He raised his eyebrows in question, and she took another gulp of her coffee, then swallowed hard.
“I need to boost my profile. Show NYB that I’ve got lots of people who are interested in me and will want to come see me dance bigger roles. And I was thinking that social media would be one way to do that.”
He nodded and tossed the final chunk of the sandwich into his mouth. Social media was like a second, part-time job for some dancers these days, especially Instagram, because it was so visual. He’d mostly stayed away from it as a dancer, but once he’d started his photography business, he hadn’t really had a choice. He also hadn’t had much success convincing people to follow his account, and he doubted his posts there had translated into any business for him.
“So as it turns out, I need your help,” Carly went on. She sighed the words out, as though it caused her deep spiritual pain to say them. “You’re a photographer. And I need photos. I know we’ve got wedding stuff to do, but I thought that in between, we could do some shoots around Sydney. It could be good for both of us.”
Not likely, Nick thought. They couldn’t get through a single wedding errand without an explosion of some kind. And now she wanted toworktogether? He crumpled up the sandwich wrapper and tossed it into the bin next to the desk, but it bounced off the rim and hit her sandal.
She bent at the hips the way dancers did—the way normal people, with normal hamstrings, found totally bizarre—and deposited it in the bin. As she bent, her blouse lifted at her waist, revealing a small expanse of smooth skin stretched over rigid lines of muscle. For a split second, he wondered what it would be like to have those muscles in the grid of his camera, how her small but steel-strong body would look balanced in an attitude—or even more dramatically, a penché—her hair unbound and flowing like living fire with the ocean waves crashing behind her.Golden hour would look great with her complexion. Wide aperture setting, f/2 probably, to not wash her out. Rim lighting, if we can time it right. Maybe a few long exposure shots, capture her movement. Some close-ups. I think I have the right bounce cards and color gel to really showcase the gold in her eyes …Suddenly Nick found his heart racing, and he quickly pushed the thought away, averting his eyes so that when she straightened up, his gaze was on the floor.
“So, what do you think?” she said hopefully. He looked at her frankly.
“I think it sounds like you’re asking me for help, but you haven’t actually asked me anything yet.” Her eyes widened, as though she’d been on the verge of rolling them and barely managed to stop herself.
She took what looked like a deep, calming breath. “Nick Jacobs, will you please help me with this, by doing something that will also be quite beneficial to you?”
“That’s more like it,” he said with an approving nod. “And no.”
Her face fell and she let out an exasperated kind of growl.
“Why not?”
He shrugged. “How many reasons do you need? I don’t want to. I don’t think we’d work well together, seeing as every time we cross paths it’s a total disaster. I’ve got best man stuff to do. I don’t think your plan will work anyway. And lastly, unlike you, I don’t need to boost my career.” He’d told that final lie a little too forcefully, a little too unkindly, and he instantly regretted it. He could reject her request without being a dick about it.
Carly seemed to agree, because her cheeks flushed, and then she closed her eyes and nodded almost imperceptibly, as though she was counting silently in her head. When she opened them again, he was surprised to see a look of desperation in them, and a sheen of tears that made the golden brown shimmer more brightly than usual. Regret twisted in his gut again, and he shifted uneasily on the bed. She might be a human hurricane, but Carly Montgomery was still a human, and he’d clearly hurt her feelings.
“Please. I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t really need your help,” she said quietly. “I don’t have any other ideas. And I know you don’t need this, but I do.”
Telling him that he was her last resort hardly helped her case, he thought.
“I don’t think so.” He said it firmly, hoping he didn’t sound cold or unkind.
“Well, I do think so,” she insisted. Her voice was a little louder now, and just as firm as his, and he was starting to realize that she wasn’t going to be put off by his insults or by his attempts to let her down gently. He remembered the way she’d yawned the other day—stubbornly and with her whole body. “Don’t you want to boost your profile, too? You barely have an Instagram presence. I checked.”
“I … I don’t need one. I’m in demand enough without one.” What utter shit. As if it was a secret sign of success to be almost unfindable online. It wasn’t. His tiny follower count wasn’t some power move, it was a sign of how miserably he’d failed so far. But … If he did this for Carly, he’d be able to add a whole new series of photos of a dancer from one of the world’s best companies, taken on the other side of the world. The few jobs he’d managed to book had all been in Paris. It would make him look like an international photographer. No, it would actuallymakehim an international photographer.
He bit his lip. Sensing he was wavering, Carly pressed on.
“I was thinking you could take some photos on some beaches, maybe out in the bush Heather is always telling me about. I don’t know, on the Harbor Bridge or something?”
He rubbed one hand over his head, thinking of all the picturesque places in this city where he could photograph her. Even though she’d probably find a way to get them both drowned, or to accidentally push him off North Head. He shuddered.
“If you want to boost your followers that much, I don’t think dance photography in nature is what you need. What you need is—”
“Save it,” she said. “Heather’s already made the nudity joke, and it’s not that funny. Please, Nick. I’m desperate, and I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t think there was something in it for you. If nothing else, you could write your ticket off as a work expense.”
Well, she had him there. Even one-way tickets to Australia were steep, and now that he had no reliable source of income, he needed every write-off he could get. And it could be an interesting addition to his portfolio, a location rarely seen. And if he could compose the shots just right …
He shook his head and sighed, knowing he would regret what he was about to say, and probably very soon. But he also had the distinct impression that if he didn’t say it now, she’d keep arguing with him until he finally caved. Better to save them both the time and the headache and just get it over with.
“Fine. I’ll do it,” he said, and she gasped.
“Really?” she asked, eyeing him closely, as though she half expected him to wait a beat and then say “just joking.”
“Really. As long as it doesn’t interfere with wedding stuff. I really don’t want to let Marcus and Heather down.” Though it occurred to him, as he said it, that there was some appeal to having another task in front of him, another project he could work on and hopefully succeed at. Even if he also had to work on this one with Carly.
“It won’t get in the way, I promise,” she grinned, and Nick imagined that same joyous smile captured by his lens, her freckled face turned towards the sunrise as she casually tied her pointe shoes on the steps of the Opera House. He studied her for a long second, took in the way her eyes sparkled with excitement, relief radiating from her face. It made his heart race again, and it set off a strange throb in his chest.
