Wicked Heart (Starcrossed #3)(49)

“He just needs to run some lines. Tell Marco we’ll be back soon.”

I rush down the corridor to the men’s room and find Liam waiting.

“Okay,” I say. “Let’s do this.”


Exactly twelve minutes later, Liam and I walk back into the rehearsal room, and even though Marco raises an eyebrow at me, he doesn’t ask what’s going on.

I help Liam reattach his mic pack. Within seconds his camera crew is hovering.

Angel walks over and puts a hand on Liam’s arm. “Everything okay?”

He gives her a warm smile. “Fine. Not enough sleep. Just needed a little refresher on the lines.”

“That’s not like you.”

“I know. It’s fine. Elissa helped me out.”

“Okay, then,” Marco says, “let’s try it from the top of this scene.”

Liam shoots me a nervous look. I hope he can pull this off. He learned the lines in record time, but I worry about his retention. Twelve minutes to learn a page of Shakespearean prose is no easy task.

Marco calls for quiet, then says, “Begin when you’re ready.”

They start the scene, and I’m relieved to see it’s a huge improvement over their earlier attempt. Not only is Liam on point with his lines, but Angel’s time with Marco has also yielded results. She’s learning how to imbue Kate with enough vulnerability to match her bitterness, and the chemistry she and Liam create is palpable.

It’s the first meeting between Kate and Petruchio, and the way Marco has directed it makes all of the verbal barbs and insults seem like wordy foreplay.

“If I be waspish, best beware my sting,” Angel says, assessing Liam like he’s something to eat.

Liam moves toward her, slow and seductive. “My remedy is then to pluck it out.”

“Ay, if the fool could find it where it lies.” Angel’s voice becomes breathy.

“Who knows not where a wasp does wear his sting? In his tail.” He winds his arms around Angel and unapologetically strokes her butt.

Angel looks like she’s about to orgasm. “In his tongue.”

“Whose tongue?” The way he’s looking at her is making me hot. In my pants.

Angel looks like she’s feeling the same. “Yours, if you talk of tails. And so farewell.”

She attempts to break away, but Liam traps her hands behind her back. Angel lets out a quiet moan.

Liam smiles at how he affects her. “What, with my tongue in your tail? Nay, come again, Good Kate. I am a gentleman.”

My tongue in your tail? My God, Shakespeare was a perv.

Liam leans down and holds his mouth just above Angel’s. Everyone in the room holds their breath.

Angel battles with her composure for a few more seconds before she stands on her toes to kiss him. Liam moans and releases her hands as he kisses her back.

My face flames when they move against each other, kissing and grasping. My feelings vacillate between extreme arousal and violent jealousy. It’s not pleasant.

Then Angel breaks away and slaps Liam, hard. “That I’ll try.”

He smiles in triumph. She goes to hit him again but he grabs her arms roughly. “I swear I’ll cuff you, if you strike again.” His tone is dark but promises more pleasure than pain. Angel looks even more turned on than he does.

“Yes, good, Liam,” Marco says beside me. “Now, cross downstage left, and take her with you. Don’t be gentle. Remember, the more forceful you are with her, the more it arouses her. She likes to be dominated.”

Liam glances at me, and I avert my gaze to my script. I take in a shaky breath and write down the stage directions.

When Liam ends the scene by throwing Angel over his shoulder and soundly smacking her butt, Marco says, “Okay, stop there. Excellent work! That’s coming along nicely. This scene needs just the right balance of lust and violence to set up the first BDSM interpretation this show has ever received. I can’t believe no one has ever explored the possibility that the reason Kate provokes Petruchio so much is that she’s desperate for a good spanking. Or that Petruchio morphs from a jovial hood into an alpha male because he’s at last met someone who wants to be dominated by him. It seems so obvious.”

Now I really need to fan myself.

I’m concerned that Liam playing a dom may make my body spontaneously combust.


The camera crews have left, and the cast is packing up at the end of the day when I notice Liam throwing me nervous glances. Angel is chatting to Marco about her costumes, so when Liam gives me a pointed look before he heads out the door, I wait a minute, then follow.

On a hunch, I find him in the conference room.

“Thanks for saving my ass today,” he whispers. “I never want to be in that situation again.”

“Ditto. Although I can’t take the credit for anything. You’re the one with the super-fast memorization skills.”

“Yeah, well, that happens when scripts are useless.” He looks at the door, then down to his hands. “Listen, I know it’s a lot to ask, but could you . . . I mean, could I ask you to help me learn my scenes, just until David gets back?”

“I . . .” A big part of me is dying to say yes, because it means I’d get to spend more time with him, but the logical part knows spending more time with him is the worst idea ever. “Liam . . . I just—”