I should get out of the car. I need to, I want to, but I’m stuck. No, I’m freaking terrified.

Last week, Dax called to tell me that the movie production company wants me to audition after all, as it’s such an important role I’m interested in. Today, they want me to prove to them that I’m as good as Dax says I am.

I’ve been sitting inside my Toyota Prius for thirty minutes, trying to force myself to get out there, to take a chance. Normally, I’m a go-getter. But this is a serious role, not that of an extra. This role could make or break my career.

I have rehearsed for days, stayed up all night, looked at the script in between shifts at the restaurant. Thanks to my awesome memory, my mind has sucked up every word like a sponge. I live and breathe the role. If I don’t get it, it would feel as though a part of me is taken away. But I have no choice but to audition. I can’t let Dax or the production company down. It’s a small world and word gets around. Producers speak to other producers at dinner parties, galas, and award ceremonies. I wouldn’t want to be known as the girl who chickened out.

I take a deep breath, grab the handle, and push the door open. Outside, the air is hot, which makes me sweat even more, beads of it trickling down the length of my spine and my temples, moisture gathering in my armpits. I can’t wait to get back home after the audition to take a shower.

As I slam the door shut and lock the car, I think back to the night Dax invited me out to dinner, the night he kissed me, pretending it was an audition. Even though we’ve met one more time for lunch since then, he hasn’t mentioned the kiss, and it hasn’t happened again. I didn’t find the courage to bring it up, to ask whether there was something more behind the kiss.

So, every time the image comes up inside my mind, I kill it. There’s no point in dwelling on things that will never be, on setting myself up for heartbreak. Perhaps the kiss was a test to see if he feels something for me. Clearly he doesn’t, even though he had looked as if it had affected him.

The same night, I had called Christa to tell her about the kiss. I needed to talk to someone, but Christa had warned me to be careful, encouraging me not to read too much into it. She reminded me that Dax Pierce is known to be a womanizer, convinced that if anything happened between me and him, I would end up getting hurt. I hadn’t brought him up again whenever we talked on the phone.

The interior of the building is air-conditioned. As I enter the carpeted lobby I swear I feel my skin sighing with relief. The sweat evaporates from my skin.

A woman with bone straight, jet black hair is sitting behind a desk at the reception area. She stops typing on her computer and smiles up at me.

“Good afternoon,” she says in a polished voice with a slight British accent. “How may I help you?”

I push back my shoulders to appear more confident and lift my chin up just a fraction. “My name is Emma Stanton. I’m here to audition for Velvet Flame.”

“Miss Stanton, of course.” Her smile grows brighter. She has the whitest teeth I’ve seen on anyone. “Everyone is already expecting you. Follow the hallway and open the last door to your right.”

“Thanks.” Walking away, I wish I had not worn my strapless lucky dress today. I haven’t even started the audition and I can already feel the sweat sliding down my ribs. But it’s too late to turn back now. It’s either I get the role or I don’t and move on with my life.

Behind me, the phone rings at reception, and the woman picks up, the sound of her voice following me down the long hallway.

I give a small knock at the white, wooden door and take a deep breath. A male voice calls for me to enter.

I push open the door and I’m surprised to find that the entire studio looks like a bedroom, except for one side of the room which has a long conference table with three men and a woman sitting behind it, facing a king-sized bed that’s planted on one side of the room.

My heart rate picks up. I didn’t expect to find so many people who will assess my acting skills. I expected two people at the most.

You will get through this, Emma, I assure myself inwardly. Just do your best.

Everyone is surveying me from across the room. Sheets of papers are laid out in front of them, with pens and pencils on top of them.

I take two steps into the room, even though the only thing I feel like doing is turning around and bolting. But I won’t be a quitter, not this time. I am passionate about this role. I’m passionate about this career.

I only wish there was someone in the room that I knew. Even though I worked with Neon Production Company in Mistport, I don’t recognize any of the people. Last night, I called Dax to ask if he would be at the audition, but he said he wouldn’t as he had several interviews lined up for the day.

I try to recall the lines from the script, but suddenly my mind is blank. Shit. Am I about to mess this up? Am I about to embarrass Dax?

A tall man with blond gelled-back hair rises from the table and steps around it to come to me, his hand outstretched. “Emma Stanton. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Damien Harris, the assistant producer.” He squeezes my hand.

“Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Harris.”

“Call me Damien.” He smiles, revealing a gap between his front teeth. “And thank Dax Pierce. He’s the one who insisted you’d be a great fit for the role of Amy Berkeley.”

I release his hand and nod, ignoring the sweat in my armpits. Hopefully he doesn’t see that my dress is drenched at the sides. But I doubt I’m the first person to be nervous during an audition. Damien introduces me to everyone else in the room, who all have a part to play in bringing the movie to life.

“Since we have another audition planned for today, I think it’s best we get started.” Damien returns to his seat behind the conference table and picks up a pen. “Emma, why don’t you go and sit on the bed.”

My gaze drifts to the bed and I purse my lips. “Okay.” I take a few steps toward the bed and settle on the edge, my legs pressed tight together. I wait for the next instructions. I still can’t remember any lines from the script and it’s making me sick with nerves.

“It’s okay, Emma. Try to relax. This will be a quick audition. Normally, we would ask a candidate to say a few lines, but today we want you to act the role out for us. I hope you understand.”

“Of course, I do.” I place my hands next to me on the bed, on top of the white cotton sheets. “What do you want me to do?”

“This is going to be one of the sex scenes from the movie and we want you to try and make it as natural as possible. We want to feel the passion.”

I nod. But I don’t understand how they expect me to act out a sex scene without a partner. Just as the thought crosses my mind, the door opens and to my surprise Dax walks in. I have never been happier to see anyone.

Damien rubs his hands together. “Perfect. Thank you, Dax, for making it at the last minute. This is a crucial scene and it’ll determine the chemistry between you and Emma.”

“It’s fine, Damien. I was able to reschedule one of my interviews. But I can’t stay long.”

“Don’t worry. This won’t take long.”

Dax crosses the room and comes over to the bed to join me. He offers me his hand for a handshake. The moment our skins come into contact, my senses leap to life. It’s amazing how one touch from him makes my senses go wild.

The audition starts immediately, with Damien telling us what we should do, how we should position ourselves in the scene. The woman at the table stands up and comes to throw back the covers on the bed. She asks me to get under the covers and make myself comfortable, pretend it’s a bed I sleep in every night. She coaches me for only a few more seconds before walking back to the table.

Dax comes to my side and whispers something into my ear. It’s hard to make out the words through the sound of my heart pounding, but I try. “Don’t be nervous. You’ve got this.”

That’s all the assurance I need to relax. Dax is here. He will help me. He wants me to have this role as much as I do.

It makes it easier that we have already kissed and it would hopefully come naturally, that part at least. The problem is that I’ve never done a sex scene before and I have no idea how it’s going to play out. I practiced the scenes several times inside my head and watched lots of movies to prepare myself, but I’m still a complete beginner at this.

“Ready?” Damien gets up from his chair and plants himself in front of the table. He folds his arms, tucking his hands under his armpits. His gaze moves to Dax. “This is the first night with your wife after you’ve come back from war. You have been separated for a whole year. Tell us, no, show us what you would do to celebrate your reunion. We want to feel the chemistry all the way over here.”

As I had been told to do earlier, I lie back on the bed and close my eyes briefly, drawing in a breath, putting myself in the moment.

Dax leaves the room briefly and returns as Gordon Berkeley, a soldier who returns home in the middle of the night to find his wife sleeping. The moment I hear him, I turn to face the other side. I fling back the covers and jump out of bed to throw myself into his arms. Since we’re both too happy for words, we don’t speak. We communicate with our bodies.

He lowers his mouth to mine and parts my lips with his tongue. I’m surprised at how natural the kiss feels and the kinds of emotions it awakens in my body. For a moment I forget about everything else in the room as I push myself onto my toes to dive deeper into his kiss. I pretend to be the soldier’s wife, a woman who had been terrified that her husband might not return home. I slip into her skin, into her mind, into her body.

I’m completely in the moment as Dax sweeps me off my feet and lowers me onto the bed. Still not speaking, he takes his time to remove my clothes until I’m only wearing my underwear. He strips to his briefs and lies down next to me, pulling the covers over us. With our bodies out of sight, his hands slip into my bra.

I tense up and start to panic, but before I lose my nerve, I bring myself back to the scene. Dax draws me closer to him until our bodies touch. I can feel his body heat. I can smell his sweat and cologne. His stubble presses into my skin. My body bristles with desire. Maybe I’m not supposed to feel this way. This is just acting, but why does it feel so real? As he kisses me deeper, I forget there’s anyone else in the room.

“So far so good,” I hear Damien saying from a distance, but his words do not break the moment. “Now make love and make it real.”

Laughter breaks out in the room, but we ignore it.

Dax slides a hand behind my back and unclips my bra like a professional. I make all the right sounds as I arch my back, my eyes squeezed tight. I throw back my head and allow him access to all parts of me—my neck, my lips, my breasts.

And then, he moves his lips to my ear. “Are you all right?” he whispers. I’m pretty sure his words are not part of the script.

Reluctant to return to the real world, I whisper, “yeah.” But I don’t open my eyes. I don’t want to see that this is not real.

As though my answer is permission, he slides his hand down my body, across my belly until he reaches into my panties. Then I freeze.

“It’s okay,” he whispers again, so low that only we can hear the words. I bite hard into my lip, so I don’t scream out with pleasure as he starts massaging sensitive parts of me.

“You guys are great,” someone says from a distance. “Keep doing what you’re doing.”

I’m pretty sure this is not supposed to happen. It’s only supposed to look as if it is. Although it’s a steamy movie, it’s not porn. I don’t think he’s allowed to have his hand inside my panties, to be dipping his finger in and out of my vagina. But I can’t stop him. I don’t want to. I’m too weak to pull back from his touch.

“Pretend you’re putting on the condom, Dax,” Damien calls out. “In the drawer. It’s been a year. Your wife stopped taking the pill.”

The heat of the moment is not broken as Dax opens a nightstand drawer and removes the condom, which he pretends to put on under the covers. Except that he’s not pretending.

My lips part to release a gasp as I watch him slide the condom over himself. From the way the bed is positioned, and the shelter of the covers, I’m the only one who can see what he’s up to.

I’m still wondering what he plans to do next, whether I should tell everyone what’s going on, but before I can do anything, Dax lowers his body onto mine again and pushes my legs apart with his knees. Before I can remove myself from the situation, he moves my panties aside and slides into me.

Instead of screaming out with shock, I find myself moaning as my body responds to his, allowing him to fill me completely. I find myself exploding with heat.

Dax Pierce, a man I’d had a major crush on, is fucking me during an audition and I’m helpless to stop him. My mind is telling me to put an end to it. My body refuses. He feels so good inside of me, as if he belongs there. I’ve had sex before, but never like this. No man has ever made me feel this way before.

The moment is supposed to be fake, but the sounds echoing on the walls are real. The orgasm that builds up in the pit of my belly and shatters me, is much too real to be fake.

The grunts of pleasure Dax releases into my mouth as he kisses me don’t sound fake either.

Once it’s all over, we fall into each other’s arms. As I lay in the embrace of my fake husband, panting and vibrating all over, I pray I’ll get the part. I need to feel Dax inside of me again, even if it’s during a game of pretend.

As soon as Damien says, “cut,” applause rings out in the room, and Damien tells us we did an amazing job. Everyone agrees that the chemistry was off the walls.

I bite back a secret smile as I get dressed again, trying to hide my nakedness with the covers.

Damien throws his hands into the air. “Dax, you were right, we’ve got a winner here. She was fantastic.”

“I told you she would be, Damien. I should get out of here.”Dax puts on his clothes and strides out of the room without giving me another glance, which makes me feel a bit lost.

As I walk out of the studio, I should feel proud of myself for getting the part on the spot, but I don’t know if I have a right to. I feel like I cheated. And I feel guilty for not feeling guilty. In fact, I feel happier than I’ve been in a long time. I got more than a job today. I got Dax to make love to me. I had the best sex of my life. I have a feeling that underneath those covers, he had felt something too. There was something there, something deep, something that went beyond acting out a role.

This can’t be it. I want more of him in real life.

I get behind the wheel of my car determined to make him mine. I don’t care what anyone says. I’m not only going to date Dax Pierce, I’ll be the woman that sticks around.