Page 51 of Seeking Stars
"If you could be just a bit more cautious with my bread and butter, I'd be really thankful," she said. A teasing smile stretched his lips but he said nothing. She rolled her eyes and changed topics. "So, why did you bring that script at all? Isn't that work?"
He played with the camera, filming around him in a full circle, to finally stop when the lens faced her. His smile had subdued, now apparent only as a small upwards bend on the corner of his mouth.
"I don't know. To justify to Coulton that I did indeed work?"
She stepped away from the stairs and further into the pool, lifting her knees to pretend like she could float. "I infer that you don't feel like you've been working much, over the past few weeks."
He didn't say anything right away. He checked the frame, submerging the lens halfway. She had been so focused on what he was doing with the camera that she didn't see him set up to splash her until water ran down her face again.
He laughed. She scoffed. She didn't care that she wasn't as adept in the water as he was, she jumped at him and tried to steal the camera.
"Give it to me," she said, wrestling with him— or trying to. Her fingers had no grasp on his slick skin, and he easily managed to keep her at a distance with his long arms. His hand held her shoulder, his arm fully outstretched.
His grin exuded confidence; it irritated her that he was likely right to feel self-assured. He was bigger and had tons more experience in the water than she had and he knew it. He evidently felt so sure he didn't think he needed to keep his eyes on her to keep her at bay; he currently focused more on submerging the camera to take an underwater shot of them than on her. Maybe she could use his cockiness to her advantage.
With her feet as firmly on the ground as she could afford in the water, she turned and slammed her back into him, stretching her arm to reach for the camera. She got as close as to touch it with the tip of her fingers, before he pulled it out of her reach again. The water slowed her down and he stopped her in time, and he had the gall to laugh at her attempt.
The arm that he'd been using to keep her away now curled firmly around her, keeping her in place and deterring her from further attempts. His free arm held the camera away from her and to their side; the reverberations of his slowing chuckle pressed against her back.
It did not escape her mind that it had been her doing, having his arm holding her tight like this, muscle taut and warm over her clavicles. Her hands came to rest on his forearm, grasping him. Her heart beat fast. This hadn't been a part of her plan, but she fell prey to it, anyway.
He didn't laugh anymore. He barely moved; he stayed behind her, skin to skin. Some indefinite amount of time later, he moved his free arm in a wide arc, bringing the camera to their front but keeping it out of her reach. The preview screen faced them so they could both check the frame; their eyes met on the small display. The water reached his forearm and, except for the one visible strip of her black bikini, it would have been easy to imagine they were naked. She recognized the spark in his eyes— it was the same spark she'd been fighting for a while.
His chest expanded against her as he took a deep breath. Time froze despite the warmth in the air, but the spell broke when he created distance between them. The rush of water that replaced him at her back was cold, making her shiver.
"Here," he said, handing her the camera. "You tell me what happens next."
She bit her lip and took it. She tried the same angle he had and submerged the lens halfway. She let herself drop deeper too, until the water reached her jaw line. She circled him, filming him as he stood still.
Once she faced him again, she stood tall with him dead center on the frame.
He watched her, serious, with a certain intensity in his eyes.
"Liam McMillan," she said.
"Ana Lira."
"Teach me something."
"Pardon?"
"I always ask my people to teach me things. You've taught me about stars; what will you teach me in a pool?"
He considered her words. "Anything?"
"Yeah."
He studied her through hooded eyes.
"Any ideas?" His voice deepened further, daring her.
She shrugged, doing her best not to respond to his tone. "I want to see what you come up with."
She told herself she wasn't flirting with him.
His eyes changed and he squinted, before he extended his hand to her. "Okay. Give me the camera."
She did. He set it on the side of the pool, then he extended his hand to her again. This time, she put her hand on his.
