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Her smile turns coy, and she tugs on my hand to drag me behind her. “Oh, you’ll see.”
“This is a joke, right?”
Lila looks absolutely delighted as she adjusts the pink chef’s hat on my head, one that pairs nicely with the new matching pink aprons they had made for us—both embroidered with our names over the chest in a complementary purple.
“I think it looks cute on you,” she says sweetly, stepping back to admire her work. “Very dignified.”
I narrow my eyes. “I look like an idiot.”
“But a very cute idiot.”
I reach above my head, shifting the hat minutely so it sits better. “You’re such a brat.”
“Mm.” She leans in, lowering her voice as she traces my name on the front of my apron with the tip of her finger. “But you like that about me.”
I shiver lightly, mindful that there is an entire crew milling about the space, and that I can’t pull her against me and kiss her senseless. Which is a real bummer, since she’s entirely too close and entirely too sweet-smelling to resist.
“It has its merits,” I murmur back.
“Maybe if you’re a good boy today, I’ll let you show me how much you like it.”
She turns away then like she didn’t just drop the sexual equivalent of the atom bomb at my feet, looking innocent as she situates her bowls and her ingredients. I sneak a peek around and make sure no one is watching us before I take a step to hover behind her, my body an inch from hers and my mouth at her ear.
“Maybe if you’re good today…I won’t have to spank the brat out of you.”
I hear her breath hitch, feel the slight tremor run through her as her throat works, and then I hear her quiet, “What if I want you to?”
I’m about three seconds from spinning her against the counter and slipping my tongue into her mouth, crew and cameras be damned, and if it weren’t for her friend Ava appearing in my peripherals, forcing me to step away from her quickly—I think I might have done just that.
“Oh, you guys look adorable,” Ava says as I back away. “The hats were a great touch, if I do say so myself.”
“I look like the pink version of the Swedish Chef,” I grouse.
“People love the Muppets,” Ava counters.
“Not me,” I say with a slight shudder. “They’re kind of creepy.”
Lila giggles beside me. “Ian was afraid of Count von Count until he was thirteen.”
“No, I wasn’t. I just don’t like puppets. Don’t like the way they move.”
“Uh-huh.” Lila smirks. “You keep telling yourself that.”
I huff out a breath. “Are we going to cook something?”
“We’re almost ready,” Ava says. “Lila is going to do her normal intro, and then she’ll introduce you again. I want the two of you to really play this up. Like, we want the audience to be totally convinced you two are boning off camera even if you aren’t.”
I feel the tips of my ears heat, and Lila chooses that moment to inspect a bowl of what looks to be salt. Ava continues to run down the flow of the episode, but I’m stuck on you two are boning, my mind traveling back to the moment where we got dangerously close. Not that I’ve really stopped thinking about that moment since it happened. If I’m not worrying about whether or not we should cross that line, I’m desperate to hurdle over it like I’m in the fucking Olympics and she’s the gold medal.
Which, to be fair, she absolutely is.
“—and if you have any mishaps with your hat, just call a time-out and we’ll cut to adjust it. I definitely want you guys to keep them on the entire time. Really gives off a good vibe, I think.”
I realize I zoned out for half of what Ava said, thinking about Lila. I hope there wasn’t anything too important in there I missed. Ava heads back offstage, and Lila nudges me with her elbow before adjusting her own hat, which actually does look adorable on her. Go figure.
“Remember not to burn anything.”
I roll my eyes. “I won’t.”
