We camped out in Hunter’s home until Thursday morning, before we found ourselves boarding a quick flight for the rescheduled shoot in New York. Hunter insisted that it couldn’t be delayed anymore, and truthfully, an escape from this city sounded heavenly, even if we were only planning one night away.
“Are you sure it’s okay we’re so far away right now?” I pulled my bag from the dark Lexus that was dropping us off at our hotel on the Upper East Side.
“It’ll be fine, and work has to carry on, right?” He cast aside my doubt with his infectious, vibrant energy. “What do you say we stop for a slice of New York pizza after we drop these off?” He gestured to the bags on his shoulders as we stepped into the balmy night.
“Right now? It’s after midnight.” I laughed. It felt good, his positive enthusiasm radiating through my body was something I’d missed these last few weeks since the world had crumbled in on us.
“Any time is a good time for pizza.” He smiled as we stepped past the doorman to reception. Twenty minutes later we were giggling back through the lobby with Styrofoam boxes of giant, cheesy pizza slices in hand. We settled on the leather loveseat in the room, cross-legged and facing each other, gobbling down our pizza with bottles of beer and listening to VH1 Classic in the background.
“So I’ve been doing some research on your mom,” Hunter said after he’d finished chewing.
“My mom?” I asked, taking another bite of the slice.
“Well, you said you were in East Town first before you left the city.”
“Yeah?” I said when I finished chewing.
“Do you know who bought the house in Clearview?”
“My mom. I don’t know, I never thought about it.” I set my pizza down and cocked a head at Hunter. “Why?”
“I dug up the title.” His eyes shot to me. “They’re public record. It’s listed under a company name. Or was, before the corporation was dissolved.”
“Really? That’s weird. I’ve never known her to be associated with any official corporation.” I tilted my head and stretched my memory back to any information I had on the purchase of our house. “She’s owned it for almost thirty years. I think she finally paid it off a while ago…” I shrugged, offering the only dim glimmer of information I had.
“It’s been paid off for quite a while.” Hunter ran a hand through his hair. “I’m going to keep looking at it, but I thought I’d run it by you. It may mean nothing. Banks gave out home loans right and left back then.”
I only nodded in response, though my wheels were finally turning as I wondered why she’d had trouble paying bills all those years but never worried about keeping the house. Maybe she’d had assistance buying it through one of those low-income organizations? “Let me know if you find anything more. I’ll help however I can, even just to bounce ideas off of.” I clasped his forearm in a soft squeeze. “We should get to bed; the photoshoots always come too early.” I sighed and rubbed my full tummy.
“You sure require a lot of sleep,” Hunter teased and then swooped me in his arms and carried me to the king bed that dominated the other half of the room.
“I have a brutal boss that works me `round the clock,” I giggled before Hunter’s hands worked up my shirt, undressing me before tucking me into the cool sheets.
“I’m going to send a few emails then I’ll be right over.” He placed a poignant kiss on my lips before tucking the covers around my neck and placing another reverent kiss on my forehead. “Sleep tight, Princess,” his rough voice hummed and sent chills running through my system.
“I love you, Hunter.” Drowsy with sleep, my eyes were already falling closed.
“Love you too, baby.” His touch ran down the length of my body beneath the covers before he walked back to the couch and lifted his laptop into his lap and shoved another bite of pizza into his mouth.
The following morning we found ourselves in the suite of an up and coming international model who had hired Hunter to take photos of her for her fiancé, a rowdy NFL bad boy that couldn’t keep himself out of the tabloids. Hunter never told me who his clients were beforehand, so I was shocked upon walking into the room when the woman walked out in a short silk robe, and after a double kiss on Hunter’s cheeks and a quick once over at me, dropped it and was naked and ready. The following hours only made it more obvious she was very comfortable in front of the camera.
“He loves my ass,” she stated and then arched her lithe form against a window that looked out over Central Park.
Hunter’s eyes widened for a moment, then he slipped into photographer mode and began trailing his gaze across her, taking in the light and the angles. Moments later his camera went to his face and he began clicking.
The model arched and pushed her hips at every odd angle she could think of to accentuate her slight curves while Hunter’s eyes flared with exasperation. He hated ego, and it was ironic that his career depended on the very people that had the biggest heads.
“Let’s try something else,” he said before zooming in on her sharp, angular profile. “Just to the side.” His thumb tipped her chin at a slight angle. “Open your lips.” Hunter pulled her lower lip down and his intense eyes flicked across her face before he straightened a few hairs, tucking them behind her ear. “Perfect,” he whispered then lifted the camera and clicked.
I swallowed as I watched him shoot, feeling jealousy twist my stomach. I hated that he touched her. The model in Portugal hadn’t bothered me, but this one–she was professional, graced magazine covers like US Weekly and inTouch. She was beautiful, with full lips and striking platinum hair that shone in the natural light. How could someone like me ever compete?
“That’s enough! I didn’t hire you for head shots.” The model sneered and broke the pose Hunter had so artfully composed.
Hunter’s eyebrow shot up before he glanced at me. His eyes rolled for a moment before he plastered a compliant grin on his face and then gestured to the piano bench. “Let’s try the baby grand,” and was off to the opposite corner of the suite. I trailed after him, thinking how meeting her had shattered my formerly shiny image of her. She was a bitch.
“You doing good, Princess?” Hunter’s little finger looped with mine when I reached him. I smiled and shook my head, feeling the familiar warmth of his touch circulating my bloodstream. Hunter and I had something that she could never touch, something precious, like a diamond at the bottom of a dark, cold mine. Difficult to excavate, but so much more valuable for it.
