“No. I want to make it comedic without any mention of it.”

She nods and then stretches her neck up to get her zombie bite refreshed. Landon adjusts his cap and leans in to Jace, and they laugh at whatever he says. I tiptoe behind the camera, far enough so I’m not in the way and close enough to see what it looks like on screen.

“All right, marker.” Landon moves back behind the camera. A guy with a headset announces it’s take twenty-two and then the set quiets.

“We can’t,” Jace says, looking over Chantal’s shoulder. She looks behind her and looks back.

“But I’m not a zombie.”

“Yet.” He’s still looking at something behind her. “But when that bite spreads, you’re going to want to eat me.”

“I want to eat you now. Like a stuffed turkey.” She makes this squeezing motion with her hands, and I choke back a laugh.

Jace keeps looking over her shoulder. Chantal steps into his line of vision and he turns his head. They do it through their entire scene, and it’s so ridiculous that holding in my laughter causes me to lightly snort. Landon turns around, nods to some guy who gives him a thumbs-up, then Landon’s gaze drifts to me.

He squints like he’s not sure who I am, but after I wave an apology for disturbing the shoot, his smile widens and he yells, “Cut!” right in the middle of Jace’s line.

“Dude, I was killing that!” Jace says with a toss of his hands.

“Break for ten.”

Chantal lets out a giant sigh of relief and then rushes to the ladies’ room behind me. Jace takes off his ripped wardrobe jacket and chats to a couple of the extras. Landon takes off his headphones, hops over a chair, and meets me at the back of the room.

“What’re you doing here?”

“I’m here to micromanage, of course.”

He laughs. “I’m open to suggestions.”

“Stop making me laugh, because I’ll ruin every take.”

“Laughing is good.”

“I thought you were shooting a zombie movie.”

“Zombie parody. It’s called The Walking Stiff.”

“Sounds like a porn.” I flick my gaze over his shoulder to Jace. He’s using a spoon as a mirror while he fixes his hair. “Though I think you’ve cast it well.”

“Comedy is Jace’s forte.”

“And yours.”

His smile gets even bigger, and he pulls me into his arms. “So really, what are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you work. Is that okay?”

“Hell yeah. You want a quick tour?”

“Yes, please.”

“You can put your shoes back on.”

I make a face at him and use his shoulder for balance while I slip on my heels. Then he takes my hand and pulls me toward all the equipment. Most of it has been abandoned with the break Landon announced, so he leads me right up behind “camera 4,” which is the one shooting Chantal’s mark.

“It goes to my laptop over there.” He points behind us. “Chantal has great action/reaction, so I end up using more of her perspective than I probably should. She also has the better face for kissing.”

“Say what now?” I ask with a raised eyebrow. Landon chuckles, takes my chin in his hand, and leans in.

“If I shoot from this camera during the kissing scenes, it captures Chantal’s face more while we get most of Jace’s profile. It’s a more direct facial.” His fingers tiptoe across my cheek. “When we kiss, you always turn right. If we were to kiss in front of this camera, we’d see mostly you, less of me.”

“Don’t you see both kissers equally?”

He grins and taps a peck to my lips before pulling back. “There’s always a ‘lead’ kisser. In this case, it’s Chantal because Jace constantly grins like a dumbass.”

“Sounds like someone else I know.”

He lightly tickles my belly button, and then tugs me to the set itself. It’s a replica of a department store that’s in shambles. There’s a prop zombie across a conveyor belt, looking grossly realistic. I see the food in our house has been put to good use for the bloody guts. I’m really trying not to freak out.

Landon pulls me to Jace and Chantal’s marks and gently rotates my shoulders. “This is where we shot the sex scene.”

“Eww.”

“Where else are you gonna get busy during a zombie apocalypse?”

“You don’t. You run like hell or just let yourself get bitten.”

“Which one are you?”

“Oh, I’ll be the very first zombie. You?”

“I’ll be the number-one zombie killer.”

“Looks like it’ll really be ‘till death do us part.’ ”

He chuckles and takes a step closer. My stomach whirls because he hasn’t stopped smiling since he spotted me. If I’d known he’d react like this, I would’ve visited the set way before now.

“It’s an off-screen sex scene for the most part,” he says, “and it’s not really sexy. More awkward.”

“So…it’s realistic,” I tease.

“You must be losing your memory. I’m a badass in the sack.”

“Maybe you should remind me.”

It’s out before I can tell my mouth to shut up. But it’s been a while since we flirted. We’ve been together for four years. Sleeping together for about the same. Our peas and carrots sex routine usually starts with “do you wanna?” and then we jump into bed. My lady parts have never been so excited just standing here, fully clothed, in the middle of something pretty public (and freaky-looking).

Landon’s eyebrows waggle, and it makes me snort because I’m hot like that, and he pulls me from the set, leads me down a cold and foggy hallway, down another, then into a room packed full of props. Rows upon rows of wardrobe choices line the left half of the room while the right half holds chairs, trees, fake weapons, and dismembered mannequins. There’s a barrel full of zombie-fied arms and legs. I walk up to it and poke at one of the fingers. “Gross.” I laugh under my breath.

The click of the lock makes me turn, and Landon tucks his hands into his pockets as he walks toward me.

“Why’d you lock the door?” I ask with a seductive lilt.

“Habit, I guess.”

“Then go unlock it.”

“It’s all the way over there.” He waves a hand behind him, and I roll my eyes back to the barrel of body parts. I notice a director’s chair and plop into it with a grin.

“I’ve always wanted to sit in one of these.” I wiggle my butt and cross my legs. “They need cup holders, though.”

“Built-in refrigerators.”

“Ooh, yes. Request that for your next movie.”

“If I get one.”

“You will.”

“I lucked out with the last grant.”

“I’m not talking about getting another grant. Some big-time studio is going to hire your ass and make you super famous.”

Half his mouth quirks up. “I hope my ass is up for it.”

I almost reach out and grab his sweet rear end, but I keep my hands firm on the chair. “Your ass is capable of many great things.”

His voice lowers. “You haven’t even seen any footage.”

“I don’t have to.” I swivel in the chair and point to the back fabric. “It’ll say Wangford right here someday.”

Landon doesn’t say anything, and that surprises me, so I flick my eyes back to him. His jaw is clenched, breathing labored, and he takes a confident step forward.

“I’m not going to kiss you,” he says. My eyebrows lift and I drop my gaze south. An uncontrollable smile forms on my lips. Well, hello there, Lord Landon.

“Okay,” I say, crossing my arms. “But it’s not against the rules.”

“I know.” He takes another step forward. “I’m still not going to kiss you.”

I take my lip between my teeth and play with it. He watches the movement, and I watch him watching, and it’s fun. We haven’t done this since we first started dating. And it hits me…I could win this thing right here and now. I can get him to cave. I just have to remember how to be seductive…

“Will you sit in the chair?” I ask him playfully, sliding from the seat.

“Why?”

“I want to see you in it.”

He gives me a suspicious look but obliges anyway. He has to adjust himself as he sits, and that makes my lower abdomen giddy. Calm down, girl. We’ve only just begun.