Viper (Fallen Angel #2)(37)
Viper smirked and brought his drink to his lips. As he lifted his arm, he brushed it against mine, and that meant the bastard was too close. If he was making it his mission to taunt me, he was doing a damn good job.
“Halo, you’re up,” Jacques called, giving me the out I needed to get away from the tempting man beside me. I took a long swallow of my drink, tossed it in the trash, and walked away before Viper could say another word.
Keep it professional and try not to look like you’re in pain this time, I told myself as I stopped in front of Jacques. He pursed his lips as he looked me up and down, and that was when I remembered I’d stripped out of the long-sleeved shirt after the group shoot.
“Sorry, it was hot and I didn’t want to get anything on the shirt,” I said, but Jacques held his hand up, still studying me, and then he snapped his fingers at his assistant.
“Molly, get the oil,” he said, and as his assistant rushed off, my eyes bugged out.
“Did you say oil? What’s that for?”
“You wish to be naked, I will accommodate,” Jacques said. Molly came running back, the bottle uncapped and already pouring oil into her hand.
I backed up before she could reach me. “That’s okay, I’m good with a shirt. Or a jacket. A shirt and a jacket, even.”
They paid my protests no mind, Molly slathering a palmful of the oil across my abs as I inwardly cringed.
“Is this really necessary?” I asked, as she spread the oil over my chest, my shoulders, even my back, which probably wouldn’t even be in the shot. A snicker sounded to my right, and I looked over to see Viper grinning and whispering something to the photographer. “Just wait till it’s your turn,” I told him.
He winked at me. “Don’t forgot his biceps. He works so hard for those.” Viper’s eyes were full of devilry as Molly went to work on my arms, and I couldn’t glare him down enough.
When my body was a complete oil slick, Jacques moved me into position, which just so happened to be in direct view of the sun, making me feel like I was an egg in a frying pan. I could practically hear my skin sizzling as he snapped away.
I told myself to relax, that this was the last thing I’d have to do today, and then I could take the longest shower known to man. Almost done…almost done…
“Halo, turn your face an inch to the right…a bit more… Why don’t you try looking at where Viper’s standing? Yes, that’s it.” Jacques’ camera snapped away as I stared at the man I’d been trying to avoid looking at all day. Viper ran a hand through his black hair, and I couldn’t help but notice the way his muscles stretched with the move. His olive skin had darkened during our time in Miami, and somehow that only accentuated the ridges of his body and made him look even more enticing.
“Hold that look,” Jacques said, and I froze, not sure what it was he was seeing, but realizing if I’d been having thoughts about Viper, it was probably nothing good. A few more clicks of the camera and Jacques beamed at me. “Beautiful man. Thank you.”
“I’m all done?” I asked.
Jacques nodded and gestured for Viper to take my spot, but before I went anywhere, there was one thing I needed.
I caught Molly’s attention and gestured to what felt like an inch-thick layer of oil covering me. “Could I get a towel?”
“Of course.” She had rushed off again before the words were fully out of her mouth, and as I waited, Viper sauntered to where I stood.
With his back to everyone, he let his gaze travel down my chest and abs. “You sure you want that towel, Angel? This could be a fun slick and slide…”
I licked my lips, the sexual promise in his words so damn tempting that when the assistant came back with what I’d asked for, I thought twice about wiping myself off.
“Halo, you stay right there,” Jacques called out suddenly. “Molly, get rid of the towel.”
“Huh?” I squinted and brought my hand up to shade my eyes as I frowned at Jacques. “I thought I was done?”
“You were, but this…” Jacques gestured between me and Viper. “This I can work with. Molly? Oil up Viper.”
Twenty-Four
Viper
IF I THOUGHT Halo had looked worried before, the expression on his face as Molly rubbed oil into one of my arms, and then the next, was close to horrified. His eyes were wide and his mouth had fallen open, and when he glanced at Jacques and said, “Work with us how, exactly?” I almost lost it.
Jacques wasn’t known for elegant, proper photographs. He worked for some of the edgiest magazines in the world. So when he walked to where the two of us stood in our half-zipped jeans with our oiled-up torsos, to get a better look at Halo and myself, it didn’t take a genius to see where his mind was wandering.
“I like the feel of you two together. This vibe,” he said, as he wandered around behind Halo, whose head whipped to the left to peer at Jacques, who was now behind him.
“Uh, what vibe? Slick and uncomfortable?”
When Jacques stopped beside us, he grinned at Halo and shook his head. “No, no. Dark and light. Good angel,” he said to Halo, before turning to me and saying, “Bad angel.”
I snorted, because Jacques had just hit the nail on the head.