Picture Perfect

by Maguire, L. E.

  “Please, just let this go, Jake. For now, just let it go. We’ll talk when we get back to the apartment.” I pleaded with him not only with my words but also with my eyes. He took a menacing step towards me and I automatically took a step back. “Let it go, Jake,” I said more forcefully through clenched teeth.

  He ran his hands over his face roughly and took a deep breath.

  “Oh, good. I see Jake was able to find you,” Daniel said. His eyes widened as he approached us, clearly picking up on the tension between Jake and me.

  When Jake stepped up to me again, totally invading my personal space, I did not move. “It was him, wasn’t it? You were in there with Evan?” I pulled back and nodded once at him. Closing his eyes, he took another deep breath before he turned to Daniel. “She’s all yours,” he said to him brusquely. “Later,” he growled at me as he turned and stormed off.

  Daniel frowned at his retreating form before turning his attention back to me. “Is everything all right?” he asked apprehensively.

  I wound my arm through his and pulled him away from the ladies room door before Evan could make his escape. I didn’t need everyone seeing Evan exiting the ladies room I had just come out of looking flushed. “Yeah. Everything’s fine,” I lied, unconvincingly no less, but Daniel was too much of a gentleman to question me further about it.

  “Oh, hey. I found out some information on who bought those photos of you.”

  “You did?” I asked as my eyes widened. I was not sure I really wanted to know. What if a man bought them and he turned out to be a total pervert?

  “Don’t get too excited. I don’t have a lot of information. Turns out he paid with cash and turned down delivery, insisting that he pick them up in a week after the show is over. All I’ve got is a name,” he said apologetically.

  I resisted rolling my eyes at after learning it was in fact a man who purchased them and gave Daniel an encouraging nod. “A Mr. Ryan. A first name wasn’t even given. I’m sorry I don’t have more information,” he said, shrugging. “But sometimes our customers like to keep as much information about them as private as possible.”

  “No worries, Daniel. You did the best you could. I appreciate you looking into that for me though.”

  I spent the remainder of the evening casually strolling the gallery with Daniel. I never saw Evan again. I am assuming he left the building as soon as he was able to escape the ladies room. For a brief second, I was worried that maybe he never had the opportunity to escape. But after watching countless women walk in and out of the ladies room, showing no indication that an extremely handsome man was hiding in there, I knew he had to of left.

  Jake avoided me as much as possible for the remainder of the evening as well. I could see that he was angry with me and I was getting angry that he was angry. It was so ridiculous when I really thought about it.

  When it was time to leave, I thanked Patricia for the wonderful opportunity. She was beaming at me excited over how successful my show had been.

  Leaning in to kiss Daniel on the cheek, he said he would be in touch with me concerning our dinner tomorrow evening. I ignored the ache in my chest that tried to remind me that this was not really the man I wanted to be having dinner with. But if I had any hope of giving Evan a chance, I was going to have to win Jake over.

  As I looked over at Jake, he was still glaring at me. This was not going to be easy, but I knew I had to give it a try. Evan was somebody I could no longer ignore.

  It was a short, but quiet and tense walk home. Jake never looked at me. When I did sneak a peek at him, he was frowning and seemed to be lost in thought. As he held the door to our lobby open for me, he looked everywhere but at me.

  Calling the elevator, he stepped in and held it for me before pressing the button for our floor. With his hands in his pockets, he remained mute while the elevator carried us up to our floor. The tension seemed even thicker between us in the confined space. Just when I was getting ready to say something, the elevator arrived at our floor. He motioned for me to exit first, and I paused before sullenly following him down the hall to our door.

  Digging my key out, I handed it to him to unlock the door. Holding the door open for me, he motioned for me to go in ahead of him. Heading down the hall to the open space of the kitchen and living room combo, I heard Jake shut and lock the door behind me. Placing my bag down on the kitchen island, I started heading over to the floor-to-ceiling windows by the couch. I only got a few steps before Jake’s monster hand grabbed my elbow and spun me around.

  His brow was creased with concern. “What are you doing, Em?” he asked softly.

  “I don’t know, Jake,” I answered honestly.

  Guiding me over to the couch, he urged me to sit. He then crouched down in front of me and took my hands in his. “Listen,” His eyes bore into mine. “I know I can’t tell you what to do, but I don’t see much of a difference between Evan and David, Ember.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “I know. You don’t think I don’t know that? That I haven’t thought of that?” Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “There’s something about him though, Jake. I can’t explain it.” Opening my eyes, I focused on Jake’s concerned face. “My body reacts to him in ways like it never has before. He ignites something inside me. All I wanted him to do…” My voice trailed off. I wasn’t exactly sure I wanted to admit this part to Jake.

  Jake raised his brows at me. “Go on,” he said, giving me an encouraging nod.

  I opened my mouth to speak, but quickly closed it.

  “All you wanted him to do was what, Em?” Jake asked, squeezing my hands.

  “All I wanted him to do was fuck me up against that door.” I paused when I saw Jake cringe slightly at my words. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

  He chuckled. “It’s all right, Em. I just think of you as my baby sister so it’s hard to picture you like that.” He gripped my hands a little tighter. “Be careful. I don’t want to see you get hurt again. I can’t handle coming home to another apartment to find you….hurt,” he finished in a whisper. His eyes filled with pain.

  I swallowed hard at his words, easily remembering how devastated I was when I found out what David had been doing or all the girls he had been doing to be more precise, and how much I had hurt Jake in the process.

  “Be careful, Em. Don’t confuse lust for love.” He let go of my hands and headed into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he grabbed a bottle of water.

  Getting up off the couch, I followed him into the kitchen. “What are you saying, Jake? Are you saying that you’re okay with me exploring what this is between Evan and me?” He handed me a bottle of water.

  “No, I’m not okay with it, but like I told you, Em, I can’t tell you what to do. If you think there is something between the two of you that you need to explore further then do it. Just be careful,” he pleaded. Pulling me into him, he kissed the top of my head. “What are you going to do about Daniel?” He pulled back and looked at me with raised brows.

  “Well, I’m going to go to dinner with Daniel tomorrow night. He’s a great guy. He’s nice, polite, a real gentleman. Besides, I don’t have Evan’s contact information. For all I know, I may never see him again,” I said, shrugging.

  Jake raised a brow over one eye and gave me a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me look. Evan was a model. Chances were pretty good that I was going to be seeing him again. Grasping my chin in his big hand, he forced me to look him in the eye. “Don’t string him along, Em. Daniel deserves better than to be stuck in the middle of a love triangle.”

  “I know,” I whispered.

  “He’s crazy about you. I can see it on his face when he looks at you. Let him down easy.”

  Unable to answer him, I just nodded my head. Letting out a jaw-splitting yawn, I returned my bottle of water to the fridge. Turning to Jake, I gave him a hug around the waist. “I’m heading off to bed. See you in the morning,” I mumbled.

  He hugged me back hard. “Good night, Em.” He kissed
me on the head before he released me.

  Heading back to my bedroom, my thoughts were filled with Evan and what happened in that damn bathroom. The feel of his hands on me and his soft lips urgently pressing against mine. I was so absorbed in my thoughts of Evan that I must have gotten ready for bed on autopilot, because the next thing I knew I was climbing into bed.

  All I did was toss and turn for what felt like an eternity. Reaching over to my nightstand, I grabbed my phone and did a Google search on Evan. Pictures from his recent ad for Rafael Mahoney’s new cologne filled my screen. I gaped at the ad with wide eyes not quite believing the pose they had him in.

  Evan was dressed in a white button-down shirt, which had the first three buttons undone putting that glorious chest on display. He was leaning up against a closed door while a dark-haired woman in a slinky, black-sequined dress had her perfectly manicured hands on either side of his head. Leaning in to him, her head was buried in his neck, which was tilted just enough so you could see her perfectly plump lips attached to the side of his neck. Evan’s eyes were a blazing, brilliant green. If I had not actually seen those eyes for myself already, I would have sworn the color was airbrushed, they looked that perfect.

  In the lower right corner of the ad was a picture of the bottle. The cologne was called Simply Rafael, and I was not sure if it was by design or not, but the bottle was emerald green. It was a perfect match to Evan’s eyes.

  He was looking directly at the camera with a seriously sexy half grin on his face, which caused just a dimple to pop out. I don’t know what held my attention more, those brilliant green eyes or that damn sexy as hell dimple.

  I’m not sure how long I lay there in bed staring at the ridiculously handsome man on the small screen of my smart phone, but at some point I managed to drift off to sleep. Dreams filled with explosive kisses up against bathroom doors, piercing emerald eyes, and dimpled smiles filled my head.

  “What time do you need to start getting ready?” Jake asked, plugging his iPod into the stereo.

  We just got done taking photos for a couple in our building. They recently got engaged and are huge Seahawks fans. When they caught me not too long ago on the rooftop deck taking photos of Seattle, they asked if I would take their photo for their engagement announcement. Since the Seahawks stadium is practically in our backyard, it made the perfect backdrop for their photos. The rain even held off until I was done.

  Glancing up at the time on my laptop, I plugged in my SD card. “In less than an hour. Daniel said he would be here at five sharp.”

  “The usual, Em?” Jake asked, scrolling through the music on his iPod.

  “Of course.” Jake was referring to the music we always listened to when editing. We were both fans of hard rock and heavy metal, and it was what we preferred to listen to when working.

  As the pictures started to load on my laptop, the thumping bass drum, complicated guitar riffs, and raspy, growling voice of Avenged Sevenfold started to pump through the speakers.

  “Wow, Em. I don’t think any of these are going to need any kind of touching up,” Jake said, standing behind me.

  “Well that’s the point, isn’t it?” Turning around in my chair, I raised a brow at him. “If you take the picture right the first time, you won’t need to edit it.”

  He reached over me and clicked on one particular picture. It was a beautiful shot of the young couple standing off to the side holding the familiar twelve flag with the stadium behind them. I kept my settings so both subjects would be in sharp focus.

  “This one is awesome. How did you manage to make not only the couple but also the stadium a focal point of the picture? My eyes are drawn to both equally.”

  I smiled up at him. “It’s all about the aperture, my friend.”

  “Oh, I love it when you talk camera settings to me,” he said in jest. “Now, go get yourself ready for your date.” Pulling my chair out, he urged me to get up. “I’ll take it over from here. We wouldn’t want you to be late.”

  “No, I guess we wouldn’t,” I mumbled, huffing as I got up out of the chair. I wasn’t three steps away from Jake before he was grabbing my arm and spinning me around.

  Frowning at me, he examined my face before he spoke. “Why are you doing this?”

  Sighing, I shook my head at him. “Because I think he’s probably the better choice for me.” I looked up into his concerned brown eyes and said, “No. I know he’s the better choice for me.”

  Letting go of my arm, he nodded slowly in agreement. Giving Jake a small smile, I turned and headed for my bedroom.

  Yanking the shower curtain back, I turned the dial to the hottest setting and started the water. While I waited for the hot water to arrive, I stripped out of my clothes.

  Catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I walked over and examined my face. I looked tired. Running my fingers over the dark circles under my eyes, I noticed my eyelids were slightly puffy. My cheeks were horribly pale, which made the dark circles stand out even more. The erotic dreams I had about Evan the night before really did a number on me.

  Just thinking about Evan and being in the bathroom brought back my encounter with him. Closing my eyes, I ran my fingers over my lips, remembering the feel of his lips on mine. I was surprised when my lips tingled in response. My fingers then ran down my neck, remembering how his light kisses and warm tongue felt there. I trailed my fingers down my neck to my bare chest when my eyes suddenly snapped open. My chest was heaving and my lips were parted to accommodate my quickened breaths. I was totally turned on just thinking about the man.

  The bathroom was now warm and humid from the piping hot water of the shower. The mirror was completely fogged up, which really was a good thing. I did not need to see my heated face flushed with arousal, and if that wasn’t any indication of just how turned on I was then the dampness between my thighs was. What the hell was happening to me? I never in my life have been so affected by a man. Sighing heavily, I walked over to the shower. Peeling back the curtain, I turned the water to cold, knowing the cold water would be more beneficial in my heated state.

  Since I had no idea what Daniel had planned for this evening, I went with my little black dress. It was perfect for anything. I paired it with some cute, stripy sandals and the same diamond anklet I wore to my gallery opening the night before.

  As always, I kept my make-up to a minimum, though it took more concealer than usual to cover the dark circles under my eyes, and my long, wavy hair cascaded down my back. Giving myself one last glance in my full-length mirror, I headed out to the living area.

  Jake was sprawled out on the couch watching some action flick on the flat screen. He was wearing a pair of athletic shorts and a soft grey t-shirt. Looking totally relaxed, he had an open bag of Doritos sitting precariously on his chest.

  The clicking of my shoes on the hardwood floor alerted him to my presence. With a smile in place, he shifted his eyes from the TV to my face when his brows suddenly shot up. Jumping up off the couch, the now forgotten bag of Doritos went flying from his broad chest, sending chips flying in every direction.

  “Shit!” he exclaimed, bending down to clean up the mess. I started to chuckle until he shot me a murderous look. Covering my mouth, I morphed my chuckle into a cough as I approached him.

  “Can I help?” I asked, suppressing a giggle.

  “No,” he grumbled. Looking up at me, he stopped what he was doing and sat back on his heels. “Em, you look gorgeous.” I blushed furiously at his compliment. “You’re going to have Daniel eating out of the palm of your hand.”

  I rolled my eyes at him. Just as I was getting ready to protest, the doorbell rang.

  “I’ll get it,” Jake said, springing up from the floor. Slowly, I followed behind him.

  Jake swung the door open and heartily greeted Daniel. “Hey, man. It’s good to see you again,” Jake said, extending his hand for Daniel to shake.

  “You too, Jake,” Daniel said, squeezing Jake’s hand.

  “Come on
in.” Jake stepped aside.

  Daniel and I made eye contact and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. His platinum blonde hair was parted on the side with not a hair out of place as his pale, blue eyes twinkled at me. He was dressed in a pair of black trousers with a slate grey button-down shirt. The first two buttons were left undone, revealing just a hint of his tanned chest. His smile grew, as he got closer to me, flashing those perfect, white teeth. He really was gorgeous, but there was only one problem; I felt nothing. There was no spark, no butterflies, no tingling sensation shooting across my skin, nothing. I plastered a smile on my face, which I knew was unconvincing when I saw Jake frown at me over Daniel’s shoulder.

  “Ember, you look beautiful,” Daniel said, stopping in front of me. Taking my hand in his, he lifted it to his mouth and gently kissed my knuckles.

  “Thank you. You look very handsome,” I said, smiling. “Shall we?” I gestured toward the door.

  “Of course.”

  Jake stepped in front of me and gave me a brief hug. “Try to have a good time,” he whispered in my ear for just me to hear. I gently nodded and squeezed his arm before I stepped out of his hold.

  Daniel placed his hand on the small of my back as we walked toward the door. Immediately, I fought the urge to stiffen at the contact, which saddened me. Regardless of whether he was the better choice or not, I felt nothing for him and I knew I probably never would. This was not fair to Daniel.

  It was a quiet and awkward ride down the elevator. By the time we stepped out onto the sidewalk, I had decided I needed to call it a night.

  “Daniel,” I said softly. He stopped and raised his brows at me in question. “I’m sorry, but-”

  “This isn’t going to work, is it?” he asked, cutting me off.

  My eyes widened at him. Had I really been that obvious? Breaking eye contact with him, I closed my mouth and sighed heavily. When I looked back up at him, I was surprised to find a small smile on his face.

  “You don’t feel anything, do you?” Holding my breath, I shook my head at him. “Neither do I,” he said softly. The breath I was holding whooshed out in relief. “You’re a beautiful woman, Ember,” he rushed to tell me. “I just don’t…feel…” he paused, looking like he was searching for just the right word.