The Model: A Workplace Romance

by Layne, Harlow

  “You do make me smile.”

  Tyson cleared his throat. “Raine said there was a breakfast buffet in the hotel. Are you both going?”

  “Yes,” I answered for both of us. “Alyssa was asking me if everyone was going or not, and I wasn’t sure what the plan was.”

  “We can all go. I don’t care. Do you?” Lexie asked Tyson.

  “The only thing I care about is eating and getting some sleep. I had no idea a photo shoot could be so tiring.”

  “It can be,” Lexie answered as if it was no big deal, and maybe to her, it wasn’t, but for most, they weren’t used to working such strange hours of the day. “Let’s go eat. Why don’t you go tell Alyssa to join us?”

  I had barely taken two steps in Alyssa’s direction when she scurried over to me. “We’re going to a buffet that’s in the hotel if you want to join us.”

  “Oh.” She looked down at the floor with the corners of her mouth turned down. “Do you think they’ll have a healthy option?”

  “It’s Vegas, so probably.” The others had started to leave, so I followed them with Alyssa following at my side.

  “Have you ever been before?”

  “Vegas?”

  She nodded.

  “It’s my first time. How about you?”

  “I’ve been a few times for shoots.”

  Ty was standing at the entrance with Sadie when we got to the restaurant. She held a credit card in her hand and waved us closer. “Go on in, Mathers is picking up the tab. “

  Alyssa perked up as she spotted all the food. There were rows of every possible breakfast dish you could imagine and some you couldn’t. Picking up a plate, I filled mine with bacon, a ham and spinach omelet, one slice of French toast, and a banana. It wasn’t my usual breakfast, but I needed to eat, and I was going to splurge this morning. Today was a good day, and I was celebrating.

  I found Lexie sitting at a booth next to Raine, and Tyson and Sadie on the other side of them. I wasn’t sure how they’d managed to get their food before me, but they had. I sat down next to Lexie at the end of the bench, and a moment later, Alyssa slid in beside Sadie.

  Everyone looked at her with curiosity, but didn’t say anything and went back to eating. I didn’t want her to feel like an outsider, but this was uncomfortable. For the next few minutes, no one said anything as we all ate. With each bite, I could see everyone’s eyes slowly start to droop a little bit more. We’d be lucky to not fall asleep at the table at the rate we were going.

  “So, what is everyone going to do once they’ve got some sleep in their systems?” Tyson asked.

  “I might hang out at the pool or go shopping,” Alyssa spoke up. Her plate mostly consisted of fruit with a lone hard-boiled egg in the mix.

  “I’m going to see if I can get a ticket to a show,” Raine announced.

  “What’s playing? I might be interested,” Lexie said, perking up some.

  “Us too,” Sadie nodded excitedly. “We haven’t been here since we got married, and let’s just say we didn’t see any of the local attractions.”

  “Did you honeymoon here?” Alyssa asked a little more boldly. She was starting to break out of her shell, and I liked that we’d made her comfortable enough to do that.

  “No, we got married here.” Tyson looked down at his wife. I could see his pupils dilate all the way from across the table. I had a pretty good feeling he was remembering their time in Vegas.

  “Really? Was it planned?” Alyssa leaned on her hand as she looked toward the couple.

  “If you count a couple of days planning, then yes,” Sadie laughed. “It was spur-of-the-moment, and once we were here, we went to the first chapel we saw.” One side of her mouth turned down. “Maybe not the best decision, but it got the job done.”

  “But you’d recommend getting married in Vegas?” I asked Tyson.

  He looked back and forth between Lexie and me. “Um…if you’re ready to get married, then yeah. We couldn’t wait a single minute longer and jumped on a plane.”

  “That sounds so romantic,” Raine sighed dreamily.

  It did, and it didn’t. While I wanted to marry Lexie today if she’d let me, maybe she wanted a big wedding or something more special.

  Setting down my fork, I turned to her. “Do you want a big wedding?”

  She finished chewing before she answered. “Not really. In all actuality, I’ve never put much thought into it.”

  “Why?” Alyssa asked a little too loudly. “Didn’t you used to dream about your wedding when you were a child?”

  Lexie frowned before she picked her fork back up and started eating again. Each time, she stabbed her food a little bit harder. Maybe she never wanted to get married, and that’s why she was upset. Wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I pulled her into my side and kissed her temple. Instantly, she relaxed into me and started to eat with her usual grace.

  Ducking, so my mouth was near her ear, I spoke quietly enough for only her to hear. “I’m sorry if her question bothered you.”

  She sat up straighter and spoke so everyone could hear what she had to say. “It’s okay. I just never thought being married was in the cards for me, especially seeing how much it wrecked my dad after my mom died.”

  “Being married can heal those wounds if you find the right person.” Sadie looked at us with kind eyes.

  “And I think you have,” Tyson added. “Why don’t you put the poor sap out of his misery and marry him?”

  “How do you know?” Lexie and I both asked at the same time.

  “It’s written all over his face. He’s dying to marry you. Trust me, I’ve been there and know the look all too well.”

  Alyssa looked uncomfortably at us from across the table like she needed to use the restroom. I wanted to laugh, but I also didn’t want to distract Lexie.

  “We’re trying this week out.” I hated the words as soon as they left my mouth.

  “What kind of bullshit is that?” Tyson barked out with a laugh. His wife’s soft face instantly went hard as she glared at him.

  Leaning over the table, my eyes narrowed at him. “Hey, don’t speak to her like that. I don’t want to force her into doing anything she doesn’t want to do, and if she doesn’t want to marry me, then I’ll find a way to live with that.”

  I gulped down the words that had just come out of my mouth. I wasn’t sure how I’d manage, but I would. I’d take Lexie anyway I could get her, even if that meant she wouldn’t be my wife now or ever.

  Lexie cleared her throat. “If you’ll excuse us.” She turned in her place to look at me, her eyes watery. Her voice was whisper quiet as she spoke. “Please come with me.”

  Standing up, I wasn’t sure what was happening. Was Lexie going to yell at me for what I’d said at the table? Taking my hand in hers, she led the way out of the restaurant and down the hall until we were clear from any onlookers. When we finally stopped, and she looked up at me, there were tears cascading down her cheeks. She pushed me up against the wall, her small hands cupping my cheeks. “I want you to know, I do want to marry you, but I’m not sure right now is the right time.”

  Now was the perfect time.

  With my hands firmly planted on her hips, I tried to explain myself calmly. “I know it may seem old-fashioned, but I want us to be married before our baby is born. There’s nothing that’s going to change the way I feel about you. But if you’re not ready, I’ll marry you today, tomorrow, next week or a month, or even a year from now. You say the word, and I’ll be there.”

  A soft smile tipped her lips as her blue eyes glittered up at me. “Why is it when you say endearing things like that all my worries disappear?”

  “Because that’s how it should be. When I’m with you, the rest of the world fades away, and all I see is you. I want to do the same for you. For you to be able to share your worries and troubles, and we work them out together.”

  Pushing up on the tips of her toes, Lexie pressed her lips to mine. It was desperate and healing all at the
same time, and when she opened her mouth over mine, I knew she’d be mine until the end of time.

  Breaking apart, she rubbed her nose along mine. “You’re a very convincing man, Ryder Williams.”

  Blinking rapidly as wetness built in my eyes, I placed my hands over hers. “Does that mean what I think it does?”

  “Why don’t you ask me and find out?”

  Letting go of her, I dropped down to one knee faster than the speed of light. I wasn’t going to give her a chance to change her mind. Holding both her hands in mine, I brought them to my mouth with our eyes locked on each other and kissed the back of each hand. “My beautiful and talented woman, and the mother of my unborn child. The one person in this world I can’t live without, will you please do me the honor of becoming my wife, my partner in life?”

  Nodding vehemently, tears raced down her face. “I’d love nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  Pulling her down to sit on my knee, I peppered kisses all over her gorgeous smiling face. “Thank you, I promise I won’t make you regret your decision.”

  Clapping from the direction of the restaurant interrupted our moment, and when we turned to look, we found everyone in our crew who’d been at breakfast standing just outside the entrance with smiles on their face.

  Holding onto her hips as I stood, I placed her on her feet. “What do you say we go celebrate?”

  “I like the way you think.”

  24

  Lexie

  Shooting off an email to the wedding planner, I leaned back in the booth and watched as our crew trickled in. It had become somewhat of a tradition for us to hit up the buffet after our late-night shoots. I grabbed what I wanted to eat and tried to get some work done before I was surrounded by everyone and couldn’t think for myself.

  “Are you finished?” Raine slid into the booth on the other side and made her way down until she was across from me.

  Resting my head against the wall, I let out an exhausted sigh. “I doubt it. I’ll probably wake up with an email from her and a hundred other things she needs for me to do before tomorrow.”

  Reaching across the table, Raine rested her hand on mine. “Hey, if you need any help, you know I’m here for you.”

  “Why did I think I could put a wedding together in a matter of days?”

  “Uh…because you thought it would be a few simple things.” She giggled.

  I had thought we’d head to a little white chapel one day during the time we had off since we’d agreed to get married while we were here. I had no family, and everyone important to me was here. I tried to reason with Ryder that his mom would be disappointed she missed it, but he was adamant she’d understand. When the hotel heard Ryder and I were getting married this week, they offered up their wedding services free of charge. Now I wish I had turned them down because I was up to my eyeballs in wedding stuff I didn’t care about. I tried to put on a happy face as Ryder placed his plate next to mine and slid in beside me.

  His arm wrapped around my shoulders as he pulled me to him while he placed a kiss on the side of my head. It was sweet, and he was happy, so I wouldn’t complain. “You look tired. When did you fall asleep?” He picked up his phone to look at the time. “Yesterday? I’m so messed up on time right now.”

  “We all are, but we have to shoot during the least busy times at the hotel, and that’s practically never. At least it’s warm, so your pool shots weren’t when it was freezing outside.” I let out a big yawn. All I wanted to do was close my eyes and fall asleep, but there was too much to do.

  “Maybe we should pack up our breakfast and take it upstairs.”

  “I’m fine.” I rested my head on his shoulder. “I need to eat, and I might as well do it here.”

  “I’ll try to eat fast.” He shoved a bite of his omelet in his mouth and chewed. Ryder had no problem eating fast. He could have an entire plate full of food and finish faster than I could with a quarter of the food.

  “Do you think we’ll run late tonight?”

  Tonight, we had booked the rooftop for two hours to get some shots at sunset. They’d only let me close down one section in all the time we were shooting, and this was it. I couldn’t control the sun, and there were bound to be plenty of people wanting to hang out on the rooftop bar at sunset.

  “If we don’t get the shot, we don’t get it, so it should be an early night.” And luckily, our last thing to shoot.

  “Good, I want you to get some rest. I know we’re all dragging, but you’ve got a tiny human growing inside of you, and that’s much more important than work.”

  I patted his thigh. I didn’t think Ryder would hate me for getting pregnant, but I never thought he’d be this accepting and supportive either.

  “I promise to sleep. I’ll even silence my phone, so the wedding planner doesn’t wake me up with her thousand messages.”

  “If she calls, I’ll take care of it.”

  I wasn’t sure how he’d help when he didn’t know half the details, but at that point, I didn’t care if everything was messed up. Did the colors, flowers, and food really matter in the scheme of things? All I cared about was the man sitting next to me.

  “Do you have kids?” Alyssa asked Sadie. She’d taken to eating and hanging out with us, and each day she seemed to be becoming a little bit bolder. Which was a good thing; she needed to be bold in this business.

  I felt the shift in Ty and Sadie immediately. He looked down at his plate and started to move his food around, and Sadie’s lips turned down as she took in her husband. There definitely was a story there, but I wasn’t going to pry. They’d been wonderful about me hijacking their project to get Ryder here. Now they knew he was the best man for the job, but it still wasn’t my best move. I wouldn’t have done it if I knew of any way better to get him back in my life to tell him the news.

  “No, but we do have an amazing dog that we spoil.” Sadie tried to sound upbeat but failed.

  Alyssa wasn’t picking up on the clues that this was an unwanted topic. “Why not? You two would make beautiful babies.” She sighed dreamily as if she was conjuring up the images of them at that moment.

  Lifting his head, Ty grimaced. “When I was in college, I had testicular cancer, and now I can’t have children.”

  Alyssa’s caramel eyes widened before she looked around the table to see us all staring at her. I wasn’t sure what anyone else’s face looked like, but mine was one of sadness. It was obviously a sore topic, and she had ripped the band-aid right off. “I’m so sorry. I was just trying to make small talk. I never meant to offend or hurt anyone’s feelings. Please forgive me.” She looked close to crying, and I didn’t blame her. I wanted to cry for Ty and Sadie and their situation.

  Sadie reached around her husband to pat Alyssa’s arm. “Nothing to forgive. How could you have known? We’re happy where we are in our life right now, but one day if we decide we want a child, we might adopt. Until then, we’re happy.”

  “I think I’m ready for some sleep. Anyone else ready to head up?” The look on Ty’s face said he appreciated the break in the tension.

  Ryder stretched his arms above his head and let out a dramatic yawn. I watched as his t-shirt rode up to reveal a tiny slice of his abs, but I was too tired to be turned on. I knew then I needed sleep and badly.

  “I’m more than ready. Make sure you know your time to meet with hair, makeup, and wardrobe. I expect to see everyone up on the roof at three o’clock. No later,” I announced as I slipped out of the booth before we said our goodbyes to everyone.

  We were halfway to the elevator when Ryder leaned down and spoke against the shell of my ear. “I like it when you’re bossy.”

  “Good, because I’m one bossy bitch.”

  He laughed and pulled me closer to his side.

  Stepping onto the elevator, we saw Alyssa walking with Brad and Annalise, but were too far away for us to hold the doors for them.

  “Why did you want her on the project?” He nodded outside the e
levator.

  Looking up, I saw his brows were pulled tight. “Alyssa?”

  “You wanted her, and yet you’d never worked with her before.”

  “I did because once I saw her, I knew you two would look perfect together, and I wanted to help your career as much as I could. Trust me, I called anyone I knew who’d worked with her in the past to make sure she was qualified. Did you think I’d hire Lana?”

  “Only if there was a possibility of a serial killer on the set.” He chuckled but quieted down quickly. “Besides her being quiet and opening her mouth when she shouldn’t, Alyssa’s easy to work with.” Pulling my back to his back and his hands cradling my tiny bump, we looked at ourselves in the mirrored walls of the elevator. We were unconventional, but we looked good together. “She’s not as nice as working with you.”

  Placing my hands over his, our eyes connected in the mirror. “It was one time, and it won’t happen again.”

  “Never, say never.” Leaning down, he trailed kisses up the column of my neck. “Look where we are now. Who would have thought when we met, we’d be getting married?”

  Certainly not me. I thought it was an incredible one-night stand with the hottest model who’d ever walked into my studio, and who I might one day work with again. If I was lucky, we’d hook up again.

  “I never thought I’d get married at all and most definitely not in Vegas unless I was drunk.” People would undoubtedly think Ryder had been drunk when they found out he’d married me in Sin City. “Did you ever picture yourself married?”

  Resting his cheek on the top of my head, he tightened his grip around my waist. “Eventually, when I found the right woman, yes, but not this early in my life,” he let out a contented sigh. “Then, I spotted you. I’m not going to lie to you and say I thought we’d get married the day we met because that would be a lie. It was pure lust. You are unlike anyone I’ve ever met. Everything about you turns me on from your blue hair, beautiful tattoos, all the way down to your cute little toes.” One hand skated up my ribcage, and with his thumb and forefinger, Ryder expertly found my nipple ring through my clothing. He pulled roughly sending zings of pleasure straight down to my core. I looked up to see we still had ten more floors before we could get off the elevator. I wanted to hit the emergency button, so I could strip him bare and swallow his cock deep into my throat. “You didn’t think I forgot about these, did you? They’re hot as hell and make me want to do something crazy like pierce my dick.