Chapter 9
Elise
"How about over here?"I suggested, the soles of my shoes tapping on the smooth wooden floor as I walked across the restaurant towards a bright patch of sun cascading through a window. "We could drag a table over and set it up."
"Do you think that's the best light?" the owner asked me, head tilted.
"Well, it depends on what you're going for, really. I think this is the best natural light, and it will cut down on the amount of retouching I need to do for the photos, since it will pull out all the wonderful colors of your dishes on its own. But it definitely gives a sort of...daytime feel, if that makes sense. If you want people to have more of a 'this is the place you come for dinner and drinks after work' vibe, then I'd recommend something else."
He tapped his chin, seeming to think it over.
Bradley Dawson was one of the biggest names in town at the moment. He'd just opened a restaurant, Donna Lee's, and the food was supposed to be amazing.
The grand opening had happened while I was in Greece, so I hadn't gotten to taste anything yet, but I'd been incredibly flattered to get the call that he'd seen my work and wanted me to do all new pictures for his website and menus.
"Let's set up a more night life-y kind of atmosphere," he said finally. "I want this to be more than just a place where you grab a quick bite to eat on your way back to the office. I want people to come here after work, like you said. For drinks and dinner and dates. I want it to be more than just the humble name I gave it."
I smiled and nodded. "Great. Then I'd be happy to work with that."
I started setting up the things I needed from the shoot, and Bradley kept talking. "Donna Lee was my grandmother," he said. "She was a big woman. I don't mean she was fat or anything. She was about six foot four when I was a kid. Just a formidable woman. And she could cook like nobody's business. I always begged to go to her house because my mother couldn't cook for shit."
I laughed at that, adjusting the lights. "She sounds wonderful. Definitely worthy of having her name up there on the building."
He nodded. "She would have been proud. She passed away when I was in college sadly, but I know she would have enjoyed this."
"I'm glad you can remember her this way, then. Keep her memory alive through food."
"Exactly." He smiled at me, and I fought down the urge to blush.
It was so unprofessional to start making eyes at a client, but Bradley was definitely attractive.
He was tall and muscular, and definitely had a swimmer's build. His eyes were a gray so light, they were almost white, and there was a scar through his right eyebrow that my eyes kept returning to.
His hair was black and long enough that he had it pulled back into a low ponytail, and he was dressed in a sharp blazer and neatly pressed slacks with shiny shoes.
He looked well put together but not like he was trying too hard, and if I'd met him in any other circumstance, I would have found it hard to look away.
Hell, I was already finding it hard to look away, but luckily, I had a job to focus on.
Once I really got in the zone of taking pictures, it was easy to block everything else out.
The food got brought out to me, and I snapped shot after shot of the dishes, trying different angles to see what would work best. I got some good shots of the restaurant itself too, and those would be good for the website. There was one I was especially proud of, taken outside with Bradley standing under the awning looking up at the name 'Donna Lee's' like he was full of pride.
By the time I was about to start packing up, I was feeling very accomplished for a job well done.
"You did good work," Bradley said, coming over and smiling at me. "I can't wait to see how the pictures turn out."
"Once I've had a chance to go through them, I'll send you a selection and we can talk about editing," I said. "But I think you'll be happy."
"Oh, I can only imagine I will be," he replied. "There's one more thing, though."
"Hm?"
He shifted from foot to foot for a second and then flashed a bright smile at me. "I know this is likely very unprofessional considering we still have a client/contractor relationship going on here, but would you like to get dinner sometime?"
I blinked, a bit taken aback. It was unprofessional, but mostly from my end. I raised an eyebrow. "You still plan to pay me, right?"
Bradley laughed. "Of course. As far as I'm concerned, what you provide for me professionally and what I'd like you to provide for me personally are completely separate things." He made a face. "That came out weird, but you know what I mean."
I couldn't help but laugh, and I nodded. "I know what you mean. I have your number. I'll give you a call."
"About the pictures or the other thing?" he asked, grinning.
"You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?" I teased.
Honestly, I was very impressed with myself for keeping my cool through that. Being asked out while I was working wasn't really a new thing, but usually it was skeevy guys trying to buy me drinks or dinner instead of paying. Not funny professionals who understood the two had to be separate.
And he was very handsome. Maybe once I had finished the job for him, I could consider it.
