“Y-yes,” I replied, nodding like a bobble head.
He opened his mouth, only to close it a few seconds later. The crease between his brow became a crevasse again, and I was dying to know what was going through his head.
“Okay, yeah.”
“Yeah?” I blurted out, totally shocked.
“Yeah. I mean, you’ve got to work, and I get it. Just make sure you clean up. Uh, I’ve got some sanitizer wipes under the sink… and, okay, I’m gonna go.”
He shook his head as if shaking away a fly in his ear. Then he practically bolted for the back door.
“What about breakfast?” I called out, reaching over and flicking off the knob for the burner. The eggs looked a little on the rubbery side, and I said a mental “oops.”
“You can have it,” he rushed to say. “If you want it.” He slipped out the back door without looking at me. “Uh, have a good day at work. Uh, er. Working.”
The door closed with a rattle, and I was left blinking at his back while he rushed to throw on his jacket and boots in the mudroom. Then he was gone, traipsing through the snow with body language that said he’d rather be running.
“You too,” I said as I sagged against the counter. I knew he couldn’t hear me, but the vibes were out there at least. Maybe they’d catch up to him.
I wished I knew what that had been about. He didn’t seem like my work was something to freak out over, but he did freak about something.
“Whatever,” I whispered and picked up a clump of eggs. Yeah, those weren’t getting eaten.
I showered. Prepped and plugged, to keep me open until I was ready. Dried off thoroughly and styled my hair.
I set up my camera in the bathroom because I thought the promo called for a shower shot.
And then I focused on the less glorified part of my job. The things that had to be faked, and I hate it.
I liked the realness. Maybe I didn’t like all my little flaws, but I wasn’t going to hide them from the camera, from my people. I also didn’t like over-the-top fake scenes, which was why I tried my hardest not to go down that road. There was always ninety percent of me in everything I made.
But this shower was going to be cold, and I had to pretend it was nice and warm. There was no other way to do it. Steam may be sexy, but not if it fogged up the shots and messed with the lens. Made it kind of pointless then.
This would make for a good face shot, which was what I was going for since they didn’t want to actually show me using the product. I got it, but I was still going to use it and give them mytrue expression the moment it sank into my ass. With any luck, I might have nice little fun moment all to myself. It had been a while since I did it just for me.
Shaking out my arms, I released all the tension of the last couple of days.
Then I let myself get lost in the magical moment I was about to make.
CHAPTER TEN
Killjoy
The image of Danny doing his work in my house had been distracting me all day. Though I didn’t have a damn clue what it might have looked like, that didn’t stop my brain from going into overdrive and making up shit. I hadn’t been able to get anything done because I wanted to run up to the house and watch him.
It was super fuckin’ creepy, and I damn well knew it. It was his job, and I had no damn right thinkin’ I could take advantage of the show just because he was using my house. Or just because he looked at me with those wide eyes, all full of hope and sweetness. He was too damn inviting and trusting for his own good.
“Fuck,” I said as my hand slipped and the wrench went clattering to the concrete floor. I looked down and thanked my lucky stars when I saw I hadn’t injured myself. It was stupid to work distracted, but I didn’t know what else to do.
I’d been so close to asking him what exactly he planned on doing. I was glad I hadn’t, because those images would be fuckin’haunting me even more than just theideaof what he could be up to. Only about a dozen times did it cross my mind to try and look him up, to see if I could watch some of his videos, but I shot that down every time.
He was, for lack of a better word,stuckwith me. And I may have been a grumpy asshole, but I wasn’t a dick. I wasn’t gonna take advantage of him or the situation.
Not intentionally, anyway.
I checked the time. It was late enough in the afternoon that I wouldn’t feel too bad for callin’ it quits. Sure, I was my own boss, and I could take as long as I fuckin’ wanted to do shit because I didn’t have anyone breathing down my neck, but I never wanted to take advantage of the people that gave me work. The club brothers trusted me with their sleds, and they would wait until I had ’em ready. Besides, no one was gonna do it for as cheap as I was.
It took me too long and also not long enough to clean up. My stomach rumbled the moment I stepped into the back room of the house. Damn, I’d been so distracted that I’d forgotten to eat lunch, and it didn’t help that I ran out this morning without even getting a bite of the breakfast I’d cooked. Yeah, that had been a dumb move, but I couldn’t help it. At the time, my thoughts were racing with all sorts of things, and I’d been afraid that if I didn’t leave, I would have said or done something dumb.
