Taking Shots (Assassins, #1)(9)
For the rest of the night, Elli stayed on the phone with Harper, picking out something to wear for the date she still didn’t believe she had, trying to get her nerves under wraps.
It didn’t work.
Chapter 3
Shea sat on a blanket in front of the Parthenon waiting for Elli. Again, it was a beautiful day, and he was thankful for it, since this date would not work if it was raining or cloudy. A drink carrier sat beside him, holding their drinks, while his camera sat beside it. He had bought the camera a couple months ago and was glad he didn’t give it away like he was going to, since he didn’t know how to use it. But that was all about to change. Elli was gonna teach him, if she ever arrived. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, checking the time again. She wasn’t late, but, like always, he was early. His excitement was causing him to have butterflies; he couldn’t wait to get to know her, to find out what made Elli tick.
Last night, after the party, Grace couldn’t stop talking about Elli and it made Shea happy to know that Grace liked her so much, because if his sister didn’t like the girl then there was no sense in even trying to carry on a relationship with them. Not as if he’d ever wanted to.
But that was changing.
“Hey, Shea.”
He didn’t even hear her come up, but when he turned to look at her, his tongue almost fell out of his mouth. She was wearing shorts, and his eyes went up and down her legs. God, she had beautiful legs. He got up, smiling down at her.
“Hey Elli, didn’t hear you come up.” She smiled sweetly at him. She had her camera hanging around her neck and she was wearing a little pink shirt with a cardigan over it. Her hair was pulled to the side, curls falling down her shoulders with a pink bow holding her bangs out of the way. She was spectacular.
“Am I late?” she asked, nervously. She was flushed, her cheeks so pink against her pale skin.
“No, not at all,” he said with a grin as he handed her coffee, “I’m just always early.” She smiled and sat down beside him, taking a drink of her coffee.
“Mmm.” With that sound, his eyes went straight to her mouth. Such a beautiful mouth she had: she had a cupids bow, with bright pink lips, she wasn’t wearing lipstick, just lip gloss. “Thank you, it’s wonderful,” she said. He tore his gaze from her lips, looking in her eyes. How did someone’s eyes get so green?
“You’re welcome,” he answered, taking a good hearty drink of his coffee without taking his eyes off her. “So how did the pictures come out last night?”
“Great. I got one of Amelia, oh my stars, beautiful! Her eyes are so bright in the picture. I emailed it to Grace so she could see.”
“Awesome, she probably emailed me, but I’m so bad about that kind of stuff.”
“Bad about what?”
“Checking emails, sending emails, invoices, crap like that, that’s why I have an assistant, i.e., my sister.”
Elli giggled before giving him a pointed look. “By the way, Mr. Adler, my fee was only five hundred.”
Shea gave her a forgiving smile and of course she smiled back at him. He knew his smile was lethal when it came to women, but for the first time, he actually wanted to make this female smile.
“Maybe I thought that fee was too small. You were at the party the whole time.”
“So? I know my fee. I’ve been doing this a while.”
Perfect opening for him.
“How long?” he asked.
“I’ve been taking pictures for forever, but I’ve had my business for the past seven years.”
“Seven years? So how old were you when you started?”
“Twenty one.”
She was only a year younger than him. “So you’re twenty eight?”
“Twenty seven, my birthday is in a few months.”
“Cool, what did you do before that?”
“Went to school.”
“What school?”
“What, trying to see if I’m qualified to teach you?” She said with a grin. He smiled.
“Nah, I know you are qualified. I looked at your stuff online. I’m just making conversation.” A small smile crossed her lips as she looked down at her cup, messing with the straw.
“Oh, well, I went to the Art Institute. Did you go to school?”
“I did, I went to U of M in Boston.”
“Did you grow up in Boston?”
“I did, and you grew up here.”
“Yup, Southern to the core.”
He smiled and nodded, she was so easy to talk too.
“What did you go to school for?” Elli asked in her charming thick accent.
“To play hockey.” She smiled as he laughed, “I got a scholarship to play, then I got drafted to the NHL.”
“Did you graduate with anything?”
“Nope, I only went for hockey, that’s all I wanted to do.”
“What happens when you retire?”
“I become a coach. I want to teach kids how to play.”
“Kids? Not adults?”
“Nah, adults are drama queens. I love kids.” She laughed and he laughed along with her. Leaning back on his forearms, the sun was hitting him in the face, he felt warm inside and out. It was a beautiful day with a beautiful girl. “Have you always wanted to be a photographer?”