Eden shivered, although he comfortable room was warm enough. She wore a fluffy white gown over her nude, barely there thong. But the shivers had nothing to do with her body temperature, which ran from hot to freezing and back again every few seconds. She glanced at the door—did she have time to rush to the bathroom and vomit?
‘Stop freaking out.’ Sam handed her a bottle of water, twisting the cap off so Eden could take a hesitant sip. She didn’t trust her stomach and didn’t want to smudge the tiny smear of nude lip-gloss on her lips. Not after Sam had spent a painstaking thirty minutes making up her pale face to appear as if she wore no make-up at all. She’d have preferred to actually wear no make-up, but Sam insisted the minimal amount she’d applied was crucial to prevent the lighting reflecting off her skin. And, no doubt, to conceal her deathly pallor.
Eden needed all the help she could get. As it was, a fine film of perspiration threatened to undo all Sam’s hard work. She sucked in long calming breaths. This idea was doomed. Every nerve ending in her body screamed at her to flee. Every instinct wailed the truth so loudly, a headache pounded at her temples. She should listen. Take her intact dignity and her hollow, empty heart and live a life devoid of love, a life devoid of Dan, instead filling her days with family and work and …
Fuck that. She wasn’t a quitter. And if she went down in blaze of failure, so be it.
And Dan deserved to know her feelings, even if he could never reciprocate them.
Someone rapped on the door, the harsh sound reverberating around the small changing room where Eden and Sam had holed up for the past hour. They both jumped, a tiny whimper escaping Eden’s dry throat.
‘We’re ready for you,’ the anonymous voice called.
Fresh panic seized Eden, flooding her muscles with oxygen in preparation for her hasty departure. Sam’s small encouraging smile pulled her back from the edge. ‘You can do this.’ Sam loomed into focus, her face brightening. Confident.
It was contagious. She could. She could do this. But what if … No—there was no room in her life for what ifs.
She stood, her legs alarmingly wobbly, and followed Sam from the room. She barely recognised the Scale employee who’d knocked on the door, her small twitch of a smile all she could muster for the man, who led them along deserted, draughty corridors. He was all brisk efficiency, but rather than settle Eden’s nerves, it flamed the roaring fire inside her.
‘So to remind you, it’s a closed set. Just you and the photographer. You’re the last, so as soon as you’re done, you’re free to leave. Scale will email you a release form and proofs of the photos for your approval.’ He paused at yet another doorway, his clipboard clutched to his chest and a bright smile in place. ‘Don’t worry, he’s a really nice guy.’
Eden nodded, her head light. ‘I know.’ Although nice didn’t cover it. Almost insulting. She could think of a hundred more appropriate adjectives. Her poor sidelined libido fluttered awake, turning trembles into flutters in her belly.
‘Your friend can stay with you, if you want.’ Clipboard glanced between Eden and Sam, who shook her head and gave Eden a final encouraging hug.
‘She doesn’t need me.’ She winked. ‘Doesn’t need anyone, right?’ This time, the phrase held no criticism, but affirmation of how far Eden had come. With Sam’s help.
Clipboard ignored the secret smile passed between the friends and pushed open the door, ushering Eden inside the tiny studio.
White. The floors, the ceiling and the walls. Everything was white. Had she actually passed out? As the door eased closed and the voices behind her faded, Eden shuffled her bare feet forward round the white partition that screened her from Dan.
There he was.
Dan, his back to her, stretched up to adjust a light mounted to a tripod, directing the beam to a single white stool, the only piece of furniture in the room. Her world sparked vibrantly alive, and a languid pool of unexpected calm settled deep inside.
‘I’ll be with you in a sec, I just want to get this right …’ He swivelled his head over his shoulder, his warm welcoming smile dying on his face as he saw her.
She’d misjudged. Taken a punt and jumped the wrong way. The calm seeped away, replaced by a concrete block. Heavy and unforgiving, just like the weight behind Dan’s stare.
Say something. Was she speaking to herself or to Dan? A futile exercise, because not only did she remain deafeningly silent, but so did he, his arms dropping to his sides and his jaw slack.
Eden gripped the knotted belt of the robe at her waist, to remove it or to stay grounded she wasn’t sure. Her future hung in the balance of the next few seconds and she had no inclination for which way things might go. He hated her. And she couldn’t blame him. She’d spent a long time hating herself.
Dan, as if waking from a trance, looked her up and down, a glimmer of understanding flashing across his face.
Eden swallowed, her vocal cords waking. ‘I—’
In two strides, he reached her, scooping his strong arms around her back and drawing her up until only the tips of her toes made contact with the floor. His mouth covered hers, preventing further explanation. Not that she had any to give, all the well-rehearsed things she’d planned to say to him evaporating from her mind at the first blissful touch of his warm, insistent lips on hers.
She let go. Her mind closing to anything that wasn’t Dan, his unique scent, the solid bulk of his muscles under her roving hands or the sublime glide and thrust of his heady kisses. How had she convinced herself she could live without him? Although she knew her own strength better for meeting him, she wanted more than an existence. She wanted him. In her life, in whatever capacity he could offer.
Tearing her mouth away from his kiss, she buried her face in the soft cotton of his T-shirt, loving the spring of his chest hair beneath the fabric in the dip between his well-defined pecs. The dip that seemed to be made for her—a perfect height and width for her forehead to rest.
His hands cupped her cheeks, tipping back her head until his questioning stare bore into hers. ‘What are you doing here?’ The glittering pools of his eyes held her captive, trapping the words in her throat. Words she’d feared she would have no opportunity to speak. But the kisses he feathered over her face and the rhythmic sweeps of his thumbs across her cheeks and jaw gave her courage, as Dan, patient as ever, waited.
‘I love you. I wanted you to know.’ Eden’s hands left the comfort of his sculpted back, her fingers curling over his wrists to stay his hold on her face. ‘I though I could live without you, and I could. I just don’t want to.’ Seconds ticked by, each one stretched to hours. A lifetime.
‘Eden—’ Dan’s voice, thick with emotion chilled her. She didn’t want to hear it, the rejection she expected, the consolation she’d known he would offer. He’d let her down gently, with grace and humility. That was who he was.
The words she’d held inside for so long blasted past her stiff lips. ‘I’m sorry for the hateful things I said. I don’t care that you’re still in love with Megan. I just want you to know that I love you. That I’ll take any part of you that you can give me. That I’ll support your project, pose for the calendar because it’s important to you.’
The air in the room stilled as Eden’s heart thumped an erratic rhythm. Please don’t let it be too late?
Dan’s fingers tugged her hair as he curled them, drawing her face closer for another kiss that was almost brutal in its ferocity. He growled, dragging his mouth away, his chest working as hard as hers and his gaze scalding.
‘You were right. Everything you said that day was true.’
She winced, his words harder to hear than anything she’d imagined.
‘I do love Megan. Part of me always will. But she’s gone.’ His brows dipped low over his eyes a pained frown furrowing the skin as his eyes danced over her features, one by one. ‘I’m in love with you. And I want all of you, too. Even the bits you don’t like.’
His words echoed what she’d said to him the day of Amelia’s BBQ. Eden’s legs faltered. But for Dan’s continued grip on her face, she’d have collapsed to the floor. She stood on tiptoes, her face tilted back to meet him halfway as he lowered his head until their mouths collided.
Steel arms banded around her waist and she levered her hands on his shoulders until she’d climbed him, her legs clinging to his waist as he held her so close she struggled to catch a breath.
There was no furniture in the room, the floor hard, unforgiving floorboards. Not that she’d have minded. She’d tolerate any level of discomfort for Dan. But he pressed her to the wall instead, taking his time to reacquaint them with the divine pleasure their mouths created. Slow, lazy kisses. Torrid, duelling tongues. Reverent, playful nibbles.
After what seemed like an age, they parted, their lips swollen and breathing ragged. Dan lowered her feet to the floor, his forehead dropping to rest against hers while they regained a modicum of composure.
‘So what about this photo then?’ Eden slipped her hands inside his T-shirt, unable to stop touching his smooth skin, even for a minute. Her lips nuzzled the softness of his neck, beneath the line of his beard.
He smiled, a sexy tug of his mouth, his glazed eyes hooded. ‘No need.’ He tapped his temple with a forefinger. ‘I have thousands of photos of you in here.’ His hand came to rest over his heart. ‘And in here.’ His mouth, clearly fighting the same affliction that affected her, traced the angle of her jaw, the soft lips and scrape of facial hair providing a delicious contrast.
‘You do?’ Her own heart stopped. Seductive, playful Dan stole her breath. Especially when paired with his physical touch, which she’d missed every bit as much.
He nodded. Slow. Confident. Carnal. ‘I took them while you slept, when you were lost in thought or talking to someone else. Any chance I had.’ His lips latched onto her earlobe, tugging, the tingles reverberating down to her core. ‘You didn’t notice, Captain?’
She shook her spinning head, eyelids heavy. ‘I thought you preferred landscapes?’ Slurred speech. Scattering thoughts.
He shrugged, his warm hands slipping inside her robe. ‘You’re the best view there is.’ He pushed one thigh between hers, his mouth finding hers once more.
And he kissed her again.