Page 33 of Enchanted

“Thank you.” Ethan hurried to one of the rigs. “It’s fine, honestly. I’m used to lugging it all around myself.”

Ez’s eyes widened comically as they met mine. I knew we were both thinking the same thing. Just because Ethan was used to doing everything alone didn’t mean he had to. Not now I was in his life.

“Let me,” I said firmly, stepping forwards and plucking the rig from his hands. “Ez, grab the other.”

Ethan gaped at us as we quickly gathered all of his equipment and marched for the door.

Ez waited until we were out of Ethan’s earshot before whispering, “Are you sure this is a good idea, just taking over like this?”

My instincts were telling me it was. That Ethan wasn’t used to being looked after.

But that he wanted to be.

“Yes,” I whispered back. “Trust me.”

“Always,” he murmured, his eyes darting briefly over his shoulder to Ethan and Sam behind us. The two were chatting away, Sam cooing over the shots Ethan showed him as they walked. “He’s cute.”

“I will cut you. Keep your eyes to yourself.”

Ez barked a laugh. “I’m literally mated to the man he’s talking to.”

“I don’t care,” I muttered. “I’ll still poke your eyes out if you look at him like that again.”

There was a quiet crashing sound following by Ethan cursing. I spun around, ready to take down whatever had hurt him, only to find him steadying a vase. “Sorry,” he was saying to Sam, cheeks flaming. “I’m ever so clumsy.”

“You’re fine,” Sam reassured him. “You should’ve knocked it harder. It’s a fucking ugly vase.”

Satisfied that Ethan wasn’t hurt, I reluctantly turned back around as we entered the kitchen, only to come to a halt again when I heard Ethan suddenly ask an unexpected question. “Hmm. Sam, do you have any oil?”

I suppressed a groan as Ez turned to me with a wicked grin. He didn’t need to say the words. Once again, we were on the same wavelength.

My mate was about to rub oil into my naked chest while I pretended he meant nothing. That him touching me meant nothing. That nothing was happening aside from Ethan doing the job he’d been hired to do.

Translation: I was completely and irrevocably fucked.

Chapter 10

Ethan

Did I think about pouring the oil in my hands and slathering it all over Rami’s chest? Of course I did. I was gay and Rami was, quite possibly, the most handsome man I’d ever laid eyes upon.

But I was also loyal. And professional.

The most professional.

So, sadly, applying the oil myself was out of the question.

“Here,” I said, holding it out to him. We were out in the parkland that surrounded the house. Sam and Ez had vanished indoors again, leaving us to it. “You don’t mind, right?”

Rami blinked at the bottle a few times before taking it from me with a rueful chuckle. “Sure.”

My own lips curled in response. “What?”

“Just not how I thought this was going to go,” Rami confessed as he poured the liquid onto his open palm. “Clearly I have a dirty imagination.”

I tugged at the collar of my shirt. It was definitely hotter than it had been earlier. “Does the photographer usually do it for you?”

“No.” Rami’s hooded eyes swept over me. “Then again, none of them have been as hot as you.”