He took her through spins and twirls, giving her slight cues through his hand on her back, or a tug on her fingers. She moved to the music, following his guidance, all of her attention glued to him. There was a light in his eyes she’d never seen before, and his lips curved in a confident smile that had her melting inside.
Now she knew why he’d said he wasn’t nervous about dancing. He wasamazingat this.
Their dance only lasted a few seconds before Nik turned the music off, and Jasmine’s heart cried out for more. She was breathing fast when she turned to face the others, but it wasn’t from exertion.
Ashton had left her breathless.
And he was still holding her hand.
He gave her fingers the slightest squeeze, then released her. And Jasmine’s treasonous heart soaked it up like it was a declaration of love.
“You two clearly have moves,” Nik said, coming over to join them.
“And chemistry,” Jess added, beaming. “This makes our job a lot easier, as we can focus on form and choreography. Sound good?”
They got to work, and it was the most fun Jasmine could remember having on set in a long time. No offense to Vera.
When the day was over, Jasmine was tired, but exhilarated. For the first time, she let herself imagine the audience response toCarmen. It was something she shut off while filming, because if she acted with the audience reaction in mind, it would trap her in her own head and damage the performance. But with the way the last few episodes had gone, she was sure people would love it.
She just hoped enough of them watched to warrant a second season. She was growing to adore Carmen and Victor, and she was curious to see what the writers would do with more episodes.
Riding high, Jasmine stopped Ashton on his way to their double-banger trailer and made the offer before her common sense could catch up.
“Want to practice tonight?” she asked, her voice nonchalant. “You can swing by my room.”
He looked at her for a moment that seemed to last forever while she waited for his answer.
In the back of her mind, common sense finally piped up like a warning alarm.
Bad idea bad idea bad id—
“Sure,” he said, and she couldn’t stop the flash of pleasure she felt at his agreement.
The voice of common sense nagged at her as she entered her side of the trailer, through changing and removing her makeup, and into the black SUV that would drive her back to the Hutton Court. Finally, she couldn’t ignore it anymore and reached out to the Primas of Power.
Jasmine: Help. I’ve done something incredibly stupid.
Chapter 18
Ashton didn’t know what had possessed him to accept Jasmine’s invitation.
Well, hedid—it was pure, ill-advised lust, currently on overdrive after dancing with her all day—but he still should have turned her down. There were so many reasons to be careful about meeting with fellow actors in private places.
Not that he thought she had ulterior motives. He believed her when she said she wanted to rehearse. Their performances had clearly improved since they’d started hanging out together, but he was still wary of anyone finding out what they were up to. The grocery store was bad enough. Going to her hotel room after hours was amateur shit, just begging to be caught.
And yet here he was, outside her door.
He could tell himself it was because he wanted to bring out the best performances in both of them, and on some level, it was true.
But on another level, he just wanted to spend time with her.
No point standing around in the hallway where he could be spotted more easily. He lifted his fist and knocked.
A second later, the door swung inward, revealing Jasmine’s smiling face. “Hi,” she said brightly. “Come on in.”
He followed her into the hotel suite, which was laid out just like his—a small kitchen on the right, leading into a living room with a separate bedroom off to the side. It wasn’t trendy, but functional and spacious enough for a few months’ stay.
The room was quiet, and he was hyperaware of the fact that it was just the two of them. Most of their interactions took place with an audience present, or the potential for someone to interrupt them. But now, they were alone.
