“Remember, don’t deviate from the script,” Neva said as she applied my red lip gloss. “You remember everything?”

I glanced up at her, smacking my lips together and trying to spread the stickiness out between both my lips. “I remember.” Climbing out of the chair, I took one last look at myself in the mirror and knew that either the plan would set things into motion or would blow up in my face.

“You got this, Kit.” Lexi bumped my shoulder, always filled with so much hopefulness. She was a die-hard romantic. Bet that crazy bitch was already planning our wedding.

That wasn’t going to happen. When Lexi got that look in her eyes—all wedding magazines and trips to David’s Bridal—I shut her down real quick. It was a fool’s hope, those wedding bells she heard. Because even if Kane slept with me and admitted to having feelings for me, I couldn’t see either of us taking the plunge and walking down the aisle anytime soon.

“Make him jealous. If he ain’t seeing red, up the stakes a little. Every man has a breaking point, even Kane.”

“Oh lord,” I mumbled before pushing open the door to the trailer and stepping outside. Lexi and Neva stood in the doorway, watching me as I walked across the yard toward the cabin.

“Sway your hips, girl!” Neva yelled behind me, and I cringed, hoping none of the crew heard her.

Activity swarmed in the cabin as the crew worked on finalizing the setup for today’s segment. The remodel on the cabin was coming along nicely, and somehow, we were even on time. But that shouldn’t be surprising. Kane always ran a tight ship, and it took damn near a catastrophe for us to fall behind. Even in my absence, the man kept everyone on task.

I bit down the quick lick of irritation that moved up my chest when Bill caught sight of me, walking across the room toward me and stepping over the small stacks of lumber that lay in his path. “Hey, sunshine.”

“Hi, Bill.” I tried to keep my tone light, welcoming, though it took effort. Bill wasn’t my favorite person, hell, I didn’t even like him, but I wasn’t going to be a bitch to him. That wouldn’t serve my purpose, despite the sleaze factor he had. He’d never cross a line with Kane always nearby. I figured if our show became big enough, we could request to have him replaced. It took clout in order to remove one of the most successful members from the team.

Kane was busy with Asher in the kitchen, but he glanced up, giving me a nod. I made eye contact but didn’t so much as smile in his direction. Play hard to get. I let those little words play over and over again in my head as I stood there with Bill in front of me and Kane across the way.

“Have you been okay, Kit?”

“I’m fine. You?”

I was never one to make idle chitchat, especially with Bill. We had business meetings, always with other people, but we didn’t talk much about our personal lives, and I liked it that way too.

“I feel like we haven’t been able to really talk since the paparazzi started to camp out to catch another glimpse of the biggest it couple on television.”

Kane moved a few feet closer, trying to be coy, but I could tell he was listening to my conversation with our producer. Kane was never too far away when Bill was near me, and it was obvious to everyone except Bill.

“We’ve all been swamped. Think nothing of it. I’ve been too busy lately anyway.”

“What are you doing this weekend?”

Perfect opportunity to cast my bait. I took a glance at Kane, inwardly grinning at the frown on his face before I threw a smile at Bill, trying like hell not to vomit when I spotted the pit stains on his polo shirt. “Um, Seattle. I’ve got my eye on an antique armoire.”

“Seattle, eh?”

“Yeah. I’ve been thinking about this piece of furniture for a while. It’s more than I want to spend and farther than I wanted to travel, but…” I peered to my side, seeing Kane a little closer and quiet as he pretended to read something. “I don’t want to go alone.”

I set the first part of the “Make Kane Jealous” plan into action with the last statement. It wasn’t a lie, and buying something I didn’t need, something that expensive, would fulfill another item on the list. And, of course, it would serve a purpose. Lexi and Neva had convinced me that Bill would jump at the chance to go away with me. He’d probably offer to go away with any of the females on the set. The man really was a bad Hollywood cliché. We knew enough to stay away from him, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t keep on trying.

“I’ll take you,” Bill said, standing right next to me. He smelled of coffee, sweat, and faded fabric softener. Not exactly a good combination. “I don’t have anything planned this weekend.”

I tried to pretend to be surprised by his offer and covered my mouth as if I were shocked, instead of trying to hide my smile. “You’d do that for me?”

“Kit, I’d do anything for you.”

“You’re the best.” The words slid off my tongue surprisingly easy.

“I have a few contacts in Seattle who specialize in antiques. If you give me information on the item, I can place a few calls before we go. We’ll use the trip to buy furniture for the cabin too so we can put it all on the expense account.”

Kane came to stand at my side and cleared his throat. There wasn’t a smile on his face or anything that looked remotely neutral. By the shift of his gaze between me and Bill and how tightly he clenched his jaw, I guessed he’d heard every word Bill and I exchanged before he decided to insert himself into our conversation. Bill was oblivious, but I didn’t miss a beat when it came to Kane.

“Wow, you’re amazing,” I said with a big smile. “We can leave Friday after work.”

“Where are we headed?” Kane asked, arms folded in front of his chest. He worked his jaw tighter, as though he needed to keep himself in check before he went all caveman and started beating on his extra-wide chest.

Bill narrowed his eyes, his frown telling me he didn’t like Kane butting into our conversation or how he’d inserted himself into our plans. “Kit and I are going to Seattle.”

“Where Kit goes, I go. I’ll be ready to roll on Friday.”

Kane didn’t budge when I turned to face him. We hadn’t argued. We hadn’t had any problems as far as he knew, except that every time I mentioned what had happened in his truck, the man went silent as a grave. He might not know why I was irritated, but Kane would definitely pick up on my attitude. In fact, I counted on it.

“Maybe I don’t want you to come.” I crossed my arms, copying him, and stared Kane down.

The plan was going off perfectly. I couldn’t have done a better job. Lexi and Neva said it would work, but I had my doubts. Sure, I felt like a juvenile brat playing this game with Kane, but my God, the man needed a nudge. He’d never make a move otherwise.

The years of observation between Neva and Lexi seemed to pay off. Kane’s features hardened, and he grunted, cutting off the noise with a fake cough.

“Kit.”

“Kane,” I replied, not disguising my attitude.

“Kit,” he said again, his jaw tightening further. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” Kane peered over at Bill, giving him the iciest look I’d ever seen cross his face. “Mind, Bill?”

“I’ll let you two love birds talk. You’re totally welcome to tag along, Kane.”

“Thanks,” he said in a clipped tone, but the word wasn’t polite. In fact, it sounded a lot like a curse.

I stared up at Kane, watching him as he glared at Bill, waiting for him to be out of earshot. I wasn’t stepping down right away. I planned to work his anger before finally “letting” him take me on the trip alone.

Kane peered down at me, his jaw still ticking in anger. We stayed like that, staring each other down for a solid ten seconds before he finally said something. “You aren’t going away with him.”

“Who says? You my daddy now too?” Behind Kane, I could see Neva and Lexi in the window, their faces practically pressed against the glass, watching the entire thing go down. By their expressions, they were pleased with my progress.

Kane moved his features into something resembling a clench—eyes hard and squinted, mouth tightened into a severe frown as he flared his nostrils. “Don’t get smart with me.”

I don’t know why the exchange between us seemed hot, but it did. The bossy side of Kane, especially when he’d had his fingers buried deep inside me, did some wicked crazy shit to my libido, but I’d never admit that to him. The man was already unbearable at times, and that type of knowledge would give him an even bigger head than he already had.

I stepped closer, lowering my voice. “You didn’t seriously just say that to me, did you?”

His stare then reminded me of the one Kiel had given me in the bar when I hugged him. But where Kane’s kid brother had been seductive, smooth, Kane was pure alpha, gaze slipping over my face, eyebrow moving up like he thought things he wouldn’t dare say aloud. That look felt like fire and lust and a hundred different filthy things I dreamed Kane wanted to do to me. That look made me realize Kiel was an amateur. Kane was the fucking master.

Just as quickly as he’d made it appear, Kane righted his expression, stepping back like he’d only just realized where we were and what he wanted. When he looked at me, the fire in eyes had been extinguished, and something worrying and tired replaced it. He reached back and rubbed his neck, finally breaking eye contact with me. “Kit, listen. You can’t go away with Bill. I won’t allow it.”

“Give me one good reason.”

The ball was officially in his court. He hadn’t said anything to me about what happened between us. He’d spent the rest of the day pretending to be busy when he was ignoring my silent questions and stares. He’d acted like a worried big brother, but I wasn’t his damn sister.

Right then, I felt like a motherfucker, and it was time for him to man up.

“You know he’s a slimeball. He’ll try to touch you and…”

I’d baited him. Now it was time for him to bite the hook. “And?” I raised an eyebrow, challenging the big, bad Kane to finally say the one thing I knew was on the tip of his tongue.

“I forbid it.”

Laughter? Anger? I wasn’t sure which emotion I felt first, but those three words left me a little speechless, and I was only able to gawk at him. The man just couldn’t say the words, no matter what. He had to be the most aggravating and emotionally stunted human being on the planet.

Next to him, I looked like a character straight out of a Hallmark Channel movie, and I wasn’t even very girlie or open with my heart.

I didn’t respond right away. I stared him down, but when he didn’t say another word, I stepped around him and headed straight for Bill, leaving Kane behind me.

“Book the rooms. We’re on for this weekend, Bill.”

Choke on that, Kane. If this blew up in my face, I’d have a bigger problem than being in love with Kane.