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Colston looks at me. "I hate all Goldie girl’s friends."

Tatum walks past him, flipping him off as she does, and stops directly in front of me.

She’s shorter than I am but not by a lot, and she looks like a preppy catalog model who just happened to fall into a vat of ink and piercings. But underneath the bubblegum-pink lip gloss, she radiates a dangerous, bad-girl energy that instantly puts me on guard. She tips her chin up, pinning me with a stare that dares me to test her.

"You hurt her," Tatum says, dropping her voice so only I can hear it, "and they will never find your body. I have a twelve-foot alligator living in my backyard, and I'm always looking for an excuse to give her a treat."

I hold her gaze. I respect the hell out of her for the warning, even if it is a little unsettling how casually she just threatened to murder me. "I want to be the guy who fixes things for her, not the one who breaks them," I say, keeping my voice just as quiet. "But if I ever forget that, you can introduce me to your gator.”

Tatum searches my face for a few seconds. She gives a single nod, satisfied with my answer.

"Alright, back to the grind," Scout announces, clapping her hands together. "See you later, Hurricane Daddy. Bye, Jenny."

Scout and Tatum disappear through the side door to get back to their own shops. Colston and I head back outside for the second couch. We carry it into the studio and set it where Goldie points.

Colston mutters a curse under his breath and hits the button on the wall to close the roll-up door, shutting out the suffocating heat with a loud mechanical hum.

Goldie sets her tablet on a nearby desk, turning to say something to Minji, but before she can get the words out, a door down the hall opens.

A woman steps out, clutching a silk robe tightly around her waist. She’s followed closely by a girl with dark hair and lots of makeup—who has to be Ellie, Goldie's makeup artist and best friend. Ellie gives the woman an encouraging smile, but the client still looks terrified, her eyes darting around the bright lights and camera equipment.

I grab Colston by the back of his t-shirt, hauling him toward the reception desk to get us out of the way before she can see us.

Colston stumbles backward. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"We don't want to make her uncomfortable," I tell him, keeping my voice low as I tip my head in the direction of the hall. Goldie told me how vulnerable this space is for her clients. I'm not going to be the asshole who messes that up.

I shove Colston into the reception area. He tries to lean around my shoulder to get a look, but I block him, keeping my own body hidden in the shadows of the hallway so I can watch Goldie work. I didn’t know until now how much I need to see her in her element.

Goldie grabs her camera off a nearby desk while Minji moves to the background to adjust a reflector panel. When the client finally drops her robe to reveal a lingerie set, she immediately crosses her arms over her stomach to cover back up, hunching her shoulders forward like she’s trying to make herself disappear.

Goldie sets the camera down and takes her time. She walks over with a warm, easy smile. "Hey," Goldie says, her voice carrying across the quiet studio. "Take a deep breath for me. Shake your shoulders out."

The woman hesitates, then takes a breath and lets her arms drop and does what Goldie says.

"There you go," Goldie encourages, stepping back to adjust a light box. "I know it's terrifying at first, but look at you. You, babe, are a whole damn masterpiece. Look at that waist. Those hips. Stop hiding them from me. Put your hands on your hips, lift your chin, and let me show you exactly what a beautiful badass you are."

The woman exhales, a tiny, tentative smile breaking through the fear. She puts her hands on her hips. Her posture changes, the insecurity melting away as Goldie picks her camera back up, positions the woman into flattering poses, and starts snapping photos. Goldie hypes her up with every click of the shutter, her voice bright and empowering.

I stand in the shadows, my focus locked completely on the beautiful woman I’m becoming more and more obsessed with by the day.

She lends this stranger her own fierce confidence, pouring it out until the woman starts to believe it. Even if it's only for an afternoon, Goldie’s changing this woman's life by making her feel genuinely beautiful. It completely blows me away.

Paper rustles from somewhere behind me, and I glance over my shoulder to find Colston leaning against the reception desk, casually flipping through a lingerie catalog. He catches me looking, taps a page featuring a skimpy black lace set, and waggles his eyebrows at me.

I shake my head and turn my attention back to the shoot. At least he’s entertaining himself.

I already knew Goldie was gorgeous, fun, determined… I could go on and on. But seeing her in her element like this takes it to a completely different level. The more I learn about her, the more incredible she becomes.

Fuck. I'm falling for her.

The realization hits with the brutal force of a plane dropping into a downdraft. My pulse hammers against my ribs. I’ve spent my career training to stay calm under pressure, to lock my shit down and stay in control so I don’t spiral.

But standing in this hallway, watching her in her element, my discipline is hanging by a goddamn thread. Every instinct I have is pushing me to tell her, to ask for more. But I know if I rush this, she'll only push back harder.

So I'll take the torture of earning her if it means I get to keep her forever.

Two weeks later, playing the long game is officially driving me out of my fucking mind.