And then I'd kiss her, and not gently either. I'd possess her mouth, press myself into her so she could feel every single bit of what she does to me. I want her to go crazy, to burn to touch me the same way that I am dying to touch all of her too.
But wait, I'm supposed to be making a joke with her freaking older brother. My best friend Elliott, my very best bro since our high school days, even if our jobs and lives keeps us a little busy and apart anymore. Okay, time to focus on something other than how desperate I am to bang his little sister.
He's still staring at me, but his eyes have gone hard and unfriendly this time. Well, shit. Maybe he can read thoughts after all. "I can join you, if you're willing. Heck, I'll even put on a shirt." I flash him another smile and head toward the changing room. I wave at him and move as quickly but inconspicuously as possible to clean up and get dressed.
Because if there's even a small chance I get to spend some more time with Lily right now, I'm definitely going to grab it. Even if it means having to make my move right in front of her overprotective brother.
I sigh hard as I pull my t-shirt on. There's no way on earth that Elliott isn't going to kill me if I touch his sister. Hell, if he knew even half of what I’m thinking about her, he'd more likely than not kill me right now with his bare hands.
If I were a smart man, I'd hit the brakes on my obsession with Lily right now. I can't envision a scenario where doing even half of what I want to do with her doesn't result in him breaking my legs, my arms, and then my face. But I can't help who I am and how I feel.
Maybe, just maybe, he'll be willing to write it off as harmless flirting. Everybody knows I'm a shameless flirt, completely over the top when it comes to any and all available women. Elliott is always trying to talk me down from chasing after women every time we go out. Everyone knows I’m all talk and no action.
So maybe I can still win her over, but do it on the sly. Make it out like she's just another flirting target but actually get close to her too. I already like what I see, and I'm willing to bet she's hot as hell in bed. Those shy type of girls always are, once I talk them out of their panties.
Unfortunately, my lascivious thoughts about Lily being an absolute wildcat in bed have now given me a mega boner. I need to clear my mind quickly so I can get back into my jeans and catch up with them before they leave for lunch. Innocently, of course. Definitely not like I'm trying to make some moves on Elliott's little sister.
Thinking about Elliott seems to be working on the boner front at least. I keep imagining him punching me in the face and knocking a few of my teeth out, and that's doing wonders to squash my out of control libido.
Crap. He's really going to kill me.
Thomas Abernathy walks in and nudges me with his shoulder, then sees I'm still a little undressed and at half-mast and carefully averts his eyes and faces away from me.
"Come on Daniels. Can't you put that thing away and get in your fucking pants?"
I shrug. "I've got a lot of ammunition in this weapon of mine. Hanging around with that sex bomb photographer means it's going to take a little while to unload. So how about you quit looking at my dick, you pervert."
I can practically hear him roll his eyes. Ha, point to Daniels. "Don't talk about your dick like it's a weapon ever again. Also, I have a serious question to ask you if you'd ever put that business of yours away."
I manage to zip up and finish arranging my clothes, then turn to face him. "Hey, congratulations man. You're lucky as hell that Darcy ever looked twice at you, let alone agreed to marry your chump ass."
He nods once, a slow smile spreading across his face. "Don't I know it. She's fucking incredible." He shakes his head. "Okay, serious talk. I want you to be my best man."
I can't help the grin that overtakes my face. Thom Abernathy was our new recruit, and I'd made it my mission in life to give him hell right up until he begged for my help to win the affection of the beautiful Darcy Albrecht. With my help, he wooed and won the woman of his dreams.
Well, okay. Maybe he bought me some beers at Riddles and cried a lot over screwing things up with her while Aunt Opal gave him some advice about winning her back. Either way, he was definitely part of the bro-gram now.
"I couldn't be happier for you, and I'm honored you'd ask. Also, I look damn good in a suit. So, make sure your future wifey picks someone extra hot to be her bridesmaid because it's practically a rule that the best man and the bridesmaid do it either during or shortly after the reception."
Abernathy snorts. "That's definitely not a rule. Also, if you sleaze all over one of Darcy's friends, she might end up killing me instead of marrying me, so keep your peen in your pants."
I shrug. "No promises." Then I give him a one-armed hug and excuse myself as quickly as possible. I’ve got a woman to woo. A hot, red-headed babe-a-licious photographer. And I know I’m the right man for the job.
Lily
"What do you mean you're not taking me?" I stomp my foot at him. And okay, I probably look like I'm having a mini tantrum right now, but well. The entire point of Elliott coming down to the shoot was for us to grab lunch and spend a little time together. He's always busy with work, and I haven't spent any real time with him in almost a month.
He waves me off. "Don't make a big scene, Lily Pad. I'll buy you a burger and beer another day. Right now, I'm going to have a man-to-man sit down with my best friend Daniels about his life choices, so we'll catch up another time."
I can feel my hands curling up into fists. I'm absolutely livid with him. How dare he come all the way down here for some quality sibling time and then ditch me at his earliest convenience for some stupid bro time? And with ridiculous Ken Daniels of all guys.
Ridiculous, smoking hot, delicious looking, sexy abs, beard-I’d-like-to-sit-on Daniels.
Nope, not going there. He didn't even recognize me, which is one of the most embarrassing things to have happened to me in recent memory. And even if he had, what would we possibly have to talk about? For one, he's five years older than me and has always been at a different place in his life, even now that we're both adults. And two, he's a manly firefighter who saves people from burning buildings whereas I take pictures of weddings and babies.
And sometimes hot firefighters. At least for today.
Look, it's not that I don't have bigger ambitions. I do. I'd love nothing more than to be doing high fashion shoots in New York and Paris, but I have always lived in a town the size of my thumbnail and the only work available here is the usual family and wedding stuff. And that's fine, but it doesn't help me build a portfolio that I can submit to the type of fashion jobs I dream about.
I love what I do, and I love being able to give people something beautiful that they can be proud to have as a memory of that particular point in time that matters so much to them. There's nothing like catching that one perfect shot, where the lighting and the background frame a moment perfectly, or you see someone's personality shine through in a picture.
But I would love to be right at the front of a catwalk, at least once. Or a fast-paced magazine spread taking aim at the newest fashion trends. But that's probably not going to happen for me. I'm a shy girl from a small town in flyover country. Who would ever give me the time of day?