Chapter 22

Bethany pulled Jamie up the stairs. He didn’t know how to handle this new situation. He wanted to follow Annabelle’s advice, but every time he touched Bethany, he wanted to go further. He certainly felt more from Bethany’s light touch than Annabelle’s aggressive one.

He reacted to Bethany so intensely that he knew it wouldn’t be long before they were in deep. That was the last thing he needed because if he fell for her, he might lose focus on what he was supposed to be here for.

Bethany opened the door to her bedroom. The first thing he noticed was how bright it was with white furniture and soft green accents. She had windows on both the front and back of the room. There was a sitting area in the rear that overlooked the ocean. He’d been in there once before but hadn’t noticed anything but the shredded bathing suits.

“We could put a hide-a-bed couch here.” Bethany pointed to the sitting area.

“Those things are uncomfortable. Plus, I don’t fit.”

Bethany ran her hand through her hair. “I was trying to avoid simply inviting you into my bed, but I don’t see a way around it.”

“We could put the day bed in the sitting area,” he suggested.

“Won’t that look suspicious? Plus, you’re too big.” She was right. “Any other ideas?”

Jamie sat next to her. “Yeah, we bring my bed up here. It’s bigger than yours. We can put pillows between us.”

She didn’t react. He wanted her to. He wanted to know if she liked the idea, or if it repulsed her, but she gave him no indication either way.

Finally, she nodded. “It makes sense. Let’s decide what room should be Garrett’s.”

He followed her to the other side. Her room ran the length of the house. The other rooms were on the other side of the house. From the bridge they could look down into the living area off the dining room. The more he saw of the house, the more he liked it. Bethany opened a door to a room that was directly opposite the master. It was completely empty, but dusty.

“What is this room?” Jamie walked to a window that overlooked Bunny and Danny’s side yard. This room was facing the street so it didn’t have a beach view, but it had a nice window seat and built in bookshelves. Plus, being on the corner, it had lots of windows.

“It used to be my mom’s quilting room. I don’t sew, so I gave all of her stuff to her quilting friends. The other room isn’t cleaned out, so we can use this one. We’ll need to clean it up though. I haven’t been in here in a long time.”

Jamie wasn’t close to his parents, so he had no idea how this made her feel. If she was close to them, this would be difficult for her. He tried to think of what he could do to make this easier for her.

He put his hand on her back. “Of course. I can do this if it’s too much for you.”

“I’ll be fine. I just miss them.” She wouldn’t look up at him and crossed her arms. He reached out and pulled her close, hoping he wasn’t crossing too many lines, but he ached to comfort her. After a few seconds, she wrapped her arms around his waist. They stood there for a few minutes until she finally pulled away and wiped at her eyes.

“We’re both a little messed up, aren’t we?” she asked through a sad smile.

“That we are. Come on, let’s get this room cleaned up before the delivery guys get here. I’ll have them move my bed up into your room. We’ll put yours in my old room.”

By dinnertime they had everything moved around, and the rooms both looked completely different. In some ways he loved it. It was as if he was putting his own mark on her house. Then he shook his head. This was temporary.

Bethany leaned against the rail on the bridge and wiped her forehead. “That was a lot of work. It’s almost like a whole different family lives here.”

“Thanks for being a good sport. I’ll help you put your house back together when we leave.” He didn’t know if he’d be able to at that point. He’d already started growing attached to it. And her.

She shrugged. “It’s fine. I’m gonna shower though.”

Jamie took a quick shower as well and pulled out his laptop. He loaded the pictures he had of her so far. He only had three scenes. He hoped she’d be open to more this evening.

She dropped into a chair next him, smelling of apple soap and shampoo. “Whatcha doing?”

“Nosy, aren’t you?” He smiled to let her know he was joking, but he didn’t look up from his computer.

“You told me to quit my job. I have nothing else to do.”

He swiveled in his chair so he was facing her. His heart stilled. She sat there with her hair pulled up in a ponytail, no makeup, and a silly grin on her face. For a split second he saw the future, and she was in it. He wondered if this fake marriage could possibly become real. He shook his head. She was going to take the money and run.

He turned to the computer. “I’m looking at the first couple of scenes to see what kind of feel I have to carry through to the rest of the photos.”

“Can I see?” She scooted her chair close to him, and his heart raced.

“Sure.” He scrolled through until he found the one he was looking for. “Here’s the counter shot.”

Her face flushed. “You can see more of me than I realized.”

“Sexy though.”

She shrugged, and he continued scrolling.

“Here’s the one on the chair.” This was his favorite. There was something about the curve of her calves and feet. If he was honest, this one turned him on more than the other one did.

She nodded when she saw that one too. Her lips formed a frown.

“You okay?” Jamie asked.

She shook her head. He turned to his computer, looking for something that might have bothered her. He didn’t think he’d done anything to capture her in an unflattering light.

“What’s bothering you?” he finally asked.

She hesitated before she spoke. “It’s the way that you’ve captured me. It’s a side of myself I’ve never seen before.”

“What do you mean?”

She leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath. She wouldn’t meet his eyes. He hated it when she did that.

“Beth, come on. If I’ve made you uncomfortable, you gotta tell me.”

She wrung her hands. “It’s not that. It’s just when you said you wanted to do a series on short people problems, I assumed you’d go with all the clichés that everyone always does. Short people are considered cute but never sexy. Your angle is completely different. I like it, but it makes me nervous. What on earth do you have planned for the other pictures? Because sexy isn’t something I pull off well.”

He laughed out loud. “You don’t see yourself the way others do. Trust me. You pull off the shy, sexy look amazingly. Would you like to do a few more?”

She stood up. “How about after we eat? I’m starving.”

“Sounds good.”

Jamie continued to work on his computer while she cooked, and they ate a quick dinner. He was eager to get started.

“You ready?”

She shook her head. “But I’m worried about the case, and I could use something to take my mind off of it.”

“Why are you worried?”

“I don’t want to screw things up for you.”

His heart stilled. He definitely picked the right woman to be his fake wife. It’d been a long time since any woman showed concern over what happened to him.

“I don’t think that’s possible. But I could use something to take my mind off it as well. Let’s go do the jeans thing. Then I want to see you try to do a load of laundry.”

He followed her upstairs and waited on the bed while she changed in the closet. She came back with a pair of jeans completely covering her feet. The effect was comical. Not exactly what he was going for. He had her stand against the wall, and he took a few shots, but they didn’t have the right feel.

“Do you trust me?” he finally asked her.

“I probably shouldn’t, but yeah, I do.”

She was right. He wasn’t sure if he trusted himself. He was glad she did. “Okay, I’m going to touch you, but only because I’m trying to get a certain kind of shot. Don’t freak out.”

“When you put it that way, I don’t know how else to react.”

“I promise I’ll be good.”

She grinned and put her hands up. “Okay, I’m all yours.” He lifted the hem of her shirt, and she hissed. He was slightly pleased with himself for getting that reaction, but he was going for a specific look. He bunched up the fabric so her belly button showed and backed up. It was better, but not quite good enough. He approached her again, and she tensed. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “A little trust please.”

He fingered the button on her jeans, and she squeaked.

“Just chill. It’s not a big deal,” he said.

“You know you could ask me to do that.”

“I want to make sure it looks right.” Which was mostly true. He folded the button down so that the top of the zipper was visible. When he backed up, he had it. He knelt down and started shooting.

But something was still wrong. He couldn’t figure out what. He studied her again. Her hands were down next to her sides and clenched into fists.

Instead of approaching her this time, he just told her what to do.

“Any chance I can get you to relax?”

She took a few deep breaths, and her hands released the fists, but she still held her fingers tense. This would not do.

“I need to you to raise your hands above your head.”

“I didn’t think you were getting any face shots.”

“I’m not, but your hands are in the way.”

She did as she was told and raised her hands. She looked amazing. He took a few shots that he wanted for his project, and then he backed up a little bit and took full body shots. He wouldn’t publish them, but in a few years, when she’d disappeared, he wanted to have evidence that she existed.

He stood up. “You can put your arms down now. Should we head into the laundry room?”

“I’m going to get out of these jeans though.” He nodded and resisted the urge to call out that he could help her if she wanted.