Step Wilde: A Stepbrother Romance (27 page)

Lydia pulled a silky black teddy off of a hanger and held it up. "This should fit you. How do you feel about it?"

“What happened to the bra you sewed for me?” I asked.

“I want you in something over the bra and panties for when you walk to the bed for the scene. Usually actresses of your size and shape
request
that they are more covered up. So that’s what audiences are used to.”

I laughed. “Wait, so I’m considered fat now and I shouldn’t scare the people in the audience?”

Lydia shrugged. “You don’t have a flat stomach. This is how it works.”

I felt something long-dormant stir inside of me. It felt something like spontaneity. “No. Let me walk in with only the underwear.”

Lydia raised her eyebrows. “If Fox thinks-“

“Fox said this is my show. I’m not comfortable covering up in a teddy. I just want to come in with my stomach showing. That’s what I want.”

Lydia put her hand on her chin and stared intently at the bras and panties. Then she looked back at me, something like a mischievous smile across her face.

“I love it. God, working with you is so pleasant. Usually there are eighteen meetings discussing underwear with actors. They want
just the right pair
that makes their ass look
just right.
Doesn’t seem to matter the gender of the actor, either.” She clapped her hands together and rubbed them with vigor. “It's only for your entrance, anyway. The rest of the time I'll be artistically draping sheets across you and Wilder to keep your private bits covered." She paused, inhaled deeply and turned to face me. "Is it weird?" she asked.

"Is what weird?"

Bev finished snapping closed the lids of makeup pans. "Hey I'll be right back. I need some water. Do you need anything?" 

Lydia and I shook our heads. She left with a click of the door handle.

"Is what weird?" I repeated.

“I know I asked you yesterday and you already answered. But seriously. You’re going to be simulating sex with your
brother
on camera. You know how many people are going to show up to see this movie? Between the Hailey engagement scandal and the illicitness of pseudo-incest...damn. This could be the shittiest movie in the entire world but it's going to make a
ton
of money."

I exhaled. "It's really not a big deal, honestly," I said. "It's just acting. It's not like we'll
actually
be having sex." My cheeks burned slightly.

But we
would be
skin-to-skin. I had a hard time seeing how I wouldn’t find that arousing. I’d read once that actors who said that filming sex scenes wasn’t arousing were full of shit. I already had a suspicion that was accurate.

Lydia helped me into the underwear and bra.

“I’ll be right out of frame the entire time if you need anything,” she said. “You’ll be great. You
look
great, anyway.”

I wondered if this was how people felt before they walked down the aisle.

“I feel like a naked bride,” I said, laughing. I took a deep breath and looked at myself in the mirror. Between the subtle makeup and curled hair, I hardly recognized myself. This actually helped. I felt like I was in another person’s skin.

Like the entire act was a costume.

I was as ready as I was ever going to be.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

WILDER

Actors who say they hate filming sex scenes are full of fucking bullshit.

Sex scenes are awesome and arousing and the only bad part is the little sling they put my dick in that keeps it against my leg because it’s uncomfortable. In PG-13 movies I would always get nude-colored, tight underwear.

In this R-rated one, I would be getting the sling, since my ass would be in the shot.

I stood next to the bed eating a banana Harrison handed to me. I wasn’t sure if I had imagined it, but he seemed jumpy. I could have sworn that I saw a bead of sweat form on his forehead.

“You okay?” I asked him, squinting. “You don’t look great.”

Harrison grimaced at me and nodded. “Just not feeling very well I guess.”

I handed him the spent banana peel and shrugged. “Go to your room. We’ll be filming for the next six hours or so.”

“I was going to wait outside the door in case you needed anything,” he said. I knew he hated when plans changed. It made him anxious.

“Come back around two. I won’t need you until then.”

Harrison swallowed and nodded. “Thanks,” he said. He began walking away but he stopped. “Mr. Wilder, I actually really need to tell – “

“Okay everyone, we are ready when you are,” Fox called out. “All non-essential personnel please
exit
the room!” He said, waving dramatically toward the door like he was guiding an AirBus down the runway.

“Not now, Harrison,” I said to him dismissively.

A shadow crossed Harrison’s face and he turned around to leave the room. I took off the bathrobe and threw it onto a chair out of frame. I stretched my arms into the air, cracked my neck, and crawled into bed. Lydia came over to arrange the sheets around my body.

“Lydia,” I said as a way of greeting.

“Wilder,” she replied, nodding.

“How’s Liv?” I asked under my breath.

She raised one perfectly-penciled eyebrow my direction.

“Imagine how easily you could have gleaned that information by, I don’t know.
Talking to her?”
she slapped the sheet against my leg and I recoiled.

I had been wondering if Olivia was talking about me to Lydia. Apparently she was. That was a good sign; if she had been
really
angry she wouldn’t have been able to even mention my name. Lydia walked away sighing.

The bathroom door opened and all of my thoughts evaporated in an instant as I saw Olivia.

She stood there, in a black lace bra that barely held her tits in place. Matching black boy shorts with tiny red bows were the only things that could draw my eyes away from her chest.

I’d never been so happy to have that dick sling in my life. Olivia saw me looking at her. She almost looked pleased. Her hair fell in curls down her shoulders and across her clavicle.

I felt like I’d just disappeared into a dream.

Fox’s voice shattered that illusion.

“Okay, so we’re going to get a few shots of Olivia walking over to the bed. Then we’re going to do a costume change and get to the bed scenes, okay?” Fox turned to me. “You’ll just be sitting there most of the day. Enjoy that.”

I smiled broadly. “You know I always do.”

It was all I could do to remember my lines as Olivia pranced across the bedroom, her tits bouncing, her slightly round stomach jiggling. I couldn’t remember ever working with an actress who allowed her not-flat stomach on camera.

I was certain that
I
didn’t have the confidence to be onscreen with any less than my chiseled abdomen. We did the walk-in in three takes. From what I could see, each one was perfection.

All the credit for that went to Olivia. She was enchanting, and it wasn’t her body. It was like she was completely swept away inside the character of Margot.

“Cut!” Fox cried out. “Wonderful. Let’s do a wardrobe change.”

Olivia smiled at me coyly and disappeared with Lydia into the bathroom.

“Do you need anything? Water?” Fox asked.

I raised my eyebrows in shock. “You’re asking
me
if I need anything? Really?”

Fox beamed at me. “This is the first time in this production that I realize this movie could actually
be
something.”

“It’s
her,
” I said simply.

Fox nodded. “It’s her.”

A few minutes later, Olivia came out of the bathroom in her robe. I tried to avert my eyes but I couldn’t. I knew that with the exception of what was going to be an almost-invisible thong and pasties over her nipples, she was naked under there.

She walked over to the bed and dropped the robe without ceremony. I saw that Fox and the camera guys had already turned their backs and were conferring with one another over scene notes.

Olivia slid into bed next to me, Lydia rushing up behind her to cover her with sheets. Her warm skin was touching mine. I could smell her familiar conditioner. I was instantly transported to her wrapped around me in the shower.

“Hey,” she said to me.

“Hey,” I replied softly. I cleared my throat. “Great job in that last shot, by the way. You were wonderful.”

“Thanks,” she said.

She seemed only slightly awkward. But there was a thawing that had taken place between us sometime over the last two hours. I could feel it within myself and see it in her face.

“You all bound up under there?” she asked, busting out into a laugh.

Her laugh was infectious. I joined in almost immediately. “Yeah, I’m all tied up.”

“Does it really keep
it
from…popping up?”

I stared into her eyes. “The last scene was the ultimate test of that, honestly. I can say, quite safely, that it works as advertised.”

Olivia blushed and bit her lip.

I glanced over at the small crew to make sure that we had a modicum of privacy. “Liv, I’m really sorry about breakfast. I was an ass.”

She nodded. “I know.”

I looked at her as sincerely as I could. I wanted her to
feel
my apology; not just hear it. “I stopped drinking, too. I want you to know that.”

“I smelled the difference about a week ago. Also, you say your lines faster.” A tiny smile erupted on her face.

“I need to apologize to your mom,” I said.

She stared back at me with a serious expression. “I think you mean
our
mom.”

I broke into peals of laughter again. “Oh, Christ. I’m about to pretend-fuck my sister. Could this month get any more absurd?”

“Okay, you two,” Fox said, turning around. “Are we ready to film?”

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

OLIVIA

Filming the sex scenes was less arousing than I thought it would be, but also ten times more fun.

Wilder and I talked and joked between takes. I realized at one point that I was getting paid to lay in bed with the sexiest man on earth; a man I actually enjoyed spending time with.

After six hours of shooting, it was time for one final take. We were nearly done with the scene. All we had to do was kiss. Wilder was on top of me, held up by his strong arms. He stared into my eyes and bent down, grazing my lips softly.

I parted my lips to finish the kiss, but he was already gone, pulled back a few inches from my face. 

“What?” I whispered to him without thinking.

His face was soft. He whispered, “I love you.”

I expected Fox to cut the take, but he didn’t. I was suddenly torn between my Olivia brain and the brain of the character I was supposed to be playing. I nearly let out a Han Solo-esque “I know.”

Instead I reached up and grabbed his head, twirling his hair through my fingers and pulling my face to his. I kissed him as deeply as I’ve ever kissed anyone in my life.

The room evaporated around me, around both of us. We abandoned the soap opera “no tongue” kissing that we’d be doing all day and dove headfirst into each other.

I’m not sure how long we were connected like that, but when we came up for air, the room was dead silent.

“Cut,” Fox announced without his usual vigor. I looked up at him to see if he was angry. But he had a small smile on his face instead. “And that’s a wrap for
everyone
.” There was polite clapping from the small crew assembled.

Wilder pushed himself off of me and sat upright in the bed.

“Come on, everybody. That’s hardly a celebration. THAT’S A MOTHERFUCKING WRAP!” Wilder was exuding the same excitement and joy as he had standing on that statue together in the middle of the quad.

Everyone cheered loudly.

“I wasn’t sure we were going to make it, honestly,” Fox said, pulling his hat off of his head and crumpling it up. Everyone went silent and stared at the hat in his hands. He held up his palms. “Don’t worry; this time I’m only taking it off out of sheer relief, not annoyance,” he announced.

Everyone laughed.

I wiped my mouth off with the back of my hand as gently as I could and sat upright with the sheets pulled around me. Lydia walked over with my robe and I slid out of bed to climb into it. She gave me a significant look. I just smiled at her and walked into the bathroom to change. She followed me in there.

“
Oh. My. God
,” she said when the door was finally shut. “
That
wasn’t in the script. It wasn’t in the first five takes!” She spun around dramatically and swooned into the chair. “Do you think they’ll use that take in the movie?”

I smiled as I dug my clothes out from underneath a pile of empty garment bags.

“I have no idea,” I said, trying not to smile and failing miserably in that attempt. I felt giddy and light all at once, like my feet weren’t even touching the carpet.

There was a knock at the door. “Just a second,” Lydia announced.

I pulled my shirt over my head and nodded. “Come in!” I called out.

The door opened and Wilder peeked his head in. He was still in his robe. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said to Lydia. “Liv, can I talk to you?”

I beamed at him. “Yeah,” I said.

Lydia hopped off of the chair so quickly it was as if a bee had stung her ass.

Wilder shut the door behind her and pushed three wardrobe racks to the side to get to me. He put his arms around my waist and lifted me up while he kissed me passionately. I felt tingles all the way to the tips of my toes. He pulled his mouth away but didn’t put me down.

“We could fuck right here and nobody would know,” he said to me with a grin.

I moaned. “I’m hungry, though.”

He buried his face into my hair and sighed. “Okay. Food first and then fucking.” Then he kissed me.

There was a knock at the door. Wilder groaned.

“Go away!” he said, annoyed. He leaned back down to kiss me. The knock came again. “I said go away!”