Free Just Physical by Jae

comfortable.”
    â€œCome on, let’s take it off.”
    â€œI bet you say that to all the women,” Jill said, hiding behind a grin.
    â€œNah.” Crash returned the grin, but her eyes remained serious. “Usually, they take off their clothes without me having to tell them.”
    Jill shrugged. She still didn’t move to take off her dress. “Guess I’m special, then.”
    â€œYou’re especially stubborn; that’s what you are.”
    â€œYeah, we established that already.”
    Crash perched on the coffee table and looked at her, now eye to eye. “Well, I’m a Leo, and you know what they say about my sun sign. We’re pretty stubborn too.”
    Jill snorted and shook her head. “Isn’t Taurus supposed to be the stubborn one?”
    â€œYou got me there. I don’t know a thing about astrology, but I do know how to take off a stunt harness, so…” Crash gestured toward Jill’s dress.
    Jesus. Leo or not, Crash was pretty stubborn. If Jill wanted to get some rest anytime soon, she had to give in and get this over with. “Okay, okay.” She lifted her hands to the bodice of her dress, but the tiny buttons wouldn’t cooperate. They simply refused to slide through the buttonholes. That was exactly why she had banned articles of clothing with buttons from her wardrobe for the most part, but on the set, she had to wear them.
    She was tempted to tear off the buttons, but she was probably already in the doghouse with the wardrobe people for ripping the back of the dress, so she kept fumbling with the buttons, trying to get her still-numb left hand to cooperate.
    â€œDid I mention I know how to take off a dress too?” Crash said.
    â€œI’ll just bet you do,” Jill mumbled without looking up from her battle with the buttons.
    Finally, one slid through the buttonhole.
    Suppressing a triumphant cry, she started to work on the next. Several minutes later, she had them all open and slipped out of the dress. The two petticoats followed. Now she stood in front of Crash in a pair of knee-length drawers, a lacy chemise, and the stunt harness. The old-fashioned underwear covered nearly all of her body, but she still felt strangely exposed. Ignoring the feeling, she looked over at Crash with a challenging stare. “There.”
    â€œOkay, so let’s see…” Crash stood from where she had perched on the coffee table and rubbed her fingers together as if to warm them, even though she wouldn’t actually have to touch Jill’s skin to remove the harness.
    Just the thought of Crash touching her bare skin sent a shiver through Jill’s body. Traitor. Her entire left side had been either numb or burning for most of the day; her balance was off, and she was walking with a limp, but her body still reacted to Crash’s closeness. Figures.
    Crash reached for the first strap that held the stunt harness closed around Jill’s torso and tore the Velcro open, then slid the strap through the titanium buckle. Her fingers brushed Jill’s side on their way up to the next strap, sending another shiver through Jill. With her hands on the Velcro, Crash paused. “You okay? I’m not hurting you, am I?”
    Jill bit her lip and shook her head. “No. I’m fine.” She tried to distract herself by mentally repeating lines of tomorrow’s scenes. As Crash’s fingers moved higher, to the strap right below her breasts, she switched to nursery rhymes.
    Crash opened the last buckle and then knelt to remove the straps around Jill’s upper thighs. A chuckle drifted up. Again, Crash paused and peered up at Jill. “Mary had a little lamb?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYou were humming ‘Mary had a little lamb,’” Crash said with a broad grin.
    â€œOh.” Heat shot up Jill’s neck. Her tired mind searched for an explanation she could offer—one other than I was trying to