in my brain like they’re written out on my forehead.
“You can go back to whatever country-bumpkin shit you do while keeping your fucking mouth shut to fulfill your contractual obligations. No public dating for a year, remember?”
He waves a hand through the air with a dismissive flick, and I swallow.
“Who am I kidding? You’re desperate for this cash. Of course you remember. So you’ll do your press with the winner next year when this all airs. Play nice for the cameras. And then you and I never have to fucking talk to each other again. Have I made myself clear?”
I nod, wooden, my eyes still fixed on the screen.
“Good. Now get out of my office.”
I blink a few times before I turn to depart, thoroughly shaken. I don’t know what to think.
All I know is I want to be at Julia’s house, wrapped in her arms, tangled in her bedsheets. Because if I do what Richard wants to save her career and honor my contract, tonight may be the last night I spend with Julia Silva.
CHAPTER 41
Julia
EMMETT HAS BEENrelentless all night, waking me up in the wee hours to reach for me again. Constantly touching me, kissing me. I love every moment, but there’s something desperate about the way he takes me.
It’s full of longing and reverence.
And something that feels an awful lot like love.
Even now, in the morning, as we’re having our coffee on the couch, he pulls me to him. “I’m skipping chores this morning. Not ready to leave.”
Because Jada’s unexpected departure messed with projected timelines and other schedules, the cast and crew were given an extra day off from filming this weekend, which means Emmett and I don’t need to be on set today.
“Okay,” I reply as I straddle his lap and look him over with concern.
I’m about to ask him what’s going on when he kisses me and makes me lose my train of thought. Without a word, he flicks off the straps of my tank top, pulling my shirt down below my breasts. He gazes at them as if he’ll never see them again.
We kiss and touch, but we barely talk. And before I know it, his sweats are shoved down, my shorts are pulled to the side, and he’s inside me.Again.
