“How ‘bout I drive?” he asked, while folding back the soft top on the Jeep.
“Have at it.” She tossed him the keys and climbed in.
He jumped behind the wheel and started the engine.
“Let’s rock this mountain city,” she said.
Flashing her a smile, he cut into traffic.
Savannah plugged in her new phone. “Music helps me stay focused. Are you okay with that?”
“Of course. When I work, I get into what I call ‘The Zone’. Years ago, I had to let an assistant go because he was too talkative. Even when working at his desk, he talked to himself, out loud, all day long.”
She laughed. “Sounds like my mom. I would’ve done the same thing.” She flipped on her playlist,and the provocative voice of an artist he didn’t recognize crooned a sexy tune.
Savannah had closed her eyes, face tilted toward the sun, that swatch of dark hair buffeting her right eyebrow.My God, she’s beautiful.
Being with his beguiling stepsister was proving to be more of a challenge than he’d expected. There was too much about her that he liked. She didn’t force a conversation. In fact, she stayed focused on the job at hand and said very little. He admired her independence, yet appreciated how honest she’d been in sharing her concerns. Despite not winning the golf course job, she’d shaken it off and moved on. Her inner strength was as appealing as her physical beauty.
At the clothing store, she had plenty of opportunities to lay her hands on him, but she didn’t. Instead of turning him around, she’d tell him to model the clothing. Rather than brushing her fingers over the cotton shirts he’d tried on, she asked him how he liked the feel of the material. He ached for her touch. Aside from that brief stroke of gratitude at the coffee shop, she’d adhered to their no-touch rule.
Damn.
As they drove to Petroglyph National Monument, he wanted to curl his hand around her thigh. At the traffic light, he gripped the steering wheel to keep from pulling her close and kissing her again and again. His fantasies made his pants snug in the crotch.
He stopped at the guard gate at Boca Negra Canyon, paid the attendant, and parked. A gentle breeze whispered past him and he inhaled the fresh air. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d spent any time outside. “You ready to do this?”
“Let’s check it out.”
“You’re the boss. Lead on.” After exiting the vehicle, he slung both camera bags over his shoulder.
“We’ll walk the Cliff Base Trail,” she said, examining the brochure. “I can scope out the area, snap some test pics, and we can move on.”
After hiking in silence for a few moments, Savannah stopped. She propped her sunglasses on her head and shielded her eyes from the bright glare. “This is perfect. That little shift in the clouds bathes the rock formations in bright white light. How beautiful.”
Reverence filled her smoky voice. Sunlight hitting a bunch of old rocks didn’t hold his attention, but Savannah did.
He set down her gear and she dropped to one knee, unzipped the bags, and retrieved two cameras, each with a different lens attached. While he should have been absorbing the natural surroundings, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her soft expression, coupled with the joy in her eyes, captivated him.
With one camera slung around her neck, she started shooting with the other.
Click-click-click-click.
She stopped and examined the photos on the display, then moved to a different spot and continued shooting.
The park was filled with people, some with leashed dogs, others traveling the paved trail with large walking sticks.Is this what people do on a weekend?If Zander had been home, he’d be working, even on Saturday. He’d break to make a second pot of coffee. Might take someone to dinner. Steal an hour or two for sex, then return home and crash in bed, only to wake after a few hours, and begin again.
“I’m going to need you in a handful of the pictures,” she said.
His eyebrows shot up. “Me? What for?”
“Models are provided on a lot of my shoots at the parks. You know, stick humans in the picture to encourage other humans to visit.” She flashed him a smarmy grin. “You won’t have to do anything. Just stand there. Can you handle that?”
“That, I can do. But posing will cost you extra.”
* * *
Savannah liked having Zanderby her side for more reasons than his business acumen, his keen organizational skills, and his dry wit. Her insides had heated with each outfit he tried on. By the time they left the clothing store, she’d been on fire.
