“If you ever show up on a shoot with me again, I’ll walk. You’re slime, Stefan. And everyone knows you get highlights.” She kicked him again. It couldn’t have been very hard, given the strappy heels she had on, but Stefan whimpered like a little baby anyway.
“It’s natural,” he cried. “I’ve never gotten highlights!”
Leaning forward, I got in his overdone face. “You ever even think about Adelaide again, I will break your pretty-boy face and shave your cheesy-ass head. I find out you Googled her, I will stuff the internet up your ass and snap your fingers off one by one. She doesn’t exist to you anymore. I need to hear that you feel me on this?”
He looked like he was trying to furrow his brow, but nothing was happening. Probably due to copious amounts of Botox. Fuckface.
“Stuff the internet up my ass? How—?”
I dug my knee a little deeper. “You want to find out,arschgeige?”
“No, no, I don’t!” He squirmed like a worm on a hook, bucking his hips to try to get out from under me.
Satisfied the message had been received, I shoved off him, rose to my feet, then turned to a sputtering Anthony. “Either this guy walks or Adelaide does. She’s not taking another picture with him.” I raised my eyebrows at her. “Right?”
Her chin lifted, even as her hazel eyes swam. “No. I won’t take another picture with him.”
Anthony tugged at his hair. “Of course, of course. He was completely inappropriate. It’s just that we need a male model for the concept and—”
“I’ll do it,” I blurted. “I’m no model, but I think I can handle it.”
Anthony shifted from panicked to excited instantly. “That would be incredible, Mr. Wainwright. We’ll have to work things with the budget to pay you, but—”
“No fee. Although, I think Adelaide should be paidStefan’ssince he sexually harassed her on set.” I crossed my arms. “That’s just my opinion, but I think others might agree if they heard about what went down here.”
Anthony picked up on my implication swiftly. He flew into action, stripping Stefan of his suit and ordering someone to call his agent to let him know his client had been fired.
Within minutes, I was dressed in a different suit, my hair combed neatly, kneeling at Adelaide’s feet. The view was impeccable, but I only looked. She’d already been taken advantage of. I wasn’t going to add to it, not while she was working.
“I’m sorry I didn’t step in sooner,” I murmured.
“I shouldn’t have taken one picture with him,” she answered softly.
I tugged on the necklace. “He’s done that before?”
She only hummed in response, which made me want to throw her over my shoulder and lock her up with me for eternity so she’d never be hurt again. Only…I’d been one of the men to hurt her, so that wasn’t even a safe bet.
The scene changed to Adelaide lying down with me hovering over her, draping jewel after jewel onto her. This was recorded to be used on their social media. Anthony practically salivated at having the two of us together—the newly engaged couple.
“You want me to rain jewels on you for real?” I whispered.
Her lips tipped as she stared at me. “I’m not much of a jewelry girl.”
She hadn’t mentioned the present I’d given her for her birthday. I didn’t even know if she’d opened it. It hadn’t been on her doorstep when I checked, so someone took it, but for all I knew, it could have been anyone.
“Do you like necklaces?” I asked.
“It depends.”
That was all she gave me, and I couldn’t ask anything else, not here, not while we were being filmed, playing our roles.
Adelaide’s long, graceful back arched as I laid a diamond bracelet across her belly button like an arrow through a heart.
“Perfect,” I murmured.
“Shhh.” But I didn’t miss the little gorgeous menace squeezing her thighs together each time I laid another piece of jewelry on her. It was lucky my suit was dark and had a little extra room to conceal my erection. I’d been half-hard since I walked in, but being this close to an almost naked Adelaide, smelling her, talking to her…Christ, all the blood had drained from my head to my cock.
This was torture. I’d been an idiot to volunteer for this. Then again, there was no one else I’d give the position to.