The Aubrey Rules (21 page)

Chapter 28

The Aubrey Rules To Live By, Rule #28:
As a social media expert, my job is to engage the client’s followers and showcase the client in the best possible light. I will do this with a fresh approach and by adding personality to everything I do on behalf of said client.

**Note**
Okay, I’m supposed to stand by and simply take pictures of Beckett doing this photo shoot but he seems as if he’s having as much fun as if he were having a cavity filled. I can’t share these with his followers!

**Note #2**
I need to get involved.

**Note #3**
Getting Beckett to relax and have fun with a photo shoot is kind of like asking me to enjoy a basket of kale chips.

**Note #4**
Maybe if I promise to eat kale that will make him laugh?

**Note #5**
I’ll have to bring out the big guns. Such as a promise of ninja moves and Lucky Charms panties later if he pretends to have fun.

I arrive with Tom at the building being used for the shoot. The concept is to have Beckett and Landy in casual wear to show the off-ice side, as the magazine already has a gazillion pictures of them in action from this season. For today’s photo shoot, they rented a furnished penthouse with the city of Chicago as a backdrop from the windows.

Tom smiles at me as we ride up in the elevator. “So do you think Beckett is going to be more relaxed with you here?”

Hmmm. Beckett relax with cameras in his face. Odds might be better of me not talking for a week straight than Beckett relaxing in front of a camera, but I don’t have the heart to tell Tom that.

“Perhaps,” I say vaguely.

Tom takes off his leather gloves and stuffs them into the pockets of his trench coat. “It’s okay. I’ve been doing shoots for years. I’ll get him to feel more at ease.”

Right. And I might choose to order a basket of kale chips instead of fries.

The elevator chimes and opens right into the luxury penthouse.

I see the
Inside The Net
staff scurrying around, doing everything from checking the lighting to setting up cameras. Music is blaring. And I find Landy and Beckett sitting on tall stools as hair and makeup people work on them.

Beckett has a big smock draped over his clothes, and already I see a woman fussing with a big powder brush and dusting his face. Oy. Beckett already appears uncomfortable. I can tell he’s hating every second of this, and this requires nothing but for him to sit still.

Landy, on the other hand, is grinning as a woman styles his black hair. He’s wearing a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, revealing his tattoos. The shirt is covered by a gray vest, and I see a platinum striped tie peeking out of it. But the
glasses.
They’re unexpected, and he looks smokin’ hot in them, all kinds of intellectual and sexy going on here.

Note: Livy must never see these pictures. She has a thing for guys in glasses, and despite her protests, I think she has a thing for Landy, too. Seeing this would only endanger her mental ability to run from him.

“Hello, you must be Tom,” a woman says, interrupting my thoughts. “I’m Grace, we spoke last week on the phone.”

“Yes, nice to meet you, Grace,” Tom says, shaking her hand. “And this is Aubrey, she works on Beckett’s account.”

The blond smiles at me. “Aubrey, I’m Grace Holt, creative director for the shoot today.”

I smile and give her hand a firm, confident shake. “Pleasure.”

“We’ll get started in about fifteen minutes, so if you want to talk to Beckett, go ahead,” she says. “And I’ll see to some last minute details.”

“Great, thank you.” Tom turns to me. “Let’s go see him.”

I nod as we head toward Beckett. The makeup artist has finished, and she moves behind him to remove his smock.

“You’re all set,” she announces as we walk up.

“Hey, Beckett, looking good,” Tom says, smiling at him.

Beckett lifts his head. Electricity jolts through me the second his eyes meet mine, because they completely change the second he sees me. The dull,
I’m so bored
expression
dissipates. His eyes light up. The crooked smile appears.

And I’m overjoyed to know I’m the one who brings the light to his eyes.

Beckett stands up, and I love the outfit they’ve selected for him. He’s dressed in a navy cashmere quarter-zip sweater, a luxurious brown suede bomber jacket, and jeans. They’ve tousled his hair a bit—I can tell the stylist used product to get the waves out—and a lock of his hair sweeps across his forehead in a sexy way.

“Hey, Tom, Aubrey, good to see you,” he says, nodding.

“Are you ready?” Tom asks, slipping out of his coat and draping it over a set chair. “Remember the tips we went over earlier in the week, and you’ll be fine. The photographer will spend some time with you, too, getting to know you so you’ll feel more comfortable.”

I step back as they talk and begin taking my own pictures. The hairstylist comes by again with a can of hairspray and gives Beckett’s hair one final spray, and I capture the moment.

Beckett shoots me a look. “For real? Nobody wants to see my hair being hair sprayed.”

“
Au contraire
, your female fans will eat this up,” I say, accessing his account so I can post it.

“Hair spray?” Beckett challenges. “They’re going to want to see
hair spray?
”

I glance up at him and smile at the bewildered look on his face.

“No,” I say, typing a caption and tweeting it, “they want to see you behind the scenes.”

Then I text him a message.

Actually they love seeing Captain Sexy Ass with hair beach ready. Panties will drop everywhere, I guarantee it.

I hit ‘send’ and wait for him to get it. Beckett’s phone buzzes in his pocket.

“Excuse me,” Beckett says, retrieving it. He glances down and his face turns bright red. Ha! It takes all my willpower not to burst out laughing.

“Hey, good to see you, Aubrey,” Landy says, coming over and grinning at me. “Are you here to keep Becks under control?” he teases. “Because I’ve seen him at these shoots. It’s so hard to get him to be
serious.
”

“Shut up, Landy,” Beckett says, laughing.

“Okay, Beckett, Landy, let’s get you on set,” Grace says.

I slip out of my coat and put it over the back of another vacant chair. Then I head over behind Ben, the photographer, who is discussing the shoot with Beckett and Landy.

I listen as the photographer talks to both of them, explaining how they want to capture their images as
people,
not as players, today with this shoot. How he wants them to feel comfortable and at ease with what he’s doing, that he’ll give them plenty of direction and show them the shots as they go. They’ll do some with both Beckett and Landy together as well as individual shots, too.

“Ready?” Ben asks.

“Let’s do it,” Landy replies.

“Yes,” Beckett says seriously.

First they position Beckett and Landy in front of the window, and Ben takes time to get them in the exact right spot before checking it in his camera lens.

“Perfect,” Ben declares, picking up his camera and beginning to shoot.

The second Ben begins shooting, Beckett becomes stiff as a board. He’s wearing this frozen half-smile on his face, one that screams “I’d rather have extensive dental work done with no numbing than this.”

And oh, no, being next to Landy is only making his awkwardness worse. Landy’s got the smile, the tilt of the head, the engaging way that will leap from the pages.

While Beckett has the energy of a sloth taking a nap.

“Beckett, if you can relax your shoulders a bit for me,” Ben says.

Beckett furrows his brow. “I’m relaxed. This
is
relaxed,” he insists.

I glance at Tom, willing him to do something.

“Take a deep breath, Beckett,” Tom says.

Gah, that’s it? That’s his advice? He needs to make him laugh! When Beckett laughs, his eyes dance, and the crooked smile appears and that’s the Beckett the world should see.

“Captain, if you don’t smile I’m not letting you watch Shark Week,” I blurt out.

Beckett blinks, startled that I’m talking to him like his girlfriend in public. “
What?
”

“You heard me,” I say, feeling more confident. “No Shark Week for you. I’ll make you watch
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
instead. I’ll reenact my favorite scenes. And you know I can’t act so it will be dreadful. So you’d better start smiling if you want to be spared.”

Then I see it. His shoulders relax. Beckett’s eyes are sparkling.

“Would that be a messy bun and yoga pants kind of day viewing?” he quips.

Now I’m blushing. Tom studies me, which makes my face grow even warmer, but I hope he’s impressed that my plan to distract Beckett is working.

“Perfect,” Ben says, snapping away. “Beckett, can you look at me?”

So for the rest of the shoot, I keep talking to him. I make him laugh, I banter with him, and by distracting him, he’s not so focused on how miserable he is. After the first round is finished, Ben shows the shots to Beckett and Landy, and Tom and I get to see them, too.

I feel nothing but joy when I see the smile on Beckett’s face. He appears natural, at ease, happy—all from my words. I love the fact that I can bring out this side in him, the side nobody usually sees from the serious, shy captain.

“Next we’ll do individual shots,” Ben says. “Let’s take ten minutes and then we’ll start up again.”

“You’re doing great, Beckett,” Tom says. “Stay relaxed. Have fun with this.”

“Aubrey makes it a lot easier,” Beckett says, smiling at me.

“Well, good, I’m glad she can help,” Tom says. A phone rings, and Tom retrieves it from his pocket. “Please excuse me for a moment.”

Tom walks away, and I’m finally alone with Beckett.

“See?” I say, smiling up at him. “That wasn’t so bad.”

Beckett flashes me a grin. “It’s awful, but it’s manageable with you here.”

Awwwh! I practically melt from his sweet words.

“When you talk to me I focus more on what you’re saying rather than all this,” Beckett continues, inclining his head to the camera equipment and lights. “You bring out the better side of me.”

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “I bring out a
different
side of you. Not better. Because being serious and shy is a wonderful part of who you are, equally as wonderful as your teasing, smart ass side. All of that makes you Beckett.”

The man I love,
I think.

“You see me in a way nobody else does,” Beckett says softly.

I feel a lump rising in my throat. I know how much that means to him. That I see all parts of him and embrace every bit of it. I don’t care that he’s famous. I don’t care that he’s incredibly awkward and shy with people. I love how all these components make him into the incredible man that I fell in love with.

I’m about to say something but Beckett speaks first.

“You know Valentine’s Day is next weekend,” Beckett says.

Oh!

“It is,” I say, an excited feeling sweeping through me.

“And I’ll be in Miami. Then on to Tampa.”

“Right,” I say, dying to know what he’s thinking.

“So when I get back from Florida, we can have a belated Valentine’s Day celebration. And because I’m your boyfriend, I guess I could sit through
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
if that would make you happy,” he says slowly.

My mind instantly snaps into overdrive.

“Yes!” I say happily. “We could make a romantic dinner, open a bottle of wine, and watch the movie together. It’s my favorite movie, it really is, it’s so funny and cute. We can have some kind of chocolate dessert, too, I can pick up something while you’re out of town, maybe a cake or oh! Truff—”

“Or,” Beckett says, cutting me off, “I could surprise you.”

I stop mid-sentence.

“Surprise?”

“Yeah,” Beckett says, his eyes dancing.

I can’t help but tease him. “You don’t seem like a man of surprises,” I say, grinning. “I saw your YouTube video where you were asked about planning a romantic date, you know. If I recall, the answer was, ‘um . . . go out to dinner.’”

Beckett blushes, and he’s so cute I want to kiss him all over his gorgeous face.

“I can be a man of mystery,” Beckett deadpans.

I begin laughing, and he does, too.

“You don’t have to be a man of mystery for me,” I declare.

“I’ll pull off the romantic date,” Beckett counters.

“Okay, I’m putting the Valentine’s Day celebration in your hands,” I say happily.

“Beckett, Landy, are you guys ready?” Grace asks.

“Be right there,” Beckett calls out. Then he turns and lowers his head so his lips are against my ear. I shiver from his nearness and inhale the scent of cologne faintly lingering on his skin.

“You’ll be saying Captain Sexy Ass by the end of our Valentine’s Day date,” he whispers in my ear.

Oooooooooooh!

Suddenly I have no doubt my captain will give me a Valentine’s Day experience to remember.