Picture perfect
“You’re late.”
Lucas startles when he hears my voice and glances down at his watch. When he lifts his head, his glare stabs through me. “It’s ten thirty-five.”
“And we were supposed to be at the studio at ten thirty,” I remind him.
He shakes his head with a laugh, holding two cups of coffee in his hands. “Well, excuse me, your highness. I was doing something.”
“What were you doing?” I ask.
He smiles at me, but it’s laced with the complete opposite of kindness. “None of your business.”
I place my hand on my hips. “Must have been really important to show up late to the photoshoot you hounded me about.”
He lifts his shoulder in a shrug. “Yeah, it was.” He leans closer, a smirk on his lips. “Was that all, or do you want to interrogate me some more?”
I lift my head to meet his gaze, and a nervous gulp escapes me. “That’s all.”
His smirk widens briefly, but then his brows furrow as he inhales deeply. “What’s that smell?” he asks, his voice deepening as his eyes lock with mine.
My eyes narrow in confusion. “My perfume?”
He lets out a deep groan, his eyes falling closed as he pulls back and walks away, heading into the dressing rooms.
Figures. He doesn’t like my perfume. Good thing I didn’t wear it for him. I let out a sigh, glancing around. The room is crowded, with clusters of people, deep in conversation, cameras and lights everywhere, and a sudden rush of nerves washes over me.
I feel so out of place. I hardly know anyone, and I’m not entirely sure what I’m supposed to be doing. Leila did her best to walk me through some things when I asked for her help, but the reality of being here is completely different.
“Hey,” I turn my head to see Ana approaching with a cup of coffee in her hands. “You look like you need this.”
I gratefully take the coffee from her, offering a smile. “Yes, thank you.” I take a sip, and it’s perfect – not too sweet, but still strong. I hum in satisfaction, savoring the coffee. “Wow. You nailed it.”
She chuckles, lifting a shoulder in a shrug. When she looks down at my outfit, her eyes widen. “You look amazing. Did you get into hair and makeup already?” she asks.
“No, I actually wasn’t sure if I should come dressed up.”
She nods. “I get it, you’re new to this, but you didn’t. We have people for that,” she says, pointing at a blonde woman currently putting makeup on Lucas. “That’s Lexi. She’s our makeup artist around here.” She gestures to the older lady currently sorting a rack of clothes. “And that’s Cynthia. She takes care of the outfits,” she says before she glances down at my clothes again. “But you clearly don’t need it.”
I let out a laugh. “Thank you.” I pride myself on my outfits. Not only is one of my best friends an amazing designer, but my older sister, Nia, used to be obsessed with clothes. My heart aches at the thought of her, thinking of what she’d say if she saw me here. It’s been four years since the accident, and I still miss her. So much.
“So,” I say, trying to move on before I start crying. “Where do I go?”
“We need to wait for Lucas to finish up, but I’m sure he’ll help you out.”
I groan, shaking my head. “I’d rather not ask for his help.” I take a sip of my coffee, glancing back to where Lucas is, smiling and laughing with his makeup artist.
She laughs. “You guys didn’t get along at the park?” she asks. “Those pictures seemed to say the opposite.”
I shrug, smirking at her. “I’m a good actress.” But I don’t want to admit that most of that was because of Lucas. If not for him, I’m sure we would have been called out on our fake relationship by now.
“Well, in that case, I’ll help you,” she says. “You see that guy?” She points to who I assume is the photographer since he’s behind the camera. I nod. “That’s Jack. He’s our photographer. He’s been in this business for years, you’re in good hands, I promise.”
“Good to know.”
“You’ll both stand over there,” she points to the backdrop. “And Jack will take it from there,” she says, giving me a smile. “You’re gorgeous. He’ll have no issues with you. You guys will look perfect together.”
Her words make my stomach cramp a little, but when Lucas shows up and gestures to the backdrop, I stop thinking of what Ana said and square my shoulders. I will not let him see me weak. Not again.
“You ready to do this?” he asks.
“Of course.”
Lucas walks in front of me, and I follow his lead. My nerves start to kick in, but I tell myself this is what I wanted. Sure, none of this is real, but I can pretend I’m playing a part, which I technically am.
Lucas glances down at me, when we approach our mark and narrows his eyes. “You asked for help, didn’t you?”
“What?” I ask, furrowing my brows. “What are you talking about?”
“Come on,” he says with a laugh. “There’s no way you could just walk in here and go with the flow. I bet you asked Leila to draw a map and give you point-by-point directions on what to do.”
His grin infuriates me, and I narrow my eyes at him. “I did not,” I lie.
“I don’t buy it,” he says. “I bet you even asked Ana for help. All because you didn’t want to ask me.”
I give him a shrug, not bothering to deny it. “Well, you said I would need to beg, so I had to work around that.”
His smirk makes me shiver as his gaze drops to my body, and he shakes his head. “It’s a shame. It would do you some good saying please.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Never.”
He hums, leaning down to whisper against my ear. “So you’re not nervous right now?” he asks. My heart races as I shake my head. But he just chuckles, the vibrations making my skin erupt into goosebumps. “I’ll help you out if you say please.”
“I told you,” I say, my voice sounding breathy and rough. I clear my throat and shake my head. “I don’t need your help.”
“Please,” he whispers, even closer now. “That’s all I need to hear, and I’ll help you out.”
“I’m good.” I face forward and try to ignore the way his scent travels up my nose. He smells so good. God, I hate him. He moves back into place, and when he does, I get another whiff of his scent. I don’t even think he’s wearing cologne, it just smells, clean and… manly. I haven’t smelled something like that in a long time.
He lets out a heavy sigh, and with a shake of his head murmurs, “Por que uma garota tão bonita como ela me deixa louco?”
I blink, staring up at him. “What did you just say?”
He glares at me. “I said you’re a stubborn pain in my ass,” he says, placing his hands in his pockets. His head snaps back into place as he stands in a pose, ready for the cameras.
Okay, so I might be stubborn and have lied about being ready. I’m definitely not. I don’t have a fucking clue on what to do, so I smile at the camera and hope this is good enough.
It’s not.
I gather that when the photographer squints at me, not liking what he sees.
“Still don’t want my help?” Lucas whispers, still facing forward.
“I…” I sigh, squeezing my eyes closed. The quicker we do this, the quicker I’ll get to leave. “Please,” I grit out.
His head snaps to face me, and he grins. “Repeat that for me.”
God, this man really knows how to push my buttons. I exhale harshly. “Please,” I repeat, not daring to look at him.
His dark chuckle makes me shiver as his hand encloses around my elbow and turns me to face him. “Models and actresses are very similar, Madeline,” he says. “They both have to act for whatever it is we’re doing. Whether it’s a perfume commercial or a clothing line, we become someone else. We become the product, not a person.”
I blink up at him. “So you’re saying I’m a product?” I raise my brows at him.
He shakes his head. “Pain in my ass,” he murmurs. “Here,” he says, pulling me closer to him. “Follow my lead.” He drags his hands down my arms and twists me around so I’m facing the camera, but this time he moves an inch closer and looks down at me. I instinctively look up at him, and he smiles. “Good,” he whispers as the cameras start to click. “Just relax.”
I let out a breath, my lips parting, and I do what he said.
“Great,” the photographer calls out, more clicking going off. “Perfect. Now move a bit closer.”
Lucas shuffles an inch closer until his arms brush against mine. I stiffen and try to move away again. He groans and leans down until he’s close to my ear and whispers, “You’re making this harder than it needs to be.”
His husky voice makes my skin flush, and I force myself to breathe, looking up at him. “You’re too close to me.”
He pulls back with a frown on his face. “Necessary touching,” he says. “This is a press release of our relationship. We can’t be five feet apart.” He scans my eyes. “You just need to act like a doting girlfriend for a few minutes, and then we can go home.” He narrows his eyes. “Can you do that for me?”
“I doubt it,” I murmur, glancing at the photographer who’s getting impatient.
His hand snakes around my waist as he pulls me flush to him and I gasp, staring up at him. “That’s it,” he says. “Keep looking at me.” His other hand curls up under my chin and lifts my head. Our eyes meet, and my heart starts to beat as more flashes go off. Lucas gives me a sultry look, and I drink it in, admiring his face. Ugh. Why does he have to be so hot?
“Yes. Beautiful,” the photographer says. “You guys look amazing.”
Lucas’ dark brown eyes remain on mine, and my skin starts to burn, feeling hot and sweaty. It’s the lights. It has to be.
“You guys look great,” Jake says again as more flashes go off. The sounds of the camera make me zone out a little, and I let myself wonder what these pictures will look like. I’m wearing a long, red dress that compliments my warm, brown skin tone and my deep, red lipstick perfectly. Lucas is wearing a black button-down with jeans. His hair is perfectly styled, the messy brown curls falling strategically onto his face, and I let myself see how other people will see us.
We look like a couple.
“Perfect,” Jake says as he steps out from behind the camera. “Now can we get a kiss from the beautiful couple?”
My eyes widen at his request because despite how the outside world perceives us, we are not a couple. We are nothing. This is fake. And there is no way I am going to kiss him.
Lucas notes my reaction and frowns, because he knows there is no way I’m going to let him kiss me, and he promised he wouldn’t. It’s one of my rules.
But what if he changes his mind? What if he just tells me to suck it up for the picture and to just go with it? It’s just one stupid kiss. We both know it doesn’t mean anything, but… I can’t do it.
The last time I had someone’s lips on mine, it ended in a nightmare, and I can’t think of anyone else ever kissing me. I don’t want to.
I step back from him and his hands drop as he lets out a breath. He forces a laugh and turns to face Jake, running a hand over his chin. “We’d prefer to do that alone,” he says.
My heartbeat settles as I let out an exhale. Thank god he’s keeping his promise.
“We need something for the pictures,” the photographer says. “Come on. Just give us a kiss and we’ll be on our way.”
Lucas looks at me again and I know he can see the panic in my eyes as he reaches out to me. “Relax,” he tells me. “I’m not going to kiss you. Just… close your eyes.” I look up at him and part my lips. What is he going to do? He must see the question in my eyes because he leans in again. “Just trust me.”
I let my eyes fall closed and my heart races twice as fast now. I can’t see anything. But I can feel. I feel his hand run over my face as he cups my neck, his thumb resting on my cheek. I feel his breath hit my neck as he leans into me, closer than we ever have been before. I feel his heart beating just as fast as mine when his chest presses up against my arm.
Clicks go off in the distance as Jake takes the pictures and I let myself melt into him, knowing that Jake still got the picture he wanted without us having to kiss.
“Beautiful,” Jake says again as the clicks stop. I snap my eyes open and see Lucas staring down at me, only an inch away. “We got it,” he says.
Lucas removes his hand from my neck and we untangle ourselves from each other. He furrows his brows as he looks at me. “You panicked,” he says. “I told you that we would only do whatever you’re comfortable with. I told you we wouldn’t kiss if you didn’t want to. Did you not believe me?” he asks.
Honestly? I knew he would keep his promise. He kept it when we were at the park, and he hasn’t given me an inkling of taking what he wants without asking me, but… it’s all I’m used to from men, or one man in particular. Why should I believe any different? “I don’t really know you,” I say with a shrug.
He raises his brows. “Then maybe we should change that.”
