Well, this is awkward.
And I don’t mean nervous-giggle awkward. I mean turn-around-and-run-for-your-fvcking-life awkward.
Recognition flashes in his dark eyes when he sees me. Heat flares briefly, too quickly for Clara to notice it, but slowly enough that I know I wasn’t imagining it.
That same heat flushes up my neck and colors my cheeks. Yep. This is going from bad to worse.
“Thanks, Clara. Shut the door on your way out.”
Alone?
“But—”
“Sheila knows I shoot alone. Get out and shut the door.” He’s talking to her but his eyes are focused on me. I lick my lips as Clara makes another half-hearted attempt to argue and he shuts her down once more.
I lick my lips as Clara makes another halfhearted attempt to argue and he shuts her down once more. I trace his face. His unruly, dark hair is swept to one side, keeping out of his equally dark eyes. His cheekbones are defined and his jaw is strong, angular. And his lips are…curved in amusement at having caught me staring at him.
The slam of the door jolts me back to reality. Kind of. I still have hot-man haze. I mean, crap.
“This is a turn of events I wasn’t expecting.” His accent is crisp and what the hell is it about the British accent?
“Yep.” I fiddle with the belt on the robe. “It’s certainly a surprise.”
It’s not every day that your one-night stand becomes your photographer.
“At least there’ll be no…awkwardness.” He drops his gaze to my hidden body and I swallow. Oh, no. He’s definitely seen my body. And touched it. And licked it.
I shift uncomfortably. Nope. Not even going there. Eyes off the bed please, Olivia.
“Let’s get unnecessary introductions out of the way, shall we?” He steps toward me.
My lips curl into a smile. “It’s not unnecessary if you don’t know the other person’s name.”
“Very true.” He told his hand out. “Ivan.”
Half intros it is, then.
“Brenda.” I put my hand in his larger one. He pulls me against his hard body and settles his lips close to my cheek.
He pulls me against his hard body and settles his lips close to my cheek. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Brenda.” His words are smooth like melted caramel, and I fight the urge to close my eyes at the easy sound.
A pleasure indeed.
Ivan steps back with a brush of his lips across my cheek. My hand instantly feels cold when he releases it, and I raise it to my hair before realizing that Dean will pitch a fit if I mess up these curls.
I drop my arm lamely, aware of Ivan’s eyes on me as he gets his camera. He looks at me for a long moment.
“Well?”
“Well what?”
“Are you taking off the robe? I can’t do a lingerie shoot without lingerie.”
My lips form a small ‘o.’ Of course I have to take off the robe.
Please, someone pinch me. This can’t be reality. I mean, I’m all for coincidences, but this puts the ‘fvck’ in ‘fvcking joke.’
I turn away from him and slide the robe down. I hang it on the hook on the back of the door. I flex my fingers to rid the slight tremble there and spin back to face Ivan.
My breath catches at the way he looks me over so obviously. He’s completely unashamed as his gaze touches every part of my body in a way that makes shivers rocket up and down my spine until my skin is buzzing.
I cough and he looks up. He grins, unapologetic, and a dimple appears on his cheek. “The shoot?” I question, drawing on every bit of strength I have inside me to deal with this. “Are you ready to start?” Nope. I’m ready to click my heels and see if I’ll magic the hell out of here. “Yes. Where do you want me?” Wrong question. Wrong question. Something flickers in his eyes—lust. “On the bed.” Wrong answer. Wrong answer. I walk across the room and climb onto the bed. His eyes follow me the whole time, and I see him slowly raise the camera to his eye out of the corner of mine.
It’s a light touch, one I should barely feel but one I feel prickling all over my skin. The kiss is slow and sweet, and my hand betrays me by finding his shirt and fisting the material.“Yep, this is very unprofessional.”
I met his gaze as he let go and pulled away from me. I immediately felt empty and cold, and I pushed that feeling away as he rolled off the condom and discard it in the adjacent bathroom.My gaze followed him as he dressed, and he turned to face me. “I'll go downstair
Easy breathing, easy stretching, calming thoughts. I haven’t done any yoga in a while, but the urge overcame me this morning to get out my mat and do it. A coping method I pull out when things get a little murky. When that addiction nudges at the back of my mind.We a
“I just… Where am I going to find anyone able to cater for us at short notice?”She groans and clicks at her laptop. “No, no, no!” She drops her head to the bar. “Why is this so hard for them to get right? Champagne and ivory are not the same color. The seat sashes ar
“I know him already,” I mumbled it out.Dayton tilted her head to the side, looking at me blankly. “Well, I suppose that will make everything easier. Maid of honor and best man. You guys have to get along.”
The problem with best friends is that they know everything about you. Dayton knows everything about me, about every last one of my rotting skeletons I keep locked away in a foolproof safe.But as she and Aaron discovered, skeletons don’t stay buried for long.
I turned and looked at her. Aaron was standing behind her, his hand on her back, staring at Ivan. Dayton’s eyes were flicking between us.“It’s fine,” I answered, grabbing my keys from the bar. “Let’s go before I change my mind.”He watched me the whole time. Like he’s a predator stalking his prey, his eyes were fixated on me. They follow my every move, studying me, evaluating me…memorizing me.It’s unnerving. But it’s not uncomfortable. It’s not a sinister look or even remotely bad. It’s casual. Intense, but casual. No different than the way you watch the characters move across the stage at the theater.If only there weren’t something…in his gaze that set off a herd of butterflies in my stomach so strong that I can barely eat a thing. Most of my dinner is pushed around my plate, untouched except for the gentle prodding of my fork.Aaron asked for the