Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“Good,” Nell said. She was all smiles again as she got to her feet. Still holding the bottle of San Pellegrino, I followed her out of the office and down the hall. We took the elevator up to the top floor of the building, which was an open loft that HAUTESCENE had reserved for special photoshoots. The photographer and his crew were already there, setting up.
Nico was there, too. As soon as I saw him, all thoughts of staying professional leapt out of my head. He was wearing a pair of track pants that left little to the imagination – his bulge was so huge that I could hardly tear my eyes away – and a muscle shirt that emphasized his sexy physique. I actually felt myself start to drool and I had to swallow.
Portia, his meek and mild assistant, was there, too, but it took me a moment to notice her standing next to Nico’s godly body. I could feel myself start to blush but I forced it down and reminded myself to be professional. I couldn’t lose this job, but how ironic would it be if I got fired because of the very man who had made me leave New York in the first place?
Nico stepped closer and closer and I could smell him – fresh aftershave and cologne, right from the shower, along with that musky scent that seemed to emanate from his very pores. My skin felt hot and tingly as Nico stepped right behind me, close enough to reach out and put his hand on my ass.
“Hello, Harper,” Nico said politely – but the look in his eyes was anything but polite as he grinned at me. I groaned inwardly: it was so obvious that he took pleasure in tormenting me like this. It was just like that day I’d run into him at the taco truck, and it was almost too much to stand given that we were in public. I would have given anything to be alone with him in that moment.
Nell clapped her hands and I was so wound-up, so tense, that I actually twitched. Everyone turned to stare at me and I blushed hotly.
“Harper, are you okay?” Portia asked.
“I’m fine,” I said as coolly as I could manage. “Just startled.” It took everything in me not to laugh like a maniac – of fucking course, I wasn’t okay. A blind person could have seen that.
Nico gave me a look that said he knew just why I was so startled, and I glared at him.
God, why did he have to do this? Disrupt my life and make me question everything, make me wonder if all of the convictions I’d held so close to my chest over the last few years. I hated that he affected me so much!
But there was nothing I could do about it. I’d just have to fight through it, push through, and make sure that I came out on top.
Nico went over to the backdrop to test the lighting for the photographers, and I called Portia over to my side. She was still giving me that look, and I hated it.
“I need to go over the schedule for today with you,” I said. “You may want to take some notes.”
Portia nodded. I was glad she wasn’t the cocky type – and I was already regretting how I’d greeted her the other day after fucking Nico in his office, how cavalier my attitude had been. I should have known that she’d remember.
As I detailed Nico’s schedule for the day with her, Portia scribbled things down on a yellow legal pad. I managed to tear my attention from Nico for a second or two, just in time to see him emerge from the dressing room in a perfectly-tailored Armani suit that clung to his muscular, bold frame. My mouth went dry and my heart began to thud in my chest as he shot me a wicked grin from across the room.
This can’t be the whole day, I told myself as I settled down on a crate and watched as the photoshoot began. It has to wear off at some point.
It didn’t. Nico changed into suit after suit after suit and each time he came out, I felt like I would melt into a puddle of my own arousal. It was, frankly, exhausting. The hours crawled by and I was keenly aware of how much time I was spending drooling over Nico.
The only upside was that Nell was called away mid-shoot to deal with a “crisis” in the art department, leaving me and one of her other assistants in charge.
By the end of the day, I wasn’t sure how I was still able to stand. I felt so weak and tired, like I’d been running from my own dark fantasies all day. In the end, I managed to pull it together and have Portia sign all of the appropriate paperwork.