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THREE FULL BAGS of lingerie, toys, and oils later, Aspen had come right out and asked Ruby if she could take a picture of Creed posing in her display window. He liked how she’d turned the picture back to him. Ruby had agreed ... with conditions. She’d take the picture if they posed a new matching couples’ outfit that had arrived for her website.
The speed of which the color had drained from Aspen’s face had been worth every purchase Ruby had talked him into. He now owned a banana hammock in every color of the rainbow.
“You couldn’t just get in the window,” Aspen hissed at him as she stepped out of the change room wearing a long black robe that matched his.
He’d left his robe hang open, showing off the new blue and white winter briefs. He wasn’t new to posing for underwear commercials—he’d done a Calvin Klein line a few years ago—and didn’t bother playing shy and awkward like his modeling partner. He left his shirt in the change room, revealing his bare chest, while Aspen’s robe remained tied tightly closed at her middle, her eyes darted nervously around the change room area.
Creed reached out and moved the slit of material by her neck aside, earning his hand a slap.
He chuckled and slipped his hands in the robes pockets. “If you hadn’t asked, she wouldn’t have asked us if we’d pose in her new outfits.”
Aspen’s eyes flitted about the room, on everything, but him. “We could have said no. No one would’ve had to know.”
“I’m not a cheater.”
Her eyes shot to him. “You’re telling that to the woman you had a one-night affair with.”
“Point taken.”
Her eyes traveled down his body for the first time. Instead of the desire he’d been expecting, she looked mortified. “Is that all you’re wearing?”
He nodded.
“I thought she gave you pants. Where are your pants?”
Creed shrugged. “And then she asked me if I’d pose in the briefs and I couldn’t say no.”
Aspen rolled her eyes, her fingers pulling the top of her robe higher up her neck. “Again, you could’ve said no and kept the truth to yourself.”
And miss her reaction? Not a chance.
“Are we ready?” Ruby breezed into the small area with a circular couch in the middle, mirrors on one wall, and a black and navy pattern on the other wall. A camera strap hung around her neck.
“Yes.” Creed dropped his robe, baring everything the briefs didn’t cover. Aspen’s eyes found his body this time and not their situation. She didn’t shy away from gawking at him until her almond-colored eyes found his and she turned five shades of red all at the same time.
“And you?” Ruby asked her.
“What are you using these pictures for again?” Aspen bit her lower lip so hard he thought she might draw blood. Her robe remained tightly in place.
“My online shop. I like my own photos of people wearing my stock. That way I can envision the product I sell. They speak to me.” She held her fingers up like a frame, closed one eye and peeked through it at them. “You two speak to me. Winter day, a couple newly finding love but loving each other their whole lives. Soul mates.” She peeked over her hand frame at Aspen. “Am I right?”
Creed slid a sideways look at his modeling partner and watched her chest rise with a deep breath. Her fake smile stayed planted on her lips as she was forced to say, “Yes.”
Ruby squealed, clapping her hands before dropping them at her side. “I knew it. But, as I promised, I will crop your heads out.”
“Do we need our heads cropped out?” Creed asked Aspen, only to watch her reaction.
“Yes.” She gritted, almost without moving a muscle around her lips.
“Robe.” Ruby held her hand out, obliging Aspen to untie the robe. She didn’t look at Creed, but she had all his attention. Her bare legs went on for miles before he saw the lace blue and white panties with a snow scene that matched his. There was a tiny bit of skin between the waistline of the panties and the silky, spaghetti strap tank top. Suddenly, he was acutely aware of the fact he was only wearing briefs. He suddenly realized seeing her in next to nothing, for the first time in five years, in front of a stranger, with a camera, might not be the best idea.
He cleared his throat and tore his eyes away from Aspen’s beauty. He’d have to think of that damn cold weather to keep his man parts at bay.
“Perfect.” Ruby took the robes. “Follow me.” She walked out through the beaded curtain and into the main shop.
Aspen spun around. “Follow her where? Where is she going?”
Creed shrugged and walked to the curtain, pulling it aside.
“I’m absolutely not going out there dressed like—” She looked down at her body and swept her hands over her front. “Like this. Where’s my robe?” She gasped. “Ruby took our robes. Did she take our robes?” Her body crashed into Creed’s side as she used him as a human shield as she peered around him and into the shop.
She gasped again. “She did take our robes!” She pointed at Ruby, who leaned against a railing, waiting for them on a second level loft. More twinkle lights, material, and boho decorations danced their way upstairs too.
“Creed? Aspen?” she called.
“She wants us to pose out there? The shop is open!” Aspen turned and headed toward the change room, but Creed caught her wrist and pulled her back against him.
“Aspen Hewitt, you have been running away and avoiding all the scary paths that have appeared in your life for as long as I can remember.”
“You don’t even know me. You haven’t exactly been around the last five years.”
“No, I haven’t.”
“And this isn’t scary, it’s insane. I’m not a model. I don’t have a model’s stick-thin body. I don’t know how to pose, where to look, how to maneuver my body, and she wants to put this picture on her website. No. Absolutely not. I am a business owner and this isn’t a game, this is my life.”
Creed ran his fingertips over her bare shoulder. “You’re beautiful.”
“But nothing like your model wife.”
He shook his head. “No, you’re nothing like my ex-wife. She would’ve begged Ruby to leave her head on the picture and tweeted the shit out of the page.”
She shoved his chest. “You’re not helping.”
He caught both her wrists and pulled her body flush against his. “You’re not wearing your glasses.”
“Sometimes it seems like you hit your head one too many times and random, irrelevant things pop out of your mouth at the weirdest moments.”
He chuckled. “You’re an adult. You’re too old to hide behind your glasses, or mousy hair.”
Her lips pinched together. “You think I have mousy hair?”
“Yes.”
“The longer you’re forcing me to stand here, the more I dislike you.”
“I invited you to more than one party in high school and every time you said no. Campfires at the beach, the town’s fireworks, but your answer was always no.”
“You were bad. All those events ended with you in trouble.”
He grinned. “Not all. Remember that summer night I was supposed to drive you and Tess to the library for some lame study group that neither of you needed?” He watched a little adventure flare in her eyes. “But instead I drove us to the cliff on Callaghan’s property. We ignored the no trespassing sign and climbed that fence to go watch the sun set from the cliffs. We spread out a blanket and the three of us chilled at the top of that cliff talking, laughing and just hanging out. Remember?”
Her hands relaxed and pressed against his bare chest. He eased his grip until he wasn’t holding her there any longer.
“Yes.”
“Did you have fun?”
“It was one of the best nights of my life.”
He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers. “Mine too. Let’s make another memory together, Aspen. One we can look back on in ten years and get the same butterfly, giddy feeling we had that night. Like the ones I have right now.”
Her breasts lifted and dropped with each breath. “You have butterflies?”
“Every time I see you.”
She rolled her eyes. “You know that you’re a charmer, right?”
He shrugged. “What do you say? Are we doing this lingerie shoot?”
“What choice do I have? I can’t say no.”
As they passed the counter, Aspen reached for a piece of chocolate bark, but Creed caught her hand just in time. He shook his head as they started up the stairs. Ruby had already offered him a piece or two of her marijuana snack, which he’d declined, and he could only imagine Aspen high.