Pure Lust Vol. 2 (5 page)

The factual, calm way he was approaching things made me relax. As my tension fell away, I put my purse down and shrugged out of my cardigan, hanging them on one of the hooks along the front end of the studio.

“You’re certain you can keep my face out of it?” I asked, nerves starting to fight past the excitement.

Flynn shot me a dark look. “Don't worry, Tennessee. Like I said, it's not your face I'm interested in.”

***

After I'd signed the release and the contract, I’d reiterated I wasn’t going to be naked and Flynn had responded by tossing some clothes at me.

Now, as I stood under the hot lights, I almost wished I
was
naked.

I’d be a little cooler at least. Maybe not more comfortable, but cooler. The pants were some sort of fake leather and they might as well have been painted on. The bra barely fit and he’d adjusted the back of it and done something else so that my cleavage looked like…well, not
mine
.

The first twenty minutes were grueling and I developed a whole new level of respect for Kendra. After another thirty minutes, I realized I should have demanded more money. He snapped at me for shifting positions—I think I moved a fraction of an inch—and I took one of the fake knives he’d given me to hold and threw it at him.

“Excuse me, but I'm sort of new at this, remember?”

To my surprise, he grinned. Regarding me with so much heat I felt scalded, Flynn came to me with a swagger. He stole all my personal space and every inch of bare skin cried out for his attention. There were a lot of inches.

He didn't stop moving until there was no room left between us and even then, he found a way to surround me, his arms coming to bracket me up against the faux wall he'd chosen for a backdrop. “You might be new at this, Tennessee. But you're a natural. Now...” He reached and grabbed my hip.

I smacked at his wrist. “Hands off!”

“Don't worry.” He twisted his hand around, trapping my wrist. Something akin to misery flashed in his eyes as he rubbed his thumb over the place where my engagement ring had been. I wasn't stupid enough to wear it in the shoot. “We had some heat, but I'm not into poaching. Like I said, Edward's my brother. Just relax and...”

I almost reminded him that he'd kissed me after he'd known that Edward and I were engaged, but I didn't want to bring that up. I didn't even want to think about it. Ever.

His eyes held mine while he brought my hips forward, cocking the left one out. He twisted me some, the position unnatural, but not quite as uncomfortable as how I’d been standing.

“Better?”

“Yeah.” I would have said something else, but he moved around me, using his hands to guide my back, arching it slightly so that my breasts were thrust higher. There were trails of sensation tingling up my spine from where he had touched and I was so glad the bra he had given me was padded, otherwise he would have visible proof of how much his touch affected me.

Don’t worry…I’m not into poaching
.

Guilt flooded me and some of the heat cooled. It was a good thing too, because if Flynn put his mind to it, I had a bad feeling he could have made me forget about the fact that I was promised to someone else. To his brother. I would have hated myself afterward, even more than I hated myself now, but I wasn't sure I would've been able to control it.

“Let’s get this done,” I said, my voice brusque. “How much longer?”

“We’ve got time for a few more solo shots before Cody shows up.”

“Solo…?” I frowned at him as he backed up.

“Keep that scowl up, Tennessee.”

“Who cares if I scowl; my face isn’t supposed to show, remember? And who is Cody?”

“Yeah, damn. Oh, well. We need a full spread, some of you solo and then some of you with a male model. Cody is...the model I usually work with. Okay, turn away and face the wall, face half turned toward me. Trail your left hand down your hip—drop the knife first. Keep the knife in your right hand and lift it. Act like I’m standing right in front of you and you’re going to shove it right into my gut. That’s it. Perfect.”

He kept talking me through the rest of it and after a while, I half sank into a daze, a mindless sort of state where little existed save for his voice and the heat of the lights. It was easy, for that stretch of time, to forget about everything, even my guilt.

***

The slamming of the door tugged me out of the fugue-like state and I blinked, looking around as though I’d just woken up. Flynn frowned and looked at the door as he lowered his camera.

“Cody’s here.”

I nodded, swallowing. “I need some water.”

He jerked his head toward the partitioned area that hid a small kitchenette and I went to grab a bottle. My throat was dry. The rest of me was covered in a fine sheen of sweat and I was suddenly exhausted. How did Kendra do this all day?

When I came out from behind the screen, I stopped dead.

Okay.

Wow.

Flynn expected me to pose with
that
guy?

He looked to be four or five years older than me and he was…well. Perfect. On a physical level, I don’t think I’d ever seen a more beautiful man in my entire life. He was better looking, if possible, than both Flynn and Edward together. His eyes were such a piercing blue it was almost painful just to look into them. His face was the kind of thing master sculptures would spend their entire lives trying to reproduce…and fail.

Flynn caught sight of me and rolled his eyes. I had the feeling my reaction was fairly common. The man smiled at me. Damn. Not only was he drop-dead gorgeous, he was approachable too.

“This is Cody. Cody, Gabriella.”

Cody's left brow arched. “Wow, popular name. My brother’s fiancé has the same name.” He grinned at me, displaying a charming dimple in his left cheek.

Flynn snorted and then shot me a sly smile before looking back at the other man. “Cody, this is going to be your new sister-in-law. Gabriella, meet your other future brother-in-law.”

Both of us looked at each other for a minute and then we gaped at Flynn together. I waited for the punchline. Cody, though, had no such reservations.

He came at me with a grin and a whoop, grabbing me around the waist and picking me up to spin me around in the air. “You've got to be kidding me. Edward didn't tell me you were a model.” He put me down and studied my face, clasping my chin to turn my face from side to side. I had the feeling he was trying to figure out if he’d seen my face around before.

I gently nudged his hand down while Flynn came up from behind him and smacked him in the back of the head. Cody glared at him and I could suddenly see the resemblance between the two of them. I remembered Claire saying she'd had two sons with her first husband. That would've made Cody the middle child, which meant I'd guessed his age about right.

“Edward doesn't know, Cody.” Flynn’s voice was curt. “She needed the money and I needed the model. Amber had a tantrum and stormed out. I’m shooting photos so that her face doesn’t show. Just don’t tell Edward, okay?”

My face heated as Cody’s gaze slid from his brother to me, suddenly serious. “Edward doesn’t know.”

I shrugged and looked down, unable to meet those clear blue eyes.

His face softened. “Well, I won’t tell him.” Then he grimaced. “But damn…you two are going to get me in trouble if he finds out.”

He turned away and strode toward the set. As he did, he stripped off his shirt and I stared at the hard, muscled perfection of his back. Wow. He was probably only about an inch taller than Edward, maybe two inches taller than Flynn, but he was definitely bigger than both. Edward's body was athletic, packed muscle. Flynn's was lean. Cody had the kind of rippling muscles that...well, that sold romance novels.

“So, what happened with Amber?” Cody asked. “She still trying to get you naked or what?”

I whipped my head around to stare at Flynn.

But he had turned his back.

“Cody, just shut up.”

***

Now
this
was awkward.

I’d heard that Hollywood kisses were anything but sexy in real life and now I could believe it. Cody and I weren’t kissing, but he had put his hands all over me. While the man was physical perfection, I didn’t know him and he was going to be my brother-in-law. Sure, maybe it would have been different if it was Flynn.

That sly voice inside me whispered,
you should be thinking it would be different if it was Edward
.

But Edward wouldn’t be able to relax in front of a camera and I knew that.

Flynn could. I suspected he even had. And Flynn could probably make me forget the camera was there. The guilt would choke me when it was done, but right now, I was too aware of the camera, and too aware of the fact that the man with his hand dangerously close to my crotch was a virtual stranger, family to be or not.

Flynn had kept telling me to relax, but it was almost impossible.

“I suck at this,” I said, groaning.

“No, you don’t.” Cody gave me a brotherly pat on the shoulder with the hand that
wasn’t
intimately placed. “You’re just nervous. It'll pass.”

“Let’s take a break,” Flynn said abruptly.

It had only been twenty minutes since we’d started, but it felt like hours and I happily untangled myself from Cody and all but ran for the cardigan I’d left hanging by the front door. Wrapped in it, I came back into the main area of the studio to find Flynn and Cody leaning against the tall stools and sipping water.

“You still seeing that fitness guru wannabe, Jake, something. What was his last name?” Flynn asked.

I blinked and looked over at Cody.

Cody made a face. “He called himself a physical wellness counselor, and no.” He tipped his water toward Flynn and added, “You asshole. You called it. The dickhead was looking at me to bankroll his life guidance centers. 'Fitness centers that feed the mind, body and soul.'”

“You’re gay.” The words popped out of me and immediately heat scalded my face. I really hadn't meant it to come out like that.

“And you’re straight.” Amused, Cody grinned at me. “At least I hope you are since you're marrying my big brother. Don’t look so embarrassed. Yeah, I’m gay. It's not a secret.”

Flynn stared at me.

There was a look of almost challenge in his eyes.

I stared right back at him. Hell, I didn’t care if his brother was gay. Actually, it made it a lot easier. Maybe it was stupid, but I could relax better having a gay guy put his hands all over me for some pictures versus a straight guy.

A faint smile curled his lips and he tipped his head at me.

I looked back at Cody and grimaced. “I’m sorry, that sounded really rude. I’ve got this really bad problem. My friend Kendra says I have no filter and everything that comes into my head usually just comes right out of my mouth.”

“Wow. I bet our mom just
loves
you.”

“No.” I sighed. “She really doesn’t.”

Cody got up from his stool and came to pat me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, Gabs.” He paused then asked, “Or do you only go by Gabriella?”

“Kendra calls me Gabs.” I found myself relaxing by the second.

“Cool. Don’t worry about my mom. Edward and Edward’s father are really the only ones who ever earned her complete approval.”

He and Flynn shared a strained look that told me exactly what it was that bound these two half-brothers together. I felt a sudden pang of homesickness at the thought of my own family. We'd never had anywhere close to the money these guys had growing up, but at least I knew my parents loved me, unconditionally.

Flynn capped his water. “Let’s get back to work.”

It got easier from there. Knowing that the hand on my butt or near my crotch or lying along the outer curve of my breast had absolutely no sexual interest in me made it easier to fall back into that state I’d been in earlier. It was a weird feeling, a sort of high, I thought, something I could get used to and when it was done, I was both drained and energized.

I wanted to collapse, but at the same time, I knew I’d never sleep. Not any time soon at least.

“How about dinner?” Cody came up and slung his arm around my neck, kissing my temple. I’d already figured he was an affectionate sort. He hugged Flynn—which had shocked the hell out of me—and several times during the shoot, he'd embraced me too. The easy affection was almost soothing. My family was like that and I hadn't realized how much I'd missed it until now.

Glancing over at Flynn, I went to say no. But he shrugged. “Why not?”

Why not
? The tension from earlier was gone and really, wasn’t it better if I found a way to get along with Flynn? Maybe even just to level things out and be friends?

“Sure.”

That was how we ended up at a crazy little Latin restaurant with amazing sangria, fantastic food and music that made my feet itch. As if sensing it, after we’d placed our order, Cody tugged me out onto the dance floor and we spent the next twenty minutes dancing.