Behind His Lens (23 page)

“Fine. But there better be some damn good photos on that camera,” Ryan relents, resting his hands on his hips.

“There are,” Jude snaps roughly, glancing at him and then turning back toward me with frigid ferocity. “Can I talk to you for a second before you head in, Charley?”

I nod because my body is already conditioned to respond to this man. Not to mention, his tone wouldn’t have allowed any other response. I haven’t even fully processed the situation, and as I glance toward Ryan, his furrowed
brows reveal that he’s trying to catch up as well.

Sinking
my fingers into the sand, I push up to stand on shaky legs. I try to brush some of the sand off the back of my thighs. Out of the corner of my lashes, I watch Ryan walk away from us to prepare for the next model, but I still can’t look at Jude. I keep my eyes focused on the grains of white sand spread across my feet like glassy constellations. He’s standing a few inches in front of me. Is he angry with me?

“Charley, look at me,” he demands.

My eyes stay focused on a speck of sand stuck to the side of my ankle, at least I know it won’t burn me with its gaze.

“Please.”
His voice is impossible to resist, like licking chocolate off the spoon before you clean the bowl.

With a deep breath, I raise my eyes until I’m glancing at him from underneath my lashes. The moment I find his ocean blue eyes, I cross my arms over my chest, feeling vulnerable in front of him and
suddenly wishing I had my small robe again. His chuckle is pure sin, reminding me that a moment ago I was revealing every ounce of myself for him, but at least he holds his tongue.

“Is everything okay?” I ask with an unsteady voice, trying to gage his mood.

He presses his eyelids closed for a moment, and I can tell he’s trying to reel in his emotions.

“We’ll talk about it later,” he answers simply as his eyes flutter open, revealing stormy blue
irises.

“Some of the models are getting together after the shoot…” I trail off, not sure why I’m even announcing those plans to him—
maybe so he won’t have to feel bad if he wants to cancel on me now?

His jaw clenches
. “Is that what you’d like to do?”

“Um, I’d rather go swimming,” I offer, toeing the line of honesty.

“You can go swimming with
them
,” he answers pointedly, and I can tell he’s annoyed.

Damn him. Damn him for always making me reveal my cards when I just want to hide behind the veil of his desires. I like when he demands and orders. Being n
ear him makes me feel vulnerable, like I’m playing on empty train tracks, but telling him my true feelings is like leaping off a platform toward an oncoming engine.

“I’d like to go to where
you
were exploring yesterday, if you’re still up for it?” That’s the best I can do; I can give him the truth, but I have to give him an out to cover my bases.

He
eyes me as if he can see through the cracks in my facade and then unpeels a knowing smile. “I’ll come find you after the shoot wraps.”

My face lights up, publishing my excitement to the world, but I don’t care. “I’ll grab some food for us since it’ll probably be close to dinner time.”

“Sounds good. I’ll eat anything you’d like, just make sure you keep that suit on, Charley,” he commands, fleetingly sweeping his gaze down my body. His blue eyes gleam in the Hawaiian sun.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I quip, winking playfully, glad that the old Jude finally revealed himself once again.

Charley

“I didn’t expect him to ask his two friends to join, but it was too late by then! So I just went with the flow.” Victoria eyes scan across to each of us and then she grins wildly. “Let’s just say that every girl should experience that once in her life.” She waggles her eyebrows and all the girls erupt in laughter.

“Ah! You’re insane
,” Bella laughs next to me.

“Hey, when in Rome
.” She shrugs playfully and takes a sip of her martini.

“You were in Brazil!” Bella shouts, eliciting another round of laughs.

Bella dragged me down to the hotel bar earlier so I could hangout with the girls while I waited for Jude. He texted me when the shoot wrapped a few minutes ago, but he wanted to head to his room to shower, so I told him he could find me at the bar. After my part of the shoot was over, I cleaned up and threw on a pair of short, faded jean cutoffs and a slinky blue tank top. Yes, of course I left the white bikini on.

I wasn’t sure where to get our dinner, but when I called the concierge, the hotel offered to bring a picnic up for me. I was nervous
about ordering since I have no knowledge of what Jude prefers, but hopefully he’ll be too hungry to care. At least the hotel tucked our food into a small cooler. That way I could hide it in my bohemian bag so none of the girls would ask about it.

As soon as I finished
packing the cooler up and sliding on my strappy sandals, Bella knocked on my door.

“Have you ever been to Brazil, Charley?” Victoria asks, drawing me back to the present. She tips back her martini until it’s bone dry and I watch her bite the olives off the toothpick as I shake my head.

“No, but it’s definitely on my bucket list. Especially after that story,” I joke.

She smiles wide and cheers, “Yes! I bet you’ll get to go sooner than you think. Especially after your cover. You’ll get booked for all sorts of jobs around the world.”

I nod, soaking in her words, “I might actually try to lay low for a while.”

My declaration causes frantic stirring around the table. “What?”— “Why?”— “To build your mysterious vibe?”— “That’s crazy!”

I shake my head, twisting the cocktail napkin in my hand. “Just for personal reasons.”

“But there are girls who would
kill
to be in your position, Charley,” Victoria presses.

Would they? Have I?

I don’t know how the conversation became directed at my career decisions, but I’m starting to wonder if I shouldn’t have come with Bella. Thankfully, she notices my discomfort.

“Victoria! Tell us another one of your stories. Maybe about Vespa Boy?
Didn’t you guys sneak into the Eiffel Tower after it closed?” And just like that, the tables back to laughing and the attention is no longer on me. I recline back in my chair and try to immerse myself in Victoria’s story. But a moment later, I feel the energy in the bar change. It’s as if every free electron in my body is being drawn to a positive force. I don’t even have to turn; I know Jude walked into the bar, and my instincts are confirmed when his scent wraps around me like an intoxicating wave. It’s fresh and completely male.

But before I can turn to see him, I feel his warm hands engulf my shoulders and a pair of lips press against my shoulder blade. Holy hell. His kiss sends fireworks through me and I know he can feel me tremble beneath his hands. He just kissed me in front of all the girls
, and as expected, their eyes are wide with wonder and confusion. Martinis freeze mid-way to gaping mouths and I know I shouldn’t turn around and see how devastatingly handsome he looks. I should just revel in this ignorant bliss, but I can’t. I need to see him.

His hands slip from my shoulders as I turn around and take in his heavenly appearance. His dark hair is damp and tousled from his shower,
and his new tan and dark stubble make him appear sultry and mysterious. He’s got on a white t-shirt that you can practically see every muscle through and solid black board shorts. He looks so relaxed, but I know him better than that. He’s always in control.

No one speaks for a few moments
, and I realize they were all doing exactly what I’d just done: ogling this dream of a man.

“S
orry, ladies, but I have to steal Charley away for the evening.” My heart flutters and I want to record him saying those exact words over and over again.

“Ooooh,” all the girls erupt into giggles and sighs. I shoot them a playful glare as I stand to retrieve my bag. It’s not heavy, but Jude reaches for it and clasps it tightly in his hand.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow on set,” I smile and wave, making eye contact with Bella one last time.

Her smile is practically splitting her face in two, and I know she’s getting as much out of this as I am.

Jude

“They’re going to have so much to talk about for the rest of the night,” Charley comments as I lead her through the hotel. Her tone tells me she’s joking, but I know she doesn’t like being the center of attention.

“You’re right, they’ll probably talk about how great I looked
all
night,” I tease, knowing my remark fell past charming, landing directly in arrogant asshole territory, but it worked. She smiled and shook her head, and I got her to forget about them for a moment.

Without thinking
, my hand reaches out to find hers. We continue walking and no one mentions the gesture, but I notice her glance down for a moment before she squeezes gently.

“So, where are we going?” she asks with subtle reservation. If I was half as brutish as I think I was
at the photo shoot, she’s probably wondering if I’m still upset with her.

“Well since we have
the volcano shoot and crew dinner tomorrow, I figured we should swim while we had the chance. I found a good spot yesterday that should be secluded.”

“Secluded, hmm?” She purses her lips and hums.

I look at her out of the corner of my eye and smile slyly.

With a gentle tug
, she swings our hands back and forth as if we’re little kids walking in the park. I can’t remember the last time I did something so
innocent
with a girl.

“It feels kind of strange being with you like this,” she admits as we step out of the hotel and onto the path toward the beach. It’s dusk and the sun will set soon, but for now the evening glow reflects off the water in a breathtaking view.

“Does it?” I ask, even though I feel it too.

“Yeah. Normally there are
so many… emotions flaring between us when we first see each other, but this time it feels different.”

“Maybe we’re just becoming comfortable around one another?” I offer with a small smile.

“Yeah, I suppose that’s it. But it feels like maybe something more too.”

What a vague statement, but I won’t prod her for anything more. I’m happy she mentioned anything at all. As we walk in silence for a little while, we let our bodies sync into an easy rhythm. We mold our movements together as the ground transitions from concrete to dark wood and then to soft sand beneath our feet. After we stow our shoes next to the resorts entrance to the beach, I adjust my backpack over my shoulder and grip her bag tightly.

When we start walking again, she’s the one who reaches out for my hand. The way she gently clasps it makes it feel like she’s clamping down directly on my heart, and the sensation makes me wonder how she can possibly affect me so explicitly.

My fingers wind around hers and my thumb runs absentmindedly back and forth across the back of her hand. Another few minutes pass as we move farther from the resort.

“We aren’t at the spot yet, but we should probably eat before it gets too dark,” I suggest as I drop her hand.

“Everything is in my backpack, but I didn’t think about how sandy our food would get,” she frowns, running her toes through the sand.

I shake my head and swing my backpack down, “No worries, I brought a blanket.”

Her eyes flash up as she grins, “I should have known you would think to bring one.”

“Am I that dependable?”

She leans back to eye me up and down, skeptically. “I’d say… predictable.”

With a thud, I drop the bags onto the sand and eye her devilishly. “I’ll remember that, Charley.”

“Alright, alright.
I wouldn’t use that word,” she pauses, holding her hands up in defeat as I spread out the blanket. “Thoughtful, controlling, demanding all come to mind though.”

“Demanding, huh?”

“Oh, yes.
Very
demanding,” her eyebrows perk up slightly.

“You don’t sound like you mind,” I challenge, sliding down onto the blanket.

She shakes her head. “I don’t think I do.” She sits down with her legs tucked under her, but she doesn’t meet my eyes again until after she unzips her bag and pulls out a small blue cooler. “I ordered some chicken salad, French bread, cheese, and fruit.” Her blue eyes hold a sense of unease. “Does that sound okay?”

Was she nervous that I wouldn’t like what she picked?

“Sounds awesome. I’m pretty hungry and I like chicken salad.”

“Me too. But I bet they didn’t make it as good as I can back home,” she declares with a grin as we begin to set out the food and make our plates.