Me: That’s fine. See you soon.
“Can I get you anything while you wait for the rest of your party?” A sweet blonde wearing pigtails and bright pink lipstick leaned on the chair opposite me.
“A mimosa and some water for my pup?”
She nodded. “If you need anything else, just let me know.”
I waved really quickly as she started to walk away. “Sorry, I forgot to mention that two more people are going to be joining us.”
“I’ll pull over a few more chairs for you and bring their menus over.”
“Thanks.”
She nodded, smiling sweetly as she dragged two more metal chairs across the brick patio. “Be right back with those drinks.”
Brett was always a few minutes later than he said he would be so by the time he joined me, I had already finished my mimosa and was sipping on some iced green tea. Right when he sat down, my stomach growled embarrassingly loudly.
Brett laughed while pulling out his chair. “Sorry. I took a cab thinking it’d be faster than the subway. Traffic was a bitch.”
“No worries, they haven’t shown up yet.” I motioned to the empty chairs in front of us.
Right then, a woman with fiery red dyed hair, probably in her mid-thirties, started making her way to our table. “Brett?” She called over to him with a wave.
Brett got up and gave her a hug. “Kathy, this is Jolene, my cousin I was telling you about.”
I got up and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Kathy.”
“Thank you so much for meeting me. I cannot believe—of all the weeks for my photographer to get the flu! The models were right behind me. Hopefully they’ll be here any minute.” She spoke with the slightest hint of an Irish brogue. Who would have thought I’d meet two people from Ireland in one weekend? Small world for sure.
We started to chat about where in Central Park we should do the shoot, what she was looking for in her pictures, the erotic nature of her storyline, etc.
“So, they need to be seductive and in love?”
She nodded, sipping on her cappuccino.
“Then wouldn’t it be better for them to be in a bed, or at least in a bedroom? Maybe scantily dressed? In suggestively compromising positions?”
“That’s what I originally wanted but my photographer talked me out of that.”
I pursed my lips. That shit pissed me off. A photographer needs to get the right shot, not talk their client out of it.
My attention was quickly drawn away by a pair of gorgeous honey eyes staring at me as they got closer and closer to our table.
My mouth dropped open as Finn leaned over and kissed Kathy on the cheek. “Hey, sis.” His voice was like molasses-coated sex. “Kiera isn’t coming. She got called in for a shift at the diner,” he stated firmly, taking a seat next to Kathy.
“Oh rats. Well, this is Jolene, our new photographer, and Brett, my dear, dear friend that I have told you about.”
I got up to shake his hand. Finn stared right at me, his eyes wide like he didn’t know how to handle this situation. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you. We were just talking about where we should have the shoot.”
The meeting went on while we gorged on French toast and I had two more mimosas. Dozer happily chomped on the rawhide I had brought to keep him distracted. Finn and I awkwardly avoided each other’s glances. It was really weird.
Why didn’t he say he knew me?
Should I have said something?
God he’s beautiful.
“Alright, so it’s decided. Y’all will meet me at my apartment ’round ten and we’ll use my place for the shoot. I have a nice big four-poster bed and we can even use some props and really get into it. An erotic novel’s cover should drip with sex.”
