"I know you do, but I want everyone to know how I feel. You deserve that; we deserve that. Can I use your laptop?" she asks.
I lean up on my elbow, grinning at her. "Right now?" I ask. .
She laughs and takes herself in. "I was thinking of maybe getting dressed first, but yeah," she says.
As much as I don"t want to let her out of my arms, I know how important this is because it was to me.
"Let"s get dressed, and I"ll give you privacy," I say.
We both get up and put our clothes back on. She"s happy, and that alone makes my heart whole again. I get my laptop off my desk and sign in while she fixes her hair and makeup in the mirror.
"You"re beautiful, baby. You don"t need to fix yourself," I comment.
She comes over and leans down to kiss me. "Thank you. Now get out."
I laugh and walk out of the room, closing the door behind me. I head outside and find the guys still sitting out there.
"You guys are still here?" They all laugh when I sit down. "What?"
"Well, either both you and Kallie made up, or you better explain why your shirt is on backwards," Blake says.
I look down and start laughing. "Yes, we made up. She saw the video."
They all try to talk at the same time, each telling me how happy they are that we worked things out. As much as I want to say I never doubted it, I did. I was terrified she would walk away, and I"d be miserable forever.
"Where is she?" Brody asks.
I glance at him, and feel guilty for saying I was like him in a negative way. He"s a f.u.c.king great guy, and any woman would be lucky to have him.
"She"s making a video," I say, smiling.
Blake smacks the table causing us to turn to him.
"A s.e.x video?" he yells out.
I want to punch him in the mouth, but I can"t help but laugh.
"Yes, you f.u.c.king idiot, she"s making a s.e.x video," Max says shaking his head, staring at him.
"Why do you need to f.u.c.k it up for me, Max? Let me believe this s.h.i.t," he whines.
I sip my now warm water. "Hey, brother, you can bet your a.s.s that if she was in there making a s.e.x video, I wouldn"t be sitting here with you," I say.
He laughs and gets up to grab a smoke. "I think we need to celebrate tonight." Of course, he does. Anything for a party, but f.u.c.k it, I"m totally down.
"Set it up, brother," I say. He pulls out his cell phone and starts walking around the yard making his phone calls. "Will you two go get food and beer?" Max lifts his eyebrows and I laugh. I haven"t laughed much, if at all, this week, so it feels amazing. "What? I"m not going to leave my girl," I confess.
"I"m glad to hear that," Kallie says.
I spin around and see her standing there, looking as beautiful as ever. She gives both Brody and Max a hug.
"I owe you both an apology also, so I"m sorry. I hope you don"t think any differently of me," she says.
"Sis, it was a lot to deal with, and we never doubted you. You don"t owe us s.h.i.t. I"m just glad it all worked out," Brody says.
She smiles and comes to sit on my lap.
"Thank you, and Max, thanks for the video," she says. He winks at her, and she turns her face to me. "I believe there"s a video up for your viewing, Mr. Burke."
I kiss her and nip her lips. She opens up to me, and we kiss as if I wasn"t just inside of her.
"You are making a s.e.x video, sweet," Blake cheers.
Kallie pulls away from me and looks at Blake.
"What?" she asks.
He"s laughing, and I turn her face back to mine. "Ignore him. Come on, let"s go see this." We stand up, and I grin at the guys. "Get ready for tonight. I"ve got a few things to take care of," I say.
Blake yells h.e.l.l yes" until I know Brody punches him because I hear him say ouch." I laugh and open the door for Kallie.
We sit down on the couch, and I can tell she wants to escape. She can"t sit still, so I put my hand on her lap. "Baby, relax," I say.
"I don"t need to sit right here. I"ll go hang out with the guys," she says.
I tighten my hold on her leg and pull out my phone. "h.e.l.l, no. I want you here with me." I pull up Facebook, and the first thing I see is her smiling face. I look at her and she blushes. "Really? This is making you blush? I just had my face in your p.u.s.s.y," I say, laughing.
She laughs and I kiss her nose. I wrap my arm around her, and she rests her head on my shoulder. I hit play on the video and wait for it to start.
"I"m not the kind of girl who likes to make waves. I usually fight quietly for what I want, but it"s clear to me now, that is impossible. I"m a photographer, and I"ve never wanted to be anything but. I busted my a.s.s for years to get to the point I"m at right now. I love everything about what I do. There is something about capturing a moment on film that gives me the chills. I want the world to see things through my eyes, and with photography, that"s possible." I tighten my hold on her and she kisses my arm. "I have rules as a photographer, rules that most of us have. You don"t date or sleep with your models. It was easy for me. I never saw my models as anything but that. Models. I never felt any intimate connection to any of them. We worked great together, became friends, and took some kick-a.s.s photos. That all changed when Jax walked into my life. When I saw him, I was immediately attracted to him, but I knew that was something I would never act on. For months, I pushed down my feelings and attraction to him. We were friends*best friends*and I didn"t want it to go past that. It was hard for me, keeping it all inside, but I thought I was doing the right thing. But I"ll tell you what; the only thing that felt right was being with him, being in his arms. When he finally kissed me, it was the beginning of the happiest time of my life. I am not the kind of person who sleeps around. h.e.l.l, I"ve never been with a model before Jax, and I"ll never be with one again, because he"s it for me. I am head over heels in love with him. I"m willing to give up everything I have to be with him because I"ve found out along the way that it isn"t about what you see, it"s what"s behind the lens that matters the most. I"m done hiding, and I"m here to tell you that I"m not going anywhere. Jax holds my heart in his hands. Like me or hate me, it doesn"t matter, because he loves me and I love him." When the video turns off, I look down at her.
"Kallie, that was f.u.c.king amazing. I love you," I say, my heart completely healed.
She kisses me and stares into my eyes. "I love you too."
I know she does, and now the world knows she does. It"s a declaration that anyone would be honored to get, but when it comes from the most beautiful woman in the world, it means that much more. A girl who made me chase her, but what a f.u.c.king chase it was. I"d do it all over again in a heartbeat if it meant I ended up here, with her in my arms.
Epilogue.
SIX MONTHS LATER.
Kallie I walk around snapping random photos, loving every second of this opportunity. It was such an honor when I got an email from Storytime Book Magic, asking if I"d like to be the official photographer for their book signing. I couldn"t agree fast enough. The thought of being in the presence of all these amazing authors and models was a dream come true and great promotion for me as a photographer.
The last six months have been unreal. I sometimes need to pinch myself to make sure this is real life. My photography business has never been so busy. I"m booked months out. I"ve found some new models, and I"ve shot with my current models. I"ve gotten several authors who exclusively use my photos, and it still makes me squeal when I see them on the covers. I don"t think that feeling will ever get old.
As for me and Jax, things have been perfect. I didn"t think it was possible to fall more in love with him, but I have. After we both put our videos out on social media, the response was huge. There were comments about how sweet our love is, how romantic he was, and how lucky we both were. I didn"t need to read them to know that, but it sure as h.e.l.l was a better feeling than the horrible comments I"d gotten before. Jax even went onto my computer one night and posted a few photos from the shoot I ended up doing with him. I received many messages telling me I should be modeling. As great as that felt, it"s not going to happen. I belong behind the lens, for sure.
Jax, on the other hand, has gotten even bigger, if you can believe that. He"s been traveling all over to shoots and signings. He"s even gotten his own fan club, which he still says must be a mistake. Although, no matter how busy we are, how crazy our lives get, as long as we are in the same town, we"re in each other"s bed. When one of us is traveling, being away is hard, but coming home makes it worth it. He knows exactly how to show how much he"s missed me, and I look forward to those moments from the minute one of us leaves.
"How"s my girl?" Jax asks, wrapping his arms around me from behind.
I turn in his arms and kiss him. I hear a few sighs" from the people around us, but it"s something I"m used to now.
"I"m great. How are you doing?" I ask.
He grins at me and gives me that wink that still gets my panties wet. "I"m at this amazing signing, and I"ve got you in my arms. I"d say I"m pretty f.u.c.king great," he says. I giggle and hug him as close as I can with my camera between us. "I was talking with Blake and Max, and they want to check out a few bars while we"re in New York. I said I"d check to see what you feel like doing."
He is forever thinking of me.
"I think it sounds like fun," I say.
He swats my a.s.s and kisses me quickly before pulling away. "Awesome. Now go take some photos."
I shake my head and laugh before moving on to the next author to get her photo. I make my way around the entire room, and I"m happy with the results.
"There"s my favorite photographer," Blake says.
I smile at him. He"s so excited to be at his first signing. He did a shoot a few months back for this author, and it has been a complete success. When he got an email from her asking if he"d like to come, he freaked out. The cover is amazing. Shannon did a great job, and the cover designer made it over the top fabulous.
"Hey. I didn"t get a photo of you two together. Can I get that now?" I ask. They get together, and I have to admit she is beautiful. They actually look good together. "Thank you. By the way, I"m Kallie Gregory."
She sticks out her hand and shakes mine. "It is such a pleasure to meet you. I"m London Tweed. I love your work. I was hoping we could get together sometime and talk about a few shoots I had in mind," she says. I like her already.
"I would love that, London. Let me give you my cell number, and we can set something up. Are you in California?" I ask as I write down my number and hand it to her.
"Yes, I"m actually close to where Blake lives. Only about a half hour away," she says.
We end up talking for quite a while, and I found out we have so much in common. I actually hate to leave her table, so I invite her out with us tonight, and she happily accepts.
I spend the rest of the day taking photos of everything and anything. Meeting and connecting with a ton of authors and models is great, but when the event is over, I"m most happy to leave hand in hand with Jax.
We all head back to the hotel, and once we"re in our room, I fall onto the bed. He leans over me and smiles. "You want to stay in tonight?" he asks, wiggling his eyebrows.
I laugh and push up onto my elbows. "No, I want to get my drink on. I actually invited that author, London, that Blake was with. She was really cool," I says.
He kisses me, and I lie back when he climbs on top of me.
"We"ll go out and have a good time, but later, you will be screaming my name," he promises as he leaves the room.
I can"t f.u.c.king wait.
We both get ready, and when I step out of the bathroom, I see him sitting on the bed, smiling. He takes my breath away. He came into my life and turned it upside down. He made me question everything, but d.a.m.n, it was worth it. I never thought I"d find my happily ever after with a s.e.xy model, but sometimes, life has a funny way of working out the complete opposite of how you planned. Sometimes, there is nothing you can do but hold on for the ride, because it might get b.u.mpy, it might toss you around, but when it stops and it"s just you and him, it"s worth it.
The End.
***Sneak Peek***
Behind the Book.
s.e.xy Series.
Book #2.
Prologue.
London.
No matter how many signings I go to, I am always just as excited and nervous as I was for the first one. I always hope for a big crowd, to meet new readers, to see readers who already love my books, and connect with other authors. There is no better feeling in the world than when a reader tells you that your book, your words, affected them. Whether it helped them escape from reality for a while, or that they"ve been through something similar, or simply that they fell in love with the characters*it all means so much to me.
I always marched to the beat of my own drum, always did things my way. Even back in high school when everyone was moaning about a writing a.s.signment, I secretly was jumping up and down. I never understood what the big deal was, I loved writing. My mom used to try and push me out the door to go hang out with friends, but I wanted to stay home and write. No one understood it and I lost a lot of friends, but I didn"t care, because if I wasn"t writing, I was reading, and those characters were my friends. I could connect with a book and let it take me away, or write characters that I wanted to be friends with.
When I was in college, I majored in journalism, and I made some amazing real friends, some of whom I am still very close with. I also met Axel my freshman year, and by senior year we were engaged. I thought this was the beginning to my happily ever after. We had so much in common, we both wrote, had the same friends, and supported each other completely. That is until we moved in together. Things started to change real quickly. He went from the sweetest, most understanding guy to a complete control freak. I wasn"t allowed to hang out with my friends anymore. He needed to know what I was writing, and if he didn"t like it, he would delete everything. I started to actually fear him toward the end. He would get angry if I didn"t follow his rules, and for a while I did, but when I found myself pretty much a prisoner in a sense, I knew I needed out. He went to work one day and I packed up everything and moved to California.
No one believed me when I told them how he was. They all argued how sweet he was, how happy he made me, and that crazy people didn"t have his clean cut look. They all thought I moved to California to pursue my career and that I used him as a scapegoat. I didn"t give a s.h.i.t what they thought. I finally felt safe, and last I heard he was involved with another journalism friend.
When I moved here I had college loans, no job, and about a hundred dollars to my name. I was able to find a restaurant looking for help that also happened to rent an apartment above it. I worked there for a few years while I wrote my a.s.s off. I write under the pen name London Tweed because I was scared Axel would find me. I only go by that name now.
Once I had the first three books of my series done, I got in touch with a few author friends I"d made and they helped me. They taught me how to self-publish, got me in touch with cover designers, formatters, editors, and photographers. This was the start of the most exciting time of my life.
When I published my first book I had no idea what to expect. I was nervous as h.e.l.l putting myself out there, but when readers not only started buying it, but promoting it, it felt like a dream. Each book after has been even more successful, and I still find it hard to believe I"ve been doing this for three years.
Don"t get me wrong, I"m not a household name. I haven"t quit my day job, but I am making money, good money. I have a house now, I have a huge fan base, and I thank G.o.d every day for all of it. It"s a lot of work, takes up an unbelievable amount of time and money, but I wouldn"t change it for the world. I love what I do, I love creating stories with characters that readers love. I sometimes find myself ignoring my real friends for the ones I"ve made online, readers, authors, and models. They get it. They understand what this world is about. How much of yourself you put into it. I love having that connection.
When I decided to have Blake Foster on the cover of my latest book, I was beyond excited. He is extremely s.e.xy with his tattoos, muscles, and grin. As of right now I just work with whatever photographer is willing to do a shoot for me, but I"m on the hunt for one I can always use. Kallie Gregory is who I really want to get involved with, and I"m beyond excited she will be at this signing today.
When I got the photos back from Shannon, I was blown away with how incredible Blake looked. If I could have licked my computer, I would have. I knew exactly what photo I wanted of him and Ivy. It was s.e.xy, romantic, and panty-dropping hot. This book has been my biggest seller, and I have to give credit to Blake and Ivy for pulling the readers in.
When I emailed Blake and asked if he wanted to come to New York with me, he was so gracious and overjoyed. I paid for his plane ticket, but he said he would take care of the hotel, which was a blessing, because it gets so expensive paying to have my models with me. I need to cover the travel and hotel for them and myself. If it is a signing across the country like this, one model is all I ever bring. I can"t afford to bring any more than that.
When I got to New York, my stomach was in knots. I"ve been here several times since I moved to California, but just being on the east coast freaks me out. I know Axel is in Florida, but even New York is too close for me. That"s why I usually only stay until the day after the signing and head back home. Not that I think he would even search for me at this point...it"s been five years, but I like being on the opposite side of the country.
I got to the hotel late last night and I dragged my jet-lagged a.s.s up to my room, crashing before even taking my clothes off. When I woke up this morning I felt horrible for not getting in touch with Blake. I checked my phone and saw I had a few missed text messages from him. I dialed him right away and apologized for not talking with him. He was extremely understanding and we decided to have breakfast this morning so we could finally meet up. It made me laugh that we only live a short distance from each other, yet the first time we meet is across the country.
We had a great breakfast and laughed through most of it. He"s such an easy guy to talk to and funny as h.e.l.l. He said he was also there with Kallie and Jax. Those two made some of the biggest talk I"ve ever heard in this industry when it came out they were together. Fans were jealous as h.e.l.l, photographers were nasty and catty, and let"s admit it, authors saw a story. When they both made those videos and posted them, I think every female"s ovaries exploded. It was the sweetest, most romantic thing I had ever seen. Since then, they have been the it" couple. Blake never talked about them like that though, and that made me like him even more. He didn"t get involved with the drama, at least he didn"t let on to me that he did.