Page 25 of Wicked Shadows
8
CHAPTER EIGHT
“You looklike you’ve been up all night. What did you do? I said to rest and hydrate.” Leslie glared at Elle from around his camera.
“I tried to rest last night, Leslie. The room above mine apparently pulled an all-nighter. They’d stop the music and noise long enough for the manager to threaten to kick them out, then they started up again.” She struck a pose and moved slowly through the constantly clicking of the shutter.
“You should’ve called me. I’ll take care of it right now, though.” He put the camera down and snapped his fingers. On cue, his assistant appeared at his side. “Meechelle, Miss Sinclair needs a new room, with silence and tranquility on all sides. Not around loud revelers.”
A few minutes later, Meechelle reappeared, apprehension covering her face. “Leslie, the hotel is sold out. There are no rooms to move her into.”
“Must I handle everything?” he sighed. “As soon as the shoot is over, you’ll have a new room, Elle.”
She didn’t have the heart to tell him she had no intentions of sleeping that night either. Devon promised he’d stay with her all night. She had twenty days with him, and she planned to make the most of every opportunity she was given. “Maybe the partiers will check out today,” she offered.
“Meechelle, take her to the spa for a couple of hours while I shoot the others. Come back to me when she looks rested and photogenic again.”
Two hours later, Elle emerged from the spa, refreshed and renewed. Leslie and Elle focused on the various moods he needed for the project, directing her into poses and sexy pouts to complete his overall vision.
She felt the change in the air and heard the low murmurs of whispers around the outdoor set. Without visual verification, she knew what had everyone buzzing—or rather,whohad everyone’s attention. Devon stepped into her direct line of sight, and their eyes met in an instant.
“That! Yes! That look!” Leslie yelped and moved in for a closeup shot.
Devon watched Elle, ignoring the obvious stares and questioning eyes all around him. In truth, he’d been watching her since she walked out of the spa. His training made him stealthy. Deadly. Invisible, when he wanted to be. He’d been invisible long enough at that point—he wanted her to see him. He wanted to see her reaction, to gauge her response, to read her body language when she was surprised by his presence.
What he got wasn’t at all what he expected.
The look she gave him was more lethal than any he’d encountered. It was deadly to his way of life. The way it struck his core was detrimental to the plans he’d made. The fact that he liked it more than he should warned him to run while he still could.
But he knew it was already too late for that plan to work in his favor. Three weeks. He could handle three short weeks of being exclusive with a beautiful cover model.
Even if she was the younger sister of his friend.
Even if she’d celebrate her twenty-first birthday during their time together, further accentuating the age difference between them.
Even if it meant he had to give up the cover of shadows temporarily and live in her limelight.
“The spa must’ve been exactly what you needed. I’ve never seen you look more beautiful, my dear.” Leslie stepped to the side, the camera all but glued to his face, while another man held Elle’s singular focus. “Oh, honey, I love the fierce look, too. You’re giving me so much to work with today, it’ll be hard to choose just one.”
The smirk covering Devon’s face confirmed he’d heard Leslie, and he knew exactly what prompted the change in her expression. It was bad enough when the buxom sable-haired beauty in the string bikini approached him, but when the overtly flirtatious intruder put her hand on his arm, Elle became irrationally jealous and possessive.
Relief flooded her senses instantly when his response included a gesture toward Elle. The bikini-girl looked over her shoulder, immediately recognized Elle, and scurried away from Devon. Pride over witnessing the small victory swept over her, and Devon’s smirk transformed into a beaming smile.
Smooth, Moore. Real smooth,she thought.
“And that’s a wrap for you, my love. Rest. Hydrate. Come back to me even more gorgeous tomorrow.” Leslie kissed the air on either side of her face and dismissed her when he called the next model into range of his viewfinder.
“I didn’t expect to see you here today.” Elle approached Devon, delighting in the sensation of his eyes heavy on her barely clad skin.
“Where the fuck was that bathing suit when we were on the boat yesterday? It’s probably a good thing you weren’t wearing it. You’d still be held in a secure, remote location where no one except me could find you.”
“Promises, promises.”
He wrapped his arm around her bare waist and pulled her to him. “I’ve warned you about that.” He leaned down and captured her mouth with his, not caring that dozens of cell phone cameras captured their every move. “Let’s go. I have more plans for you today. Do you get to keep the bikini?”
With a chuckle, she shook her head. “Not this time. Are we going back to the boat?”
“That’s not what I had planned, but I’m game if that’s what you want to do.”
