Cora came over to thank me and to let me know she’d be open to doing more shoots. I got her contact info, and with a wave to Tyler, they were gone.
I stood there awkwardly with a lens cap in one hand, my camera in the other, and watched them leave. I should do something, but the weight of Tyler’s stare, even from all the way across the room, made me self-conscious, and I couldn’t bring myself to move. My emotions were all over the place, my body flushed one moment and trembling the next, and strangely, I felt tears burning my eyes. I just wasn’t sure whether it was fear that all of his talk earlier had been one big hysterical joke…
Or, that he’d completely and utterly meant everything he’d said.
Then I laughed nervously to myself, and I might have even done it out loud. I couldn’t tell you. All I could think about was Tyler seeing my naked body for the first time and abruptly changing his mind. I would be mortified. More than mortified. And what if word got around? Models talk, right? I had an excellent reputation as a photographer. I had that reputation because I always—ALWAYS—remained pleasant and professional with my models, and because I listened to what my clients wanted. I was out of my mind to even think about messing that up.
But that wasn’t the real reason I stood there staring longingly at the door through which there was no escape. The plain truth of the matter was this: I was way too old for this shit.
And yet a part of me…a newly awakened part of me…wanted nothing more than to feel Tyler’s hands and mouth on my body.
CHAPTER3
Tyler
“Are you going to look at me, Ailee?”
She shivered visibly at the sound of my voice, and that reaction, that proof that she wasn’t as unaffected by me as she tried to make it seem, made the blood rush in my ears. Her blue eyes found me, then dropped to my bare chest, heating my skin before they alighted on the white tank crumpled in my hands. Then they wandered all the way down to my bare feet and back again. There was hunger in that gaze. No matter how she might try to deny it. Fucking hell. She made me weak with nothing but a look. I watched, entranced, as she put the lens cap back on her camera. Setting it carefully on the table behind her, she turned to me.
I studied her face, waiting for her to say something. Was I completely out of line here? I was coming on strong; I knew that. But this might be the last chance I’d have to see her since I planned to get out of the business, and I’d be busy with school again soon. It’s not like I’d run into her on campus. Or find her on the bus. She didn’t even live in the city, but out here, where the mist covered the mountains and the downtown area consisted of local business and the occasional rogue black bear.
Fuck, I don’t know. Maybe I should get dressed, thank her, and head home. Save my dignity before she could turn me down. But I couldn’t bring my limbs to move. I didn’t want to get dressed. I wanted to helpherget undressed.
She cleared her throat, the sound loud to my straining ears, even over the low music she’d put on while we worked. “It was a good shoot,” she told me. “Sometimes, no matter how good a couple looks together, the chemistry just isn’t there. We got the shot in the end, though, and Stefanie is happy. As soon as I get the edited copy to her and she pays me, I’ll send you your cut.”
Still trying to keep it to business only. I studied her face. Her skin was so smooth. So pretty. But her expression was almost desperate, her eyes pleading with me to play along. I didn’t know why she was insisting on playing it so cool, but this was my chance—maybe my last and only chance—and I was taking it. If she shot me down, well, at least I wouldn’t have to face her again.
And if she didn’t…
I shook my head at her. “I don’t give a fuck about the shoot.” Tossing my tank to the side, I let my arms hang akimbo. “Come here.” I threw the command out there. I couldn’t just walk out of here without tasting her, without feeling her against me. Not without trying.
For a second, a flash of pure lust widened her eyes, only to be quickly hidden. It was so fast, I would’ve missed it if I’d looked away for even half a second. And when it was gone, instead of shock, or panic, a look of resignation swept across her features. “Tyler, we can’t…this isn’t…”
No. No more excuses. I saw the need on her face. The wanting. Just like I wanted her. If I let her, she’d talk us both out of this. “Ailee, come here,” I demanded. My muscles hurt from forcing myself to stay where I was.
She glanced toward the door beside me that led out to the reception area. Hoping for an escape? But then she came back to me. Her posture straightened and her chin rose as she prepared to hold her ground. “Tyler, we can’t do this. I can’t do this.”
“Why not?” I’m not exactly sure what had come over me. All I knew was I wouldn’t—couldn’t—allow her to pretend like this thing between us was something that happened every day. I’d felt it the first time I’d met her, but she’d had a wedding ring on her finger, and much as I’d wanted to, I wasn’t about to pursue her when she had a family waiting at home.
But the ring was gone. The rumors were true. She had no one waiting for her now.
Ailee crossed her arms, and I recognized it for what it was—a protective gesture. My eyes fell to her breasts, spilling from the top of her shirt. Curling my fingers into fists, I forced my attention back to what she was saying.
“Because I’m…”
I took a step toward her, pulled by a force I couldn’t fight anymore. “You’re what?” Her lips parted as she watched me come toward her, but she didn’t say anything to stop me. When I was within touching distance, I unclenched my hand and took her by the jaw, gently forcing her to look at me. I needed an answer—a good answer—as to why the hell we shouldn’t be doing this. “Why not, Ailee?”
Her eyes got glassy with unshed tears. I didn’t understand why she was so upset.
“Because I’m way too old for you, Tyler. And because I don’t mix business with pleasure.”
Too old? What the hell was she talking about? She sounded as bad as Willow.
And yet, a smile tugged at the corners of my mouth as relief rushed through me, making me lightheaded. Was that all this was about? A tear overflowed to dampen her cheek, and I brushed it away. “Ailee, don’t you know what you do to me?” I forced her to look at me. “You wanna know why the shoot just now with Cora sucked? It was because I was trying so hard to distract myself from you that my head wasn’t in the game. Not until that last shot. That last shot when I could look atyou. When I could imagine being withyou.” Releasing her chin, I cupped her cheek in my hand and held her still so I could whisper in her ear, “I was so fucking hard she must’ve felt it, and probably thought it was for her. But this…” I breathed in the clean scent of her hair, “thingthat I feel is completely for you.”
She didn’t seem to believe me, and I could think of only one way to prove my point. Needing to touch her, I ran my other hand down the bare skin of her arm, following a trail of goose bumps. When I reached her hand, I guided her to my aching cock. “Do you feel what you do to me, Ailee? I don’t give a shit how old you are. You’re sexy as hell. The sexiest woman I’ve ever met in my life.”
I expected her to pull her hand away. Maybe give me a glare and a few choice words for daring to be so uncouth. Slap me even. It wouldn’t be anything I didn’t deserve. But though she stood stiff as a board, she didn’t pull away, either. “Would you look at me? Please?” I waited, until finally, with agonizing slowness, she raised her eyes until they met mine. I said the only thing I could. The only thing that was true. “You take the breath from my lungs, Ailee.” I leaned in closer, lowering my head so my eyes were at a level with hers. “I want you. So much I can’t breathe. I’ve wanted you since the first time I saw you. And I think you feel the same way.”
