Taking Shots (Assassins, #1)(10)

She hesitated before saying, “Yeah, I guess. I love what I do.”

“You’re good at what you do.”

“Thank you, that means a lot.” He nodded, sipping on his coffee.

“Are you an only child?”

“Oh, no, I have two older brothers and an older sister.”

“So you’re the baby?” he said with a teasing smile.

“Yes, and they remind me of that every day, it seems,” she said with a sad smile. Okay, family, touchy subject.

“You mentioned nieces and nephews yesterday?” Elli lit up, smiling full on. He had never seen anything so beautiful. Not even Amelia was as beautiful as her smile. It lit up her whole face, her eyes glazed over with happiness and that’s when he vowed that he wanted to make her smile like that every day.

“Oh, yes. I have three nephews and three nieces.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of kids.”

“Yeah, they are amazing. I love them so much.”

“You can tell by the way your face lights up.” She blushed, looking down at her hands.

“I’m their favorite. I take them once a month and we go out and have a day to ourselves. We love it.”

“Sounds awesome.”

“Do you spend a lot of time with Amelia and Ryan?”

“When I can, but they are both really young, so you know, they make me nervous and I doubt Grace would let me leave with them.”

“Are you not responsible?” she said with a laugh. He smiled.

“I am, but they are so little, so precious, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to them.” Elli smiled big at him again, turning towards him, crossing her legs as she looked up at him. Their legs were almost touching; he could feel the heat from her. He could smell her, something mango, maybe her shampoo.

“I feel the same about mine.”

Shea nodded, looking out over the park. “So do your parents live in state?”

Elli nodded as she said “They live in Clarksville, all my family is there. Except my sister, she lives in downtown Nashville.”

“Do you stay downtown, too? Isn’t your studio there?”

“West end, and no, I live forty minutes from here, in Sweetbriar.”

“Oh, I haven’t heard of that town.”

“It’s an old farm town. I found my house there and had to have it.”

“That’s cool. I live over in Harding Place, in a condo.”

“Cool, I sometimes wanna live in town because when I am stupid tired after work I hate driving forty minutes home, but I love my house, so does my dog.”

“What kind of dog you have?”

“A forty pound pug.”

“Jesus Christ!” She almost fell over laughing, which made him laugh, too, she was so pretty.

“He’s a fatty, but I love him.”

“I want a dog, but I don’t ever have time for one. I’m traveling a lot.”

“Yeah, the life of a hockey player.”

“Yeah, are you coming to opening game?”

“Of course. I don’t miss games.”

“Awesome, I’ll look for you.” Her cheeks turned red, as she looked anywhere but at him. Since she wasn’t looking him in the eye, he looked down at his hands. “So, does your husband come to the games with you?” She whipped her head up, looking at him like he was crazy.

“I’m not married.”

“Oh, a boyfriend?”

“No, I’m single.”

“Good.”

She was still looking at him, making him nervous. Maybe that was a little to direct.

“Does your wife come to the games?”

“There is no one in my life, just me.”

“Must be lonely,” she said. He gave her a thoughtful look.

“It can be,” he said with a shrug, because he wasn’t all that lonely. He could get any girl he wanted in bed, but no one had ever really mattered.

“So, anyways, your camera, ready for a lesson?” She asked, smacking her hands together, with a nervous giggle.

“Absolutely,” he said, even though Shea didn’t want to learn a thing about the camera, just about Elli.





Shea was a fast learner. He caught on to everything Elli taught him and when he did something wrong, he grinned widely at her, causing her to grin even bigger. It was so easy to talk to him, between his jokes, his smiles, and the way his eyes just settled on Elli. It was so easy, as if they had known each other their whole life.

“Hey, look at this one!” he called over to her; he was over by the flower gardens, while she finished her coffee and snacked on the pretzels she had bought. She stood up and came over to him. She leaned over to him, looking over his arm to the viewfinder. The picture was of her, with the flower garden in front of her. It was actually a good picture of her and she never thought pictures of her were good.

“Wow, Shea, that’s good.”

“I got a pretty amazing teacher. I’ll hook you up,” he said with a wink as he wandered off towards a duck. She watched him with a smile on her face. While it was a pretty interesting to watch a grown man chase a duck, she couldn’t help wondering why this was so easy. She had never met a man that was so easy to talk to and get along with. He made her nervous, of course, but it was fine after a moment.