The Proposition

“Well?” Braden asked in a deep, reverberating voice. The beautiful man smiled invitingly. “What do you think about my… offer?”

I approached him cautiously. He wore blue jeans but nothing else, leaving his chiseled chest—and the contours of every bulging muscle—bare for all to see. It was impossible not to stare. His jeans hung loosely on his hips, showing off the v-lines of his pelvis. His face was every bit as scintillating without any effort: messy dark hair above a strong nose, and eyes that were somehow sharp and sensual at the same time. He was everything a woman could want. The kind of guy every woman wanted.

And he was offering me a sexy solution.

Braden looked at me with lust. Waiting for me to respond to his offer.

“I don’t know,” I said slowly. “It’s a lot to consider…”

“What’s there to think about?” he asked in his deep voice. He stepped closer so I could smell his spicy cologne, and his muscles practically jumped off his body as his lungs filled with a deep breath. “My offer’s simple. I pay you $10,000 a week to be mine. To do whatever I say in the bedroom.”

I made a show of considering it, bulging my eyes and letting my mouth hang open. It was a ridiculous sum of money. More than a woman ought to get for sleeping with someone so gorgeous. Hell, I should be paying him.

It was tempting. Hell, it was downright tantalizing.

“I need time to consider…” I began.

“It’s the money you desperately need,” he insisted. “No one has to know. It would be our little secret.”

He moved toward me, and I backed away slowly like I was supposed to. Braden’s body was a force all its own, like a hurricane, powerful and unstoppable, especially to someone like me.

I reached the edge of the bed, my momentum causing me to sit down. He stepped between my legs and fell forward, planting a corded arm onto the mattress next to my head. Heat practically radiated off of his gorgeous body. A tingle went through my lady-parts as he surrounded me with his wall of muscle.

“I know you’ve been fantasizing about me,” he crooned. “I can see it in your eyes. You want this just as much as I do.”

He was right. His offer wasn’t just about money—I’d been pining after him for weeks. Secretly lusting after him whenever I saw him next door. I wanted badly to surrender to his touch, to feel his hand slide away my panties and press between my legs…

“Tell me,” he boomed, eyes penetrating mine. “Tell me it’s what you want.”

He leaned in, hard cock pressing through his jeans against my loins. I hated the fabric separating us in that moment, and felt a shiver run through my body. Remembering where I was and what I was doing, I bent my left knee and curled my leg around his body.

“Yes,” I breathed, lips moving toward his. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

His perfect lips leaned in to kiss me…

“End scene!” Director Atkins shouted from the front row. Normally he watched from the technician’s room, but lately he’d been sitting closer so he could give his talkbacks in real-time. It was both helpful and frustrating.

The lights came back up, revealing our stage. The set was only half-built, which essentially left a mattress on the floor in the middle of the stage with little else surrounding it. The other actors watched from the sidelines, their expressions confusing and unreadable.

“You,” Director Atkins said, pointing at me. “I can barely hear your lines even though I’m in the front row! How are the people in the back of the theater supposed to know what’s going on?”

“I’m sorry,” I said as Braden rose from the bed. I sat up on the edge and felt my cheeks flush. “I thought I was projecting.”

“Then project more,” he insisted. “It may seem unnatural, but you need to practically scream into his face for the audience to hear. You’re speaking to them, not him.”

“I’m sorry,” I said again. I glanced at Braden, still shirtless and smiling in front of me. “Can we try it again?”

“From the top,” Atkins said. “Right after the proposition.”

Braden went back to his marked spot on the floor and I did the same. My entry point would eventually be a doorway when the set was finished since I was the one visiting him in the show, but for now I had to use my imagination.

Which I had no problem doing. Simply being out here in the center of the stage, rather than a backup dancer, filled me with awe. I’d wanted to be a theater actress since I was a little girl and my parents took me to see Cats, and I was finally doing it. I was living the dream.

At least, I almost was.

The door at the back of the theater opened. “What is going on?” Tatiana demanded loudly. She wore a white fur coat that doubled her minuscule size, and I could see her glare from here. She marched down the aisle toward the stage like a runway model showing off the newest long-sleeved Valentino.

“Tatiana…” Director Atkins began.

She stopped when she was in the front row, and her voice cut like a whip. “Why are you rehearsing the scene without me?”

Atkins rose from his seat. “You were late. We had to begin rehearsal with your understudy.”

He should’ve been scolding her, but he wasn’t. His tone was that of a subordinate meekly explaining a situation to an angry boss. The way Tatiana put her hands on her hips and rounded on me, she might as well have been.

“My understudy?” she said, looking me up and down. Just as quickly, she put me out of her mind. “I am here now. We can begin the proper rehearsal.”

I smiled awkwardly and shuffled to the back with the other dancers. That was my real role, so long as Tatiana was alive and kicking. A dancer without any lines.

Atkins made a show of checking his notes. He always did that when Tatiana was late, buying himself a little time to make it seem like he didn’t jump whenever she said to.

But the act was ruined when he said, “From the top. Tatiana. We’re starting with the—Tatiana?” He looked around. “Where did she go?”

“Um, backstage,” one of the other actors said.

“Son of a…” Atkins grumbled as he chased after her. “Nobody moves. We’re continuing as soon as I get back.”

I glanced at Braden, who was already looking at me. We shared a smile together while Tatiana began shouting backstage.

At least I’d gotten a taste of what true acting was like—and a taste of our show’s hot male lead—even if it was just for a few minutes.