Intimate (11 page)

She glanced up, and the blush was back. “It felt like the ring in my clit was a conduit sending energy inside me, just a delicious pulse of heat.” The blush spread across her cheeks.

Jake could barely draw a breath, so focused on Kaz he forgot the simple things like breathing. Then she licked her lips, and he almost choked.

Good Lord, the pheromones surrounding them must be off the charts. Her pupils narrowed, and he figured his were probably slits right now, but all he could really focus on was her mouth.

She nibbled at her lower lip. Jake blinked slowly, mesmerized by her straight, white teeth teasing at the fullness of that perfectly shaped lip.

The artery at the side of his neck throbbed, beating a steady tattoo. He swallowed, fully aware that Kaz was watching the ripple of muscles along his throat. Something in her heated stare had him reining in his growing arousal, the pounding desire that wound his entire body tight, curled his fingers into fists.

He glanced away and took a deep breath. Let it out, drew in another, and felt his muscles begin to relax. His heart slowed its rapid cadence, as slowly but steadily he regained control.

When he looked at Kaz again, she'd also shuttered the desire that must have been raging through her body, racing at breakneck speed with his.

When he felt as if he could make a coherent statement, Jake chose not to comment on what she'd said. “You ready for a break?”

Kaz blinked. Then she laughed. “Oh. Sorry.” Blushing, she added, “I sort of go into my own little zone during a shoot. I totally lose track of everything but the job. I mean, I'm thinking of all kinds of stuff, but it keeps me in the moment, in whatever mood the photographer is looking for.” She sucked in her lips and then blew them out, laughing. “Unfortunately, it also takes me a while to come back, because I think I'm totally disconnected from reality.”

He stared at her a moment, and he knew he probably shouldn't say anything, but he really couldn't help himself. “Is that what you call it? A zone?” Personally he thought it was more like a lesson in seduction.

She straightened her shoulders and actually glared at him. “Yeah,” she said. “I do. What time is it?”

“Almost noon. I'm starving.”

She seemed to relax, and this time her smile was as easy as if that momentary lapse hadn't occurred. “I had no idea. No wonder I have to pee so bad!” Her eyes went wide and Kaz slapped her hand over her mouth. “Oops. Sorry.” Laughing out loud, she sat up and stretched. “For what it's worth, there are no filters in my zone. My mouth speaks without connecting to my brain.”

Jake stood and held out a hand. Whatever had just happened between them was obviously over, but he wasn't the only one who had consciously shut it down. “No problem. There are actually modern restroom facilities inside. They use the barn for wine tastings on occasion, and Marc has quarters upstairs for when he's in town. C'mon. I'll show you where.”

She tossed the scarf over her neck with the ends hanging down over her breasts to cover herself, and pulled the soft yoga pants back on, but it was so private out here, she didn't appear to be worried about putting her top back on. What was the point? He was the only one who would see her, and he'd spent all morning up close and personal with her breasts.

With luck, she wouldn't know how hard it had been for him to act professionally. He certainly hadn't been thinking like a pro, but he kept up the act as he casually took her hand and led her across the grass to the old barn. She followed quietly.

Knowing exactly how she looked, there was no way in hell he could turn and actually watch her. Bare-breasted, barefoot, bedecked in jewels and gold chains and swathed in silk, with those soft black yoga pants riding low on her slim hips, she was every man's wet dream.

She was most certainly his.

He'd always been good at connecting with models, at least on some level. He was damned good at his job, but he'd never connected with anyone, on or off the job, the way he had with Kaz.

If he didn't like her so much, he'd be scared to death of her, of what she could do to him. Thank God she wasn't looking for a serious affair any more than he was. She'd said this wasn't the right time for a relationship, that there was too much on her plate to even think of putting out the effort to forge any kind of permanent bond with a man.

She hadn't said anything against having fun with someone she liked, though. Why couldn't the two of them explore what this thing was that seemed to be growing between them? Explore it and enjoy it, at least while they were working together on the shoot.

They still had three nights of hotel and B and B reservations. Three more days of photos in some of the most beautiful, romantic country he'd ever seen. Three nights and three days to explore the warm sense of intimacy growing between them, what had to be purely sexual need that was keeping his body strung taut.

They were both adults, both aware of the pleasures and the pitfalls to be had in a straight-up sexual affair. But would she be interested?

He glanced over his shoulder and knew that if he didn't kiss her soon he was going to explode. “Through there,” he said, and almost laughed when she jumped. Obviously, she was daydreaming as much as he was.

Kaz blushed. Again. Usually, her daydreams and fantasies took her a million miles away, but right now they had her focused on the rough calluses of Jake's palm, the way his fingers felt wrapped around hers.

The way they'd felt stroking between her legs last night, across her breasts today.

She hadn't realized they'd already reached the barn. She paused at the door he held for her, and smiled.

His answering smile told her he knew she'd been totally lost in her thoughts. As long as he had no idea what those thoughts were, she was good to go.

“When I called Marc yesterday,” he said, “to tell him I'd found the perfect model…”

She turned and pointed her forefinger at her chest. “And that would be me, of course.”

“Of course. Who else?” He laughed as he followed her into the barn. “Anyway, now that we have that settled, Marc said he'd make sure there was something for our lunch in the refrigerator. If not, we can make a quick run back to that little store we passed. It's got a terrific deli.”

“Sounds good,” she said. Then she escaped into the restroom he pointed out to her.

Jake watched the closed door for a moment, not even trying to wipe the stupid grin off his face. Then he went behind the counter, where there was a good-sized refrigerator, big enough to handle everything for the events held out here at the vineyard.

This had once been a dairy barn. The inside had all been redone and painted to look old and weathered, but obviously everything except the shell of the structure was new. To the right of the main door were a leather couch, comfortable chairs, and small tables. Four stalls on the back wall were filled with fresh straw with colorful woven horse blankets thrown over the short walls between them. All very upscale, yet traditionally comfortable and colorful.

To the left of the door was a complete kitchen with a long granite counter for simple food preparation and that well-stocked refrigerator Marc had mentioned. It was filled with packaged meats, cheeses and dips, a bag of fresh veggies, and chilled fruit juice. More than enough to keep them going for a few more hours. A matching granite bar opposite the counter was set up for wine tasting.

He washed his hands at the huge stainless sink, and by the time Kaz came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, he had a feast sitting on the bar.

Kaz had washed her face and finger-combed her dark hair back from her eyes, and he knew he needed more shots of her like this, almost starkly bare, but undeniably beautiful. Without makeup of any kind, she would showcase the jewelry with an entirely different look from the one she had earlier, when her hair had been falling loose and tousled around her face.

She still wore the jewels in her earlobes and the stud in her left nostril, but she'd wrapped the scarf around her back, crossed it over her breasts and tied it behind her neck. It covered her breasts completely, but the fine gold chains hung beneath the loosely tied scarf, swinging gently against her flat belly as she walked.

The butterfly tattoo shimmered with every step she took.

Jake bit back a groan. Damn. Was she trying to kill him? Ignoring his raging libido, he pulled one of the tall stools out from under the counter for her.

“Eat something. I don't want you keeling over from starvation.”

She gave him a bright smile as she settled herself on the stool. “Wow. This looks wonderful.” Then she grinned and fluttered her eyelashes. “And he cooks, too!”

He chuckled and grabbed paper plates for each of them. “Actually, he can slice cheese, make cute little piles of lunch meat, and put prepared stuff on a plate. That's about the extent of my culinary talent.”

She swept a sprig of fresh broccoli through a tub of creamy dressing. “Works for me,” she said, and popped it into her mouth.

Jake watched her chewing for a moment, realized he was concentrating on her lips, and had to look away. His feelings were all over the map, none of them familiar, or even remotely comfortable. He really needed to get a grip on whatever the hell was happening.

“I'm getting some great stuff today, more than I expected and way beyond test shots. I think tomorrow we'll do some pictures in town. I want to work on the more visible pieces, emphasize the ones in your navel, nostril, and ears. We'll do the more traditional designs as well—collars, necklaces, wrist and ankle bracelets. They're designed to pair up with the more personal jewelry. I'm thinking we could use places around the plaza, maybe in front of some of the local businesses. Then I want to come back out here another day, too. Maybe something down at the creek. It's really pretty this time of year.”

“I like the idea of shooting in town, though I am not doing any breast or clit ring shots in public.” Then she laughed.

He waggled his eyebrows. “Even if I ply you with really good wine?”

“Especially then.” She covered her eyes with her hand and shook her head, laughing. “It's scary even to think about it.”

“Okay.” Sighing dramatically, he added, “I promise.” His mind was suddenly filled with mental images of that tiny silver ring on the hood of her clit, and the things he wanted to do with it. Damn. He had to look away.

His gaze rested on a window, one that Marc had just had installed, though it was designed to look old-fashioned. Softly tinted glass with dark grillwork made it look as if it had small, individual square panes—old-fashioned in appearance, but the latest in double-paned, shatter-resistant glass.

Something moved, a dark shadow at the lower corner. Jake slowly turned away. “Stay here,” he said, speaking softly. “Don't move, don't react, but I want to check on something.”

He leaned close and whispered, “Something moved at the window. I'll only take a minute. Hopefully it's just a shadow from the trees, but I want to be sure.”

Kaz flashed him a bright smile. “Okay,” she said. Then her smile wavered. “If there's someone out there, don't play hero, okay?”

“I promise.” Then he walked toward the restroom and slipped around a corner where he knew he'd be out of sight of anyone looking through the window. He took a last glance at Kaz, who went on eating as if nothing was going on. She didn't know about the texts and he wasn't about to tell her, but he hadn't been able to get those creepy messages out of his mind.

He was almost certain he'd seen a face at the window.

Quietly, Jake unlocked the small back door that opened to an area behind the barn. He glanced around and slipped through the door. There was no one near the window. He checked for footprints, but the area under the window was covered with fresh gravel. He circled the entire barn. Nothing appeared out of place, but he couldn't shake the feeling someone was out here.

He circled around to the door again, and noticed a large branch near the side of the barn. Shadows danced across the glass. He watched the shifting shadows for a moment, satisfied that was all he'd seen, but before he went back inside, he checked his messages.

Nothing new since last night. He slipped the phone back in his pocket.

His imagination was obviously a bit overactive, but it was probably his inner caveman asserting himself. After all, he had a beautiful, half-naked woman to protect. Chuckling, feeling sort of silly over his reaction to an imagined danger, he stopped beside Kaz and shrugged. “Just the shadow from a branch. Sorry to interrupt your lunch.”

“It's okay,” she said. “Actually, I think it's pretty cool. It makes me a lot more comfortable, knowing you're watching out for me.”

But was he? Really? He slid onto the stool beside hers and they bumped shoulders like a couple of old friends, but he couldn't stop second-guessing his decision not to tell her about the messages. This was his past coming back to haunt him, his future being threatened, not hers. He didn't want to worry Kaz about something that was all about him, about the horrible things he'd done, but as long as they were together on this job, he needed to watch out for her.

No way in hell was he going to relax.

Just in case.

 

CHAPTER 7

“If I eat another bite, you're going to need to cover my stomach for the shots.” Kaz patted her flat belly, pushed back from the counter, and picked up her plate and Jake's.

“We can't have that.” He grabbed the tray of munchies and loaded everything onto a smaller plate, wrapped it up, and stuck it back in the refrigerator, while Kaz dumped the used paper plates in the trash and wiped off the counter.

She tossed the towel to Jake, he draped it over the counter with a melodramatic twirl, and they went outside. She hid her feelings well—no way was she going to admit that Jake had absolutely shocked her, that something totally mundane had seemed so spectacular. The two of them had just completed the cleanup like they'd been together forever. Her old boyfriend, the jerk, hadn't raised a finger to help with anything, and like an idiot, she'd waited on him. She'd been stupid. Just stupid.