He nods. "Darcy's so damn smart. I mean, come on. Puppies are the best." He scrunches up his face and switches over to a baby voice, turning his attention to the puppy. "Isn't she the smartest? She's the very smartest firefighter in all of Indiana."
The puppy wriggles and squirms to lick him even more enthusiastically. I get that too. He's giving that little snuggly puppy the attention and affection that it so obviously craves and what's not to like about that? Plus, I'm willing to bet Ken Daniels tastes absolutely delicious.
I manage to pinch myself hard enough to offset the wave of inappropriate feelings and then adjust the settings on my camera. "Okay, you two look great together. Let's try to get a few shots before the puppy pees on you."
Daniels flashes me a look. "Squiggles here wouldn't pee pee on me. Would you, buddy?" He makes a little kissing noise at the puppy, and my heart nearly ruptures from all the damn cuteness overload. First the proposal, now this.
My eyes flick over to where Darcy and Abernathy are talking with her mother, and Darcy's showing off her ring. But I'm willing to bet a million dollars or so that Thomas Abernathy took Darcy's mother ring shopping with him. Because he's every bit as smart as Darcy, and he knows how important her mother's opinions are to her.
See? Perfect. Achingly, sickeningly sweet and one hundred percent perfect for one another.
Daniels follows the line of where I’m looking at where the happy couple stands, leaning against each other just so.
"Yeah, I wish I could have that too."
I startle at his words, the unmistakable melancholy in his voice. "What? Are you talking to me?" I meet his gaze, but he's gone back to his teasing, joking kind of mode again. The too quick glimpse of the real Ken Daniels is already gone.
"Not you, silly. I was talking to my buddy Squiggles. We're perfect for one another, aren't we?" He plants a noisy kiss on the puppy's fuzzy head. Then his eyes meet mine again. "But I suppose Squiggles and I could always do with another pretty girl in our lives, couldn't we?"
He keeps up the flirting banter during the entirety of the shoot, and it's driving me crazy. It takes all my energy to hang in there long enough to get the shots I need of him and Squiggles without either throwing up or throwing myself at him.
"So, what happens after the shoot?" Daniels is lying on one side, his head propped on his hand, and petting the little furry body of Squiggles, who did not pee on him despite my threats to the contrary.
"I take the shots back to my computer and edit them. I'll send a selection of the best ones to Millicent von Albrecht and she'll choose whichever ones she likes best for the calendar." I tilt my head at him. "Why are you asking about the backroom stuff about the calendar anyway? I don't really know much once I get past the photo edits part."
His fingers slide into his hair and he flashes me that wicked smile again. "I meant with the puppies, Lily. I wanted to know what happens to Squiggles."
"Oh," I put the camera down on the table. "Well, I'm taking the puppies back to the shelter. They live there." I shrug awkwardly. "Until someone adopts them."
"But Squiggles and I are bonding now. You can't take him back to the animal shelter."
I eye the man in front of me skeptically. "Don't pretend to feel things that you obviously don't. I get it, okay? Ha ha, the hot guy thinks the puppy is super cute and it makes him even hotter." I wave a hand at him. "You don't have to be that way with me."
"What way?" he asks, his forehead scrunching up.
"You don't have to make everything into a punchline." I press my lips together to keep the rest of the words at bay.
"It's not a joke, Lily. I really like this little guy, and I could use a little furry bro-mance in my life now that Abernathy's tapping out." He rubs his cheek against the puppy again. "What if I take Squiggles home?"
My mouth twists up. "It's a puppy. Not a girl. We all know you're not going to actually take anything other than another hot chick home with you."
"There's only one hot chick in this room, Lily, and I wouldn't mind taking you home too."
Behind me, a man clears his throat loudly enough to basically serve as a mini declaration of war.
Because of course. Of course, my brother would show up now, right when things were getting good.
Ken
So okay, I haven't quite sealed the deal with sexy photographer babe Lily yet. Don't worry, I still believe in myself.
And I definitely saw the way she was staring at me. Heck, every time I talked to the woman she blushed and stammered like a schoolgirl.
What a yummy picture that would be, the curvy, luscious body of Lily all wrapped up in a tight white button up shirt and a teeny tiny plaid schoolgirl skirt. Chaste white cotton panties underneath. Maybe her long red hair up in pigtails even. How much would I love to unwrap that particular living daydream?
But why in the name of all cockblockery is Elliott Vaughn here and giving me the most aggressive stink eye of our entire epic bro-mance?
"So, Ell," I say. "Have you met Lily? She's our very lovely, very talented photographer. You know, for the hot firefighter calendar that you aren't in. Plus, this year we get to cuddle with puppies." I snuggle up against the tiny, pudgy puppy that I've been holding. He really is super cute, and I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the little guy, no matter what the situation is. Even puppies, apparently.
Elliott narrows his eyes at me and his nostrils flare with every breath he takes. I swear he looks like he's ready to charge at me and punch me right in the nose.
Um, what on earth? Is Lily his new girlfriend or something? Because that would be bad.
Very bad, because I've definitely been hitting on her super aggressively and have spent almost the entirety of this photoshoot thinking about doing something naughty enough to make her blush again. But this time with the camera trained on her instead of me.
Good heaven above, but she's gorgeous. Lily has got the most incredible set of curves I've ever seen, and I'd like nothing more than to examine them up close and personal with my hands and mouth, and without all these pesky clothes in the way. And then take my very own private naughty movie of her, to enjoy repeatedly at my leisure afterwards.
But well, if she's Elliott's girl for real, I better stop thinking about her naked right away. That's a clear violation of the bro code. The bro-gram, if you prefer.
I'll give myself a few more delicious minutes of fantasizing about spanking a naughty schoolgirl version of Lily and then I'll close the book on that particular chapter. Pinky promise.
My eyes flick to Elliott's face. And now he's grinding his teeth so hard that I swear actual sparks are popping out from between his molars. "Um, Ell, what's the matter? Also, what are you doing here?" I put my cute little buddy Squiggles back in with his puppy brothers and sisters and then brush my hands off on my pants. "I get that you have firefighter envy—"
He actually snorts at that line. Good. If he's even quasi-laughing then maybe he won't be as likely to murder me for checking out Lily's voluptuous, made-for-sin body. Maybe.