Danny (Models On Top #1) (24 page)

The smile that shines through the sunlight flooding the room is one free of deep concern. It’s the lightest one I’ve seen since… just since. She asks, “What are we doing? We said one time.”

Grabbing her by the hips, I move up, letting her settle back down, as I come up face to face. “We’re not the one time kind of love, baby.”

She kisses me, then runs her fingertip over my lips. “What kind of love are we?”

“We’re the insatiable kind, the kind that stays long after the other is gone, the type you can deny, but you can never stop feeling. Not ever.”

Wrapping her arms around me, she hugs me and I hold her just as tight while sitting all the way up.

With lips to my ear, she whispers, “Make love to me.”

“I don’t have to make. We already feel it.”

“You love me?”

“I never stopped.”

Tears fill her eyes and her hands touch my face. Her breath is but a feather-light whisper against my lips when she says, “You silly, foolish man.” Her lips meet mine and our tongues engage, a slow dance beginning. Our bodies slide together until I’m on my back again. She slips off the bed. With the light haloing her body, she takes her clothes off.

The evening is lazy, like we have our whole lives to spend in this bed. We both know better, but it feels good to pretend. Just for a little while.

The rest of the world fades away. Our bodies each other’s.

No beginning.

No end.

Only one.

Us together.

Reese rests on top of me. Naked. Baring her soul without even realizing it. She sleeps in such peace. I rub the back of her head, wanting her to feel that peace for as long as she can. I’ll take the burden that we face when she wakes up and carry it for both of us.

Through the windows—gray, coral, and yellow have replaced the bright blue. While the sun sets outside, I try my damnedest to set my feelings for this woman aside. She said it’s only a one-time thing. Although I can argue we broke her rule the second time we had sex. By the third, I rest my case.

We’ll leave Marfa in the morning, return to our respective coasts, and right back into our regularly scheduled lives. Apart. As if the last few days don’t matter. As if what happened between us never existed. This is what she wants, what she needs from me. I have to be strong. I can’t let these few days get in my head and twist my reality.

I close my eyes, still my hands, and try to find some of that peace Reese has found.

LAUGHTER FROM DOWN
the hall infiltrates the room where darkness has conquered. A streetlight in the distance, on the other side of the glass, teases us with shadows. My chest feels empty—inside and out, knowing this is it.

Despite wanting to remain in the darkness, in an ignorance of bliss, I open my eyes. Turning my head, Reese lies next to me, her eyes open, a wet line on her cheek streaking to the pillow. I roll to the side and wipe it away. Leaning forward, I kiss her where it was, as if that could clear the pain as easily as it was for me to wipe it away.

I do what I hate doing, but have to. I lie. “It’s going to be okay.”

In my eyes, she sees beyond the lie. With her hand resting over my heart, she feels the truth. But she doesn’t say anything. She just nods and closes her eyes. Her cheek replaces her hand and I wrap my arm around her.

I WAKE UP
with the sun, but the light gives me no warmth. Running my hand over her side of the bed, the sheets are cold. I’m alone. Silence fills the small space where she once filled it with her beauty, where we once filled it with our love. No evidence of her remains.

She’s gone.

Images flash through my mind causing my head to pound. Kissing Reese. Making love to her. The intensity of her eyes on me as I moved in and out of her. Her tear-streaked face. The look in her eyes when we knew our time was up.

Sitting up, I rub my eyes and yawn. I get dressed and go back to my room. When I open the door, there’s a note on the floor. I pick it up and sit on the corner of the bed to read it.

Danny,

You always were a good liar.

I laugh, some of the weight looming over my shoulders lifts, and I continue to read.

We may never have New York or Paris, but we’ll always have Marfa.

See you around,

Reese

Holding the note in hand, I fold it closed while staring at the wall. Yes, we’ll always have Marfa, but I want more.

Three hours later, I’m sitting on a plane in El Paso, waiting to take off. Becs is next to me reading a magazine. I have my phone on the tray in front of me, my headphones plugged into them. She says, “You should call her, or at least text her.”

“What you do know about ‘her’ when it comes to me?” I ask, a small grin tugging on my lips.

“I have eyes. We all do.”

“I might have screwed up.”

“With her?” she asks, seeming surprised.

“No. By opening that wound. Um, I mean door.”

“Wound. Door. You’ve got my attention. Which is it? Wound or door?”

“Door,” I say, trying to convince her of the story Reese and I concocted back in LA on that first trip.

She shifts, angling toward me, so I try to stop this interrogation before it begins. “Nothing’s going on, Becs. Just forget about it.”

“From the way Ms. Carmichael looked this morning, she won’t be forgetting about it anytime soon.” She picks her magazine back up, thumbing through it as if what she just said is meaningless when it means everything.

“You saw her?”

“I did. Bryker, Vittori, and Reese were checking out and heading to the airport together.”

She stops, so I encourage, “Go on.”

“I was drinking my coffee in the sitting room off the lobby. I had a clear view of them. She was laughing, carefree. I might venture to say happy. She looked relaxed considering the hour. Maybe this was a mini vacation for her. You know what a rat race Manhattan is.”

Becs reads me too well. “Or maybe a certain hot male model spent the night making her forget about that rat race.”

I turn back to staring at my phone on the tray.

Her elbow nudges me on the armrest. When I look at her, she says, “I won’t tell anyone, Danny. I can’t be bought and I don’t sell out my friends. I consider you a friend. I hope you know that.”

Real friends are hard to come by. In this business someone’s always looking for how to use you in one way or another to further his or her career. So when I give my trust, it’s because the person has proven trustworthy on more than one occasion. Becs has never used me or been anything but honest with me. “Thank you. I consider you a friend as well.”

She giggles and says, “Now that we’re established friends, she was glowing. Noticeably different in the way she moved with such ease and laughed so lightly.” Listening to her describing Reese, I imagine her in my head, and hope I made her feel that way. “Vittori even commented on the difference.”

“What did he say?”

“I didn’t hear the first part, but when Bryker left for the car, Vittori told her she looked, and I quote, ‘happy.’ And then he added, ‘and freshly fucked,’ end quote.”

I don’t say anything, but my grin grows.

She adds, “Our secret, but if I had to give a description to the police, I might use those same three words for her.” She laughs quietly and opens the magazine back to the page where she left off, not expecting me to confirm or deny. Becs leaves me sitting there in the knowledge that Reese left feeling much like I feel now. With no regrets.

MY PHONE RINGS
and I answer while walking onto my patio. “Hello?”

“Are you still scouting or do you want the week off before you head to New York?” Mark often forgets the basics in human interaction.

“Yes, my trip went great. The client is pleased with the photos and I still have the next gig in New York lined up. Thank you for asking.”

He chuckles. “I have a shit ton of work to do. Sorry about that. I heard from the ad agency. As you know, they are happy. Which makes Vittori happy, and in turn, makes me happy. Now about the other job. I have two offers to work with you. I know you put location scouting aside to focus on modeling when work picked back up, but we haven’t talked about your return to it or photography job offers. Do you want to stop by the office and go over the offers?”

“Are they worth considering?”

“I think so.”

“How about lunch on you?”

“Deal. Let Jody know time and place.”

“Got it.”

After showering and getting ready for the day, I head downtown. I stop in a shop down on Melrose. They’re holding a suit for me. It was sent by Vittori that I’m supposed to wear to a benefit tonight. I try it on for fit. It’s been tailored to a T. I might have to take this with me to New York.

In the car, driving to the restaurant, Luke calls. I answer, “What up?”

“What do you have going on tonight?”

“A charity event.”

“Got a date?”

“Why? You offering?”

“Fuck no. I’m meeting some girls at a club tonight. I need a wingman.”

“It’s funny how I’m paid millions and am the current Sexiest Man on the Planet title holder and
I’m
the wingman.”

“Some need more help than others.”

I joke, “I’m thinking about getting that title engraved on my tombstone.”

“You’re so full of yourself. You need to come spend time with the little people and gain some perspective back.”

“Sounds like a solid plan. I’m game.”

“Two girls. Are you looking?”

“Not really.”

“I take it all went well with Reese?”

“I plead the fifth.”

“No pleading shit with your best friend. You two hooked up?”

I don’t bother answering. He carries on anyway. “So you’re up for tonight, say eleven?”

“I can meet earlier. The event starts at six. I’ll be done by nine.”

“Meet me at Hud’s at nine thirty.”

“Later, dude.”

The valet takes my car as soon as I park at the restaurant. Walking in, I see Mark and Jods at a table by the far window. I lean down and kiss Jods on the cheek. “Always lovely to see you.”

“You too.”

I reach over and shake hands with Mark. “Not lovely to see me?” he jokes.

“Ravishing,” I say, sitting down.

We place our orders before we dive into business. Jods hands me a file while Mark starts going over each offer, listing the pros and cons of continuing to scout. “You’re a name now, Danny. This is just a bonus. So if you don’t love doing this, spend your time more wisely and focus on the modeling.”

I read over the offers, mainly the dollar figures. “They’re good money.”

“They’re good money for people who aren’t named Danny Weston. You make ten times that in a day.”

“I’m not attached to location scouting. It was just a way to branch out a few years ago. The photography I enjoy and I’m good at. I know how to get the best from models, but I think right now it’s more a hobby than something I want to focus on for money.” I close the file. “I say no to all three.”

“I’ll let them know. I think this is wise for your career right now. You’re at the top of your game and from here, it’s the stratosphere.”