Vic threw back her head and laughed that low, rumbling sound of an unguarded moment. “Why do you think I keep those matches in the table beside my bed? They aren’t for the candles.”

“Will you use them if they deny you the title?”

Vic’s expression turned wistful. “Wouldn’t it be nice to think I could simply strike a match and let it fall without my hands even trembling?”

The sentiment sparked something powerful inside Sophia. She would hate to see either of them go up in flames after everything they’d worked for, but the thrill of this deeper connection building between them did feel like a fire of another sort. “I won’t be able to get the image out of my mind as you light those candles tonight.”

“If you’re looking to incinerate something . . .” Vic leaned so close their foreheads touched, and Sophia’s pulse accelerated. “Why wait until tonight?”

••••

“I can’t even believe I can walk after that,” Sophia said as she tightened the rope on her robe.

“I can’t believe either of us has been able to function at all for the last two weeks.” Vic opened the door to the bathroom and gave a quick glance around to make sure none of the staff had slipped in to clean or drop off the clothes she’d sent off to be pressed. Once certain the coast was clear, she nodded for Sophia to follow her through the office. “We really should congratulate ourselves on our physical fitness and stamina.”

“And here I was thinking I’d let myself go after my last role.”

“You’ve got to be joking.”

“Not in the least. You wouldn’t believe the diet and exercise regimen I had to maintain in order to keep up with Cobie Galloway while we were filming Vigilant. God, that woman was nonstop.”

Vic couldn’t quite decipher Sophia’s tone. Exasperation? Admiration? Annoyance? “Do we hate her?”

Sophia laughed. “No one hates Cobie Galloway. She’s, well, she’s actually a lot like you.”

“How so?”

“Perfect all the damn time.”

Vic felt a rush of pride that Sophia would associate her with perfection after all this time.

“She’s just so unabashedly good at being a colleague, an actress, hell, at being a human, so actually maybe I do hate her a little bit.”

“Wait, you said she was like me. Where does that comparison end?”

“Well . . .” Sophia drew out the word with a hint of teasing that made Vic’s breath catch. “I suppose it’s a little easier to be irked by someone’s perfection when they aren’t using it to turn your muscles to mush multiple times a day.”

“In that case,” Vic started toward her, “I’d better keep up my pace so as not to fall into the same category as this Galloway woman.”