Capture Me: Alpha Billionaire Romance (Hollywood Dreams) (3 page)

Dear applicant,

We regret to inform you that you have been found ineligible for a non-immigrant visa . . .

. . . due to your failure to notify our office . . .

. . . today’s decision cannot be appealed . . .

The hell with that. I’d lived here for over half my life. Of course I was going to appeal, request, call, demand, and do whatever else I had to so I could keep doing exactly what I wanted and loved to do.

The large box of letters in my trash weighed on me. Just how many of these notices had I missed? At this point, would my words to ICE mean as little to them as the pile of mail had to me?

One way or another, I’d figure it out and make it happen.

A smile twitched at the corner of my mouth as an image of Tessa filled my vision. Her lying on my bed, wrapped in my white satin sheets. The morning sun slipping through the window, casting light and shadows across her hips, showing the woman within, just like that photo on my wall.

Something else I definitely wanted to make happen—make Tessa mine.

CHAPTER 5

Tessa

“Please tell me this is the side door,” I muttered to myself under my breath.

It wasn’t the same door to Phoenix Studios I went through yesterday when I had the pleasure of meeting Paisley’s twins, so I decided to take my chances. As long as I didn’t come face-to-face with another pair of boobs, I’d be one happy girl.

How Sadie had convinced me of coming here on a Saturday when the chances of anyone being at the studio were less than none, I still wasn’t sure. Even more, I needed a reasonable explanation for being here in case I happened to run into the exact person I came here to meet.

“Tell him you were in the area,” Sadie had said.

I might as well say,
I just happened to be on the side of town I never go to because I couldn’t stop thinking about you. And don’t mind me, I was just going to have some fun by wrapping my legs around you while nibbling on your neck.
He’d find that perfectly normal, right?

I readjusted my Coach purse over my shoulder and was about to push open the door when my phone rang. I reached into the front pocket of my bag, about to go for the silent button, when I caught a glimpse of the caller.

My little sister, Dani. I stepped back from the door and clicked
accept
.

“Hey, sis. What’s up?”

“Dad wanted to make sure you were still on for Monday.” She said it as though we were going to dinner, not that I was starting my first day at the company. He’d only been setting me up since I was twelve to take over the place. Thank god I had another few decades before I had to actually take the company over. Monday was orientation, that was all. I could live with that kind of pressure.

“You’re not his personal secretary, you know,” I said to Dani.

“Well, when you’re not around, someone gets the fun jobs.”

I smiled. “Don’t I know it.”

“You free tonight?”

I glanced at Liam’s door. “I hope not.”

“That’s not exactly an answer,” Dani said, and I could feel her mischievous glare through the phone.

“I take it you have a final on Monday?”

“Accounting, first thing in the morning. Your favorite.”

Sometimes I wished her teasing remarks weren’t so dead on. “I should have all day tomorrow.”

Dani squealed. “You’re the best!”

“Remind me again when you ace the test.” I clicked the phone off and once again reached for the main entrance to Phoenix Studios.

Apparently, every expensive door also had to be heavy as hell. I’d been expecting to see lights and curtains after I opened it up. All the things that would be on this side of a studio.

Instead, a long hallway greeted me. Photos of barely-clothed women lined both sides, serving as a gallery for the artistically aroused male.

Halfway down, my eyes went to a shot of transparent heels. I recognized them as Cinderella’s, except they had a killer five-inch stiletto, the tip pressed into a curve of smooth flesh. The body part had me stepping in closer. I couldn’t tell if it was a butt or a breast.

That was how every piece was—I could stare at it from a different angle and see a whole new photo.

All of Liam’s photos explored a provocative form. It didn’t matter that I was attracted to men; the way he captured a woman’s beauty made my heart race.

I wanted him to see me in that same way—
beautiful
.

My bag nearly slipped from my shoulder. This time not from the exhaustion after an accounting or marketing final, but from the lure of this man I’d just met. Barely a week ago, I’d been consumed by studying. Cramming every night.

Only yesterday did I realize how much I needed a release. And perhaps even a release that came in the form of a man. A man like, Liam.

Which was probably Sadie’s motive when she persuaded me to come back today instead of going to my own graduation. I didn’t know how she thought Liam would be available for anything, but I wanted to find out.

Another metal door filled the end of the hallway. My fingers were on the handle, about to open it, and I stopped when I saw the frosted glass to my right with the words
Phoenix Studios
etched on the surface.

Doors this fancy were usually locked, just like men like Liam were usually taken.

As I pushed the aged bronze handle down, I stood ready to turn back down the hall of gorgeous women. Instead, the door swung open on silent hinges.

I held my breath and peeked my head inside.

The room looked like part factory, part laboratory, and all Liam. A cluster of oversized flat-screens on the far wall sat over industrial-looking equipment that I could only imagine would be to enlarge and edit all sorts of digital photos. That was what photographers did, right? Snap and edit.

I recognized Liam’s broad silhouette slowly swinging one way, then the other, on top of a bar stool. I had expected a high-backed leather chair, but this gave me a better, more delicious, view.

Facing the horseshoe table, he clearly didn’t know I stood behind him. In the silence of the room, I heard the guitar riffs from his on-the-ear headphones from fifteen feet away. Liam faced two wall-mounted monitors lining one side of the desk. His gray shirt pronounced his delts, lats, and every other back muscle I wanted to run my fingers across. Something—everything—about him made me want to raise the material up, just so I could kiss my way down.

Heat spread down my core and fanned out between my thighs.

Stepping to the side, I saw the first monitor. His hand moved quick and precise, editing the photo spread. I watched him for a moment, from an angle where he couldn’t see me. The more I gazed, the more I wanted to slide my hands down those shoulders and distract him.

My tongue darted out of my mouth and slid nice and slow across my bottom lip.

Something told me he wasn’t used to women keeping him on his toes, but he seemed like the kind of guy who needed the rush.

So, why the hell not?

I slowly walked up, feeling like some sort of predator. A cat ready to pounce and dig my claws into his bare flesh.

Except, I was conflicted.

Part of me wanted to pounce on him and the other part wanted to bound away. I compromised by resting a single hand on his shoulder.

“What the—” He spun around in the chair. Even with my height, and Liam sitting down, his presence controlled the room. His eyes widened at seeing me, and a thrill shot through me knowing I’d surprised him. “Oh.”

“Bad timing.” I stepped back. “I can see you’re busy.”

He pulled the headphones down to his neck and I kicked myself for not realizing he couldn’t hear me.

“I was. . .”
smooth, real smooth, Tessa
, “. . . picking up my résumé . . .”
for a job I already have. Lame, real lame. Keep talking. You’re really selling yourself on him wanting you to stay.

A smile peeked at the corner of his mouth. “You just happened to be in the area.”

I pulled at the corner of my skirt as everything else seemed to melt away and all I saw was him; his broad shoulders, the flat of his stomach, down to his thick thighs that cradled his large bulge.

“Right, something like that.”

Green. His eyes were definitely green with a subtle hint of brown. The floor-to-ceiling window on the far end of the room gave me the right light to see what I couldn’t in the back studio area yesterday.

God, was it only yesterday that I’d met this guy?

The wine he’d sent me last night had probably been more expensive than all the bottles I’d purchased since turning twenty-one last year. If that was how he treated every woman who came in here, there was no chance he had an opening this decade, let alone this weekend.

My thoughts went back to the wall of women. He probably had at least that many girls on speed dial. Every bit of me said to turn around. To get out before I become just another notch on his bedpost.

Making the first move wasn’t me, but with only two days of no school and no work, I’d decided to give it a go.

“Do you . . . want a tour?” he asked.

Something told me that wasn’t what he was about to say. I really didn’t know what more of the studio there was beyond this room and the two sections of the main warehouse.

“Is there a dark room?” I asked with the innocence of a thief in a bank vault.

Liam chuckled. “Unless you count the bathroom with the lights off, no. I only use digital.” He nodded to the computer screen. “Editing straight from a shot.”

Like the hallway, different sized prints filled every available space of the room. All of these were black and white, with a pop of color. One woman had a monarch resting on her hip. Its vibrant orange wings stood out even more than if it’d been a traditional nature shot. The more I looked at the curves of her body and hint of her private folds, the more her form reminded me of a flower bud.

All the images in this room had that same effect, except one. The small photo on the far end of the desk struck me. It was the only one in full color and the people in it were fully clothed—which was not something I had ever noticed as unusual until this moment, certainly partly because Liam was in the room with me.

Liam followed my line-of-sight, and from the way he sighed I could tell something was off. It was clear that the photo wasn’t something he glanced at very often, which made me want to get a better look. I wasn’t expecting any sort of explanation. In fact, with the way his shoulders suddenly slumped, I figured he’d try to take me on that tour, even though it was clear the only part of the place I hadn’t seen was the studio itself, and that bathroom. Instead, he scooted his chair to the photo and I looked over his shoulder.

I recognized Liam’s strong jaw, even under the reflective snow goggles. Though I’d never been drawn to facial hair, his five o’clock shadow made his features appear more dangerous, like he was ready for his next thrill and wanted to take someone along.

If they were up to it.

On either side of Liam stood who I guessed were his parents. All three smiled at the camera, with the slopes in the background. It took me a moment to see the helicopter blades above them.

The longer we lingered in silence, the more the photo and this room had to say without a single word uttered.

“This photo faces the wall more than it does me.” The words came out of Liam’s mouth, and though he sat beside me, he felt far away.

I placed my hand on his shoulder. The gesture seemed to break the trance Liam had fallen under, caught in some painful memory that kept my own mind racing to guess what it could be.

He looked over at me, then back at the photo. “This was our last photo together. The next day, they took an early morning helicopter flight. I’d been up late partying, too tired to go, and—” Liam shook his head like he wanted to erase the memory from his mind. “I know if I’d been there, too, I wouldn’t be here today, but I can’t help but think maybe things would have been different.” He set the frame back on the desk, this time facing it away.

I knew I should let it go, but I had to ask. “How long ago?”

“Three years, two months.”

And he still couldn’t look at the photograph at times? I’d never lost anyone like that. And I hoped I never would. The thought alone had my stomach turning in knots.

I squeezed his shoulder. Even though I couldn’t fully understand that kind of pain—I mean, a person has either dealt with that kind of loss or hasn’t—I didn’t want him to feel he was by himself in a moment when I was right here.

I thought about Dani and the easy life our parents had worked to give us in Greenwich. With Dad’s company doing so well, we had never been in need of anything.

Of course, Dad paying for my tuition to Columbia meant I only had this weekend to live it up before the real world wrapped its heavy hand around my ankles and pulled my feet back down to earth.

“What are you doing tonight?” The words slipped out before I’d thought them through, but once they had, I wasn’t going back. There was something about this man that made me lose all hesitation.