Page 37 of Enchanted

I laughed, reaching to take my equipment from him. “I’m sure you can, big boy. But like I said, I’m not interested in that.”

Rami smirked, hitching the bags over his own shoulders. Well fuck, how was I meant to reach them up there? Dude was built like a fucking tree. “Now who’s being cheeky? I was talking about photo shoots, nothing else.”

I waited for him to add more. I hadn’t spent long with Rami, just a few hours. But somehow I knew he was biting back an additional comment.

One.

Two.

Three.

“Although, I’m always open to showing you the other ways I can keep you busy…should you find yourself single.”

And there it was.

The laughter that came out of my mouth surprised even me. It was loud. Free. Seemingly never-ending. By the time it ebbed, I was clutching my stomach with one hand and wiping tears from my cheeks with the other.

“Sorry,” I wheezed, still chuckling between breaths. “Don’t know what came over me. You’re just unstoppable.”

“I can’t seem to help myself around you.” Rami reached out to tuck a curl behind my ear. He kept his promise—not a millimetre of his skin touched mine as he did so. Didn’t stop my face flaming as if it had though. “But I like hearing you laugh.”

“I haven’t done that in a while,” I said ruefully, still rubbing my aching muscles. “God, I forgot how good it feels to laugh.”

Rami’s ever-present grin fell. When it reappeared, it seemed…strained.

Whelp. Look at me, overanalysing again.

“I’ll try to make it happen more often,” Rami said. “At our next shoot, of course.”

Whenever that would be.

With all my equipment packed, I realised there was nothing left to do but say goodbye. We’d finished earlier than I’d anticipated, mostly because Rami was so easy to work with. And, to be frank, so photogenic. I was itching to get home and start editing. And I wasn’t going to drool over a single shot.

I wasn’t.

Oh fuck, I totally was.

Despite my excitement about getting to that, I couldn’t seem to make my feet move. “I guess I’ll see you when I see you.”

Rami’s head bobbed. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“If you just wanna hand that over—” I gestured at the equipment over his shoulder. “—I’ll be heading off.”

“How are you getting home?”

“Probably an Uber,” I said, wondering why he cared. “The bus nearly killed me.”

Rami flinched. What did he have against buses? “I can drive you.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

He grinned. “I know, but I want to. Besides, Uber drivers can never find our house.”

I laughed, pointing at the fuck-off mansion behind us. “You mean that place?”

“Yup. Wouldn’t believe the issues they have.”

I hesitated. I really should get myself home.