Chapter 22

Tanner

I don’t feel bad about it. Not one fucking part of me does.

And why should I? I just fucked Elsa Blakely. I’m happy for the world to see the proof.

I can see it in Elsa’s eyes, the way she moves toward me on the bed. She feels it, too. She feels the connection we share.

Whatever it is that was between us tonight is still right here.

I just wish I couldn’t see the reservation in Elsa’s eyes.

“Maybe we should watch it in case we need a reshoot,” Elsa says, staring at the USB drive that contains our sex tape.

“Eager for more, huh?”

Elsa scowls at me. “Leave it to you to find a way to make a joke at a time like this.”

I shake my head. “Relax, we had sex. Good sex. We can be serious about it if you want, but why ruin something beautiful?”

“We did this for a reason, so let’s really talk about it, Tanner. This is the rest of our lives we’re dealing with.” She grabs the USB and scoots off the bed. “I just don’t want it to change shit.”

“Why would we let it change anything? We’re adults. We made the tape because we chose to.”

“Because someone else chose for us, you mean.”

“We wanted this,” I reassure her. “You fucking know we both did.”

Elsa groans, placing her face in her hands. “I believe you. That’s the worst part.”

“Look, babe. Don’t make it bigger than what it is. We had sex. It was fucking great, and that tape is unbelievable. We looked amazing. Real. In fact, I’d say it’s our best work yet.”

“Done this before, have you?”

I scoff. “Please. If I had, you’d have watched it until your laptop gave out.”

“Okay, the next question, the,n is...do we release it?”

Elsa weighs the USB drive in her hand, looking at me like she’s trying to find a way out.

“Why wouldn’t we?” I ask. “I’m sure we got all your angles, angel.”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Make me.”

She bites her lower lip, pacing. “I just don’t know that it...you know. It doesn’t feel right.”

Typical fucking Elsa. All about the feelings.

“What are we talking about here, Elsa? Me and you? Or us and the tape?” I ask.

“The tape, Tanner. You and I were bound to end up in bed together. We’re cut from the same fucked-up cloth.”

“Leather or lace?”

She rolls her eyes. “I’m not talking lingerie right now.”

“There’s no dilemma, Elsa. We said we’d make the tape. We made the tape. We said we’d release the tape. Let’s release the tape. If I’m fucked-up, then there’s no one I’d rather be fucked-up with than you.”

“And you don’t feel it?” she asks. “The...whatever. The wrongness.”

“We didn’t do a thing wrong, last night or ever. You’ve always felt right, and last night felt right, whether the camera was rolling or not.”

She narrows her eyes at me. If she paces any harder, she’s going to walk right through the carpet and drop down into the floor below.

“I think you just want everyone to know that you fucked me.”

That’s...not inaccurate, if I’m being completely honest with myself.

“Maybe a little,” I tell her. “You make it seem like it’s something you want to get rid of or forget. Do you want to forget that we had sex, Elsa? Because I can honestly tell you I’m not sure if I can get the way you sound out of my mind, never mind the way you taste.”

She smiles to herself slightly.

“I don’t think I could forget it either,” she admits. “But...look. This little USB drive holds everything that we have between the two of us. Publicizing it...”

“Means we can keep our companies, and our employees can keep their jobs. We’re a team, remember?”

“A team,” Elsa says with a sigh. “Okay, yeah. Fuck it. Fine. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“I figured you had made a list of that already,” I tease.

I understand her hesitation. I really do. But I also understand that this is just one of those things that Elsa needs a little help working through...whether she wants to admit it or not.

“Just...don’t fuck me on this, Tanner,” she finally says.

Elsa sits back down on the bed and places the USB back between us again.

“Me fucking you on this was kind of the point, actually,” I point out.

And there it is again—that little smile on her gorgeous, perfect lips.

She reaches over and places her hand on top of mine.

We’re in this together...for better or worse and for the whole world to see.