Naked (3 page)

I was just about to go for a break when my phone went off. 
Unknown caller?
  It struck me odd.  I didn’t give my number out and the Lorenzo Agency who represented my modeling had strict disclosure rules.

“Hello?”

“Brynne Bennett.”  The sexy cadence of a British voice washed over me.

It was him.  Ethan Blackstone.  How, I have no earthly idea.  Or why for that matter, but it was him, sexy accent live and well on the other end of my phone.  I would know that commanding voice anywhere.

“How did you get this number?”

“You gave it to me last night.”  His voice burned into my ear and I knew he was lying.

“No,” I said slowly, trying to put the brakes on my escalating heart beat, “I did not give you my number last night.”  Why was he calling?

“I
may
have borrowed your phone by accident while you were dozing…and called my cell with it.  You distracted me by being dehydrated and starved.”  I heard muffled voices in the background like he could be in an office.  “It’s very easy to pick up the wrong phone when they all look alike.”

“So you went into my phone and dialed yours so you could get my number off the history of calls received.  That’s kinda creepy, Mr. Blackstone.”  I was starting to get rather pissed at Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome with the Gorgeous, Blue Eyes for his utter lack of personal boundaries.

“Please call me Ethan, Brynne.  I want you to call me Ethan.”

“And I want you to respect my privacy,
Ethan
.”

“Do you, Brynne?  I think you are really grateful for the ride home last night,” he spoke in a softer voice, “and you seemed to like your
dinner
too.”  He paused for a moment.  “You thanked me.”  More silence.  “In your condition you would’ve never made it home safely.”

Seriously?   His words returned me straight back to the overwhelming emotion I’d felt last night when he’d brought me the water and the Advil.  And as much as I hated to admit it, he was right.

“Okay…look, Ethan, I owe you for the ride last night.  It was a good call on your part and I do thank you for the help, but—”

“Then have dinner with me.  A proper dinner, preferably not something enclosed in plastic or foil, and definitely not in my car.”

“Oh, no.  Sorry, but I don’t think that’s a good ide—”

“You just said, ‘Ethan, I owe you for the ride,’ and that’s what I want—for you to have dinner with me.  Tonight.”

My heart pounded harder. 
I can’t do this. 
He affected me so strangely.  I knew myself well enough to realize that Ethan Blackstone was dangerous territory for a girl like me—Great White shark is hungry for lone swimmer in cove—territory.

“I have plans tonight,” I blurted into my phone.  A total lie.

“Then tomorrow night.”

“I—I can’t then.  I’ll be working late afternoon and photo shoots always exhaust me—”

“Perfect.  I’ll pick you up from your shoot, feed you, and take you home for an early night.”

“You keep interrupting me every time I speak!  I can’t think straight when you start barking orders, Ethan.  Are you like this with everyone or am I just special?”  I did not like how the conversation turned so fast in his favor.  It was maddening.  And whatever he meant in the way of an early night left me imagining all kinds of forbidden.

“Yes…and yes, Brynne, you are.”  I could feel the sex dripping off his voice through my phone, and it scared the shit out of me.  And I am a stupid idiot for wording the question like that. 
Way to go, Brynne, Ethan says you’re special.

“I have to get back to work now.”  My voice sounded thready.  I knew it did.  He just disarmed me so damn easily.  I tried again.  “Thanks for the offer, Ethan, but I can’t—”

“Say no to me,” he interrupted, “and that’s why I’ll pick you up from the shoot tomorrow for dinner.  You admitted that you owe me a favor, and I am calling it in.  It’s what I want, Brynne.”

Fucker did it again! 
I sighed into the phone loudly and let that sit in silence for a moment.  I was not going to give in to him so easily.

“Still there, Brynne?”

“So you want me to talk now?  You sure change your mind quickly.  Every time I speak you interrupt me.  Didn’t your mother teach you any manners, Ethan?”

“She couldn’t.  My mother died when I was four.”

Fuck. 
“Ahhh, well that explains it then.  I’m very sorry—look, Ethan; I really have to get back to my work.  You take care.”  I took the chicken way out and ended the call.

I set my cheek on the worktable and just rested for a minute, or five.  Ethan wore me out.  I don’t know how he managed it, but he did.  Eventually I got up from my chair and headed for the break room.  I got the biggest mug I could find, filled it with a shitload of half-and-half and sugar, and a moderate amount of coffee.  Maybe a caffeine/carb buzz would help me, or put me into a coma.

Looking over at my workspace I saw the captivating Lady Percival prepped and waiting so elegant and calm as she had been doing for more than a century.  Coffee in hand, I returned to her and attended to cleaning the grime from the book she so lovingly held to her breast.

3

Benny’s
beautiful brown skin looked divine against the pale yellow shirt draped onto his muscled frame.  Confidence poured out of Benny in every aspect of his life.  Totally optimistic.  I wish I could be more like him.  I was giving it my best shot but let’s just say my best shot at it sucked.

“So this Ethan bloke is trying to get all up in you, huh?  I saw how he watched you, Brynne.  He never
stopped
looking,” Ben muttered, “not that I blame him.”

Benny’s always been sweet like this.  My go-to guy when I need a shoulder.  He’s nosy though.  I’d tried all night to keep the conversation about his photography and gallery show, but he kept steering the talk back to Ethan.

“Yeah, well he has a way of getting the upper hand and I don’t like it, Ben.”  I dipped my French fry—that I refuse to call a chip—into some ranch dressing and popped it in my mouth.  “And thanks for making an honest woman of me tonight.”  I ate another fry.  “I told Ethan I had plans, which was a total lie until you called.”

Ben pointed a fry at me and smirked.  “So that’s why you nearly jumped me through my cell.”

I took a swig of my Sheppy’s cider, no longer hungry for the burger and fries.  “Thanks for the invite, my friend.”  Even to my ears I sounded like a bore.

“Well why don’t you go out with him?  He’s hot.  He wants you badly.  He can certainly afford to show you a good time.”  Benny picked up my hand and pressed his soft lips to my skin.  “You need to have a little fun, luv, or some sex.  Everybody needs to get some once in a while.  How long’s it been?”

I snatched my hand from him and took another swig of Sheppy’s.  “I am
not
talking about the last time I got laid, Ben.  Boundaries much?”

He gave me a patient look.  “You definitely need an orgasm, darling.”

I ignored his comment.  “He’s just so—well I—he’s—the man is so fucking intense.  His words, the stuff he does, the raised brow, those blue eyes—” I pointed my finger at my head like a gun and pulled the trigger.  “I can’t think when he starts in with the commands.”  I noticed Ben had pushed his plate away too.  “You ready to go?”

“Yeah.  Let’s get your sexually-frustrated vagina home.  Maybe you can have a date with your vibrator and that will help.”

I kicked Benny in the foot under the table.

During the cab ride to my flat I thought about last night in Ethan’s car.  I obviously felt comfortable enough to fall asleep.  That had been a total shocker.  I
never
did stuff like that.  Ever.  With my history, letting my guard down with strangers was not on the menu, especially the sleeping thing.  So why had I done so with Ethan?  Was it his gorgeous looks?  I’d only really seen his face but I could tell he was built underneath the silk suit.  The man had the whole package working for him.  Why me when he could have anyone he wanted?

“So you’re booked for a studio shoot tomorrow at Lorenzo?”

“Yeah.”  I hugged Ben.  “Thanks for the referral, honey, and the dinner.  You are the best.”  I kissed him on the cheek.  “
Vaya con dios
, you sexy man.”

“Love it when you speak Spanish to me, baby!”  Benny motioned with his hands toward his chest.  “Keep it coming!  I want to impress Ricardo next time he’s in town.”

I left Ben in the cab with a smile on his face, blowing a kiss.  I headed up to my little flat that I love and adore, was in my shower in under five minutes, and in my pajamas another ten after that.  I’d just put my toothbrush in the holder when my phone went off.  I looked at the display. 
Crap. 
Ethan.

I hit accept and gathered the courage to speak.  “Ethan…”

“I like when you say my name, so I suppose I’ll forgive you for hanging up on me today.”  His slow, elegant Brit voice settled over me, heightening my awareness of his maleness and the promise of sex instantly.

“Sorry about that.”  I waited for him to say something else but he didn’t.  I still hadn’t agreed to go out with him though and we both knew it.

Finally he asked, “So how were your plans tonight?”  I could just picture that mouth of his in a firm line of annoyance.

“They were fine—good.  I just got in actually…from dinner.”

“And what did you order at your dinner, Brynne?”

“Why must you know, Ethan?”

“So I can learn what pleases you.”  And just like that he did it again!  Taking my defensiveness away with a few small words and dripping of sexual innuendo as always.  And making me feel like a cold bitch.

“I had a garden burger, fries, and a Sheppy’s cider.”  I felt myself relax a little and softened my tone.

“Vegetarian?”

“Not at all.  I love meat—I mean—I eat…meat…all the time.” 
Dear lord. 
The brief feeling of relaxation vanished instantly and I was back to tripping over my words like a teenager.

Ethan laughed into the phone.  “So a good selection of meats and Sheppy’s on the menu will do it for you?”

“Hey, I never said I would go out with you.”  I closed my eyes.

“But you will.”  His voice did something to me.  Even through the phone, without sense of sight, he compelled me to want to agree just to see him again.  To look at him again.  To smell him again.

I groaned into the phone.  “You are killing me here, Ethan.”

“No,” he chuckled softly, “we’ve already established that I’m not a serial killer, remember?”

“So you claim, Mr. Blackstone, but know that if you
do
kill me, you’ll be number one on the suspect list.”

He laughed at that and the sound of him made me smile.  “So you’ve been talking about me to your friends then?”

“Maybe I keep a secret diary and wrote about you.  The cops will find it when they search my flat for clues.”

“Miss Bennett has quite the flair for the dramatic.  Did she take acting lessons in school?”

“No.  She just watched a lot of episodes of CSI.”

“Okay, I am getting the whole picture now.  Meat, Sheppy’s and Crime & Investigation Network.  A nice eclectic mix you’ve got going for you…among other things,” he said the last part very softly, the suggestion in the words hitting me directly between my legs.  “So where do I collect you tomorrow after your photo shoot?”

“It’s a studio shoot, so the Lorenzo Agency, tenth floor of the Shires Building.”

“I’ll find you, Brynne.  Send me a text when you’re finished and I’ll be there.  Goodnight.”  His voice changed, sounding more abrupt.

I heard a click and then the dial tone, realizing that Ethan had ended the call this time.  Payback for earlier?  Maybe.  But as I got into my bed and rehashed our conversation in the dark, I became conscious of the fact he’d gotten his way again.  I had a date with Ethan tomorrow night, and I’d never really agreed to go.

~*~

I sent the text to Ethan as Marco looked through the images.  I’d worked with Marco one other time and I liked him a lot.  Based in Milan, he liked classic poses reminiscent of the thirties and forties.

“You are magnificent in these,
bella
,
”
Marco told me with that beautiful Italian purr, “the camera is your friend.”

“It was nice.  Thank you, Marco.”

I still had to get ready and headed for the dressing room.  I tried not to fuss over my appearance but Ethan was so damned handsome.  I was just…me.  I knew I had a decent figure.  I kept it that way, and my body was my livelihood at the moment so I took care of myself.  And I’d had plenty of attention from boys growing up. 
Too much attention. 
But I wasn’t beautiful.  I had long, straight, light brown hair, nothing special.  My eyes were probably the most unique thing about me.  The color was odd—sort of a mixture of brown, grey, blue and green.  I’d never known what to put on my driver’s license back home.  I went with…brown.

I opened my bag and slipped off my robe.  Being it was nearly summer, and I assumed tonight would be casual at the end of a work day, I’d chosen clothes that would be forgiving of the time spent in a sports duffle—flax linen drawstring pants, a black, silky sleeveless top, and black leather flats.  I slung my favorite green cardigan over my shoulders and gave some attention to the rest of me.  I brushed my hair out and went with a pony tail wrapped with a strand of hair around the elastic.  Next, makeup, and it wouldn’t take long.  I rarely use much more than mascara and blush. Some lip gloss and a spray of my perfume finished me. 
Good to go, Brynne.

I pushed the call button at the elevators and waited.  Ethan didn’t say where to meet exactly and I figured the lobby would be fine.  He seemed to know the city like the back of his hand.

Marco walked up and gave me a hug in farewell.  He was a demonstrative guy, always hugging and kissing twice on the cheek in that Euro way that made it acceptable for him—and made the American me a sucker for it.  I can admit to being fully charmed by the kind of courtly behavior rarely displayed in my native land.