“How about Saturday?” His voice dropped an octave.
Or not.
Okay, time to pull out the tried-and-true, old-faithful, get-out-of-jail-free-and-pass-go rejection. “Actually,” she said as she turned, “I’m kind of seeing someone.”
“Really.” Julian looked at her like her pants were about to burst into flames from lying.
Was it really so hard to believe that she might be seeing someone? Her brows lifted and she tilted her head at his challenging tone. “Yes, really.”
Julian backed away and held up his hands in mock surrender, perhaps sensing her irritation. He pulled his shirt back on and winked at her before leaving. “Well, if you ever want to give a real man a try, call me.”
Tessa turned back to her computer. She heard footsteps and then the door shutting.
“Right,” she mumbled under her breath as she pushed her camera’s flash drive into the side of the computer, “like that would ever happen. Seriously, why do guys think that’s even remotely attractive? News flash, Romeo. Girls do not like assholes.”
“Are you sure about that?” a deep voice sounded from behind her.
Tessa screamed as she jumped at least a foot off the ground and spun around to find Jake dressed in full firefighter gear, leaning casually against the closed doorframe.
“What are you doing?!” Tessa asked as she clutched at her chest.
“Listening to you talking to yourself.” Jake pushed off the doorframe and began walking towards her.
“When did you get here?” Tessa hadn’t heard him come in.
“Right before you shot Officer Douchebag down.” Jake stopped about a foot in front of her.
“Oh.” Tessa nodded, looking up into the dark pools of his brown eyes. Her heart beat began picking up for an entirely different reason than fear. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Clearly.” A smile tugged at Jake’s lips and Tessa felt it spread through her like cream in her coffee. “Where do you want me?”
“What?” Tessa wanted him naked and on top of her, but she didn’t think she should just blurt that out.
His brow lifted and a knowing look flitted across his eyes. She couldn’t prove that he could read her mind, but she had always suspected as much. As she tried to clear it of anything X-rated, he put his hand out towards the white backdrop beside him. “The photo shoot.”
“Oh right! That.” Jake was here for his photo session. Duh. Her only excuse for totally blanking on the fact that, of course, she would be shooting Jake was the fact that she’d barely slept and, as Gran liked to say, ‘had been busier than a one-legged man in an ass kicking contest’.
Shaking her head slightly, she said, “So we’re gonna start with your full Bunker gear on. Then just your pants and boots. We’re doing side-by-sides of uniform and shirtless. Go ahead and stand there.”
Tessa’s hands were shaking as she pulled the now cleared flash drive from the computer. She wasn’t sure if they were shaking from nerves or arousal, but either way, she needed to lock it down and do her job. These calendars helped raise a lot of money for the city of Hope Falls.
Her heart was pounding and her mouth grew dry as she took her place in front of the backdrop. She began to lift the camera to her eye but realized that the shaking was getting worse. Tripod. Jake’s shoot could obviously not be done freehand.
“Are you okay?” Jake asked with amusement lacing his voice.
“Yep,” Tessa answered perhaps a tad too enthusiastically. She looked up to decide which pose to put Jake in and her breath caught in her chest. He stood totally naturally, his weight on his right foot, his left hand holding his helmet against his side. Not only was his body’s pose picture perfect, the look in his eye was…sizzling.
If it were possible to spontaneously combust from a look, Tessa would have burst into flames by now. Clearing her throat, she focused her attention on screwing the base of her camera onto the tripod. It was difficult when she could feel the heat of his stare all over her skin like she was lying on a beach and the sun was shining down on her.
Pressing her eye to the viewfinder, she began clicking. Jake didn’t need direction or emotion to be pulled out of him like the other models she’d been shooting. He naturally moved, just slightly every few moments, keeping the shots alive and full of life. Tessa adjusted her shutter speed and focusing ring and kept shooting.
“That’s great,” Tessa said. “I think we’ve got everything we need with that setup.”
Tessa was relieved when Jake began taking off his jacket. She wasn’t sure she could ask Jake to “lose the shirt” or “take it off” without her voice cracking, and as much as possible, she did want to at least have the appearance of professionalism.