Picture Perfect

by Maguire, L. E.

  Evan just stood and stared in total shock at me. “You...it’s you?”

  I looked over at Jake who sat frozen with his glass to his lips. I looked back at Evan. “It’s me...what?”

  “They told me they were bringing in some new blood, but I never imagined it would be you,” he said astounded.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked, starting to get annoyed.

  “I signed an exclusive with them a month ago. I’m the official Soft Caress Jeans guy.”

  My mouth dropped open as I stared at Evan. “We’re going to be working together?”

  “Seems that way.” Evan gave me a glorious smile. “Cheers,” he said happily, clinking his glass to mine.

  I was quiet as we ate, trying to decide exactly how I felt about working with him on this project. I have seen some of the previous ads that Soft Caress Jeans have done and they are all rather provocative. Though, I am not the real jealous type, I know better than anyone that there are tons of people milling around on photo shoots. They could be curled up in a bed together, but they were far from being in a room alone. There is anything but privacy on a shoot.

  I was going to have to talk with Evan about keeping things professional between us while at work. Exactly how I was going to broach that subject without hurting his feelings, I wasn’t sure. My career is in its infancy though, and I do not want people thinking that I got the job just because I am with Evan. It is important to me for people to know that I got the job based on my skills and not because of whom I know or who I am sleeping with or potentially sleeping with. That is a conversation for later.

  Jake leaned back and let this tremendous burp go. “Oh, hey. Lucina left me her number?” Jake asked, pointing to the piece of paper hanging on the fridge before I could scold him over his table manners.

  “I didn’t think you remembered her after the way you came home last night,” I joked.

  “Oh, yeah. I remember her all right.” Jake waggled his brows at me. “I’m gonna go give her a call. You two okay cleaning up here?” I nodded at him. “Thanks for breakfast, Em.” Jake leaned down and placed a kiss on my forehead. “You two behave now,” he warned in a teasing tone.

  Making my way over to the sink, I started to clean up from breakfast. Evan helped by covering and placing the remaining fruit salad in the fridge and bringing over the dirty frying pan from the stove.

  “So, what are we doing today?” Evan asked, leaning his hip against the counter.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. I needed to go to Gas Works Park to take some photos for See Seattle, but it’s raining pretty well out. It’ll have to wait.”

  “Good. I want us to go back to my place.” I looked at him with raised brows. Pushing off the counter, he came up behind me. Pressing himself against me, he pinned me up against the kitchen sink. Bringing his cheek against mine, he said in a husky tone, “I want you to put on the sexiest bra and panties you own. Don’t shower, but bring a change of clothes. You’ll need to shower once I’m done with you. Make it something nice. I want to take you out tonight.” Spanking me hard once again, he sauntered off towards the couch, leaving me all hot and bothered and panting at the sink.

  Finishing the dishes in record time, I headed toward my bedroom. “I’ll be back in just a bit,” I said over my shoulder breathlessly.

  “Don’t leave me waiting too long, baby,” he said, winking at me.

  Closing my bedroom door behind me, I felt my entire body flush with desire. What the hell does he have planned? Opening the underwear drawer of my dresser, I spotted the latest romance novel I was reading. My butt cheek still stung from where he spanked it. Holy shit. I hope he is not into anything kinky. Dominates are all the rage now in romance novels. What the hell was I going to do if he was into that stuff? I was pretty sure I was not. Could I try it? Yeah, I am not so sure about that. Shaking my head, I tried to stop the direction my thoughts were suddenly going in.

  While seeking out the only matching set of underwear I owned, the memory of why I had purchased it crept into my thoughts. It was after I had ended it with David. I had plans to take my picture in this set, but changed my mind last minute. That was the day I took the two nudes of me that Jake had chosen for the gallery.

  Locating them in the back of my drawer, buried under my every day bras and panties, I sighed as I pulled the matching set out. They both still had the tags on them. It really was a beautiful set. A sexy push-up bra in baby pink covered with black lace with matching V-string panties.

  I brought them into the bathroom, snipped off the tags, and put them on for the first time. The push-up bra did wonders for my cleavage, and the V-string panties, wrapped low around my hips, looking sexy but delicate.

  Throwing on a pair of jeans and a loose tunic, I packed a bag with all the essentials I was told to bring. Grabbing my bag, I stepped out into the hall and stopped. Jake was talking to Evan. It sounded like he was giving him the big brother speech, which made me smile.

  “Listen, Jake. I understand why you’d think I was a total womanizer based on how you two first met me. But I’ve talked with Ember about this already. She knows I didn’t arrive with or leave the club with those women that night.”

  “Well, I’ve got to tell you, pretty boy. I don’t have a lot of patience for male models. Too much temptation around for them to stay faithful. I’m not going to watch her get hurt again,” Jake warned. Something in his tone had me frowning. This was not his typical big brother speech.

  “And I don’t want to hurt her. I have very strong feelings for her. I can promise you that. She’s already very special to me.” There was a pause. “What do you mean get hurt again? That first night at the club, I sensed she had been hurt before. Let me guess? He was a male model.”

  There was a pause for a moment and I wished I could see the look on Jake’s face. He would not tell Evan about David. Would he?

  “Bing-fucking-o. You’re a lot smarter than you look, pretty boy. I see the way she looks at you. She’s falling. Hard. And I’m warning you now, you hurt her and I’m coming after you. I’ve got no problem fucking up that pretty face of yours. I’m not going to sit by and watch her try to kill-”

  “Jake!” I shouted angrily, standing on the threshold of the living room. His eyes snapped to mine and I shook my head at him. “Don’t,” I warned. Apparently he was about to tell Evan what happened after I broke it off with David. The horrified look on Evan’s face was telling me he already pieced together some based on what Jake had revealed. Great. I was now going to have to have a conversation with Evan that I never had any intention of having.

  Jake walked over to me with an apologetic look on his face. “I’m sorry, Em. I didn’t mean for all of that to come out. You know I just worry about you.”

  I pulled him in for a hug. “I know, Jake. It’s all right.” After what I put him through, it was impossible to stay mad at him. Besides, I knew Jake meant well.

  He pulled away from me. “I’ll see you later.” Walking over to Evan, he stuck his hand out to him. “Sorry, man. I know you mean well. I just needed to make sure.”

  Evan took his hand and shook it. “I know, big guy. We’re cool. I get it.”

  We both stood and watched Jake disappear down the hall to his room. Evan walked up to me and took the overnight bag from my hand. “You ready?” I nodded. “You have…everything?” The heat in his eyes as he asked that loaded question, emphasizing the word everything, spiked my heart rate. I nodded slowly and followed him out.

  ***

  It was still pouring outside, so Evan decided to leave his bike at my place and called for a taxi. The building we pulled up to was mostly glass with some brick. I imagined with all that glass that his place must have some pretty amazing views. It sat on the corner of First Avenue and Bell St, and it was a short five-minute ride from my apartment, which was rather convenient I thought.

  As we walked into his apartment, there was a small kitchen to the left, which was equipped with stai
nless steel appliances, light colored cabinets, and black granite countertops. The dining area consisted of a bar on the other side from the kitchen sink, which was open to the living room. He had a two-bedroom unit. The main bedroom and living room had floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over Puget Sound. Beautiful, dark hardwood floors ran throughout the entire place.

  His apartment was sparsely decorated with just a few barstools for the dining area, a black leather couch with two end tables in the living room and a flat screen TV hung on the opposite wall. A stereo system sat in the one corner with a precarious stack of CDs and DVDs piled next to it that looked in danger of spilling all over the living room floor with just the slightest vibration. A huge wooden sleigh bed with a black, shiny finish dominated the one bedroom along with matching night tables and dresser. It definitely looked like a typical bachelor pad.

  While Evan headed into his bedroom with my overnight bag, I walked over to the windows in the living room. An expensive, professional camera was sitting on a tripod facing out toward the Sound.

  “I enjoy taking a photo every now and then,” he said, walking over to the stereo. “I’m not very good at it,” he continued, plugging his iPod in. “But I enjoy it.” I smiled and nodded at him.

  “Please sit,” he said, motioning to the couch. The sounds of Evanescence started to spill out of the speakers. “Would you like something to drink? A glass of wine?”

  “A glass of wine would be great. Thank you.”

  He was quiet as he headed over to the fridge and pulled out the bottle of wine. Reaching up into a cabinet next to the fridge, he pulled down two wine glasses. I could hear the clink of the glass as it made contact with the granite countertop and the popping of the cork over the music, which he did not have very loud but was more a soft background noise.

  I admired the fluid movements of his perfect physique as he made his way back into the living room. The smooth gait of his walk and the flex of the muscles in his arms as he reached out to hand me a glass were mesmerizing. I imagine he looks quite stunning making his way down a runway.

  I took the glass gratefully. “Thank you,” I said softly, immediately taking a swig of the sweet liquid. There was something about his mood that had me a little on edge. Something told me I was going to need the liquid courage. I was certain he was going to ask me a question about what Jake had let slip earlier.

  I watched as he brought the wine glass up to his mouth. His tongue darted out over his sensual lips before he took a sip. Pressing the glass to his bottom lip, his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. His eyes never left mine the entire time. Placing his glass on the end table, he leaned towards me and started talking.

  “I know you’ve been hurt, Ember.” I tensed at his words. “And I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you’re willing to give me a chance.” Reaching over, he took the wine glass from my hand and placed it on the table next to his. “You don’t have to tell me what happened if you don’t want to.” Relaxing a little, I breathed a small sigh of relief. “But I have a story I’d like to tell you. If after that, you feel like you want to share your story with me, I’ll listen and be here for you. No matter what.”

  “Okay,” I whispered, nodding my head at him.

  “The tattoo on my back is a memorial of sorts for my mother. Magnolia trees were her favorite. There were a few in the yard of the house I grew up in. I would frequently find her sitting under one of them nearly every day when they were in bloom, surrounded by the sweet smelling flowers for an entire afternoon. When she’d come back in the house, the scent would linger on her skin for hours.” His eyes focused on something behind me as he smiled at the memory. Bringing his attention back to me, he reached over and took my hands in his.

  “My mother was a model. She met my father, who was in construction, while he was working on a set for a photo shoot. It was love at first sight or so I’ve been told.” He looked down at our entwined hands. I could hear the sadness in his voice, making me frown. “We relocated from New York to Seattle when I was ten. My father said it was for work, but what my mother didn’t know was he uprooted his family so he could follow the woman he was having an affair with.”

  I sucked in a breath-stunned stupid. They relocated from New York to Seattle? His father had an affair? Squeezing his hands, he brought his emerald eyes back to me. The sadness radiating out of them was palpable. “I’m so sorry.”

  “My father left us when I was thirteen. Just packed up and left one day. He never looked back. I don’t know where he is, and frankly, I really don’t give a fuck. My mother was devastated, but she got up and dealt with the crushing sadness every day so she could be there for me, take care of me. When I was old enough to be on my own, my mother passed within a month of my moving out. It killed her. My mother died of a broken heart,” he said, finishing on a whisper. Slowly, he raised his eyes up to mine, which were filled with unshed tears. He moved closer to me until our legs were pressed up against each other.

  “Don’t you see? I could never hurt you like that. I watched my mother, who I absolutely adored, walk around like she was on autopilot every day. She stopped smiling and laughing and I would hear nothing but crying coming from her room every night. I absolutely despise cheating and those that cheat.”

  I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I feel horrible.”

  His big, warm hands cupped my face. “Why?” he asked, frowning with concern.

  “The things I said to you that night in the bar. I was horrible. I completely judged you on looks and those girls hanging off you. If I had known…”

  “Shhhh. Don’t beat yourself up over that. You didn’t know. And….I…kinda deserved it. I acted like a shit, but it was only because you made me so freaking nervous.” He released my face, running his hands down my arms before grasping my hands back in his.

  “Nervous?” I asked, giving him a questioning look.

  He chuckled, but the sound was shaky and uneasy instead of light and easy. “You’re beautiful. My whole body responded to you the minute you walked into the club. It was like you were a magnet. I found myself being pulled in your direction with such force there was no way I could fight it.”

  “I thought you were so attractive, but so damn arrogant. I felt something between us, but then those girls approached…”

  “Tell me. Have you been fighting what you feel for me because I’m a model or because you thought I was a womanizer or both?”

  “Both,” I whispered, glancing out the windows behind him. He squeezed my hands, bringing my attention back to him.

  “Who hurt you, baby? Tell me so I can assure you that I’ll never do whatever was done to you,” he said, with a pleading look in his eyes.

  Glancing down at his hands, I debated over what exactly I could or even wanted to divulge. This was a subject I never expected to discuss with him. I was humiliated over what happened, but yet something inside me also wanted to share my story with him. I wanted that reassurance from him that he was so willing to offer.

  Pulling my hands out of his, I got up off the couch. Evan frowned and opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but he did not as I started pacing around his living room. He picked up on my restlessness and just let me be until I was ready to talk.

  Stopping by the end table, I picked up my glass of wine and nearly drained it. I walked over and leaned up against the one window in the living room, swirling the small amount of wine that remained in my glass. The gray clouds were so angry looking as the rain continued to fall, beating against the window.

  When Evanescence’s Lithium started to play, it immediately brought me back to what happened following David’s confession. The words just began to tumble out of me.

  “I met him while I was assisting for a fashion photographer in New York. I had just graduated from Columbia and was trying to break into the business. I worked whatever jobs I could get just trying to establish a name for myself. It was important that I did it on my own.” I looked down
at the red wine swirling in my glass. “My father is Malcolm Whitfield.” I looked over at him cautiously. He was a model. I knew he would recognize the name. Sure enough, his eyes grew wide as the name fully registered with him.

  “The Malcolm Whitfield?” I nodded. “Oh my god. He’s amazing. I’ve admired his work for years.”

  “So you understand then why it was important for me to do it on my own and not ride my father’s coattails.”

  He nodded. “Yes, and I can respect that.”

  “When I met him, he completely swept my off my feet. He was a total charmer.” I finished the rest of my wine. Walking back over to the breakfast bar, I placed my empty glass on the counter. “I thought what we had was special. He basically moved in with Jake and me, he spent so much time at our place. Eventually I even gave him a key. Our schedules were a little crazy so I wasn’t always there when he would arrive back from a photo shoot.”

  Walking back over to the window, I started playing with the camera Evan had sitting on the tripod. It was a professional grade 35mm Canon digital, which I was a little surprised about. “Jake knew something was off with him. He tried to tell me so many times, but I kept blowing him off.” I paused when a ferry suddenly appeared out on the Sound. The cloud cover was making the afternoon seem more like dusk. The lights from the ferry were glowing brightly and reflecting off the water perfectly. Unable to resist, I took a couple of shots with the camera.

  “He stopped with the frequent calls he would make when he was on the road. He started spending more time than was necessary at shoots, and began going out with people to celebrate a successful day more often. I saw the signs. I just chose to ignore them.” I looked over at Evan who was still sitting quietly on the couch just watching me intently.

  “The day I caught him was a particularly bad day for me. Jake and I had gotten into a bad argument. He discovered what that cheating bastard had been doing. He tried to tell me, but I just couldn’t comprehend what he was saying.” I paused to take a deep breath.