“Arrest a perp, huh?” She giggles again.
“You’re not the only one who watchedLaw and Order,” I tell her.
“Good,” she says. “Then you know what to do.” I follow her as she turns and walks toward a lighted set. She’s placed a streetlamp in front of a sweep of a city street. The whole scene looks impressively authentic.
I stand there awkwardly and watch as she walks over to the prop table. She picks up a pair of handcuffs and a billy club and brings them over to me. “Which do you want to start with?” I take the handcuffs.
As she walks off set and picks up her camera, I ask, “Aren’t you going to … you know …” I gesture toward my bare chest. “Put baby oil on me?” I finally mutter.
Finley’s gaze drops to my feet and she visibly swallows. “I usually save that for the pirate and fireman. You don’t want all the photos to look the same, do you?”
“I hadn’t really thought about it,” I tell her. Although, for some reason I’m semi-disappointed not to be getting the full treatment. “What about hair and makeup?” I ask.
Both of her hands form into fists before they open and clench again. “I want to take a couple of shots first and see how they look. If needed, we can adjust your character from there.”
An image from our first photo shoot pops into my mind. “In other words, you want to make sure I know what I’m doing.”
Her supple pink lips form into a slow smile. “Something like that,” she says. “Now, channel your inner lawman and show me what you’ve got.”
As uncomfortable as this is for me, I’m determined not to disappoint Finley. I try to imagine how Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson would handle this assignment. Standing as tall as my six feet two inches allows, I throw my shoulders back and flex my muscles for effect. Then I narrow my gaze into what I hope looks like a fierce expression of virility.
I’m convinced I must look like the most impressive cop on the planet but then Finley gasps, “What are you doing?”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
FINLEY
What in the world is Thomas doing?This cannot be the same sorry pirate I took pictures of last week.
I realize I must have asked this question out loud when his face morphs into an expression of concern. “I’m pretending I’m The Rock. Am I doing it wrong?”
“No.” In fact, he’s doing it so very right I’m having a hard time catching my breath. I knew Thomas was built from our first shoot, but there’s something about the way this uniform fits him that’s making the lens on my camera steam up. “You’re doing fine,” I tell him, downplaying the staggering reality of the situation.Swoon! Gasp! Attack of the vapors!He’s doing great!
“What’s wrong then?” He clearly doesn’t believe me.
“Nothing. Seriously.” I put the camera up to my face and start taking pictures. “Just move around a bit,” I tell him. “Change your pose, but do it subtly.”
Thomas is such a natural at pretending to be a sexy policeman, I’m about to beg him to arrest me. In fact, if he was a real cop, I’d be tempted to commit a crime just to get hisattention. After ten minutes, I tell him, “Take a break.” Then I practically sprint toward my bottle of cold water. I might have to pour it over my head to bring my temperature down.
Thomas walks toward me and peers over my shoulder to get a look at the computer monitor where his pictures have popped up. “Hey, these are good!” He sounds pleased with himself.
“They are.” I make sure to keep my back to him and emotion out of my voice. My face still feels like it’s on fire and I don’t want him to see what his image is doing to me.
“Who knew I was such a good model?” He’s clearly as surprised as I am. And who wouldn’t be, given our first disastrous session together?
“You’re doing much better,” I assure him without coming right out and praising him.
“I’m amazing,” he declares confidently.
I inhale slowly and count to seven before facing him. “Should we try it with the billy club now?”
“Let’s do it.” He sounds like he’s really enjoying himself, which is the point of these pictures. I just didn’t think he’d take to it so readily. Those cross-eyed pirate shots were seriously so bad I didn’t think he had it in him.
Thomas picks up the billy club and heads back to the set. He widens his legs in an imposing stance and grips the wooden stick like he’s heading into a street fight.Holy crow. The room starts to spin like I’ve had one too many sips of beer.
I take another several more shots before declaring, “I think the police officer is a wrap.”
Officer Culpepper practically skips off set before asking, “What now?”
