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He appraises me, backing away as he does it, like he needs distance to get a better look. “You’re his bride-to-be, aren’t you? Emily, is that right?”
I cringe. “That’s right.”
“I’m Josip, the lucky man who gets to take pictures of you. ThoughclearlyMr. Siderov is the lucky one.” He brings his camera to his face and clicks the button. “Bozhe moi,you are beautiful!”
“I’m paying you to take pictures, Josip, not to ogle my fiancée.” Konstantin has joined us. His face is inscrutable, but there’s no mistaking the anger in his eyes. Almost as if he doesn’t want Josip making such comments about me.
As I live and breathe.
Is he … actually jealous?
Or is this just another part of this game we’re playing today?
I link my hand with Konstantin’s, and he twitches in surprise.
“Now, now, dear.No need to get jealous of Josip. He’s just doing his job.” I offer Josip my most sympathetic sigh. “Kostyahateswhen other men compliment me. He threw the last one out a window.”
I glance at the nearby cliff with a drastic frown.
Josip turns white, and Konstantin sees red.
“My fiancée likes to tell jokes,” he says tensely. “Let’s get to the site while the lighting is good.”
“Of course!” Josip babbles. There’s sweat on his brow; my subtle warning hit home. He’s reacting more than I thought he would though—as if he has a reason to believe Konstantinwouldhurt him.
I try to slip my hand out of Konstantin’s, but he grips harder, preventing me.
“Let go,” I hiss through my teeth.
“We should be holding hands. It’s what couples do.”
I turn my hip, bumping it against his as hard as I can.
He grunts, and I say lightly, “Smile, the camera is watching.”
The irritation comes off Konstantin in waves, but to his credit, he plasters a smile on his face as we follow Josip down to the shoreline. He walks backward, his camera on us as he snaps photo after photo. He stumbles more than once, but it doesn’t slow him down. The pictures don’t stop.
Hand in hand like young lovers, we reach a valley of tall stones that create a frame with the sea in the background. Mist furls above and below, giving everything an ethereal tinge.
I can’t say a single bad thing about this place. It truly is beautiful.
I glance up at Konstantin, and wonder if he’ll look at me in surprise if I were to suddenly shove him over the edge.
“That wasperfect,”Josip gushes.
I notice he’s checking something in his camera’s viewfinder. “What?”
“Your expression just now, your hand in his, the mists behind you … It’s the exact kind of energy we need for the rest of this shoot!”
Wonderful.
My fantasy of throwing Konstantin over the edge of the cliff is now somehow going to be forever memorialized as megushingat him.
Bristling, I wrench my hand from Konstantin’s. He’s looking at me with a smug smirk that I want to wipe off with my fist. A smirk that saysI won.
We’ll see about that.
“Okay, now you two lean against that rock wall right there so I can catch the moment when the wave breaks over the shore!”
