Behind His Lens(20)

My entire body shivers with anticipation. What would he do in front of all these people? Take my bait? Kiss me? No. That would only happen in my fantasies.

“It appears our little Charley is drunk,” he smiles sardonically, looking toward Tom.

Fuck him.

I drop the beer haphazardly onto the table in front of Jude and he has to reach out to stabilize the bottle before it tips over. The whirling of the beer’s rim on the wooden table in the only sound I hear as I try to calm my nerves.

“Tom,” I ooze sweetly, glancing up at him from under my lashes, “Would you like to go get that drink with me now?”

I glance back toward Jude and notice his jaw clench. His blue eyes drift from my face down to the exposed skin afforded by my off-the-shoulder sweater. He’s hardly a foot away, and I swear I can feel his warm breath caress the arc of my collarbone. What would his lips feel like against the delicate skin at the base of my neck?

“Oh, sure, yeah.” Tom hops up and a sudden pang of guilt hits me. I only asked him to go with me to piss Jude off. What kind of person does that? Right then I resolve to be polite, but careful not to lead Tom on. I actually think we could be good friends if he was up for it.

After a calming breath, I stand and straighten my sweater. The world spins slightly from the quick change in position, but I reach out to grab the back of my chair before anyone notices.

“Ready?” I ask with a friendly smile.

“Here. I’ll get this round.” Jude pulls out his wallet even though Tom protests.

Jude doesn’t pay attention to him; he pulls out cash and looks directly at me. “I insist.”

Something about him uttering that phrase while his eyes are locked on mine makes my insides tingle with need. I don’t know how long I stand there like that, staring down at him with soft focus, but eventually Tom clears his throat and I laugh. I laugh because there’s nothing else to do. This situation is completely out of my comfort zone and I need more alcohol. Stat.

“How sweet of you, Jude,” I say slowly, reaching for the cash. I know it wasn’t necessary to say his name, but I wanted to know what it felt like. And as I turn on my heel to head for the bar, I know I made the right decision. The lust that washed over his blue eyes confessed exactly how erotic it was to hear his name on my lips.

…

Jude

I reach down and adjust myself beneath my pants. That freaking woman will be the death of me. Just when I had her figured out, she showed up tipsy and completely threw me off. I watch her walking away and I’m reminded of how drop-dead gorgeous she is. She has that sexy, f*ck-me hair that tumbles down her back in loose, natural waves. And her top. That hint of skin is a complete tease, making it so I can’t help but want to rip off the rest of the material.

She knew what she was doing when she said my name like that and just as she intended, my dick hardened as if her sweet, little hand was wrapped around it.

“What’s up, man?” I hear Josh say behind me as his hand pats my shoulder. My body immediately stiffens as though he could feel how worked up I am. He and two other guys from our soccer team slide around the table and fill in the remaining seats.

“Hey guys.” I tip my beer bottle toward them in greeting before taking a swig. A hint of Charley’s lip gloss stuck to the rim and I can’t help but want to lick it off. Vanilla. My new favorite flavor.

“Is Tom here already?” Josh asks, forcing my focus back to the present.


“Yeah, he and Charley went to grab a drink.”

“Smart man,” he chuckles before glancing over at Naomi and Bennett. They’ve had their heads tucked together since she and Charley arrived. I’ve never seen Bennett like this with any girl. Hell, a couple of nights ago we were in the club picking up women and now look at him. The boy’s in love and it looks like I might be losing my wingman.

“Are you excited about that photo shoot in Hawaii you’ve got coming up?” Josh asks, leaning back in his chair and getting comfortable.

I nod. “It’ll be work, but the days should wrap up pretty early and then I’ll have time to explore the island.”

“That sounds awesome, man. Too bad you don’t date models or that’d be the best weekend ever.”

Too bad.

I shrug off his statement and take another swig of beer. In the past, my rule was in place to keep my professional integrity intact. I don’t want to walk onto a set and have to worry about the model being pissy about the fact that I never bothered to call her back. Don’t f*cking shit where you eat. It’s always been simple… until now.