Chapter 93

Chapter 93
Olivia's POV

Acting with Zoya was becoming impossible.

My entire career, I had always been able to separate my personal life from my work. No matter what was happening behind the scenes, the second the cameras rolled, I became someone else. Controlled. Professional. Untouchable.

But now, every scene with her felt dangerous.

My eyes kept drifting toward her when they shouldn’t. My smiles lingered too long. My voice softened around her without permission. At one point, I held her hand long after the scene had ended, too caught up in the warmth of her skin to notice the silence around us until Ezra called cut for the third time.

The murmurs on set were starting.

Even Zoya looked at me with concern between takes. She wasn’t used to seeing Ezra lose patience with me. Honestly, neither was I.

“Again,” Ezra sighed from behind the monitor, rubbing his forehead. “Olivia, your mark.”

I muttered an apology and reset, but the moment Zoya looked at me again, my chest tightened all over.

By the end of the shoot, Ezra looked exhausted.

“Are we going to have a problem?” he asked once the crew started clearing out.

I kept my expression neutral. “What do you mean?”

He gave me a look. “You know exactly what I mean.”

“I don’t,” I replied coolly. “I have a lot going on in my life right now. It’s normal to lose focus sometimes. Don’t make it into something bigger than it is.”

His expression softened slightly. “Liv, I’m saying this as your friend—I understand. But right now, I’m talking to you as your director. We can’t afford delays because you’re distracted. I need you here tomorrow with a clear head.”

Then he walked away before I could respond.

“That was uncalled for.”

I turned and found Anthony standing nearby, still in costume. His expression was sympathetic.

“It’s okay,” I said quickly. “I understand where he’s coming from.”

“You’re giving him too much slack,” Anthony scoffed. “He’s been edgy all day for no reason. I think you were great.”

He stepped closer and rested a hand on my shoulder.

Instantly, my gaze flicked down to his hand.

Then, almost involuntarily, I looked across the set.

Zoya was watching us.

Her expression shifted the second she noticed Anthony touching me. It was subtle, almost imperceptible, but I caught it. The way her shoulders stiffened. The way her eyes darted away a second too late.

Without thinking, I stepped back from Anthony and offered him a polite smile. “Thanks,” I said softly before excusing myself.

I crossed the set toward Zoya, weaving between crew members pretending not to stare.

“Do you need a ride?” I asked when I finally reached her.

She looked up at me carefully, like she was trying to read everything I wasn’t saying.
“You’re quiet,” I said once we got into the car.

Zoya kept her gaze fixed on the window beside her, the city lights reflecting softly across her face. “It was a long day,” she murmured.

I studied her profile for a moment before pulling the car over to the side of the empty street. The engine stayed running as I rolled the windows fully up.

She turned toward me, confused. “What are you doing?”

“I couldn’t focus today,” I admitted, my eyes drifting from hers to her lips before I looked back up again. “At all.”

A nervous laugh escaped her. “I noticed.”

“And that’s your fault.”

“My fault?” she repeated, one eyebrow lifting.

I reached over and tilted her chin gently between my fingers. “You looked too beautiful today.”

Heat crept into her cheeks instantly. I leaned across the center console, lowering her seat back slightly.

“Oli,” she laughed breathlessly, grabbing my wrist. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” I murmured before kissing her.

She kissed me back immediately, soft at first, then deeper when my hand slid into her hair. The tension that had followed us all day melted the second her lips moved against mine.

“Here?” she whispered against my mouth, pulling back just enough to glance around nervously.

“The windows are tinted,” I whispered back before kissing her again.

She let out a shaky breath, her fingers tightening slightly in my shirt. “Wait until we get home,” she pleaded softly, pushing at my shoulder just enough to slow me down.

I pulled back with an exaggerated pout, earning a laugh from her.

“Do I have to?” I teased, my hand slipping lower before she immediately caught my wrist, shaking her head while trying and failing not to smile.
“Oli,” she whispered again, weaker this time.

I kissed slowly down her neck, feeling the way her body softened beneath me little by little. Her grip on my wrist loosened, and a shaky breath escaped her lips as she tilted her head back against the seat, arching instinctively into my touch, giving me more access.

I smiled against her skin, my lips brushing just below her ear.

“What happened to ‘not here’?” I whispered teasingly.

“Not fair,” she struggled out between breaths, her fingers tangling tighter in my shirt.

I pulled back just enough to look at her flushed face, completely undone beneath me. The sight alone nearly shattered my self-control.

“Then let me make it up to you,” I murmured before kissing her again.

“Then let me make it up to you,” I murmured before kissing her again.

I placed both hands on her shoulders and shifted fully on top of her, pressing her gently into the seat as the kiss deepened.

“Oli…” she whispered again, breathless this time, her fingers curling tightly into my shirt.

I pulled back just enough to look at her. Her lips were swollen from kissing, cheeks flushed pink, eyes hazy in a way that made my chest tighten painfully.

“You have no idea what you do to me,” I admitted quietly, brushing my thumb across her cheek.

A shy smile tugged at her lips. “You’re acting very different lately.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No,” she whispered immediately. “Just… intense.”

I laughed softly under my breath and rested my forehead against hers. “You’re lucky I spent the entire day trying to behave.”

“Trying?” she teased weakly.

“You were wearing that dress,” I defended myself. “I deserve credit for surviving.”

Zoya laughed softly, shaking her head at me, but the sound caught in her throat when I kissed the corner of her mouth again. My hand slipped into her hair, fingers threading through the soft strands as I held her close.

“You keep looking at me like that,” she whispered, her breath warm against my lips, “and I’m going to stop pretending I want you to behave.”

“That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” I murmured, earning another quiet laugh.

The tension between us shifted then, softening into something slower, deeper. I kissed her carefully this time, taking my time with her mouth, with the small sighs she let out against my lips. Her hands slid up my chest and around my neck, pulling me impossibly closer.

I could feel her heartbeat racing beneath me.

“Oli,” she breathed when my lips trailed down her jaw again. “We really are in a car.”

“And somehow I still can’t focus on anything except you.”

She smiled against my skin, but her fingers tightened slightly in my shirt when I kissed the sensitive spot beneath her ear. I felt the shiver that ran through her body and smiled to myself.

“You like teasing me too much,” she accused softly.

“You started it.”

“I absolutely did not.”

I lifted my head just enough to look at her. “You sat there looking beautiful all day and expected me to act normal.”

“That sounds like a you problem.”

I laughed quietly before kissing her again, deeper this time, until the teasing slowly faded into something more vulnerable. The windows fogged faintly around us, the world outside disappearing as we stayed wrapped around each other in the dim light of the parked car.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

We just held each other there, breathing the same air, kissing slowly like we were trying to memorize the feeling before reality found us again.