“You don’t have to tell me. I’m here if you want to share whatever is happening in that pretty head of yours, but there’s no pressure,” she offers quietly, voice filled with sincerity and honesty, and I swallow hard. “I’m not going anywhere, Rayne Cloud, okay? Talk to me whenever you need or want to.”
I’ll be fucked six ways to Sunday if that doesn’t almost make me cave automatically, her trust and warmth bleeding out of her like she has plenty of it to give away.
Mine, something dark inside me whispers, and this time I don’t push it away so fast. I let it linger, let it simmer until it’s boiling. I lower my head until my forehead rests against hers, uncaring that she’s still slick with sweat, and for the first time in a long time, I realize I might actually be more afraid of losing her than I am of telling her the truth.
Smiling once more, Maddie keeps her head pressed against mine for a long moment before she pulls back and says, “I think we have roughly one more hour in us before we’re packing away. You can hang out if you want, or you can chill in my office until I can come find you. Either one works for me, but we have snacks here. The good kind. I’m talking cakes, cookies, and nothing at all healthy. Caid would have a conniption, so you can’t tell him I’ve survived on nothing but carbs and sugar all day, okay?”
Once again, my lips twitch with a smile I want to give her but keep under wraps, because I’ve noticed her getting greedyfor them. Instead, I nod and pull back, only to press a kiss to her forehead before muttering, “Take your time. I’ll hang out.”
“Okay. Be good. Make good choices. Learn something,” she quips, right before the little blue-haired devil skips away and delves right back into work like she was made to be a photographer.
And I can do nothing but find a seat nearby and watch, choking on my jealousy the entire time.
Chapter Forty-Four
Maddie
By the time the shoot wraps an hour after I saw Rayne last, the models finally dressed and long gone from the studio, I’m pretty sure I’m ninety percent sweat and ten percent starving. It wasn’t a lie I told Rayne to get him to smile. I have literally only survived on carbs and sugar all day, to the point that I felt sick right before he appeared in the studio like a tatted dark angel wearing nothing but dark cargo pants, a matching shirt, and a frown that could kill if he possessed such an ability.
“Great work today, guys!” I call while assistants break down the equipment around us. “Go hydrate, eat something that isn’t baked goods, and enjoy the rest of your night.”
One of my employees salutes me with a bottle, while another walks over with a heavy bag slung over his shoulder. As he passes, he comments, “Anyone ever tell you how terrifying you are when you’re focused?”
“It’s because I’m an artist. We’re like that,” I shrug nonchalantly.
Sadly, Zeke appears right behind me and narcs like a bitch. “You threatened Nero with a light stand.”
“Nero deserved it,” I counter, turning my eyes on the disaster of a man across the room who has the good grace to look almost sheepish as he flips me the bird. I grin sweetly back at him, giving him two middle fingers, and he laughs with a shake of his head before he carries said light stand out of the studio.
There’s a light round of laughter around me, and I grin before I start looking for Rayne. He spent most of his time here with me, watching and waiting, but I lost sight of him roughly ten minutes before the shoot ended.
Wondering if I bored him to tears, I go in search of the tatted man. Thankfully, it doesn’t take me long. I find him in my office, the lights dim except for the soft glow of the lamp stationed on my desk. Warm amber lighting spills across the room while he sits in my office chair, scrolling absently through his phone.
Much like he did before, I can’t help but pause and take him in, leaning my shoulder into the doorframe as I run my eyes all over him. Dark clothes, like always. Dark hair falling slightly into his eyes, hiding those pretty blues that look haunting and breathtaking. He’s chewing on his lower lip, scraping his teeth over the pink flesh, slaying me where I stand. Not for the first time, I’m convinced this man, along with the others, was handcrafted specifically to ruin my life.
And I’m completely on board with it.
Rayne’s gaze lifts the moment I step into the room, and his handsome face softens without delay. Those almond eyes fill with warmth, and he locks his cell without looking away from me, finally releasing the lip he was holding hostage to greet me. “Hey, mayhem. Shoot over?”
Nodding, I close the door behind me before crossing the room, beelining straight for the couch and dropping with a dramatic groan as soon as I’m close enough. “Yes, sir. All done for the night. The team is packing everything away, my work here is done, so I am ready to bounce as soon as you are.”
The cushions sink beneath my weight, a much-needed reprieve for my tired body, and I send Rayne a smile just as my head drops to the back of the couch. He looks me over quietly for a long moment before he says, “You look exhausted.”
“What do you mean? I look hot as fuck,” I correct, smiling over at him.
“That, too,” he agrees readily, mouth twitching with a smile he simply won’t give me. I’m pretty sure he knows I wantall of the smiles, and he’s playing hard to get with them because he knows I’ll keep trying to earn them all. Bastard.
Grinning, I sink deeper into the couch, sighing deeply. For a minute, neither of us says anything, the studio noise distant from here but the only thing beside the ticking clock on the wall filling the room with any kind of sound.
Eventually, Rayne ditches my office chair and joins me on the couch, sitting close enough that I feel the heat of his body against my side. We fall into a comfortable silence, one that makes the room feel private and secluded, Rayne and me in our own little bubble.
My eyes close as I relax. At the very same time, Rayne reaches over and lightly brushes his fingers over my bare thigh where my shorts have ridden up. It’s a small touch, gentle and soft, but it has the same power as if I stuck my finger into an electrical socket. My body wakes up instantly, my heart hiccuping beneath my rib cage, while a rush of goose bumps breaks out over my skin.
Rolling my head on the couch, I find him already watching me, those pale eyes filled with depth and emotion. With my gaze connected to his, I softly say, “You disappeared earlier.”
His expression shifts only slightly, but I catch it nonetheless, watching him just as closely as he always watches me.
“I know,” he says.
